Baseball By Paul

Catcher Ivan Rodriguez left the game against the Chicago White Sox after a strikeout in the 2nd inning. He apparently experienced some back spasms and is regarded as day-to-day. Like Billfer at DTW.com, I’ll push for BbP Superhero, Marcus Thames to bat third in Pudge’s absence. In the meantime, here’s hoping for a speedy recovery from Pudge!

Courtesy: Sportsline.com

The Tigers managed to take one game of the four game set with the New York Yankees and they did it in style. Storming back from a 5-0 deficit, they completed the comeback this time around with a 7-6 victory. Today, the team was much better at converting opportunities with runners on than they had been in the previous three games. At times, namely when Craig Monroe was up to bat, they left something to be desired in terms of driving in runs, but even his six men left on base paled in comparison to Yankees fill-in rightfielder Terrence Long‘s nine left on.

Chien-Ming Wang breezed through three innings facing just nine hitters thanks to a nixed stolen base attempt and a double play. He came unraveled in fourth inning allowing three straight hits to the top of the lineup to load the bases. A walk to Magglio Ordonez gave the Tigers their first run of game. A pair of RBI-singles by Carlos Guillen and Omar Infante drew the Tigers to within two runs. Finally the team converted an optimum scoring chance for some runs. It was something that plagued the team all series long:

May 30th, 1st inning vs. Aaron Small:
-Ball, Ball, Strike looking, Ball, Strike looking, Granderson singled to right.
-Pickoff attempt, Ball, Strike looking, Polanco singled to right, Granderson to second.
-Rodriguez reached on bunt single to pitcher, Granderson to third, Polanco to second.
-Ball, Foul, Foul, Ordonez fouled out to first.
-Ball, Foul, Ball, Foul, Foul, Ball, Foul, Foul, Guillen lined out to shortstop.
-Strike looking, Ball, Foul, Shelton struck out swinging.
–End of Inning (0 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors)

May 30th, 8th inning vs. Kyle Farnsworth & Scott Proctor:
-Ball, Ball, Ball, Shelton walked.
-Monroe singled to left center, Shelton to second
-Santiago running for Shelton
-Foul, Ball, Ball, Ball, Foul, Foul, Thames walked, Santiago to third, Monroe to second.
-Strike looking, Ball, Ball, Inge reached on fielder’s choice to shortstop, Santiago scored, Monroe to third, Thames out at second.
-Ball, Foul, Ball, Foul, Foul, Granderson struck out looking.
-Strike looking, Foul, Polanco struck out swinging.
–End of Inning (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)

May 31st, 6th inning vs. Mike Mussina:
-Inge reached on bunt single to first.
-Strike looking, Foul, Foul, Ball, Granderson singled to left center, Inge to second.
-Polanco grounded into fielder’s choice to first, Inge out at third, Granderson to second.
-Strike looking, Rodriguez grounded into double play shortstop to first, Polanco out at second.
–End of Inning (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)

Three key innings that could’ve turned the series in favor of the Tigers. Tonight, after getting within two at 5-3, rookie Justin Verlander labored through the fifth inning, including a leadoff home run to Jason Giambi (14), in what would be his last of the evening. The bloodspots on his right pant leg seemed to suggest he was battling a blister. Hopefully it doesn’t become a recurring problem for him.

The teams remained scoreless until the ninth when the Tigers took advantage of Mariano Rivera‘s unavailability and brutalized former teammate Kyle Farnsworth. Marcus Thames, poster boy for BbP, followed a Granderson lineout with a walk. It was his third time on base as he raised his batting line to .307/.413/.648. Then Rodriguez, Ordonez, & Guillen knocked three straight singles that scored Thames then Pudge giving the Tigers the series saver.

Lost in the shuffle of going 1-3 against the Yankees is the fact that the Chicago White Sox posted the exact same record in four games against the Cleveland Indians and the Tigers still hold the league’s best record entering their tilt with the Boston Red Sox. As we enter the third month of the season, the success of the Tigers is no longer new and fresh. We have entered the period where the pessimists are waiting for the other shoe to drop or trying uncover the flaws of the team.

They aren’t perfect and despite what their record says, I do not honestly believe they are the best team in baseball. That said, I do not believe they are a fluke and feel confident in saying they are one of the best teams in baseball. The team’s detractors can’t just take a particular series and continually point at it saying “see, see, they aren’t that good after all!!!” Rough patches with three or four game skids happen during the course of the season, it’s inevitable as evidenced by the reiging champions over the course of the same period. Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated realizes that the Tigers are still very much contenders.

The Tigers have their work cut out for them if they want back-to-back wins as Curt Schilling (8-2, 3.92 ERA, 7.2 K:BB) takes the hill for Boston against Kenny Rogers (7-3, 3.76 ERA, 1.8 K:BB) at 6:05 PM Central. An hour later, the Detroit Pistons once again look to extend their season in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat. Head over to one of my newest sites to check daily, Detroit Bad Boys, for extended coverage.

The Detroit Tigers called up pitcher Zach Miner from the Toledo Mudhens while optioning Jack Hannahan. The 24-year old righthander was brought over with Roman Colon in the Kyle Farnsworth deal last season and has pitched exceptionally well for the Mudhens over the course of two seasons. This year in nine starts covering 51 innings, he was 6-0 with a 2.82 earned run average, 1.26 WHIP, and 1.9 K:BB. The move looks to shore up the front end of the bullpen. an area that hasn’t been clicking on all cylinders of late for the team.

A look at Miner’s numbers prior to 2006:

What started off very poorly, ended in the same fashion. The Tigers dropped their second straight game to the New York Yankees despite erasing a five run deficit late in the game. Roman Colon was rocked in his first start since substituting for Mike Maroth in the rotation, allowing five runs in 2 1/3 innings of work. After Ivan Rodriguez‘s 4th home run in the bottom of the third, the Tigers were down 6-1. Their comeback was spurred by a Derek Jeter error that led to two runs in the three run fifth. Runs in the 6th and 8th innings tied the game and sent it to extra innings. After a scoreless 10th for both teams, Todd Jones came unglued in the top of the 11th. A solo home run by Jason Giambi was good enough to seal the victory, but the Yankees piled on four more insurance runs. Mariano Rivera polished off the win in his third inning of work with a 1-2-3 11th inning for the 11-6 win.

I am very displeased by the back-to-back losses, as expected being that I’m a Tigers fan, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t even more angry because they have come against the Yankees. Though the team was able to come back, I had a bad feeling about the game as early as the first inning. It was during that inning that the first three batters got on against the Aaron Small and the Tigers managed ZERO runs! You simply have to convert that opportunity for at least one run and get your pitcher a lead. Despite posting three runs in the fifth inning with Pudge’s triple and Magglio Ordonez‘s RBI single, I’m still a bit miffed they weren’t able to have a real big inning considering they had no outs after Ordonez’s at-bat. Instead, it was three straight outs. Then in the 8th inning, they had the bases loaded with no one out and score just one run. That is abysmal and unacceptable for a team that strives to be one the league’s elite. The hitters left 22 men on base (8 left on as a team), which is actually fewer than the Yankees’ 23 and 12, but it was the situations that the Tigers did that cost them this game.

Fernando Rodney‘s control, or lack thereof, almost prevented this game from going to extra innings in the first place. After a walk to Jorge Posada, Robinson Cano grounded into a busted double play that ended up being a fielder’s choice with an error by Rodney that allowed Cano over to second. Bernie Williams was intentionally walked, a move I hate in general though it was at least justified because there were two outs. After reading Baseball Between the Numbers by the guys at Baseball Prospectus, I’ve seen that it is never a good idea to increase the expected runs of a team even to set up a force play. Walking a man to get runners on 1st and 2nd is especially bad if your pitcher throws a wild pitch to the next batter moving those runners to 2nd and 3rd. Not only have you eliminated the edge you aimed to get by walking that batter, but the expected runs for the opposing team goes from 0.457 to 0.661. Then, in an attempt to get me to throw my monitor out the window Rodney threw another wild pitch, but Pudge chased it down and threw a BB to Rodney to nail Cano at home. Upon further review, it was an excellent call by homeplate umpire, Tim Tschida.

Even with that great escape and the comeback to force it into extras, the Tigers were still dropped for their third straight loss. In terms of the big picture, they remain a game and a half ahead of the Chicago White Sox as they were dumped by the Indians, 4-3. On a smaller scale, the Tigers have started off a huge 13-game stretch down 0-2 to the New York Yankees and I don’t like the possible effects it could have on their confidence if they don’t grab the final two wins of this series. Not an easy task with Mike Mussina (6-1, 2.72 ERA, 5.4 K:BB) on the hill tomorrow against Nate Robertson (5-2, 3.02 ERA, 1.7 K:BB).

By the way, I’ve dubbed the nine games after the Yankees series as the All American Stretch. I realize it contains three against the Toronto Blue Jays, but it is against the Red Sox, the White Sox, and the Blue Jays in that order.

I know just two days ago, I said Brandon Inge wouldn’t hold his huge home run pace. Maybe he took exception that assertion as he raised the pace a bit to 38 with his 11th home run. His two-run homer against Kansas City tonight has the Tigers up 3-0 through five right now.

I don’t have much today, despite the big comeback win. I went to the bar to watch the Pistons lose game one and missed the entire Tigers game. Even at 4-0, which I saw on the ESPN scroll, I was sure the team could come back and sure enough they did. I’m pretty tired so I’ll leave on this note. Here is why the Hold statistic is a joke:

Pitcher-Ambiorix Burgos (H,1)
IP 2.1
H 2
R 2
ER 2
BB 1
SO 3

That performance should be labeled (S, 15) for Burgos’ 15th Suck of the season.

The WPC from last night:

In his last game, a heavyweight match against Johan Santana, rookie starting pitcher Justin Verlander failed to strikeout a batter, but allowed six hits and walk no one in the 2-0 win. Tonight, he one-upped himself against the Kansas City Royals throwing a complete game shutout striking out seven and yielding just five hits and one walk in the 8-0 win. He dropped his earned run average to a miniscule 2.70 and raised his K:BB ratio to 2.3 (34:15) notching his sixth win against three losses. Say what you will about the quality of competition (or lack thereof), but a complete game shutout as a rookie in the majors is a feat no matter who it is against.

Verlander was backed nicely by his offense as they jumped all over Jeremy Affeldt, scoring five in the second and three more in the fifth. Everyone had at least one hit while Magglio Ordonez and Omar Infante each had three. Brandon Inge clubbed his 10th home run raising his pace to 37 for the season. There is almost no way he’ll reach that lofty mark, but you cannot say enough for far he has come as a major league player.

Year AB AVG OBP SLG
2001 189 .180 .215 .238
2002 321 .202 .266 .333
2003 330 .203 .265 .339
2004 408 .287 .340 .453
2005 616 .261 .330 .419
2006 130 .223 .299 .492

His on-base percentage and average thus far in 2006 leave plenty to be desired, but he has made the most of his hits with 17 extra-base hits. He isn’t great, but after his 2001-2003 seasons, I pegged him as one of the worst players in all of the major leagues. Now, at age 29 he is a solid if unspectacular everyday player capable sustained periods of big offense.

I won’t rain on Verlander’s parade by pointing out the utter incompetence of the Royals. We all know about it, but if it were easy to dominate even the worst teams then we would routinely see no hitters and complete game shutouts against them, but we don’t meaning it is always an accomplishment. There were 63 CGShOs in 2005 and the league is on pace almost the same amount in 2006. I’ll post the WPC tomorrow morning when it becomes available, though I doubt it shows any significant variance over the course of the game.

Detroit Getting Pub Elsewhere
At this point, there isn’t really anyone who hasn’t noticed what the Tigers are doing through 44 games and many sites and media outlets have addressed it. The folks over at Hardball Times.com are the latest as Tigerblog.net writer Brian Borawski put together a piece examining the Tigers huge start. In keeping with the HBT theme, Mr. Borawski does a fine job with the breakdown.