Open Thread - Game 93: Tigers (56-36) at Twins (49-45)

by Ian Casselberry on Jul 19, 2007 11:43 AM EDT in Detroit Tigers News

Jeremy Bonderman (10-1, 3.50) vs. Scott Baker (4-3, 5.43), 1:10 p.m. EST

Could we have a third one-run nail-biter this afternoon in Minneapolis? The last time Jeremy Bonderman and Scott Baker faced off, before a national Sunday night audience, they fought each other hard through eight scoreless innings. Marcus Thames (who, if you haven't heard, was put on the 15-day disabled list this morning) finally broke the deadlock with a solo home run, and the Tigers prevented a Twins sweep at Comerica Park with a 1-0 victory.

Today, Detroit's going for a sweep at the Metrodome. And I'm just too lazy to look up the last time that happened. Wait - check that. According to the MLB press notes, the Tigers last won three straight in Minnesota back in 2004. But that was a four-game series. Detroit hasn't swept the Twins at Minnesota since 1999. Not so lazy after all. Thanks, Google.

And yes, a Tigers win might mean that tonight they're going to party like it's 1999. Okay, that was completely unnecessary. You may groan and throw tomatoes... now.

Short Hops:

▪▪ MLB.com's Mike Bauman praised Jim Leyland for his unusual decision to pull Bobby Seay out of the game with a 1-2 count on Mike Redmond last night.

▪▪ I'm sure everyone else has noticed this, but Todd Jones always calls for the ball after he finishes for the game, and I was curious about that. Turns out he collects the game ball from each one of his saves.

▪▪ If you've ever wondered how Jason Grilli's "Who's Your Tiger?" campaign might go, the Mickey Tettleton Memorial Overpass has the post for you.

Tweet Comment 12 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

No starting lineups yet...

Maybe the Tigers are waiting to see if Timo Perez makes it to Minneapolis from Norfolk?

Also, the Twins are pretty banged up, too. Torii Hunter won't start today (but is available to pinch hit). And Michael Cuddyer jammed his thumb, which could prevent him from playing, too.

by Ian Casselberry on Jul 19, 2007 12:22 PM EDT reply actions

don't look now....

....but the Tigers have the best record in baseball....

Of course, given that I picked up Scott Baker for my fantasy team, I'm hoping for a game like two days ago, maybe an error, a wild pitch and two sac flies getting a run home for the Tigers in another 1-0 nail biter....

by ahtrap on Jul 19, 2007 12:23 PM EDT reply actions

Starting Lineups

Timo is officially in left. And I'm a little bit surprised Guillen is playing today, considering the artificial turf.

DETROIT

CF Curtis Granderson
2B Placido Polanco
DH Gary Sheffield
RF Magglio Ordonez
SS Carlos Guillen
1B Sean Casey
LF Timo Perez
C Mike Rabelo
3B Brandon Inge

MINNESOTA

2B Luis Castillo
SS Jason Bartlett
DH Joe Mauer
RF Michael Cuddyer
1B Justin Morneau
C Mike Redmond
LF Garrett Jones
CF Jason Tyner
3B Nick Punto

by Ian Casselberry on Jul 19, 2007 12:40 PM EDT reply actions

1B vs. lefties

This doesn't really concern todays game, but with Thames on the DL, does that mean Casey will now start at first vs. lefties?

jgrubbs

by jgrubbs on Jul 19, 2007 1:16 PM EDT reply actions

Minnesota's lineup

Looks like I was a bit hasty with my post. Or the Twins made a last-minute change.

Not a big deal, but for posterity's sake:

2B Luis Castillo
SS Jason Bartlett
DH Joe Mauer
1B Justin Morneau
C Mike Redmond
LF Jason Kubel
RF Garrett Jones
CF Jason Tyner
3B Nick Punto

by Ian Casselberry on Jul 19, 2007 1:52 PM EDT reply actions

Re: 1B vs. lefties

That must be the case. There's no back-up first baseman on the team right now (which is why a lot of people thought Chris Shelton would get the call-up).

Casey's batting .286 against lefties, anyway.

by Ian Casselberry on Jul 19, 2007 1:53 PM EDT reply actions

well...

....there's always Sheffield....

by ahtrap on Jul 19, 2007 3:27 PM EDT reply actions

weird....

ESPN's math is messing with my head right now.

What's the score in the top of the 8th, with Timo Perez on first?

Because I'm "watching" this game on espn's gamecast at work, and I see a Twins run in the 6th and 2 in the 7th listed on the play by play, and 3-2 on the scoreboard. Very confused.

Bit perplexed, too, but loving the fact that they're intentionally walking Granderson to get to Polanco, though....have they seen the batting averages on this Tigers squad? I'm guessing there's a righty/lefty issue going on here, but walking a sub .300 hitter to get to a guy with a .335 average?

then again, Polanco struck out, so score one for Gardenhire.

by ahtrap on Jul 19, 2007 3:59 PM EDT reply actions

Maybe...

A fielder's choice confused the gamecast? That's strange. It wasn't a wacky play like the one in Seattle last week.

by Ian Casselberry on Jul 19, 2007 4:37 PM EDT reply actions

If you score a run on Joe Nathan...

You have to win, right?

by Ian Casselberry on Jul 19, 2007 4:40 PM EDT reply actions

dunno

But the gamecast ended up crediting a run to the twins in the 8th, when they didn't score, and then, when it went into extra innings, it put the run up for the Tigers, but insisted it was the 6th inning and refused to update any more. Oh well, at least the final score was right, and good, and all that happy stuff.

On another note, anybody notice that the last two teams Timo Perez was on have won the World Series? He was a White Sox (sock? can we get a ruling on this? it's bugging me now) in 2005, and he was with the Cards for at least part of last season.

by ahtrap on Jul 19, 2007 6:12 PM EDT reply actions

The Bullpen and Gamecast

Yet another great game for the bullpen. Jones pitched three straight scoreless 9th's with a one run lead. Hopefully we are almost at the point where we can say that the Tigers have at least a solid bullpen, instead of whatever you would rate the bullpen in the first half.

On another note I have always preffered MLB's Gamecast, it can be a little slow sometimes, but its usually reliable.

jgrubbs

by jgrubbs on Jul 19, 2007 6:21 PM EDT reply actions