Yeah, Detroit was 0-16 with RISP against some pretty suspect pitchers, but ultimately, it all came down to Ryan Raburn’s errant throw in the top of the 10th that cost Detroit the game. Normally, I probably wouldn’t make Raburn the goat in this situation (okay, maybe I would), but that error was Ryan Raburn’s third, yes third, error of the game (2nd of the inning)! The only positive you can possibly pull out of a defensive performance like that is that he didn’t set the AL record for most errors by a third baseman in a game — that record is four by a number of players over the years. For a big league player to make three errors in one game is absolutely dreadful. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Well maybe a few butts, BIG ONES.
Maybe the hitting should be the scape goat today, but they’ve taken the fall all season long for not providing run support for their pitchers, so are we really going to beat this old drum? I’m sorry, but when a player makes three errors in a game and one of those errors directly costs your team the game it’s on that guy.
Now take my criticism with the smallest grain of salt, I might be the conductor on the “I Hate Ryan Raburn” train, but I’ll give Ryan Raburn some credit, as he has been hitting the ball a lot better lately. Since July 29, Raburn is hitting .323 over the course of 14 games. He was 1-4 today against the Royals and his average sits at a cool .258.
I realize he’s going to be used in certain situations, but maybe we should reconsider using him at third base. Of all the positions he has played during his career, his fielding percentage is by far the worst at third base. Coming into today’s game he had an .879 fielding percentage at third compared to his second worst position, .948 at second base. I think after today’s three error showing, it should be safe to say that Detroit needs to find a better option to back up Brandon Inge defensively.
With the White Sox up 2-0 in the 7th inning on Oakland, it’s looking like Detroit will have just a 1.5 game lead in the Central heading into their first off day in nearly three weeks. It’s unfortunate that Detroit let this one slip away.
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