OT: Tigers @ Twins Open Thread
Anybody else following the game at work via Gamecast or MLB.tv?
Looks like Victor is picking up right where he left off last night!
Ed: Tigers win 9-7! Game notes:
-
Twins' SP Scott Baker has been yanked for Glen Perkins. Baker's final stat line:
- 4.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R (all earned), 5 BB, 6 Ks, 99 pitches.
- Victor Martinez is beyond hot right now. So far today: 3-3, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 R. Just a triple away from the cycle!
- Cabrera has been ejected in the top of the 6th for arguing a called third strike. Sounds like it was a pretty quick reaction by the ump to toss him. Cabrera has been replaced by Don Kelly in the field.
-
After 5.2 innings, Phil Coke's day is done. He has been replaced by Al Alburquerque. Coke did alright today, and certainly did enough to give the Tiger's a chance to win the game. Here's his final state line:
- 5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R (both earned), 2 BB, 3Ks, 85 pitches.
- Our bullpen has caved: 5 ER between 3 pitchers in 2.1 IP.
- The offense really stepped up in the last couple innings to bail out the bullpen.
- I'll take a 2-game sweep on the road of a division rival (no matter how crippled they may be) any day of the week.
Go Tigers and go blue!
Raburn is awful. Why in the world did the Tigers give him a 2 year deal?
Would anyone like to debate his fielding skills? I submit this as all the evidence that I need:
I don't believe Detroit uses any defensive metrics to measure the value of their players. Inge is a perfect example. He's been a declining fielder for three years now, but we still sign him to a contract that pays him almost as much as Polanco took in Philly. It's clear Polanco is the superior player in every facet of the game (yes, defensively also). Can you imagine how much better this team would have been with Polanco at third right now?
They are not a good defensive team all around, aside from Jackson and maybe Avila.
I agree with you that the Tigers are not a good defensive team but I do think that Inge also qualifies as a good defensive player.
Yes, forgot about Inge.
No, he does not. The occasional "wow that was a great play" does not make you a good consistent defensive player. His UZR numbers have declined for three years along with his range factor numbers. For all intents and purposes, he has become a below average fielder at his position. I know Rod and Mario would like to convince you otherwise, but it's really not the case.
Since you know so much why aren't you out there managing that team?
Please advice
It's not leylands fault he has no other option at third.....and its not his fault Inge was signed to another awful contract. Common sense.
I thought Will Rhymes played a solid 2nd, of course his bat was something of an issue....that said, watching Peralta at short is just painful sometimes.
Seems like Sizemore is the everyday second baseman now, which is a definite downgrade in defense.
Although I'm still firmly entrenched in the "Dong Punch Brandon Inge" faction, Raburn has definitely taken over as my whipping boy this year.
He drives me nuts. I kinda-sorta (okay, not really) get the idea of giving him a chance from the beginning of the season to see what he can do for a full year. Why give him a TWO YEAR DEAL, though? If he had a one year deal, we could thank him for his time and cut him loose now. The way that he's playing, we couldn't pay anyone to take him on.
The Dodgers were practically knocking the door down asking for him last year. We probably could have gotten something decent for him too, considering he was tearing the cover off the ball around the trading deadline.
I had forgotten about that. I think the Dodgers have a loaded farm system too. Even one of their lower level prospects could have really paid a nice dividend.
I'm aggrevated with the Tigers for giving him a two year deal, but part of me feels a little sorry for him. He just struck out and just looks completely lost at the plate.
Raburn's fielding rating on fangraphs seems to indicate he hasn't been as bad as you say. My bet? People being picky and choosy on what they remember.
Anyone have a live audio stream I can listen to while I'm working?
Thanks
I love afternoon games - they give me something to distract my mind from work!
Scott Baker's pitch count is at 43 through 2 innings. At this rate, Minny will have to go their bullpen by the 5th or 6th inning. And their bullpen is almost as terrible as ours!
we have a strong bull pen
no one has a pen that is on 100% of the time
I like our guys
You're right, nobody has a pen that is on 100% of the time... but a combined ERA over 5 is terrible. Brad Thomas and Ryan Perry deserve to be demoted to AAA and Benoit has been shaky this year. I'm not saying I don't like the guys, it's been great seeing Alburquerque emerge this year, Schlereth has been solid, and Valverde still seems to be getting the job done.
I don't think Coke should have ever been taken out of the bullpen, but it seems like he is just filling a spot in the rotation until one of the youngsters (Turner, Oliver, or even Furbush) is ready enough to join.
b/c those guys only pitch a couple of innings
there has only been a few blown games...benoit blew 2
papa grande has not blown a save all year
You're right, nobody has a pen that is on 100% of the time... but a combined ERA over 5 is terrible.Bullpen ERA numbers should be ignored until at least the halfway point of the season. Right now, they haven't played enough games, so a couple of bad outings can drag the season ERA down a lot.
True, but I pointed out the guys who have been good (Alburquerque, Schlereth, Valverde) and the guys who have shown no improvement (Thomas and Perry). And in the cases of Thomas and Perry, it's not like their poor pitching is something new.
should be ingored. It tells you nothing that you need to know about how good a pitcher is pitching or how good they might be later in the year.
What is everyone's opinion of Sizemore? Personally, I like it that he is a patient hitter; I think the K rate will eventually go down as he becomes more comfortable in the bigs. Defensively, he's got some work to do, but from what I've read it seems like he's willing to put in the work to improve.
Rhymes is the better defensive player, but Sizemore's bat is the reason he's with the big club and Will is at Toledo and not the other way around.
I feel sizemore has the bigger upside
better hitter
His D will improve
Sizemore is infinitely more talented than Will Rhymes. Rhmyes' season last year was clearly a fluke, and it shouldn't have taken as long as it did to call up Sizemore. I like what he brings to the 2-spot in the lineup with his blend of single contact and extra-base power.
How can you say that Rhymes' season last year was clearly a fluke? We're not even 40 games into the season yet. I'm not disagreeing that I think Sizemore is the better player, but to say that Rhymes' season last year was clearly a fluke is premature at this point.
Martinez is hot right now.
Welcome to the Detroit Tigers!
Victor can't be stopped.
DD is looking like a genius right now for picking up Martinez. Obviously he's not going to keep up this torrid pace for the rest of the season, but if he can keep consistently hitting and Cabrera wakes up out of this slump, that's a scary 4-5 spot in the lineup. And once Cabrera heats up, that is going to mean better pitches for Boesch in the 3-whole, which should hopefully help him get more comfortable. This offense has some awesome potential!
When you're unstoppable, you can't be stopped.
I can only follow the game on Gamecast, but did Raburn really just steal a base?
I'm not a fan of his, but will give him credit for hustling down to first base (avoiding the double play) and for stealing that base. Nice work.
arguing balls and strikes?
Gamecast shows he struck out looking then was ejected. I'll put my reasoning skills to use and say he got ejected for arguing balls and strikes.
The ump wants everyone to know that he's there. Earlier, I thought that this ump is very animated. Even on strike 1 counts, he's using a punch motion, like most umps would use for a 3rd strike.
Cabrera took a called 3rd strike. It looked a little low. He then used his arms to show the ump that his strike zone is too high and too low, to which the ump immediately tossed him.
Leyland came out and talked to him. It seemed like it was mostly a one-sided conversation. The ump appeared to be saying "Okay" quite a bit.
I love baseball but damn the umps will be quick to pull the trigger for you blinking at them. Just hear him out for 2secs ump and let him go. Plus its Cabrera!! Give him the all star treament.
big cabby doesn't get much love
he is one of the best hitters in the game but all anyone knows him for is his DUI's
This is such a dumb statement. You really think the umps or anyone else in baseball doesn't know how good Cabrera is and just see a guy with a few DUI's? Really?
Hey Tigers have been playin great ball since VM came back, quit bitching. Defense isnt great but doesnt suck.
They're a middle of the pack team according to espn with their .983 fielding %. Now Texas with .975 fielding, they suck at fielding.
is such a great way to measure defense. The only thing it tells you AT ALL is the rate of errors. It doesn't factor in any of the more relevent things like range or the ability of an outfielder with a strong arm to prevent runners from gaining extra bases.
Count on Raburn to squash a potentially big inning.
it took like 3 seconds and cabrera is a star and has no reputation for being a hot head (1 other tossing and it was with fla) ... I wish jim would have flipped out
I didn't see it, but isn't it pretty common for an umpire to give a quick hook if the batter makes any physical demonstration on the strikezone? Umps typically will let you say your piece, but show them where you thought the pitch was and they'll throw you out real quickly.
Edit: Should have added, as a Tigers fan: "Come on blue! Can't throw out Miggy for just trying to clarify the strikezone!
Glen Perkins has been relieved by Joe Nathan in the 6th. Perkins pitched a sufficient 1.1 innings in relief, giving up 1 hit, 2 walks, and striking out 3.
Hughes hit a bomb double off Al to score one run to make it 5-3 Tigers. Leyland brings in Schlereth to go lefty/lefty on Kubel who absolutely crushes a ball to right center to give the Twins a 6-5 lead.
Al Alburquerque has been pulled after what has probably been his shakiest outing of the season. His stat line:
0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R (earned), 3 BB, 1 K, 27 pitches.
The Alaskan Assassin (AKA Dan Schlereth) has come on in the bottom of the 7th with 1 out and runners on 2nd and 3rd, Tigers leading 5-3.
Ed: And Schlereth promptly gives up a 3-run bomb to Jason Kubel. 6-5 Twins lead.
Looks like Benoit/Avila got the ol' strike-him-out-throw-him-out to end the 7th?
That was bad, but it could have been much worse.