How Was The Game? (July 23, 2013)
The best case scenario.
Tigers 6, White Sox 2
For a team that was missing its biggest offensive threat, the Tigers didn’t show any signs of trouble. Rick Porcello (18 GS, 106.1 IP, 4.49 ERA, 3.54 FIP, 1.9 WAR) didn’t rack up strikeouts but he mowed down the Sox bats across 7 shutout innings in which he walked a season high 3, but also only allowed 4 hits – three of which didn’t make it out of the infield. Porcello trusted his sinker and got ground ball after ground ball and handed the game over to the pen for the final two. The offense didn’t miss Cabrera as they got 3 runs in the 4th and 3 in the 6th thanks to plenty of offensive from the bottom of the order. Peralta, Avila, Kelly, and Perez were all on base at least twice and once they broke through in the 4th, the game was never really in doubt. The win assures the Tigers of no worse than a split and they will try to take game three and the series Wednesday night behind Anibal Sanchez (16 GS, 98 IP, 2.85 ERA, 2.42 FIP, 3.3 WAR).
The Moment: Hernan Perez scores on his own swing – but only gets credit for a 3B and advancing on an error in the 6th.
How Was The Game? (July 22, 2013)
Smooth sailing.
Tigers 7, White Sox 3
Max Scherzer (14-1, 137.1 IP, 3.14 ERA, 2.81 FIP, 4.0 WAR) was Max Scherzer on Monday night, turning in a sparkling 8 innings in which he allowed just 4 hits, struck out 5 and allowed just two runs, both on solo homers. He was in command early, as he retired the first 12 he faced and guided the Tigers comfortably to the 9th inning. His offense backed him up with a run in the 3rd, 2 in the 5th, and 1 in the 7th courtesy of a Fielder single, VMart single, and Hunter longball and then three bonus runs in the 9th on some weird White Sox defense and the subsequent consequences thereof. The Tigers took care of business start to finish, but got a bit of a scare as Miguel Cabrera left the game with a sore hip flexor and will be reevaluated Tuesday. The team will send Rick Porcello (6-6, 99.1 IP, 4.80 ERA, 3.51 FIP, 1.8 WAR) to the mound for game two as he looks to build on his strong first half.
The Moment: Martinez cashes in two with a two out single in the 5th.
How Was The Game? (July 21, 2013)
A nice win.
Tigers 4, Royals 1
After two narrow losses to start the series, the Tigers took the final game in the set thanks to a solid outing from Doug Fister (8-5, 127 IP, 3.90 ERA, 3.41 FIP, 2.6 WAR) and a couple of solo homeruns from Cabrera and Dirks to go along with two Brayan Pena sac flies and good days at the plate from Fielder and Martinez. After a few rough outings, Fister’s 6 IP, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K performance was a welcome sight that helped the team avoid a sweep at the hands of the Royals and James Shields with a four game set with the White Sox looming. They’ll hop a plane to Chicago at 53-44 on the season and will call upon Max Scherzer (13-1, 129.2 IP, 3.19 ERA, 2.68 FIP, 4.0 WAR) to start on Monday.
The Moment: Dirks’ homerun just barely clears the fence…and Dyson’s glove.
How Was The Game? (July 20, 2013)
A little sloppy all around.
Royals 6, Tigers 5
Justin Verlander (10-7, 131.2 IP, 3.62 ERA, 3.36 FIP, 3.0 WAR) didn’t have his best night, allowing 6 runs (5 earned) across 5.2 innings of work that included 8 hits and 4 walks to go with just 3 strikeouts. He did a nice job avoiding catastrophic damage and gave the Tigers a shot to claw back. He left the game with his team trailing 6-5 courtesy of 2 in the 1st, 1 in the 2nd, and 2 in the 5th thanks to solid production from the middle of the order and a big night for Avila. The Tigers had a great scoring chance in the 8th when the first two men reached, but Leyland gave away an out by having Jackson bunt and then Hunter and Cabrera grounded out before the Tigers could score and the Tigers were unable to knock in Hernan Perez in the 9th who pinch ran after a Martinez double. The Tigers will look to salvage one in the series on Sunday with Doug Fister (7-5, 121 IP, 4.02 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 2.6 WAR) set to take the hill
The Moment: Dirks beats out ground ball on a botched defensive play by Hosmer and Guthrie to set up two runs.
How Was The Game? (July 19, 2013)
Pretty quiet, but nice to have it back.
Royals 1, Tigers 0
The second half of the season got off to a bit of a slow start for the Tigers as they didn’t manage to provide any support for Anibal Sanchez (7-7, 98 IP, 2.85 ERA, 2.44 FIP, 3.3 WAR) who pitched in and out of traffic but avoided much damage, finishing with 6 innings of 1 run baseball, despite a hefty number of walks. The Tigers only put up 2 hits for their part and had quite a few balls die on the warning track. There’s not much else to say other than that the Tigers did a nice job preventing runs but couldn’t muster any of their own. They’ll be back at it on Saturday behind Justin Verlander (10-6, 126 IP, 3.50 ERA, 3.23 FIP, 3.0 WAR) who looks to build off an impressive first half finale.
The Moment: Fielder scolds Cain into tagging himself out on a weak ground ball.
How Was The Game? (July 14, 2013)
Very close.
Tigers 5, Rangers 0
Justin Verlander (10-6, 126 IP, 3.50 ERA, 3.23 FIP, 3.1 WAR) almost joined some elite company, coming within just 7 outs of his third career no-hitter on Sunday. The only pitchers to accomplish that feat are Feller, Young, Ryan, and Koufax and Verlander has teased entry into that club on several occasions, including twice now in 2013. He was very solid across 7 innings, giving up 1 H, 3 BB, and 0 R while striking out 3. It was nice to watch a cruise-control Verlander start after a less that Verlander-ish first half. It was a good half by almost anyone’s standards, but Verlander has set a very high bar. The offense also did their job with 3 solo HR from Hunter, Martinez, and Peralta to go with RBI singles by Peralta and Tuiasosopo in the 6th inning. The win gives the Tigers a 52-42 record heading into the break and no worse than a 1.5 game lead in the AL Central on the other side of the break. In case you’re wondering, New English D now endorses scoreboard watching across the final two and a half months. At least six Tigers will hop a plane for Citi Field tonight, but the whole crew will be back in action Friday behind Anibal Sanchez (7-6, 92 IP, 2.93 ERA, 2.30 FIP, 3.3 WAR).
The Moment: Verlander makes a run at his 3rd no-hitter.
How Was The Game? (July 13, 2013)
Probably good for the balance of the universe, but not how you want to see it happen.
Rangers 7, Tigers 1
The tag line above refers to the fact that Max Scherzer (13-1, 129.2 IP, 3.19 ERA, 2.69 FIP, 4.0 WAR) was handed his first loss at the hands of baseball’s best pitcher who somehow wasn’t given an All-Star nod, Derek Holland. Scherzer wasn’t at his best, allowing 4 runs across 6 innings while striking out 6. Most of Max’s trouble came in a 3 run 4th, but given how well Max has pitched, one can’t really be upset. Max gave the Tigers a 4.0 WAR first half. The offense couldn’t do much against Mr. Holland and the Tigers only run was driven in by Hernan Perez, so that pretty much tells you everything you need to know. The Tigers will have chance to take the series Sunday in the final game before the break with Justin Verlander (9-6, 119 IP, 3.71 ERA, 3.22 FIP, 2.9 WAR) taking the hill.
The Moment: Perez drives in his first MLB run.
How Was The Game? (July 12, 2013)
Solid all-around.
Tigers 7, Rangers 2
The Tigers jumped on Justin Grimm before he knew what hit him. The first six Tigers reached base in the first inning and they scored 5 runs before Grimm could make 3 outs. They’d add two more in the second for good measure and it would be all Doug Fister (7-5, 121 IP, 4.02 ERA, 3.37 FIP, 2.6 WAR) would need as he turned in a solid 6 innings of 2 run baseball with 5 strikeouts and just 2 walks. The first six batters in the Tigers order all reached base at least twice each and the game was never really in doubt. We got to see a great slide from Torii Hunter, an infield single from Prince, a dominant four out performance from Rondon, and the Tigers added one to the win column. They’ll give themselves a shot to win the series tomorrow in Max Scherzer’s (13-0, 123.2 IP, 3.06 ERA, 2.62 FIP, 4.0 WAR) final start before the All-Star break.
The Moment: The Tigers get five runs in the first inning to put it away early.
How Was The Game? (July 11, 2013)
Wild.
White Sox 6, Tigers 3
This game was quite something. The particulars are that the Tigers gave up an early run, came back with two homers to take a 3-1 lead, then allowed a grand slam and solo homerun to give back the lead. Anibal Sanchez (7-6, 92 IP, 2.93 ERA, 2.31 FIP, 3.3 WAR) in sum, was a bit uneven allowing 5 runs (4 earned) across 5.1 innings, but he did strikeout six. However, the story of this game was a bit more than the above information, which could easily be gleaned from the box score. Let’s take a look:
- Immediately following Cabrera’s homerun, Chris Sale threw a pitch up and in to Prince Fielder.
- Prince was upset, but not confrontational. Leyland yelled at the umpire from his seat in the dugout.
- No warnings were issued.
- After Sanchez gave up some runs in the 6th, Putkonen came in and threw behind Ramirez, the second batter he faced.
- Ramirez started coming to the mound, pointing and yelling.
- Putkonen was ejected.
- The benches cleared.
- Leyland was ejected.
- Everyone went back to their benches.
- Leyland kept arguing.
- The benches were warned.
- Leyland finally realized he was ejected.
- The fans booed Ramirez during the rest of the at bat.
- Ramirez hurt himself running to first base.
So while the 14 lines above can nicely summarize it for anyone who missed it, it’s also important to evaluate the situation. I think Sale’s pitch was intentional and I don’t advocate throwing at anyone or fighting in baseball. However, the umpires have a responsibility to warn the benches to prevent further issues. Also, Putkonen did a nice job making sure the pitch was behind Ramirez and down near his backside, assuring there would be no injury. If the umpires want to effectively police this stuff, which they should, you have to issue warnings earlier and you can’t eject someone for throwing behind a guy when you haven’t issued warnings. Basically, Sale shouldn’t have done that, the umpires handled it like idiots, Putkonen did a nice job not to make his pitch dangerous, and the players on both sides did a nice job by not resulting to punches and whatnot. All in all, the Tigers lost 2 of 3 to the Sox, but Chris Sale is a legitimate ace, so you can’t be too upset about this one. They’ll have 15 more chances to beat the Sox, but they’ll turn their attention to the Rangers, who will see Doug Fister (6-5, 115 IP, 4.07 ERA, 3.30 FIP, 2.6 WAR) Friday at Comerica Park.
The Moment: Jim Leyland gets his money’s worth arguing the umpire’s terrible game management.
How Was The Game? (July 10, 2013)
A nice response.
Tigers 8, White Sox 5
After Tuesday’s disastrous final two innings, the Tigers put together a much better game on all fronts. They got a solid outing from Rick Porcello (6-6, 99.1 IP, 4.80 ERA, 3.53 FIP, 1.8 WAR) who allowed 3 runs in 6 innings while striking out six batters and walking none to make his season long transformation look even better by the numbers we’ve been tracking here at New English D. Here’s currently 7th among MLB starters in xFIP (learn about xFIP) and is joined only by Felix Hernandez and John Lackey as starters with more than 7 K/9, fewer than 2 BB/9 and a GB% higher than 50%.:
But it wasn’t just Porcello who carried the Tigers. They also got tons of production from the middle of the order as Jackson, Hunter, Cabrera, Fielder, and Martinez all had multi hit games that helped the Tigers score in 4 separate innings. It was an all-around solid attack save for an iffy inning from Rondon who somehow managed to produce an inning with a K, BB, 1B, 2B, HR, GO (2), and WP (2). That’s almost everything that can happen!
Rondon’s inning wouldn’t be too costly as he held the Sox to two runs and Drew Smyly came in for the 8th inning and made very quick work of the three batters he faced, giving way to Benoit who handled the 9th. It was a nice game all-around and gives the Tigers their 50th win and a shot to take the series behind Anibal Sanchez (7-5, 86.2 IP, 2.70 ERA, 2.11 FIP, 3.4 WAR) on Thursday afternoon.
The Moment: Porcello freezes Gillaspie on a curveball for his final strikeout.
New English D 