I promised myself that I’d allow a three hour cool down period before I tried writing anything about the Tigers. It’s been just under five hours and I feel better, but still no where near well enough to write a single coherent recap of tonight’s debacle. In fact, I’m still feeling a little woozy here. You don’t need me to tell you what happened — Tigers lost 5-1, Twins beat the Royals 5-4, so the Twins and Tigers are now tied for first place in the Central Division with one day left in the regular season. Should the two teams end the season in a tie, there will be a one game playoff on Tuesday at the Metrodome.
Since I’m in no condition to try and put this all together in one succinct, poetic piece, the rest of this will be in the form of bullet points:
- Before you are quick to curse the Tigers, who are an easy target because they determined their own destiny, it’s actually more a result of the Twins playing out of their minds. Minnesota is 15-5 in their last 20 games, which is far superior to the way they’ve played all season long. Meanwhile, Detroit has actually played better compared to years past in the month of September/October (16-15 this year compared to losing Septembers in six of the last seven years, including 2006). I wish I could do this to the Twins.
- John Mapplethorpe put up a great status on his facebook page that I think is definitely worth quoting:
“In a 3 game series in Chicago two weeks ago against the Twins, Ozzie Guillen had 34 baserunners and attempted two steals (5% rate and they were swept and outscored 23-8). In two games against the Tigers, this jerk has attempted seven steals among 30 runners (23% rate) …Way to go Ozzie, you’re a great coach when you have nothing to lose. Maybe if you did a better job coaching in the first 179 games you would be playing for a playoff spot too.”
And Gerald Laird is a much better defensive catcher in terms of throwing runners out than Joe Mauer (44% vs. 26% respectively). Let’s also not forget that Ozzie said he wanted to stick it to Detroit and pushed Jake Peavy’s start back a day so his new ace could face the Tigers Friday night. I have no problem with a coach wanting his team to play spoiler and be competitive, but it’s a damn shame he didn’t see that the series with the Twins a couple weeks before was just as important as this one. He probably should have had his team approach those games the same way, if not more aggressive, but as John says, that’s why Ozzie’s team is not fighting for a playoff spot.
- I’ve felt that Miguel Cabrera has been particularly un-clutch in these huge games this past week. He’s 0 for his last eight and hit into a huge double play Saturday night that killed the Tigers lone chance of a rally. No one put it better than Mr. Bill Ferris of Detroit Tigers Weblog:
“Miguel Cabrera had a far bigger impact on the game than Figaro. Actually Cabrera’s failures are probably the biggest story of the series. Friday night he had 3 infield pop-outs and a strikeout. Tonight he once again failed to get a bail out of the infield and killed the Tigers last hope with a double play. There have been times when Cabrera has hit bullets at people that result in double plays. The last two nights he’s looked like he’s channeling the worst of Brandon Inge.”
- I have no idea why Jim Leyland used Fernando Rodney tonight in a non-save situation. Did he need to get some work in? Maybe, but he’s awful in non-save situations and with the game having that “it’s over” feeling to it, you’d think he would save his near perfect closer for tomorrow’s do or die game. Perhaps Leyland plans on throwing Verlander nine, but with the 24 pitches Rodney threw tonight, he normally wouldn’t be available the next night, much less afternoon Even if he is available, he definitely won’t be at his best, which is a scary thought for a pitcher who is already shaky.
- If you’re on the wagon, you’re on the wagon. Don’t get off and then jump back on if the Tigers win tomorrow. In other words, if you don’t watch the game (or the score if you can’t watch the actual game) tomorrow then you’re fucking out, I’m fucking in. Don’t be fairweather.
- This is the first time Detroit has not had sole possession of first place in the AL Central since May 16. Minnesota is in first place for the first time since it shared first with the Tigers and Royals (yes, the same team that is taking it up the butt from the Twins this weekend) on May 14. Again, I think the Tigers are who they are. It just sucks that they’ve managed to lose out on first place after holding onto it for nearly five months.
- Unrelated to the Tigers game, the turning point in the Twins/Royals game today was when the Royals decided to let Greinke face Mauer with first base open, two outs, and a man on third base. I said it as soon as the situation arose, and I’ll say it again, no matter who is pitching, I walk that type of hitter 100% of the time. Leyland let Verlander face Mauer last Tuesday night with two on and first base open and it worked out fine, but I still said it then. Big League Stew agrees with me and breaks the situation down, ending that by not walking Mauer, Royals manager Trey Hillman threw his support behind the Twins.
- Verlander is our ace and I wouldn’t want any other pitcher throwing a do or die game, but remember that one of Verlander’s worst opponents in the MLB is the Chicago White Sox. He is 4-9 with a 4.97 ERA in 16 starts vs. them over his career. With that being said, he has been phenomenal against them this season, as he is 2-0 with a 0.50 ERA in two starts. Let’s hope he continues that and doesn’t revert back to the old Verlander against Chicago. Another good omen is that Verlander is 9-2 with a 2.76 ERA at Comerica Park this year and 7-3 with a 2.11 ERA during day games.
- My feelings could be best summed up by the Scissor SIsters song, “I don’t feel like dancin'”. Normally, a pennant chase is exhilarating and definitely makes you want to dance if your team is in it. But not when it’s this close, right? Just like this song, which often makes me feel like dancing, the writing on the wall is that I should not feel like dancing. Get it?
LET’S GO TIGERS!!!
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