66-45, 1st place, 5 games up on the Tribe.
Well, that was nice. Justin Verlander started out looking a bit uh-oh, but put together the strongest 8 innings we’ve seen from him since… when? Velocity, command, breaking ball working – what more can you ask? Justin Masterson actually pitched as well or better than Verlander most of the game. All it took was that 5th inning, and my favorite part was that both hit – and hurting – Tigers batters eventually scored. Gotta love Ramon Santiago busting it from 1st to 3rd after taking a pitch on the knee. Don Kelly had himself a game. First time I saw Jose Veras as a Tiger, and the breaking ball is as advertised. A few pretty good plays on foul pop-ups, and Miguel Cabrera even managed to snag one.
The Tigers starting pitching has been very good all season, and remarkably free of injuries, and now it’s on one of those epic rolls we’ve seen more than once over the past three seasons. I like the way the rotation was reset after the break, even if I don’t know if that really matters. You know, mixing up pitcher type game to game. With a starting five like the Tigers have, does it matter so much who follows who? I don’t know. Maybe. It’s not something immediate like batting order, which may be a bit overrated itself. Still… I like the way the rotation was reset after the break.
Pitching, pitching, pitching. Pitching wins. Perhaps all the more so with a guy like Jose Iglesisas at SS. We’ll see. Certainly all the more so when part of the pitching is the bullpen. It’s all clicking now. Even in the games where the Tigers hitters are mostly baffled by the opposing starter, as they have been the last two games, they’re pulling it out, one way or the other. Big difference from earlier in the season, when Detroit always seemed to be running on three, even when winning. I hope that there’s either a lot of this magic left in the tank or that they save some of it for the postseason. You’d hate to see the Tigers become the 2013 version of the 2012 Yankees.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves with “postseason.” 51 games left. A lot can happen. The Cabrera situation remains troubling to me. It’s nice that he can still hit. But you still have to run after you put the ball in play. Miggy is hobbled and playing. Tell me how this is good. Tell me how this is not going to end badly at an inopportune time. Maybe I’ll believe you. Meanwhile, the Tigers have a few other guys who can hit home runs and doubles for a couple weeks. Who can move around at 3B, run the bases, get down to 1B in under 2V (two Victors, standard unit of measure in snail racing). Hear me now and believe me later.
When were the Tigers last 21 games over? September 10, 2011 (Brandon Inge walkoff HR against G. Perkins and the Twins), in the middle of reeling off 12 straight, and it only got better after that (12-5 finish).
How were the 1968 Tigers doing at this point? 70-41, 1st place AL, 6.5 up on the Orioles. 1972 Tigers? 59-52, 2nd place AL East, 1.5 back of Baltimore. 1984 Tigers? 73-38, 1st place AL East, and yet “only” 9 games ahead of a superb Toronto team. 1987 Tigers? 65-46, 2nd place AL East, 1.5 behind the Blue Jays. 2006 Tigers? 75-36 (BETTER THAN 1984!!), 1st place AL Central, 9 games ahead of the White Sox. You may notice something all these Game 111’s – including last night’s – have in common.
Pitching, pitching, pitching. Doug Fister up next. The unknown rookie opposing him. Uh-oh. Time to break another habit.
When was the last time the Tigers had a starting rotation this good? Prior to last season with the addition of Sanchez, let’s say. That’s the question of the day. 2006 was kind of flukey, wasn’t it? I think you have to go back farther. Will 2013 prove flukey? How long does any starting 5, or 4, or even 3, stay strong together? Even in the olden days, it probably wasn’t that long. Enjoy it now. You’ve gotta believe that it’s capable of carrying the next two games, eh? And don’t stop there.
Comments
81 responses to “Game 2013.112: Tigers at Indians”
I give up–what do all those games have in common?
Well, at first glance I thought it rather amazing that the Tigers had won all six of them. I took another look… duh. Maybe I should fall back on the answer “The Tigers played in all of them”? “The opponent was another MLB team?” “The game was played in August”?
In the one game the Tigers *did* lose, the teams combined for 13 runs… in a 13-inning game… with both teams putting up 13 hits each. I guess that’s some consolation.
In a further mystical coincidence, the Tigers won 5-1 last night while also going 5-1 in the six games I made reference to. Wooooooo! Uncanny.
Royals are sneaking up on the Indians. I still believe they are the better team for that run to second place…..meanwhile lets keep it going Tigers!
I think you’re right about the Royals.
Great quote from Masterson last night re: the Donkey –
“If I was Superman, he’d be my Kryptonite,” Masterson said. “There’s always a guy. He salivates when I’m up there.”
regarding Loon’s question: “When was the last time the Tigers had a starting rotation this good?” — my answer would be “never”…based on the 1-5 starter’s production to this point of the season. One could argue that over the past two months JV has been their “worst” SP – which is a distinction every other MLB team would love to have.
A lot can happen in the remaining 51 Aug & Sept games that can make DET’s starting pitching look even better or worse – [i.e. injuries (to DET pitchers or opposing hitters), a/o whether the team your playing is competing for playoff spot or have (figuratively) ‘given up’] – all factor into the rigors associated with a 162-game schedule and Aug & Sept games.
Staying healthy or getting healthy (Cabrera, Fielder, Infante, Dotel?) will be crucial.
I agree Norman. Health is the key to success from here to October.
Gentlemen, we can talk all we want about problems, mystical coincidences and so forth. I can tell you that the bottom line will be what you see now, this team being to put all of its pieces in place for the playoff drive. I met Mike Ilitch once and complimented him on his choice for Drombrowski for his GM. He told me personally that he waited for the opportunity to snatch him up from Florida after they won the world series and jumped at the chance when it happened because he knows how to build winners. This could be the year so lets see how true that can be.
“could be the year”…for Mr. Ilitch (and all he’s done for the Tigers, Detroit & MI) and DET fans everywhere, I sincerely hope so. ’84 was magic, but it’s almost 30 yrs ago.
ESPN, first with the jinx:
http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/38884/tigers-can-start-printing-playoff-tickets
The Tigers released Valverde today.
I guess in the end, it turned out to be the slow way of tearing off a Band-Aid.
Thanks for the memories PGrande, good luck, vaya con dios
The indians extended Raburn 2 years. Good luck with that, but on the other hand maybe Raburn has found a niche being a part-time/platoon player/super sub, and having a manager that knows how to use him.
I hope the headline was intentionally ambiguous:
Ryan Raburn signs extension with Indians; Tigers’ Jim Leyland ‘thrilled’
That was a seriously impressive first inning for Salazar. He looks like he has some great stuff.
Rule of Brookens:
Send–Martinez, Avila, Fielder, Pena, Tuiasosopo
Hold–Jackson, Hunter, Infante
2013 DDAH #s (Dead Duck at Home):
3 Fielder
3 Martinez
3 Tuiasosopo
2 Dirks
1 Pena
1 Kelly
1 Hunter
1 Infante
15 DDAHs in ca. 110 games. This seems like a big number to me. Any historical stats for comparison?
That’s 2nd most (Red Sox are “first”).
after Pena got thrown out, I heard Gene Lamont’s inner dialogue say, “see…”
Do we see Bonderman tonight? Fister not looking too sharp.
I was thinking the same thing. Fortunately, it didn’t go far south. I wasn’t happy to see Fister out for the 6th, to be honest.
donkey dgaf
I thought Babe Ruth was dead!
Saw that one coming from a mile away.
That one is on Francona.
Lets go Tigers!
one of the best things ever right there.
miguel was tipping his cap striking out earlier. strikeouts.
sits on the kids fastball. welcome to the bigs.
why wasnt the infield playing in?
Good question. A haunting one for most of the rest of the game.
kelly, pena, dirks. quite the triple threat.
Squeeze bunt would have been the play to call for AJax ….. but of course our great manager has no creativity or grey matter!
I’m not sure Jackson can be trusted to bunt.
Should have had Fielder bunt, he isn’t good for much else lately.
Well, we’ve definitely had our chances.
Perez is just young. Infante back soon.
Fielder is a concern, but lets not get greedy on a 10-0 run.
11 in a row…15 of 16… impressive – and very timely to go on this type of run
When was the last time you saw a player strike out on a ball that hit him .
how hot is that blonde behind the batters box?
Looking into this now.
Oh, great. NOW I find out about this. But wait – I have mlb.tv…
C’mon B.O.O.Bs
Response to Marrakesh Red or just coincidence?
she could feed my wild side
Bondo!
Bullpen has been nearly perfect since Smyly left. If not perfect.
Plenty of game left Kevin as Cy Bondo roars!
Squeeze time?
last chance
Squeeze the Prince?
Well done Prince!
Prince runs into one.
This is awesome. Just poured whiskey & pop #1 of the night.
a lot of baseball tonight!
feels good to watch a game like this one.
whew
that was freakin tense!!!
Bonderman came through big time.
if it hasn’t been said, Bondo was huge tonight
i’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t see that coming
No way we win that game if we had to go with 3 innings of Evan Reed!
Or 1 inning of AlAl.
Yah mon. No confidence in that guy anymore. He just makes me nervous, every time.
Joaquin Jones.
Nothin’ to it!
bullpen is pretty taxed… Scherzer will need to log at least 7 or 8 innings tomorrow
We may see 2 innings of Coke.
Veras only threw 10 pitches tonight, AlAl 12.
I forgot Veras closed yesterday, was thinking they’d rest Benoit tomorrow and close with Veras. And then there’s AlAl,.
This game was big for Detroit, but even bigger for Cleveland. This home series has gone horribly wrong for them. Like the chances to finish off the sweep tomorrow.
A sweep would be icing on the cake, but 2 late inning comebacks and a JV domination over their ace has killed their spirit I’m sure. Wish tomorrow’s game was an afternoon game.
Yeah, it’s always a killer to lose a long extra inning game and then get hit with a day game follow-up…easier to get back out there when you’re riding the W.
Lost in all of this: the Indians have one hell of a young arm in Salazar.
I was listening when Cabrera came up. I had missed most of the middle innings until then. Once Hunter blooped that single, I thought that Francona would go and get Salazar. Dan and Jim were surprised that he pitched to Hunter.
In the earlier at bat, before he struck out, Cabrera fouled back a 100 mph fastball about shoulder high, and the Indians announcers commented that not too many guys could get a bat on that pitch. I was thinking it was just a matter of time…glad they left him in for a 3rd AB (his fastball was “down” to 96 or something, and he left it belt high…good luck with that! Kid still has great stuff though, I was impressed.
Yeah, the standing O from the Indians fans was cool.
OK, not all good news: Infante scratched from rehab (ankle pain)…it may be a while before we see him again.
Way to kill my night. Time for W&P #3.
You can’t fool me. You were fixing that one before you read my post.
How about Bondo?
Do we have the best bullpen in the AL? Veras was a tremendous pickup.
Dombrowski is a trade deadline wizard. (Evan wizards drop their wands on an Aubrey Huff / Jarrod Wasburn) once in a while. How awful was that?).
Note, the Rangers are almost having as much fun as the Tigers right now. Angels misery makes me happy.
I’m even enjoying–this might be a first–the White Sox win streak, since they are burying the Yankees (welcome back, A-Rod!)
The Royals have now blown by the Yankees in the WC standings.
“This win streak goes to 11.”
Can’t believe it took me this long to think of that.
Bondo…..ya gotta give the guy credit for staying on task for all these years….great for him and the Tigers!