61-53, 2nd place, 1 game behind CWS, .5 games behind Brandon Inge and Oakland for the WC lead (which means tied for 2nd WC spot)
Last night’s heart breaker ended on a Mike Olt single in the bottom of the 9th with two outs. Kid’s been up for less than 2 weeks. The two walks to lead off the 9th were definitely the culprit, though Leyland’s assertion that late leadoff walks have spelled death for “1,000 years” may be a bit overstated. To be fair, I haven’t checked the box scores from 1012.
Even so, and despite the fact that the Tigers have lost 3 out of 4, all of which they have had a good, if not great, chance to win, the Tigers can move back into a tie for first with a win and CWS loss today.
To do so, they’ll have to solve Yu Darvish, a riddle against which they are 0-2 thus far this year. Darvish was dazzling in May (6 1/3, 2 H, 1 ER, and just good enough against the Tigers in June (4 ER in 7 IPs). Since that June game against Detroit, however, Darvish has just 1 QS out of 6, and is averaging an outrageous 5.6 walks per 9. He was one win during that time frame. Darvish has allowed the fourth most walks in all of baseball (his WHIP is 1.46), yet in two games against Detroit, he’s allowed just 3 walks. The key today’s game is taking pitches. Darvish will walk you. Cabrera, Jackson and Boesch are a combined 0-15 v. Darvish this year.
Porcello has pitched good enough to win the last two times out, but he hasn’t been spectacular. The Rangers are in a bit of an offensive slump, so he doesn’t have to be perfect. Kinsler (5-8) and Murphy (5-9 with 1 HR) have Porcello’s number.
You know how Leyland gets real defensive of players that are mired in career long slumps, and then they eventually get cut about 4 months after they should have been? Well, Leyland said yesterday that “Gene Lamont is a great third-base coach.” Could be the beginning of the end for Lamont. (Anyone know where we can check % of runners scoring from 2nd?)
Today’s (proposed) We’ll Get Yu Lineup:
1. Jackson, CF
2. Dirks, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Boesch, DH
6. Avila, C
7. Infante, 2B
8. Santiago, SS
9. Berry, LF
A few fun facts before you look at the actual lineup:
– Delmon Young is batting .250 over his last 10 games, with 3 RBI (think of all of his chances); Berry is batting .185 with 2 RBI, and is batting .238 in games he’s started. Young has had 9 more ABs to get that 1 RBI, but I’m guessing that he’s probably had 2 – 3x as many runners on base in front of him.
– Delmon Young is batting .223 in day games this season; Berry is batting .273 in day games.
– Delmon Young is batting .257 with a .645 OPS against righties this season; Berry is batting .293 with a .773 OPS.
Actual Lineup:
1. Jackson, CF
2. Dirks, LF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Boesch, RF
6. Young, DH
7. Avila, C
8. Peralta, SS
9. Infante, 2B
Comments
28 responses to “Game 2012.115: Tigers at Rangers”
One more key DY v. Berry consideration – Berry bats LH, Delmon bats RH.
Leyland is saving Berry to pinch run for Young in the 9th inning, at which point Lamont will hold him up at 3rd base.
I’m taking bets……next Tiger HR, Lamont will stop him at 3rd……
Really hate those ABs by Cabrera and Fielder there in the 1st.
And the sub-par play on the road continues…
any time we lose a game that JV pitches, we’re in trouble…..
Especially when it was against a guy with a 5.00+ ERA and the Tigers only scored a run against him…
Goodness Peralta. Make the right play.
Hey, a pitcher’s error, who would have guessed.
I see the bad Porcello decided to make an appearance today…
The last reason why QB needs to start over DY…
2 pitches, 3 outs. Incredible. Take a pitch, please.
That 5th spot is such a black hole in clutch situations… No wonder they can walk Prince without any concern of repercussion….We need Victor back!
I actually think that Darvish likes to walk batters. He’s very good at it.
Boesch has seen 2 pitches.
What do you think JL told him when he got back to the dugout – “Keep at it kid, you’ll get ’em.”
Keep the faith. I remember attending a Tiger v. Rangers game in 2004. The Tigers scored 8 in the 5th innning, followed by the Rangers scoring 10 runs in the bottom of the 5th. Tigers lost it in 10 innings, 16-15. Urbina with the loss.
I remember that game. I was there as well. It wasn’t that long ago, was it? Maybe 2008?
Yeah…it was April 2004. Higgy had two homers and Modest Mike Maroth started the game.
this is very painful watching these jokers lose a series they should’ve won……and I have no faith in Porcello; he’s todays Nate Robertson; a subpar pitcher who pitches a very occasional good game………
Add one more Double R3L2O -Fail to the list, ridiculous.
Intentional walk Fielder for the one-pitch wonder!
Unbelievable.
Thus far, this may be the worst game of any Tiger fielder this year – 2 base error on a routine play, and 3 swings for 3 outs versus one of the wildest pitchers in the Majors.
Yeah..heat stroke? Without those errors, its a 4-3 gane
Four pitches and four outs by boesch going back to yesterday’s game with a couple of chances to drive in key runs. Makes you wonder what their hitting coaches say and do when the problems are so obvious.
Pitch around Fielder to get to Boesch?
Cue the calliope, full Clown Show mode.
I thought Villarreal was supposed to be good for 1 inning, not 1 batter. And why are they leaving him out there, with last night fresh in mind?
I bet when the skipper came out to take the ball from him he had a buzzer in his hand, haha that always cracks me up.