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  • Game 111: Rays at Tigers

    PREGAME: The Rays have lost 11 of their last 15 and the Tigers have lost 13 of their last 17. The Rays send out Edwin Jackson who is a good bet to go 6 innings. He’s pitched exaxtly 6 innings in 5 of his last 7 starts, but with mixed results. His last time out he allowed just 1 unearned run on 5 hits, 1 walk, and 5 K’s. Three starts ago he shut out the Yankees for 6 innings, so he can be good.

    Justin Verlander battled the Oakland lineup his last time out, not pitching bad, but racking up 106 pitches in 5 1/3 innings.

    As for lineup notes, Pudge is having an ankle issue and will miss tonight’s game. Sean Casey moves back to first and bats 3rd while Carlos Guillen takes DH duties. Ryan Raburn is your left fielder tonight.

    Listening to Danny Knobler on WDFN tonight, Marcus Thames will start a rehab assignment tomorrow for Toledo and could be back as soon as Thursday’s game.

    Game Time 7:05

    TBD @ DET, Monday, August 6, 2007 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

    POSTGAME: Hey, a win. Yes it’s against the Devil Rays, but for a team that has been struggling against everyone I don’t care who the opponent is.

    • Justin Verlander had a long first inning as he struggled with his control, even hitting a batter with an 0-2 count. He did settle in until 4 straight hits cost him a chance at the win. He did stick around long enough to get through 6 innings. He wasn’t great tonight but good enough.
    • The bullpen came through with 3 innings only allowing one baserunner. Fernando Rodney and Todd Jones retired the 6 they faced with ease. Of course I was nervous with Jones pitching to Rabelo since the two haven’t always been on the same page.
    • For the last week Placido Polanco was the only hot player on offense and ironically he posted an 0 for 4 on a night when the team notched 13 hits.
    • Ordonez and Guillen were the offensive stars and packed quite a punch in the 4-5 spots. Rayburn and Rabelo came through in the 7th, but both had numerous opportunities early on.
    • Speaking of Rodney, Leyland just mentioned that he would be off tomorrow after pitching 2 straight days. Regardless, the strut after the 96mph fastball punch out was nice to see.
    • The Tigers didn’t seemed to be fooled by Edwin Jackson, but they couldn’t push many across the plate either.
    • And congrats to Sean Casey who knocked his first Comerica Park homer of the year, and a timely one at that.

    It’s one game, but a win streak has to start somewhere. Let’s hope they can build on it.

  • links for 2007-08-06

  • Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/5/07

    Toledo 3 Columbus 8
    Chris Shelton was 1 for 4 with a walk. David Espinosa walked twice. Henry Mateo had the only extra base hit and reached base 3 times. Dennis Tankersly allowed 11 hits and 8 runs and was knocked out in 4 2/3 innings.

    Erie 4 Connecticut 2
    Kody Kirkland doubled and homered. Jeff Lafish added a double and a single. Dallas Trahern allowed just 1 unearned run on 7 hits in 7 1/3 innings with 4 K’s and 12 ground outs.

    Lakeland 1 St. Lucie 11
    Cameron Maybin was 1 for 4 with 3 ground balls to third and a line drive to centerfield. Danny Worth was 2 for 4 with a triple. Kyle Sleeth only lasted an inning surrending 5 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks. Why is he still on the 40 man roster?

    Quad Cities 4 West Michigan 8
    Michael Bertram was 3 for 5 with 3 RBI. Jeramy Laster also had 3 hits. James Skelton was 1 for 2 with 3 walks. Matt O’Brien went 8 innings allowing 4 unearned runs on 8 hits with 6 K’s.

    Oneonta 18 Lowell 7
    Guillermo Moscoso only allowed 1 run in 6 innings, but who cares when the offense plates 18? Casper Wells had 4 hits. Chris Carlson and Ronnie Bourquin each had 3 (including a homerd and 6 RBI for Carlson).

    GCL Tigers DNP

  • Game 110: White Sox at Tigers

    PREGAME: I’ll be listening to this one as I jouney back from Indianapolis. It’s Jordan Tata and Gavin Floyd for whatever that’s worth.

    One depressing stat to throw at you. So far in this young month Tigers pitchers have pitched to exactly 8 batters while the team has had the lead. Not innings mind you, plate appearances.

    Game Time 1:05

    BR Game Preview

    POST SERIES: I was in Indianapolis this weekend, and so on Friday I only heard chunks of the game (mlb.tv was no help because Indy is in the White Sox black out region). Saturday I saw 90% of the game. Today I heard it all on the radio. So take these comments with those parameters in mind. I also just got done catching up on the comments for all 3 games and I’ll respond to some themes there as well.

    • I’m not sure that Leyland yelling at the players will help. I also don’t think that any of us are qualified to judge the intensity or effort that players are playing with. Teams look more alive when they are hitting well, or pitching well, or doing something well. A lack of execution can easily be confused as a lack of effort. And just because all of our attitudes are bad because of the losing, assuming that players are thinking the same way is quite a leap. Maybe these guys aren’t playing hard, but I know that I’m not in a position to say one way or the other. And as for the game on Saturday, I saw guys battling through at-bats and working each count. I also saw guys hustling, in essence I saw nothing out of the ordinary.
    • And to the comments that “if they keep playing like this they’ll miss the playoffs” I think that’s kind of a given. If you’re out hit and out pitched the rest of the way you’re going to lose a lot.
    • There has been lamenting about the lack of clutch hitting, but I thought the Tigers did a decent job of that on Saturday night. And just going off the radio broadcast it seemed like they were hitting balls hard, but either at people or the Sox were making some fine defensive plays. Today was a different story with no hard hit balls (again according to the radio) and thus very few clutch opportunities.
    • And that’s really all I’ve got. Another bummer of a series. Tampa’s coming into town, but at this point does it matter? I’d almost rather see a contender just to see how the team would respond.

  • Tigers Minor League Wrap 8/4/07

    Thanks to Mike R for compiling this:

    Toledo 3, Columbus 9
    Brent Clevlen hit a 2-run homerun and Jack Hannahan had an RBI double which was the offense for the night. Ron Chiavacci gave up 5 runs on 6 hits while walking 1 and striking out 4 in 6 innings of work. Eulogio de la Cruz was beat up in just 2/3rds of an inning. Allowing only 2 hits, he served up 4 runs — primarily thanks to his 3 walks vs. only 1 strike out. Vic Darensburg threw 1 1/3rd scoreless innings.

    Erie 3, Connecticut 8
    The Sea Wolves pounded out 5 extra base hits and only could scrape across 3 runs. Will Rhymes, Wilkin Ramirez, and Nick McIntyre had the lone RBI’s for Erie. On the mound, Andrew Kown surrendered 7 hits and 6 runs in just 4 innings of work. Matt Righter did his best Jason Grilli and relieved Kown by surrendering 2 HR’s. But, unlike Grilli, both were solo shots and he managed to plow through 3 innings.

    Lakeland 8, Fort Myers 7
    Cameron Maybin only hit 1 ball on the ground tonight in the victory. Lakeland used 5 different pitchers to piece this victory together and it was in dramatic fashion when, down 7-5 in the top of the 9th, Deik Scram (outstanding name) hit a lead-off double off the wall in centerfield. Maxwell Leon picked a perfect time for his 1st homerun for Lakeland to tie the game at 7. The next hitter, Cameron Maybin, hit an opposite field homerun which proved to be the game winner as Freddy Dolsi came on to get his 21st save of the season.

    Quad Cities7, West Michigan 4
    Brennan Boesch, Ryan Strieby, Gorkys Hernandez and Santo De Leon combined to drive in all 4 West Michigan runs. The Whitecaps pounded out 10 hits, but Brennan Boesch’s double was the only hit for extra bases. Lauren Gagnier dropped to 4-11 with the loss, allowing 9 hits and 7 runs in just 6 innings. He did strike out 5 and walk only 2, however.

    Brooklyn 7, Oneonta 2
    Kyle Peter had 3 hits, but that was about it for the offense. The lone RBI’s came from 2B, Justin Henry and Catcher Adrian Cassanova. Mark Brackman got the loss while striking out 5, walking 2, allowing 4 runs on 4 hits in 5 innings.

    GCL Phillies 4, GCL Tigers 5
    Only 3 of the Tigers 5 runs were earned as the Phillies kicked ball around, making 4 errors in the process. RBI’s came from centerfielder Chris White, catcher Craig Maddux, and SS Joaquin Guzman. Gene Lamont’s son, Wade, was 0-for-2 with 1 strikeout. He’s now down to a dismal .167 average and 23 strikeouts in just 78 at-bats. 2007 3rd round pick, Luke Putkonen, got the start and went 3 innings allowing 4 hits, 2 runs, with 3 strikeouts vs. zero walks.

  • The 6th Inning

    Sam continues his look at each 18 game stretch of the season…

    The 6th Inning is over.

    Each 18 games represent 1 inning of a baseball season. The Tigers record so far in each Inning:

                                                    Starters:         Bullpen:

   W-L   RS-RA   HR-SB-AVG/OBA/SLG    W-L-IP-   ERA       W-L-S-ERA

1: 10-8   86 -79  17-9 -235/313/380    5-2-110.2-3.66      5-6-8-4.68 

2: 13-5   112-97  23-10-308/377/518    9-3-102.1-4.84      4-2-8-5.03

3: 7-11   110-96  26-7 -310/364/517    7-7-110.2-3.99      0-4-3-7.80

4: 13-5   136-75  20-5 -324/390/508   13-4-103.0-4.37      0-1-2-3.47

5: 11-7   91 -79  23-20-272/357/443   10-5-112.0-3.46      1-2-7-3.33 

6: 7-11   84 -113 17-8 -276/325/415    3-8- 99.2-6.59      4-3-6-4.31

    Wow the 6th inning was ugly! They started with a sweep in Minnesota and then lost 4 straight series since (3 to losing teams). Unlike the 3rd inning when we had an identical record but were killed by a shaky bullpen, they were outplayed in every facet of the game. The Tigers are a mere 84-78 over their last 162 regular season games.

    The offense had great contributions from some unexpected places as Rabelo and Rayburn combined for 3-10-410/421/732 in 56 ABs. Granderson 3-8-328/394/547, Ordonez 2-16-324/387/471 and Polanco 2-8-382/408/559 all continue to swing well. Sheff 1-5-175/273/263 is hurt and you figure he may hit the DL at some point. Guillen 0-2-283/317/350 appears to be hurt as he is hitting with no power. The trilogy of Monroe 2-9-240/250/380, Inge 1-6-238/269/349 and Casey 0-4-245/298/283 combined to have a 241/280/337!! Pudge continues to run hot and cold as he was awful 1-4-184/180/265.

    I am not sure what has happened to the starting pitching, but they have all collectively seemed to hit a wall. They are averaging 5.5 innings per start and actually had an ERA of 7.08 without the single starts Vasquez and Tata who were 1-0-3.00. Verlander 0-1-5.00, Robertson 1-3-5.47 and Miller 1-1-6.75 were mediocre while Rogers 0-1-10.45 and Bonderman 0-2-10.12 were horrible. Rogers has an excuse in his elbow. I am not sure of Bonderman’s issue, he did have 14 strikeouts in 16 innings?

    In the bullpen Capellan and Durbin struggled as they had identical 6.75 eras in 13.1 combined innings. The lefty trio of McBride, Seay, and Byrdak had a respectable 3.86 era but gave up 30 base runners in 16.1 innings. Miner and Grilli were pretty good as they scarped up 3 wins and had a 3.38 era. Jones had 5 saves and a 3.38 era giving up 7 base runners in 8 innings.

    This most recent inning was the worst performance since the 5-13 8th inning in 2006. A couple of key guys are dealing with injuries on offense and the starting pitching has hit a wall. A good trade deadline move will often pick up a team emotionally (like Texeria for Atlanta). The Tigers set silently and now must find a way to get their ship righted or they will be watching the playoffs on TV this year.

  • Game 109: White Sox at Tigers

    PREGAME: Still looking for that magic to return, the Tigers turn to Jeremy Bonderman who is coming off the worst start of his career. He’ll do battle against Javier Vasquez. The two hooked up in the front end of the doubleheader last go round with Vasquez getting the better of Bonderman.

    Game Time 7:05

    BTW: I know we’re all frustrated by the recent play. This is clearly evident in the comments. I don’t have a lot of commenting rules, and one of them is no swearing. The filters pick up the biggies, but there are a lot of other instances of swearing without swearing, like f’d up for instance. Or dropping an asterisk into a word to keep it from being a pure swear word. Please refrain from this as I will start deleting these comments from now on.

  • Andrew Miller to the DL

    Andrew Miller’s hamstring injury has landed him on the 15 day DL. Fernando Rodney was recalled from his rehab assignment and will take Miller’s spot in the rotation. Presumably Chad Durbin or Zach Miner would take Miller’s place in the rotation.

    Andrew Miller has amassed 131 innings between the minors and the majors this year. I didn’t expect him to be pitching much beyond this point in his first full year of professional ball, so I don’t think this loss will be as great as it first seems. True, they have to replace his production in the rotation, but that was something I thought they would need to be doing later this month anyways. Who knows, maybe this will actually give his arm a little time and extend his season.

    As for Miller’s outing last night, the 4th inning seemed to take a toll on him as he amassed 36 pitches, and only 8 of those topped 91mph.

    As for Rodney, I thought it was curious that the Tigers were adamant that he perform well in Toledo before bringing him back. He hadn’t done well enough prior to Miller’s injury and yet now he’s ready? I know that sometimes you have to improvise, but the team was content being a reliever short last night with Chad Durbin not available. If they thought he wasn’t ready 24 hours ago, and he didn’t pitch last night, what makes him more ready tonight?

  • Tigers Minor League Wrap

    Toledo 1 Charlotte 4

    Erie 5 Connecticut 7

    Lakeland 13 Fort myers 4

    Quad Cities 11 West Michigan 5

    Brooklyn 2 Oneonta 3

    GCL Blue Jays 0 GCL Tigers 3

    GCL Tigers 3 GCL Blue Jays 7

  • Neifi era ends, and Miner is back

    Two roster-ish type notes. First, Neifi Perez was suspended 80 games for another positive test of a banned stimulant. You think this is what Leyland meant when he said that Perez “brought a lot of energy” to the team. Let’s hope he kept it to himself.

    Also, Zach Miner has returned from his bereavement leave and Jose Capellan was optioned out to make room for him. Capellan has had a tender elbow, so he didn’t really contribute much in the last week.

    Timely that Zach is back because the Tigers will be without Chad Durbin who is with his wife and new baby.

  • Game 108: White Sox at Tigers

    PREGAME: The boys are back in town, and this time it’s an actual homestand instead of just another stop on the Tigers July North American tour.

    They welcome in the White Sox and Mark Buehrle. The Tigers beat up Buehrle to the tune of 14 hits in 6 1/3 innings, but he bounced back and threw 8 shut out innings against the Blue Jays.

    The Tigers send out Andrew Miller who will be looking for that illusive 6th inning out. If he records one it will be his first since July 6th.

    Game Time 7:05

  • links for 2007-08-03