How Was The Game? (October 10, 2013)
Exactly what you paid for.
Tigers 3, Athletics 0 (Tigers win the series 3-2)
If you suspect you’ve seen this movie before, you have. Just a year ago, Justin Verlander (2 GS, 15 IP, 0 R, 22 K) took the mound in Oakland for Game 5 of the ALDS and dominated as the Tigers beat the A’s to advance to the ALCS against a team from the AL East. Today, he did the same. The Tigers trailed the series 2-1 entering Tuesday’s game and expended potential Game 5 starter Max Scherzer in relief to make sure they made it back to Oakland, meaning that Verlander would need to be great in order for the Tigers to make it through. Verlander retired the first 16 batters he faced and allowed his first hit in the 7th inning en route to 8 shutout innings featuring 10 K and 3 baserunners. Vintage Verlander dominance. Miguel Cabrera led the way at the dish with a big 2 run homer in the 4th and Infante knocked in another with a ground out in the 6th to give the Tigers all the offense they would need. The A’s got the tying run to the plate in the 9th, but would come no closer and the win resets the Tigers quest for a title, moving them within eight wins of a World Series title. Anibal Sanchez (1 GS, 4.1 IP, 10.38 ERA, 10.66 FIP) will likely get the ball in Game 1 on Saturday night at Fenway Park.
The Moment: Verlander strikes out his final batter in the 8th to effectively finish off the ALDS comeback.
How Was The Game? (October 8, 2013)
Dramatic.
Tigers 8, A’s 6 (Series tied 2-2)
Doug Fister (1 GS, 6 IP, 4.50 ERA, 5.38 FIP) got the ball with season on the line and things looked a little worrisome early as he fought with his command and the Tigers found themselves down 3-0 entering the bottom of the 5th. Things changed when Fielder and Martinez singled and Jhonny Peralta tied it with a blast to left field. With the score tied at 3 entering the 7th, Jim Leyland didn’t mess around and gave the ball to Max Scherzer who gave up a run in the 7th and left the Tigers were staring elimination in the eyes until Martinez smacked an opposite field, potentially fan-aided homerun to tie it at 4. and then the Tigers pushed across another to take the 5-4 lead. The 8th got scary as the first two men reached and then the Tigers put Smith on to set up a bases loaded and no out situation. Scherzer wasn’t intimidated, however, as he struck out the next two and then induced a fly out to send the Tigers into the bottom half. They pushed across a run on a wild pitch and then Infante knocked in a pair to extend the lead to four. Benoit wasn’t sharp in the 9th, but he kept the A’s from coming all the way back and the Tigers punched their tickets back to Oakland for Game 5 on Thursday. With Scherzer throwing a pair tonight, Leyland will call on erstwhile ace Justin Verlander (1 GS, 7 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.33 FIP) to put the Tigers through to the ALCS.
The Moment: Scherzer escapes a base loaded, no out jam in the 8th to preserve a one run lead.
How Was The Game? (October 7, 2013)
One in which the hook came too late.
A’s 6, Tigers 3 (Tigers trail 2-1)
Anibal Sanchez (1 GS, 4.1 IP, 10.38 ERA, 10.66 FIP) looked like he might settle in and cruise early, but a Miguel Cabrera error in the 3rd opened the door for a run and then the A’s followed with 2 in the 4th and 3 in the 5th on the backs of three homeruns to chase him before he could complete five innings. He struck out six, but the rest of the box score looks ugly. It looked for a moment that the Tigers were going to open this one up with a three run fourth that tied things up, but Sanchez gave the runs back right away. Jose Alvarez did nice working keeping the A’s off the board for the middle innings to keep the Tigers in the game, but they were unable to rally back despite some extracurricular shenanigans between Balfour and Martinez in the 9th. Doug Fister (0 GS this postseason) is expected to take the ball tomorrow night in an attempt to stave off elimination.
The Moment: The Tigers get four hits across five batters in the 4th to tie it up.
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.
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.
How Was The Game? (September 28, 2013)
A record setting affair.
Marlins 2, Tigers 1
Anibal Sanchez (29 GS, 182 IP, 2.57 ERA, 2.39 FIP, 6.2 WAR) didn’t hang around that long, but he hung around long enough to give the Tigers the single season strikeout record and he hung around long enough to tie his career best in strikeouts at 202. He also hung around long enough to give the Tigers 5 shutout innings with 8 strikeouts, no walks, and just 2 hits as the Tigers led the Marlins in Miami until the 9th inning. They didn’t manage much offense – just a single run – but Sanchez was good enough to set the bullpen up to take this one the distance before Benoit allowed the equalizer and Reed melted down in the 10th. The loss means the Tigers can only win 94 on the season and cannot tie the ’06 and ’11 teams in wins with a victory on the final day of the season behind Justin Verlander (33 GS, 212.1 IP, 3.56 ERA, 3.36 FIP, 4.8 WAR) who isn’t quite ready to cede his place atop the Tigers rotation entering the postseason. It’s unclear who Leyland plans to give the ball to on Friday in Oakland, but there’s a good chance that with a little magic on Sunday, Verlander might be his guy.
The Moment: Sanchez strikes out Chris Coghlan to give the Tigers the single season strikeout record.
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.
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 