Monday, July 13, 2009

Into the Break on a High Note


Photo: AP

That was pretty good work for a Sunday afternoon, and it was an especially good tune-up for a couple of our All-Stars. Justin Verlander continued his turnaround against the Indians by firing seven shutout innings (though with 116 pitches thrown, he’d probably only be good for one inning in the All-Star Game, and a quick one at that). The only real dark spot of the afternoon was the fact that Zach Miner could not throw strikes in a 10-0 game and blew the shutout by walking in a run (Much has been made about how the Tigers’ pitchers have given up more bases-loaded walks than anybody, and by a large margin, but I think it’s the same four or five guys who are doing it; without looking it up, I know Dontrelle Willis has four, Joel Zumaya has at least that many, Brandon Lyon has at least two, Zach Miner has at least one, and Edwin Jackson has two, though they both came in the same game, and that was back in late April). Meanwhile, the 4,5, and 6 hitters in the Tigers’ lineup had an absolute field day. Marcus Thames had four hits, Clete Thomas had 5 RBIs and fell a double shy of the cycle (that is the second time this year he has almost cycled), and Brandon Inge certainly hit like an All-Star by blasting two home runs. You think he’s ready for the Home Run Derby?

I said I would try to get those Mud Hens pictures up today, but that never happened. I will try to get them up sometime during the All-Star Break, but no guarantees. I’ll be on a school-related internship this week, working 8 AM to 6 PM at a hospital that’s about 45 minutes away, so I’m gonna be busy (and not sleeping very much). Therefore, posting may be on the light side for the rest of the week. However, I will be cheering Brandon Inge on in tonight’s Home Run Derby (I usually don’t watch the Derby, though I did watch last year, but for Brandon, I’ll make an exception; I would’ve made an exception for Magglio two years ago but I was working that night).

No comments:

Post a Comment