How Was The Game? (October 5, 2013)
The game of the year.
A’s 1, Tigers 0 (Series tied 1-1)
This was not a baseball game you’re going to forget anytime soon. Both Justin Verlander (1 GS, 7 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.33 FIP) and Sonny Gray were fantastic in 7 and 8 innings, respectively, and we were treated to some extraordinary moments. Verlander retired the first 11 he faced and ended the game with 11 strikeouts to go along with just 4 hits, 1 walk, and no runs. He was vintage Verlander as he had all of his pitches working and escaped a big jam in the 5th with a couple of huge strikeouts and then put Vogt away after an epic battle to end the 7th. Gray was only a touch less dominant and both starters handed this one off to their bullpens, much to the dismay of people who love baseball. The A’s threatened in the 8th, but Leyland called on Alburquerque who struck out two to escape. In the 9th, Leyland stuck with him and he put the first two men on (in part thanks to Leyland calling ‘no doubles’) and then walked Reddick intentionally to set up forces for Porcello. With the infield in, Vogt punched it past Iglesias and the A’s evened the series (it’s an easy double play if the infield isn’t in, FWIW). There will be seconding guess about how Leyland handled the last two innings (and starting Iglesias and the Iglesias bunt) and he earned it. A manager usually can’t win a game for his team, but he can lose it, which we saw tonight. The offense needs to score, but Leyland made a series of big mistakes. Regardless of the outcome, it was a thrilling game and Verlander certainly silenced his critics. The Tigers will look to get back on top with Anibal Sanchez (0 GS this postseason) taking the ball in Game 3 at home on Monday.
The Moment: Verlander K’s Vogt in the 7th.
How Was The Game (October 4, 2013)
Comfortable, until it wasn’t.
Tigers 3, A’s 2 (Lead Series 1-0)
Max Scherzer (1 GS, 7 IP, 2.57 ERA, 2.62 FIP) dominated the A’s on Friday night except for a couple of run-ins with Cespedes who took him for a double and a homer. The line was fantastic – 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 11 K – and the stuff was as filthy the results. He had tons of movement on the fastball and had the offspeed working nicely. The TIgers staked him to an early 3-0 lead as they jumped Colon in the first. Jackson doubled, Hunter got hit, and Cabrera drove in Jackson with a single. Then Fielder bounced into a run scoring double play and Martinez doubled and Avila scored him. They wouldn’t add any additional runs, but those three would hold up as the pen backed Scherzer with the final six outs with two from Smyly and four from Benoit. The Tigers will turn around and try to take a commanding 2-0 lead tomorrow behind the recently invigorated Justin Verlander (0 GS this postseason) at 9pm.
The Moment: Scherzer freezes Donaldson with a tailing fastball on the outside black in the 4th.
Ten Answers To Questions You’ll Ask During Game 1
I love the MLB playoffs. They’re awesome, but they don’t lend themselves to a lot of marco-analysis. We’re mostly breaking down individual plays and games. That’s great, just different. I would suggest my skills are more catered to analyzing trends and seasons and stuff rather than individual events, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like doing it. Here, I’d like to be a little more casual, mostly because the playoffs are fun and you don’t want to think too much when you have to stay up until 1am.
Below I present 10 answers to questions you will ask tonight.
1. Wait, Bartolo Colon is paid to be a professional athlete?
Yes. But now I’m thinking about looking up video of him covering first base.
2. Why did someone let TBS cover the playoffs?
So, ESPN wouldn’t agree to move Monday Night Football to ESPN2 during the playoffs and Fox didn’t want to lose their entire Fall lineup. There isn’t really anyone else who could outbid TBS, so here we are. Things will get better when FS1 gets some games next year, even if that’s barely a step up. Just grit your teeth and deal with it. We’re all in this together.
3. What’s a good place to get companion coverage?
Twitter is great, but I’ve been enjoying having the FanGraphs live chats up as well.
4. How do you prepare to stay awake late into the night on a Friday?
Sheer will? I don’t know, I’m already exhausted from working and watching baseball this week and the game doesn’t start for 5 hours. The adrenaline will kick in if the game is close, but if the Tigers get a big lead my wife will be asleep, literally, immediately.
5. Is the Tigers bullpen a serious concern in the playoffs?
It’s not good to be without Rondon, but Porcello is going to be a huge advantage down there and Fister could/should throw an inning tonight. I’m not really that worried so long as Leyland uses them semi-correctly. I would prefer the Tigers have a stronger lefty behind Smyly than Alvarez, but for some reason they have soured on Downs.
6. Will the Tigers defensive and baserunning issues cause problems in October?
I don’t really think so. The Tigers, for my money, aren’t bad at these things through mistakes, they’re bad through lack of ability. What I mean is that they don’t boot the ball and have a lot of TOOBLANs, but rather just don’t get to balls and don’t take extra bases. I think miscues are amplified in October, but otherwise I think defensive deficiencies have similar effects in the regular season and playoffs.
7. Which Tiger do you think has the big series?
Omar Infante. Seems right.
8. How do you get the most out of Cabrera with his injury issues?
We’ll have to see how he’s doing after the five day break, but it’s just something you live with. At some point you move him to DH and try Martinez at third, but we aren’t there yet. That said, I want to see Martinez taking grounders at third. Can’t be caught off guard.
9. Are the late season hitting woes a concern?
Not one bit. Meaningless. I’m serious, means nothing.
10. Who is the key to tonight’s game?
Well the stupid answers are Cabrera and Scherzer, but Avila/Martinez/Fielder are really important because Colon has a pretty serious platoon split. Lefties do much better, so you want to see those guys deliver.
Enjoy the game, and feel free to Tweet at us tonight during the game (@NeilWeinberg44). I’ve got access to some cool statistical tools, so I’ll likely be posting some fun numbers during the game.
How Was The Month? Detroit Tigers September Report
Just a tune up.
13-13 (93-69 overall)
The Tigers entered September with very little left to prove. They were the best pitching staff and offense entering the month and had the division locked up for all intents and purposes. September was about closing the deal and getting lined up for the playoffs.
The Tigers didn’t hit terribly well in the month (92 wRC+), but some of that is biased due to the fact that they totally phoned in the last few days of the season. It wasn’t a great month, but it also wasn’t terrible considering how well they had hit for the first five months. Avila, Fielder, and Martinez killed the ball during September while Infante and Cabrera were above average.
To no one’s surprise, though, they were the best pitching staff in the league during the month of September turning in 6.0 WAR and a 10.27 K/9, nearly a full win ahead of the second place Indians! The entire rotation was great – led by Verlander’s 1.7 WAR as he looked more and more like himself as the month went on. Sanchez and Scherzer both put up more than 1.0 WAR and Fister and Porcello turned in 0.7 and 0.6 respectively. Only one of them, Porcello, had an ERA during the month higher than 3.00 and that was all the way up at 3.72.
The Tigers bats slowed down during the month, but their pitching staff did its thing as the team coasted to the division title and the postseason. They’ll be back in action on Friday against the A’s and New English D will have a lot more season wrap up coverage whenever the season actually ends.
The Moment: The Tigers score 6th in the 9th inning to tie it against the White Sox – and eventually win in extras.
How Was The Game? (September 29, 2013)
One of the more exciting meaningless losses you’ll ever see..
Marlins 1, Tigers 0
Justin Verlander (34 GS, 218.1 IP, 3.46 ERA, 3.27 FIP, 5.3 WAR) took the ball on the final day of the regular season for the Tigers and did his thing against the Marlins for 6 innings of shutout baseball in which he dropped 10 strikeouts along with just 3 hits and a walk. He failed to get his first MLB hit, but he came awfully close with a foul ball down the right field line against Henderson Alvarez who no hit the TIgers through 9 despite his team failing to score. Naturally, his team came through on a walk off wild pitch in the bottom of the inning to produce one of the more incredible finishes you’ll ever see in a game with nothing on the line. The outcome of this one meant nothing and was just about tuning up and keeping everyone healthy, but it was a nice chance for Verlander to make a final push to get the ball in game one on Friday. It will be interesting to see who Leyland selects, but there’s a sense that it will be Verlander and his impressive track record. Scherzer had the flashy year, and New English D has endorsed Sanchez, but after two straight double digit K games to close out the year, it won’t be a shock to see #35 on Friday. Stay with New English D for complete postseason coverage.
The Moment: Justin Verlander nearly doubles down the right field line for his first MLB hit, but the ball hooks just foul. Who are we kidding? Alvarez walk off wild pitch no hitter.
Hal Newhouser’s Peak
This post is a contribution to Did The Tribe Win Last Night‘s ’48 Replay project in which they are telling the story of the 1948 Cleveland Indians as if it’s happening live. They have game recaps, Twitter coverage, and a whole lot more. DTTWLN reached out to New English D a couple of months ago about contributing to the project and we’re suckers for baseball history. Whenever the Tigers are scheduled to play the Indians in DTTWLN’s way-back machine, you’ll hear from us.
The Tigers have never had a better hurler than the hometown lefty, Hal Newhouser. There are always debates when you make statements like that, but the facts back it up. In 373 starts for the Tigers (and 460 total appearances), Newhouser racked up 62.7 WAR, which is the highest mark ever for a pitcher in a Tigers uniform. He’s a couple wins ahead of Lolich. A couple more ahead of Bridges. A few more ahead of Dizzy Trout. Yeah, the Tigers once had a Trout!
After those four, the next name on the list is one you’ll recognize. Justin Verlander. In 2944 IP, Newhouser gave the Tigers 62.7 WAR. In 265 starts and 1766 innings, Verlander has provided 43.6. Verlander’s pace is better, but Verlander is just exiting his peak so his overall average hasn’t evened out with the inclusion of his later years. By raw numbers to this point, Newhouser is the best the Tigers have ever had.
Take it a step further and take a glance at his peak seasons, let’s say his best five years in a row, and compare that to the other Tigers greats. Newhouser’s peak extends from 1944-1948 and what a marvelous peak it was. In 1475.2 IP in that span, Newhouser had 39.2 WAR, a 62 ERA-, and 69 FIP-. Verlander’s peak isn’t terribly far behind as he has turned in 1166 IP and 33.2 WAR from 2009-2013 (entering Sunday’s start) to go along with a 72 ERA- and 71 FIP- during the same span.
Newhouser has the totals and Newhouser has the best multi-season run in Tigers history. Verlander might make a run at the first, but unless he adds 6 wins to his 2013 total in 9 innings on Sunday afternoon, he won’t match Hal’s five year peak.
As far as single seasons go, it’s Hal Newhouser on top again with his brilliant 1946 season in which he compiled 10.2 WAR in nearly 300 innings of baseball. That season he turned in a 1.94 ERA, 1.96 FIP and struck out more than 8 batters per 9 which was also good for a 54 ERA- and 57 FIP-. It might be more impressive to point out that the league average K/9 that year was 3.92. Meaning that the 2013 equivalent of that mark is something better than 16 K/9. No Tiger can touch what Newhouser did in ’46.
But if you’re going by one particular rate state, FIP-, which adjusts for park and league average, Newhouser has some recent company. In 1946, Newhouser was 43% better than league average using Fielding Independent Pitching. Second on that list is Anibal Sanchez’s 2013 season at 41% better (59 FIP-). That’s a razor thin edge for Newhouser, but an edge nonetheless, and speaks to the marvelous work done by Sanchez this year.
It would be hard to argue that Newhouser, who starts Sunday in DTTWLN’s #48Replay, is anything short of the best starter in Tigers history. He’s accumulated the most value, had the best five year peak, and has the best single season to his name. He peaked more than 60 years ago, so most of those who remember watching him pitch are gone, which is why he doesn’t get the kind of publicity that Kaline and Trammel get among the Tigers faithful, but as the ’48 season kicks off here on the internet, take a moment to appreciate the best starter to ever wear the Old English D and the recent pitchers who have tried to unseat him.
How Was The Game? (September 27, 2013)
Like one you’d play in March.
Marlins 3, Tigers 2
Jose Alvarez (6 GS and 8 relief appearances, 38.2 IP, 5.82 ERA, 5.19 FIP, -0.1 WAR) started tonight so that Porcello could get some work out of the ‘pen and while Alvarez wasn’t great across 2.2 innings, allowing 3 runs in a meaningless game isn’t much about which to worry. The TIgers ran through five pitchers and all kinds of other substitutions en route to tonight’s loss, but seeing Peralta return and hit a double to right center should be a very welcome sign. Fielder walked and came out in the 2nd and Cabrera came out in the 6th after “singling” off the wall. The Tigers will work another tune up Saturday evening with a few innings from Anibal Sanchez (28 GS, 177 IP, 2.64 ERA, 2.46 FIP, 5.9 WAR) as he makes his final case to start game one and, heck, win the Cy Young.
The Moment: Peralta returns to the lineup and doubles in a run.
Rick Porcello’s Closing Argument
It was just a couple of months ago that I wrote about Porcello’s breakout season and then I did it again as he broke out even further four weeks later. This was the year that Rick Porcello made the leap from really good #5 starter to really good starter without the numerical qualification. He’s been scratched from his final scheduled start tonight to get ready for his postseason role out of the pen, so it’s time to look back on his season. It was an excellent campaign for the 24 year old right-hander and it’s only a sign of things to come.
Right off the bat, it’s worth noting that these numbers would look even better if the Angels didn’t possess some sort of Rick Porcello kryptonite, as he participated in two blowup starts involving that opponent. But I won’t drop those starts out because you don’t need to drop those two starts out to demonstrate Porcello’s ascendancy into the upper ranks of AL starting pitchers. (19th in WAR, 6th in xFIP, 17th in FIP in the AL)
It’s well documented that Porcello scrapped his very troublesome slider for a curveball and started throwing the changeup more often this year. It’s also worth noting that he is 24 years old and has 149 MLB starts under his belt. Pitchers tend to peak in their late twenties and here Porcello is a year away from free agency and he won’t be 25 until two days after Christmas. Which is to say, there’s more development coming. Verlander didn’t become VERLANDER until he was 26. Scherzer came even later. Rick Porcello has loads of MLB experience ahead of his prime and things are looking great.
Let’s start with his strikeout and walk rates over the course of his career, both per 9 and as percentages of total batters faced:
So what we have here is a pitcher with a very low walk rate who went from modest strikeout gains every year to a huge leap in strikeouts this year. And if we’re talking strikeouts, it gets better if you look month to month. Porcello had some fluctuation this year, but he had four months that were as good or better than about every month he had previously in his career. Only July stands out, because as we documented in earlier work, Porcello’s breakout came after his disaster start on April 20. This is the new Porcello:
He’s also seeing an uptick in his ground ball percentage.
Wrap that all together and you’ve got yourself a heck of a trend in terms of run prevention and expected run prevention.
Porcello’s ERA is always going to look on the high side if he plays in front of a poor infield defense like the Tigers (Iglesias will help big time), but he’s lowered it every season in conjunction with better peripheral numbers. He doesn’t walk people, he dramatically increased his strikeout rate, and he gets a ton of ground balls, which are good because ground balls don’t go for extra base hits nearly as often as fly balls.
But it’s more than his ability to keep guys off the bases with his new found love of the strikeout, it’s what’s happening even when he allows a ball to be put in play. He’s allowed the lowest slugging percentage against of his career. His well-hit average against is the lowest of his career and the same is true of his wOBA against.
Not only is Porcello striking out more batters, he’s also inducing weaker contact when batters do manage to put the ball in play. He’s getting better results, too, and he’s still just 24. Let’s look at Verlander and Porcello side by side through their age 24 seasons:
| Name | GS | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | HR/9 | BABIP | ERA | FIP | xFIP | WAR |
| Rick Porcello | 149 | 866.1 | 5.43 | 2.31 | 0.97 | 0.312 | 4.52 | 4.12 | 3.93 | 12 |
| Justin Verlander | 64 | 399 | 7.08 | 2.98 | 0.95 | 0.288 | 3.74 | 4.17 | 4.31 | 7.1 |
That’s right, Porcello had a better FIP and xFIP through age 24 in twice as many innings as the great Verlander and he has a higher WAR through age 24 as well. It’s often difficult to realize that while Porcello has been around forever, he’s also just a kid. He’s done more before his 25th birthday than Verlander and Verlander just signed a $200 million contract. A lot can happen from 25-30.
Like this:
| Name | GS | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | HR/9 | BABIP | ERA | FIP | xFIP | WAR |
| Justin Verlander | 201 | 1367 | 8.87 | 2.71 | 0.75 | 0.288 | 3.32 | 3.18 | 3.56 | 36.5 |
Well, then. Justin Verlander got way better after his 25th birthday. He increased his K/9 by 2 and dropped his walk rate a bit, which turned into a lower ERA, FIP, and xFIP despite the same BABIP. He increased his innings per start from 6.2 to 6.8 and became the best and richest pitcher in the sport.
I’m not saying Porcello’s going to be Verlander. Not at all. But he’s going to be really good because pitchers who are this good when they’re young (and who stay healthy) get better when they hit their prime. Porcello’s prime is still coming. He’s never missed a start due to injury and he’s making the kinds of progressions that we’d expect to see from a pitcher developing into a star.
When I wrote back in June about Porcello’s breakout I made very similar comparisons and used very similar looking graphs. It all looks the same today. This wasn’t a month long blip. This was a real thing and it’s about to get even real-er. Porcello will be 25 next season and entering his walk year. The Tigers have a lot of big contracts promised to their high end talent and Cabrera and Scherzer are both looming extensions coming in the next 24 months. But Cabrera is 30 and Scherzer will be 30 next summer. Rick Porcello is 24.
This may sound strange, but Rick Porcello is the guy you lock up. Maybe they’ll pay Scherzer and Cabrera too, but Porcello is the bet to make today. A long term deal buys his late twenties – his prime – instead of paying Scherzer and Cabs for their thirties, and it’s time to strike before the Rays, A’s, and Red Sox get their sabermetric claws out. The Cubs are going to be looking to contend in 2015. So are the Astros. That should scare you if you’re a Tigers fan because I promise you those teams see the value in Porcello. You can’t let him get away because he’s good and he’s young. The Tigers need to sign Porcello to a 5 year deal tonight while he’s watching Jose Alvarez fill in for him as he gets ready to move to the pen for the playoffs.
Porcello is unquestionably baseball’s best 5th starter. It’s what makes the Tigers great and it’s what will make the Tigers great for years to come, except in two years he won’t be the #5, he’ll be the #2. This season was Porcello’s breakout and it’s been a joy to watch. We’ve seen his last start in 2013, but if the Tigers are smart, we’ll have years more to enjoy.
The Tigers Claim The Central
Being a fan isn’t a rational endeavor. As much as we apply analytic thinking to sports, we can’t engage that kind of clear-headed thinking about our favorite team. We can think about individual players and games rationally, but we can’t experience the season dispassionately. That’s not a bad thing. When we do analysis here, we do it rationally. When we watch baseball, when we watch our favorite team, it’s about experiencing a cavalcade of emotions. From April to October, it’s about joy, sadness, excitement, amazement, heartbreak, and even, love.
So much can be said about the practice of being a baseball fan, but I think the best way to describe being a fan throughout the season is to liken it to falling in love. You go through stages, you’re tested, and you grow together. That might be a stupid way to look at it, but I don’t care, this isn’t about being rational. It’s about being a fan and being a fan is about falling in love.
We can extend this metaphor as much as we want, but I’ll keep it short. That first moment of infatuation was the April 17th game in Seattle in which Scherzer dueled Felix and the game ended with Brayan Pena absorbing a tackle from Justin Smoak. I think that game ended around 3am. It was my birthday. My wife had gone to bed. Twitter activity was dying down. It felt like it was just me and the team staying up late.
There was Sanchez striking out 17 and Sanchez flirting with a no-hitter. An otherworldly 3-HR night from Miguel Cabrera on a Sunday evening in Arlington. Despite early struggles, both Avila and Martinez came on strong down the stretch. Verlander tried to avoid the Handshake by running away from Leyland.
Big hit after big hit. Excellent start after excellent start. Max Scherzer made the leap from above average to elite and Porcello made the leap from serviceable to above average. Even when Verlander struggled, he was still pretty darn good. The staff was better than any in Tigers history and made a very serious run at being the best all-time, period.
Miguel Cabrera spent most of the summer playing on Easy as he compiled one of the top offensive seasons in baseball history despite fighting injuries for the final two months. Infante and Hunter and Fister and Benoit all had great and under-appreciated seasons. We lost Peralta for mistakes made last Spring but gained the preposterous wizardry of Jose Iglesias.
Hunter walked off to avoid the sweep against the A’s. Avila and Cabrera hit huge homeruns in Cleveland. The amazing rally on the final Saturday night at Comerica Park.
Day after day, week after week, month after month, they’ve gotten a little closer. The big winning streak in August effectively put the race to bed and a series win against the Tribe later in the month put the final nail in the coffin. 2013 was not about winning another division – a third straight – which they finally did tonight with a 1-0 win over the Twins in game 159. 2013 was about winning four more games. The last four. That’s the goal. The mission. And they’ve taken the first step.
I said at the beginning of the season that I thought this was the year. Rationally, they’re the best team in the league. Objectively, they’ve got the best pitching and the best offense. But I felt it too. An irrational feeling, but it was there. This was how the long road back would end, with the team spraying champagne.
Ten years ago, they lost 119 games. Only Santiago and Infante remain from that team, and they both went away and came back. Only Verlander and Santiago were around when it all changed in 2006. This team isn’t really connected to those two teams. There’s virtually no overlap. But it feels like one single thread. One narrative. One story.
As fans, it is. We’ve been in since then. In 2006, it came from nowhere. We tasted what it was like to cheer for a winner. They came close in 2007 and loaded up for 2008 with Cabrera and Renteria and were supposed to score 1,000 runs. That was our lesson in hubris. They were going to run away and hide and instead lost the first seven games and never really made it close. 2009 was even worse. They fell apart down the stretch and lost the most heartbreaking game I’ve ever seen. I’ve still never watched the highlights. I haven’t talked about it. I honestly haven’t even looked at the box score. I can’t. Not yet.
2010 was a transition season. Mediocre, but a shift with Jackson and Scherzer coming on board. The final push started in 2011. A tight race for most of the summer turned into a laugher when they picked up Fister and rattled off 12 straight wins to take the division by more than a dozen games. A narrow win against the Yankees in the ALDS and then a good series against the Rangers who were just better.
Last year was about learning to come back. They made a final push over the final two weeks to overtake the White Sox and held off the A’s before annihilating the Yankees. But the World Series, much like in 2006, was a disaster. After such a strong run, it was all over so quickly.
This year was about unfinished business. There is nothing else to prove. They’ve shown the ability to endure an entire season. They’ve shown they can win in the playoffs. It’s about the final four games.
The roster has turned over, but the institutional memory remains. Partly from the front office and the coaching staff, but partly all of us watching every day and living and dying with this team with one last, little thing to prove. Those other teams are special to me. 2006 was about being relevant again. 2011 and 2012 about overcoming the ills the befell the team and the city in 2008 and 2009. This year is about victory.
The funerals ended long ago. No one feels sorry for Tigers fans anymore. The city isn’t the jewel it was fifty years ago, but it’s coming back. This is the last step. It’s not rational to place so much importance on the success of a baseball team, but what are we doing in life if not experiencing things that move us?
I don’t think I’m alone in thinking that this is the Tigers team I’ll tell my kids about. I think there’s a rational and irrational case to be made about that. Every single year, I fall in love with that particular team for a variety of different reasons. I fall in love if they suck and I fall in love if they collapse. It doesn’t really matter. I love baseball. I love the Tigers. And in some strange and indirect way, they love me back.
They don’t have to win the World Series for me to have enjoyed this team more than any that have come before. There have been moments of anger and moments of sadness, but it’s been so much fun every step of the way. Perhaps there’s a connection between this site and all of that. Maybe I’ve had more fun watching this team because I’ve enjoyed writing about them so much. It’s possible, certainly.
For whatever reason – Pena’s tag, Sanchez and Scherzer’s brilliance, Cabrera’s magic, or the rest of the team’s moments big and small – I’ve enjoyed this season more than any other. Part of it is about them and part of it is about me. It’s a partnership. Almost like a marriage. It’s not supposed to be a rational endeavor. We can analyze the sport, but we love it because of what it makes us feel.
Today, I feel pride. And determination. Four more wins. Go Tigers.
How Was The Game? (September 25, 2013)
Covered in champagne.
Tigers 1, Twins 0 (Magic # = 0)
Max Scherzer (32 GS, 214.1 IP, 2.90 ERA, 2.74 FIP, 6.4 WAR) fittingly took the mound in game 159 of the 2013 season, which was the game in which the Tigers locked up their third straight American League Central title. Torii Hunter drove in Austin Jackson in the first and that would be all the Tigers would need as one of their aces provided an excellent closing argument for his Cy Young campaign with 7 innings of 2 hit, 0 run baseball that featured 6 walks, but also 10 strikeouts. He was a bit wild at two different points, but otherwise he overpowered the Twins en route to a champagne shower in the clubhouse. Presumably, the Tigers will still play the final three games of the season in Miami this weekend, but their ticket is punched and they will almost certainly head to Oakland starting a week from Friday. The only thing that stands in their way is a three game set with the Marlins in which Rick Porcello (29 GS, 174.2 IP, 4.38 ERA, 3.56 FIP, 3.0 WAR) will begin on the mound. Check back shortly for our thoughts on the division title.
The Moment: Benoit punches out Willingham to clinch the AL Central.
New English D 