I have to give the Tigers credit for taking 3 of 4 versus the Sox this weekend. I did not think they would take 2, let alone 3. The starting pitchers (save Porcello) and bullpen pitched extremely well, and the offense did just enough.
Yet, they are far from out of the woods. Nobody on the offense is really breaking out of the shell. Neither Inge nor Cabrera is really smacking the ball like earlier in the year. And they still can't hit a freakin' sacrifice fly. With runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out, Raburn once hit into a double play. Later, he was bailed out with a swinging bunt and only a sharp slide by Cabrera prevented the double play. Yet, at times, they were clutch. Especially Guillen and Granderson. If they can somehow push runs across the next few days, perhaps the bats will eventually heat up. The slump has to end some time right?
Inge, by the way, looks awful. He's flailing at pitches like last year. The announcers said he nursing a knee problem. Unless they have absolutely nobody to play 3rd, they should sit Inge for a few days.
I was so excited to see the Tigers on Sunday night baseball, as I don't often get a chance to see them. Also, given the fact that they had just taken 3 straight from the White Sox, I wasn't expecting a win. I was, however, expecting an entertaining game.
ReplyDeleteThe ESPN booth team did an admirable job trying to keep folks engaged, mentioning every time that Inge came to bat that he was the "big bat" in the Tiger line-up. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I think he was up with men on 3 times and managed at best a week ground ball.
Watching (almost) an entire game for the first time since April gave extra relevance to the thatballdontlie mantra of, the Tigers are just not that good.
Yeah, that was ugly. I watched the game on fast-forward thankfully. Other than the clutch 10-inning winner over the weekend, the Tigers are as regular as clockwork. If they fall behind, they don't have the bats to catch up.
ReplyDeleteThat wasn't the case earlier in the season, when they actually managed some late inning magic. Yet, those salad days are long gone.