Game 2013.137: Indians at Tigers

Detroit Tigers: 80-56, 1st Place (8.5 ahead of Cleveland). 

Well, this is it, that last Tigers-Indians game of 2013. The Tigers will finish the season series either 16-3 or 15-4 against Cleveland, depending on what Justin Verlander and the B Team can do this afternoon.  As the Indians leave the field toward that visitor’s clubhouse for the last time, I am sure there will be a wistful sigh or two from the Tigers. Then it’s off to Boston, in a match of two of the three contenders for the AL best record.

*****

10-5 looks like a pretty easy win, but the W came only after some late-inning excitement. After cruising with a lead that ranged from 4-1 to 6-3, Santana came up with one on in the 8th and hit a long fly to the wall in Center. Jackson seemed to have it played well and be there in time, but the ball bounced off of his glove, and Jackson bounced off the wall, seemingly hurt. Santana ended up with what was called an inside-the-park HR, which closed the score to 6-5 (is it just me, or did it seem to take Dirks a really long time to realize what was happening and back up Jackson?). Apparently Austin was OK, because he scorched a 2-run triple in the bottom of the 8th, and the Tigers were back to a comfortable lead.

But not before adding a run on another squeeze play–that”s two this season. And it was the same guy, Jose Iglesias. The Indians knew it was coming, and even tried a pitchout in an attempt to catch Jackson leaving early. And in fact the Indians’ Allen threw an unbuntable pitch, as Jackson streaked home. Except, somehow, Iglesias got the bunt down, getting the bat up above his head to do it, making Rod Allen look silly (“that was not a very good bunt”). If you watch the replay, at least one, maybe both feet were off of the ground when he made the bunt–the pitch was that high. Good stuff.

It’s not all good, though. Cabrera is still out, Jackson is out (“I’m just real suspicious that he’s going to be pretty sore,” says Leyland, “so I’m going to give him a blow today”), and we all have our fingers crossed that Justin Verlander is not going to struggle again on the mound. He will be facing the young phenom Danny Salazar, who looked good his first time against Detroit, striking out Cabrera 3 times before eventually getting Miggied.

September Additions:

  • Nick Castellanos (will wear #30)
  • Danny Worth
  • Evan Reed

Phil Coke and Hernan Perez had been recalled to the team on Saturday, replacing Jeremy Bonderman and Luke Putkonen.  Word is that Putkonen will re-join the team on Monday, and Bonderman on Tuesday.

Octavio Dotel was a planned addition, but was taken out of his last rehab appearance with forearm tightness. He will be shut down for 2013. What that means though is that the Tigers get another injury exemption for adding to their playoff-eligible list (the other came when they put Marte on the 60-Day DL).

In other news: the Tigers fired–er, I mean, declined to extend the contract of–Toledo Mud Hens manager Phil Nevin. Dave Dombrowski said: “He’s worked hard. He’s a good man, been part of us for a while. Sometimes you just need to change the voice.”

*****

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Jose Iglesias / Omar Infante. I’m going for a 2-fer here. I’m predicting the I-Team bails out Justin Verlander with a key DP or two, and sparks the lineup (Jose will take the first half of the lineup, Omar the 2nd). The pair hit a solid .321 combined for the month of August. I was going to go with Brayan Pena if he had been in the lineup. BP closed out August with a mere 25-for-63 (.397).

Tonight’s Small-Ball Lineup:

  1. Dirks, LF
  2. Iglesias, SS
  3. Hunter, RF
  4. Fielder, 1B
  5. Martinez, DH
  6. Kelly, CF
  7. Infante, 2B
  8. Avila, C
  9. Santiago, SS

84 thoughts on “Game 2013.137: Indians at Tigers”

    1. Well, he said he’s been working on some things. Maybe he is trying to perfect the getting-out-of-early-inning-jams thing.

    1. Add in all the throws to first in vain attempts to prevent steals, and he’ be at 120 pitches by the fourth inning.

  1. this might sound hypercritical, but Kubel was waived by AZ because he forgot how to hit and ‘his bat speed’ had noticeably declined…so what does JV serve him on a 1-2 count, a hanging 76 mph curve ball… sure it was only a single…but sometimes I wonder how much DET scouts other teams

    OK, that was my last b*tch for today

    1. There’s a deeper problem that we don’t know about. Maybe it’s a personal issue like Prince. He’s gone from the best pitcher in the game to an average starter in about 3 months.

      He’ll get it back at some point, I just don’t know if it will be this season.

      1. Your b*tch worked, StorminNorman$. I’m sure it didn’t escape your attention how Verlander blew Kubel away with heat the 2nd time around.

  2. We should have a DTW pool to try to guess the first game the Tigers will finally throw out someone on a steal attempt.

    1. My money’s on first game of the next White Sox series. (Dunn, maybe?) Hard to see it happening over the next two, unless Iglesias has some secret insider info on the Red Sox running game.

  3. Message to Avila: No you did not need to run home on that play only to be tagged out in a most obvious way. More evidence that this guy belongs in AA ball.

  4. I don’t know how much Nevin’s managing “skills” (or lack thereof) had to do with his firing, but it must be pretty tough to generate wins when your roster is hardly ever the same for two consecutive days and you don’t have much to work with to begin with (e.g. Shawn Hill, No. 1 starter!) and taking orders from Detroit on which guys to play every day to get them going (e.g. Coke, Avila, etc.). Maybe managing at the AAA level is just an exercise in frustration anywhere, but it certainly must be the case at Toledo.

  5. Wow. Pickoff, swinging K. If there’s a turning point to this game, we might have just seen it.

      1. Could be a while. I’m getting my stealth entry in early.

        If the Tigers put a runner on in the 6th, does Miggy PH for Kelly?

        1. Castellanos, following the rule of called up relief pitchers, who debut in the highest-pressure situation possible.

  6. I would like them to try Nick C. at 3B, and give Miggy a few more days off, if not, put him in LF and lets see what he can do at either position.

    1. Leyland has already said NC won’t play third. Against the next left we’ll see him in LF, and Tui at 3rd.

      1. And why would they even consider NC at 3rd? He hasn’t even worked out there in a year and one half at least. And I disagree about Tui at third. After all, we have Worth on the roster now, so he will get the call. Tui has been relegated to the batting equivalent of a ROOGY, much as Smyly is now a LOOGY. The not-so mysterious mind of Leyland – push-button/role playing think.

    1. his stuff looks better but again — no run support. odd.

      More evidence that Ingvila needs to go. Weak toss on that last steal attempt. He’s not slowing any runner down.

      1. Ingevila? Inge was over 35% career on stolen bases. Pudge was over 50% in 2006. The Tigers as a team are about 17% right now, and declining.

        1. “Ingevila” is more about AA’s bat, or absence of bat. I agree with your stats anaylsis re base theft. Avila (Ingevila) has not improved in pretty any category of play in the last 2 years. He is a nice kid but he is the SOB (“son of boss”) and SOBs rarely work out.

  7. Dirks in Aug: .279/.397/.410/.807. In his platoon role mostly (73 PAs) of course, but not bad. Interestingly 12 Walks to only 8 Ks.

    1. He still has the 2nd lowest OBP on the team (hard to beat out Avila). Strange choice to lead off–yet he has 2 hits, so a good game overall.

      1. Dirks, unlike Avila, is actually doing better lately. Maybe Leyland/McLendon has finally gotten him going. And that’s important beause we can’t win this thing without Andy Dirks.

      1. They’re doing a fine job lately. See the strike called a ball on whoever it was Rondon walked?

    1. That has to be the lousiest relief appearance of 2013 by any Tiger pitcher. Not a single goal was accomplished. Nothing. Incredible. I’ll be glad when Benoit has left for greener pastures. He’s not a closer.

    2. The “book” says you bring in your closer in that situation. I don’t understand why myself.

      1. Thanks for wasting my afternoon, Joaquin Benoit. Jerk.

        Yeah, I know he’s been good. The numbers don’t lie. Even so, his appearance in the ballgame rarely if ever makes me feel groovy. There’s too great a likelihood of far out.

        1. I can’t complain, myself, that Benoit came on in the first place. Rondon – or anyone – for a 2nd inning is pushing your luck. I guess Alburquerque was able to take care of business because Benoit had already taken care of the walks.

            1. It has been rare for anyone in the Tigers bullpen to put together consecutive good innings when given that opportunity. The opportunity itself has not been common, I don’t think. I”ll look into it to see if I’m way off here.

              1. Early in the season Smyly regularly put in 1+ innings of successful work (at least 1 3-inning save, for example). Bonderman when he first came up, and Putkonen just a couple of days ago, also successfully. What I have noticed, is that since the Veras pickup, our bullpen has been relegated to 1 inning (or less) ROOGYs and LOOGYs. In the case of the lefties, they can’t even be allowed to pitch a whole inning. AlAl can’t be trusted IMO, but for the most part I think the bullpen has fallen prey to Leyland’s role-play dogma. In this case, everybody is a one-inning guy or a short specialist of some sort.

            2. It has been rare for anyone in the Tigers bullpen to put together consecutive good innings when given that opportunity. The opportunity itself has not been common, I don’t think. I”ll look into it to see if I’m way off here.

              1. Maybe WordPress is having some fun with me, what with the “second consecutive inning” theme.

              2. Vince:

                “Rondon – or anyone – for a 2nd inning is pushing your luck.” [said I]

                20 games in 137, or about 1 in 7, is how many games in which a Tigers reliever has entered the game in innings 6 thru 9, pitched in more than one inning, and gave up or was charged runs in their second inning of work. The Tigers are 6-14 in these games. Hence my impression.

                Smyly is a 6-9 multiple-innings guy. No one else can be trusted, least of all Rondon and Alburquerque. It’s understood that a middle relief or mop-up guy like Bonderman is going to go multiple, and extra innings are a special case where you’re trying to get a couple innings out of practically anybody.

              3. Games/Multiple Inning Appearances entering 6th-9th/Times Runs Were Allowed or Charged:

                Benoit 55 / 4 / 2
                Smyly 53 / 20 / 7
                Alburquerque 43 / 12 / 5
                Coke 43 / 11 / 5
                Rondon 28 / 6 / 1*
                Downs 26 / 8 / 4
                Putkonen 22 / 3 / 0
                Veras 15 / 2 / 0
                Reed 12 / 5 / 2
                Ortega 11 / 3 / 0

                So, out of 308 relief appearances by this bunch, only 74 or 24% have been over more than one (6th-10th) inning. 26 or 35% of said multi-inning appearances are runs allowed/charged appearances.

                *My distrust must come from the single-inning appearances…

  8. Here’s an interesting question: if Benoit were to implode and become this year’s Valverde, who will be this year’s Phil Coke? (I somehow don’t think it will be Phil Coke).

  9. Tigers had some shots, but Sunday Lineup couldn’t get the job done.

    With a little clown show to boot.

    1. Very hard to do apparently: according to Beck, it has happened last in 1964, and before that in 1916..

  10. bottom line ..if you told us we would get 2 of 3 this weekend everyone of would have jumped on it….well good weekend.

      1. Your ‘glass is half-full’ outlook is probably conducive to a longer and happier life considering the second-rate bullpen we have to endure.

    1. Totally agree. Good weekend overall, despite the no-show offense today. Just need to continue to win series and we’ll be talking single digit magic numbers in no time.

  11. This game was there to be had. On the other hand…15-4 for the season against our division rivals. That is good, historically good.

  12. this stolen base thing us going to get a lot worse, well maybe not alot seeing that there have been 10000000 in arow now…..but now that everyone can bring players up , they all will have some speedsters to run, not that you need to be fast with the Tiger catchers throwing..

    1. Agree with you, and I also think the pitching staff as a whole has to be held to blame. You have to change your rhythm, step off, showcase a throw etc to keep the runner thinking about going. Of course, if the catcher is slow, or throw is off target, then that is on him.

  13. End of the month tally: 19 up 11 down, includes the make up DH loss from April. So, 30 games in 31 days in the dog days, not too shabby… my glass is laways half full…

    1. No. Maybe he is getting buried the way Daniel Schlereth did after last season. That dude was my least favorite Tiger of the last two seasons. It was so nice to see that he wasn’t invited back for Spring Training in 2013. His control was Dontrelle-esque, which as we all know is not a compliment.

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