Well, that happened. And it wasn't pretty.
I'd love to hear an explanation for how Carl Pavano has been the bane of the Detroit Tigers' existence in the four times he's faced them this season. I'm not sure anyone has a good one. Certainly no one in the Tigers' lineup has any clue in the matter.
Detroit has scored five runs in 30.1 innings versus Pavano. By my math, that's a 1.50 ERA. Pavano came into this game with a 5.37 ERA and a record one game over .500. Yet against the Tigers, he's unbeatable. Literally. Maybe some of the sabermetricians out there will put this in numbers that perfectly explain Pavano's ownership of this team. (Against the rest of the league, he's 6-8 with a 6.16 ERA, according to Jason Beck.) Until then, this just boggles the mind.
And while the Tigers' hitters try to figure out how to beat Pavano, the pitching staff needs to work on a far better game plan for Denard Span. Because whatever's in that scouting report ought to be set on fire. Span went 5-for-5 tonight, adding to the .444/.479/.533 batting line he'd already compiled against Detroit this season. Joe Mauer also hit a home run for the second straight game, giving him 11 RBIs off Tigers pitching.
Detroit tries to get the series win tomorrow, with Jarrod Washburn looking to erase the memory of giving up six runs in his Tigers debut last Tuesday.
Comment of the Night:
They should just scrap Tigers Live after games like this.
by StringTheory