How Was The Game? (July 9, 2013)
Good, until it got weird.
White Sox 11, Tigers 4
After a forty minute rain delay, the Tigers got under way and the first 7 innings were a nice, breezy pitchers’ duel between Justin Verlander (9-6, 119 IP, 3.71 ERA, 3.22 FIP, 2.9 WAR) and Jose Quintana, but the 8th inning wasn’t. The Sox would send 13 men to the plate, chasing Verlander after the first 5 and obscuring what looked to be a very solid start. He finished with 7 IP, 12 H, 5 R, 1 BB, and 3 K, but it easily could have been much cleaner if not for the 8th. The Tigers put up 2 more of their own in the 8th on a Cabrera homerun to left center and a Kelly homerun in the 9th, and made it a little closer, but the cats couldn’t claw all the way back against the solid White Sox staff and then watched the Sox scratch across a few more in the 9th. It’s not a surprise that the Sox limited the Tigers offense, it’s a surprise that they scored themselves (they’re the AL’s worst offense). Not to fear, as the Tigers send Rick Porcello (5-6, 93.1 IP, 4.82 ERA, 3.55 FIP, 1.7 WAR) to the mound on Wednesday to even the series.
The Moment: The Tigers double up De Aza on a popup…in foul territory.
How Was The Game? (July 8, 2013)
A win, even if it wasn’t a pitcher win.
Tigers 4, Indians 2
Max Scherzer (13-0, 123.2 IP, 3.06 ERA, 2.62 FIP, 4.0 WAR) was only marginally affected by the adverse weather conditions and brief rain delay, allowing 2 runs and 3 walks in addition to punching out 7 Indians across 7 wet innings. He allowed both runs on a single immediately after the rain delay and didn’t allow another. The Tigers got one in the 2nd on a Peralta double and solo homerun from Tuiasosopo in the 4th. Other than that, both teams threatened but didn’t score until we headed into extra innings. The Tigers made the Indians pay for back to back walks to Cabrera and Fielder when Martinez smashed a two run double off the wall in centerfield to give the Tigers a two run lead, which would be all Benoit (#BackBenoit) would need. The win gives the Tigers 49 on the season, 3 in the series, and 7 out of 11 on the road trip. They’ll return home to meet the White Sox for the first time on Tuesday with Justin Verlander (9-5, 112 IP, 3.54 ERA, 3.02 FIP, 3.0 WAR) on the mound.
The Moment: Pena lets a Swisher dribbler roll fair while Swisher stood in the box, tags him with giant grin on his face.
How Was The Game? (July 7, 2013)
Up and Down
Indians 9, Tigers 6
After Miguel Cabrera put the Tigers ahead with a homer in the first, Doug Fister (6-5, 115 IP, 4.07 ERA, 3.31 FIP, 2.5 WAR) had a rough first inning, allowing four runs after a pair of two out walks that put the Tigers behind 4-1. Fister pitched well during his remaining innings, allowing just two solo homeruns in five innings, but he left the game with things looking less that peachy. However, the offense unloaded in the 7th and 8th innings, capped by a game tying 3 run homer by Torii Hunter in the 8th. Yet it wasn’t going to be that easy for the Tigers as Michael Brantly, who had quite the day, tagged Alburquerque for a 2 run HR in the 8th and put the Tigers behind again rather quickly. Despite the comeback effort, the Tigers fell to the Tribe for the first time in 8 games and lost their first game since Monday overall. They’ll still have a shot to take 3 of 4 from the Indians tomorrow behind Max Scherzer (13-0, 116.2 IP, 3.09 ERA, 2.63 FIP, 3.7 WAR), who will be making his final case to be chosen to start the All-Star Game.
The Moment: Hunter ties it with a bomb in the 8th.
How Was The Game? (July 6, 2013)
Another big win.
Tigers 9, Indians 4
On the day the All-Star Rosters were announced, the Tigers played like a team with 6 of them, but were lead by a great player left off the roster, returning starter Anibal Sanchez (7-5, 86.2 IP, 2.70 ERA, 2.11 FIP, 3.4 WAR). Sanchez was on a pitch count, but turned in 5 great innings of 3 hit, 1 walk, 1 run, and 4 K baseball before turning it over to the bullpen. He was consistently in the mid 90s with his fastball and looked fully healthy, which is great news for the Tigers. The bats didn’t stay quiet either as the Tigers got 4 in the 3rd, 3 in the 4th, and 2 in the 6th thanks to back to back homeruns from Cabrera and Fielder, Torii Hunter coming a single short of the cycle, and two hits from the other All-Star, Jhonny Peralta. The win gets the Tigers 10 games above the .500 mark and have clinched no worse than a split in Cleveland this weekend after registering their 5th straight win. Scherzer and Verlander will watch their non-All-Star teammate, who certainly was deserving, Doug Fister (6-5, 109 IP, 3.80 ERA, 2.95 FIP, 2.9 WAR) take the baseball Sunday as the Tigers go for the series victory.
The Moment: Cabrera and Fielder go back to back.
How Was The Game? (July 5, 2013)
Another fantastic game.
Tigers 7, Indians 0
Coming off three straight wins the Tigers rolled into Cleveland and had no trouble putting them away. The bats scored early and often, crossing the plate in four separate innings totally 7 runs with Dirks and Martinez in the center of the attack, but Rick Porcello (5-6, 93.1 IP, 4.82 ERA, 3.55 FIP, 1.7 WAR) was the story as he turned in 7 shutout innings of 5 hit, 2 walk, 6 strikeout baseball and pitched in almost no traffic all night long. He gave up a little bit of hard contact, but those turned into outs quickly and he didn’t let one baserunner turn into four baserunners as he sometimes does when he’s off his game. He had all his pitches working and went to the breaking ball and offspeed stuff very effectively, making him look more like the dominate, potential front-line starter he was during May and early June (a breakdown here). He is 8th in major league baseball in park adjusted xFIP-. Here’s are important graphs on the subject, first regarding his strikeout and walks rates and second regarding his varying fastball and excellent curve:
Everything went well for the Tigers, as it has for the last four nights running, moving them to 47-38 as they give the ball to Anibal Sanchez (6-5, 81.2 IP, 2.76 ERA, 2.07 FIP, 3.2 WAR) who comes off the DL looking to jump back on his Cy Young track on Saturday.
The Moment: Porcello strikes out 6 on his way to 7 scoreless innings.
How Was The Game? (July 4, 2013)
A great one all-around.
Tigers 11, Jays 1
After losing the last two in Tampa and the first one in Toronto, many fans started to stir with consternation, but the Tigers have since railroaded the Jays in three straight nights with the series finale placed in the capable hands of Justin Verlander (9-5, 112 P, 3.54 ERA, 3.01 FIP, 3.0 WAR), who retired the first 11 he faced and went 7 scoreless innings in which he allowed just 3 hits, 2 walks, and struck out 5. It was vintage Verlander for the first time in a few weeks as he cruised to victory in dominating fashion. The offense gave him plenty of room too, as they grabbed 2 in the 1st, 2 in 3rd, 3 in the 6th, 2 in the 8th, and 2 in the 9th thanks to standout games from Jackson, Hunter, Fielder, and Kelly. It was an excellent series win for the Tigers who move back to 46-38 with a four game set against the second place Indians at Progressive Field looming this weekend. They turn the ball over to Rick Porcello (4-6, 86.1 IP, 5.21 ERA, 3.65 FIP, 1.4 WAR) for game one on Friday.
The Moment: Verlander dominates for the first time in a while.
How Was The Game? (July 3, 2013)
A little heated.
Tigers 6, Jays 2
The actual baseball part of Wednesday’s game went quite well for the Tigers as Max Scherzer (13-0, 116.2 IP, 3.09 ERA, 2.63 FIP, 3.7 WAR) made another fine start, going 6.1 innings, allowing just 2 runs, while walking 1 and striking out 8. He was supported (no way?!) by 6 runs, 3 coming on an Avila homer, 2 from Martinez on a single and a homer, and one from Peralta AND a ridiculous catch by Austin Jackson in centerfield. Things got quite heated, however, when Colby Rasmus injured Omar Infante on a dirty slide and then Jays pitcher Todd Redmond came up and in on Torii Hunter in the very next inning. The benches cleared, but Prince Fielder and company helped keep the peace. Scherzer gave way to Rondon, Smyly, and Benoit who held the lead and guaranteed the Tigers no worse than a split during their only trip north of the border. They’ll call on Justin Verlander (8-5, 105 IP, 3.77 ERA, 3.05 FIP, 2.8 WAR) to go for the outright series win on Thursday, and hopefully Jim Leyland won’t get him suspended like he did with Porcello.
The Moment: Jackson makes a leaping catch to rob the Jays of extra bases.
How Was The Game? (July 2, 2013)
One with a solid ending.
Tigers 7, Jays 6
The first inning of this one was a mess for Doug Fister (6-5, 109 IP, 3.80 ERA, 2.93 FIP, 2.9 WAR) who couldn’t pitch around several defensive miscues and ended up down 4 runs after his first three outs. But his teammates picked him up right away, as they haven’t done all season, and threw 6 runs on the Jays in the 2nd thanks in part to a 2 run double by Avila and a 3 run HR by Cabrera. Fister would allow two more on a homerun, but would lock in after that and ended up going 6 innings despite the early problems and finished with 4 K, 1 BB, and of course 1 hit batter. The game stayed knotted at 6 until the Tigers pushed across a run in the 8th inning on a Hunter infield hit, giving way to Smyly and Benoit to shut the door. It was a much needed win for the team and they’ll have a shot to earn a split as early as Wednesday behind standout starter, Max Scherzer (12-0, 110.1 IP, 3.10 ERA, 2.68 FIP, 3.4 WAR) looking to make his final case to start the All-Star Game before Leyland has to make a call.
The Moment: Cabrera goes yard in the 2nd to give the Tigers a 6-4 lead after giving up 4 runs in the 1st.
How Was The Game? (July 1, 2013)
About what you might expect.
Jays 8, Tigers 3
When the other team calls on their ace and you throw your number 7 starter, you don’t typically expect to win. Jose Alvarez (1-2, 19.2 IP, 5.03 ERA, 6.00 FIP, -0.1 WAR) didn’t give the Tigers much and left after surrendering 5 runs (4 earned) in 3 innings and gave way to Putkonen, who gave the Tigers length, but allowed the deficit to balloon. The Tigers got runs on a Fielder bomb and Infante double and homer and had a nice throw from Dirks cut down and additional run early in the game, but they would fail to mount any serious threats to Dickey and the Jays on Canada Day. The Tigers will get the odds back in their favor Tuesday night as they call on Doug Fister (6-5. 103 IP, 3.50 ERA, 2.82 FIP, 2.9 WAR) to get things straightened out.
The Moment: Rod asks Mario if he has stopped following him on Twitter.
How Was The Month? Detroit Tigers June Report
Not too bad.
14-13 (43-37 Overall)
The month of June caused some consternation among Tigers fans, but the overall numbers look pretty good. They easily could have won a few extra games, but in general it’s hard to be too upset with the second best offense in baseball during the month (118 wRC+) and the 4th best pitching staff (3.9 WAR), placing their season ranks at 2nd (112 wRC+) and 1st (16.6 WAR). The Tigers might not have a record that perfectly lines up with the overall performance, but those things will catch up as the season wears on.
Miguel Cabrera led the way and pulls his full season totals to .373/.461/.680, 207 wRC+, 5.6 WAR after a fantastic month. Austin Jackson came back and played 15 phenomenal games while the team also had big contributions from Peralta and Infante. Additionally, the Tigers were lifted by 29 excellent PA from Don Kelly who hit .347/.379/.500 during the month
Despite struggles over the last two weeks, the pitching staff still stacks up across the full season as the Tigers feature 4 starters with 2.8 WAR or better, not to mention Porcello’s (1.5), Smyly’s (1.3), and Benoit’s (1.0) strong performances. Verlander wasn’t his usual self during June and Sanchez only threw 10 innings due to injury, but Scherzer, Fister, and Porcello all offered sub 3.30 FIPs and Smyly and Benoit were lights out. If you can block out Valverde’s 9.45 ERA and 9.81 FIP during the month, you’d probably have a much nicer record.
A lot of fans have taken the last few days to jump off the bandwagon, but there are really no signs that is warranted. The Tigers remain one of the best hitting teams in the league and have the best staff in the game and didn’t perform much off that pace in June. Fans tend to only watch their own team very closely and tend to make a big deal out of what they perceive as flaws, when in reality those “deficiencies” are typical features of baseball.
Relax, everyone. Baseball is fun and this is an excellent team.
The Moment: Victor Martinez makes a potential play of the year against the Sox at first base on June 23rd.
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