(Courtesy of Fangraphs.com)
Earned a Lecture from Leyland: Guillen 0-4, -0.60 WPA
I knew that this weekend series against the Tribe was going to be a tough one; but not like that.
I have mixed feelings about tonight's game, especially with Maroth's performance. The first inning was ugly, especially the walk to Casey Blake that set up the big inning for the Indians. After the string of hits, including the three run homer, Maroth wasn't too bad (outside of the other homer given up to Blake in the fifth) -- plus he went eight innings, which gave the bullpen a nice rest, something they'll all need with the loss of Fernando Rodney for a bit.
The real problem for the Tigers in this loss was their lack of production with RISP. In the fifth, sixth and seventh the Tigers got guys on to start the inning, including it being by a double in two of them. And, just like every frame outside of the third in this one, the Tigers were not able to get anyone across the plate. If you watched the ESPN broadcast tonight you would have heard several times that this lineup was tops in the league with RISP -- I guess we'll forgive them for just this one night for an extremely poor performance.
The Indians are red-hot and have proven to us that they will be formidable competition throughout the season series. The Tigers now need to use the upcoming series in Tampa Bay as a way to get the sour taste of this weekend's sweep out of their mouths.
Up Next: Tomorrow night vs. Devil Rays, 7:10 pm EST