Detroit Tigers 2013 Season

[CONN CHRIS]

As much as I like you and your write ups, please go away again Randy. Quickly, and stay away.

[RandyTiger]

Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS

As much as I like you and your write ups, please go away again Randy. Quickly, and stay away.

As you wish.

[cephasjames]

Originally Posted by RandyTiger

As you wish.

Where you rolling down a hill as you said this, your black mask flying from your face?

[RandyTiger]

Originally Posted by cephasjames

Where you rolling down a hill as you said this, your black mask flying from your face?

I don't quite catch the allusion here...

I thought Chris was quite serious.

[CONN CHRIS]

Originally Posted by RandyTiger

I don't quite catch the allusion here...

I thought Chris was quite serious.

Deadly serious.

Randy leaves, Tigers roll. Randy returns, Tigers lose.

(obviously [I hope] kidding but no idea what ceph is talking about)

[RandyTiger]

Avisail Garcia, who got sent down to Toledo last week when Tuiasosopo came off the DL, hit for the cycle today, going 4-5 in the process with 3 RBI and a SB.

Boy's tearing things up. Tigers could have used that today at Cleveland. I can't wait to see what this kid does with a full-time stint in the Bigs.

Who knows, he just might get the job this year if Dirks gets packaged away in a trade. Hunter's signed through 2014, so RF isn't gonna open up anytime soon.

[TribeFanInNC]

Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS

Deadly serious.

Randy leaves, Tigers roll. Randy returns, Tigers lose.

Woohoo!!! Randy's back!!! (both kidding and serious... )

I thought games 1 and 2 might be more like game 3. The Indians offense/Tigers pitching didn't comply. Instead, the Tigers blew our doors off. The Friday game really hurt. Hopefully we can return the favor today and beat the ace to eke out a completely undeserved split. I suspect not, though Scott Kazmir has been a huge surprise.

[cephasjames]

Originally Posted by RandyTiger

I don't quite catch the allusion here...

I thought Chris was quite serious.

Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS

Deadly serious.

Randy leaves, Tigers roll. Randy returns, Tigers lose.

(obviously [I hope] kidding but no idea what ceph is talking about)

Have neither of you seen The Princess Bride? The Dread Pirate Roberts/Wesley yells "As you wish!" to his true love, Buttercup, as he rolls down the hill into the valley after being pushed down by her. Ring any bells?

[RandyTiger]

Originally Posted by cephasjames

Have neither of you seen The Princess Bride? The Dread Pirate Roberts/Wesley yells "As you wish!" to his true love, Buttercup, as he rolls down the hill into the valley after being pushed down by her. Ring any bells?

Never seen it - those kind of movies just ain't my cup of tea, which is why I didn't get the reference.

[RandyTiger]

Three factoids from MLBStatoftheDay [https://twitter.com/MLBStatoftheDay/:]

@MiguelCabrera has 7 four-hit games this season, and leads @MLB with 125 hits.

[Source]

and...

@MiguelCabrera has 90 RBIs, becoming 12th player to reach that plateau before #ASG break.

[Source]

and...

@MiguelCabrera’s 28 homers are tied for the most for a @Tigers player before #ASG break. Cecil Fielder had 28 in 1990.

[Source]

We already knew Miggy was special, but THAT special? Whoa. He's a beast.

That particular Twitter account is full of interesting stuff!

[RandyTiger]

Odds and ends:

1. The Prince has been selected to participate in the ASG HR Derby.
2. Nick Castellanos is 15th on Baseball America's Midseason Top 50 Prospects, the only Tiger farmhand to make it. [Link to complete list.] He and Jordan Lennerton (Toledo 1B) will play in the AAA-All-Star Game this year.

In 91 games this season (all Toledo), Castellanos is hitting .292 AVG, OBP .366, and OPS of .835; 11 HR, 46 RBI; 3 SB, 64K, 43 BB. [Link].

Lennerton , 90 games (all Toledo), .305 AVG, .409 OBP, .882 OPS; 13 HR, 43 RBI; 77 K, 59 BB. [Link]

[RandyTiger]

Rain Delay in the bottom of the 2nd, Tigers lead 1-0.

Can't blame that one on me, I ain't anywhere near Cleveland!

[CONN CHRIS]

Originally Posted by RandyTiger

Rain Delay in the bottom of the 2nd, Tigers lead 1-0.

Can't blame that one on me, I ain't anywhere near Cleveland!

This is too bad.

[RandyTiger]

Tigers 4, Indians 2. (10) [Boxscore]

Summary: On a dark and stormy night, the Cats top the Tribe.

Pitching: Even tho' Mighty Max didn't win this game, he tossed another solid game, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks while flaming out 7 little Indians. He now has 18 straight games of 6+ strikeouts, and it was his 14th quality start in 18 games this season.

His numbers are: 13-0, 3.06 ERA, 0.95 ERA, with 146 punch-outs in 123.2 innings. Are there any questions about why he's on the All-Star team? A Cy Young is not out of the question for him this year if he keeps this up.

Rondon (0-1, 5.40 ERA, 1.95 WHIP) worked the 8th (and 1 batter in the 9th) with a solid performance, allowing just 1 single to start off the 9th, at which point he was pulled.

Smyly took over and did his usual workmanship job, keeping the door shut and getting one strikeout. He was credited with the win, and goes to 4-0, 2.04 ERA, 0.98 WHIP. I don't think the Tigers need to worry about a set-up man. They've got one.

Benoit threw the 10th, and got into some trouble in true gas-can fashion.

After getting a strikeout and a ground-out, Swisher singled to deep center, and then took 2nd a few pitches later on defensive indifference. Brantley singled to deep right, and Swisher should have scored... but he slipped on the wet surface after rounding third and wound up having to retreat back to the bag.

Benoit then struck out Aviles to end the game and notch his 7th save. His record goes to 2-0, 1.73 ERA, 1.05 WHIP.

Offense: The boys came up with 7 hits and 6 walks, but the Tribe managed to limit their effectiveness until the 10th.

Martinez was the offensive star for the Tigers, going 2-4 (.245) with a walk, 2 doubles (17), and 2 RBI (46). He was directly responsible for the win, doubling in Cabrera and Fielder on a very long ball to CF that you gotta see to believe. [Video]

Tuiasosopo went 1-2 (.342) with a solo-shot homer (4) to RF in the 4th. [Video]

Peralta (1-5, .304) slugged a double (24) in the 2nd, driving in Martinez (42 RBI), and Action Jackson went 1-5 (.291) with a double (13) in the 7th that went no-where.

Other than that, they didn't do much, as Miggy and Prince were both hitless (but they drew 2 walks apiece). Collectively, the team was 3-9 RISP, and left 8 runners on base.

Next game: White Sox (34-52 (edit: record updated), 15-31 away) @ Tigers (49-39, 26-16 home), 7:08 Eastern. TV: FS-D. Radio: 97.1 The Ticket.

Projected starters: Quintana (3-2, 3.69) vs. Verlander (9-5, 3.54)

[TribeFanInNC]

Martinez seems to do just fine against the Indians. Maybe he's coming around a bit for you guys.

[RandyTiger]

Originally Posted by TribeFanInNC

Martinez seems to do just fine against the Indians. Maybe he's coming around a bit for you guys.

Maybe we should play against the Indians for all 162 games...

[RandyTiger]

Yet more trader rumors floating around:

John Paul Morosi of FoxSports has posted an article saying that the Tigers, Orioles, and the Diamondbacks are eyeing the Brewers bullpen. [Source]

The article does state the Tigers interest is preliminary at this point and the Brewers/Tigers have not had formal talks recently.

Seems every Tom, Dick, and Harry has the Tigers interested in someone, but there's little real evidence at this point that anything is going on. If Dombrowski is going to make a move, he's playing it close to the vest, as is his usual style. Smart move.

The trade deadline is July 31st @ 4 PM Eastern.

[RandyTiger]

Roster move:

Infielder Omar Infante has been placed on the 15-day DL retroactive to 7/4 with a left ankle sprain.

Infielder Hernan Perez has been recalled from AA Erie. In 86 games, Perez is hitting .300 (108-360), with an OBP of .324 (doesn't walk much) and an OPS of .726. He has 28 doubles, 2 triples, 4 homers, 35 RBI, and 24 SB (8 CS).

He's fielding .968 with 13 errors (2B: 5 in 59 games; SS: 8 in 27 games).

He appeared in 1 game with Detroit last year.

Roster area of initial thread post updated.

Edit: He will be starting tonight's game at 2B and batting 8th.

[RandyTiger]

White Sox 11, Tigers 4. [Boxscore]

Summary: Late inning surges by Sox shred Tigers.

Pitching: Oi, this is one recap I do not wanna write, but it has to be done.

Verlander was cruising along nicely, only having given up 8 hits, a walk, and a solo-shot homer though 7 innings. It was kinda disconcerting to realize that he'd given up at least 1 hit every single inning. Yet, he was doing okay.

And then disaster struck.

Justin gave up a single to Rios, followed by a Dunn homer. Okay, 3 runs given up, not too shoddy. Then the next two batters hit singles, leaving runners at 1st and 3rd with no outs. Uh-oh. Trouble. Skipper decided to call in relief, with JV having thrown 112 pitches. His final line was 12 hits, 1 walk, 5 runs (2 HR), and got just 3 K's for the game. >.<

Ultimately, when the dust settled, Verlander was saddled with the loss, leaving his record at 9-6, 3.71 ERA, 1.39 WHIP.

Alburquerque came on board... and promptly gave up a 3-run shot. After two outs, 3 more singles, and another run scored, he got yanked. Final line for him was 2/3 of an inning, 4 hits, 3 runs (1 HR), and a K. Record is 1-2, 4.50 ERA, 1.82 WHIP.

In his last two outings, he's lasted a total of 1 inning and given up 6 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks, allowing 1 HR each time.

Coke came on to try to stem the tide. He couldn't do it, as he gave up a run-scoring single and a walk before getting the final out of the inning. He's now 0-5, 5.93 ERA, 1.46 WHIP.

For the 9th inning, Reed entered - and proved to be incapable of stemming the rout, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits. He's now 0-0, 4.38 ERA, 1.62 WHIP.

All told, the Sox collected 23 hits, something they've not done against the Tigers since... 1926. >.<

Offense: The boys managed just 7 hits and a walk as the Sox's starting pitcher, Quintana, tossed a very good game.

Martinez had the most hits of any Cat, going 2-4 (.249), both of them singles. Looks like he's starting to come around. Maybe.

Tuiasosopo smacked a solo-shot over the LF wall in the 5th for his 5th homer of the year (and 2nd in 2 games). [Video]

In the 8th inning, in an attempt to close the gap, Miggy blasted a 2-run shot to Left-Center for his 29th homer of the year (and 91st and 92nd RBIs). [Video]

The donkelly, in the 9th, hit a solo-shot for his 4th homer of the year in a last gasp from the Tigers.

And that's all they managed to do.

Next game: Wednesday, White Sox (35-52, 16-31 away) @ Tigers (49-40, 26-17 home), 7:08 Eastern. TV: FS-D. Radio: 97.1 The Ticket.

Projected starters: Axelrod (3-5, 4.97) vs. Porcello (5-6, 4.82).

Does anyone remember, from the 1980's, the picture the broadcasters put up when the Tigers lost, the one with the old Tigers logo with an ice-bag on his head, as if he had a headache? That would be appropriate here. >.<

[cephasjames]

Last night was one of those examples (in hindsight obviously) where Jimmy left a pitcher in too long. That's not the first time he's done that with Justin this year. He's not the same Justin this year as in past years and the number of hits he gave up before the eighth was a good indicator of that.