Open Thread - Game 140: White Sox (59-80) vs. Tigers (74-65)

by Ian Casselberry on Sep 6, 2007 12:17 PM EDT in News Comment 7 comments

Mark Buehrle (9-9, 3.47) vs. Chad Durbin (8-6, 4.76), 1:05 p.m. EST

First, Kenny Rogers returned. And he gave the Tigers five good innings of pitching last night. Today, Gary Sheffield comes back. And the lineup sorely needs some middle-of-the-order thunder from him, after scoring only three runs in the last two games. With two key veterans rejoining the team, the Tigers are now close to fully loaded for a playoff run. But they need to win today's rubber game against the White Sox to get that started.

The decision to start Chad Durbin indicates what kind of urgency the Tigers are feeling now. No more taking chances with a minor league pitcher, hoping that he can give the team five or six good innings. It's been almost three weeks since Durbin pitched five innings, in a start against the Yankees (giving up four runs and two homers in five innings). Since he was originally going to start last Friday in Oakland, however, the Tigers must think he can give them an extended effort.

Mark Buehrle has been on kind of a good start/bad start pattern, and pitched pretty well against the Indians last week (allowing two runs in seven innings). So maybe he's due to give up some runs today. This season against the Tigers, Buehrle has a 1-1 record and 6.28 ERA. In 14 innings, he's given up 10 runs and 21 hits.

Going into today's game, the Tigers are seven games behind the Indians in the AL Central, and trail the Yankees by 3 1/2 in the Wild Card standings. (They're just a 1/2 game behind the Mariners for second place, however.)

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Starting Lineups

CHICAGO WHITE SOX

1. Jerry Owens CF
2. Josh Fields LF
3. A.J. Pierzynski C
4. Paul Konerko 1B
5. Darin Erstad RF
6. Scott Podsednik DH
7. Juan Uribe SS
8. Alex Cintron 2B
9. Andy Gonzalez 3B

DETROIT

1. Curtis Granderson CF
2. Placido Polanco 2B
3. Gary Sheffield DH
4. Magglio Ordonez RF
5. Carlos Guillen SS
6. Ryan Raburn LF
7. Mike Rabelo C
8. Mike Hessman 1B
9. Brandon Inge 3B

by Ian Casselberry on Sep 6, 2007 12:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

So far so good

from Durbin. 4 Innings, 0 Runs 3 Hits, 1 Walk and 65 Pitches.

Offense again "anaemic" . But Inge connected. Sheff, come on, blast one ;)

by Germantiger on Sep 6, 2007 2:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

inge

Has gotten himself on a lil bit of a roll.

by Ben on Sep 6, 2007 2:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Why

did Leyland replace Durbin after 5 Innings (only 78 Pitches with 4 Hits)?
But then, Grilli needs only 18 Pitches for 2 Innings.

My mlb.tv is down at the moment, so I can't watch the game

by Germantiger on Sep 6, 2007 2:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Frickin' unbelievable

I was sure that they had blown it...

by EricV on Sep 6, 2007 3:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

really unbelievable

Oh man, I had all my curses about the White Sucks available. And now this :lol:

Great comeback, at last.

But, my inital question is still unanswered:why was Durbin pulled out of the game after only 75 Pitches?
Does Leyland think that he can't go over this barrier?

And what's going on with Rodney: After his comeback from the DL he was nearly unhittable and now two games in a row he looks like the "old Rodney" from the beginning of the season.

by Germantiger on Sep 6, 2007 3:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Re: Durbin

My guess is Leyland took Durbin out after five innings because he still doesn't have much stamina after working out of the bullpen for his last four appearances.

Maybe he can go six innings - or 100 pitches - now that he's stretched out a bit. The Tigers are probably going to need him in the rotation for the rest of the season.

by Ian Casselberry on Sep 6, 2007 9:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs