More Runs! Tigers 5, Indians 2

by Ian Casselberry on Jun 8, 2008 7:03 PM EDT in Detroit Tigers News

To get this excited about two straight wins illustrates how disappointing this season has been thus far for the Detroit Tigers (and I was out of the country during their three-game sweep of the Mariners). But for the Tigers to have any chance at turning this thing around, they need to start playing better against their AL Central rivals. Taking the last two from the team immediately ahead of them in the standings certainly helps. (Though if Detroit really wants to gain some momentum, they need to win tomorrow's series finale.)

Perhaps even more notable than the consecutive wins is two straight respectable performances from the Tigers' lineup. 13 runs in two games? I'd have to go back and check, but it's possible there have been entire weeks in which Detroit didn't put 13 runs on the board. And we're not talking about an offensive explosion today; we're talking about five runs. How many more wins would the Tigers have if they scored that number more consistently?

Set-Up Shuffle?

Okay, how much longer is Zach Miner going to be pitching in the eighth inning? He has walked at least one batter in three of his last four appearances, and given up hits in each of those outings. And the one in which Miner didn't allow a walk? He gave up three hits.

For the second straight game, Miner came in with a healthy lead and endangered the win by not getting outs and putting runners on base. In the eighth inning, he walked Franklin Gutierrez, gave up a single to Victor Martinez, and plunked Ryan Garko on the elbow to load the bases. That was it for him.

Until Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya return, maybe Freddy Dolsi is the guy who should be setting up Todd Jones. Somebody had to come in and clean up Miner's mess and Dolsi worked with squeegee-like efficiency. He struck out both Jhonny Peralta and Ben Francisco on nine total pitches, keeping the Indians from cutting into the Tigers' lead.

Today's Transaction

Before the game, the Tigers activated Clay Rapada from the 15-day disabled list. He'll take Jeremy Bonderman's spot on the roster. That gives Detroit three left-handers in the bullpen, which makes you wonder if another move is coming once Aquilino Lopez returns from the bereavement list.

Tweet Comment 3 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

shared enthusiasm

I had the whole section at Fenway today watching the box score of the Detroit game today.

by busta on Jun 8, 2008 10:25 PM EDT reply actions

I gotta say

I haven’t seen much Detroit baseball being from upstate NY, except for the usual 14-2 Sunday Night beatdown for the past few seasons, but Dolsi looked sick on that strikeout. I could’ve sworn that he threw an offspeed pitch with that movement 12-6, and not only did it stop in mid air, but it was thrown at 95mph. I’ve also been on the AG bandwagon and have been for some time. He’s no all-star(yet) but he’s been very solid all season, and has been given a bit more support, but he’s a great asset for this team. Verlander has been improving, but some runs would be nice. Rogers has been solid as well.

by syratiger on Jun 8, 2008 11:52 PM EDT reply actions

Miner...and others

I hadn’t realized that in Miners last 12-14 appearences he had actually pitched quite well (Rod brought that up). Dolsi looked wow! Nasty stuff in a tight spot, but can he continue to do it? I don’t know…. It will be nice to see if Zoom Zoom and Rodney can actually come back strong, but the starting pitching has been getting better it still comes down to RUNS and HITTING the damn ball. It seems that Miggy has been hitting better recently, but where are the rest of them? We need consitency, and aren’t their yet, even in the line up. It changes daily. How about 4 games with the same starters, sans LF?

by Zappatista on Jun 9, 2008 8:03 AM EDT reply actions