Game 2017.102: Astros at Tigers

Jim Adduci is back from Toledo. Alex Presley to the DL with a side injury. Bruce Rondon still on the team.

Today’s Lineup:

  1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  2. Jim Adduci, RF
  3. Justin Upton, LF
  4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  5. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  6. Victor Martinez, DH
  7. Alex Avila, C
  8. Mikie Mahtook, CF
  9. Jose Iglesias, SS

Pitching: Matthew Boyd vs Collin McHugh

Adduci back and batting 2nd.

11 thoughts on “Game 2017.102: Astros at Tigers”

  1. Coleman: Why the genius at work photo? Perhaps Rondon’s might have worked. Meanwhile Gibby is putting up a great defense for Brad.

    1. I thought about Rondon. But that one was already loaded on the admin page, so I chose laziness.

  2. Good start (again) for Boyd,nice comeback by the hitters. Now to the closer, who may be auditioning for the Astros.

  3. Nice win.. Should have been two in a row…. BRAD goes by the book today…. Win…

  4. Splitting a couple close ones against the best team in baseball after the Royals series debacle? I’ll take it.

    I remember 2008 as the closest comparison to 2017 for pessimism, but when I look back over 2008 in terms of the record, I’m kind of amazed at how different it was. That year, the Tigers famously got off to an 0-7 start and struggled to get out of that hole, and I guess that set the tone, but that team was 52-50 at this point in the season (the collapse came later). Verlander had a terrible year and surprise Battlestar Galarraga was pretty much the only bright spot in a horrid year for the pitching staff. Sheffield, Renteria, Inge, and Pudge (traded for Farnsworth, that was funny) were the whipping boys. New Guy Miggy was a whipping boy for a while, too (slow start and certain difficulties at 3B). But the team could sure hit. Everyone wanted to fire Leyland. Even more so than the rest of the time. (Detroit only made the postseason once in his first five years, you know.) Compared with this season, what I recall as the comically dismal commentary about the 2008 Tigers seems a bit strange. Expectations must have been a lot higher. Oh, and now I recall the Dontrelle Willis situation and some other things. It’s no wonder that Brad Ausmus is more of a lightning rod in 2017, which lacks most of the player-specific drama of 2008.

    Or *could* that 2008 team hit? They were shut out 12 times! (Versus 2 for our side. Compare 2017, shut out 7 times versus 1 pitched.)

    As for 2017, that little 8-game losing streak looms large. 28 games later, they’re still in the same hole. With some better starting pitching, which I think they’ve generally had of late, and the same old from Cabrera, V-Mart, and Kinsler (offensively), perhaps they can “keep things real” and finish up .500 for a 76-86 record. Pending any disruptive and probably demoralizing trades that they may or may not “have” to make by the deadline, of course.

    Still a lot of baseball left… but sadly, there will be no Mike Hessman slugging .889 in September. Or Country Strong Marcus Thames to wish into a starting left fielder.

    1. I’m not sure what any trade could do to change things very much (GM and manager possible exceptions). Personally I am lighting candles praying that JV takes a shot with a contender that gives him a real chance for a ring. He has been our best for a long time and given us all he has.

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