OT: Tigers beat ChiSox 6-1, Magic # is at 4

Submitted by Moleskyn on

I almost started a game thread in the 7th inning, but I didn't want to jinx the Tigers' excellent late-inning surge. Now that the game is in the books, I am starting a bask/general MLB Open Thread with a clean conscience.

That said...whew! I was nervous heading into the 7th tied at 1, but the team really closed it out well. Romine's suicide squeeze was executed perfectly. Timely hitting from Davis. And man, he is such an asset on the basepaths. It's easy to miss Jackson on a day when Davis gets on base 3 times.

Verlander turned in his second outstanding outing in a row. That's just what we need, and he's (knock on wood) rounding into form at the perfect time. An easy ninth for Soria, which is also great to see. Seems like the bullpen has gotten the job done more often than not lately, but it's not often that they do it easily. If Soria can return to his early season form, he'll be a big asset in the playoffs.

Looking to the games tonight, KC and Cleveland start at 7:00. KC is going for the sweep, which would also be the knockout blow to the Tribe. Jason Vargas on the mound for the Royals, Trevor Bauer for Cleveland. I'll be pulling heavily for Cleveland.

Oakland is down 3-0 in the 3rd inning against LA right now. Coming into today, Detroit was a game up on Oakland (I know, as long as we beat KC, it doesn't matter where Oakland finishes, but...).

Eat 'em up Tigers!

mGrowOld

September 24th, 2014 at 4:50 PM ^

Nice work GoWings - you almost got it.

But it's "Let's go Cavs", "Here we go Brownies - here we go" and "Go Tribe", not "Go Cleveland."

But we are an inclusive fanbase and are happy to accept all who wish to become part of the Cleveland fan base collective.  I'll make sure you get a #23 Cavs jersey, a Johnny Football t-shirt and a Chief Wahoo hat as part of your welcome package.

alum96

September 24th, 2014 at 4:45 PM ^

Cool beans. I want to avoid that Wild Card spot, its like the 163rd game Porcello had to pitch a few years ago.  Also I'd rather play Baltimore than the Angels!

bsand2053

September 24th, 2014 at 4:47 PM ^

Thank goodness we had one of the best relief pitchers in baseball out there to protect that 5 run lead.  Sure wouldn't want to throw him out there in a close game, thats what Joe Nathan is for.

reshp1

September 24th, 2014 at 4:48 PM ^

Sale hitting Victor Martinez and then talking shit really woke the Tigers up. The binoculars thing Kinsler did right back to him was freaking priceless.

Rico616

September 24th, 2014 at 4:53 PM ^

Tigers are going to make the playoffs but winning the division would be huge. Don't want to go to game 163, lose that, play Oakland for the chance to play the Angels.

I don't want to say they need to take 3 of 4 from Minnesota but they almost have to based on how bad the Sox are. Especially if Cleveland loses tonight.

rob f

September 24th, 2014 at 5:16 PM ^

is on ESPN tonight at 7.

I plan on watching some of it (with the sound, of course, muted so I'm not driven batshit crazy by that idiot with the drum). 

BTW, rooting for the Tribe tonight is a forgivable offense, as we simply need KC to lose some games right now. Either that or the Tigers have to win out--- DO NOT WANT to be a wildcard and have the entire season boiled down to essentially a "play-in" game.

WMUgoblue

September 24th, 2014 at 5:04 PM ^

Chris Sale is a bitch. Intentionally hit Miggy last year after a HR and now he plunked Victor today because he thought we had a guy on CF with binoculars?!? GTFO of here, this isn't 1925 at the Polo Grounds. I suppose we should thank him for gifting us the game tying run.

WMUgoblue

September 24th, 2014 at 5:57 PM ^

It wouldn't have even mattered the way Sale's fastball was moving today, 96 with cutting action from a lefty with a deceptive delivery is nearly impossible to hit anyhow. Combine that with the fact that Victor has to stare 420 feet to CF to see said guy relaying him the signals and it makes it sound even more ridiculous.

Z

September 24th, 2014 at 5:08 PM ^

Even if KC wins the division, we still don't care where Oakland finishes.  Seattle is the first team left out of a wildcard, and we are 4 1/2 games up on them.  Still, we DEFINITELY want to win the division - screw a 1 game wild card play-in.

Moleskyn

September 24th, 2014 at 5:22 PM ^

Yes, we are almost assured a playoff spot. Winning the division is the first preference, but if we choke and KC wins the division, we still want to finish ahead of or tied with Oakland so that we don't have to play the WC game in Oakland. For WC scenarios, we would win the tiebreaker for home field with Oakland if we both finished with the same record.

SFBlue

September 24th, 2014 at 6:16 PM ^

Oakland has been more than kind to the Tigers over the last several years, with the exception of the time Valverde blew Game 4 in '12 and I was sitting with the bail-jumpers in center field wearing a Tigers jersey (I bought great tickets to Game 5, thinking they were for 4, and had to scalp... the next night more than made up for the experience however).  

Moleskyn

September 24th, 2014 at 5:24 PM ^

Oakland's collapse down the stretch has been incredible, especially in light of the moves they made at the trade deadline. They would have been better off keeping Cespedes in their lineup rather than making an already very good pitching staff even better. 

BlueinLansing

September 24th, 2014 at 5:52 PM ^

the Tigers and A's sacrificed a few regular season wins for stronger post-season pitching staffs.

Both moves seemed to make both teams weaker in the long term of 2 months by removing a good bat, but stronger in a short 5 or 7 games series.

 

I mean look that the Tigers

before the trade playoff staff

Scherzer-Verlander-Porcello-Sanchez  with Smyly moved to the bullpen

 

after the trade

Scherzer-Price-Verlander-Porcello with Sanchez moved to the bullpen (or Pocello if Sanchez hadn't been hurt)

 

That second staff is a little terrifying.  In a 5 game series you likely have to beat Scherzer or Price twice.

 

 

 

 

MGoCombs

September 24th, 2014 at 6:25 PM ^

I just don't get how Cespedes would have made them much better. I keep hearing this, but have you looked at his numbers? They're pretty average to bad. His OBP is .300 for the season. Sure, he hits an impressive long ball once every 27 at bats, but he strikes out once every 4. If you look at WAR, he's at 1.2, which puts him 100th in the AL. His oWAR was at a slightly more respectable 2.0 in Oak this year, but down to 0.7 since the trade. I'm not saying he's AWFUL, but does that really sound like a difference maker?



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WMUgoblue

September 24th, 2014 at 6:31 PM ^

Is there any coincidence that Moss and Donaldson immediatly started to regress once Cespedes was traded? Lineup protection can be a fickle beast if not handled correctly.



Personally I didn't understand the trade at the time and now it's still meh. If they had control of Lester for another year I'd like it alot more, but they gave up a middle of the order bat for a rental. For a lineup that relies heavily on platoon players it was quite risky to trade away an everyday outfielder.