Game 2011.144: Twins at Tigers

The Tigers have roared into September with consecutive series sweeps against their closest division rivals, and now head back to Comerica with a chance for the Three-Sweep against the struggling Twins.

Tonight’s game features the epic pitching matchup of Slowey and Slower.

The Tigers, perhaps in the spirit of sportsmanship, will lead off the series with Brad Penny, who has given up 15 runs (and 5 HRs) in his last 10 innings. At least they are finally using him in a night game.

The Twins go with Kevin Slowey,  making his 4th start after missing 2 months with an abdominal strain.  He had a good last outing against the Angels, giving up only 2 runs in 7 innings, but got the loss, because that’s life on the Twins right now–Slowey has gotten just 3 runs of offensive support in his last 4 starts.

And just for fun,  ESPN’s Aaron Boone’s power rankings has the Tigers as the #2 team in MLB right now, behind the Phillies.

Magic Number:  12.  Division Series tickets go on sale Monday 10 am.

Player of the Pre-Game:  Austin Jackson.

Since I last put the pre-game focus on Jackson, he has gone 2-for-16.  This constitutes an un-jinxing. In games in which AJax scores a run, the Tigers have a .730 winning percentage.

Today’s Three-Sweep Lineup:

  1. Austin Jackson, CF
  2. Magglio Ordonez, RF
  3. Delmon Young, LF
  4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  5. Victor Martinez, DH
  6. Alex Avila, C
  7. Jhonny Peralta, SS
  8. Wilson Betemit, 3B
  9. Ramon Santiago, 2B

 

30 thoughts on “Game 2011.144: Twins at Tigers”

  1. Comment on Beck’s Blog: “Or as the man said, tonight’s it’s Slowey vs Slower.”
    So now I’m The Man…don’t you forget it.

    1. I notice how ‘the man’ wasn’t capitalized on Beck’s blog, but you made sure to capitalize it when you referred to ‘The Man’ as yourself. Nice.

  2. Wow! Is Penny completely worthless, or what? He’s struggling to a weak Twins lineup, as if were murderer’s row.

    1. I can’t wait until the calendar turns to October and we don’t have to watch him pitch anymore.

  3. Let’s hope we don’t see Penny on the mound in October. Because the only role I can see him in is mop-up duty where the Tigers are down big.

  4. isn’t there a clause in Penny’s contract: “If you suck, and we determine we made a mistake, we can release you”….I know there is; all contracts have it in there somewhere. Well, the first portion has been met………he sucks. The second portion has never been in doubt in my mind…….a serious mistake from the start. So…..what about portion #3 there DD?

      1. As long as he continues to face AAA lineups anyway. Unfortunately, his “resurgence” since the 1st inning will likely guarantee his continued spot on the rotation for the remainder of the season and possibly (NO NO NO) at least a staff spot in the playoffs.

  5. Nice one Betterthanguillenraburnetc.
    Ramon sucessfully auditioning for the starting 2B spot for he playoffs.

  6. How do we feel about a Betemit/Inge platoon for a full season? Since Inge is already paid for for ’12….

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