Worth it.

Rangers 9, Tigers 2

Do I have to? Fine. This was a rough one. Robbie Ray (3 GS, 15.1 IP, 4.11 ERA, 3.91 FIP, 0.2 fWAR) looked fine in the first and it got ugly in a hurry from the second inning on. He pitched into the 4th, allowing 7 runs, and didn’t fool anybody. Ray has a solid future, but he ran into his first real challenge (a team that hits lefties well) and they knocked him around. The Tigers bats had some early chances but BABIP’d their way out of them until the 6th inning when they started to chip away. It was Darvish, so you can’t be too upset about that, but you’d have preferred a competitive contest. The real note in this one was that Coke pitched despite his heavy workload in an effort to save the pen and Smyly came in to throw between starts and did the same. The big one? Danny Worth came in for the 9th inning and struck out two batters throwing knuckleballs. He got five whiffs and touched 89 on the heater. It was awesome. Anibal Sanchez (6 GS, 28 IP, 2.89 ERA, 2.64 FIP, 0.8 fWAR) goes on Friday.

The Moment: Danny Worth pitches!

via Grant Brisbee at SBN.

Wild.

Indians 11, Tigers 10 (13 innings)

Being a writer, calling something indescribable is pretty bad practice. That is literally what I’m supposed to be doing here, describing things. So I’ll try, but just know that I wanted to just call this one a mess and move on. The Tigers jumped out to a four run lead before Max Scherzer (10 GS, 66 IP, 2.59 ERA, 2.95 FIP, 1.7 fWAR) even took the mound, and it took him all of two innings to give it back plus two. Then Victor Martinez and Lonnie Chisenhall traded home runs in the third. Then the Tigers got two in the 5th. Then the home plate umpire ejected Cabrera and Ausmus on a very quick hook. Scherzer was very bad and then pretty good. Of course, the game turned when the Indians botched a double play ball off the bat of Victor in the 8th, leading to two Tigers runs. JUST KIDDING, Joe Nathan allowed a game tying home run in the 9th and sent it to extras. The Tigers almost lost it in the 10th before Rajai Davis gunned down Chisenhall at the plate to extend it. Avila went yard in the top of the 13th, about 5 hours after this one got started, but even that wasn’t good enough as the Indians tied it in the bottom half of the inning and loaded the bases for Ryan Raburn. At which point there was a walk off balk. End of game. End of recap. They’ll head home for a four game set with the Rangers, turning first to Robbie Ray (2 GS, 12 IP, 0.75 ERA, 2.25 FIP, 0.4 fWAR) on Thursday.

The Moment: Rajai guns down Chisenhall trying to score in the 10th…or maybe Avila puts them ahead in the 13th!

Better than the night the Pistons had, at least.

Indians 6, Tigers 2

Tuesday’s had two distinct story lines. The first was Justin Verlander’s (10 GS, 66 IP, 3.55 ERA, 3.21 FIP, 1.7 fWAR) rocky first trip through the order. It was bad. He allowed a run in the first on three singles and four runs in the second on four hits and a walk before settling in and getting through six innings. He was able to stop the bleeding, but the hole was already quite deep. The bats made an effort, getting a bomb each from Hunter and Avila, but failed to find an open space when they had men on base the rest of the way (Story line #2!). Double plays and good defense kept them from breaking through and Reed surrendered a home run to grow the deficit a touch more. After a great start to the road trip, the Tigers will need to win Wednesday behind Max Scherzer (9 GS, 59 IP, 1.83 ERA, 2.77 FIP, 1.6 fWAR) to avoid the sweep.

The Moment: Avila crushes one to left center field.

Pretty reasonable, considering the woke up in Boston.

Indians 5, Tigers 4

It wasn’t Drew Smyly’s (6 GS, 38.1 IP, 3.05 ERA, 3.80 FIP, 0.6 fWAR) night, but the runaway train had to come to a stop eventually. He labored his way through five innings of three run baseball in which he walked five and struck out six. Kluber gave up a bomb to VMart early, but looked like he was going to cruise to victory until the Tigers got to him for two runs in the 7th courtesy of hits by Castellanos, Avila, and Davis. While it looked like fate was on their side for their seventh straight win, Phil Coke, pitching in a critical situation due to the recent workload of the pen allowed a run in his second inning of work to allow the Indians to get back in control. That wouldn’t last long as JD Martinez swatted a pinch hit home run to tie it in the 9th but Brantley took Al-Al deep to end it in the 10th. The loss drops the Tigers to 27-13 at the 40 game mark, leaving the club looking to even the series Tuesday night with Justin Verlander (9 GS, 60 IP, 3.15 ERA, 3.14 FIP, 1.6 fWAR) on the mound.

The Moment: JD Martinez launches a pinch hit, game tying bomb in the 9th

A much cleaner sweep.

Tigers 6, Red Sox 2

Anibal Sanchez (6 GS, 28 IP, 2.89 ERA, 2.65 FIP, 0.8 fWAR) returned to the rotation on Sunday in Boston and allowed two runs in five innings as the Tigers cruised to another series sweep. The Tigers scored three in the 3rd on a Cabrera single and VMart bomb and then tacked on a few more on a Cabrera sac fly, Avila single, and Hunter bomb while they faced only one serious threat. In the 5th, the Sox loaded the bases but only scored one run before Sanchez escaped by fielding his position and firing a bullet to Kelly at third to complete the double play. The win pushes the Tigers to 27-12 on the young season and sets them up to go for the rare, perfect road trip with three in Cleveland this week. Drew Smyly (5 GS, 33.1 IP, 2.70 ERA, 3.83 FIP, 0.5 fWAR) will be first in line to get the ball on Monday night.

The Moment: Sanchez snares a liner and fires to Kelly to escape the 5th.

Another feather in his cap.

Tigers 6, Red Sox 1

Rick Porcello (8 GS, 52.1 IP, 2.92 ERA, 3.21 FIP, 1.2 fWAR), if he were in some sort of rap battle or singing competition, would have dropped the mic when this one ended. He dominated the Red Sox and did it in style, allowing just a single run across eight innings of work in which he punched out four and walked one. He got himself into one jam in the 5th and escaped, and then barreled through the 6-7-8th innings en route to one of the most impressive outings of his career. Ausmus didn’t flinch, even, sending him out for the 8th at 100 pitches to face the top of the order a fourth time. Sure the Tigers did some things that scored runs – Cabrera homered, VMart and Avila beat the shift – but this one belongs to Rick. After it, he’s pretty clearly cemented himself as bona fide #2 starter or better, even if he is on a team of #1s. The Tigers will look to sweep on Sunday night with returning ace Anibal Sanchez (5 GS, 23 IP, 3.13 ERA, 2.43 FIP, 0.7 fWAR) on the mound.

The Moment: Porcello gets Ortiz to complete 8 masterful innings.

A touch of revenge.

Tigers 1, Red Sox 0

The Tigers returned to the scene of the crime (read: ALCS) Friday and put their trust in Max Scherzer (9 GS, 59 IP, 1.83 ERA, 2.79 FIP, 1.7 fWAR) to shepherd them through the first of a three game set. Max was impressive out of the gate, striking out five in the first three innings before a 47 minute rain delay slowed the pace. Max finished with six plus innings and no runs, which the Tigers needed considering that they pushed just a single run across in the 1st inning and tiptoed their way through a bullpen 7th. Nathan got the final three outs and sent the Sox fans home to ruminate about their three World Series in the last ten seasons. The club will try to take the series with New English D-endorsed ace Rick Porcello (7 GS, 44.2 IP, 3.22 ERA, 3.07 FIP, 1.1 fWAR) on the hill Saturday night.

The Moment: Max gets Napoli looking to end the 6th.

An unclean sweep.

Tigers 7, Orioles 5

If you’re reading this and didn’t have some idea that I was in Baltimore for the series, now you know. As a result, it’s 11:30pm, some 7.5 hours after this one ended, and you’re just getting your brief, New English D style recap because I spent the last seven hours in a car traveling from the park to my house. Sorry if this isn’t very clever! Justin Verlander (9 GS, 60 IP, 3.15 ERA, 3.17 FIP, 1.6 fWAR) had a mostly good game and one pretty awful inning in which he allowed five runs – three of which came on a Nelson Cruz home run. Luckily for Justin, his offense had already assaulted Kevin Gausman’s fastball to the tune of 5 runs and then 2 on the bullpen for good measure, meaning that Verlander was able to walk away from this one without much of a problem. The bullpen made it close, but they ultimately held on, earning the Tigers a three game sweep as they head to Boston with a 24-12 record on the year. That series will kick off Friday with Max Scherzer (8 GS, 53 IP, 2.04 ERA, 2.80 FIP, 1.5 fWAR) on the mound.

The Moment: Worth sort of squeezes and sort of bunts for a hit.

Dramatic.

Tigers 4, Orioles 1

Drew Smyly (5 GS, 33.1 IP, 2.70 ERA, 3.85 FIP, 0.5 fWAR) didn’t have his best when this one started, allowing a solo home run to Adam Jones in the first and struggling through the next two, but when all was said and done, he had himself six, one run innings. Unfortunately, his offensive comrades had nothing on their side of the ledger. The Tigers had a chance in the 7th, but gave it away on a Torii Hunter TOOTBLAN and a GIDP by Martinez. Then the 9th inning came, and boy did it ever. Avila led off with a ground ball to beat the shift and then Davis ran and stole second on a very close play which needed a review (which was amazingly tense) to make sure he got to stay on the base. Kelly lined out, Kinsler went down, and it was up to Hunter. He worked a walk to extend the inning for Cabrera and then Cabrera did what Cabrera does, sending the baseball into the Orioles’ bullpen to put the Tigers on top. VMart added a no doubt bomb immediately after and the Tigers road a huge 9th inning to a series win. They’ll play with house money, as Rod likes to say, on Wednesday behind Justin Verlander (8 GS, 54 IP, 2.67 ERA, 2.90 FIP, 1.6 fWAR).

The Moment: Cabrera gives the Tigers the lead with a 9th inning blast.

A return.

Tigers 4, Orioles 1

I made no secret of the fact that Monday’s game was my first in person rendezvous with the Tigers since 2012 due to “living nowhere near an MLB park” and it didn’t disappoint. Rick Porcello (7 GS, 44.2 IP, 3.22 ERA, 3.06 FIP, 1.1 fWAR) was quite good, allowing only a single run in six innings of work, and that run only scored because Rajai Davis took a creative route to the baseball. He didn’t mow through the O’s with strikeouts, but he got quick out after quick out, leaving after only 83 pitches (perhaps due to illness, it wasn’t clear?). The bats did what they needed to do, pushing across two in the fourth and then two more in the 8th on an Ian Kinsler bomb. Things got interesting after that homer, as Bud Norris drilled Torii Hunter. Hunter was upset, Norris got run, and the benches and bullpens emptied. Humorously, no one came close to blows, leaving everyone standing around pretty much just posing for the camera. There’s nothing funnier than bullpens clearing for no reason, and that’s what we had tonight. The bullpen would hold it and the Tigers grabbed game one. It’ll be Drew Smyly (4 GS, 27.1 IP, 2.96 ERA, 3.81 FIP, 0.4 fWAR) on the mound Tuesday looking to take the series.

The Moment: Kinsler launches one to left, sealing the game.