If You Can't Outpitch, Outslug!

It was ugly, but the Tigers did get out of Yankee Stadium with a win. Max Scherzer was just as unsuccessful as everyone else at keeping the Yankees in the ballpark (actually, you might say he was more unsuccessful), but this time he got the run support to make up for it. The problem I had noticed with Scherzer when I was in Lakeland was that his velocity seemed low. He attributed this to a problem with his mechanics and said he corrected it in his last bullpen session. The radar gun at Yankee Stadium seems to be broken, as the FS Detroit graphics weren't giving the pitch speed, so I can't tell you for sure if his velocity was back to where it should be, but with the naked eye, it looked like it was. His location was off (obviously), and although a couple of the home runs he gave up may not have even made it to the warning track at Comerica Park, there was still a lot of solid contact going on. According to Jason Beck, Scherzer became the first Tigers pitcher to give up at least four home runs in a game and win since Jeremy Bonderman in 2007 (I don't remember that game). One thing that I think was key was Phil Coke's relief appearance. Even though he gave up a run, he kept the switch hitters turned around to the right side, where it's much harder to homer in Yankee Stadium, and that strategy worked. 

The Tiger bats, meanwhile, got the home run ball working for them in this game. Miguel Cabrera blasted off twice and looked magnificent each time. He finished with three hits and four RBIs. It was a big day for Brennan Boesch as well. He also had four RBIs and finished with four hits (including a home run) and four runs scored. Lost in all the fireworks is the fact that Jhonny Peralta had three hits and both he and Brandon Inge are hitting .364 in this young season (and that's after Inge went 0-for-4). 

There's no rest for the Tigers' pitching staff, as they go from the launching pad of Yankee Stadium to the homer-friendly Camden Yards, and even though it tends to give up the long ball more often during the summer, it is supposed to be in the eighties there today. The Orioles have gotten off to a good start. They swept the Rays at Tropicana Field and their pitching staff only gave up three runs total the entire weekend. The Tigers have a better offense than the Rays, but the Orioles look to be on the rise and they've played extremely well since Buck Showalter took over as manager. Rick Porcello will get his first start of the season, and it would be nice to see his sinker working, especially in that ballpark. Oddly enough, his final start of the 2010 season was in Baltimore, and it wasn't particularly good. One tiny bit of good news is that the Tigers might not see a lot of Luke Scott, who suffered a groin injury (Max Scherzer is also not pitching in this series).

I'll Hold Off Saying What I Really Want To Say...

However, you faithful readers can easily guess what I really want to say. At any rate, I would be perfectly content to merely point out that Brad Penny is boring and slow, but he did nothing to win over Tiger fans yesterday (one more outing like that and he might get the Brandon Lyon treatment at the home opener, although Lyon would go on to become the Tigers' best reliever in 2009). He did settle down a little bit in the third and fourth, only to fall apart in the fifth. Brad Thomas wasn't much help. For all the griping that goes on about him, he only gave up four home runs last year, but he wasted no time in getting his first out of the way this year. Other than that, the only thing of note as far as the pitching is concerned is that this was the first time I got to see Brayan Villarreal pitch  and he promptly served up a home run to A-Rod. To his credit, he didn't seem shaken by it, and though he had a slight problem with falling behind hitters, he wasn't missing by much (if he had been pitching the ninth inning, a lot of those calls would have gone in his favor). The defense was shaky once again, but what's weird is that it's largely been the few who are considered "good" defenders that have faltered. The errors in this season so far have come from Brandon Inge, Will Rhymes, and Austin Jackson. I have assurances that Alex Avila will be a very good defender, and yet he's had problems keeping the ball in front of him, although that's not entirely his fault. It's also not his fault that the Yankees stole two bases yesterday. He made real good throws that made it at least close, but it looks as though Penny is terrible at holding runners on. It's like having Bonderman back.

Once again, it seemed like it took the Tigers everything they had to score runs. On the plus side, however, they did get their first two homers of the season out of the way, courtesy of Austin Jackson and Victor Martinez. Magglio Ordoñez left in the middle of the game with soreness in his ankle and is not playing today as a precaution. Since the final televised spring training game, I have noticed that Magglio's a little impatient right now, swinging a bit more than he normally does. I have no idea if that has anything to do with the ankle. I do know that it generally takes him a couple weeks to get going, though, so there's no cause for alarm at this point.

And in another example of "Don't Panic," I will point out that, among others, the Twins and Red Sox are also 0-2, but it would still be nice to get this first win sooner rather than later. They'll have to do it against Phil Hughes, who was strong through most of 2010 but faded somewhat down the stretch. He also got a ton of run support. Meanwhile, Max Scherzer believes he's corrected the mechanical problem that was giving him trouble in spring training (and it turns out it was the same mechanical problem that got him sent to Toledo last year). He did turn in one good start at Yankee Stadium last year (sort of; he threw six shutout innings but I seem to remember there being a whole lot of baserunners in those six innings). With Magglio out, Brennan Boesch is the DH, Don Kelly is in right field, and Victor Martinez is behind the plate. Fasten your seatbelts.

Haunted by the Ghosts of Tigers Past

This title is appropriate in a couple different ways. The first is the most obvious, and we'll get to that in a minute. Poor Justin Verlander remains winless on Opening Day. He's now up to three no-decisions and a loss. However, he did look better than he normally does in April. Most of his problems came early, when he threw thirty pitches in the first inning (of course, it doesn't help when the strikezone is moving all over the place; I don't think anyone, Tiger or Yankee, pitcher or position player, was happy with the strikezone). It looked like he had Mark Teixiera struck out, and instead it was called ball four. He then proceeded to walk A-Rod and then went to a full count on Robinson Cano before blowing a fastball by him. It looked like he kept missing up with his fastball, and finally paid for it when Mark Teixiera parked one of those high fastballs into the right field seats for a 3-run homer. After that, Verlander got rolling and looked very good. Hey, it may be cliched, but the Yankees are still a good offense that make you throw a lot of pitches. I'll take six innings and three runs against that lineup anytime, especially considering the weather was less than ideal. The problem started once the bullpen came in. Phil Coke was brought in to face Curtis Granderson (our first ghost of this story), fell behind 2-0, and his subsequent fastball down the middle didn't come back. Almost every Tigers fan remembers that Granderson had a lot of trouble with left-handed pitching when he was a Tiger (save for the 2008 season, when he hit a respectable .250 against lefties) and he started out his Yankees career with the same problem. I'm told that he improved against lefties once their hitting coach did major surgery on his swing. Baseball-Reference doesn't do joint splits against lefties and righties in the first half versus the second half, so I'll have to take their word for it. The other runs scored thanks to combinations of errors, sacrifices, wild pitches, and bloops. As far as the other ghosts are concerned, well, each instance only lasted a split-second, but there was a dugout shot where I mistook Verlander for Armando Galarraga and another dugout shot where I mistook Brennan Boesch for Jeremy Bonderman. This makes no sense, since Verlander looks nothing like Galarraga and Boesch looks nothing like Bonderman. Also, it's not some sort of grieving process thing because I'm not exactly in mourning for Bonderman. But when you tie it in with Granderson's home run, there did seem to be some haunting going on.

The offense seemed to continue what I observed in spring training: Taking three or four baserunners to score one run. There wasn't exactly a power show (although Brandon Inge was robbed by Granderson on what looked like a sure double), but there was a great deal of manufacturing. Jhonny Peralta didn't have a single RBI during the spring, but he got the first RBI of 2011 with a sacrifice fly. Brandon Inge had an RBi single and Miguel Cabrera also had a sacrifice fly. Cabrera was pretty decent at the plate, although Brandon Inge's throwing error in the seventh led to him getting hit in the bare hand. He was messing with his finger for the rest of the inning, although there was no mention of it in any postgame interview, so hopefully it doesn't swell up or anything during the off day. There was a lot of griping about how Alex Avila looked bad at the plate, but I think it's a bit premature to burn him at the stake. Last time I checked, CC Sabathia and Mariano Rivera weren't exactly pushovers. We'll see what happens further down the road.

Now that we've been teased with real baseball, we have to sit through an annoying off-day before we get to watch more. Brad Penny will get his first start. His numbers against the Yankees aren't all that good, but he hasn't really faced them that often. While Penny is trying to bounce back from injury, his former teammate AJ Burnett is trying to bounce back from a bad year. I once heard Burnett described as being able to strike out ten and walk ten in the same game. Jim Leyland has said that Brennan Boesch will start this game, but he hasn't said who he's replacing in the lineup (whether it's Raburn or Avila).

Happy Opening Day!

First, an announcement: Tigers Amateur Analysis now has a Facebook page. Check it out!

At long last, we've made it. Whatever happens this season, I hope to enjoy it for what it is, but it all begins here. And we start off with an old familiar matchup: Verlander versus Sabathia. Seriously, it seems like these guys have opposed each other a thousand times already. In fact, I believe that since Sabathia joined the Yankees, he's pitched against the Tigers in every series they've had, and Verlander was always the Tigers' starter. So far, the victor has always been the home pitcher, but Sabathia rarely shuts the Tigers down (even though he's got quite a few wins against them thanks to his Indians days). Hopefully the weather will hold up. It's supposed to rain today in New York, but tomorrow is supposed to be even worse. And now for the traditional Opening Day Mood Music song:

From the Other Side: New York Yankees

I'm beginning a new feature this year at Tigers Amateur Analysis called From the Other Side. A lot of blogs do this, so I thought I'd try my hand at it. Basically, I've tried to get in touch with bloggers from all the other teams the Tigers will be playing this season (the other AL teams plus the six NL teams that they'll be playing in Interleague play this year) and I'll be asking them a series of 4-5 questions about both their team and the Tigers. So far, I've lined up contacts for all except for about three to four teams. I'll be posting the Q&As either shortly before or during the Tigers' first series with that team. With that in mind, first up is the New York Yankees. I interviewed Gregg Snyder, a Yankees fan who runs the site Double G Sports. It was founded in 2009 and covers all New York and New Jersey area sports teams. You can also follow him on Twitter.

1. What is your take on the Yankees' offseason and what are your expectations for them this year?

Gregg: A lot of people were disappointed that the team missed out on Cliff Lee. I was more disappointed that they put all their eggs in one basket and missed out on other free agents like Carl Crawford for example. Andy Pettitte retiring hurts a bit but I like the addition of Soriano to the bullpen. The Yankees have a very good lineup from top to bottom. The bullpen should be a strength and I think the starting rotation will hold it's own. I fully expect this years team to challenge Boston for the AL East and Wild Card.

2. What is the Yankees community's perception of the Tigers and how do you think they'll perform this season? 

Gregg: I think a lot of people are unsure about the Tigers entering the year. Personally, I think they have the players to make a serious run at the AL Central title. I like their starting rotation. The lineup has some speed and power. Austin Jackson will continue to get better. Victor Martinez was a big pick up and will bring added power to a team that already had the ability to knock the ball around the park. 

3. The big story of last offseason was the blockbuster three-team trade that netted the Yankees Curtis Granderson and the Tigers Austin Jackson and Phil Coke (along with Daniel Schlereth and Max Scherzer). It may still be too early to tell how things will pan out, but what is your assessment of this trade one year later?

Gregg: Because the Tigers got more players making contributions I think you could say they got the better deal right now. However, with that said, I think Grandy will have a big year for the Yankees. He started playing much better toward the end of last year, has been having a very good spring so far despite recently suffering an injury. Granderson looks more comfortable and has said he will be more aggressive this season. That will help him in a big way. Big things from Granderson this season, write that down!

4. Which player (on either or both teams) is currently flying under the radar but could end up making a major positive impact?

Gregg: Hard to think the Yankees have a player flying under the radar but again I have to go back to Granderson. With all the talk about the rotation questions marks, who will bat leadoff, the catching situation and so on...I think Granderson will sneak up on people and have a big season.  For the Tigers, again hard to say. I don't really have a reason, but my gut says Rick Porcello will bounce back. He didn't have the season a lot of people expected last year but he is a very talented pitcher. Look for him to solidify the middle to back of their starting rotation.

5. Do you have any random predictions for this season?

Gregg: Yankees and Tigers both make the playoffs. Sabathia and Verlander will both be in the Cy Young discussion. Don't think either will win it, but they will be in the discussion.

Again, a big thank you to Gregg for taking part in this feature.  

Welcome Back Brandon and Postseason Thoughts

The big news coming out of Detroit yesterday was that the Tigers have re-signed Brandon Inge to a two-year, $11.5 million deal with an option for 2013. You guys should know me well enough by now to know that I am thrilled that I’ll be able to see Brandon Inge in the Olde English D for at least two more years. With the payroll flexibility that the Tigers have right now, it’s a reasonable contract. During the press conference, Dave Dombrowski really didn’t drop any new hints regarding offseason moves. He talked about the infield as a whole, and he seemed to imply that their next step is reaching an agreement with Jhonny Peralta. He also reiterated that at this point they are committed to having either Will Rhymes or Scott Sizemore (or possibly Carlos Guillen) at second base. And so I now know that three of my Top Five are safe. Now it’s time to continue fretting about the remaining two.

I’ve been keeping myself busy by watching the postseason. Currently, both the ALCS and the NLCS see the teams I’m rooting for up three games to two. However, I keep thinking of 2007, when a bunch of Indians fans in my Spanish class were bragging that their parents were buying them World Series tickets. A few days later, I walked into class to find them all sitting there looking shell-shocked. Of course, that was the Boston Red Sox, a team that can bring itself back from the brink like no other (they came back from a 3-1 deficit in 1986 and 2007, almost did that again in 2008, and came back from a 3-0 deficit in 2004). They’re annoying like that. I still feel like the Rangers have a good chance of advancing to the World Series, although it may take a Game 7 for them to do it. Cliff Lee is a pretty good equalizer. The Giants, on the other hand, may well have blown their chance when they didn’t seal the deal last night. They are stuck going back to Philadelphia, which is, in the words of Rod Allen, “a very hostile environment.” There are some ballparks where the fans just seem to be in attack mode moreso than others. Citizens Bank Park is one of those ballparks. Other examples are Fenway Park, U.S. Cellular Field, and Target Field to some extent (Of course, these are all just observations I have made watching them on TV; I have never been to any of these ballparks). I don’t sense this as much at Comerica Park. Tiger fans seem content with cheering for their own team (I have been told that Yankee Stadium is largely the same). Anyways, the Giants certainly have the starting pitching to pull it off, but their bullpen has been shaky and their offense isn’t very potent. Cody Ross has been red-hot and a good story. However, I watched a lot of him with the Marlins and I like him, but he is a streaky hitter. He could go cold at any time and if he does, someone else is going to have to heat up or the Giants won’t stand a chance. But in that series, I really think that the momentum has completely shifted to the Phillies and I can’t see how they won’t manage to pull off the comeback, which is unfortunate because I am tired of the Phillies winning all the time. Also, I am so glad that Carlos Ruiz does not play in the American League, because if he did, I guarantee you that he would be a Tiger killer extraordinaire.

Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to talk to the Baseball Guru about several things (to review, he’s a former catcher, he’s a Yankees fan, he’s very old school, and he’s totally computer illiterate or I would definitely get him his own blog). This was during Game 2 of the ALCS and at the time, he seemed to honestly believe that the Rangers were the better team. We discussed the Rangers’ Game 1 bullpen meltdown, and he maintained that you’re never going to see something like that again. He agreed with every move that Ron Washington made in that inning (in terms of them being what he would do if he managed the Rangers, not in terms of them giving the Yankees an advantage). I get the feeling that he thinks Sabathia is overrated, but at the same time he thinks he’s a strong Cy Young candidate because of his win total (I know that’s gonna annoy some of you, but as I said, he’s old school; he keeps bringing up the fact that the one year that Nolan Ryan led the league in ERA, he had a losing record, and he still thinks that Felix Hernandez or Justin Verlander should have won the Cy Young last year and not Zack Greinke; with that in mind, I didn’t even bother bringing up King Felix as a candidate this year). He’s torn between Miguel Cabrera and Robinson Cano as his preference for MVP (because he honestly believes the Yankees would not have made the postseason without Cano because many of their other key hitters had down years), but his prediction is that Cano will win it because voters won’t like that Cabrera was not on a playoff team and Josh Hamilton missed the final month of the season. However, his pick for Rookie of the Year is Austin Jackson because he’s an everyday player and Neftali Feliz is a relief pitcher. On the NLCS, he picks the Phillies because of their pitching and their offense is built like an American League team (actually, with the Rays having been eliminated, I think he’s picking the Phillies to win it all).

One final note: This is nothing more than a glorified popularity contest, but if you’re interested, MLB.com has posted the nominees for the 2010 This Year in Baseball Awards. Three Tigers are up for awards. Miguel Cabrera is up for Hitter of the Year, Austin Jackson is up for Rookie of the Year, and Armando Galarraga is up for Performance of the Year. Go vote, if you have a chance.

That Went Downhill Quickly

We’ve seen this before with Rick Porcello. Not very often, but it’s happened (usually against the White Sox). He’ll start out looking really, really good and then fall apart the second or third time through the order in a completely sudden and drastic turn of events. And it comes out of nowhere. It also seems like the Tigers don’t know what the issue is, whether it’s fatigue or a lack of adjustment or what. Unfortunately, the bullpen was even worse and could not put out the fire to save their lives. How bipolar was that game? The Yankees only had one hit in the innings in which they did not score, and they only scored in two innings. Meanwhile, it looks as though Miguel Cabrera might just be back on track. We’ll see how he does against the Indians, but he sure did like Yankees pitching (granted, some of those home runs would not have been out at Comerica Park). He doesn’t seem to care much for the Yankees themselves, however (according to the New York Daily News). The offense did have a bit of fight in them, scoring enough runs to be able to win were there not a complete pitching meltdown. Granted, if the score were closer, they would not be facing Sergio Mitre the whole time, but we’ve seen many occasions where the Tigers were being blown out and the offense got completely handcuffed by some middle reliever.

And so tonight, amidst waiver trade rumors and one roster move (Robbie Weinhardt has been replaced by Alfredo Figaro, and I can only pray he stays firmly in the bullpen). The Tigers are now home for their next six games, and first up is the Indians (payback for sweeping the Tigers out of the All-Star Break would be nice). They’ve played fairly well in the second half (only a game under .500), and their pitching’s improved recently, so they should not be taken lightly. They are starting Justin Masterson tonight (actually, they will have pitchers with names starting with “J” all weekend). He’s had a strange time of things recently. It’s like he either dominates or he gets lit up. His last start was one of the dominant ones. That came against Seattle. The start before that, he gave up seven runs to the Red Sox. He’s a sinkerball pitcher by trade. This’ll actually be the first time I’ve seen him. I’ve always been at work the other times he’s started against the Tigers. The Tigers haven’t seen much of him. Miguel Cabrera’s seen him the most. He’s 3-for-5 with one home run in seven plate appearances (I wonder if these non-contending sub-.500 teams will be more willing to pitch to him). Meanwhile, I can’t begin to guess what Armando Galarraga’s feeling right now. It’s his first start since the much-publicized skirmish in the dugout with the Tigers catchers (Laird’s catching him tonight, by the way). It’s also the first time he’s faced the Indians since the events of June 2^nd. This could be good or bad. It could be a real confidence boost for him. After all, knowing that you (unofficially) didn’t allow a baserunner against this team would make you feel good in your abilities (although the Indians have gotten back some people that they didn’t have in June due to injuries). But he can’t try to repeat that accomplishment. It won’t happen, and he’ll only get himself in trouble. Yes, once he gives up the first hit of the game for the Indians, that other game will lose a little bit of its mystique and allure (the same thing happened when Justin Verlander faced the Milwaukee Brewers for the first time after he no-hit them), but it’s something that must happen. I just hope he pitches a good game. He had really good stuff in his last start, although his final line may not have indicated it. And he has to do the stuff I discussed the last time he started. Your Mood Music for tonight: I’ve spent the day belting out songs from “Wicked.” I’m in an Elphaba-mood today. And so I’ll play “Defying Gravity.”

Beanball Battle

This is going to be another short post (at least, as far as actual game analysis goes), because it was the seventh inning by the time I got home (Therefore, while 9-5 was the final score, it feels to me like the Yankees won 2-1 because that was the only scoring I experienced). I don’t know if the retaliation mindset threw off Jeremy Bonderman or not. I do know that he’s now given up quite a few home runs recently. And I get the feeling that this isn’t like his last start, where he got punished for every bad pitch he made but had several good pitches in-between. This time he just kept making bad pitches. Brad Thomas and Enrique Gonzalez also made bad pitches. Both teams had the long ball going. The Yankees have been more willing to pitch to Miguel Cabrera than the Rays or White Sox were, but they might not be so willing anymore now that Cabrera’s hit three home runs in the series (He has regained the RBI lead, but all his home runs have been solo shots). Don Kelly’s home run was definitely of the Yankee Stadium jetstream variety, but it still counts.

Okay, I guess I have to address the beanball war that’s been going on. It all started with Brett Gardner’s takeout slide of Guillen that eventually landed him on the DL (say what you will about Guillen’s tendency to get injured, but just about every second baseman would’ve suffered the same fate on that play). A lot of fans online are saying it was a dirty slide. Guillen’s also saying it was a dirty slide. I really don’t know, because I don’t have THAT much experience watching dirty slides. Gardner’s a very fast runner, so it would not take him very long to get to the base, and late slides are generally allowed. Those same fans who are calling it a dirty slide also hate the Yankees with a passion, and are looking for any excuse to hate them even more. I don’t know what to make of their assessment unless I see their reaction to an identical play from a member of a team they are indifferent about (like, say, the Mariners or something). As far as Guillen goes, well, he does have a reputation as somewhat of a whiner (just look up some of the things he said early last season about his playing time and not wanting to DH). Still, I understand the team wanting to stand up for their injured comrade, and Bonderman’s known for not being afraid to retaliate. It got really screwy when the umpire issued warnings after Bonderman hit Gardner, but then proceeded to not eject anyone once the retaliation began in earnest (except for Leyland, and Leyland really had to work to get himself ejected). If there was any point to issuing the warnings, then Chad Gaudin probably should have gotten ejected for hitting Cabrera, and if Gaudin should have gotten ejected, then Enrique Gonzalez should also have been ejected for throwing behind Derek Jeter (I’m not sure if he was trying to hit the other guys he ended up walking, since a lot of pitches missed way inside, but if he was, he wasn’t very good at it).

The series and the road trip wraps up today (and there is no way that this game will be over by the time I have to go to work). Somewhat fittingly, Rick Porcello is starting for the Tigers (everyone remembers the brawl in Boston last year). He is coming off a very good start against the White Sox, a team he had had no success against previously. He has made two previous starts against the Yankees in his career, one good, one bad (the good one came earlier this year). Both those games were at Comerica Park. He’s never pitched at Yankee Stadium, and being from New Jersey, a lot of his family will be in attendance. And we also know that he’s not afraid to retaliate either. However, if I may say something, he’s free to retaliate if he feels the need to, but I would prefer that he wait until he’s close to the end of his outing, preferably in the seventh or eighth inning. Getting ejected in the second or third is not going to be very helpful. Yes, it was awesome that he took down Youkilis in Boston, but he also potentially cost his team a win in a season where one win made the difference. The Yankees will start Phil Hughes. I’m not sure what his take on retaliation is, but I do know that the Tigers have not done much against him since 2008. They got to him a bit the first two times they saw him (once in 2007, once in 2008), but they’ve done next to nothing since. In his last two starts against Detroit, he’s shut them out (there were also a couple relief appearances mixed in there in which he didn’t give up anything either).  

A Battle of Command

Short post today, because I procrastinated too much and I have to go to work soon. Justin Verlander was quoted as saying that last night was the worst he ever felt on the mound in his entire career. Now, I’m sure the other four members of the rotation would all kill to feel the worst they’ve ever felt and still only give up three runs in five innings, but Verlander needed to give the Tigers more than that. I’m not sure if the command problems were something he could make an adjustment to or not (or if it had to do with him pitching on extra rest). I don’t think Yankee Stadium psyched him out, because he’s pitched there before with much more at stake, and he’s pitched reasonably well in those starts. Meanwhile, the Tigers got a little home run power going against CC Sabathia, but there were not a whole lot of scoring opportunities. Ramon Santiago and Johnny Damon both got robbed by Curtis Granderson on plays we’ve seen before many times. Miguel Cabrera chased a couple outfielders to the warning track, but that’s about it.

Jeremy Bonderman takes the hill tonight for the Tigers. He’s coming off a rough start against the White Sox in which he gave up a couple home runs. He hasn’t pitched at Yankee Stadium in quite a while, but he did pitch against them at Comerica Park earlier this year. He took the loss, but pitched reasonably well (the Tigers were shut out by Phil Hughes). The Yankees will start Dustin Moseley, who is filling in for Andy Pettitte. The Tigers have seen him before with the Angels, but not very much. Jhonny Peralta has faced him more than anyone else on the team. He’s 3-for-10 with a home run. The only active Tiger who has faced him and does not have a hit against him is Miguel Cabrera, but it’s an extremely small sample size (0-for-1 with a walk). With Guillen going back on the DL with a deep bruise (I really don’t think it’ll take 15 days to heal, but I’m guessing the Tigers figured it would take longer than they could afford to have a two-man bench, especially with Laird getting a little banged up last night), Will Rhymes is back with the Tigers and in the lineup for tonight.

Fitting that Todd Jones was There

Photo: AP

If you’re still hyperventilating, think of it this way: The Tigers won’t get swept in this series. And they got a rather good pitching performance from Max Scherzer. I thought he fell behind in the count too many times, which got his pitch count up, but against the Yankees, it was a valiant effort. Still, it kind of taxed the bullpen. Phil Coke definitely won’t be available tonight, Ryan Perry probably won’t be available, and Jose Valverde is probably questionable. I can’t give any insight into what may be behind Valverde’s control problems, although in some of his other rocky outings he’s said that he’s been having problems gripping the ball. They did interview him in the postgame show last night, but he talks so fast that he’s extremely difficult to understand. However, I realize that most Tigers fans don’t know Valverde that well, since his entire career was spent in the National League, and there are some wondering whether he collapses in the second half or if this is the “real” Valverde, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Career-wise, his second half numbers are actually far better than his first half numbers. His ERA goes down by over a full run, the walks go down, the strikeouts go up, and the opponents’ batting average goes from .218 to .182, and the opponents’ on-base percentage and slugging percentage also go down (the only odd thing is that he has given up more triples in the second half, but that’s probably some wacky thing that doesn’t mean anything). Therefore, this year is unusual, but I couldn’t tell you the reason for it.

The Tigers’ offense made Javier Vazquez throw a lot of pitches and they got a lot of baserunners against him, but not much in the way of runs. The only blemish that Vazquez ended up with was Ryan Raburn’s 2-run homer. That ended up being enough (barely). There seemed to be a lot of stranding runners on called third strikes (I certainly couldn’t figure out the strikezone, that’s for sure). Johnny Damon got a very warm reception from the Yankee crowd (though that revamped mohawk was hideous; I’m guessing he did that deliberately just so he could show it off to his former fans and teammates). Meanwhile, the Yankee pitching staff didn’t pitch around Miguel Cabrera like a lot of teams have been. He did walk once, although Vazquez had such bad control I’m not sure if he was pitching around him or not. They may not be quite so aggressive in the rest of the series, since Cabrera homered in his last at-bat, but it’s something to watch out for. By the way, as expected, it looks as though all the guys involved in Sunday’s dugout brouhaha have made up and buried the hatchet (and if Rod Allen’s interpretations of events is the correct one, which I know is a dangerous assumption, it would be hypocritical of me to chastise Armando Galarraga for not taking the high road, because I can easily see myself doing the same thing were I in his position; when I mess something up, I don’t like being told that I messed up or what I was supposed to do, especially if I’m already frustrated). I did (inappropriately) find it funny that Galarraga inadvertently and in a really backwards way referred to himself and Avila (or Laird) as an old married couple (“It’s like your wife. Sometimes you disagree with your wife”).

This series continues tonight, and guess what? It’s another Verlander-Sabathia battle. This will be the fourth series in a row with the Yankees that those two have matched up against each other (plus, they opposed each other at least twice while Sabathia was with the Indians). Since Sabathia has become a Yankee, Verlander holds a 2-1 advantage, but that one loss came at Yankee Stadium (although it was a 2-1 loss for Verlander, so it’s not like he pitched badly). This year, Sabathia has more wins and a lower ERA overall, but his career numbers against the Tigers are around average (and he’s had a lot of decisions against them because of his days with the Indians). He’s 14-11 with a 4.65 ERA, and that’s in a whopping 29 starts. Miguel Cabrera’s pummeled him in his career (7-for-11 with a double and two home runs), and Gerald Laird also has very good numbers (7-for-15 with two doubles). On the opposite end of things, Brandon Inge is only 7-for-50 with fourteen strikeouts and only one RBI. Most of the Yankees don’t hit Verlander very well (Lance Berkman and Ramiro Peña are over .300 in very limited plate appearances). Nick Swisher has only hit .184 against him, but he does have three home runs off Verlander in his career.   

Exclamation Point

Photo: Getty Images

As expected, I did not see this game (except for the top of the first), but I did watch the replay later in the evening. Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera, and Brennan Boesch served to prove that you don’t need a mohawk to be badass. Verlander seems to be in the midst of another fine May. Perhaps this wasn’t his best start ever (he walked a few more than I’d like), but when you don’t have your best start ever and you still shut out the Yankees, that’s impressive. And with the exception of the ninth inning in game 2 of the doubleheader, the pitching on the whole was very, very good in this series. Now they just need to cut down on the errors.

One particular phrase kept popping up in the news reports on this game: Sabathia was efficient, while Verlander was effective. Sabathia didn’t throw many pitches, but the Tigers scored six runs off those few pitches. The brunt of the damage was done by Cabrera and Boesch, the latter of whom was only in the lineup because there are no right-handed outfielders on the bench right now.  I still say it’s likely he gets sent back down to Toledo whenever Guillen’s ready to return (simply because there would not be enough at-bats for him in Detroit), but there’s no harm in milking him for all he’s worth in the meantime. And Tigers fans are starting some early MVP whisperings for Cabrera (though the national media, by and large, has yet to catch on). However, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Gerald Laird’s two RBI hits. After enduring lineout after lineout, the balls are finally starting to fall in, even if one of them was a checked swing that made it into right field.

So after a very satisfactory series against the Yankees, it’s time to take on the Red Sox this weekend. Rick Porcello and Jeremy Bonderman put up very encouraging starts this week. It’s time for Max Scherzer to do the same. He did look better in his last start, which was against the Indians. Not all the way there, obviously, but better. He’s never faced the Red Sox in his career, and the only two Red Sox players who have faced him were both in the National League last year: Bill Hall (2-3 with a double) and Jeremy Hermida (1-3). Not a big sample size. Josh Beckett was supposed to start tonight, but he injured himself taking batting practice in preparation for Interleague play so his start his being skipped. It’s kind of a shame, because he had been struggling recently. Instead, the Tigers will face Clay Buchholz. Buchholz had been pitching well until his last start, when the Yankees got to him. However, he’s been pitching very well on the road. The Tigers have seen him twice before. In 2008, they scored five runs off him and ended up winning the game 10-9 (Buchholz received a no-decision). Last year, he got outdueled by Justin Verlander in a 2-0 Tigers win at Fenway Park. No Tiger has more than six plate appearances against him (Strangely, former division rival Johnny Damon has only seen him three times). Every Tiger who has seen him has at least one hit off him, but only one extra-base hit (Damon has a double). In addition (and this was only made official a few minutes ago), the Tigers have called up Casper Wells. To make room for him, Alfredo Figaro has been sent back down to Toledo. There will likely be other roster moves before too long, since the Tigers need a spot starter on Sunday (no way will Rick Porcello be pitching on short rest). Unless they want to go with a bullpen start again (not an ideal situation, since the Red Sox are known to tax your bullpen anyways), it’s looking like they’ll turn to Armando Galarraga for that honor (which will necessitate another roster move). Your Mood Music for tonight: How about some Ozzy Osbourne?

Split-tastic

 Photo: Getty Images

At least the split makes it so that I only have to use one picture (the new Blogger text editor makes it extremely difficult to move multiple pictures around). As it turns out, I was able to see all of game 1 before I went to work. Rick Porcello finally had a breakthrough. I had kept seeing baby steps in his last couple starts, but this was one of his best starts ever, even though he only struck out two. It was very impressive. Let’s hope he can keep that up. It was somewhat disappointing to not score more against a previously struggling pitcher, but it was enough. Brennan Boesch had another big day at the plate. Maggs provided the other RBI. And Jose Valverde can just keep on dancing.

I missed most of game 2, but it was not as pretty, in several senses of the word. However, word is that Jeremy Bonderman pitched some of his best baseball of the season. He got victimized by stolen bases and seeing-eye singles. The bullpen kind of imploded in the ninth and that made no sense, especially while Phil Coke was on the mound, because it didn’t seem like the Yankees were stinging the ball in that inning. Alfredo Figaro came in and initially ran into the same bad luck as Coke, but then just plain unraveled. I’m not too sure he’d be the ideal person to start on Sunday. I can’t tell you anything about the lack of offense against Phil Hughes, because all I saw was a Ramon Santiago pop-up. What I can tell you is that I give the mohawks a big thumbs down. I do not find them attractive at all and I can’t fathom why anyone would. One, mohawks remind me of a bunch of obnoxious kids I knew in middle school (and they’re probably still obnoxious as adults). Two, guys should not have unnatural baldness (technically, neither should girls, but that’s beside the point). Not to mention the fact that it’s completely unoriginal (Start your own unity gimmick guys; don’t go stealing from the Tampa Bay Rays). That said, fauxhawks are okay, though not my first choice (therefore, Fu Te Ni actually doesn’t look that bad). And so far, the only somewhat attractive casualty was Ryan Perry, so as long as it’s just the bullpen (plus Bonderman, Damon, and Avila), I’ll let it slide. Just…no one else, please (Seriously, I don’t think Miguel Cabrera is attractive, but he’d look terrible, and besides, I like the ‘fro).

For the final game in this series, it’s got what you might call the marquee pitching matchup. Justin Verlander (who thankfully so far has not jumped onto the mohawk bandwagon, but now I’m going to spend the rest of the season terrified that he will) has won his last two starts. He wasn’t as good against Cleveland as he had been against the Angels, but hopefully that was just because of the bad conditions on the field that day. He started two games against the Yankees last year and pitched well in both, but won one and lost the other. And it seems like he’s matched up against CC Sabathia a lot in his career, including both his starts against the Yankees last year. I’m not going to look this up, but it seems as though Sabathia usually gets the better of Verlander. Tigers who have hit Sabathia well are Miguel Cabrera (.625 with a home run), Ramon Santiago (.333), and Gerald Laird (.417 with a home run). Brandon Inge has not had nearly as much success (.149 with 14 strikeouts). Amazingly, Magglio has had a whopping 61 at-bats against him. The average is rather pedestrian (.262), but he does have three home runs. And how crazy am I? I missed Verlander’s last start, and I won’t be able to watch a whole game again until Sunday, and yet I’m going to visit my best friend and her baby. Maybe I’ll be home in time for the end. Of course, it’s supposed to rain.

More Fun With Rainouts

Are doubleheaders against teams other than the White Sox even allowed? Ordinarily, what I do during doubleheaders is that I’ll do a post on the results of the first game right between the two. However, I work 4-9 today so that’s not gonna happen. Since the game 1 pitching matchups are the same as they were last night, I’ll preview game 2 in this post. It’ll be Jeremy Bonderman against Phil Hughes. Bonderman had a meltdown his last time that got wiped off the history books by the rain. The individual matchups versus the Yankees are actually quite favorable towards Bonderman. Of the current Yankees, the only one who has hit above .250 against him is A-Rod (.308 with 2 HRs), though Derek Jeter has hit three home runs off him. Phil Hughes seems to have finally put things together as a starter for the Yankees (My fantasy team thanks him, but I’ll be more than willing for him to take the loss tonight). As favorable as the individual lines are for Bonderman, they’re even more favorable towards Hughes. Miguel Cabrera is 3-for-6, and Magglio is 1-for-8. That’s it. None of the other Tigers have hits against him (Well, Carlos Guillen does, but that’s not a big help right now). The Tigers have called up Alfredo Figaro from Toledo and sent Ryan Raburn back down. With Brad Thomas and Eddie Bonine both likely still unavailable, they probably needed an extra reliever for the doubleheader (It’s unlikely that Figaro would start today, as he would be on short rest). They will need someone to start on Sunday to get everyone back on their normal rest (no off-day). That will likely be Figaro, but I was kind of hoping they’d give Armando Galarraga a shot (and he is already scheduled to start for Toledo on Sunday; then again, the Red Sox have not been the greatest matchup for him in the past).

Win One For Ernie

Photo: Getty Images

After a nice tribute to Ernie Harwell, the Tigers got themselves a nice win. After all the complaining about the Tigers not calling up one of the Mud Hens, the bullpen came through. Everyone had too many walks except for Valverde, but limiting the Yankees to four runs on a night where you have no starter is pretty good. The Joel Zumaya walk-less stat was an unfortunate casualty, and hopefully this does not open the door for more walks. Valverde was extremely impressive, though, and I knew it was only a matter of time before his dancing around the field after a save would piss someone off (I should have known it would be against the Yankees).

The offense didn’t do as much against Mitre as I’d hoped, but again it was the new guys coming through. Brennan Boesch had three RBIs, Austin Jackson had one, and Johnny Damon had one. The bottom of the order was actually quite productive. Scott Sizemore and Gerald Laird each had a single and a walk, and Adam Everett had a sacrifice and a single. Magglio had a single, but his big contribution was the sliding, game-saving catch he made in the eighth inning.

The series continues tonight with two starters who are trying to find it. Javier Vazquez, who did a good job for the Braves last year, has not been real productive for the Yankees this year. Apparently, he pitched for the Yankees before and didn’t do real well then, either. I don’t really understand that. It’s not an AL vs. NL thing, because he was quite good when he was with the White Sox. At any rate, the Tigers tend to be streaky against him. They’ll rattle off a few wins against him, and then he’ll beat them a few times, and then they’ll win again. They haven’t seen him since 2008, and I think he beat them in that instance. Magglio probably won’t be happy to see him (.194), but Miguel Cabrera will (.391, including three home runs). Adam Everett and Johnny Damon have also had success. Meanwhile, I feel like Rick Porcello is close. I really do. If he can cut down on the walks and falling behind hitters, he has been getting lots of ground balls. However, his only start last year against the Yankees was the worst start he had all season, lasting only three innings and giving up six earned runs. The front office Twitter is still saying the game will start at 7:05, but there is a lot of rain in the area, so it’s questionable.

A Brief World Series Wrap-Up

Well, congratulations to the New York Yankees and their fans. As much as the Tiger community is complaining about it, it is the team I wanted to win, and nine years is a long time for them, at least. The last time the Yankees were the World Champs, I was a senior in high school. It turned out to be a rather evenly-matched series, but the odd thing is that nothing the Yankees did really stood out. They didn’t really have dominant pitching (outside of AJ Burnett in Game 2 and Mariano Rivera). It wasn’t really an offensive barrage (Jeter, Damon, and Matsui were hot. Everyone else was hitting at or near the .200 mark). Really, Game 6 was the only game where they didn’t look either precarious or overmatched. And yet they still won. And so did Fox when it came to the ratings. Hey, if everyone hates the Yankees, why do they watch them, then? But oh well, better them than the Phillies. And so baseball in 2009 has officially come to a close. By the way, one of these days I WILL find out who decides the World Series MVP (Seriously. I’ve asked Tigers, Dodgers, AND Yankees fans this question, and none of them know).

So what’s on tap here? Well, I probably won’t post stuff every day, but there’s bound to be plenty of hot stove action to weigh in on. I will also have part one of my 2010 schedule feature up within the next few days (It’s ready. I’m just having a difficult time determining when would be an appropriate time to post it). And I’ll probably come up with a random quirky one-time feature or two along the way (especially if MLB.com sends me their holiday catalog again), so stay tuned.

Postseason Thoughts: LCS Wrapup and Mini-World Series Preview

When the postseason first began, I was hoping for a Yankees-Dodgers World Series (I realize I am totally playing into the media’s hands here, but I wanted it for different reasons than the media). I got the Yankees (and I mostly wanted them because I wasn’t that excited at the prospect of rooting for the Angels, and there was no way I was gonna root for the Twins or Red Sox), but damn it, I wanted the Dodgers in there. However, the team that led the National League in pitching (and had a decent enough offense) just never really looked like it against the Phillies. Just about everyone in what had been a very strong bullpen got touched up, and it seemed like every inning they were either walking a bunch of guys or giving up 3-run home runs. Vicente Padilla’s good run finally ran out at an inconvenient time for the Dodgers. Meanwhile, over in the ALCS, the Angels’ offense woke up for one game, but that’s it. Not even the hot-hitting Jeff Mathis could save them in game 6. But you have to wonder: How many times did the Yankees actually beat the Angels and how many times did the Angels, in fact, beat themselves? On a side note, I am shocked (but relieved) that CC Sabathia was declared MVP (Voted MVP? Who decides these things? No one seems to know) and not A-Rod.

And so now we have a Yankees-Phillies World Series matchup. And though I am quite literally the only Tigers fan doing this, I am rooting for the Yankees all the way because I don’t hate them and I can at least feel nostalgic. The Yankees are a better matchup against the Phillies than the Angels would have been, that is for sure. The starting pitching for both teams has been solid. Their bullpens have flip-flopped a little bit, though. The Yankees had the much stronger bullpen in the regular season, but in the postseason, they gave up a few runs to the Angels. The Phillies’ bullpen was virtually untouchable against the Dodgers (their relievers bent, but they didn’t break). Neither Mariano Rivera nor Brad Lidge has blown a save yet, which is significant given the fact that they are the only closers in the postseason not to have done so. The offense is a bit tricky to figure out. Of the eight postseason teams, only the Phillies have consistently hit with runners in scoring position (the ungodly numbers of three-run homers they’ve hit exemplify this). The Yankees, outside of a couple games, really haven’t. A lot of their offense has come from solo home runs and taking advantage of the numerous errors the Angels made (In fact, they went a stretch of over two games in the ALCS without getting a hit with a runner in scoring position). No one really talked about this because the Yankees won (though they did touch on Nick Swisher’s struggles by the end of the ALCS), but if these games against the Phillies feature both pitching staffs showing up, it may come back to haunt them. We will find out on Wednesday.

Postseason Thoughts: October 20

I thought I’d check in with some thoughts and observations now that we're in the middle of the LCS games:

NLCS: Dodgers-Phillies

Man, oh, man did last night suck (especially since I had to get up at six in the morning). With the exception of Game 2 (the one game I did not see in this series), the Phillies just seem to own Dodger pitching. The Dodgers are supposed to be the ones with the good bullpen, and yet the Phillies are pummeling Dodger relievers while the Dodgers have hardly touched the guys in the Phillies’ ‘pen (Admittedly, it’s hard for a team to “get to” the other team’s bullpen when the starter is going seven or eight innings). It seemed like they’d gotten the problem solved last night. There was timely hitting, decent starting pitching, and effective (albeit sometimes scary) relief work. The Dodgers got to within one out of guaranteeing a trip back to Dodger Stadium. They had their hard-throwing closer Jonathan Broxton on the hill (Broxton throws his SLIDER at 93 mph. Most guys can’t even throw their fastball that hard). However, struggling closers have been a theme of this postseason (along with crappy umpiring). Joe Nathan, Jonathan Papelbon, Ryan Franklin, Houston Street, and Brian Fuentes all have had issues and blown saves (extremely costly for the first three on that list). It was apparently Broxton’s turn (which leaves Brad Lidge and Mariano Rivera as the only two closers who haven’t blown a save yet this postseason…perhaps not coincidentally, these guys pitch for the two teams who are in the best position to advance). He got Raul Ibañez easily enough for the first out. Then Matt Stairs came to pinch-hit. I remembered that he hit a crushing home run against the Dodgers in last year’s NLCS. I had forgotten that he hit it off of Broxton. Apparently Broxton hadn’t forgotten. He walked Stairs on four pitches. Then Carlos Ruiz (who is to the Dodgers what the combination of Nick Punto and Joe Crede are to the Tigers) got hit by a pitch. Now, I haven’t seen Broxton pitch a lot. I saw a fair few Dodgers games during the regular season, but I would usually fall asleep before they reached the ninth inning. At this point, it looked like a typical Fernando Rodney save. However, Rodney would’ve proceeded to get a double play ball and get out of it by a thread (you know he would have). Broxton is a great closer, but apparently he can’t duplicate Rodney’s ability to get out of jams. At least, he couldn’t last night. It looked like he was going to. He got Greg Dobbs to line out softly to third. But Jimmy Rollins ended all of that (though how Ruiz, a catcher, scored from first with the arms the Dodgers have in the outfield and the bandbox that is Citizen’s Bank Park is beyond me). And now the Dodgers are REALLY up against the wall. And the crazy thing is that they’re going to have to rely on Vicente Padilla to get this series back to Dodger Stadium (the crazier thing is that Padilla’s actually been their best starter so far in the postseason). At the same time, they’re going to have to find a way to get to Cole Hamels again. By the way, if you want to know more details about the “struggling closer” trend, Eric Stephen over at TrueBlueLA has a nice article on it.

ALCS: Yankees-Angels

With the NLCS going the way it’s going, there is now no doubt in my mind that I want the Yankees to win this series. I don’t want the Phillies to win the World Series (since it’s looking increasingly likely that they’ll get there), and I believe the Yankees have a better shot of beating them than the Angels do. Still, I want to get in as much baseball as possible before it all ends, so at the same time, I do want this series to go the full seven games (I also want the NLCS to go seven games, but that desire has been created out of necessity). This thought has also occurred to me: If the Tigers had made the postseason and they’d somehow been able to get past the Yankees, given how the Angels have played in this series, I honestly believe the Tigers would have had a really good chance at winning the ALCS (If the Angels were hitting the way they did in the regular season, I would not have been so confident in making that statement). The Yankees have displayed some very strong pitching from both the starters and the bullpen, but the Angels essentially gave the first two games to them through a combination of stranding runners and making a bunch of errors. Unlike in Denver, where hats with earflaps were in vogue, there was more of a mix of hats with earflaps and those silly hoods that will always make Tiger fans think of Polanco. Seriously, it took until last night’s game (in Anaheim) before I was able to see Robinson Cano’s face for the first time in this series. As I said, I didn’t particularly want to see the Yankees lose Game 3, but if it’s gonna go seven games like I want it to, they have to lose sometime. Plus, I like seeing Tim McCarver look like an idiot. He was adamant that Reggie Willits should pinch-run for Jeff Mathis in the tenth. He would not shut up about it (It turned out to be moot, since Mathis was erased on a force at home that would’ve erased any runner). As it turns out, Mathis delivered the game-winning hit (and maybe with the help of some over-managing on Joe Girardi’s part, from all the pitching changes to giving up the DH to get Johnny Damon out of the outfield, which meant he had to pinch-hit for Mariano Rivera in the bottom half of the inning). By the way, did Jerry Hairston, Jr. ever get up after crashing into the wall? The whole time the Angels were celebrating around home plate, he was lying on the warning track. One thing that should be noted is that the Yankees have not gotten a hit with a runner in scoring position since Derek Jeter’s RBI single in the sixth inning of Game 1. They were 0-for-8 in Game 2 with RISP, and they were 0-for-8 again yesterday (all their runs came via four solo home runs). Nobody’s talking about this right now because the Yankees still have the advantage, but if the Angels should win tonight or (and this is unlikely) pull ahead with a win in Game 5, it’ll get noticed. You heard it here first, folks.

By the way, it should be noted that the television broadcasters utilized by Fox and by TBS are awful. I KNOW there are some good baseball announcers out there somewhere, and that once upon a time, they were used in nationally televised games. Also, I apologize for the weird formatting. I had to use Firefox to post this (and the combination of Firefox and Blogger can get ornery), as Internet Explorer won’t even load.

Postseason Thoughts So Far

Since it’s taking longer than I anticipated for me to get my season review finished (work and school obligations have interfered with that), I’ll fill you in on my postseason thoughts in the meantime, now that all the divisional series have wrapped up (All photos from Getty Images).

American League

ALDS: Yankees-Twins

I totally rooted for the Yankees in this series, both because I don’t hate them and even I am allowed to feel vindictive every once in a while. And a funny thing happened: the Twins started to have the same problem that the Tigers had during the regular season, which was squandering scoring opportunities. Game 2 in particular bore an uncanny resemblance to game 163. The Twins even got the Yankees to line into a double play in a tough spot, just as they had done to the Tigers (Minnesota sure is getting adept at inducing the line-drive double play). However, with the exception of the double play, this time just about everything went AGAINST Minnesota. I already mentioned the multitude of guys that the Twins left on base (17, to be exact). A-Rod hit the home run about two minutes after I said “Joe Nathan likes to blow saves at Yankee Stadium.” And, just like in game 163, there was a blown call that totally changed the outcome of the game. In our game, it was the Brandon Inge HBP that wasn’t called. In this game, it was a ball that Mauer hit that was ruled foul but was clearly fair (even my Personal Baseball Guru complained about that, and he’s a Yankees fan). Mauer did eventually single in that at-bat, but had the call been right, he would have had a double, and the Twins would have scored in that inning had everything else played out the way it did. As it stands, they loaded the bases with nobody out, did not score, and Teixiera ended the game with a walk-off home run to lead off the bottom half of the inning. That game was such a karmic smackdown that those of us on Bless You Boys that night jokingly decided that Miguel Cabrera used his powers as a high priest of Santería to curse the Twins. Then in Game 3, the Yankees were able to do what the Tigers couldn’t: Kill the Metrodome. For most of that game, we all watched as Carl Pavano was able to mow down a team other than the Tigers (and the resulting TBS mancrush was irritating, to say the least). Home run power finally gave the edge to the Yankees, and it helped that Minnesota’s bullpen allowed a couple add-on runs (I will add this: Ever since he threw that pitch behind Adam Everett, Jose Mijares was not nearly as effective). And yes, I am going to make the unpopular choice to root for the Yankees in the ALCS.

ALDS: Angels-Red Sox

I don’t particularly care for the Angels, but seeing as how I absolutely do not like the Red Sox, I rooted for the Angels in this series. I didn’t get to see a lot of these games, due to a combination of work and the late start time of the first two. But it looks as though the Angels finally figured out how to beat the Red Sox. They got good starting pitching in the first two games, and then in game 3, at Fenway, with two out and nobody on, they scored three runs off Papelbon to overcome a two-run deficit. I watched the replay of that just to see the Fenway faithful cry (call me sadistic). The interesting part is that Vladimir Guerrero (who is notorious for his struggles in the postseason, much like A-Rod) delivered the knockout blow. I think one of the things that is different for the Angels this year is that their offense is a lot better (and most of it has come from the same guys who were in the postseason last year and the year before). Their pitching wasn’t quite as good in the regular season as it had been the past two years, but it stepped up when it needed to. And now comes the scenario that my Personal Baseball Guru dreaded. He talked to me about it last Saturday. He was actually rooting for the Red Sox because he felt the Yankees were more likely to beat them in the ALCS. Apparently, the Angels usually have the Yankees’ number (kinda like how the Tigers have dominated the Texas Rangers recently). I honestly don’t know what to expect from this series. The starting pitching looks pretty even. If it comes down to it, the Yankees have a better bullpen, but the Angels’ starters have gotten pretty deep into games so far. Both teams have a ridiculous number of switch-hitters. The Angels have more speed while the Yankees have more power. Regardless, I’m still rooting for the Yankees because I just don’t have that much enthusiasm for the Angels.

National League

NLDS: Dodgers-Cardinals

With the Tigers gone, I pretty much decided to root for the Dodgers all throughout. I like most of the players on the team, and, like New York, they are located in a city that I’d like to visit (Plus, I hung out during a couple Game Threads at TrueBlueLA, and the Dodgers fans there are really nice). Not a lot of people were expecting the Dodgers to beat the Cardinals. I myself pointed out the apparent pitching mismatch the last time I posted (though I failed to point out that the Dodgers probably had the better bullpen; this was an unfortunate oversight). As it turns out, the Cardinals, like the Twins, were doomed by squandered scoring opportunities. Game 1 was a showcase in squanderage by both teams. The Dodgers and the Cardinals combined to leave THIRTY men on base. Game 2 saw Matt Holliday go from hero to goat. He hit a solo home run that accounted for one of the two Cardinal runs, and unlike Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright pitched extremely well. All that was negated with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, when Holliday lost a sinking liner in the towels, of all things. That opened the door, and the Dodgers jumped on the opportunity. In game 3, Vicente Padilla (whom the Tigers jumped on so many times when he was with Texas) pitched the game of his life and the Dodgers not only beat the Cardinals in the NLDS, they swept them (the fans at TrueBlueLA posted an ESPN graphic showing all their “experts” except one picking the Cardinals). Now, I don’t dislike the Cardinals. If they had won, it would not have been the end of the world. I just like the Dodgers more.

NLDS: Rockies-Phillies

Alas, I suppose they can’t all go the way I wanted them to. In three of the four division series, the team I rooted for won. This was the one that didn’t. When the series began, I had no strong feelings either way towards the Rockies (that all changed; details to come), but I just don’t like the Phillies. Unfortunately, the Phillies had the means to execute what I must admit was a brilliant strategy: Lots of left-handed pitching. For the last several years, we’ve heard that the Tigers are too right-handed. Well, if that’s the case, the Rockies are an example of a team that is too left-handed. And they paid the price for it. Plus, the big guys in their lineup didn’t really come through and as a team, they only hit two home runs. Meanwhile, Magglio must’ve broken Houston Street with that 3-run homer in the ALCS, cuz he struggled through the postseason. He got the save in game 2, but it was an adventure, and he took the loss in both game 3 and game 4 (As an aside, I’ll say that the umpiring has been crappy this entire postseason, including our game, and the team in each division series that was victimized by it failed to recover). Game 4 was especially painful (I can’t really tell you about the end of game 3 because I was already asleep when that happened). Street was one strike away from sending everyone back to Philadelphia, and then he ended up walking Chase Utley. Ryan Howard followed up with a 2-run double that tied the game, and then Jayson Werth followed with a bloop single that scored Howard and gave the Phillies the lead again after the Rockies had staged one very entertaining comeback in the bottom of the eighth (one of the most hilarious moments this year has to be Dexter Fowler completely jumping over Chase Utley). One significant byproduct of this series (on a personal level, at least), is that I have officially gone nuts over one of the Rockies: the 23-year-old Venezuelan outfielder Carlos Gonzalez (pictured above). Usually, when I decide I like someone (be it strictly platonic, as with Pudge, or, and this is exceptionally rare, there is a bit of aesthetic pleasure mixed in, as with Verlander; for the record, there are only 3 players that I have found “aesthetically pleasing”), either they kinda gradually grow on me (Brandon Inge did this) or it’s instant, spurred on by something they’ve done to which I react by thinking/saying “That is AWESOME” (with Pudge, it was the first time I saw him throw out a runner; with Verlander, it was the first time I saw him touch triple digits). All Carlos Gonzalez did was step into the batter’s box and I decided I liked him. I didn’t know why (and I still don’t), but I liked him (the only other time I’ve done this was with Kurt Suzuki of the Oakland Athletics, whom I also find “aesthetically pleasing”). This was actually in some game late in the season (and I can’t remember which one). I just forgot about it until the NLDS. Bear in mind I pretty much knew nothing about him before this series (And actually, he was with the A’s when they came to Detroit last year. He batted cleanup in the game I went to. I don’t remember him, though). He certainly gave me plenty of legitimate reasons to like him in the NLDS, though (As another aside, I came across an interview with him, and he speaks English very well; he bats left, throws left, and also has the same birthday as my dad). Gonzalez (nicknamed “CarGo,” according to the folks at Purple Row) was by far the Rockies’ hottest hitter. He had himself a series: 10 hits (including a home run), nine of which came against left-handed pitching. It got to the point where I was seriously considering what it would cost for the Tigers to get this guy. It’s probably WAY more than they’d be willing to give up (and I would totally agree with them, if that were the case), but it sure is tantalizing because it looks like he represents a whole lot of things the Tigers need. He’s a lefty who apparently can hit left-handed pitching. It looks as though he’ll hit for average and for power. He can run, so there’s a stolen base threat and good speed in the outfield. I have heard he’s a good defender, and I have seen firsthand that he has a GUN for a left arm. I’m not an expert on prospects (far from it), but this is a good-looking player (and I mean that in multiple senses of the phrase). Unfortunately, he couldn’t quite carry the rest of his team, which means no more Carlos Gonzalez in the postseason. Hopefully by the time I see him again I will have figured out why I decided to like him (right after I figure out why I like Kurt Suzuki). And so the Dodgers and the Phillies are set for a rematch in the NLCS. I’m not sure how this will go. The Phillies have the edge with starting pitching, but then again, so did the Cardinals. The Dodgers have the edge in the bullpen. The Phillies are heavily-laden with lefty power hitters. The Dodgers don’t have as much power, but their lineup is a bit more balanced in terms of lefty-righty. The Dodgers have home field advantage this time around, but the Phillies were one of the best road teams in baseball this year. So I don’t know how this’ll turn out. I’ll certainly be rooting for the Dodgers, though.

Weekend Mojo? Not So Much

I’m not sure whether to be more frustrated by the fact that the last three games were all winnable, or comforted by it. While Justin Verlander arguably pitched better than both Sabathia and his own line on Saturday (given the fact that, from what I’ve been told, none of the hits he gave up in the seventh inning were hit particularly well, including the home run; I don’t know how hard the Tigers hit Sabathia), I’d say Edwin Jackson probably deserved his final line (in terms of numbers, that is; the decision itself is open for debate). In fact, if you raw numbers of hits, walks, and strikeouts, Chamberlain was actually a bit better, although Jackson was more efficient with his pitches (a bit strange, since he walked five in the game). In the end it boiled down to which pitcher was able to keep the ball in the ballpark on a more consistent basis. Unlike the wall-scraper that Verlander gave up on Saturday, the two home runs that Jackson gave up would’ve probably been out anywhere. And again, Saturday’s loss was unusual because Verlander typically gets plenty of run support. Jackson normally does not, so this was more par for the course. However, the offense has to get better for every pitcher. Odd note, though: The Yankees won against Baltimore by a score of 2-1 (that’s three straight 2-1 victories for them), and again all the scoring in THAT game was on solo home runs. Maybe their pitching is just that hot.

On Saturday, I had a chat with my Personal Baseball Guru (remember, he’s actually a friend of my dad’s who is a Yankees fan, but he is a former player in college/independent leagues and is a total expert, albeit very old school). I wanted to ask him about the issue with RISP, and all he could come up with was “with a pitcher of Sabathia’s caliber, you’d hope he’d be able to get himself out of those situations.” Mostly he wanted to talk about Verlander and marvel about how “dominant” he was (again, this is hearsay, as all I saw of Verlander was the seventh inning and I have no way of verifying his previous work). His description of Verlander was that “he’s a horse who should not be on a pitch count.” He said this like someone came in from the bullpen and gave up a bunch of runs, which didn’t happen. He also is really fond of Curtis Granderson and desperately wants the Yankees to find some way of acquiring him. On Saturday, he had lots of positive words for Brandon Inge. He said he was a “throwback” and that he reminded him of the guys he used to root for growing up. When I told him that Brandon was probably the most popular Tiger amongst the fans, his reply was “Well, that tells me that Detroit fans are really smart.” Finally, we discussed the situation with Magglio a bit more. He still maintains that Maggs is simply in a slump, but he wonders if maybe he should get his eyes checked or something (seriously…they tried that with David Ortiz). His justification in saying this is that with a good a hitter as Magglio was, the numbers should gradually decline as he gets older. There should not be such a sharp dropoff. However, the subject of Mickey Mantle came up later in the conversation, and looking over his career numbers, we discovered that he DID have kind of a sharp dropoff in production (from .303 and 35 HR in 1964 to .255 and 19 home runs in 1965, and although he did get back up to .288 in 1966, his averages over his final two years were .247 and .233). However, injuries had kind of taken their toll on Mantle during the final years of his playing days, so make of that what you will. He also had some thoughts on Joel Zumaya. He believes that (assuming the shoulder injury is not serious or career-threatening) Zumaya will be a dominant setup man and/or closer once he learns how to pitch and not try to continuously throw fastballs by people. One last thing from my Personal Baseball Guru: He believes that Mauer will cool off and Ichiro will win the batting title.

Tonight marks the beginning of a six-day, seven-game homestand. The good news is that the Tigers’ offense generally perks up at home. The bad news is that the Seattle Mariners have the best pitching in the league, and the Tigers will be seeing two big reasons for that later on in the series. Therefore, it would probably be a good idea to win this game. They will be seeing the Mariners’ #4 starter, lefty Garrett Olson, formerly of the Baltimore Orioles. His ERA is respectable for a #4 starter (4.53), but it is a bit higher than most of their other pitchers, and he lost his last start against the Indians (by the way, Seattle is starting two lefties in this series, so expect to see Magglio a lot). Meanwhile, Rick Porcello starts for the first time in what seems like a year and a half. He hasn’t been so hot recently. Is it the innings piling up, is he just in a slump, or have teams started to make an adjustment as the scouting reports get more detailed?