Game 2014.55: Blue Jays 8, Tigers 2

Down one tough loss, the Detroit Tigers (31-23, 1st Central, 3rd AL)) reconvene to take the rest of the series from the Toronto Blue Jays (35-24, 1st East, 2nd AL). Dickey vs. Porcello, and a knuckleballer could be just what the hitting doctor ordered (I’m not kidding).

The brilliance of Sanchez and something better than meh from J.D. when it really counted gave us something to celebrate, if not a win. The Tigers’ 14-12 record at Comerica is less celebrated.

Gotta keep this one light, but I hope to be back for the finale with a few stats and a lot of praise and recognition, which is something we don’t get around to often enough.

Victor Martinez and Joe Nathan have at least a couple things in common. Great track record and a demeanor every single pitch thrown or seen which suggests that, to them, it’s the most important one of their careers. Every single time. VMart had a cold start to 2013. Don’t tell me about rust. For at least 2 and a half months, he flat out sucked. I saw it. He came back a-blazing, and he’s still blazing. Now, Nathan has had a couple rough spells, but in between, he was pretty darn good. Let’s temper the criticism. Closers can come back a-blazing, too.

Hate the sin, love the sinner. As they say.

27 thoughts on “Game 2014.55: Blue Jays 8, Tigers 2”

  1. Someone named Drew “never heard of him” Hutchinson the latest bum off the street shuts down the Pussycats!

  2. History will be made today..Romine and Avila will drop below the Mendoza line on the same day…..with Jackson racing to join them as fast as he can…

  3. You can’t believe the crap I have to put up with living in Toronto, when we lose to the Jay’s ….. so we better pull up our socks and win the next two!

  4. Suarez move for an organization with absolutely nothing to lose. Check out the in-house solutions for SS before looking elsewhere. Lots of references in papers lately re: DD and Leyland taking in games in Toledo. Didn’t waste any time making a move after medical report suggesting Iglesias truly was done for the season.

  5. On a side note I hope someone claims Worth off waivers and gives him a chance. Maybe he can play and maybe he can’t but he sure got no chance from the Tigers starting with Leyland and now thru Asmus..

  6. Maybe we are seeing the first major test of Ausmus the manager on whether he needs to replace Nathan as a closer with Chamberlain? Whether a temporary or permanent replacement remains to be seen, but such a decision will be a major one for both he and Dombrowski. How many blown saves do we have to die thru before making such a tuff decision?

  7. 1. Rajai Davis, LF (2-for-2, walk)
    2. Ian Kinsler, 2B (1-for-7, HR, walk)
    3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B (5-for-18, double, HR, 2 walks, K)
    4. Victor Martinez, DH (3-for-9, double, walk, 3 K’s)
    5. Torii Hunter, RF (6-for-15, 4 doubles, triple, 4 K’s)
    6. Austin Jackson, CF (3-for-7, double, HR, walk, K)
    7. Alex Avila, C (2-for-7, double, K)
    8. Nick Castellanos, 3B
    9. Andrew Romine, SS (0-for-2)

  8. Dickey doesn’t look like the sharpest tool in the shed standing there between pitches with his mouth hanging open. But, I’ve heard him interviewed at length and he’s pretty articulate.

  9. Bases loaded, no outs and no runs. What a combination. Sure hope this ends tonight. This slide is getting old and quick.

  10. I don’t think that anyone in the clubhouse is reading this, but I can’t put into words how badly we need this game.

  11. Such a clown show. Here comes a soft single that scores the runner from 2nd.

  12. Nice post, and good points.

    I would just add that, during V-Mart’s tepid start last year, I was a staunch–and I mean staunch–supporter amid the many overly-ripened vegetables many fair-weathered fans were hurling at him. I was disappointed, yes. But never was I tempted to get on the criticism band wagon. I knew he would come around. In my estimation V-Mart is among the most under-rated hitters in the league. He flat-out hits. And yes, he is injury prone and definitely at the back end of his career, but I strongly hope the Tigers will at least try to re-sign him if we can manage a one or two year contract. But I suspect this may be V-Mart’s last year as a Tiger.

    I wish I could say the same for Nathan. But I do admire your support and I hope you are right and I am wrong. I’m sure he will eventually right the ship, so to speak, and pull off a string of saves. But I highly suspect even the saves will be filled drama and suspense and he will never be the lights-out closer many of us had hoped for when the Tigers signed him. My feeling is the Tigers signed him when his stock was at its highest and I anticipate a very average year for Nathan.

    If I am wrong, you may reference this post with all the mockery it deserves, and I will be perfectly happy with that.

    1. I would never mock you, T. Big fan from way back.

      I was impatient with VMart early last season, though I don’t think think I went further than “sit him once in a while” when the lack of results was getting pathetic (and I went too far to say that Victor “sucked” – results-wise, yes, but he clearly hadn’t lost it).

      I can’t make any predictions about Nathan. I just like the determination I see there, and it gives me confidence. I know it’s only in jest or in frustration, but we really really can’t liken what’s going on with Nathan to Todd Jones or Jose Valverde. I don’t think.

  13. Most painful stretch of baseball I remember in a while. About to be 4-12 in last 16.

    1. This begs the question, which team are we? Perhaps this is closer to the real Tigers?

      1. I guess they’re both teams, and sometimes they both show up, with mixed results. The final score doesn’t look competitive tonight, but it really was a game for 7, and I’ll take that over some of the games we saw in the previous 4 series.

    1. He got the two outs. It’s gotten to the point where I only want extremes with Coke in there. Either nothing but outs or blow up so we can we run him out of town (again) already. The one run scoring kinda put things in that unsatisfactory middle, but I’ll give him credit for two weak outs. Not bad.

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