Category Archives: Game Post

Game 7: Tigers at Red Sox

PREGAME: We’ll see if it is the home whites that were the problem for the Tigers as they embark on their first road trip of the season. They’re taking on the Red Sox who have already played in 3 countries and on 2 continents this season.

In addition to a 6 game losing streak the Tigers also will be dealing with a ring ceremony and a lot of hoopla. Edgar Renteria will bat lead off as Jim Leyland returns to the opening day lineup. Renteria and Boston don’t really mix so this should be interesting.

On the mound today will be Kenny Rogers and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Rogers was solid his last time out allowing just 2 runs in 6 innings but was out dueled by Brian Bannister. Matsuzaka is making his 3rd start of the year and has a 2.31 ERA with 15 K’s in 11.2 innings.

Game Time 2:05

DET @ BOS, Tuesday, April 8, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME: Go ahead. Panic. Do whatever you have to do. I feel sick. I have nothing encouraging to say. Just more of the same.

Game 6: White Sox at Tigers – Live Blog

PREGAME: I may be asking for trouble here given the way the Tigers are playing, but I’m going to live blog this game tonight. It’s the first game I’ve been able to sit home and watch, and I’m going to take advantage of it. Plus, it’s not like the live blog is going to screw up any good karma the Tigers have going. The biggest obstacle for me will be spelling Mark Buehrle’s name right.

It will be Mark Buehrle taking on Justin Verlander. Both were opening day starters for their clubs and both took losses. Buehrle didn’t make it out of the second inning as he was rocked for 7 runs and sports a Grilli-esque 37.80 ERA.

Verlander was better making it into the 7th inning before leaving with runners at the corners. Both would score denying Verlander a quality start.

Gary Sheffield returns to the lineup, but Placido Polanco sits with back stiffness. Good thing that Ryan Raburn was sent down yesterday so we get treated to Ramon Santiago.

Game Time 8:05 Joe Morgan and Jon Miller with the call
The live blog is after the jump…
Continue reading Game 6: White Sox at Tigers – Live Blog

Game 5: White Sox at Tigers

PREGAME: Remember when THE TRADE was made and there was talk about how Dontrelle Willis wouldn’t have to be “the guy” and would flourish with the absence of that additional pressure? Well, the Tigers need him to be “the guy” and on National TV to boot.

Plus Willis will be trying to overcome the control issues that plagued him this spring. He was even given a detention to work things out while the rest of the team left Lakeland.

The White Sox send out Gavin Floyd who improved down the stretch last year including some great performances against the Tigers. In his last 3 starts against Detroit he allowed just 2 runs in 19 innings.

CHW @ DET, Saturday, April 5, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 3:55

Game 4: White Sox at Tigers

PREGAME:: A win, a win, my kingdom for a win. After having no luck with the Royals the Tigers turn their attention to the White Sox. For those worried that the Tigers have already dug themselves an insurmountable hole, fear not. Jamie Samuelson of WDFN and the Freep did some research and found that way back in 1998 the Yankees started 0-3 before going on to be one of the best teams in modern times. Those Yankees did win the 4th game – in extra innings.

The Tigers will be facing Jose Contreras. Now the last time the Tigers faced Contreras it was a happy day. It was the last day of 2007. The Tigers won. Placido Polanco got his 200 hits, Guillen his 100 RBIs, Granderson finished at .300, Magglio won the batting title, and Mike Rabelo hit his first homer.

Nate Robertson takes the mound for Detroit. Coincidentally he was on the mound for that same game and picked up the win with a 6 2/3 inning effort.

Miguel Cabrera is back in the lineup as DH and batting third while Clete Thomas gets another start in center field.

CHW @ DET, Friday, April 4, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 1:05

POSTGAME: I have to give Jason Grilli some credit, he got people to stop talking about the offense. There are degrees of blame here, but I’ve never seen 3 pitches do so much damage. I can’t fault Leyland for not pulling Grilli before the damage had been done, but leaving him in beyond that was asinine. If it weren’t for bad baserunning by the White Sox Grilli might still be out there.

I understand the vitriol and the desire to let Grilli go. I had the same thoughts not only today, but at times last year as well. But here’s what sucks, there isn’t anyone else. If Francisco Cruceta were available, or if Jordan Tata didn’t have a broken hand then by all means let him go. But this is a team with Aquilino Lopez already on the roster.

What I have a bigger problem with is Leyland’s erratic use of the pen. Using Zach Miner for only one inning is a waste in that situation. The game was tied and there were still 3 innings left in regulation. He’s also burned Bobby Seay for one batter appearances. Never mind the fact that Seay is one of the better relievers at his disposal.

Other observations:

  • Robertson looked stellar at times, but awful at other times. Five runs and five innings wasn’t good enough.
  • Nice defense by the Tigers today with Brandon Inge starting a tough double play and Carlos Guillen making a nice pick on a throw in the baseline from Robertson.
  • The bats are waking up with every Tiger but Edgar Renteria getting a hit. They were also pretty selective with the team picking up 6 walks.
  • Relievers not named Jason Grilli were quite good with Miner, Bautista, and Jones going 3 scoreless innings.
  • I read some of the comments that the Tigers seemed to be rushing their at-bats after the homer. I have to say I disagree. The 9th inning they battled. Carlos Guillen worked a 10 pitch walk. Ordonez hit a line drive to center field. Cabrera walked. And Renteria hit a liner that Jermaine Dye made a diving play on. They didn’t exactly roll over against a tough pitcher.

Game 3: Royals at Tigers

PREGAME: Talking sweep coming into the 3rd game of the series doesn’t really surprise. Talking Tigers avoiding a sweep does.

It’s a pretty good pitching match-up with Jeremy Bonderman taking on Zach Grienke. The Tigers face Grienke 3 times last year, lighting him up twice(.2 innings, 4 runs and 4 innings 6 runs) and being stymied the third and most recent time (4 innings, no runs, no walks, 5 K’s). In 15 at-bats Grienke has limited Magglio Ordonez to 2 singles.

Jeremy Bonderman is trying to capture his early season form from a year ago. He did well against the Royals in 2007 allowing 4 runs and fanning 17 in 20 innings of work.

Did you know that KC leads the all time series 257-243?

Game Time 1:05

KCR @ DET, Thursday, April 3, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME: Where I try and make the best out of a crappy situation:

  • At least it was Sheffield who tore a ligament in his finger today. If it had been Zumaya the finger would have become detached, kicked into the outfield, and have been carried away by a seagull.
  • Jeremy Bonderman conquered his first inning issues.
  • Brandon Inge is bolstering his trade value by hitting well.
  • Jacque Jones had a strike out free day.
  • The Royals are a first place team. It’s not like the Tigers got swept by a bunch of scrubs.

Game 2: Royals at Tigers

PREGAME: It’s another afternoon tilt for these two teams. For the Tigers it will be Kenny Rogers making his season debut. Last year Rogers battled a blood clot, and later some elbow soreness before finishing the season strong for the Tigers. In 5 September starts he posted a 3.56 ERA, but with an uncharacteristically high 13 walks and 3 homers in 30 innings.

For the Royals it will be Brian Bannister. During the offseason he did a Q & A with MLB Trade Rumors and talked about facing the Tigers (this is just a portion of his response, click through for the full answer):

I think the most important thing when preparing to face a lineup of this caliber is to be realistic and to recognize how they have been playing recently, because confidence level is everything with a good offense. If you look at good lineups, they tend to be extremely streaky, but their cold streaks will be much shorter than their hot streaks over the course of a season. During the hot streaks, teams and opposing pitchers tend to be intimidated by their offensive prowess, and games can be blowouts. In contrast, during the cold streaks they can seem to be a totally different team because they have very high expectations placed on them by the fans and media, and when they’re struggling, it tends to snowball.

Last year Bannister was a much tougher pitcher on the road, posting a .598 OPS against as opposed to .828 at Kauffman Stadium.

Game time 1:05

POSTGAME:
Not exactly the kind of start that we’re looking for here in Detroit. I’ve gotta be honest, I was at work and didn’t see the game. Just listened in to the call, but I didn’t come away happy regardless. Most of the Tigers bloggers have done their wraps and said their pieces and I’ll trust their judgment. At least Rogers had a solid outing. He breezed through the 2nd and 3rd innings before needing some extra pitches and falling behind in the count. Still, he did his job. Zach Miner showed promise, but ultimately surrendered two runs.

I’m disappointed, but not at all worried. And just responding to some of the things said in the comments (and I don’t mean this as an attack on anyone, so don’t take it personally if I happen to disagree):

  • I’m surprised to see so many of you think tomorrow’s game is a lost cause. Yes, Zach Grienke is good but the Tigers did knock him out in the first inning in a game at Comerica last year. And yes, Jeremy Bonderman finished the year horribly in 2007, but he’s been known to be pretty good to. Let it play out before waving the white flag.
  • Yes, the offense is better with Curtis Granderson in it, but I don’t think that was the problem today. Nobody hit (except Renteria). I don’t think Granderson makes that much of a difference in a game where Polanco, Ordonez, Sheffield, Guillen, Cabrera… couldn’t even muster solid contact. Give some credit to Brian Bannister.
  • In terms of the Tigers patience, the Tigers made Bannister throw 3.86 pitches per batter. That’s actually a hair above average. Bannister appeared so efficient because he didn’t allow baserunners, and he got two double plays. Granted, tell me if I’m wrong, but it seemed that Bannister was mostly throwing strikes. There’s only so much taking you can do in that situation. Also, Jim and Dan mentioned a couple occasions where Tigers hitters missed on very hittable pitches.
  • Jacque Jones has had 2 bad games. I’m not expecting huge things from Jones, but I do expect he won’t go all season without getting the ball out of the infield. I think it’s a little early for a whipping boy, but I am anxious for the Tigers to face a southpaw.

Opening Day 2008 Postmortem

Yes, it’s only April and there will be losses, but the Tigers let one get away today. The offense created opportunities, and the pitching was decent enough. But the pieces just didn’t come together. I’m not making conclusions based on what I saw today, but I did observe some stuff while sitting behind the left field foul pole.

  • The clouds covered up the flyover. You could hear it, but not see it. But, since that was the only weather related calamity of the day I can let it slide. It was otherwise quite comfortable.
  • Verlander looked quite sharp after the first innings. It took him 20 pitches to get through that first frame, and less than that to get through the next 3. I’ll be honest, I can’t judge stuff when I’m sitting in the outfield (and really even when I’m sitting other places), but the Royals looked uncomfortable.
  • The bullpen as a whole was OK. There’s no way you could reasonably expect Jason Grilli, or most other pitchers, to hold a one run lead with nobody out and runners at the corners. One of the runs was bound to score. Of course limiting to one run should have been within the realm of possibility.
  • I know he takes the loss, but I’m impressed with Denny Bautista. After a cheap ground ball hit it appeared he was going to unravel when he through 3 straight balls to Alex Gordon. But then he fired back to back strikes that tickled 101mph on the scoreboard gun leading to back to back strikeouts. I was actually hoping that Leyland would take him out after that inning where he should have been brimming with confidence.
  • Lead-off walks led to costly runs in two different innings. Once for Bautista and once for Verlander.
  • Todd Jones with a 1-2-3 inning in a non-save situation. That was nice.
  • The new guys – Jones/Cabrera/Renteria – combined for 7 strikeouts on the day. Miguel Cabrera had a homer, which is cool. At least that monkey is off his back right away.
  • Clete Thomas should be happy tonight. He makes his big league debut and doubles in his first at-bat.
  • The crowd seemed kind of dead today, and the stadium never really filled in all the way. Part of that may have been people in lines, and part of it may have been people staying at the bars rather than getting misted on (which it didn’t). The place only really came alive when Brandon Inge threw the bullet from the outfield.
  • Speaking of Inge, very nice game today. The throw was obvious, but he hit a couple balls well and took a walk. And on the diving play, he wasn’t close, but I also don’t know if he’s able to cut that off regardless – at least from my vantage point it didn’t seem a given.
  • And the other play in question, the ground ball in the hole between Renteria and Cabrera, I don’t know that he’s able to make that throw regardless. The Royals had some well placed hits (including the game winner). What are ya gonna do.

And that’s that. I hate the day after opening day.

Game On! Opening Day Game Thread

gameon.JPG
Opening Day has finally arrived in Detroit for the most anticipated Tigers season that I can remember. Before we get into the game thread portion of this, let’s check out some of the vitals on the day:

Weather: Looks to be 50’s and overcast according to Accuweather. The rain looks to hold off during the game.
Tickets: The game will set a Comerica Park attendance record, but tickets can still be had from StubHub. As I write this at 6:30 there are 161 ticket listings. Many of the tickets are in the $60-75 range so it’s even affordable. Tickets can be picked up at 1555 Broadway.

Hanging out

As for me, I’ll be hanging out at Casey’s on Michigan Avenue in the shadow of Tiger Stadium. It’s a long time pre-game haunt for us, in this our 11th consecutive Opening Day (I think). I will try to file some reports from the pregame and game as well.

Now on to the actual game thread. Continue reading Game On! Opening Day Game Thread

Easter Sunday Game Thread: Indians & Tigers

PREGAME: Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate. And if you’re not one who partakes, warm Sunday wishes to you.

The Tigers will be taking on the Indians today from Joker Marchant Stadium and the game is on FSN Detroit. The Tigers will send out Yorman Bazardo as they try and assess his place on the roster.

Game Time 1:05

POSTGAME
: I caught a good portion of the game today. That’s a first for me this spring. My impressions:

  • With the Granderson injury I’m guessing that the Renteria-Polanco-Sheffield-Ordonez-Cabrera-Guillen-Rodriguez-Jones-Inge deployed today will be the “normal” lineup.
  • At least it will be that way as long as Inge can handle center field. He did OK today, evening making a diving catch late in the game. But it was a ballsy play that given the timing of the game probably wasn’t well advised.
  • Yorman Bazardo looked quite impressive, mixing several pitches and commanding them well. He got Hafner in the first inning on a swinging strike out.
  • Really, all the pitchers looked good save for Tim Byrdak. And I can’t comment too much on Byrdak because I happened to miss his inning – I just saw the final results. As he continues to struggle I wonder if his spot is becoming more tenuous?
  • Man, does Miguel Cabrera have a cannon for an arm.

Spring Training Game 1: Mets at Tigers

PREGAME: I’m not expecting another 17 runs, but we’ll see what the Tigers lineup can put up against Mike Pelfrey. The Tigers are going with all their regulars save for Gary Sheffield who is busy with that Scott Boras nonsense. Timo Perez will DH in his stead and bat third. Danny Knobler has the lineup, and Jacque Jones is batting 9th with Renteria 7th.

The Tigers send out Jeremy Bonderman.

Game Time 1:05. This one’s on the radio so we can listen along.

POSTGAME: The Tigers prevailed 4-2, but it was a matter of the Tigers bench and minor leaguers knocking off their Mets counterparts. Jeremy Bonderman gave up a run in each of the first two innings. However he was pleased with his performance because there was no pain, and he wasn’t using his trademark slider at all.

The Tigers regular lineup only mustered an infield single. But Marcus Thames, Brandon Inge, and Mike Hessman all contributed to a 7th inning rally.

The Tigers bullpen allowed only 2 hits and a walk over 7 innings.

Game 162: Tigers at White Sox

PREGAME: Sigh.

List of team and offensive feats that may happen today so there is something to root for:

  • Magglio Ordonez needs to not go 0 for 6 and Ichiro Suzuki needs to not make an out and the Tigers have their first batting champ since 1961.  Maggs is also looking to see if he can add on at all, and perhaps move ahead of Norm Cash’s .361 average.
  • Placido Polanco needs one more hit to reach 200.  If he gets to 200, it will mark the first time since 1937 2 Tigers have finished with 200 or more hits.
  • Curtis Granderson is at .299 and will try to push that to .300
  • Ordonez needs 3 RBI to become only the 4th Tiger to ever drive in 140 runs in a season
  • The team is 2 doubles shy of matching the team record for doubles in a season set in 1934
  • The team has 1634 hits which is the highest total since the 1934 club notched 1638

Game Time 2:05
DET @ CHW, Sunday, September 30, 2007 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME: Considering what the Tigers had left to play for, everything came up roses today. Polanco got his 200th hit and finished an errorless season. Guillen got his 2 RBIs. Granderson finished over .300 picking up 3 hits (not to mention a walk, a HBP, and 3 steals).

And Magglio Ordonez already had pretty much locked up the batting title, but a 3 hit day pushed his average to .363. That’s the highest mark for a Tiger since Charlie Gehringer’s .371 in 1937. In case you missed it, FSN Detroit was cutting into the Venezuelan broadcast after each Ordonez hit, and while my Spanish skills are limited to what I learned in high school (which has been refreshed by Dora the Explorer), there was no mistaking the excitement.

Even Mike Rabelo managed to get a homer today, and while the bullpen was going crazy for him, his own teammates were giving him the silent treatment.

It really wasn’t the way anybody wanted to the end the season, but all things considered they made the best of what they had today. And it was fun. It was fun watching the team having fun. Exactly 6 months until we get to start it up again.