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BOX
KEY STAT
Phil Coke, 4 1/3 IP, 7 R on 8 H
KEY PLAY
No real key play for the outcome. So, uhm, this.
KEY THOUGHTS
Early on the Tigers blew their best chance against Felix Hernandez. He's a great pitcher -- he really doesn't need much help. But with runners on second and third and no outs, Magglio Ordonez hits a grounder to the left side of the infield for a play at the plate. The Tigers appeared to miss out on a run when Will Rhymes apparently did not get a good read on Miguel Cabrera's single and didn't score from second. He did eventually come home. But that was the only run of the inning.
Ryan Raburn? What can you say. He caught Austin Jackson in strikeouts -- he's up to 29, Jackson 28 -- though he is a bit more productive when he does hit the ball. But you've by now watched Raburn's blooper-reel defensive miscue that resulted in a fly ball with no shot at going over the fence to, in fact, go over the fence for a home run. Yeesh.
The box score is a bit scary to look at, because none of the top three Tigers in it are hitting above the Mendoza line. Depending on your definition of line I guess. Ordonez is batting exactly .200. Jackson and Rhymes .184 and .185 respectively. Hard for Cabrera to drive in runs that way.
Of course, none of the above really matters all that much because Phil Coke gave up six runs while going fewer than six innings. After starting off so well, he's definitely struggled his last two times out. It's obviously too soon to declare either success or failure a trend. But his start was definitely the reason the Tigers lost. Notably, possibly, both losses and a combined 13 runs allowed in eight innings, came against the M's.
Brayan Villarreal did a nice job out of the bullpen, at least, striking out four and allowing one hit in 2 2/3 innings. According to BrooksBaseball.net, Villarreal averaged 95.2 mph on his fastball and peaked at about 97.