One Night of Silencing Critics

Justin Verlander is terrible in April? He wasn't this time. I didn't see a lot of the game, but he looked almost midseason in the few innings I saw of him. The eight innings and nine strikeouts will attest to that. And he only threw 108 pitches in those eight innings which is downright economical for him. Apparently he did have one little hiccup where he gave up a two-run homer to Derrek Lee, but I was impressed with what I saw (Then again, I get impressed by Justin Verlander on a routine basis).

The off-day looks as though it worked wonders for Miguel Cabrera, who had better swings all night and hit the 250th home run of his career (It also looks like congratulations will be in order for him and his wife later in the season. Apparently the couple is expecting their third child and first son, although I don't know when the baby is due). Victor Martinez followed up Cabrera's home run with one of his own, and finished the game with three hits. But the star of the game was Alex Avila. There's been a lot of grumbling that Victor Martinez should be the starting catcher because he provides more offense. I've mostly refrained from chiming in on this argument because it's way too early to make decisions like that, plus I find it to be a somewhat one-dimensional argument. The way the Tigers are built, they shouldn't have to have enormous production from all nine positions, and with that in mind, I'd prefer the stronger defender be behind the plate (and before you bring up wild pitches, I'll remind you that Martinez also let a wild pitch get past him in the one game he's caught so far). Avila's not exactly a Gold Glover, but he's better than Martinez. He staked his claim on the job last night, falling a triple shy of the cycle and ending up with five RBIs. He's the first catcher to collect five RBIs in a game since Pudge did it against the Phillies back in 2007 (Thanks for the Pudge reference, Fox Sports Detroit). One game isn't going to resolve this debate, but it does make for a decent rebuttal. 

The Tigers finish up this road trip tonight. Brad Penny looks to bounce back from an awful start against the Yankees and get back into my good graces (Oh, who am I kidding? He's yet to make it into my good graces). As much as I'm moaned and complained about him, I really don't expect him to get lit up every time he pitches, but if he doesn't put in a good start tonight, the fans at Comerica Park tomorrow won't be very friendly. The bullpen is well-rested should they be needed, thanks to a combination of the off-day and Justin Verlander. Chris Tillman starts for the Orioles. He was part of the group that dominated the Rays, giving up only one run. The Tigers have a better offense than the Rays, but the Orioles still have a lot of confidence despite losing last night.

Dom Perignon and Circus Plays

Photo: AP

Again, this was kind of a strange game, but the Tigers pulled out a win in the end, which is the important part. Rick Porcello was on cruise control for the first four innings. It looked like he would have no trouble whatsoever. Then all of sudden, he gave up six straight hits to lead off the fifth inning. The first four were all hit very hard. The rest of the hits in the inning were bleeders and infield singles that happened to be bunched together. Jim Leyland said that Porcello was having trouble keeping his pitches down. I’ve heard that can happen with a sinkerballer on extra rest because he feels too strong (although the pitch that Yuniesky Betancourt hit out of the ballpark was a hanging slider). We’ll have to see what Porcello does in his next start (which won’t come on regular rest, either, but it’ll be closer than the long layoff he had this time). After some serious struggles in that last game in Chicago, the bullpen was much better this time. They got helped out by some good defense. Casper Wells made a terrific throw from the outfield to cut down Kila Ka’aihue trying to leg out a double, and Alex Avila made an even more entertaining play, falling into the Royals’ dugout to catch a popup (He nearly did it twice, and it was certainly nice of Ned Yost to catch him both times).

Scoring six runs off Zack Greinke is no easy feat (unless you’re the Minnesota Twins, in which case, it’s quite simple). I thought the four runs they got off him early would have to be enough, but they were able to fight back. In addition to his circus catch, Alex Avila had a terrific day at the plate. He had a two-run single early to pad the Tigers’ lead (a padding that they would end up needing). He also had two other hits, including a home run (opposite field shot into the bullpen that Phil Coke caught barehanded). Meanwhile, Will Rhymes became the first player in history to have his first major league home run called via instant replay. Congratulations to him. Not only that, it put the Tigers in the lead for good. And I don’t think Miguel Cabrera has broken out of his slump, but he did have an RBI single.

The series continues tonight, and the Tigers will be facing Bruce Chen yet again. It feels like they’ve faced him fifty times this season. Actually, it’s just three, and he has a win, a loss, and a no-decision. The no-decision came the last time he faced the Tigers, which was at Kaufmann Stadium. He went 4.2 innings, giving up four runs on six hits and three walks (the Tigers probably should have scored more against him). He is coming off a win against Oakland, however. And maybe he’s just the person to get Miguel Cabrera out of his slump, because Cabrera’s got some gaudy numbers against him (.583 with two home runs). Meanwhile, Armando Galarraga is coming off a very rough start against the Texas Rangers. I never did figure out what his problem was. I sense that he is very, very frustrated right now because things are not going the way he wants them to. And I’m not sure how many of you picked up on those shots of him in the dugout on Saturday, but I’m guessing he’s resorted to drastic superstitious measures to change his luck, because he’s shaved his head (or close to it) and it looks really bad. Galarraga’s looks were never one of his strong points, but still…yecchh. Now, normally that’d be more than enough to get me pissed off (and I would not want a superstition like that reinforced; I was about ready to strangle the mohawked bullpen earlier in the year), but for some reason I’m not this time. I guess I just feel so bad for how things have gone for him that I just really want him to pitch well and get a win regardless. It still looks terrible, though. Anyways, enough about personal grooming. The last time he faced Kansas City, he was battling elbow soreness and ended up walking five but only giving up one run in five innings, which he later attributed to pure luck. However, he’d strung together several good starts before his last disaster, so I’m really hoping he can get that confidence back, trust his stuff, and either channel or set aside that frustration (I’ve noticed that when he’s going good, I sense an air of calmness about him; he needs to find that). Your Mood Music for tonight: I was never able to find a decent copy of the song that I think best describes Galarraga’s feelings toward his situation, so I’ve got the next best thing, which is a song from my favorite band. It is quite fitting to the situation, as well.

Luck of the Irish

Photo: AP

This is going to be a REALLY short post because I have to be at work soon. Max Scherzer was very, very good last night. The only mistakes he made were the home runs to Manny Ramirez and Brent Morel. For the longest time, it looked as though not only would he be the tough-luck loser, but that the Tigers were going to get no-hit in the process. Once they finally got on the board in the hit column, though, the floodgates opened. They took advantage of Edwin Jackson’s leg cramps to ambush him and tag him for four runs and the loss. Alex Avila dealt the big blow with the tie-breaking double, which Austin Jackson followed up with a two-run homer. If there was anything bad about the offense last night, it was that Miguel Cabrera struck out four times, only the second time he’s done that in his entire career (the first being during his rookie season in 2003).

Today, the Tigers are on big Fox for the afternoon game. Justin Verlander is coming off a win against the Orioles, and he pitched well against the White Sox last time he saw them. Freddy Garcia was supposed to start for the White Sox, but he’s been bothered by back problems so Lucas Harrell will start instead. The Royals tagged him for six earned runs in a game the White Sox eventually won. The Tigers scored four unearned runs off him back at Comerica Park. I’ll be at work today, so I’ll probably miss the bulk of this game.

These Boys Still Have Fight (In More Ways Than One)

Photo: AP

Oh, dear. This sure was a complicated game, wasn’t it? I was able to watch it on the MLB.tv archives (with numerous technical difficulties along the way), but I already knew the final score. Watching it live must’ve been nerve-wracking. I thought Armando Galarraga was better than he had been in his two prior starts. From a pitching standpoint, it looked as though he overcame some (but not all) of those psychological hurdles I discussed (By the way, it looks as though I was right about what was going on, because the Free Press published an article within hours of my post that basically confirmed what I had speculated). He was a lot more aggressive with his pitches, and was good at throwing the first-pitch strikes, and the pitch f/x chart had his slider (velocity vs. spin angle) looking more like it did in June. At the same time, he said he thought his slider was moving a little too well because he was having trouble throwing it for strikes. It’s unfortunate that his outing had to end the way it did. Still, I think there was much more about this outing that was positive than negative. One of the negatives actually happened in the dugout, when Galarraga got into a heated argument with Alex Avila and later Gerald Laird (especially unfortunate because that probably got played over and over on ESPN). The timing of it was particularly odd because the bottom of the first had been scoreless and fairly uneventful. We’re never going to find out the whole story of what was said or what the disagreement was, but I will say it seemed really out of character for Galarraga (and Avila, for that matter). Galarraga is usually known as one of the more easygoing members of the team, but I guess even the most mild-mannered person can only take so much frustration before it boils over and you lash out at someone for something miniscule (and I can speak from experience on that as well; I’ve had occasions where frustration has gotten the better of me and I’ve said and done things I’m not proud of). Still, Verlander and Laird (both of whom seem more fiery than Galarraga or Avila) had a shouting match in the dugout last year and it blew over rather quickly. I expect this to do the same, especially since it was so out of character. I just hope it doesn’t damage his reputation.

The offense was finally not handcuffed by the opposing pitching staff. The Tigers put on a pretty good display of power for a team that had not hit many home runs recently. It’s hard to narrow down some of the highlights. All I got to listen to during my lunch break was the seventh inning and the very beginning of the eighth, and so the only highlight I was able to listen to was Miguel Cabrera’s home run (which was a welcome sound; he’d been on quite a power drought). But he wasn’t the only one to homer on the day. Ryan Raburn went opposite field, and Jhonny Peralta has his second two-homer game in a Tigers uniform. The big blow was actually Johnny Damon’s two-run triple that gave the Tigers the lead for good, however. It seems like everyone (or, at least, every spot in the lineup) contributed to the win.

And just like that, the Tigers have finally won a road series for the first time since May (and the first one of three or more games since the very first series of the year). Now it’s time to venture into that pressure cooker known as Yankee Stadium for what will probably be four very long games. Tonight’s starter for the Tigers is Max Scherzer, who got outdueled by Jeremy Hellickson. Jason Beck had previously mentioned that Verlander would start tonight, leading me to think that they might want Verlander to pitch on regular rest, but alas, that is not the case (I’m going to the game on Saturday, which means whoever pitches tonight will pitch then, and I have nothing against Scherzer, but I like Verlander better). This will be his first ever start against the Yankees, although he has faced several of their hitters before, albeit not for many at-bats (the one who has seen him the most is Lance Berkman, who is 1-for-7). The Yankees will start Javier Vazquez, who has had kind of an up-and-down year, but he pitched well in his only other start against the Tigers this season (he took a tough-luck loss since Rick Porcello tossed a shutout). Since I tortured you with some good numbers that Magglio had against other pitchers, I will mention that he’s only 7-for-39 against Vazquez. The guys who have hit him the best are Cabrera (10-for-26 with three home runs) and Damon (8-for-24 with two home runs). This might be kind of an awkward series. It’ll be Johnny Damon’s first visit to Yankee Stadium since he left the Yankees, and it’ll be the first time the Tigers have to face Curtis Granderson (remember, he was on the DL when the Yankees were at Comerica Park), although it might not be as awkward tonight, since Granderson and Scherzer were never teammates. Granderson has not really had the kind of year the Yankees probably thought he would have. He was actually benched for a couple games recently so that their hitting coach could do some major surgery on his batting stance (I really have not seen much of Granderson at all this year, but I hear from those who have that he had returned to his pre-2006 batting stance prior to this retooling). He has been slightly hotter since, although he has had mini-hot streaks at various points during the season, but they haven’t lasted long and his batting average has hovered around .240 for most of the year. Still, that’s something to watch out for, and that book I had been reading (The Psychology of Baseball) says there is statistical evidence to suggest that players actually do tend to do better against teams that traded them. Your Mood Music for tonight: Ozzy Osbourne.

Facing Your Demons

Photo: AP

Needless to say, last night was by far Rick Porcello’s best effort against the White Sox in his career. He seemed to be in mini-jams all evening, but the sinker was working and he managed to get out of it with plenty of ground ball outs. Leyland felt he left him in there a little too long, and I’m inclined to agree, but two runs in seven innings is not bad at all. Plus, Carlos Guillen turned an absolutely sweet double play that will make all the highlight reels. By the way, I wonder how long Jose Valverde has been dealing with that abdominal strain. Still, Phil Coke did a good job in his absence.

Of course, we’d be talking about a tough-luck loss if it weren’t for the heroics of Alex Avila. Contact was an issue for just about everyone against Edwin Jackson. Like Porcello, Jackson found himself in trouble occasionally, but where Porcello got ground balls and double plays, Jackson just kept striking guys out (although I think the gun at the ballpark was hot; there is no way he threw a pitch at 100 MPH). All the Tigers’ runs came via the home run ball, and once again, they did it without Cabrera (who has to pick up the pace; A-Rod has now passed him in the RBI race, so he’s not leading any Triple Crown category at the moment). With has hot as Ryan Raburn has been, I was kind of expecting him to be the one to homer off J.J. Putz (if anyone), but it happened one batter later. It probably would not have been a home run at Comerica Park, but it’s nice to have the bandbox that is U.S. Cellular Field work in the Tigers’ favor, for once.

This series concludes today with dueling Venezuelans (and former teammates again, if you want to be precise, albeit for less than a month). Freddy Garcia was beat up by the Twins in his last start, but he hasn’t given the Tigers a whole lot (Leyland seems to believe the Tigers take a bad approach when Garcia pitches). It would help matters if Miguel Cabrera could return to his previous ways of bombing the ball against his friend. He hasn’t done a whole lot recently against him. Meanwhile, Armando Galarraga is getting frustrated to the point where his emotions are starting to show on the mound, which is rather uncharacteristic. I tried checking his Pitch f/x charts from his last two starts and compared them with his perfect game (which I’ll take as his best pitching performance of the year). I did come up with a couple things. First of all, he hasn’t really thrown the four-seam fastball (which was abundant in the perfect game) in his recent starts. It’s been almost exclusively sinker, slider, and changeup. The other thing is that the depth on his slider is closer to his fastball than it was back in June (I’m not going to explore this further unless I have to, because it is not an area I’m well-versed in). But at this point I don’t think mechanics are the main problem. There’s a book I’m currently reading called The Psychology of Baseball, by Mike Stadler. It’s not as engrossing as I thought it would be, because it mostly focuses on the subconscious processes involved in hitting, pitching, and catching fly balls (“muscle memory,” if you will). However, it did discuss the two main psychological reasons for control problems, and I think Galarraga may be falling victim to both (I know I shouldn’t speculate like this, since there could be so much going on off the field that I don’t know about, but it beats having other people write him off). The first pitfall is the pitcher telling himself to “not” do something, which actually makes him more prone to doing it because it “primes” the part of the brain that controls it. It’s like that old cliché of telling someone not to think of an elephant. The example the book uses is of a pitcher telling himself to not throw a wild pitch, but I think it’s entirely plausible that when a big power hitter like Paul Konerko or Carlos Quentin steps into the batter’s box, Galarraga may be telling himself to not give up a home run (since that’s what he’s been frustrated about), which, according to this theory, makes him more likely to give one up. The other main psychological cause of control problems (and the more common one, according to the author) is thinking too much about your mechanics, and I believe there’s a lot this going on as well. When a pitcher starts thinking about his mechanics as he is pitching, he’s mentally overriding what is essentially an automated process, and there is no way the conscious mind can be as fluid and consistent with the delivery as the subconscious mind. I know this from my own personal experience. I was in the high school band, and I found that if I thought about the notes or the fingerings too much, I couldn’t play as well. I had to figure out a way to not think about it and just play. I have had the same issues with fencing. Thinking too much about the parry or the lunge slows me down too much. And this phenomenon fits in perfectly with Armando Galarraga’s tendency to overthink the situation when he gets in trouble. In this situation, he can’t think about not giving up home runs. Not in that ballpark. It’s extremely unlikely that he won’t give one up. Trying to prevent that will only make things worse. He has to focus on making his pitches and limiting the damage. And once he decides what pitch to throw, he needs to trust his subconscious and let his mechanics take care of themselves. Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. I know that from experience as well. Also unfortunate is that I’ll be at work during this game, so I can’t even offer moral support.  

Rick Porcello to the Rescue

Photo: AP

After so many close games, followed by Saturday’s ugliness, it was nice to have a relatively laidback win. Rick Porcello did a very good job. It looked like he had a very good slider yesterday. His outing was a nice bounceback from being lit up by the White Sox (and by the way, they are his next scheduled opponent). Meanwhile, it was nice to see the offense score a bunch of runs for a change (By the way, Trevor Bell is the grandson of the original Bozo the Clown. How much did he get teased about that?). There still wasn’t a whole lot of extra-base power, but they managed to string together enough singles together to make it not matter. They also manage to work around a couple of bad baserunning mistakes (Avila getting picked off, Kelly trying to take second on an airmailed throw, etc). It was a big day for Alex Avila and Johnny Damon in particular.

It’s now time to face the Rays again. They are currently on a five game losing streak that has seen their pitching staff give up eight home runs on Saturday and striking out seventeen times while coming to within an out of getting no-hit again yesterday. Still, I don’t really have a good feeling about tonight’s game. I really like Armando Galarraga, but I know full well that he can’t outpitch David Price, and therefore he should not try to (Granted, I get really paranoid that every start that Galarraga makes will be his last start, so perhaps this is clouding my judgment). My baseball guru actually gave me a little bit of a catcher’s insight on Galarraga the other night. He likes the movement on Galarraga’s pitches, but says that he’s seemed distracted in his last couple starts (he phrased it as “not quite there”). His theory was that Galarraga was still upset about having been sent to Toledo last month, but I don’t really think that’s the case. I told him my theory about Galarraga’s primary weakness (He’s a very smart person, and smart people have a tendency to overthink things when they’re in trouble; the subsequent advice was that his catcher needs to get him back on track and make him throw whatever sign gets put down). Another thing is that from the quotes I’ve read from him in recent starts, Galarraga is getting increasingly frustrated at giving up home runs. The thing is, he’s always been prone to giving up home runs (which I don’t have a problem with so long as they are solo shots or, at worst, two-run homers). I’m worried that the frustration will cause him to come unfocused should he give up another home run. He’s made three starts in his career against the Rays. One was a good start, one was a decent start in which he got charged with five earned runs after giving up a three-run homer to straightaway center field with two outs in the eighth inning, and the last start (which came late last year) was an unmitigated disaster after trying to rush himself back from an elbow injury. Meanwhile, David Price has not given the Tigers a whole lot. The only Tiger in the lineup with decent numbers against him is Ramon Santiago (he also possesses the only extra-base hit in the group). Both Miguel Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta are 0-for-7 against him. Still, it would be nice to see Cabrera at least get an RBI in this game. He’s gone seven games without one (and in a slump update, he did hit two loud outs in his last two at-bats yesterday).

Sweep Times Two

Photo: Getty Images

I couldn’t find a really funny picture for this one, so I’ll just give you the postgame high fives. Apparently Jeremy Bonderman’s day began with some really loud outs, although at the time I did not know this, since Gameday’s description of “Ryan Zimmerman flies out to center fielder Don Kelly” doesn’t tell you a whole lot beyond that. Luckily, class ended early and I was able to listen to or watch most of this game, and by then Bonderman had made an adjustment and settled in. Tigers pitching sure did rack up a lot of strikeouts in this series. And Valverde got a bit of a break, so I’m guessing he should be fresh and ready to go tonight if he’s needed.

It was a good day for just about everyone in the Tigers lineup. Every starter except Don Kelly got multiple hits. For the first time on the homestand, no one hit a home run, but they didn’t really need to. Two Tigers hit doubles right to the wall. One was Alex Avila who drove in two, and the other was Miguel Cabrera, who added to his league-leading RBI total with three on the day (which is good, because Vladimir Guerrero was starting to catch up again). And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Ramon Santiago, who had himself a 4-hit game.

And so this has been a very good homestand so far. Next up: The last-place Diamondbacks with a slew of former Tigers. This has the makings of one very awkward series, especially considering that tonight’s matchup essentially features the guy the Tigers cut loose against the man who replaced him. You didn’t think we’d see Dontrelle Willis again so soon, did you? Since departing for Arizona, he’s made two starts for them. In the first, he pitched quite well, throwing six shutout innings. In the second, he gave up two runs in four innings and walked six (also had two wild pitches and two balks). Do I even need to tell you what the game plan should be? A word of caution, though: Those of you who have watched all season know that Dontrelle has been quite good at getting himself out of trouble, usually in the form of a key double play. There’s no reason to think that won’t continue (It has to stop sometime because allowing that many baserunners will catch up to you eventually, but it hasn’t yet). And there actually are a few Tigers with history against him (Johnny Damon, Carlos Guillen, and Brandon Inge), but it’s been several years. Meanwhile, since replacing Willis in the rotation, Armando Galarraga has pitched three really good games, but has only come away with one win (no points for guessing which one that was). The Tigers have won all three of those games, but for the most part they have taken the lead very late in those games (This is a very plausible scenario for tonight because the Diamondbacks’ bullpen has been awful this year). He faced the D’Backs once before, back in 2008. He got the win and gave up only one hit, but he walked five in that game (That was a very strange game for all sorts of different reasons. That was the infamous sock rally game, Galarraga drew a walk when he was at the plate and actually scored the first run for the Tigers, Pudge made one of the most heads-up defensive plays I have ever seen late in the game, and the starting pitcher for Arizona that night was Max Scherzer). The only current Diamondback with a hit against him is Adam LaRoche, who is 2-2, but as I said, several of the others have at least one walk. One thing to watch for is that with the lefty starting for Arizona, Gerald Laird will likely be behind the plate tonight. He has only caught Galarraga once this year, and it was the one bad start against the Dodgers. Now, I’m a firm believer that both catchers should be able to catch all the pitchers, but Galarraga and Avila have had a nice rhythm going during these past three starts (and even last year, Avila seemed slightly better at keeping Armando focused and not overthinking). Still, I don’t mean that as a knock on Laird, and I would hope the two work just as well together. It’s just something to look out for. But you’ll have to do the looking out because I’ll be at work.

Justin Verlander is the Man

Photo: AP

This might be a short post, since I’m in class right now, but we’ll see where I go with this (There’s a stream of consciousness for you). The sleep deprivation (and subsequent gagging down of iced mocha something-or-other) was worth it. Justin Verlander made it worth it all by himself. And he says he didn’t have his best stuff, yet still went the distance. We should all be so lucky. I was kind of hoping for a low pitch count game, but 116 pitches in nine innings is a lot better than 116 pitches in five or six innings. He hasn’t really had a high-strikeout game yet, but those will come if he keeps pitching the way he has, which is awesome.

Most of the game was an epic pitching duel between Verlander and Braden, until Brandon Inge opened the scoring in the seventh with a solo home run. I had observed that he was swinging the bat a little bit better in recent days, and finally got rewarded. And on his birthday, no less (That makes him the second Tiger to homer on his birthday this year; Miguel Cabrera was the other, and in case you’re interested, the next birthday among position players is Ramon Santiago’s on August 31, so you’ve got a long wait). Gerald Laird’s bunt base hit chased Braden from the game, and the Tigers were able to get some breathing room after that. It was a good game for a lot of the rookies. Casper Wells had his first big league hit and later his first RBIs. Austin Jackson had two hits, and Danny Worth had three. The only rookie who didn’t really join in on the fun was Brennan Boesch.

I meant to discuss this yesterday, and I forgot. A lot of the Tigers writers have taken up a vigil on who will be the last mohawk standing. Much to the chagrin of some Tigers fans (not me), the number of players with mohawks is shrinking rather than increasing. Not including Scott Pickens (who I rarely ever see) or the two fauxhawks (which look okay), we currently stand at two down, six to go. Alex Avila got rid of his at the “suggestion” of his fiancée (I like her already) last week, and Brandon Inge disposed of his a couple days ago (though I don’t buy his explanation that it was because he wasn’t hitting with it, since he doesn’t strike me as all that superstitious; more likely, he either just plain got tired of it or his wife got in his ear about it, despite his statements to the contrary). Yes, Brandon looks terrible right now, but he’ll look okay in a few weeks (Alex Avila can grow a full beard in the span of about four innings, so his hair will be back in no time).

The Tigers wrap up this brief two-game series in Oakland today, and this is a place where they’ve had a tough time winning series (although in this case they’re either gonna sweep or split). The last time we saw Jeremy Bonderman, he pitched a solid inning of relief against the Red Sox. He was also solid in his last start, which was against the Yankees, but took the loss because he didn’t get any run support. I don’t even remember the last time he faced the A’s. It’s been quite a while, because he only has a history against three batters, and the only one with significant history is Eric Chavez (6-15 with 2 doubles). The A’s are starting rookie Tyson Ross, who has mostly pitched out of the bullpen this year, but did make one spot start. Apparently it was the plan that he go back to the bullpen, but he’s getting another start (no explanation provided as to why, although the A’s have had some injuries to the starting rotation recently). Obviously, no Tiger has faced him before, although he’s a former college teammate of Brennan Boesch.

But There is No Joy in Detroit-ville...

Or in a great deal of Michigan and parts of Ohio, I would say (and yes, that was a really bad attempt at evoking “Casey At Bat”). The Red Wings (who would have no problem with the San Jose Sharks, or so I was told by a great many people who know much more about hockey than I do) lost and are now on the verge of getting swept (with dire consequences). The Tigers lost and are also on the verge of getting swept (with sucky-but-not-quite-so-dire consequences). And, of course, the passing of Ernie Harwell kind of pushes all that aside (as evidence of that, the Bless You Boys post on Ernie currently has 42 comments, while the post on the game recap has one). I’ll work on my requisite Ernie Harwell piece over the off-day and have it for you on Friday (It’ll be short, as I don’t have a lot of memories of him, regrettably). For now, there is still baseball to discuss.

Dontrelle Willis started off shaky, but finished fairly strong. If that’s going to be a rough outing for him, I’ll take it. He kept the Tigers in the game, as did Zumaya. Meanwhile, perhaps I was wrong about a guy’s sinker not sinking on extra rest, cuz the Tigers sure did pound a lot of pitches into the dirt. Nick Blackburn managed to vulture his own complete-game win. The final inning of this game was characterized by rookie power followed by rookie failure. Brennan Boesch hit one of the longest home runs I have ever seen (398 feet? Really? That thing just about made it out of the stadium). Alex Avila doubled, though I’m not sure why that wasn’t called an error (He hit the ball hard, but Young dropped the ball in a similar fashion to the Raburn clank-job from last week and that was called an error). After that it kind of went downhill. Avila rounded third too aggressively and didn’t see the stop sign when Santiago’s bit for a run-scoring single was snagged by J.J. Hardy and he got trapped off third for the final out of the inning. In the bottom of the ninth, what probably should have been a double by Hardy got played into a triple by Jackson and Boesch, both of whom got too close to the wall (although, in fairness, no one, rookie or veteran, really knows how that wall will play yet). Then came the wild pitch that scored Hardy for the winning run. And it was ruled a wild pitch, but to me at least it looked like it was a blockable ball (Let’s not forget that Avila is still learning the finer points of catching). I’ve seen passed balls charged on tougher plays than that.

Well, if the Tigers don’t want to get swept, they’ll have to get some good work out of Rick Porcello, or else chants of “We want Galarraga” will echo throughout the land (though, to tell you the truth, considering Armando’s bad history against the Twins, he probably wouldn’t be much help in this particular game). Now’s the time for the stat geeks’ predictions to come true. He looked better in his last start, though the final line doesn’t indicate that. He was getting more groundballs, but didn’t get away with any mistakes. However, there seemed to be fewer mistakes. Rick hasn’t pitched against the Twins since game 163, which was one of his best starts. Jason Kubel has mashed against him, as has Delmon Young. Everyone else’s numbers are pretty pedestrian. The Tigers will face Kevin Slowey, and here’s where I give you that warning I give every year: At some point this season I will call him “Kyle.” I don’t know why. I just have an incredible urge to call him Kyle. His mother totally should have named him that. Anyways, Kevin (not Kyle) Slowey is 3-0 with a 6.50 ERA against the Tigers. He must get some massive run support with those numbers (either that or the ERA ballooned in one outing, cuz I really don’t remember the Tigers knocking this guy around). Plus, that damage must’ve been done by guys who have moved on, because the current numbers would not seem to indicate that ERA. No Tiger has homered off him (hell, there are only two extra-base hits off him), and there are several people in today’s lineup whom he has not faced (or has seen very little of). Johnny Damon is 4-for-10 against him, while Magglio is a respectable 3-for-9, but Cabrera’s only 1-for-10. Ouch. The Tigers will begin wearing patches on their sleeves honoring Ernie Harwell starting today (I imagine the patches were made up before the season started; it was just a matter of them getting sewn on).

Too Many Walks

I’ve been trying to think of some sort of introductory sentence, but I just can’t come up with one, so let’s just get with the recap. This was the first time I got to see a Max Scherzer Tigers start from the beginning. He seemed to do a good job with the exception of pitching to Vladimir Guerrero. Alex Avila helped out by throwing out a couple runners (he’s caught 3 runners now, and all three have been with Scherzer on the mound, which is kind of weird). He then took back one with a balk/error when he touched the ball with his mask (He said after the game that he lost his balance and used his mask to balance himself and the ball happened to roll into it, but if you look at the replay that’s clearly not what happened; he was definitely trying to scoop the ball into his glove with his mask). The bullpen walked too many people, though, and that proved to be their downfall. Unlike a lot of the other bloggers, I don’t have that much of a problem with keeping Ni in the game for the bottom of the ninth. He was pitching to the bottom of the order and the bullpen’s been taxed recently, so I’m sure Leyland wanted to make as few pitching changes as possible (The command issues in the previous inning were there, but the free pass to Guerrero looked to me like an unintentional intentional walk). Ni committed the cardinal sin of walking the leadoff man in the ninth, a rookie making his major league debut. The next two moves were dictated by that: A bunt and an IBB. No sense in bringing Perry in for that. I did wonder why they didn’t go after Garko, since Cruz is a better hitter, but Ryan Perry gave no indication that he would’ve thrown strikes to either of them. And when he got ahead to Elvis Andrus, he threw a terrible 0-2 pitch that Andrus was able to line into right for a game-winning hit. By the way, was Jim Leyland really pissed last night and didn’t talk to the media? I haven’t seen a single solitary quote from him in any of the news stories I’ve read. As another aside, the lefties in the ‘pen have all walked way too many this year. And don’t think that Daniel Schlereth will come to the rescue in that regard. He’s walked eight in 8.1 innings at Toledo (and the Mud Hens have their own problems right now).

Considering the Tigers’ bad numbers against Harden coming into the game, I wasn’t surprised that they didn’t do much against him. They finally chased him in the fifth due to a lot of walks and Cabrera’s two-run single. Then they couldn’t do anything  against the bullpen until they got to Neftali Feliz, who is regarded as a superstar in the making. They had an excellent approach against him. Don Kelly struck out but it took seven pitches. Ramon Santiago also made an out but he had the key at-bat of the inning, battling Feliz for thirteen pitches and basically wearing him down, setting up the heroics of Jackson, Damon, and Magglio. None of them hit the ball especially hard, but it was good enough to briefly tie the game. Plus, the Tigers combined to make Feliz throw 31 pitches, which means he probably won’t be available tonight. Brennan Boesch had a successful debut at the plate, with two hits, but needs to work on the baserunning a bit. He didn’t tag up on a play he should have, and then got doubled off with the bases loaded in a key moment.

Tonight’s game will send Dontrelle Willis to the mound. He pitched the best he’s done all season on Monday but still got the loss. Texas is the only team he’s beaten as a Tiger. As a matter of fact, he had a really good start against them in that win, throwing a one-hitter. That was at Comerica Park, though. I’m not sure if being in Ranger Ballpark (much more home-run friendly) will make a difference. Most of the Rangers, obviously, don’t have much history against him. Ryan Garko’s gotten him pretty good in their brief meetings (3-for-6 with a home run, a triple, and 6 RBIs). Scott Feldman was supposed to start last night but he was sick. He didn’t do too well in his last start, which was against the Yankees, lasting only 2.1 innings. He was the Rangers’ best pitcher last year, winning seventeen games. His ERA against the Tigers is over eight, and when they saw him last year, they knocked him out pretty early. Most of that historical damage must have come from former Tigers because there’s nothing eye-popping about the current crop (I do remember Granderson hitting two home runs off him). There’s a couple guys with decent enough numbers. Cabrera’s 2-for-5 and Everett is 3-for-8. Everyone who’s faced him has at least one hit against him except Gerald Laird (but that’s 0-for-2, which is pretty meaningless). I’ll be at work until 9:00 tonight, which means I’ll miss the beginning of the game.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Well, I’m tired and maybe a little frustrated but not as angry as the rest of the blogosphere. As much as I hate to admit it (and getting shut out is one of my least favorite ways to lose), you might have to give the opposing pitchers some credit. More on that later. I wonder when the last time was that Dontrelle Willis had a tough-luck loss. It certainly wasn’t as a Tiger. At any rate, he had himself a pretty damn good start. The strikeout total was a little low, but other than that, it’s a line I would take from any of our starting pitchers. He had some issues in the third (when the two runs scored) and in the fourth (when he got bailed out by a nice catch from Magglio), but looked really strong in the other innings. Hell, the Jeff Mathis double that started things for the Angels wasn’t that well-hit.

And then there’s the complaints about stranding baserunners. To be honest with you, though, I’m not sure how you would go about doing things differently. It looked to me like most of the guys had a good approach when there were runners in scoring position. They weren’t swinging wildly at pitches out of the strike zone or popping stuff up. They weren’t trying to do too much, just take the ball up the middle. The problem was that they couldn’t get it past the pitcher. And therein lay some bad luck. With runners on first and second and one out, Alex Avila hit a scorching line drive that Piñiero caught and turned into a double play. Then in the eighth, with runners at second and third and two outs, Carlos Guillen there were a few instances of guys hitting balls well but right at defenders. I just wish they hadn’t made it so easy for Rodney, after being so used to the adventures he used to put us through.

If I may indulge my own eccentricities for a moment, I watched last night’s Rockies-Nationals game while waiting for the Tigers to come on (I wasn’t sure who to root for in that game, since I like the Rockies as a team better than the Nationals, but my favorite player ever is with the Nats). And yes, I was pretty much only watching that game because I was able to see both Carlos Gonzalez and Pudge Rodriguez (and besides, my only other choice was a Blue Jays-Royals matchup). During the game, Pudge had pretty much the exact same dropped ball issue that Gerald Laird had in that game against Kansas City (So indeed it happens to the best of them, so you can stop harping on Laird). Later on he really flaked out when Carlos Gonzalez struck out on a pitch in the dirt and Pudge started frantically scrambling around looking for the ball (and he was looking all over the place), only to finally discover it had been in his glove the whole time. Considering how long it took him to realize that, I’m amazed he was able to throw to first in time, because CarGo can really run. And what would that have been ruled if he HAD made it to first? You can’t really call that a wild pitch or passed ball because it never got past the catcher. On the flipside of things, I knew Pudge had gotten off to a good start with the bat, but I didn’t realize he was leading the National League in hitting. And here I only drafted him for my fantasy team out of sentimentality. I’m not sure he’ll keep it up (after all, he IS a 38-year old catcher), but it’ll be fun while it lasts.

Next up on the late-night docket: Rick Porcello against Scott Kazmir. The Tigers have not seen Kazmir since before he got traded to the Angels (as a matter of fact, they might not have seen him at all last year). His career numbers against the Tigers aren’t all that great, but most of those numbers must’ve been put up by those who aren’t with the Tigers anymore cuz most of the current crop are probably dreading facing him right now. Magglio’s 1-for-11, while Guillen is 0-for-7. Miguel Cabrera is 3-for-11, with all three hits being for extra bases (a double, a triple, and a home run). The only Tiger who has hit him well is Ramon Santiago, who is 2-for-3 with two home runs (both of which came in the same game, I believe). Gerald Laird will likely be back in the lineup, as I don’t think Leyland would want to start Avila against a lefty (should’ve stuck with the switch-hitting there, Alex), but I’m not sure Leyland will be doing Laird a favor (1-for-12 with five strikeouts). Johnny Damon is also under .200 against Kazmir and Inge is just at .214 (though his three hits off Kazmir were two doubles and a triple). My personal observation of Kazmir in the past is that he’s allowed quite a few baserunners but not many runs. It always seemed like the first two would get on (via hit or walk), and then he’d strike out the side. He has struggled out of the gate for the Angels, though. Much has been made about his slider not working right now. For the Tigers, Rick Porcello faced the Angels once last year, at Comerica Park. It wasn’t a very auspicious start. He gave up two home runs in the first inning (one to Chone Figgins, the other to Juan Rivera), but it was a game the Tigers won. The most ABs any of the Angels have had against Porcello is three, which is not much to go on. Porcello’s gonna have to keep the speed demons off the bases, though. Dontrelle Willis was able to do that. Your Mood Music for tonight: After seeing Ichiro in the last series and Hideki Matsui in this series, I guess I’ve gotten into sort of a Japanese mood. I don’t really consider myself a fan of anime, but when I was in college I had a lot of friends who were into it so it was fairly inevitable that I would get into a couple shows. This is the first season opening theme to one of them. I actually found out there’s an English version of the song (by the same group, by the sounds of things), but I’m used to the Japanese version (oddly enough, since I prefer watching the show dubbed).

Miguel Cabrera: Defying Gravity

Photo: Otto Greule, Jr (Getty Images)

Wicked was awesome. This game was also awesome, except for the rash of uneven pantlegs that drive symmetry lovers crazy (On a related note from a different game yesterday, I learned definitively that alternate-color jerseys and white shoes offset quite a significant amount of boxiness. However, the underlying reason remains a mystery. But I digress). I finally got to see a little bit of Max Scherzer pitching as a Tiger. And he pitched decently, for the most part, as did the bullpen. Ryan Perry in particular got himself out of a big-time jam.

The offense had some issues with stranding runners, but every time that happens, I keep thinking of something Lou Pinella said when he was serving as a color analyst for the 2006 ALCS. And this is something I actually remember from watching the game in 2006. I did not get it from watching the archives later. He said that if you keep getting baserunners, eventually you will score them. I don’t know why, but that stuck with me ever since (of course, he was talking about the fact that Nate Robertson kept getting into a lot of jams against the Oakland A’s, but Pinella was wrong in that instance; Still, if that series had gone to Game 5, who knows? Besides, the Cardinals didn’t have any problem scoring runs in the World Series that year). At any rate, Miguel Cabrera hit a 3-run homer on his birthday. And it went a long way. Austin Jackson came up with a big RBI single late in the game to tack on an important insurance run. Of course, not all the stranding was really the fault of the Tigers. Both Guillen and Avila absolutely smoked balls right at Chone Figgins who, on both occasions, turned them into Web Gem-quality double plays. Speaking of Alex Avila, he finally looked like he had good swings for probably the first time all year. We’ll have to see if he keeps that up or not. On the flipside, Magglio went 0-for-5. It had to even out sometime.

Okay, this long and winding road trip has made its way to Anaheim for four games (yuck). Places don’t get much weirder than the Big A either. And the Angels are hot right now. They just swept the Blue Jays and they got some really good pitching in that series (Rodney is now the closer, by the way). They’ll lead things off with Joel Piñiero. He’s pitched well so far this year, and apparently he used to dominate the Tigers, but has lost his last four decisions to them. The only one I remember is the last one, when he was with the Cardinals last year (I don’t even remember him ever being in the American League). The Tigers scored four runs against him in the first inning but nothing after that (It was a game the Tigers won, though). No current Tiger has homered off him, but Maggs and Guillen both hit over .400 against him. We might see Alex Avila behind the plate again, only because Gerald Laird has not hit Piñiero well in the past (only 2-for-13), and I’m not sure what they’re gonna do about shortstop because neither Everett nor Santiago has a hit against him. Meanwhile, Dontrelle Willis will start for the Tigers, and I’m still not sure what’s gonna happen. He hasn’t really imploded yet, but he hasn’t exactly instilled confidence in the fanbase, either. Earlier today, Tom Gage pointed out on Twitter that Dontrelle is 0-3 in nine career road starts for the Tigers (He does not mention ERA, which I would imagine would be quite high). I’m not surprised by the fact that he’s winless. I’m more amazed that he’s somehow ended up with six no-decisions out of the nine starts. At any rate, he hasn’t faced the Angels since 2005, which was the year he almost won the Cy Young. Obviously, a lot’s changed since then. As a matter of fact, only three current Angels have ever faced Dontrelle: Bobby Abreu (who wasn’t even with the Angels in 2005), Juan Rivera, and Maicer Izturis. Get ready for a long night. Really. That’s not a knock on Dontrelle at all. The game starts at freakin’ 10:00 at night. I’m not getting to sleep before 1 AM likely. And I have to get up at 7:00. So yeah.

Well, That Sucked

Yeah, every team’s gonna have “those” games where the pitching, offense, and defense all fail. You just kinda wish they wouldn’t happen against teams in your own division, particularly the ones projected to be bottom feeders (though I’m still not convinced the Indians are that just yet; they easily could’ve won their last four games). At any rate, I still haven’t seen Max Scherzer pitch for the Tigers. He was gone before I got home. Somehow, the Royals developed the Red Sox-esque ability to foul off pitch after pitch, particularly Jose Guillen (although the Royals actually put up quite a few hits against the Red Sox over the weekend). Errors and late walks did not help matters. There was something else I noticed while following on Gameday. On Sunday, I know some of the Tigers fans online got concerned when Verlander’s velocity seemed to drop to the low 90s after his rocky first inning. I don’t know if it went back up at any point because I didn’t see much of the game, so I’ll have to take their word for it. However, Gameday had Scherzer’s velocity below normal yesterday. I think I saw 93 go by once, but for the rest of his time on the mound, his fastball was at 89-91. Maybe one of them is suffering from a loss in velocity, but not both of them. Something screwy’s going on.

Though the offense had some issues again with stranding runners, when you score five runs, you should probably win. They finally got to Luke Hochevar, but the problem was that suddenly they lost their ability to score against opposing bullpens. Other than that, there’s no new developments save for the Guillen home run.

I had a very bizarre dream the other night. I dreamt that Alex Avila was hosting Saturday Night Live. They were doing a sketch that was a spoof of Star Trek (original series) and Avila was playing Spock. Then I dreamt that I was some Zorro-like vigilante and one of the other Tigers (don’t remember who) was my sidekick. What the hell did I eat before going to bed?

Jim Leyland is right about one thing, though: The starters have to go deeper into games, especially since Bonine, Thomas, and Ni are probably all unavailable today. If you needed to turn to a guy to give you some innings, I’m not sure Dontrelle Willis would be your first choice, but that’s the hand we’ve been dealt. He put up a good outing against the Royals a week ago, but as Max Scherzer proved, seeing a team again in such a short time span is not easy. Plus, there’s that small issue that he could have a meltdown at any time. And on the flipside, you all know Brian Bannister and his numbers. He generally pitches well against the Tigers, he generally pitches well in day games, and his ERA at Comerica Park is 0.45. So why couldn’t this be a night game?

The Alluring Mystique of the Left-Handed Catcher: Why?

NOTE: I’ll get to Nate Robertson stuff later, because I was two-thirds of the way through writing this post when that news broke, and now that I put the effort into writing it, I want to post it.

We’ve entered the home stretch of spring training and the roster has thinned out significantly. Today we learned that Alex Avila will indeed begin the year as the backup catcher. Avila’s somewhat of an enigma to me. When he first got called up, there were all sorts of concerns throughout the Tigers fan community. After all, he’d only been catching for about two years and was only in his first professional year, plus prior to his callup, he’d been in somewhat of a slump (if I remember correctly). Then he has a good five weeks or so in the big leagues and all of a sudden, these same fans are treating him like he’s the next Johnny Bench. Did I miss something? Where’s the hesitation? Dusty Ryan put up good numbers in slightly fewer plate appearances in 2008 and he’s no longer with the Tigers. Avila probably will be a good player, but I don’t think there’s enough information to treat him like a known commodity yet. At any rate, in light of Avila making the team, I want to discuss something I have not understood and I have not received a satisfactory answer for: The left-handed catcher.

Baseball people talk about left-handed catchers like they are a rare and precious commodity. Without looking up rosters, I can name five left-handed starting catchers off the top of my head (Joe Mauer, Brian McCann, AJ Pierzynski, John Baker, and Miguel Montero). I can think of another four (Jorge Posada, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Victor Martinez, and Dioner Navarro) who are switch-hitters. And that’s not counting backup catchers and guys I’ve forgotten about (I know I have). That accounts for about a third of teams (I rounded up to make up for the guy I know I’ve missed). Every team needs to have a couple of good left-handed bats, obviously, but for some reason, the impression I get from baseball people is that the left-handed catcher is a more valuable hitter than any other lefty, and I have no idea why that is. I asked my Baseball Guru about it, and his answer was that since catcher is a position where you have to throw right-handed, most of the people who catch are going to be natural righties, and therefore not that many catchers will bat left-handed (essentially, “because they’re rare”). I’m still not satisfied with that answer because there are other positions that require you to throw right-handed, and yet, you almost never hear of people drooling over a left-handed third baseman or a left-handed shortstop (and when it comes to left-handed second basemen, I can only think of Chase Utley and a few switch-hitters, which would make them even more rare). Also, there are plenty of outfielders and first basemen who throw right-handed but bat left-handed. It also seems to me like a left-handed catcher would be an offensive liability, especially in the late innings (since generally, righties hit righties better than lefties hit lefties). Basically, in my world, if I’m the GM or manager, I just want a decent number of lefty bats in the lineup. I don’t care if they’re catchers, outfielders, shortstops, or whatever.

Another thing I don’t understand is that switch-hitting catchers get a little bit of love, but not nearly as much as the lefties. You’d think they’d get more love. After all, being able to hit from both sides of the plate would take care of that offensive liability I pointed out previously, at least in theory (in practice, switch-hitters tend to be better from the left side because that’s where they get more ABs from, but there are exceptions). I know Avila used to be a switch-hitter. I wonder why he stopped doing that.

And then there’s the question of defense. I have no idea if there is any marked difference in defensive ability between right-handed catchers and left-handed catchers, and I’m not going to look it up. But it seems like the current crop of left-handed catchers are more known for their bats than their gloves. Pierzynski, McCann, and Baker all generally have caught stealing percentages in the low twenties. Joe Mauer is slightly above average defensively, but wins Gold Gloves because with the offensive numbers he puts up, he’d have to be a complete butcher not to. My Baseball Guru has the old-school philosophy that the catcher’s priorities are to work well with the pitchers, block balls in the dirt, and throw out runners. Anything you get offensively from him is gravy. I tend to share that belief. Now, if you get offense from a catcher who is a good defender, that’s awesome, and I think Avila has the chance to do that. His arm is plenty strong enough by the looks of things, and now it’s down to footwork and other mechanics, as well as blocking balls. Personally, I think he’d be better served in the long-term honing his defensive skills by being an everyday catcher at Toledo. After all, the Tigers have a long and proud history of excellent defensive catchers (Freehan, Parrish, and Pudge all won multiple Gold Gloves and could throw out runners with the best of ‘em, and Laird should have won the Gold Glove last year). I want Avila to live up to that legacy, but he still needs work in order to get there.

Goonies Never Say Die

Photo: AP

This game was looking an awful lot like the first two games until the ninth inning. I don’t know what happened with Verlander. He was dominant until the sixth inning, and then the Blue Jays started hitting everything hard (I will tell you this: I was smelling Edwin Encarnacion home run for this entire series). How do you go seven innings with nine strikeouts and no walks, but give up ten hits and five earned runs? But the Tigers were able to bail him out, which they don’t often do, and the bullpen was very, very good. Marco Scutaro, who is a good defender at shortstop, made two costly errors for the Blue Jays, the latter of which allowed the winning run to score (Mario said he cursed him for breaking his headset on a foul ball in the seventh inning). The big blow came from Aubrey Huff’s pinch-hit three-run homer in the ninth. I have never seen anyone swing the bat THAT aggressively and make contact before. The reaction shot in the dugout brought its own amusement. Miguel Cabrera jumped onto the back of Armando Galarraga, who piggybacked him all the way to the stairs (Geez, the guy’s already dealing with a sore elbow; you don’t want to add back problems to that). And I love Inge’s expression in that photo. After the game, there were more antics with Armando, who tried to give Alex Avila the towel full of shaving cream while Alex was being interviewed (mostly he got the back of his head, but it was still funny, especially the fact that Armando managed to mug the camera as he was sneaking up on Avila).

Well, from now on, it’s all Central, all the time. First up, the Kansas City Royals come into town, and, as strange as it sounds, they’re hot right now. They swept the Tigers and then took two of three from the Indians. And the Tigers will be facing two pitchers they didn’t do a lot against last week, PLUS Zack Greinke. Jarrod Washburn takes the hill tonight for the Tigers. It was a battle for him back in KC, but he somehow managed to go five innings and only give up three runs. The Tigers will see Robinson Tejeda again, and he shut them out the last time they met. Tejeda’s on quite a scoreless streak right now, and he’s got really good stuff. Your Mood Music for tonight: Well, Patrick Swayze died yesterday. I thought I should post something Swayze-related, but “She’s Like the Wind” doesn’t really fit. So I settled on this, which kind of describes last night’s victory. And hopefully we can sing it again tonight.

Now That's Just Flat-Out Getting Outpitched

When you’re trying to study for an exam on antihypertensive agents, this isn’t exactly the type of game you’d like your boys to be putting up. Yes, the offense didn’t do much last night, but they did score five runs the night before and scored plenty of runs in St. Petersburg, so right now you have no idea if this was a one-time yawn or the beginning of a hitting slump. It’s not like they were facing a guy with an earned run average over six. Tejeda had a good ERA and came into the game with off a start in which he shut out the best offense in baseball (the Angels), along with a 13-inning scoreless streak in which he had only given up two hits. The only strange part about that is that during this streak, his command has been very good, something which has not exactly defined him in his career. However, not doing anything against Kyle Farnsworth is just flat-out unacceptable. At this point, though, offense has been up and down, but the pitching has not been good in this series, and that is the more troubling aspect. Tigers pitching has given up 12 runs in this series to a team that (contrary to popular belief) ranks behind them in offense (they also kinda/sorta did this in Oakland, but there was only one game in which the pitching had a real meltdown). Justin Verlander may have only given up the one run, but it took all he had to prevent the Royals from scoring any more. Against a better offense, he may well have given up four or five runs at least. And the bullpen fared worse. It’s not like Seay and Rodney are mop-up guys, either. By the way, Bobby Seay has hit Mitch Maier in both games of this series with the same pitch in the same spot in the same count. That’s consistency for you. And unlike a lot of people online, I understand why Rodney came in to pitch the eighth (he hadn’t pitched in four days), but having him in there in a non-save situation was just asking for trouble. However, you can’t necessarily say that the runs Seay, Rodney, and Fien gave up were “the difference” because had the score remained 1-0 going into the ninth, you know Soria would’ve started the inning, and maybe Avila would not have had a sacrifice fly opportunity (in fact, this is quite likely).

Well, it’ll be up to Jarrod Washburn to salvage today’s game and avoid one really bipolar road trip (The Tigers had one like that last year, too, though; they swept the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, then proceeded to get swept at the Metrodome). He skipped his last start to rest his ailing knee. Hopefully, that’ll improve his pitching. He’s made two (arguably one) good starts as a Tiger, and one of them was against the Royals, where he pitched eight shutout innings against them back at Comerica Park. Meanwhile, the Tigers need to take advantage of the fact that Zack Greinke is NOT starting today. Instead, they’ll face lefty Lenny DiNardo, who has had time in the big leagues but spent the entire year for the Royals at Triple A, where he had a nice earned run average of 3.22 (I believe he also pitched for Team Italy in the WBC). Leyland has already said that Granderson will get the day off, with Raburn in center and Wilkin Ramirez in left. Hopefully, I’ll see some of this game. I have lab right around the time it starts, though. I have heard that the lab only lasts about two hours at the most, though, so I might be able to catch the tail end of the game.

Overcoming Bad Things

Photo: AP

Hmmm. Where to start with this one? There was certainly a lot of action, but the important thing is that the Tigers have now won two road series in a row, and they’ve done it in ballparks that they don’t normally play well in. This game started very badly, and that’s a shame. This is pure speculation on my part, but Armando Galarraga just didn’t look healthy to me. I’ve said before that I don’t think this is the first time he’s dealt with arm soreness this year (in fact, he himself said as much), and his pitches looked like they did in those “bad” starts where I was suspecting injury. However, this time, his velocity seemed to be gone as well. Obviously he’s not a hard thrower, but his fastball is usually 90-91. I don’t think it got above 88 last night. And his pitches didn’t have the movement they have when he’s going good, and if I was seeing that, then it should be blatantly obvious to anyone with a shred of baseball knowledge. So with Nate Robertson pitching well for the time being, that’s a big, big dilemma. Here’s my take on it: IF Galarraga is healthy, either keep him in the rotation, or shut him down. I don’t want him in the ‘pen. If he’s not healthy, then it’s obvious that you have to shut him down, get the arm healthy, and get him ready to be productive for the Tigers next year (And besides, he would join a long list of WBC pitchers who have had injury/effectiveness problems this year: Dice-K, Carlos Silva, Jeremy Guthrie, Roy Oswalt, Matt Lindstrom, and more). That was the bad part. The good part was that the Tigers’ bullpen was spectacular with 6 2/3 shutout innings. Eddie Bonine, Fu Te Ni, Jeremy Bonderman, Bobby Seay, Zach Miner, and Brandon Lyon all played a big part in the Tigers winning this game. They allowed the Tigers to chip away and finally break through against James Shields, a pitcher who had dominated them in previous meetings. The big hits in the game were Guillen’s two-run triple and Alex Avila’s 2-run homer (Avila had a nice night with the homer and throwing out a baserunner). Here’s a fun fact: Each of the Tigers’ eight runs was scored by a different person. But can you be surprised at that? It felt like a Spring Training game with all the pitching changes, pinch-hitters, pinch-runners, and defensive replacements.

Today the Tigers have an opportunity to sweep the Rays at the Trop for the first time ever (Really?). Edwin Jackson will get the nod against his former team. He could use a good start. He hasn’t been as sharp of late. The Indians got to him in his last start for four runs. He also needs to pay better attention to runners than he did in Anaheim. He’ll be opposed by Wade Davis, a top prospect for the Rays who is making his Major League debut. The Tigers got to Carlos Carrasco in HIS big league debut last week, but that’s been the exception and not the rule. Usually, they’ve been dominated by rookies this year.

I Am NOT Crazy

The full explanation of that title will come at a later date. At any rate, outside of the fact that the score was 3-2, this game really did not exhibit much of that west coast strangeness. Armando Galarraga (who looks like he’s gotten a little bit of that weight back, but the jersey is still rather baggy) did a good job. He got a little out of whack in the second inning, and unfortunately that’s what allowed the A’s just enough runs to hang around until winning in the ninth, but other than that, the slider and the fastball looked good. And as for the play that ended it, well, I wonder what would’ve happened if Raburn hadn’t tried to dive for the ball and if Avila didn’t let the ball get past him. At any rate, the offense couldn’t do much against Cahill to start. The swings were definitely getting better starting around the fourth/fifth innings, but at that point, the Tigers mostly hit balls right at people. And Oakland has a good bullpen. That pretty much sums it up.

Today marks the last game for me before school starts (which means that I’ll miss a great deal of the Anaheim series, which may not be a bad thing). Rick Porcello was good for five innings against Seattle, but ran into trouble in the sixth. His lone start in Oakland (back in June) was not a good one. Meanwhile, the Tigers will face Brett Tomko, who was released by the Yankees, picked up by the A’s, and proceeded to shut out the Yankees. I believe the Tigers saw him on Opening Day last year. If I remember correctly, Carlos Guillen hit a home run off him.

Finally Some Late Heroics

Photo: AP

REALLY short post today, as I have to go to work in about half an hour. It was the top of the eighth inning when I got home from work, so I arrived just in time to see two normally rock-solid relievers have meltdowns, one on each team. For some reason, Bobby Seay has not pitched well against the Twins and the Mariners this year (I still remember the two-run homer he gave up to Russell Branyan last month). However, he managed to vulture a win when the Tigers put up four against Mark Lowe. That home run that Alex Avila hit was a BOMB. Even Cabrera was impressed by it, judging by his postgame interview. The Tigers followed that up with some really good at-bats to retake the lead. And one game after making three errors, Ryan Raburn made up for it with some really good baserunning, first by tagging up on Aubrey Huff’s deep fly ball, then by turning Cabrera’s mistake into a steal of home.

There was some big news yesterday concerning a beloved former Tiger. Yes, Pudge Rodriguez has gone home, so to speak. The Rangers acquired him from the Astros to back up Taylor Teagarden. He must really want the chance to get back into the postseason for him to give up a starting job like that (Though maybe he also took a look at the fact that Teagarden is currently hitting .198). I like the Rangers better than the Astros anyways. And if he can’t be in Detroit, then the next best thing is for him to be with the team he came up with and where the fans absolutely love him (This news created quite the Pudge lovefest on Bless You Boys last night). So this is great news, for the most part.

Tonight, Justin Verlander takes the mound for the Tigers. He was sensational against the Red Sox. He hasn’t faced the Mariners since April, where he had a really bizarre loss. He was perfect and downright dominant through four innings, only to give up five runs in the fifth. He stayed in until the eighth and gave up six runs. Hopefully, this outing looks more like the first four innings of that start and less like the last three. He’ll be opposed by Ian Snell, whom the Tigers last saw with Pittsburgh. In fact, that was the only game that they won in that Pittsburgh series. They won that game 3-1, with two of those RBIs coming off the bat of Rick Porcello. I’ll be at work tonight, so you know what that means.

My Night at the Ballpark

Photos: ME!

Last night was a blast. When I went to my one game last year, the Tigers scored 10 runs and hit four homers. This year, the Tigers scored 10 runs and hit 4 homers. What a coincidence. However, I always seem to attend on a night where the starting pitcher has to battle. And I’ve yet to see a Tigers’ starting pitcher NOT give up a home run. Andrew Miller gave up a solo home run to Josh Fields and a grand slam to Juan Uribe. Justin Verlander gave up a two-run homer to BJ Upton. Armando Galarraga gave up a solo home run to Frank Thomas. Now, I have Edwin Jackson (who, if you will recall, I have seen in person before, albeit as a member of the Rays) giving up a two-run homer to Billy Butler and a solo shot to Brayan Peña. Suffice it to say, Jackson did not have the best command and he was hit pretty hard, but he made the pitch when he needed to. And now, our four home run hitters:

Never in my life did I think I would see Ramon Santiago hit a home run, although now that he has seven, you have to think about when you’re gonna stop saying that. For what it’s worth, I HAVE seen Sean Casey hit a home run before. By the way, this photo IS from the at-bat where he homered. Also, he’s got the best batting music of anyone in the lineup.

In the two games I went to in ’07, Guillen hit a triple in each one. I did not see him last year because that was around the time he developed back problems. This time, he homered. By the way, for someone who isn’t used to hitting left-handed against left-handed pitching, Guillen’s not been doing bad. This is NOT the at-bat in which he homered. He did get an RBI single in this at-bat, though.

I was a little bit surprised to see Alex Avila in the lineup, but considering that they made public that he was catching Edwin Jackson in side sessions, maybe I shouldn’t have been. Also, when did the pronunciation of his last name change? I noticed that when I watched part of the FSD replay after I got home last night. Also, the public address announcer at the ballpark says his name in a really annoying fashion (“Alex A-VEEEEEEEEEEE-la”). By the way, my Personal Baseball Guru is on my side when it comes to taking a wait-and-see approach with Avila. It’s too soon to know whether or not he is truly a “catcher” and not merely just a “hitter.” For what it’s worth, though, one of the things I was worried about was his ability to hit left-handed pitching. It’s a small sample size (and Ron Mahay doesn’t exactly shut down lefties), but so far, so good. Like Guillen, this is NOT the at-bat in which he homered.

For some reason, I ended up with more pictures of Cabrera than anyone else. I assure you, I did not plan that (Trust me, if Verlander had been pitching, I would’ve had, like, a hundred pictures of Justin). Miggy had himself quite a night, with four hits and three RBIs. This is probably the best photo I got of anyone all night (I’m not that great a sports photographer). It is of his first at-bat. I do have a picture of him right before he homered, but that shot came out kinda blurry (Ironically, right before he hit the home run, I was thinking to myself “If he homers here, I want to get a picture of him right before he does it”).

For more pictures, go to the album I set up on Flickr.

Today, the Tigers can go for the sweep. From what I hear, Armando Galarraga still isn’t back to full strength, but whatever illness he had seems to have passed, and he’s hoping for six good innings. He hasn’t done so well in August, but he’s put up two good starts against Kansas City this year. Still, given the fact that he was sick and didn’t eat for three days, I don’t think it would be fair to make any sort of conclusions should he stumble in this start. He’ll be opposed by Kyle Davies, whom the Tigers have scored lots of runs against this year. Leyland has loaded his lineup with righties, as Davies is actually more effective against lefties despite the fact that he’s a right-handed pitcher. Meanwhile, Galarraga’s not exactly going to have the best defensive alignment behind him. You’ve got Thames and Maggs in the outfield (not the best range for either of them), Raburn at third (Inge rests, although don’t be surprised if he makes an appearance should the Tigers have the lead late), and Guillen at first (with Cabrera DHing).