clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Twins 7, Tigers 3: Dead Man Walkin’

Brad Ausmus won’t be back as manager, and yet the Tigers still played.

By JT Law
MLB: Minnesota Twins at Detroit Tigers Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

The big story of the day, of course, is the news that the Tigers aren’t going to renew Brad Ausmus’ managerial contract for next season. Could the lame-duck manager guide his team to victory on a sultry Friday September night, where the game-time temperature was 86 F (30 C)?

Nope.

Daniel Norris, bless his heart, he tried. The Twins got to him for three runs in the fourth, and he couldn’t make it out of the fifth. Some at Bless You Boys think that he’s far too amped-up on the mound, which would explain his general wildness (despite only walking one tonight). Thoughts on this? Comments are below; please leave one.

Kyle Gibson started for the Twins and kept the Tigers’ bats largely in check; five hits added up to three runs in seven innings. Kyle Gibson’s ERA is north of 5. Kyle Gibson is a perfect microcosm of all that’s wrong in this world.

The Tigers’ bullpen acquitted itself pretty well, for the most part. Daniel Stumpf threw one (1) pitch to finish out the fifth. Drew VerHagen had a bit of a rocky time in the sixth, giving up back-to-back doubles to let the Twins pull ahead 6-2, but then he escaped otherwise unharmed. Chad Bell and Alex Wilson both had crisp, scoreless innings, and Shane Greene... uh.... well, he coughed up a solo home run on a hanging breaking ball to Brian Dozier. Whoops.

CHEERS

  • Nicholas Castellanos: Hit his 25th home run of the year, the day after his 17-game hit streak ended.
  • JaCoby Jones: Made a catch on a Joe Mauer line drive that StatCast rated four stars; there was a 29% catch probability.
  • Jeimer Candelario: Picked up a pair of hits. Currently batting north of .360. I like the cut o’ his jib.

HISSES

  • Tiger bats in general: To borrow a phrase from Crash Davis, at this point they couldn’t hit water if they fell out of a boat.
  • Matt Belisle: If you’re a pitcher, don’t wear a single-digit number. Just don’t, alright? (Looking at you too, Stroman.)
  • Daniel Norris: C’mon, man. We want to like you. But you’re making it very, very hard for us to do that right now.

More From Bless You Boys