Category: Game Post

It’s easy to be upset with Coke following last night’s loss, but let’s focus on the real cause.  1 for 16 with RISP.  Even Laird should get 3 hits in 16 ABs.  And I still don’t get pinch-hitting Santiago for Boesch in the 7th.

It looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us today.  Morrow strikes out well over a batter per inning, though he also walks over 4 batters per 9.   He’s been fantastic over his last three games, allowing only 4 ER in 19 innings (1.89 ERA, .84 WHIP) and striking out 31 batters during that time.  He had a complete game shutout where he beat the Rays 1-0 on Aug 8 and struck out 17 (17!).  For the season he’s been up and down, with a dominating June and very good August, yet a 4.39 ERA overall.  He’s only give up 10 HRs in 137 1/3.

Bonderman was scratched with rib-cage inflammation, so Figaro will be making his first big-league start (though he does have 3 relief appearances with the Tigers this year).  Figaro started 23 games in Toledo this year, going 10-6 with a 4.14 ERA.  He’s 0-2 with a 10.05 ERA in three day starts.  He’s shown great control as he has struck out over 8 batters per 9 and walked less than 3 per 9 this season.    But he has given up over a hit an inning which has led to a 1.42 WHIP in the minors.

Tommy John for Strasburg…that’s rough.

Tigers are in a nice little run, thanks to their starting pitching.  They have seven consecutive quality starts and a 1.09 ERA during that time.  They have won 6/7 (let’s put that 8th inning Valverde debacle behind us) and are reminding us why May and June were so much fun.  The bats haven’t been too bad either, as the boys are averaging over 7 runs per game during the run.

Shawn Marcum got hit pretty hard by the Red Sox two weeks ago, allowing 4 HRs and 8 ER in only 4 innings of work.  That said, he’s been pretty good all season posting a 3.70 ERA and 1.13 WHIP.  He walks just over 2 per game, while striking out a hefty 8 batters per 9.  As you would expect for a power pitcher, he’s a flyball guy.  He and JV have almost identical GO/AO ratios ( .86 for Marcum and .79 for JV).

The Blue Jays hit a lot of home runs.  Tigers did a good job limiting this yesterday (where did Bautista’s year come from?), but the Blue Jays lead the league with 193 HRs.  Contrast that with Detroit’s 112 which is 10th in the AL.  (Cle, KC, Sea and Oak have all hit less than 100).  Bautista’s previous high HR for a season was 16, and his only career OPS+ positive season was last year, when it was 101.  This year it is 165.  Yeah, 165.

Verlander has been pretty good over his last three games, posting a 2-1 record with 2.37 ERA, despite a 1.42 WHIP.  The biggest offender in that WHIP is the very un-Verlander like 5 walks in 5 innings in the loss against the Yankees 10 days ago.  On the year he’s walking about 3 1/3 per game, which isn’t great, but not too far off of his career average of just over 3.

Scherzer has just been lights out as of late, no need to explain.

Romero has evolved into a front of the rotation guy in his own right, though he has been hit hard as of late.  He was tremendous early in the season, though his July and August ERA is at 5.23 with a 1.38 WHIP.  He doesn’t walk many and strikes out roughly 2.5 batters for every one that he walks.  His GO/AO ratio is 2.03, so beware of the double play.

Tonight’s Lineup:

Jackson CF
Santiago 2B
Damon DH
Cabrera 1B
Raburn LF
Peralta SS
Inge 3B
Wells RF
Laird C

O’Sullivan had a brief, and successful, stint in the pen before taking over the 5th spot in the Royals rotation, which hasn’t been quite as fruitful.  As a reliever O’Sullivan, O’Sullivan posted a .86 WHIP and 1.29 ERA in 7 innings.  As a starter, O’Sullivan’s WHIP has risen to 1.38, while his ERA has skyrocketed to 6.09 spanning 6 starts, 2 of the quality variety.  He made a relief appearance on Sunday since his last start ten days ago.

Galarraga was phenomenal last time out, allowing only 3 hits and 0 ER in 7 innings.  He has not bee consistently good in almost two months, but perhaps the Royals are just the potion he needs.  Note that opponents are hitting .185 against him the first time through the order, and .302 after that.  He’s also prone to the long ball, allowing 13 in 16 starts this year.

– Rhymes is batting .360 during August.

– Boesch is 6 for 18 during the homestand.

Today’s lineup coming soon.

Our red hot Tigers (including Johnny Damon) look to win their 5th game in a row tonight.  (More on Damon, courtesy of Jason Beck).

Kyle Davies is very hittable, posting a 1.53 WHIP in 136 2/3 IP this year.  He’s been decent as of late with 2 quality starts in his last three games.  The non-QS came against the Yankees where he gave up 3 runs in 5 innings, but still got the W.  In his career v. the Tigers he’s 2-6 with a 5.40 ERA, though he’s 2-1 with a 3.97 ERA at Comerica.

Porcello had two encouraging starts until he got shelled last Thursday in New York, allowing 6 earned in 5 innings.  Porcello hasn’t been right all season, but consistency can be the hardest thing to grasp for a young pitcher.  He’s still got great stuff, and well, it’s the Royals.

Cabrera has 11 BBs in his last 10 games, and 17 IBBs since the AS break.  It seems that he’s been getting IBBd every plate appearance, but note that Bonds had 120 IBBs in 2004 and averaged roughly 60/year over his final 7 seasons.  Dickerson pointed out yesterday via Twitter (Dan_Dickerson) that Cabrera’s last 4 intentional walks (over the last 3 games) have been followed by 4 hits that have driven in 6 runs.

Rhymes is batting .520 over his last six games, and .348 in August.  3/16 hits have been doubles.

Did you know that KC leads the all time series 280-264?

Tonight’s lineup is:

Jackson – CF
Rhymes – 2B
Damon – DH
Cabrera – 1B
Raburn – LF
Peralta – SS
Inge – 3B
Boesch – RF
Avila – C

Tigers looked sharp over the weekend, they look to extend the hot streak against the Royals starting tonight.

Bondo can only get better, as his last three starts have seen him allow 16 ER in 15.1 IPs.  As a team the Royals are 2nd in the majors with a .275 BA, but they are a light-hitting team who doesn’t walk much, as their OPS is .722, 9th in the AL.  (Compared to the Tigers .750 OPS, 7th in the AL.)

Chen has only made it out of the 6th inning twice this year, though he did beat the Tigers on June 4th after allowing 2 runs on 4 hits in 5 innings.  On the season he’s 8-6 with a 4.61 ERA, and a Tiger friendly 1.51 WHIP.

Two hits for Inge would put him at 1,000 for his career, or 67 less than his career strikeout total.

Tonight’s Casper Wells lineup is brought to you by the Marlboro Man.

Jackson – CF
Rhymes – 2B
Damon – DH
Cabrera – 1B
Raburn – LF
Peralta – SS
Inge – 3B
Wells – RF
Laird – C

Who is Jeanmar Gomez???

Sorry for the brief post friends, back in town manana.

Let’s go Tigers.

Sorry for no thread yesterday guys, early game on a getaway day for me made it tough.  Won’t let it slip again.

On to baseball…that three game winning streak was fun…let’s try it again.

Tigers versus New York for the third game of a four game set.

The reception for Damon last night at Yankee stadium was one of the coolest moments of the season.  Do you want him back? (make sure you check out the video in that link if you didn’t see it last night).  He seems to know his place on the team, and I think he’s been a great influence in the clubhouse.  For the right price, I’d love to keep him as our fourth outfielder.

Here’s a little follow-up on the Granderson/Jackson debate from last night.  I also like how one New York paper compared the Bronx Bombers to the “Golden Girls” after last night’s game. Finally, ARod looks to be a game-time decision, please post if you hear something.

JV is my Tiger tonight.  We could really use a dominating (Scherzer-like) performance out of him.

Tigers head to New York for a four game set versus the Yankees.  The way Scherzer has been pitching as of late gives us a great chance for our first 3 game win streak since early July.

Who’s your Tiger tonight?