How Was The Game? (August 3, 2013)
Another pleasure.
Tigers 3, White Sox 0
I’m starting to sound like a broken record stuck on a good song, but the Tigers played another brilliant game. Max Scherzer (22 GS, 151.1 IP, 2.85 ERA, 2.72 FIP, 4.5 WAR) led the way with 7.2 superb innings of 0 run baseball in which he allowed 3 hits and 3 walks but also struck out 6. The Sox couldn’t get anything going against him and he cruised through this one easily and left to a standing ovation. The Tigers’ bats didn’t do a ton, but they made it count when they did getting solo homeruns from Hunter, Peralta, and Iglesias to give Max all he would need. The Tigers have now won 7 straight, 11 of 12, and will look to notched their 3rd consecutive sweep on Sunday behind the very solid Rick Porcello (19 GS, 112.1 IP, 4.49 ERA, 3.52 FIP, 2.0 WAR).
The Moment: Iglesias launches his first HR as a Tiger…and the crowd gets on its feet for Scherzer.
How Was The Game? (August 2, 2013)
A joy.
Tigers 2, White Sox 1
Any time Doug Fister (22 GS, 143 IP, 3.52 ERA, 3.27 FIP, 3.2 WAR) is on cruise control, it is must see television. He had quick inning after quick inning, getting through 5 innings in 45 pitches, 7 in 75, and 8 in 88. He was brilliant, delivering 8 innings of 7 H, 0 BB, 2 K baseball and allowed just a single run in the 6th inning. He was backed by a Jose Iglesias RBI single and a Jackson solo homerun, but he did the rest without a problem getting ground ball after ground ball and mowing through the White Sox order. It was one of the easiest 8 innings we’ve seen this season from any Tigers starter and there isn’t much else to say other than that while Fister is good, the White Sox are an abysmal offense. The game took just 2 hours and 7 minutes despite Leyland going to the glacial Benoit instead of allowing Fister to finish what he started. I mean seriously it was awesome other than Leyland’s desire to ruin every CG ever. Their 6th straight win and 9th in their last 10 pushes the Tigers to 62-45 and they will go for the series victory Saturday night with Max Scherzer (21 GS, 143.2 IP, 3.01 ERA, 2.72 FIP, 4.3 WAR) taking the baseball.
The Moment: Anything and everything Doug Fister did.
How Was The Month? Detroit Tigers July Report
Excellent.
18-8 (61-45 overall)
It was during July that the Detroit Tigers became the DETROIT TIGERS, AL POWERHOUSE. After playing well, but not having a record that matched the performance perfectly, the Tigers unloaded in the month of July. They won 9 of their final 10 and put themselves back on a 93 win pace thanks to outscoring their opponents by 61 runs.
The Tigers led the AL in offense with a 122 wRC+ (what’s wRC+?) in July and were second in the AL in position player wins above replacement (what’s WAR?) The story of the month offensively was Victor Martinez’s resurgence as he posted a 180 wRC+ after a very slow start, but among Tigers who came to the plate a significant number of times quite a fewer put up above average numbers. Hunter (187 wRC+), Miguel Cabrera (173 wRC+), Don Kelly (138 wRC+), Matt Tuiasosopo (137 wRC+), Alex Avila (126 wRC+), and Jhonny Peralta (115 wRC+) all put up great numbers during the month. Avila’s numbers really jump off the page.
In 77 PA in July, Avila hit .269/.355/.463 and was worth 0.5 WAR. Those numbers look very reasonable for what he could do going forward. Avila might hit for a bit less average, but the walks are always there and he can hit for some decent power. If you guide it out, Avila is a 2.5 to 3.0 WAR player in my mind going forward because he’s going to have to spend some time on the DL each year. The numbers are in a small sample, but the process looks much better too.
Overall, the pitching staff was around average in July, offering a 3.0 WAR in the month and a 3.44 ERA and 3.91 FIP (what’s FIP?) after an historic start to the year. They are still within 1% of having baseball’s best rotation in history, but after July it’s going to be a bit harder to achieve that goal as the starters only posted the 8th best numbers in MLB over the last 31 days.
Scherzer and Porcello were both brilliant in July, and while Anibal Sanchez didn’t pitch great, he did manage to limit the runs he allowed with some timely outs. Verlander struggled in the month across the board and Fister was certainly below where you’d expect to see him, but Fister has figured it out since the break after struggling before it and Verlander has shown signs of promise.
Smyly and Benoit remain one of baseball’s best two headed monsters out in the pen, and with reinforcements coming, things look pretty good there too.
All in all, it was a great month for the team and it was fun to watch. The bats carried the pitching staff, but the pitching staff was still pretty good – they just weren’t as good as the pace they set in the first half. The Tigers have 56 games left in 2013 and will likely play most of them without Jhonny Peralta, but as long as Cabrera’s injury doesn’t prove to be too serious, it doesn’t look like much can stop them. The Tigers look like they’ll ride to the postseason and are ready to make another deep run. They only need to play at an 83 win pace the rest of the way in order to reach 90 wins, which should be more than enough to outlast the Indians and Royals.
The Moment: Brayan Pena tags out Nick Swisher on a ball Swisher expected to go foul. Pena chuckles with delight.
How Was The Game? (July 31, 2013)
A slaughter.
Tigers 11, Nationals 1
A day after the Tigers got to Stephen Strasburg, they backed Justin Verlander (23 GS, 143.2 IP, 3.88 ERA, 3.42 FIP, 3.1 WAR) with 11 runs against Gio Gonzalez thanks to two innings in which they batted around and scored 5 runs. Hunter led the way with four hits including a homerun and Avila added his second homerun in as many days and his first against a LHP all season long. It was an all out assault on offense and Verlander was certainly good enough. He struggled in the first inning and walked 5 overall, but got through 6 innings of 1 run baseball while gathering 6 strikeouts. He wasn’t his old self, but he did break off some nice curveballs, which he had been missing thanks to issues with his release point. The win is the Tigers 5th straight and 9th in their last 10 tries pushing them to 16 games over .500 at 61-45 as they get set for a weekend set against the White Sox. Doug Fister (21 GS, 135 IP, 3.67 ERA, 3.31 FIP, 2.9 WAR) will take the ball in game one on Friday, likely with new Tiger Jose Iglesias behind him with a suspension likely coming to Jhonny Peralta this week. Should Peralta’s regular season effectively be over, it certainly was one of his best as he finished with a .307/.363/.460 line good for 126 wRC+, and 3.3 WAR.
The Moment: Santiago and Avila both drive in a pair in the second to put this one away early.
How Was The Game? (July 30, 2013)
A crushing blow.
Tigers 5, Nationals 1
In the day’s marquee matchup, Anibal Sanchez (18 GS, 111 IP, 2.59 ERA, 2.46 FIP, 3.8 WAR) finished with 7 innings of 1 run baseball and got the better of Stephen Strasburg after dueling early. Both teams scored single runs early in the game and were shut down by the two starters until the bottom of the 6th. At that point, the Tigers broke through. Cabrera made the first out before Fielder singled, Martinez doubled, and Peralta walked. With the bases loaded Andy Dirks struck out swinging and left it up to Alex Avila. Avila worked himself into a 2-1 count, before turning on a 96 mph fastball from one of the game’s best and deposited it in the right field seats to give the Tigers a 5-1 lead. That would be all they would need as Leyland called on Veras for the 8th and Benoit for the 9th who shut the door easily. The win is the Tigers’ 60th of the season and their 8th in their last 9. A quick turnout will put the Tigers on the field during Wednesday’s trading deadline with Justin Verlander (22 GS, 137.2 IP, 3.99 ERA, 3.41 FIP, 3.0 WAR) on the mound trying to rediscover his release point.
The Moment: Avila’s grand slam puts the Tigers ahead for good.
How Was The Game? (July 28, 2013)
Another blowout.
Tigers 12. Phillies 4
Despite losing Miguel Cabrera and Jim Leyland to Chad Fairchild’s questionable sense of superiority, the Tigers had no trouble completing an impressive sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies. Rick Porcello (19 GS, 112.1 IP, 4.49 ERA, 3.51 FIP, 2.0 WAR) was solid, but hardly necessary, giving the Tigers 6 innings of 3 run baseball in which he struck out 3 and walked 2 (1 intentional). The Phillies scattered their runs, but the Tigers unloaded in big assaults. The Tigers got 3 in the 5th to tie it and 8 in the 6th on one of the worst defensive innings you’ll ever see from the Phillies. Peralta capped it off with a grand slam and the Tigers tacked on an extra run in the 7th for good measure. The win gives the Tigers three straight and 7 of 8 to move to 59-45 on the season. They will take Monday off in preparation for a two game set with the Nationals in which Anibal Sanchez (17 GS, 104 IP, 2.68 ERA, 2.39 FIP, 3.5 WAR) will start game one.
The Moment: Peralta caps an 8 run inning with a no doubt grand slam homerun.
How Was The Game? (July 27, 2013)
A good old fashioned laugher.
Tigers 10, Phillies 0
Despite the 40 minute rain delay, the Tigers didn’t have any trouble getting off to a good start on Saturday as they annihilated the Phillies without much trouble. Max Scherzer (21 GS, 143.2 IP, 3.01 ERA, 2.72 FIP, 4.3 WAR) put the Phillies away easily in the 1st and allowed just one baserunner across his 6 innings of work to go with 7 strikeouts. Leyland pulled him after just 75 pitches to save some bullets because the Tigers offense unloaded early and often. They got 5 runs in the first on a Cabrera HR, Peralta single, and Tuiasosopo HR to the shrubs in dead center. They added 3 in the 2nd, and single runs in the 4th and 5th to run the score up to 10-0 before the Phillies knew what hit them and every Tigers starter had reached base at least once before the night was over. The Tigers went to Alburquerque for 2 innings and Reed for one to finish out the ballgame and coast to their 58th win. They’ll turn around and go for the sweep on Sunday behind Rick Porcello (18 GS, 106.1 IP, 4.49 ERA, 3.55 FIP, 1.9 WAR) who looks to keep his strong season going.
The Moment: Tuiasosopo crushes a 3 run HR to dead center to put this one away early.
How Was The Game? (July 26, 2013)
A thing of beauty.
Tigers 2, Phillies 1
In life, it’s so rare that something lives up to the hype but I’m confident in saying this duel between Cole Hamels and Doug Fister (21 GS, 135 IP, 3.67 ERA, 3.31 FIP, 2.9 WAR) did. Hamels’ only blemish was a 2 run double he allowed to Avila in the 5th and Fister allowed just a single unearned run in the 3rd. Fister gave the Tigers a brilliant effort, going 8 innings and allowing just 3 hits and 1 walk to go with his 6 strikeouts. It was everything a great Fister start should be. He was efficient, he got ground balls, and he made hitters look silly with tons of movement on the fastball and a curve about which you could write poetry. After today’s start, Fister is now 3rd in MLB in ground ball percentage and 7th in the league in walk percentage. Both teams also treated us to some great defense to put the cherry on top of the sundae that was this game, including some solid work by Santiago and a doozy of a grab by Nix in RF for the Phils. The win pushes the Tigers to 57-45 and they will avoid Cliff Lee on Saturday due to an injury. The Tigers will send Max Scherzer (20 GS, 137.2 IP, 3.14 ERA, 2.81 FIP, 4.0 WAR) to the mound to face his replacement.
The Moment: Fister gets a standing ovation after retiring 13 of the final 14 batters he faced.
How Was The Game? (July 25, 2013)
Another rocky one for JV.
White Sox 7, Tigers 4
The Tigers couldn’t cash in on a sweep in Chicago today as Justin Verlander (22 GS, 137.2 IP, 3.99 ERA, 3.41 FIP, 3.0 WAR) struggled again, allowing 7 runs in 6 innings on 11 hits, 2 walks, and 4 K. Verlander again struggled to get both breaking balls working and couldn’t get enough sink on his fastball when he wanted to thanks to a problem with his release point that we chronicled yesterday. The Tigers didn’t go quietly, however, as they got runs on Hunter, Martinez, and Pena homeruns against Peavy but couldn’t complete the comeback despite getting the tying run to the plate in the 9th. The loss drops the Tigers to 56-45 as they head home to face the Phillies on Friday and will call on Doug Fister (20 GS, 127 IP, 3.90 ERA, 3.40 FIP, 2.6 WAR) to lead them to victory.
The Moment: Pena swats a homerun in the 8th and sprints around the bases.
How Was The Game? (July 24, 2013)
Another clean win.
Tigers 6, White Sox 2
The Tigers picked up their four consecutive win on Wednesday thanks in part to a solid outing from Anibal Sanchez (17 GS, 104 IP, 2.68 ERA, 2.39 FIP, 3.5 WAR ) who turned in 6 shutout innings, allowing 6 hits, 1 BB, and 5 K. The bats got going early as the Tigers got three homeruns – one from Prince, one from Jackson, and one from Hunter – to take an early and commanding 5-0 lead. Avila added an RBI single to give the Tigers their 6th run before Rondon allowed 1 back in his one inning of work. A 3 K 8th from Smyly and a cleanup job by Benoit in the 9th after Putkonen and Coke struggled took the Tigers the rest of the way and improved their record to 56-44.
They’ll carry their 3.5 game lead in the Central into Thursday’s matinee looking to sweep the set with the Sox. They’ll call on Justin Verlander (21 GS, 131.2 IP, 3.69 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 3.0 WAR) to get the job done. If you missed it yesterday, New English D broke down exactly what has been troubling Verlander this year.
The Moment: Prince puts the Tigers ahead early, and for good.
New English D 