OT. Tigers vs Orioles 8-12-11
Tigers need to clean up on the O's.
Lions on tonight as well.
Al Alburquerque hit in head with ball during BP.
Edit they just showed the play where Al was struck in the head on a line drive while he was standing in Left field. Scary. He is going to spend the night in the hospital as a precaution. He has a concussion.
http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2011/08/tigers_al_alburquerque_injured.html
August 12th, 2011 at 7:45 PM ^
Brad Penny is beyond washed up. In other news, Calvin Johnson with a nice TD for the Lions
August 12th, 2011 at 7:48 PM ^
...and Independent George.
Did Megatron burn Hall for the TD? I missed it...
August 12th, 2011 at 7:49 PM ^
Mario and Rob mentioned Penny is hitting 96 on the gun and it is the best his arm has been in a while. Leyland hoping for big things down the stretch from Penny. Let's hope so.
Nice ballet move by Avila to score on the Sac Fly.
August 12th, 2011 at 8:04 PM ^
Well, it doesn't seem to be paying off tonight. Already thrown 40+ pitches. But hopefully he gets some quality starts down the stretch, keep the bullpen fresh and not put a ton of pressure on the offense.
August 12th, 2011 at 8:17 PM ^
Hopefully he benefits from the week-long rest and gets it going again.
August 13th, 2011 at 12:51 AM ^
I was at the game tonight at Camden Yard and thought Penny looked awful. The Orioles just have few hitters. It was a very entertaining game, though, with some great fielding by the Baltimore players. What a game J. J. Hardy had -- two homers and several great fielding plays.
Also, it was nice to see so many UM hats and shirts at the game. Unfortunately, some Sparties sat right in front of us.
August 12th, 2011 at 8:13 PM ^
Thanks. SUH!
August 12th, 2011 at 8:39 PM ^
Wow. He's a GOOD player for the Bengals, too. It's gonna be a long, long year for that squad.
August 12th, 2011 at 8:42 PM ^
Brandon McDonald has been making plays for the Lions. First the PBU on the post pattern at the goalline, and just now the great open field tackle on the dump off to the RB.
August 12th, 2011 at 9:00 PM ^
Wow, excellent execution on the FG to end the half. 13 seconds to get the offense off, the FG unit on, the snap off, with the ball going through the uprights? No problem. I'm dreading the day Jason Hanson retires.
August 13th, 2011 at 2:36 AM ^
Dave Rayner has done plenty to show that he'll be a good replacement.
August 12th, 2011 at 8:23 PM ^
Finally a long ball, first homer since last Friday, way to go Betemit.
August 12th, 2011 at 8:45 PM ^
Tribe-Twinkies locked in a great pitchers' duel; 1-1 in the 7th. Masterson for the Tribe is one helluva young talent.
August 12th, 2011 at 8:56 PM ^
August 12th, 2011 at 9:02 PM ^
Does anyone else wish we had Duane Below in the rotation over Brad Penny? The kid can pitch, and Penny can't make it 5 innings.
August 12th, 2011 at 9:06 PM ^
August 12th, 2011 at 9:24 PM ^
Penny has gone at least 6 innings in 14 of his last 19 starts (15 of 23 on the season, with 8 quality starts). He's pretty much what you expect from a #5 starter (too bad we're not paying him #5 starter money). Below hasn't gone 6 innings in either of his starts, so you're rolling the dice with that. Plus, he's been great in the bullpen. You know what you get with Penny - typically 6 innings and 4 ER - not good, but not terrible for a #5 starter.
August 13th, 2011 at 12:15 AM ^
bring up Jacob Turner
August 12th, 2011 at 9:09 PM ^
Double by Jackson and Dirks scores him with a single. 5-4 Tigers. Dirks is a nice player
August 12th, 2011 at 9:26 PM ^
He's one of those guys you love to have on your team. He can do just about everything. He can field, has a decent bat, and has great speed on the bases. If he can improve his BB/K ratio (current 8/24), he'll be a regular in the majors.
August 12th, 2011 at 9:22 PM ^
Can someone give me a logical explanation as to why we leave so many runners on base? I've watched almost every game this year and I'm perplexed as to why we are 6th in BA, but 11th in Runs. My only thought is that we lack power. Three singles in a row will load the bases, but won't get anyone home.
August 12th, 2011 at 9:28 PM ^
We're actually doing decent with RISP. Bless You Boys had a post concerning it: Link . Reason why there's the disparity in average and runs - we probably have the slowest lineup in baseball. We've got Jackson. And Dirks when he's playing. That's about it. Raburn and Kelly are average - but again, they're not everyday players. Everyone else is below average.
August 12th, 2011 at 9:44 PM ^
What gets me is that the Tigers seem to do fine at the plate in the early innings and then can't hit anything after like the 5th inning. Isn't it supposed to get easier against a pitcher the 2nd/3rd time around?
August 12th, 2011 at 9:26 PM ^
Lately is has been too many singles. Tiger top hitters all move like tortoises. it take a double to score Magglio, Cabrera, Martinez, and Avila, from 2nd base
August 12th, 2011 at 9:28 PM ^
Yeah I'd say that's the primary reason. We have very poor speed on the bases. Our best runners aren't great hitters, and our great hitters are fucking statues.
August 13th, 2011 at 12:18 AM ^
I'd rather have a bunch of slow guys who hit well then a Brandon Inge, Ryan Raburn who can run well but can't hit.
August 12th, 2011 at 9:40 PM ^
A tolerable performance from Penny. A case can be made for starting, Below, Coke, or maybe even Jacob Turner in his stead, but I think Leyland is going to go with Penny down the stretch.
August 13th, 2011 at 2:16 AM ^
No way you start Turner. Kid is going to be good and will probably win a spot in the rotation next spring, but he's already pitched more innings this year than he ever has in his life. He won't even pitch much more in the minors this year.
I'd go with Penny or Below (need Coke in the pen, never should've started him in the first place). You know what you get with Penny, it's not great, but its decent and he'll eat innings. Don't know if we'd get that from Below. And he's doing great in the bullpen right now.
August 12th, 2011 at 9:59 PM ^
Benoit is not ass?
Discuss.
August 12th, 2011 at 10:02 PM ^
I don't know what to think about him anymore.
August 12th, 2011 at 9:59 PM ^
WOW another spectacular homer saving catch from Jackson and he makes it look routine.
Couple classic one liners from Rod Allen followed;
"Austin stop it boy"
"You go boy"
August 12th, 2011 at 10:04 PM ^
so I'm getting Gary Thorne and whoever the other guy is from Balmore.
Gary Thorne is so connected to hockey and the Wings for me that it always seems odd to hear him call a ballgame.
August 12th, 2011 at 10:55 PM ^
I long for the days of Gary Thorne and Bill Clement on ESPN. Damn you NHL Lockout!
August 12th, 2011 at 10:06 PM ^
defensively. It's just amazing how routine he makes some of these plays look. You would be hard pressed to find a better defensive CF in baseball.
August 12th, 2011 at 10:08 PM ^
I find it amazing that they're still allowing Mario to call Valverde "Baked Potato".
August 12th, 2011 at 10:21 PM ^
This team makes things a little more exciting than I'd like...
August 12th, 2011 at 10:22 PM ^
Victory!!!
August 12th, 2011 at 10:24 PM ^
A win on the road with your number 5 starter is a beautiful thing. Go Tigers!
Tigers are missing Boesch. I wouldn't mind Dirks playing against righthanders and moving Ordonez to the bench after Boesch returns. Wouldn't hurt the O and would certainly help on D
August 12th, 2011 at 11:30 PM ^
Valverde strikes out the last better to get out of a jam, and Jackson makes an athletic homerun saving play. Im getting tired of people complaining that jackson isnt up to par. His hitting has been worse than I would like lately, but his defense must save us a run a game.
August 13th, 2011 at 12:21 AM ^
What about moving Betemit to the one spot and moving Jackson to the nine spot
August 13th, 2011 at 1:33 AM ^
At least to me, this doesnt make sense. First guy in the line up needs to have some speed. Jackson is the guy who provides that on the team, with dierks the only other one I can think of. Betemit is definately not a 1 spot type of hitter. Your 1 should be the guy who can have a chance of bunting on, stealing a base, running out an infield hit, etc
August 13th, 2011 at 2:19 AM ^
While all that is ideal, it's not a necessity for a leadoff hitter. You really just want a guy that works the count and gets on base so the heart of your order will have someone to advance when they get up to the plate.
August 13th, 2011 at 12:44 AM ^
Hey guys I was at the game and it was packed with Tigers fans. Definitely a blast. Riding home and listening to the O's post game show kinda made me appreciate how fun/lucky we are to have a 1st place team down the stretch. The game was a blast to attend, so I'd really suggest to everyone to enjoy these next two months - they're gonna be fun!