It's no secret. The Tigers win or lose based on pitching and defense.
Sure, they'll have a game every now and then when they can't string two hits together. But long term success or failure of this team will be determined by their pitching and defense.
Take last night...
The Mets pummeled Tiger pitching for 20 hits. They scored in six of the nine innings. The Tigers' bullpen was so dreadful that Leyland asked Don Kelly to get the final out. No joke. The Mets hit 10 of 20 with runners-in-scoring-position. What's more impressive about that number -- that the Mets hit .500 or that they had 20 opportunities?!
The previous night, the Mets were 7 of 13 with RISP. Over the two nights, that's 17 of 33. The Tigers, by contrast, hit 2 of 14 with RISP. Of course, it's not the Tigers bats that lost the past two games. Porcello, Coke, Schlereth, Purcey, and... gasp... Alburquerque all got shelled. For Schlereth, it was the last straw. He received his walking papers today.
Last night, the Tigers offense did score 9 runs. That would be enough to win most nights. Even with the pitchers offering up hits, the Tigers' defense could have stemmed the tide. As we've seen with this team for years, they failed to do the little things to win games:
In the first, Reyes (hitting .600 with 4 runs and 2 SB against the Tigers) got a single. He advanced to 2nd on an error by Cabrera. Coke managed to get the next two dudes out. Then Reyes stole 3rd because everybody steals on the Tigers. Coke proceeded to throw a wild pitch, allowing Reyes to score.
With just a single, the Mets somehow found a way to bring that run home despite not actually advancing the runner. The Tigers provided all the advancing.
Coke then had a chance to limit the first inning damage to just one run. It seemed fine. He had nobody on with two outs. Yet, shaky Coke gave up four straight hits, including a bases-clearing triple. The rout was on.
Or was it?
The Tigers kept clawing back. Cabrera hit two monster home runs to keep the Tigers in shouting distance. It was 8-6 Mets in the 7th. Alburquerque relieved Ryan Perry. The bases were loaded with 2 outs. Alburquerque induced a grounder to 2nd base. Ryan Raburn, apparently the Tigers' top option at 2nd base, ranged to his left. The ball dribbled under his glove into right field. Two runs scored.
A good 2nd baseman dives, collects the ball, and throws the guy out at first. Inning over. An average 2nd baseman dives, collects the ball, and, even if he's not quick enough to throw the guy out at first, at least he limits the damage to one run. Yet, Raburn doesn't dive. He misses the ball completely. And his body language afterward said it all. He looked dejected, embarrassed, and frankly wanted to bury his head in the sand. This is a guy who earlier hit a home run. But, man, he is killing this team. Leyland can't hide Raburn's defensive deficiencies. Carlos Guillen can't get here soon enough.
Of course, if Raburn was the only culprit, the score wouldn't have been 16-9. Austin Jackson also mishandled a grounder, allowing a run to score. The Mets stole 4 bases. Every single player in the Mets lineup got a hit. All but two players had multi-hit games. It was ugly.
Like last time the Tigers assumed first place, they quickly lost a handful of games and reminded us that they are at best an average team. Don't get fooled. They got too many holes.
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