Friday, May 29, 2009

Shades of '08

Three times last night the Tigers had a man on 3rd with less than 2 outs. All three times they failed to score.

This is one reason why I was excited earlier this season when I saw Inge=HOF and Granderson hit sacrifice flies. Sacrificing was a foreign element to the '08 Tigers. The '09 team has been better, so let's hope last night was an aberration.

In the top of the 8th, the Tigers were down 2-1. Laird came to bat with one and runners on 1st and 2nd. Ol' reliable Mario Impemba announced that the Tigers were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position. Ouch. Laird grounded the first pitch to the 3rd baseman. Double play. End of the inning. 1 for 11.

If the Tigers are to make a run toward the playoffs, they will have to improve at the plate. Not only do they need to sacrifice, but they gotta avoid grounding into double plays. They lead the entire majors in that dubious category (51).

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