Game 2011.161: Indians at Tigers

The Tigers take the field for game 161 a single game behind the Rangers for 1st round home field advantage in the ALDS.  That’s nice to write.  Because we hold the tiebreaker, our magic number is 3.  The Rangers will have to lose at least once tonight or tomorrow.

Scherzer looks to notch win #15 tonight against Jeanmar Gomez.  Scherzer has been up and down over the last month, including a season low 65 pitch outing when he gave up 7 earned against the Royals on August 29th.  Scherzer has given up 5 ER or more in 1/4 of his 32 starts; but he’s give up 2 ER or fewer in 20 of his 32 starts.  So he can be just as dazzling as he can be disappointing.

Betemit is back at 3B tonight.  That’s nice to write as well.

Did you know? – If the Tigers’ pen gets a save in each of the next two games, that would beat out ’84 (51) as the most saves in franchise history?

Tonight’s Player of the Game Prediction is Austin Jackson.  AJax bangs out two hits (one bunt and one XBH) and scores twice as he heats up for the playoffs.

Tonight’s Playoff Tune-Up Lineup:

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

15 thoughts on “Game 2011.161: Indians at Tigers”

  1. I wish we could play Cleveland, Chicago and Minnesota all the way through the World Series.

  2. Yes, I’m excited about that Rangers game, too. They have been really hot recently, but the Angels are a good team and hopefully can win one.

    1. TX is hot, but tonight, they’re facing a AAA lineup that Scioscia threw together – and the Angels scratched Weaver and replaced him with Chatwood who last 2 innings.

      Looks like a victory in the bag for the Rangers. Need a Tiger win and Ranger loss tomorrow if the Tigers/Verlander wants to open at home against the raysox?

      It might be a ‘6 or half-dozen’ comparison, but the Tigers might have a better chance against the Yankees in a 5 game (1st round) series rather than the 7 game ALCS. And if the Rays can hold on and over take the redsox (hopefully in a game 163 playoff in Tampa), even though the redsox have been a train-wreck in Sept, I like the Tiger Rays matchup a bit better than the redsox… and better weather in Tampa than boston.

  3. In 2009 Ozzie held back Peavy in the penultimate series of the year so he could face the Tigers in the last series of the year to make it a tougher road for the Tigers to make the playoffs. Peavy won that game (game 160) and we all know what happened shortly after that. Too bad Sciosia is a punk. That lineup he put out there against the Rangers was a joke.

  4. Cabrera’s lead for batting average is pretty strong going into the last day.

    Under most scenarios today, Cabrera could still go 0 for 4 and hold the title. If he’s 0 for 4, the only way he loses is if Michael Young is 3 for 3, 4 for 4, or 4 for 5. If Cabrera is 0 for 4, Adrian Gonzalez would have to be 4 for 4 or 4 for 5. 3 for 3 wouldn’t cut it.

    If Cabrera is 1 for 4, the challengers would need 5 hits to surpass him.

    As far as on-base percentage goes, Cabrera trails Bautista by just over a point, .4485 to .4474. If he gets on base one more time than Bautista does, then he could take that title.

    OPS is much tougher for Cabrera. To beat Bautista and lead MLB in OPS, Cabrera probably has to do something like hit 3 home runs while Bautista goes 0 for 4. Pretty unlikely.

    Much more important: Could the Angels please try to win today? Season’s not over yet.

    1. I really don’t see the Angels winning tonight. Scioscia seems perfectly happy to get steamrolled by Texas. I wonder if this has anything to do with that infamous Weaver start in Comerica

    2. It’s the bottom of the ninth in Chicago, and unless the White Sox tie it up, Bautista’s season is over. He went 0 for 3 today with a walk. Therefore the race for on base percentage is:

      Cabrera .447368
      Bautista .447328

      If Cabrera gets on base in 2 of 4 or 3 of 5 plate appearances, he wins this title too.

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