KEY STAT
Tigers pitching gave up 11 base on balls to the Mariners tonight (And a total of 18 in the series). We all know walks are evil. Allowing 11 walks against the light hitting Mariners is outright criminal. How criminal? The Mariners' lineup had six starters hitting under .237.
KEY PLAY
In the top of the 7th Brandon Inge grounded into a 4-6-3 double play with the bases loaded and one out. The Tigers had closed to within 6-2 after an Alex Avila RBI walk. Stater Doug Fister was gassed, so the Mariners brought in Jamey Wright to take over. After all the ugliness, the Tigers were finally into the M's pen with the tying run at the plate. There was hope..then Inge swung at the first pitch...game over. You could hear the TV's shutting off all over Tigers Nation as soon as the ball left Inge's bat.
KEY THOUGHTS
The Tigers didn't pitch, didn't defend, didn't run the bases well and didn't hit (Save for Miguel Cabrera and Brennan Boesch..but what else is new?). The Mariners' did what any major league franchise would do when the opposition plays like a bad Little League team. Destroy them.
Phil Coke was flat, giving up six runs in 3.2 innings. He barely got out of the 1st inning, walking three, allowing up four runs, all unearned...because of a Phil Coke error. Go figure.
Don Kelly got the start in right field for the (still) injured Maggilo Ordonez, and batted 3rd. Yes, 3rd. I have to say Kelly did make some excellent plays in the field (the only Tiger who did, actually). But (there's always a but when you play Kelly) much like the scarecrow needed a brain and the tin man a heart, if he's going to bat 3rd in the order, Don Kelly needs to see the wizard about getting a bat.
Austin Jackson's night was, once again, sad. 0-5, three strikeouts. The Tigers have to do something with the struggling 2nd year outfielder. It starts with moving Jackson far down in the order, and possibly ends with a trip to Toledo to figure things out. In the post game presser, Jim Leyland said, "He'll be fine." For everyone's sake, I hope so...
Enrique Gonzalez entered the game in 4th, taking over for Coke. He threw 38 pitches. Only 13 were strikes. With Ryan Perry possibly ending his rehab as early as Wednesday, Gonzalez may have written his ticket off the roster with his lackluster performance. For what it's worth, the Tigers announced they have no roster moves planned for tonight. Tomorrow could be a different story.
The walk-itis was catching, as Al Alburquerque was wild. After an scoreless first appearance in Oakland, the rookie walked a pair and allowed two runs in 2/3 of an inning.
LOOGY Brad Thomas became the sacrificial arm, throwing the final two innings, just not very well (7 H, 5 ER). But no other bullpen arms had to be burned up to get the Hell out of Dodge.
As bad as the loss was, it was only one loss. As Jim Leyland made sure to say after the game, "You just turn the page and move on, it just wasn't our day." To say the very least.
Regardless, the Tigers have a still chance to win the series and end the west coast swing with a winning record if they are victorious Wednesday afternoon. Though the Tigers have been bi-polar on the trip, heading back to Detroit with a 4-3 record is more than acceptable. But it you get the feeling it should have been much better.