Tigers swept in twin-bill by the Tribe. Has the annual post All-Star game swoon begun?
by BigAl on Jul 18, 2010 1:11 AM EDT
in Detroit Tigers News
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PrintGame 1:
Game 2:
On Twitter, after the Austin Kearns' 11th inning, game ending single, our good friend Baroque97 summed up the long day and night and into the next day of baseball with this tweet:
NO BASEBALL TEAM SHOULD HAVE "THREATEN BUT FAIL TO SCORE" AS THEIR TEAM MOTTO FOR TRAVELING!!!
Word.
OK, what do you want first? The good news, or the bad news? Hell, after losing a doubleheader to the Tribe, and three straight to start the season's second half, it's ALL bad news. But humor me...
Good news: Rick Porcello pitched his best game of the season, allowing only 6 hits, 1 run, walking none, with 6 K's.
Bad News: Even Mother Nature hates the Tigers. The 8th inning rain delay ended Porcello's night one inning early, denying him a shot at a win. Kid Rick deserved a W, but the weather and the Tigers' anemic offense conspired against him.
Good news: Porcello will definitely make another start for the Tigers.
Bad news: There is no bad news in this case, as an effective Porcello will go a long way toward solving the Tigers' rotation issues. The question is, can Porcello hit with RISP?
Good news: In game two, the Tigers loaded the bases in the 1st inning against Mitch Talbot, the first 3 batters getting on base. Later on, in what was a 1-1- game, Johnny Damon led off the 9th with a double.
Bad News: You know the drill. In the 1st, the Tigers left the bases loaded, letting Talbot off the hook. In the 9th, Damon was sacrificed to 3rd....where he was left stranded. It's deja vu all over again, as the inability to get a hit with RISP reared it's ugly head. Palm, meet face.
Good news: Gerald Laird was only bruised after getting cracked on the side of the skull with a broken bat.
Bad news: It didn't knock him out of his season long slump. Laird went hitless in the second game, dropping his average to .188.
Good news: Pre All-Star break, the middle of the Tigers' batting order was an offensive explosion waiting to happen.
Bad news: We're still waiting for the explosion after the break, as Magglio Ordonez, Miguel Cabrera, and Brennan Boesch combined for all of three hits (two by Boesch) in the double dip.
Good news: Justin Verlander didn't lose the first game of the twin-bill.
Bad news: Verlander didn't get the win, and allowed the tying run to score thanks to a pair of wild pitches in the 6th. He was again inefficient (118 pitches in 6 innings), walked 5, and wasn't dominant against a team he should dominate. Not a very ace-like performance from someone paid to be an ace.
Good news: Tomorrow is another day, which means another game.
Bad news: Andrew Oliver, and his 6.38 ERA, is the Tigers' starter. You, me and the Indians have to be thinking, "Sweep!"
Good news: The season isn't over after losing three consecutive games to the last place Indians.
Bad news: A true playoff contender doesn't lose three consecutive games to the last place Indians. What was I thinking?
Good news: The Tigers haven't lost any ground in the Central. The Twins beat the 1st place White Sox tonight, and have taken two straight from the Sox.
Bad news: The Tigers failed to take advantage of the Twins beating the Sox, in losing three straight to the lousy, stinking, last place Indians. THREE STRAIGHT! The Tigers should be in 1st place...but they can't beat the damn Indians...or the Royals...or (enter name of any second division team here).
Bad news: There is no good news when you can only score four runs against the Indians, NONE coming against their awful and injury depleted bullpen.
As you can see, the bad news overwhelmed the good news.
If there's one thing we learned this weekend...if we didn't know it already...the Tigers are a bad baseball team on the road. Really damn bad. Blow goats kind of bad.
Even if the Tigers do come back and win tomorrow this afternoon, the events of this weekend will likely come back to bite the them on the ass. Then again, isn't this what we've come to expect from Jim Leyland's Tigers teams after the All-Star break? They've made a habit of playing their way out of contention in August and September.
I guess the swoon is starting early this season.
Why yes, this post is filled with caustic bitterness caused by the Tigers losing a pair of games to a last place team over an 11 hour span. But don't tell me you feel any different.
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That Leyland second half swoon is a myth
It’s happened long before Leyland arrived. The Tigers have had losing second halves every year for the past sixteen seasons except 2000 (when they had a winning second half) and 2009 (when they went 38-38 in the second half).
Doña of the VZ Mafia
Only because the Twins were red hot
Rooting for Tiger stripes, not pinstripes
by JerseyTigerFan on Jul 18, 2010 11:03 AM EDT up reply actions
Don't forget
that the Tigers were also horrible in the first halves of 2001-2005 and 2008. A losing second half means nothing in those cases.
by handsomerob1 on Jul 18, 2010 11:43 AM EDT up reply actions
Even though I keep telling myself not to get too carried away
with the Tigers this season (since it’s such a young team with some pretty glaring flaws), I’m still awed by how frustrating this team can be. As exciting as they’ve been to watch, they’ve also been just as aggravating (butchers in the field, prone to terrible hitting with RISP).
They keep finding way to lose on the road and that does not bode well…
I know
Your head says “it’s a young team with a lot of issues, and after some of the years we’ve been subjected to just having a competitive team is a treat” but your heart says “look at the way Verlander pitches! Look at Jackson covering center! Holy cow is Boesch having a great year!” and you get carried away.
It’s why I love sports, though.
"While there's life, there's hope." --Cicero
Science nerd and proud of it!
Fricking frakking, high falutin', unadulterated, bullhockey
It’s the freaking Indians, and this isn’t 2007, where they had CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee and got to within a game of the World Series before choking. This is a team that’s choked from the word go, for the past three seasons in a row, and the Tigers are letting them breathe.
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Leyland's Bad 9th Inning Strategy
Damon hits a leadoff pinch double in the 9th and Leyland gives up a precious out by having Worth bunt him to 3rd. Then Jackson, who strikes out a lot, strikes out and Guillen flys out to right. If Worth could have been allowed to get on base, there would still only be two out with Ordonez & Cabrera coming up. Game could have been won in 9th.
by martindownunder on Jul 18, 2010 4:47 AM EDT reply actions
Erm, the vast majority of managers would do the exact same thing Leyland did
That’s the conventional move. Not saying it’s right or wrong, but it’s thought of as what you’re “supposed” to do.
Doña of the VZ Mafia
by SabreRoseTiger on Jul 18, 2010 8:16 AM EDT up reply actions
um, i thought the language was supposed to be G-rated
on here. i know it’s frustrating watching the bumbling circus road show, but my kid is a fan too and reads these blogs. so tone it down, ok?
I guess you've never sat through a game thread.
While I am not a fan of gratuitous cussing, I also know that the regulars on here do not engage in such a practice. In fact, while the language on here can be blue, it’s still pretty creative. I appreciate your concern for your kid, but you are mistaken if you think the language here is supposed to be G-rated. I checked the Commenting Guidelines and all that’s mentioned is using cursing as a means to call attention to yourself (without really contributing anything else, I’m assuming).
"I see great things in baseball. It's our game, the American game. It will repair our losses and be a blessing to us." Walt Whitman
I'm new to this thread,
and took the time to sign up because most of the posts are classy. I don’t need to check the Comment Guidelines for what I can or cannot post. If you can’t express yourself without cursing then perhaps you need to be on Yahoo or somewhere else.
You weren't talking about what YOU can post
either way, welcome to the blog and, I – for one – will try to keep my emotions and language in check. No promises, though, if the Tigers keep playing the way they did this weekend.
Rooting for Tiger stripes, not pinstripes
by JerseyTigerFan on Jul 18, 2010 10:32 PM EDT up reply actions
the greater concern is personal attacks
Racial or gender-based slurs, attacking other posters instead of engaging in legitimate debate are a bigger online issue. Fleeting expletives out of emotion are normal – if someone can’t go a sentence without tossing in a four-letter word for no reason, that’s different.
I’ve been on blogs where personal attacks forced posters (usually women) off the threads entirely because they couldn’t say anything without being threatened, abused, laughed at, and belittled.
Infrequent emotional cussing is nothing.
"While there's life, there's hope." --Cicero
Science nerd and proud of it!
I tend to think it's fine in game threads
but you are correct, swearing outbursts in a thread posted hours after a game I tend to frown upon. I too would like this site to be family friendly enough not to get filtered out by the services out there.
by Kurt Mensching on Jul 18, 2010 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions
considering it's sunday, I wasn't up early enough to hide offensive comments
but I have now.
Director of the 2010 Free Casper Wells campaign
No Run Support
Hope I'm not one of the offenders you're referring to
What with my bullhockey post.
Then again, unless your kid’s a Battlestar galactica fan, he or she might not know that they may or may not have seen a curse word in that.
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Three games
Do not a season make. The Orioles swept the Rangers right before the break. These things happen. Besides, having a seven game lead around this time has been shown not to work. Maybe a couple games out isn’t a terrible place to be.
Typical tigers
Just like in 07 when they wasted Maggs MVP like season
Just like in 09 when all they had to do is won one game agaisnt the sox to make the playoffs
I’m sorry sometimes Leyland is just a bad coach and right now he’s at his worst, anytime you have the bases loaded with no out and don’t manage to get one in is unacceptable. Want proof Oliver is starting for us who has been way over his head his last 3 starts…
Maybe I am missing something
but how do you blame Leyland for the 4-5-6 hitters failing to drive in a run in the 1st? Did you want him to squeeze with Miggy? Have Jackson steal home? Swing the bat for Carlos? Pinch hit for Boesch? Make silly faces and farting noises in an attempt to distract Mitch Talbot into throwing a wild pitch?
Rooting for Tiger stripes, not pinstripes
by JerseyTigerFan on Jul 18, 2010 11:11 AM EDT up reply actions
I don't think that's his style unfortunately
I wish we had Gibby on the bench. I think he’d do that and be hilarious at it.
"While there's life, there's hope." --Cicero
Science nerd and proud of it!
Gibby would just stare Talbot down
and Talbot would then be unable to throw strikes out of fear.
by handsomerob1 on Jul 18, 2010 11:45 AM EDT up reply actions
good point
leyland’s wouldn’t just be noises. It’s hard when you’ve got an old man’s colon.
by Kurt Mensching on Jul 18, 2010 11:50 AM EDT up reply actions
He's the coach of this team and there under performing right now
It’s his job to make sure they perform. Sometimes I feel he’s to much of a player’s coach and not an A-hole to do what he has to, to get some responce from this team.
up until two days ago, he was getting plenty out of 4-5-6
i don’t see how getting up in these three’s faces and being an a-hole is going to solve what ails us. I just think that you could have come up with a better example to prove your point
Rooting for Tiger stripes, not pinstripes
by JerseyTigerFan on Jul 18, 2010 1:13 PM EDT up reply actions
I never said he should single out the 4-5-6 hitters
But needs to shut the doors and say your not getting it done, they came out flat after the break. It’s like he doesn’t want to hurt the players feelings, I’m sick of him getting the message out after the game to the reporters. And if that means being a A-hole so be it. Example when Todd Jones got pulled he had tears in his eye’s, remember that, all of Detroit was screaming for jones to be pulled from closing duties and bascially watched Jones blow game after game before he did anything…
I’m sorry sometimes Leyland is just a bad coach and right now he’s at his worst, anytime you have the bases loaded with no out and don’t manage to get one in is unacceptable
Rooting for Tiger stripes, not pinstripes
by JerseyTigerFan on Jul 18, 2010 4:59 PM EDT up reply actions
believe it or not I actually agree with you
I want to see Bobby Valentine in Detroit.. But, you chose a poor example to prove managerial incompetence or apathy or whatever.
Rooting for Tiger stripes, not pinstripes
by JerseyTigerFan on Jul 18, 2010 5:02 PM EDT up reply actions
do you think they don't know they're not getting it done?
do you think they enjoyed the feeling of losing game 163?
This is an adult’s game played by professionals and all the ranting and ravings of a manager is not going to make the ball bounce the right way for them.
This isn’t football.
by Kurt Mensching on Jul 18, 2010 7:03 PM EDT up reply actions
Even in football
players getting paid millions of dollars will tune out a coach that does nothing but yell and scream all the time. He has to pick his spots wisely. Hell, for all we know he did chew them out in the locker room. We have no idea what happens behind closed doors.
by handsomerob1 on Jul 19, 2010 8:44 AM EDT up reply actions
talk to the players as far as, under achievements goes not the coaches or manager..as I said over and over again, responsibility fall on the players to excute if they don’t do that , rest on the players not the manager
by '' spiderman '' on Jul 18, 2010 1:17 PM EDT up reply actions
Leyland isn't at fault but, the players are.........
E X C U T I N G! is the name of the game, the players who is the one that creates opportunities not the coaches or managers!
by '' spiderman '' on Jul 18, 2010 12:46 PM EDT up reply actions
yesterday game.....
tigers loaded the bases with no outs, cabrera at the plate, in the 1st inning, the question I have is it is the responsibility of cabrera or leyland as the manager to hit the ball?…no excution by the part of cabrera in fact, he stikeout, followed by, boesch popup or groundout in the infield or a doubleplay whichever, truely, the players are at fault .
by '' spiderman '' on Jul 18, 2010 1:04 PM EDT up reply actions
Horrible day of baseball, yes ...
… but I refuse to get down too much. This is the nature of the AL Central. The Twins and Sox will streak, in both directions, as welk. I am certainly not encouraged by this weekend’s events, but I’m not ready to completely right off anyone – least of all my Tigers! Like you said, we didn’t lose any ground. Hopefully, we learned a few things and someone is right now working on a plan to address some of these issues. The next two weeks, both on and off the field, will certainly tell us alot more about what we can expect from our boys and their management for the rest of the season.
GO TIGERS!
Rooting for Tiger stripes, not pinstripes
by JerseyTigerFan on Jul 18, 2010 10:59 AM EDT reply actions
Mario said
last year they lost 5 straight after the All Star break. I am beginning to hate the All Star break
Welcome to Detroit, NO sissies allowed
beginning?
four days of no baseball, 5 days of losing baseball! ahhh
by Kurt Mensching on Jul 18, 2010 11:15 AM EDT up reply actions
well you got me there, Kurt
There are certain things I enjoy about the AS game and the events surrounding it, but it is a jinx.
Welcome to Detroit, NO sissies allowed
by Detroitchik on Jul 18, 2010 11:56 AM EDT up reply actions
All star break sucks
I have always hated it. I wish that all sports would eliminate their contrived crappy all-star games because they are all horrible and lame and brutally pathetic.
"While there's life, there's hope." --Cicero
Science nerd and proud of it!
focus is the key, tigers don't either balance or focus on their game............
tigers should be bunting but their not, and tigers shouldn’t be bunting but their bunting underbalance team , I ‘m sorry to say that is tigers……..for decades now we the tigers should win games but they don’t, and games they shouldn’t win they do, so unbalances, tigers are doing the same old thing year after to year. if any tiger wants to play in the major leagues then do it otherwise be gone from baseball, see if you wake-up in the morning and thinking baseball should be a baseball player right, but in the case of the tigers their in the clouds so there we have it.all phases of the games the tigers are unbalance, I truely like the tigers but, something is missing from the important equation!
by '' spiderman '' on Jul 18, 2010 11:20 AM EDT reply actions
game over and the season is over for the tigers!..my huge opinion......
in fact, until tigers start winning games, no more watching the tigers, I am sick of losing so, until tigers start winning again either on the road and at home altho, tigers home record is excellent one of the best the all of baseball!…..bye everyone, see you next year!
by '' spiderman '' on Jul 18, 2010 2:14 PM EDT reply actions
So, uh, even if they win tonight, you won't be here until next year?
As was said in a post above, this isn’t football, and, these aren’t the Lions. How irrationally emotional do you want to be about one bad series?
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Lots of discussion about Leyland,
should he stay or go. Granted, it’s been a very disappointing weekend, but it’s a long season and all teams will have their ups and downs. Good news is the Tigs are still just a game and a half out. Just relax and hope they start playing better on the road. Tigs weren’t picked to win the Central but if they can manage to stay close anything can happen!
If you've been watching for a while before you joined...
…and welcome aboard, for the record…then you’ve seen that we tend to pile on Jimmy Leyland a fair bit around here, for his lineup choices, for his pitching decisions, for his choice of cigarettes. Well, maybe not for the latter. I think as fans we’re mostly resigned to Leyland being around for another couple of seasons, unless the team really melts down. But that might be an unlikely scenario in a division as weak as the AL Central.
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