Post by tigertowner 68 on Aug 22, 2014 14:53:39 GMT -5
The Tigers were on top of the baseball world one sunny day in May, sporting a 27-12 record. Then they had problems with a flight out of Boston taking them to Cleveland to play the Indians. They landed there weary just two hours before game time. They lost that night.
They have been 41-45 since. General Manager and President Dave Dombrowski swung into action with the Tigers still holding a healthy 5 game lead at the trade deadline July 31. A few days earlier, he first landed Joaqim Soria. But the bombshell was landing left-handed ace David Price in a 3 way trade from Tampa, sending young lefty Drew Smyly to the Rays and inconsistent but still useful Austin Jackson off to the Mariners.
Price pitched sensationally last night, allowing but one lone hit. Unfortunately Eugenio Suarez committed an error prior to Brandon Guyer's triple. He then set down the next 23 Rays batters in a complete game loss.
Mr. Price thus becomes just the ninth player since the start of the 1914 season (that's 100 years folks if you are scoring at home) to lose a complete game while allowing one or fewer hits, no earned runs and only one unearned run. The Rays win 1-0 with their trademark, a young stud pitcher named Alex Cobb and a stout bullpen effort in the last two innings.
The Royals meanwhile had a team mired in a collective batting slump until July rolled around. It only made sense that Billy Butler, Alex Gordon and the other talented batters would start to hit near their collective norms.
The Tigers are an enigma. They get hot at times at the plate, then turn into "duds at the dish" as quickly. Miguel Cabrera has 87 RBI and is hitting over .300 but he may never be the Miggy of 2012 and 2013 following double hernia off-season surgery. Victor Martinez is having arguably the best year of his career. Ian Kinsler is hot/cold. J.D. Martinez appears to be regressing to the mean in statistics.
On the pitching side you would have one of the best staffs one could ask for except...Justin Verlander is having an extremely difficult year following off season surgery. The surgery appears to have hurt him much more than even Cabrera's surgery. Anibal Sanchez is still three weeks from a return off injury and the bullpen is about as reliable as your first car, that $500 special that spent more time in the shop than on the road.
So the Royals lead the division by a game and a half and have 15 of their remaining 36 games against clubs that are last in their division. The Royals have six dates with the Tigers.
Tonight the Tigers are in Minneapolis and are throwing their weak link Robbie Ray (part of the Doug Fister trade that looks awful at this juncture) vs. Tommy Milone. Milone is the type of pitcher that can give Detroit fits. Throws a lot of off speed stuff and the Tigers (like a lot of teams) have troubles with that style if and when the guy is on his game.
Tomorrow Justin Verlander pitches one game of the doubleheader. If you are a Tigers' fan, keep your fingers crossed.
They have been 41-45 since. General Manager and President Dave Dombrowski swung into action with the Tigers still holding a healthy 5 game lead at the trade deadline July 31. A few days earlier, he first landed Joaqim Soria. But the bombshell was landing left-handed ace David Price in a 3 way trade from Tampa, sending young lefty Drew Smyly to the Rays and inconsistent but still useful Austin Jackson off to the Mariners.
Price pitched sensationally last night, allowing but one lone hit. Unfortunately Eugenio Suarez committed an error prior to Brandon Guyer's triple. He then set down the next 23 Rays batters in a complete game loss.
Mr. Price thus becomes just the ninth player since the start of the 1914 season (that's 100 years folks if you are scoring at home) to lose a complete game while allowing one or fewer hits, no earned runs and only one unearned run. The Rays win 1-0 with their trademark, a young stud pitcher named Alex Cobb and a stout bullpen effort in the last two innings.
The Royals meanwhile had a team mired in a collective batting slump until July rolled around. It only made sense that Billy Butler, Alex Gordon and the other talented batters would start to hit near their collective norms.
The Tigers are an enigma. They get hot at times at the plate, then turn into "duds at the dish" as quickly. Miguel Cabrera has 87 RBI and is hitting over .300 but he may never be the Miggy of 2012 and 2013 following double hernia off-season surgery. Victor Martinez is having arguably the best year of his career. Ian Kinsler is hot/cold. J.D. Martinez appears to be regressing to the mean in statistics.
On the pitching side you would have one of the best staffs one could ask for except...Justin Verlander is having an extremely difficult year following off season surgery. The surgery appears to have hurt him much more than even Cabrera's surgery. Anibal Sanchez is still three weeks from a return off injury and the bullpen is about as reliable as your first car, that $500 special that spent more time in the shop than on the road.
So the Royals lead the division by a game and a half and have 15 of their remaining 36 games against clubs that are last in their division. The Royals have six dates with the Tigers.
Tonight the Tigers are in Minneapolis and are throwing their weak link Robbie Ray (part of the Doug Fister trade that looks awful at this juncture) vs. Tommy Milone. Milone is the type of pitcher that can give Detroit fits. Throws a lot of off speed stuff and the Tigers (like a lot of teams) have troubles with that style if and when the guy is on his game.
Tomorrow Justin Verlander pitches one game of the doubleheader. If you are a Tigers' fan, keep your fingers crossed.
