Toledo 3 Louisville 13
There was only one Tiger affiliate playing today, and it didn’t go well. Yorman Bazardo started and got shelled leaving in the 3rd inning He walked 4 and combined with 6 hits gave up 7 runs. Cory Hamman came on in relief and didn’t walk anyone in 3 innings work, but surrendered 6 runs on 3 homers.
The offense was mostly Ryan Raburn who had 2 hits and a walk. Timo Perez homered. Chris Shelton walked twice. Brent Clevlen was 1 for 3, but added 2 strikeouts.
PREGAME: First of all, Happy Easter to everyone (or at least those that celebrate).
It’s the rubber match and it will be Jeremy Bonderman taking on Brandon Duckworth.
This will be the first start of the year for Duckworth, who has a tendency to allow a lot of baserunners. Over the last 3 years his WHIP is 1.83 across 101.3 innings pitched.
Bonderman is making his 2nd start and looking for his first win.
Game Time 2:10
POSTGAME: I love how I tease the game with a stat, like about Duckworth:
who has a tendency to allow a lot of baserunners
and then have the exact opposite happen. Duckworth only allowed 4 hits and a walk. This was despite the fact that the Tigers made him throw pitches and routinely found themselves in hitters counts. In fact, Duckworth threw 51 41 (math is tricky) balls and 49 strikes, yet Tiger batters couldn’t make solid contact. It’s kind of hard to explain.
Fortunately Jeremy Bonderman had a very strong outing with the slider working quite well. He fanned 8 and his only walk was the intentional variety to Mark Teahen who had driven in both runs (I wonder if Teahen will be Bonderman’s new Matt Stairs). He went 6 innings and kept it close enough – with the help of the bullpen to set-up some 06ish heroics.
Magglio Ordonez finally made solid contact and was 2 feet away from a homer to right-center. A full pitch walk to Carlos Guillen was followed by a no-doubter line drive to left on the first pitch to Ivan Rodriguez. And with one swing an afternoon of angst and frustration about the offense was almost forgotten.
Other thoughts:
Toledo 14, Louisville 2
The Mud Hens found some offense today. Chris Shelton was a triple short of the cycle and added a walk. Brent Clevlen got the triple Shelton needed, and added 2 walks as well. Mike Hessman was 5 for 5 with a walk. Dennis Tankersley started and picked up the win allowing 1 earned run in 5 innings. Preston Larrison didn’t allow a run, but he walked 4 (and allowed 2 hits) in 2 1/3 innings.
Erie – PPD again. They’ve yet to play a game.
Lakeland 3, Tampa 1
Michael Hernandez homered, doubled, and drove in all 3 runs for Lakeland. Cameron Maybin was 0 for 3 with a walk and 2 K’s. Lucas French pitched 5 shut out innings allowing 4 hits and a walk against 4 striekouts. Elezar Aponte came on in relief and got the 4 inning save allowing 1 run and fanning 5.
West Michigan 7 , Dayton 8
Gorkys Hernandez doubled twice and singled in 4 at-bats. Santo De Leon also had 3 hits and Audy Ciriaco went 2 for 4. Ryan Strieby hit his second homer of the season. Lauren Gagnier was tagged for 6 runs in 3 1/3 innings with 6 hits, 3 walks and 5 K’s.
PREGAME: Mike Maroth returns to the scene of his last start last year, where he was hammered for 3 homers and 6 runs while only recording one out. Of course he was hurting and landed on the DL following it. (The Tigers actually came back and won 13-8).
Meanwhile the Tigers will take on Gil Meche, he of the very much laughed at contract this winter. Still, the Tigers struggled against him last year. Meche only allowed 5 runs in 20 innings spanning 3 starts. He posted a 17:7 K:BB ratio against
This is the one game that won’t be seen anywhere for the Tigers this season. The 2:10 start time falls during Fox’s exclusive window, and the Royals just weren’t enough of a draw to get a national game.
POSTGAME: This 6-5 Tigers win was more along the lines of what we saw last year. There were 3 homers, all solo, powering the offense. The starting pitching kept the team in the game and handed over a lead to the bullpen. The relievers limited the other team to 1 run over 4 innings. And everything was backed by solid defense.
Good times.
Toledo 2 Louisville 8
Interesting night for starter Virgil Vasquez. He faced 18 batters, and only 5 balls were in play. He fanned 8, walked 3, and allowed 2 homers in 3 2/3 innings. With that many K’s and walks his pitch count ran up to 76. It continued with reliever Ron Chiavacci who recorded 3 of his 4 outs with strikeouts, but allowed 4 runs on 4 hits.
The offense only managed 2 singles. Shelton, who also walked, had one of them. David Espinosa had the other.
Erie – PPD
Lakeland 2, Tampa 3
Strong start for Burke Badenhop who allowed 2 runs (1 earned) in 5 innings on 6 hits, no walks, and 3 strikeouts. Michael Hernandez and Dusty Ryan each had 2 hits, including a homer for Hernandez. Cameron Maybin walked, stole a base, and struck out twice.
West Michigan – snowed out
PREGAME: Ah, a return to Kansas City where the Tigers began their out-of-nowhere season last year with a 2 game sweep to start the season, and clinched a playoff spot with a 3 game sweep in September.
The Tigers will throw Justin Verlander against the Royals. Verlander kind of feasted on Royals last year, allowing only 2 extra base hits and 2 runs in 21 innings. Of course, the 2006 ROY didn’t have to deal with 2007 ROY preseason candidate Alex Gordon.
The Tigers will face their first southpaw in Jorge De La Rosa. De La Rosa only has 144IP in his career and he has nearly as many walks (106) as strikeouts (114). The newly patient Tigers could exploit this number, espeically on a bitter cold night where gripping the ball could be a challenge.
Game Time 8:10
POSTGAME Enough with the excuses about wind in the outfield. Craig Monroe had his second ball this season drop in front of him. Magglio Ordonez screwed up 2 plays in the outfield, one was on the ground so I don’t think the wind impacted it. Plus, the Tigers hit pretty much every ball in the air and the Royals didn’t have a problem with it.
Other comments:
Definitely a bummer that there is no game today, but maybe it is for the best. Even yesterday I remember looking out at Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Guillen, and Pudge Rodriguez standing on base waiting in the cold for a pitching change and just hoping that none of those 6 hamstrings tightened up during the delay.
On to some news…
Last year Jim Leyland kept his rotation intact up until the All Star break. Already in 2007 he’s shuffled the deck. Justin Verlander and Mike Maroth will take their scheduled turns, but then Jeremy Bonderman and Chad Durbin will switch spots. This may be to actually help Durbin, who otherwise would be facing the Royals twice in his first 3 starts. Not that the Royals are especially intimidating, but it could help keep the Royals hitters from getting a read on him. Now he’ll face the Orioles on Monday (their home opener), the Blue Jays, and then the Royals.
I’m still not used to seeing someone other than Alan Trammell wearing number 3, but now Gary Sheffield will be one of the major leaguers wearing 42 on Jackie Robinson day. MLB asked each club to select a player, and the Tigers asked Sheffield.
Ryan McConnell writes a milb.com piece highlighting the talent in hi-A ball this year. Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller of course enter into the discussion.
It’s opening night in the minor leagues, so the wrap is back. If you’re new to the site, I do this most nights and I tend to focus on either remarkable performances, or the top prospects.
Toledo 4, Louisville 5 (10 innings)\
Zach Miner earned the Opening Day start and did okay. He allowed 2 runs on 4 hits, including a homer, and 2 walks over 4 innings. He also struck out 5. Tim Byrdak retired all 7 batters he faced in relief, 4 via the strike out. Corey Hamman took the loss by loading the bases, and subsequently allowing the winning run in the 10th. Ryan Raburn homered, singled, and walked twice. Chris Shelton had a hit, but he also struck out on 3 pitches with the bases loaded in the 9th, one of 2 on the night for him.
Altoona @ Erie – PPD
Tampa 0, Lakeland 3 – 4 1/2 innings
Andrew Miller threw a complete game shutout, well it became a complete game when it was called due to rain. He only allowed 3 hits while inducing 11 ground ball outs and 3 punch-outs. Cameron Maybin was 0 for 2 with a strikeout. Justin Justice provided the offense with a homer.
West Michigan 2 Dayton 3
Chris Cody started and threw 5 scoreless innings fanning 5, walking 2, and allowing 6 hits. Josh Rainwater struggled pitching 2 innings and allowing 3 runs. Ryan Strieby hit a solo homer and Brennan Boesch knocked in the other run with a sac fly. Gorkys Hernandez was 1 for 3.
Game Postponed: The Tigers called this one early. It will be made up on September 10th at 7:05pm
PREGAME: Ah, the rubber match. Detroit evened the series at one game apiece yesterday (barely) and now they’ll try and take the deciding game as well.
The Tigers will send out American League Rookie of the Year Justin Verlander. Verlander had some ups and downs this spring. Due to the prolonged season, he didn’t start throwing until spring training and it was clear that he was a little behind the curve in terms of mechanics. He’d look great, then implode for an inning or two. But he closed out the spring very strong and looks to be ready to go.
He’ll face left-hander Gustavo Chacin which means we will likely see Pudge Rodriguez leading off. As long as someone is on base for Gary Sheffield it should be okay. Sheffield has taken Chacin deep 3 times in 15 at-bats.
Game Time 1:05pm
This is more an observation than a concern at this point, but the Tigers defense just hasn’t looked good in the early going.
The Tigers pitching staff received many accolades for keeping runs off the board last year. But the stat-minded folks pointed to the the lower strike out numbers and wondered how they were getting it done. A great deal of the credit deserved to go to the defense which led the AL in defensive efficiency (the rate at which balls in play were converted to outs).
However, in two games I’ve already seen a couple pop-flies fall in between the outfielders and infielders. I’ve seen Magglio Ordonez battle the wind and lose. I’ve seen 2 runners steal off of Pudge Rodriguez. I’ve seen a couple wild pitches, that didn’t look that wild, sneak past Pudge. I also saw Pudge not try for a likely double play on a foul pop-up. I’ve seen Brandon Inge fumble a routine ground ball and make 2 bad throws that were rescued by Placido Polanco and Sean Casey.
I’m not worried at this point, but more disappointed. The team played so crisp right out of the gate last year, seeing the lack of communication and execution is a little disheartening.
Not everything has been bad though. Carlos Guillen has played exceptionally well with a handful of “wow” type plays already under his belt.
I know it’s only 2 games, and the wind was definitely a factor, but if the pitchers hope to replicate their success from last year they’ll need help from a stalwart defense.
PREGAME: We’ll see if this one gets played or not. The weather forecast is February-esque, so the ring ceremony might look a little odd with the recipients wearing winter gloves. It is almost a guarantee we’ll see the Placido Polanco hoody though.
If they play it, Nate Robertson will be on the hill for Detroit. Robertson owns Reed Johnson, but has had some ups and downs against the rest of the lineup. He doesn’t want to pitch to Frank Thomas (5 walks in 20 plate appearances). He shouldn’t pitch to Aaron Hill who posts and 8 for 10 line.
Sean Casey looks to be the only Tiger excited to face AJ Burnett. While the current roster doesn’t have many at-bats against Burnett, only Casey has demonstrated success going 13 for 23 (with a triple?!).
Game Time 1:05pm
POSTGAME: Just got back, and my fingers are still thawing. Quite the emotional swing in this game to say the least.
Nate Robertson never had a 1-2-3 inning, and like Rodney on Opening Day he seemed to struggle to put hitters away. He threw 104 pitches in 5 2/3 innings and 47 were balls. To his credit though, he kept the ball down with the exception of the Hill homer. As we saw in the 8th inning, anything in the air could have been trouble.
Jason Grilli was only marginally responsible for the 7 runs in the 8th inning. He did fall behind too often, but he induced enough weak swings to get out of the inning with minimal damage. Some wind, some bad luck, and some really bad defense by Ordonez were the big culprits.
Other thoughts:
I took some pictures, and will post those later tonight.
Final Score: Detroit (1-1) 10, Toronto (1-1) 9
Super POSTGAME: So I took my camera and had decent seats. Mind you I’m not a photographer, and I don’t have a top of the line camera, but I thought I’d share a couple of the better ones anyways. You can find the set from today’s game here.
I also flipped the camera to video mode to capture Kenny Rogers getting his ring. I guess he got to the park just in time. He received a warm welcome, as did all the players, but it was too bad the weather was so awful. It really kept the crowd down.
PREGAME: The return of the game posts, also known as “it’s about time baseball season is back.” If you’re new to the site, this is where we discuss the game at hand.
The Tigers will send out Jeremy Bonderman. Bonderman is expected by many (myself included) to make a big leap this year. He’ll get his first chance against a very formidable offense, on a pretty big stage. He has been highly effective against most of the Blue Jays with the exception of Vernon Wells. Wells is 5 for 12 with a couple doubles and a couple walks. Fortunately, Bonderman’s nemesis Matt Stairs (10 for 21, 3 walks, 3 homers) will not be in the lineup today.
The Tigers will be facing perhaps the best right hander in the American League in Roy Halladay. Current Tigers have had very little success against Halladay with a combined 7 extra base hits. Four of those belong to Pudge Rodriguez is is 10 for 18 off of Halladay.
Game Time is 1:05pm with Pennant Raising ceremonies and booing of Governor Jennifer Granholm and Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick set to begin at 12:30. The game can be seen Fox 2 and FSN Detroit and heard on 1270 WXYT.
As a reminder on commenting rules, it is basically 1. Don’t swear, 2. Be nice, 3. Don’t be a jerk
Fangraphs will have live win probability calculations all season long (for more on WPA see here).
1. LF Reed Johnson
2. 1B Lyle Overbay
3. CF Vernon Wells
4. DH Frank Thomas
5. 3B Troy Glaus
6. RF Alex Rios
7. C Gregg Zaun
8. 2B Aaron Hill
9. SS Royce Clayton
1. CF Curtis Granderson
2. 2B Placido Polanco
3. DH Gary Sheffield
4. SS Carlos Guillen
5. RF Magglio Ordonez
6. C Ivan Rodriguez
7. 1B Sean Casey
8. LF Craig Monroe
9. 3B Brandon Inge
POSTGAME:
Well, they came up a little short today on a rough first inning by Bonderman, and a rough last inning by Fernando Rodney. What was really impressive is that threats were very limited in between. The loss is far from devastating, but getting a solid outing from your starter and putting 3 up on Roy Halladay normally gives you a good chance to win (as my buddy Russ said on the way home). To let it get away is a little disappointing.
Because I was too giddy to sleep last night, and worn out by the day, just some bulleted thoughts on the game: