Raburn catch helps Tigers avoid sweep

by Kurt Mensching on Jul 3, 2011 6:29 PM EDT in Detroit Tigers News

Final - 7.3.2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
San Francisco Giants	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	3	8	3
Detroit Tigers	0	0	0	1	0	1	2	2	X	6	6	1
WP: Rick Porcello (7 - 6) SV: Jose Valverde (20) LP: Jeremy Affeldt (1 - 2)

Complete Coverage >

BOX

KEY STAT

Brennan Boesch was 2-for-4. His hits were a home run and double.

KEY PLAY

With runners on first and second in the eighth inning and Detroit leading 4-3, Aaron Rowand hit a line drive to left field. Ryan Raburn was playing in left field. I imagine Tigers fans everywhere groaned. Raburn stretched out in a dive and snared the ball for the third out. Had it got by him, the game tying run and probably the leading run score. Video here.

KEY THOUGHTS

Detroit actually trailed 3-1 as they entered the bottom of the sixth inning. Then they realized they have not been swept in interleague play yet this year and decided to keep up the tradition of doing just enough. Or something like that. In any case, The Tigers rallied with five runs scored in their final three innings at the plate to pull off the victory.

Rick Porcello got back on track with six strike outs and three earned runs allowed across seven innings of work. He allowed five hits and walked two.

Jose Valverde got his 20th save but allowed a hit and walk first. He's no Todd Jones or Fernando Rodney but he's not exactly making it look easy.

The Tigers finished interleague play with a record of 7-11. The Twins and Royals also had losing records.

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Comments

i'm still in a little bit of shock about the raburn play

and us firing knapp. Thank god interleague is over.

I Like Pie

by mrsunshine on Jul 3, 2011 6:44 PM EDT reply actions

"Thank god interleague is over."

Just needed to be repeated.

by H2OPoloPunk on Jul 3, 2011 6:54 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah. If you take away interleague games, the Tigers would be four games up

or three ahead of Cleveland. 11- 7, or 7- 11.

I don't care what the Chinese say, 2011 is the Year of the Tiger!

by Tigerdog1 on Jul 3, 2011 7:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Anyone else completely confused by the Valverde photo caption?

“I’ve seldom seen an injury celebration that doesn’t involve a dog pile look so painful.”

Maybe I’m missing something.

by longview on Jul 3, 2011 6:55 PM EDT reply actions

Indeed

by H2OPoloPunk on Jul 3, 2011 6:59 PM EDT up reply actions

I think just ignore the word "injury"

then it makes perfect sense because of the way his right ankle looks.

by thepartybird on Jul 3, 2011 7:03 PM EDT up reply actions

whoops

long day in the sun for me.

Bless You Boys.com

by Kurt Mensching on Jul 3, 2011 7:06 PM EDT up reply actions

lol

That makes much more sense, and yeah, that does look kinda painful!

by longview on Jul 3, 2011 7:18 PM EDT up reply actions

I thought

that when I heard Raburn made a catch I thought that it was in an arts and crafts class or something.

Turns out he actually caught a Baseball with his glove. I see big things in this young mans future!

by Anthony Steven Lewis on Jul 3, 2011 7:06 PM EDT reply actions

Rimshot.....

by Anthony Steven Lewis on Jul 3, 2011 7:06 PM EDT up reply actions

The funny thing is

that for his entire career, Raburn ranks as a little bit above average in LF with a UZR/150 of 3.2.

by Griffin Fraley on Jul 3, 2011 11:38 PM EDT up reply actions

This actually looked like a baseball game...

Glad to see boesch continue…not a bad day from kid Rick, either.

Maybe Knapp was the bringer of bad ju-ju to the staff…up until these last two series, I could of swore we had talent in the pitching staff.

Charlie Sheen Night at CoPa: everyone has their Tiger Blood and Coke is a free mixer.

by Siggzilla on Jul 3, 2011 7:16 PM EDT reply actions

I would've like to been a fly on the wall in some

of the coaching meetings. I wonder if Leyland and Co. were fed up with unsuccessful attempts to tweak mechanics, problems identifying mechanical flaws in the first place, or poor strategy, i.e. how to attack certain hitters, how to pitch around guys, what pitches to throw when etc.

Knapp wasn’t a real vocal guy and wasn’t in front of a microphone that much, but when he was he never seemed to say anything very substantive in my opinion. I wonder how much the firing was performance related vs. scapegoat.

by BayesLaw on Jul 3, 2011 7:36 PM EDT reply actions

It doesn't necessarily follow that a good pitching coordinator will be a good major league pitching coach

I suppose there is some over lap, working with players’ mechanics, especially when you have a young rotation, but you’re still working with major leaguers that have used a certain method to get to the show with some success, whereas a coordinator is working on developing raw talent.

I’m iffy on Porcello’s performance today. He was very wild at times, and things could have been much worse if some of his balls in the dirt weren’t blocked by Avila toward a runner standing on third. He was better today, but still has much work to do, IMO. The season hinges on Max and Porcello getting their groove back. Maybe Jones has a different approach with them. Maybe he’s more about mechanics and things than Knapp was. Something had to change, and it’s pretty tough to keep changing pitchers in the rotation and expect to contend.

I don't care what the Chinese say, 2011 is the Year of the Tiger!

by Tigerdog1 on Jul 3, 2011 7:53 PM EDT up reply actions

I just watched the Raburn highlight catch...

And that really was a fantastic play. He stretched out fully to get the ball.

by akadwriter on Jul 3, 2011 9:39 PM EDT reply actions

Best defensive play of the season by a Tiger, IMO.

I would not be surprised if, when Guillen comes back, Casper Wells or Andy Dirks is sent down, and Raburn is back in the outfield. I don’t think it’s a lock that RR will be sent down, nor kept in the infield if he is kept in Detroit.

I don't care what the Chinese say, 2011 is the Year of the Tiger!

by Tigerdog1 on Jul 3, 2011 10:02 PM EDT up reply actions

One Catch

And now we keep Raburn & send down one of our young guy’s?

I say, keep the young guns & drop Raburn. This is just my choice.

by TigersFan1957 on Jul 3, 2011 11:14 PM EDT up reply actions

I would have send down Raburn instead of Worth until he works things out

and I’d never have RR in the infield, but I’m just speculating what the Tigers might do.

I don't care what the Chinese say, 2011 is the Year of the Tiger!

by Tigerdog1 on Jul 3, 2011 11:25 PM EDT up reply actions

He seems pretty upset that he broke his glasses

poor guy.

sarcastic jinxing ass

by The Eric on Jul 4, 2011 9:28 AM EDT up reply actions

Kid Rick did okay too today

So that’s good.

"Aside from the stuff I haven’t been diagnosed for yet, I don’t have a problem."- Phil Coke

Contributor, Bless You Boys

by David Tokarz on Jul 4, 2011 1:11 AM EDT reply actions

I dont see why people are so suprised to see Raburn's catch.

He has made several very nice highlight plays in the field. Thats not a big deal. Im just glad it wasnt a lazy fly ball that was hit right to him. THEN there would have been trouble.

President of the "Bring back Neifi Perez" fan club.

by Cabbyfan on Jul 4, 2011 2:47 AM EDT reply actions

you make a good point

Bless You Boys.com

by Kurt Mensching on Jul 4, 2011 10:30 AM EDT up reply actions

Raburn has big time skills

He has good speed, a very strong and accurate arm, and excellent range. He just seems to make the most bone headed errors in judgment, and at the worst possible times. Overall, I still believe he is average defensively for the OF, and above average for a LF’er. Not so in the infield, IMO.

I don't care what the Chinese say, 2011 is the Year of the Tiger!

by Tigerdog1 on Jul 4, 2011 1:00 PM EDT up reply actions