This Wild Card thing is looking like a thing. Let’s hope the Van Man can keep this thing rolling.
Great outing by Fulmer last night. He is now 6.1 innings short of qualifying for the ERA title. Could that explain leaving him in longer than we thought last night?
Today’s Lineup:
The Tigers are back home, and yet probably feeling a bit homesick, as they leave Sweeptown. How about that? The Tigers did what they needed to do, and now the Wild Card is a thing again.
Hopefully vintage Fulmer shows up tonight, and not the recent version, which may have been a blip, or may have been a rookie arm boarding the fatigue boat.
KC sends out Cy Duffy tonight, who has stymied Kinsler (.208, but welcome back!), Cabrera (.182), and JD (.150). Hopefully we get something from Salty (2-for-3, oh, that’s why he’s playing!), Aybar (3-for-6), and Upton (not that good, but stats do not apply to him at the moment).
Second of a day/night doubleheader. Did anyone watch? There couldn’t have been more than 1,000 people at the game.
JV’s last three games: 19 IP, 1.21 WHIP, 25 Ks, 2.37 ERA, 0-1 record. He’ll be lucky to get to 15 wins with the run support he’s been getting as of late.
Headed out and lineup isn’t out yet, someone please post.
Good win last night, picked up a game in the WC race. Tigers haven’t lost at Target Field this season (there’s the jinx).
Farmer gets his first big start of 2016, over Sanchez and Pelfrey.
V-Mart and Kins still day-to-day.
1. Cameron Maybin, CF
2. Erick Aybar, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. J.D. Martinez, RF
5. Justin Upton, DH
6. Tyler Collins, LF
7. James McCann, C
8. Andrew Romine, 3B
9. Jose Iglesias, SS
Well, the Indians showed us who’s boss. The Tigers squandered a chance to make-up ground on the Indians and fell further behind in the wild-card race. Any time you have a pitcher give up 1 hit over 7 innings, I would think the chances of winning are pretty high. Incredibly high, to be honest.
2.5 games out with 13 to play is not a good place to be.
No VMart or Kins today. No idea why not.
1. Cameron Maybin, CF
2. Jose Iglesias, SS
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. J.D. Martinez, RF
5. Justin Upton, LF
6. James McCann, DH
7. JaCoby Jones, 3B
8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
9. Andrew Romine, 2B
If the Tigers, and not the Indians were the ones in first place, Justin Verlander’s season would be one of the baseball stories of the year. I don’t think any of us foresaw him having one of his best seasons ever. Many tips of the cap to JV. Unfortunately the Indians got many whiffs of the bat from the 9-headed Cy Young they sent out there yesterday, and the season continues to flicker and fade.
Today’s Go Lions Lineup:
Kinsler, 2B
Maybin, CF
Cabrera, 1B
V Martinez, DH
JD Martinez, RF
Upton, LF
Aybar, 3B
McCann, C
Iglesias, SS
The Cleveland Curse continues. Verlander takes the mound looking to keep this from becoming the Hey, It’s Football Season! Series. If he is going to get any run support this time, look to Cabrera, who has hit Carrasco at a .375 pace.
Today’s Every Day Andrew Lineup:
The Tigers are a uniquely frustrating team: when they are good, they really do seem like they belong in the playoff picture. Then they flail against batting practice pitchers and throw out starters like Not Ready Yet Zimmermann and It Is What It Is Pelfrey, and give up a load of runs, and struggle against the mighty White Sox and Twins etc. So I fully expect them to run the table against the Indians here to get your hopes up, then tank shortly after.
Today’s Glass Half Fulmer Lineup:
The Lettuce is hot, and not wilting.
I heard last night that 10/20 Tigers last games are against the Twins and Braves; teams with the two worst records in the league.
And we have 7 v. Cleveland.
The playoffs are there for the taking.
1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
2. Cameron Maybin, CF
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. J.D. Martinez, RF
6. Tyler Collins, LF
7. Erick Aybar, 3B
8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
9. Jose Iglesias, SS
Two games behind the O’s and Jays for a wild card spot. Twenty games to go. Romine at 3B today. I predict that Miggy gets a hit.
1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
2. Cameron Maybin, CF
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. J.D. Martinez, RF
6. Justin Upton, LF
7. James McCann, C
8. Andrew Romine, 3B
9. Jose Iglesias, SS
It’s a bad sign when you clear the bench in the middle of a playoff run game, although the subs did just as well as the starters had been. Signs were that Zimmermann was not ready to come back yet: in his rehab he had lost a couple of mph on his fastball, and was having trouble with location. But I assumed the coaching staff knew something we didn’t. Not so much I guess. I guess the plan was to cross their fingers and hope for the best.
The good news is we have Verlander on the mound today, although it seems the better he pitches, the fewer runs the offense scores, and the O’s have their ace on the mound also. Who will step up?
Today’s How About Some Run Support? Lineup:
The Tigers now sit with basically a 50-50 chance of making the playoffs, if you believe the projections. That’s not really what we were looking for before the season started, but considering the Tigers went into June at 24-27, it’s not so bad.
Tonight is the Zimmermann Experiment phase of the Wild Card Project. Zimmermann’s last comeback from DL was forgettable, or, even worse, not forgettable. Zimmermann faces off against Ubaldo Jimenez, who the Tigers knocked about for 5 runs in 5 innings last time up. Jimenez got in such a funk that he got the Sanchez Bullpen Banishment treatment, but he has been good lately, with a 1.01 WHIP over the last 30 days, and a 2-hit complete game win last time out.
I was pretty off with my prediction for a good Upton game last night. The Upster whiffed 3 times and left 5 guys on base. I’ll try again tonight and predict good things from the Bottom of the Order Boys: Erick Aybar is 6-for-16 with a HR against Jimenez, and Iglesias is 4-for-7 with a triple.
Today’s Lineup: