I Warned You About the West Coast

Man, first game on the west coast and ALREADY we’re in Twilight Zone Hell. What happened? Justin Verlander pitched the best game I’ve seen from him in a long time (better than the start against Texas), and he STILL gave up six runs. And for the most part, it was just that fifth inning (you can’t even call them fluke hits, because the balls were hit hard, moreso than any out he got). Peripherally, you got everything you would’ve wanted out of him: 7.1 innings, a low pitch count, lots of strikes, only one walk, eight strikeouts, and 99 miles per hour. Even Leyland can’t figure it out. There is only one parallel I can try to draw, and it actually isn’t one of Verlander’s games. It was in ’07 during Interleague play in a game against the Atlanta Braves. Kenny Rogers and John Smoltz were locked in a scoreless pitching duel. Both pitchers were totally on their game and pitching very, very well. Then all of a sudden in the sixth inning (with two outs), the Tigers strung a bunch of hits together and scored 5 runs against Smoltz. It’s somewhat reminiscent of last night’s game cuz that just came out of the blue as well. Of course, in Verlander’s case, he got victimized by his defense again. For some reason, the defense just hasn’t been there for him in his first three starts this season. All the other pitchers get spectacular plays, and he gets costly errors (mostly from Inge). The errors cost him an inning (and a win) against Texas, and last night it may have cost him the game. Had Inge been able to not make the error, Russell Branyan would’ve been a dead duck at the plate and there would’ve been two outs, meaning it would’ve been unlikely that Franklin Gutierrez would bunt. But it looks as though Seattle has evolved into the type of team that you can’t allow them opportunities to force the issue. Verlander said he’s going to have a séance to the baseball gods. He’s probably joking, but he’s certainly welcome to do so provided he doesn’t do anything stupid that’ll piss me off.

By the way, the Tigers DID outhit the Mariners, but all nine of their hits were singles. Granted, Miguel Cabrera probably could’ve had three doubles, but he hit the ball so hard each time that it got to the outfielder really quickly (apparently there are times when you can hit the ball TOO hard). And the only reason his first single was not a home run was that he didn’t get it up high enough. He’s really the only one who hit the ball hard in the second inning when the Tigers got their three runs. Guillen had an infield single that was really a double-play ball bobbled by Beltre (so both Gold Glove-caliber third basemen made miscues in this game, though Inge’s was more costly), and Inge hit a ground ball in the right spot. And I don’t know why Santiago was given a sacrifice while Gutierrez got credit for a bunt single.

By the way, I had a dream last night that Brandon Webb no-hit the Tigers. Does anyone else find this disturbing?

It doesn’t get any easier for the Tiger hitters tonight as they’re up against Erik Bedard, who seems to have regained his form. I was taking a look at the press pass online, and to my surprise, most of the Tigers have had very few at-bats against Bedard (a lot of 0-for-2s or 1-for-4s or the like). The only one with a significant number is Laird, who has had 14, but not much success. Miguel Cabrera is only 1-for-6 off Bedard, but that one hit was a home run. Edwin Jackson has good career numbers against the Mariners, but so did Verlander. Please, no more Twilight Zone Hell. By the way, I have a small request that Gerald Laird switch to wearing long pants, not because of any Fashion Police issue, but because I keep getting him mixed up with Brandon Inge when he’s at the plate. They have, like, the exact same legs. Your Mood Music for tonight: Well, as most of you know, Safeco Field is apparently right next door to a train yard, cuz you can hear the trains throughout the whole game. In honor of that, I thought it would be most fitting to present Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train.”

Well, That Sucked

Gee, it’s hard to do this sort of post THIS early, when I haven’t quite stocked up on quips and source material. Plus, after all that talk I did about realizing potential, Verlander didn’t do it. I was as happy as anyone to see 98 show up on the radar gun for the first time in what seems like forever, but he couldn’t seem to do anything with it. It’s like he’s letting himself get flustered too easily. No matter how he pitched, you can’t really take it as an indication of how his season will pan out, at least not after one start. To prove my point, I’ve got three more names for you: Cliff Lee, Brandon Webb, and CC Sabathia. Their box scores weren’t pretty either (Verlander may have given up more runs than them, but Sabathia walked five and didn’t strike anyone out). Does anyone expect them to keep giving up six or seven runs a game? Of course not. HOWEVER, we all know that Verlander is MUCH better than that, and he needs to start showing it, cuz I won’t always be able to point out three other aces with bad starts.

It’s a shame that Verlander pitched badly, cuz it’s probably a once-in-a-lifetime event that you’re gonna score five runs off Roy Halladay. You don’t really want an offensive outburst (relatively) to go to waste like that. And I don’t know why, but it seems like every home run that was hit last night (both by the Tigers and the Blue Jays) was hit a LONG way. I mean, we had two opposite-field shots, one to dead center field, and one that reached the upper deck. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Brandon Inge hit an opposite field home run. Is it the new swing?

Okay, what was up with the Blue Jays fans throwing stuff onto the field? Jason Beck thought it had something to do with Maggs and the ongoing Hugo Chavez saga, but from what I’ve heard, it sounds like a lot of stuff was thrown at Josh Anderson (who, by the way, sounds as twangy as I thought he would). I was wondering what would happen if the Blue Jays DID have to forfeit the game. Would everyone’s totals still count or would all that be erased? Alas, it seems we’ll never find out. Still, it gave us the opportunity for one funny moment. Once the Tigers retook the field and Juan Rincon was warming up again, Mario & Rod did a promo for the home opener, with Rod adding the coda, “And I can guarantee you that our fans will not be throwing things at the Texas Rangers.” Other than that, Rod Allen wasn’t exactly in midseason form, as he kept getting things wrong. He said that Josh Anderson was making his Major League debut (no, that was late last year) and that Kenny Rogers began last season on the disabled list (no, that was in ’07).

By the way, in case you’re keeping track, it ain’t just the Tigers. The entire AL Central went 0-3 yesterday. I already documented that Cleveland got bombed by the Rangers, but Minnesota, although they did better than the Tigers or Indians, still lost 6-1 (and that was at the Metrodome). However, that’ll come to an end today, because the White Sox and the Royals are playing against each other, so the AL Central is guaranteed one win today. Hopefully two, once Edwin Jackson faces the Blue Jays. I can’t imagine there are many secrets between him and Toronto cuz of all those years he spent with the Rays. He must’ve faced them a bunch of times. However, I HAVE read that he has never lost at Rogers Centre. After Roy Halladay, the Jays’ rotation gets pretty young and inexperienced, but talented. They’ll send David Purcey to the mound tonight, and the Tigers saw him twice last year. They won the game in Toronto, but lost in Detroit. From what I remember, Purcey went to a three-ball count a lot and gave up quite a few walks, but the Tigers had a tough time getting hits off him. Still, he IS left-handed, albeit a hard-throwing one. Maybe I’ll put my neck on the line a little bit more and say that while I wasn’t feeling particularly good about Opening Day (which, once again, I didn’t say outright, but I think you could probably sense it), I do have a reasonably good feeling about the rest of the series. Remember, though, that doesn’t always manifest itself as a win. You’ll have to watch this one for me, since I work tonight. As a matter of fact, I won’t get to watch a whole game again until the Home Opener on Friday.