You can’t tell anything about a baseball team until 40 games have been played.
-Sparky Anderson
Well, after today’s game it looks like we will be able to tell a thing or two about the 2016 Tigers.
Last night was the first time in a while that all parts of the game seemed to be clicking at that same time: the Tigers were hitting, fielding, running the bases; the bullpen did its job, and Mike Pelfrey finally picked up that elusive first W. Just kidding! Kyle Ryan got the W in relief, and Pelfrey’s last win is still August 12th, 2015.
Hit of the game has to be the Iglesias hit in the 7th. With the game tied, one out, and runners on the corners, James McCann whiffed, leaving two outs. Maybin steals second (that’s legal?) and Iglesias brings them both hone with a clutch single. The wheels fell off for the Twins after that, but I think if the Tigers had left that inning with a 2-2 ties, the game would have finished very differently.
Brad Ausmus is back today, looking to broom the lowly Twins out of town.
Today’s Lineup:
- Kinsler, 2B
- JD Martinez, RF
- Cabrera, 1B
- Castellanos, 3B
- Upton, LF
- Moya, DH
- Maybin, CF
- Saltalamacchia, C
- Iglesias, SS
With the series ending with the day game after the night game, I thought we might see some lineup foolery (Aviles, anyone?), but other than giving McCann a much-needed rest, Brad’s giving us the full-strength regular mix.
Update: the original lineup that was released had Martinez at DH; now it’s Moya.
Comments
26 responses to “Game 2016.40: Twins at Tigers”
[…] By Coleman […]
[…] By Coleman […]
Amazing how smart Cabrerra plays baseball. He’s on first, Upton hits a short pop up to LF thats going to get caught. Miggy sesnses its going to fall and easily gets to second, getting Upton a single instead of what should have been a force out at second with any other runner.
Hope JV gets out of this before Brad has to tax his mind after a day off. Plus we have a habit of hurting JV this year.
Nice, got to light a candle for the ball pen.
The bullpen is officially in worry mode…8th inning , over 100 pitches….oh no!…its us!
In just three days Mabin and Moya have done more than Upton has in 40 games…I guess you can’t expect that much for your $$$..anymore!
Let the real game…begin!
Is JV jinxed?
Poor Verlander. I have no patience for Alex Wilson right now.
You’re right, and I’d be warming up the other Wilson right now.
Dodged the bullet!
3 inches from another fatal outing!..better lucky than good!
Our inherited runners scored % is 38%, 4th worst in the majors.
No comment, Ian has earned a couple of passes this year.
GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS. SWEPT TWINS, KEPT MANAGER. Another clean inning from K-Rod.
K Rod is getting better and better…nice work in this series!….the clock is still ticking on Brad. Lets see what happens when a real baseball team comes to town!
I’m not Brad, but if I were, I’d be pondering a lineup with Maybin leading off, Kinsler 2nd.
+1
In other news, today is Heidi’s birthday. She had to work, and I did not get her anything. I am so ashamed.She mentioned that there is an auction for Brad’s home plate deposited gear. Bidding, anyone?
…the bidding ‘should have been’ for a fan to manage the team during Brad’s 1-day suspension… w/all proceeds going to charity. Some day some MLB team may try this type of ‘fan mgr for a day’ (Bill Veeck-type) stunt, likely with surprising results.
…as for the ‘no gift for your wife’s b-day’; Jim, i don’t even want to think about the grief i’d catch for something like that… hell, i’m still feeling some friction for ‘only’ getting her (“just”) a card (albeit heartfelt, in my opinion) for Mother’s Day… and the, “well technically you’re not my mother” argument is/was a loser in my household.
Happy B-day to Heidi. Remember, we’ll never be as young as we are today, but today is also the oldest we’ve ever been… so make the most of “today”.
the TAM pitcher Matt Andries, DET is facing tonight pitched a 2-hit shutout his last outing…in his 2 starts he has a 0.56 ERA, but DET hitters probably spent their day off studying film on the guy…:)
I don’t know how they do it, but I suspect the Rays have a secret lab somewhere where they stitch together body parts to produce good pitchers. No matter whom they trade away or lose to injury, if it’s a pitcher they produce another. It could be a long night for the offense.
Ok, we are back on a winning streak courtesy once again of a winless Twins team. It’s a start but now the big test, or perhaps next big step forward, is to keep that streak going against Rays who are certainly a stronger team than the Twins. However some wins this weekend will show some step-by-step accomplishments of minor milestones such as getting a winning home record and getting a season .500 record. So perhaps the team can continue to build on success of the Maybin experience by continuing to ignite Upton and Iglesias along with (nameless) others providing timely hitting and base running improvements? And lets not leave out our beloved starters and bullpen so here’s a wish for sustaining their success against the Rays. Meanwhile other milestones that need improvement are won/loss record in the Central Division and keeping the road wins above .500. Let’s hope for an enjoyable weekend!
not the ideal start for Sanchez…and the way Andries has been pitching, TAM may have all the runs they need…but something tells me they’re going to get some more
Hi Coleman, It is quite true that we shall wait for number of games to make opinions. It was amazing to see complete team work in all areas. I am looking forward to next lineups. It will be exciting to see what is there in the store for us.