Thus far the Tigers have pretty much suffered from all the issues we thought they might, and they’ve pretty much been good at the plate and the starting pitching has been pretty stellar so far. The issues we saw coming into the season definitely started and ended with the bullpen, and somewhere in the middle was a slight worry about the team defense.
The thing is though, the Tigers are 4-1. So while I’m the type who says you can criticize your team regardless of what they’re doing, you also have to take note of the record. Sure they could have lost at least three of those games, but they didn’t, they’re 4-1.
(photo credit; sports.yahoo.com)
Orioles Wrap Up
The Tigers took two of three from Baltimore over the weekend and looked a little shaky doing it, against and Orioles team missing Manny Machado, one of the best young players in the game. But as Jim Leyland always said, “It’s not about who you play, it’s about when you play them.”
Game one was the exception to the “shaky” talk, as the Tigers took it to Baltimore winning 10-4 in a game that featured a 34 minute rain delay that cut Anibal Sanchez’s start short. Miguel Gonzalez started for Baltimore and probably shouldn’t have come out after the rain delay either, as he gave up two HRs, a 3-run shot to Rajai Davis and solo by Torii which gave the Tigers a 6-1 lead and that was all they needed. Drew Smyly showed out for three innings giving up a hit, a walk and striking out three while not letting a run cross the plate. Ian Krol also came in and pitched a complete inning without giving up a run, it wasn’t until Joba came in and absolutely didn’t miss a bat to four of the first five batters and gave up two runs before eventually finishing out the game.
In game two, Rick Porcello got the start and had a bit of a shaky first inning giving up a walk and a hit that led to the only run he gave up all day. In the bottom of the third, the Tigers loaded the bases and Torii roped a double off the base of the left-field wall that scored three and gave the Tigers a lead, that eventually was increased to 7-1 by the time Ricky P left after 6.2. Porcello gave up three hits, 2 walks and only the first inning run, while striking out three. Evan Reed came in and got the job one through the 8th and then Phil Coke… He faced four batters, gave up 2 hits, a walk and three runs while only recording one out. Al-Al quickly replaced him and came in to give up a hit and a run to the only batter he faced, before Joe Nathan was brought in to get a save, yea a save after being up 7-1 in the 9th. He got it done but not without giving up a run first.
Game three, the only game the Tigers have lost so far this year, featured a little too much of what we saw a lot last year, a great start by JV that ended with him getting a loss despite pitching eight innings of two-run baseball. The Tigers scored a lone run on a HR by Torii and lost the game 3-1 in the end after Albuquerque came in and gave up another run in the 9th.
(Photo credit; sports.yahoo.com)
The good; Great starting pitching, Miggy was 6/13 in the series and Torii hit a bomb in all three games. Kinsler has looked to be a solid leadoff hitter, Jackson is hitting .350 through five games and Castellanos is hitting .385 so far.
The bad; The bullpen and the defense. That, and Nick Castellanos on the base paths, but that can be fixed hopefully.
Dodgers Look
(Photo credit; sportsillustrated.cnn.com)
That is Yasiel Puig and he is my Cuban Jesus. He’s also a super huge pain in the ass to his coach and might not make it with the Dodgers much longer, we shall see! He’s also injured and may miss both games of this short series in LA.
The series looks to feature quality pitching matchups against two of the better offensive teams in the league and two of the top five highest payrolls in the MLB.
Pitching Probables;
4/8 – Scherzer v. Haren and 4/9 Sanchez v. Beckett (Season Debut)
The Dodgers have the advantage on offense and in the bullpen, although, they haven’t shown the strongest effort from the pen so far this season. The Tigers have the advantage with the starters, as they will in most series this year.
LA is 5-3 so far, early in this season, and they haven’t had the best pitcher in the game back off the DL yet, Clayton Kershaw will be back in a week or two and we’ll see just how good this team really is, and if the preseason favorite can win a World Series. The Dodgers got Matt Kemp in the last series and on Sunday he hit two bombs off Giants starter, Matt Cain, and played quality defense. If Kemp comes back and plays like the MVP runner-up that he was three years ago, the Dodgers will have a logjam in the outfield with Kemp, Puig, Carl Crawford and Andre Ethier, and one of them has the potential to be dealt by the deadline.
The series is in LA so I guess the Tigs have to lose once, right? It’s so hard to pick against Max and Anibal so I won’t pick which one, but I assume the Tiger bats go quiet one game and they split the series 1-1.
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Happy reading Tiger fans!
What’s a Tiger article without a picture of Miggy?
(Photo Credit; suffolkvoice.net)
Gordie Howe Entrance 