Friday, October 7, 2011
page move
I"ve moved my sports blogging over to www.sportssnark.com. If you've followed and enjoyed my blogging here, check me out over there!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Michigan destroyed Minnesota in its Big Ten opener
It was all Michigan, 58-0. They outgained Minnesota 580 to 177. Denard Robinson was 15-19 for 169 yards with 2 TDs. He rushed for 51 yards but on a season low 6 carries. He did have a TD. Michigan used its backs to take most of the load off of Robinson. Fitz Toussaint rushed 11 times for a career high 108 yards and a TD. Thomas Rawls rushed 10 times for 73 yards. Vincent Smith rushed for 60 yards. He ran for a TD, caught a TD, and threw for a TD. Michigan piled up 363 yards on the ground.
Michigan also kicked 3 field goals today, after having only 4 coming into the game. Effective field goal work after the atrocious field goal kicking during the Rich Rodriguez era.
The win was their largest margin of victory in a shutout since beating Indiana by the same score in 2000. It was their first shutout since beating Notre Dame 38-0 in 2007, and their first shutout in Big Ten play since beating Penn State 20-0 in 2001.
All the offense was nice, but the defense was nicer. They stifled Minnesota overall, got to the quarterback for a sack, and had an 83 yard fumble recovery and return for a TD. The defense is showing the ability to make some plays. That's the biggest thing of all since the offense can't score 58 every week. They have to have the ability to grind out a 17-14 win for example, something that was not possible the last 2 seasons.
Michigan also kicked 3 field goals today, after having only 4 coming into the game. Effective field goal work after the atrocious field goal kicking during the Rich Rodriguez era.
The win was their largest margin of victory in a shutout since beating Indiana by the same score in 2000. It was their first shutout since beating Notre Dame 38-0 in 2007, and their first shutout in Big Ten play since beating Penn State 20-0 in 2001.
All the offense was nice, but the defense was nicer. They stifled Minnesota overall, got to the quarterback for a sack, and had an 83 yard fumble recovery and return for a TD. The defense is showing the ability to make some plays. That's the biggest thing of all since the offense can't score 58 every week. They have to have the ability to grind out a 17-14 win for example, something that was not possible the last 2 seasons.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
In Game Update: Minnesota at Michigan
Vincent Smith is also putting on his own show. He's rushed for a TD, caught a TD pass, and thrown a TD pass in the game. He rushed for a 3 yard TD to open the scoring, caught at 28 yard TD pass from Denard Robinson, and threw a 17 yard TD pass to Drew Dilleo.
In Game Update: Minnesota at Michigan
Michigan is rolling 28-0 in the second quarter. Denard Robinson is 10 of 10 passing for 129 yards and a TD. He has 4 carries for 43 yards and a TD, but it's Fitz Toussaint doing the heavy lifting in the running game. 5 carries for 74 yards.
If someone else has the hot hand in the running game give it to them. It looks like there was an early focus to get Robinson into a passing rhythm since he's completed less than 50% of his passes the last two games. Other than his explosion against Notre Dame he hasn't broken 100 yards in a game passing all season.
Granted, lesser opposition. And he ran for 198 and 200 in two of those games so he was doing plenty. But the competition gets tougher from here. Minnesota is bigger and more physical than all the teams they've played so far except Notre Dame.
But it's always looked to me that if Denard didn't get into an early rhythm with passing because he was emphasizing his running game, it's been hard to turn that back on. He's got some good wide receivers. Vincent Smith is a good receiver out of the backfield, and Brady Hoke has put the fullback and tight end back into the passing game. So they have options for giving him some easy short passes to get him going early.
Most importantly the defense is stepping up and stifling the Golden Gophers. More signs of an improved defense so at least Michigan hopefully doesn't have to score 50 points to win games in the Big Ten.
If someone else has the hot hand in the running game give it to them. It looks like there was an early focus to get Robinson into a passing rhythm since he's completed less than 50% of his passes the last two games. Other than his explosion against Notre Dame he hasn't broken 100 yards in a game passing all season.
Granted, lesser opposition. And he ran for 198 and 200 in two of those games so he was doing plenty. But the competition gets tougher from here. Minnesota is bigger and more physical than all the teams they've played so far except Notre Dame.
But it's always looked to me that if Denard didn't get into an early rhythm with passing because he was emphasizing his running game, it's been hard to turn that back on. He's got some good wide receivers. Vincent Smith is a good receiver out of the backfield, and Brady Hoke has put the fullback and tight end back into the passing game. So they have options for giving him some easy short passes to get him going early.
Most importantly the defense is stepping up and stifling the Golden Gophers. More signs of an improved defense so at least Michigan hopefully doesn't have to score 50 points to win games in the Big Ten.
seen in the Social Mediaverse during the Minnesota-Michigan...
@UMGoBlog minnesota switching up the play at the line of scrimmage -> re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
a big basketball recruiting score for NC State
Rodney Purvis, the #1 high school recruit in North Carolina, and #16 nationally (the 5th rated shooting guard) committed to NC State yesterday. He's a 6'4" 185 pound shooting guard. Scouts say he'll be ready to contribute immediately, both in terms of his skill set and his physical development.
Purvis is going to work on getting a couple other big time recruits to choose State. Still some big time reinforcements coming in 2012, to add to some strength already in place. I expect CJ Leslie will likely be gone after this season, so State needs some front line recruits.
Hopefully a new coaching voice and style will get all this talent to gel and blossom rather than underachieving.
Purvis is going to work on getting a couple other big time recruits to choose State. Still some big time reinforcements coming in 2012, to add to some strength already in place. I expect CJ Leslie will likely be gone after this season, so State needs some front line recruits.
Hopefully a new coaching voice and style will get all this talent to gel and blossom rather than underachieving.
Friday, September 30, 2011
aaaaand we have our first big post season rain delay
The rain started pouring down in the top of the second in New York. Delmon Young hit a solo home run for Detroit off of CC Sabathia. Justin Verlander struck out Derek Jeter on the bottom half but he reached on a wild pitch as Alex Avila couldn't corral the curveball in time. That hurt, as he came home to score on Alex Rodriguez's groundout to third.
The game was 1-1 heading to the bottom of the second when play was halted. The rain's coming down hard with a larger band of heavier rain expected to arrive around midnight or so. It's questionable whether this game will resume. Obviously it hurts both teams but it hurts Detroit worse. Verlander threw 25 pitches. I doubt he comes back tomorrow obviously. Maybe Game 3 in Detroit but then he's out for game 5 if needed. Blah, possibly a terrible turn of events for Detroit. Even if this game resumes I doubt Verlander comes back out after a couple hour delay. Neither does Sabathia. Not good for either team but again maybe worse for Detroit. Fister may end up being the Game 5 starter, which isn't the worst thing, if the decision is made to get another guaranteed start for Verlander in the series.
The game was 1-1 heading to the bottom of the second when play was halted. The rain's coming down hard with a larger band of heavier rain expected to arrive around midnight or so. It's questionable whether this game will resume. Obviously it hurts both teams but it hurts Detroit worse. Verlander threw 25 pitches. I doubt he comes back tomorrow obviously. Maybe Game 3 in Detroit but then he's out for game 5 if needed. Blah, possibly a terrible turn of events for Detroit. Even if this game resumes I doubt Verlander comes back out after a couple hour delay. Neither does Sabathia. Not good for either team but again maybe worse for Detroit. Fister may end up being the Game 5 starter, which isn't the worst thing, if the decision is made to get another guaranteed start for Verlander in the series.
the MLB playoffs begin
The Rays kept rolling, routing Texas 9-0 in Game 1 of their series. Kelly Shoppach was 3-5 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs for the Rays. Johnny Damon was 2-5 with a 3-run homer.
Texas was held to 2 hits, both by Josh Hamilton.
Texas was held to 2 hits, both by Josh Hamilton.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
the Tigers ended the regular season with a win
Jhonny Peralta hit a tie-breaking home run in the bottom of the 8th inning. It was his 21st of the season. He had 2 RBIs on the night. Victor Martinez was 3-3 with an RBI. He ends the season with a .330 batting average, 4th in the American League. Alex Avila also drove in a run.
Miguel Cabrera was 2-4 with a double. He wrapped up the American League batting title with a .344 batting average. Wilson Betemit was 2-3 with a double and a triple.
Rick Porcello allowed 3 runs on 5 hits in 6 innings pitched. He lost a chance at the win when Ryan Perry gave up a run in the 8th. Jim Leyland had wanted to rest Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde tonight. Benoit got his rest. Valverde came in to close out the 9th to end the season with a Detroit Tiger record 49 saves. Detroit won it 5-4.
They won the A.L. Central by 14 games.
Next up is the New York Yankees in the ALDS. Texas won tonight, and won 14 of their final 16 to finish one game ahead of Detroit for the 2 seed in the playoffs. That gets them the Rays, while Detroit gets the Yankees.
Justin Verlander will take the hill at Yankee Stadium at 8:37 PM on Friday night.
Having won the batting title, to go along with the home run title in 2008 and the RBI crown last year, Cabrera joins Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez as active players with a career Triple Crown.
Miguel Cabrera was 2-4 with a double. He wrapped up the American League batting title with a .344 batting average. Wilson Betemit was 2-3 with a double and a triple.
Rick Porcello allowed 3 runs on 5 hits in 6 innings pitched. He lost a chance at the win when Ryan Perry gave up a run in the 8th. Jim Leyland had wanted to rest Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde tonight. Benoit got his rest. Valverde came in to close out the 9th to end the season with a Detroit Tiger record 49 saves. Detroit won it 5-4.
They won the A.L. Central by 14 games.
Next up is the New York Yankees in the ALDS. Texas won tonight, and won 14 of their final 16 to finish one game ahead of Detroit for the 2 seed in the playoffs. That gets them the Rays, while Detroit gets the Yankees.
Justin Verlander will take the hill at Yankee Stadium at 8:37 PM on Friday night.
Having won the batting title, to go along with the home run title in 2008 and the RBI crown last year, Cabrera joins Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez as active players with a career Triple Crown.
Wild Card Wildness Indeed
In Baltimore Jonathan Papelbon gave up 2 runs with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th inning to blow a save and propel the Orioles to a 4-3 victory.
In Tampa Bay, the Rays came all the way back from a 7-0 deficit. They scored 6 runs in the bottom of the 8th, fueled by Evan Longoria's 3-run homer. The Rays tied it in the 9th on a 2-out, 2-strike pinch hit home run, to send things to extra innings. About two minutes after Boston lost Longoria lined his second home run of the night over the short spot in the left field corner for an 8-7 victory over the Yankees. The Rays are the A.L. Wild Card winners. They were 9 back on September 2nd. Boston went 9-17 in September.
In the N.L., Atlanta closer Greg Kimbrell blew a save in the 9th against Philadelphia to send it to extras. The Phillies won it in the 13th. The Cardinals had a non-drama game, cruising over Houston 8-0. Atlanta went 9-18 in September.
In Tampa Bay, the Rays came all the way back from a 7-0 deficit. They scored 6 runs in the bottom of the 8th, fueled by Evan Longoria's 3-run homer. The Rays tied it in the 9th on a 2-out, 2-strike pinch hit home run, to send things to extra innings. About two minutes after Boston lost Longoria lined his second home run of the night over the short spot in the left field corner for an 8-7 victory over the Yankees. The Rays are the A.L. Wild Card winners. They were 9 back on September 2nd. Boston went 9-17 in September.
In the N.L., Atlanta closer Greg Kimbrell blew a save in the 9th against Philadelphia to send it to extras. The Phillies won it in the 13th. The Cardinals had a non-drama game, cruising over Houston 8-0. Atlanta went 9-18 in September.
Wild Card Wildness
Coming down to the regular season's final day, both Wild Card races are tied. Boston paused its collapse for one night last night to edge the Orioles 8-7. Tampa Bay beat the Yankees 5-3.
In the NL the Braves have lost 4 straight. The Cardinals won yesterday so they are now tied with the Braves atop the NL Wild Card race.
Interesting stuff.
The Cards blew a big lead a few games ago after allowing 6 runs in the 9th. If they don't make the playoffs they'll lose sleep over that. So too will the Braves, losing 4 straight down the stretch.
In the AL you'd think the odds favor the Rays. The Yankees are resting some players, especially starting pitchers. Brian Cashman said that it would likely be a relief pitcher who gets the start today so they can get their rotation totally set for their first round playoff series.
Baltimore on the other hand is hungry to play spoiler. They played Detroit tough, splitting 4 in Detroit last series. They've played Boston tough. While the Yankees will probably take glee in screwing Boston, they're more interested in being playoff ready.
In the NL the Braves have lost 4 straight. The Cardinals won yesterday so they are now tied with the Braves atop the NL Wild Card race.
Interesting stuff.
The Cards blew a big lead a few games ago after allowing 6 runs in the 9th. If they don't make the playoffs they'll lose sleep over that. So too will the Braves, losing 4 straight down the stretch.
In the AL you'd think the odds favor the Rays. The Yankees are resting some players, especially starting pitchers. Brian Cashman said that it would likely be a relief pitcher who gets the start today so they can get their rotation totally set for their first round playoff series.
Baltimore on the other hand is hungry to play spoiler. They played Detroit tough, splitting 4 in Detroit last series. They've played Boston tough. While the Yankees will probably take glee in screwing Boston, they're more interested in being playoff ready.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
the Tigers defeat Cleveland again
They won 9-6 tonight. Magglio Ordonez was 2-3 with a double and 3 RBIs. Delmon Young was 3-5 with his 8th home run as a Tiger, a double, and 3 RBIs. Wilson Betemit played for the first time since September 16th due to knee pain. He crushed a 423 foot home run, his 6th Tiger home run. Jim Leyland had said yesterday he was concerned about Betemit's knee and his availability for the ALDS. Hopefully this means the knee is doing better.
Ryan Raburn delivered an RBI double. Miguel Cabrera was 2-5. He hit his 30th home run of the season and had a double. His batting average is .353. he's got a 5 point lead over Boston's Adrian Gonzalez with one game to play. Barring some sort of monster day by Gonzalez tomorrow and a big o-fer by Cabrera, he will be the American League Batting Champion.
Victor Martinez was 3-5 with 2 doubles.
Max Scherzer gave up 4 runs on 7 hits in 5.2 innings pitched. He struck out 7 and won his 15th game of the season. He'll end the regular season 15-9, second on the team in wins.
Jose Valverde closed out the 9th with 2 strikeouts for his 48th save of the season.
Ryan Raburn delivered an RBI double. Miguel Cabrera was 2-5. He hit his 30th home run of the season and had a double. His batting average is .353. he's got a 5 point lead over Boston's Adrian Gonzalez with one game to play. Barring some sort of monster day by Gonzalez tomorrow and a big o-fer by Cabrera, he will be the American League Batting Champion.
Victor Martinez was 3-5 with 2 doubles.
Max Scherzer gave up 4 runs on 7 hits in 5.2 innings pitched. He struck out 7 and won his 15th game of the season. He'll end the regular season 15-9, second on the team in wins.
Jose Valverde closed out the 9th with 2 strikeouts for his 48th save of the season.
Monday, September 26, 2011
some post season baseball thoughts
I'm torn right now as I watch the drama continue to unfold in the American League Wild Card race. Boston lost again, as their freefall continues. They lost to Baltimore tonight. Tampa beat the Yankees, so the Rays and Red Sox are now tied for the wild card. The Angels remain alive 2.5 games back. They're trailing Texas right now. If they don't come back to back to win they'd be eliminated I believe.
As for Boston and Tampa Bay I'm torn on who to root for. The Tigers will be taking on the Wild Card winner. Do I root for the battered and fading Red Sox instead of the hot Rays? My gut says yes? But the Red Sox also have a veteran team with alot of post-season experience. They have a bunch of clutch bats in that lineup. They have an offense that can explode at Fenway especially. Wounded, but they were the best team in baseball for a chunk of time so they're still dangerous. Boston is also good at taking pitches, fouling off pitches, and running up pitch counts. That's especially dangerous against Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello, who seem to get especially sloppy as their pitch counts go up. Justin Verlander is capable of digging deep for big pitches, and even 100 mile an hour fastballs after the 100 pitch mark. But Boston could potentially work him enough to get him out of the game after the 6th on a high pitch count then work over the Tigers bullpen in the 7th before Benoit and Valverde can get into the game.
The Rays are hotter. They still have post-season experience but a good number of guys from their World Series run are no longer with the team. Joaquin Benoit is a Tiger. On the other hand Matt Joyce has pounded the Tigers, as if proving a point for trading him away to get Edwin Jackson a couple years ago. The Rays also have Johnny Damon, another clutch hitter, who may just be extra motivated against the team that didn't want him back after last season.
So I 'm torn. There are pros and cons to each matchup for Detroit. In either case Detroit's pitching should be superior. My gut says avoiding Josh Becket, Adrian Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, and the October aura of Fenway Park may be better, even with Boston struggling with offense, pitching, and general health right now.
As for Boston and Tampa Bay I'm torn on who to root for. The Tigers will be taking on the Wild Card winner. Do I root for the battered and fading Red Sox instead of the hot Rays? My gut says yes? But the Red Sox also have a veteran team with alot of post-season experience. They have a bunch of clutch bats in that lineup. They have an offense that can explode at Fenway especially. Wounded, but they were the best team in baseball for a chunk of time so they're still dangerous. Boston is also good at taking pitches, fouling off pitches, and running up pitch counts. That's especially dangerous against Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello, who seem to get especially sloppy as their pitch counts go up. Justin Verlander is capable of digging deep for big pitches, and even 100 mile an hour fastballs after the 100 pitch mark. But Boston could potentially work him enough to get him out of the game after the 6th on a high pitch count then work over the Tigers bullpen in the 7th before Benoit and Valverde can get into the game.
The Rays are hotter. They still have post-season experience but a good number of guys from their World Series run are no longer with the team. Joaquin Benoit is a Tiger. On the other hand Matt Joyce has pounded the Tigers, as if proving a point for trading him away to get Edwin Jackson a couple years ago. The Rays also have Johnny Damon, another clutch hitter, who may just be extra motivated against the team that didn't want him back after last season.
So I 'm torn. There are pros and cons to each matchup for Detroit. In either case Detroit's pitching should be superior. My gut says avoiding Josh Becket, Adrian Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, and the October aura of Fenway Park may be better, even with Boston struggling with offense, pitching, and general health right now.
14-0 was a magic number for Detroit tonight
That was the final of Detroit's rout of Cleveland, in the opening game of the regular season ending series. 14-0 is now the combined record of Justin Verlander and Doug Fister since August 16th. Add a combined 1.61 ERA to that.
Tonight Fister pitched 8 innings of 3 hit ball, striking out 9. He's now 8-1 as a Tiger, 7 of those wins as a starter.
For the second time this season Fister outpitched Ubaldo Jimenez. Detroit beat Jiminez for the third time since he was acquired in an effort to tilt the A.L. Central in Cleveland's favor. Jimenez was 1-3 with a 6.35 ERA against the Tigers.
Alex Avila was 2-3 with a double and 3 RBIs for Detroit. Andy Dirks was 2-5 with a double and 3 RBIs. Delmon Young was 2-4 and hit a 3-run home run, his 7th as a Tiger and 11th of the season overall.
Ryan Raburn was 2-4 with a triple and 2 RBIs. Miguel Cabera was 3-5 to lift his A.L. leading batting average to .344. He also drove in a run.
Victor Martinez was 2-4 with 2 doubles and an RBI. Don Kelly was 2-4 with a double and an RBI. In all Detroit pounded out 18 hits. Every starter had a hit, and 7 had multi-hit games. Even Wil Rhymes got into the act with a rare start at second. He batted leadoff tonight and was 2-6.
Tonight Fister pitched 8 innings of 3 hit ball, striking out 9. He's now 8-1 as a Tiger, 7 of those wins as a starter.
For the second time this season Fister outpitched Ubaldo Jimenez. Detroit beat Jiminez for the third time since he was acquired in an effort to tilt the A.L. Central in Cleveland's favor. Jimenez was 1-3 with a 6.35 ERA against the Tigers.
Alex Avila was 2-3 with a double and 3 RBIs for Detroit. Andy Dirks was 2-5 with a double and 3 RBIs. Delmon Young was 2-4 and hit a 3-run home run, his 7th as a Tiger and 11th of the season overall.
Ryan Raburn was 2-4 with a triple and 2 RBIs. Miguel Cabera was 3-5 to lift his A.L. leading batting average to .344. He also drove in a run.
Victor Martinez was 2-4 with 2 doubles and an RBI. Don Kelly was 2-4 with a double and an RBI. In all Detroit pounded out 18 hits. Every starter had a hit, and 7 had multi-hit games. Even Wil Rhymes got into the act with a rare start at second. He batted leadoff tonight and was 2-6.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Tigers outslugged the Orioles today
Miguel Cabrera was 2-3 with his 29th home run of the season.and 2 RBIs. He raised his batting average to .341 to pass Boston's Adrian Gonzalez for the AL lead with 3 Tigers games to play.
Victor Martinez hit his 12th homer of the season, a 3-run shot that pushed him to 101 RBIs, joining Cabrera at the 100 RBI plateau. Don Kelly hit a 3-run home run, his 7th of the season (I think I'd credited his last homer as 7 but it was actually 6). Jhonny Peralta added his 20th homer of the season.
Delmon Young drove in a run. Austin Jackson was 2-5, and Magglio Ordonez added a hit to extend his hitting streak to 17 games. Detroit won 10-6.
Brad Penny labored his way to his 11th win. He allowed 3 runs on 5 hits in 5.1 innings pitched. He was victim to 1 poor inning once again. He leveled his record at 11-11 in his final regular season start.
This could be Penny's last start as a Tiger, since he's likely to get bumped from the shortened Tigers post-season rotation and isn't expected to re-sign for next season.
He wasn't great, but he stayed healthy and pitched 187.2 innings this season, his most since 2007. So he did add stability to the rotation and didn't wear out the bullpen too badly overall since he usually made it 6 innings at least. They didn't sign him to an expensive contract and only expected him to provide stability to the 4 spot in the rotation and if they were lucky catch lightning in a bottle. They didn't get lightning but they at least got a spark. He gave them more than Armando Galarraga would have likely.
It's not going to be a smooth transition to one of the young arms in waiting for next year, as was hoped. Phil Coke looks like he's going to be a bullpen ace rather than a starter. He was too poor in his turn as an early season starter and too sharp when they moved him back to the pen. Jacob Turner doesn't seem ready yet. Andy Oliver is walking many batters in Triple A so he doesn't seem ready. I doubt Penny would take less money to re-sign. He probably wants a raise and I doubt Detroit will do that.
In other news David Pauley surrendered a 3-run homer. His ERA is nearly 5 since he came over, after being right around 2 as a Mariner. It doesn't seem like he'll be a factor in the playoffs other than in a mop up role if at all. That's probably okay with Coke, Alburquerque, Benoit, and Valverde all providing solid work, with Daniel Schlereth and Ryan Perry being pretty solid more often than not lately, though I wouldn't bring either in with the bases loaded and one out and the World Series on the line at this point.
Victor Martinez hit his 12th homer of the season, a 3-run shot that pushed him to 101 RBIs, joining Cabrera at the 100 RBI plateau. Don Kelly hit a 3-run home run, his 7th of the season (I think I'd credited his last homer as 7 but it was actually 6). Jhonny Peralta added his 20th homer of the season.
Delmon Young drove in a run. Austin Jackson was 2-5, and Magglio Ordonez added a hit to extend his hitting streak to 17 games. Detroit won 10-6.
Brad Penny labored his way to his 11th win. He allowed 3 runs on 5 hits in 5.1 innings pitched. He was victim to 1 poor inning once again. He leveled his record at 11-11 in his final regular season start.
This could be Penny's last start as a Tiger, since he's likely to get bumped from the shortened Tigers post-season rotation and isn't expected to re-sign for next season.
He wasn't great, but he stayed healthy and pitched 187.2 innings this season, his most since 2007. So he did add stability to the rotation and didn't wear out the bullpen too badly overall since he usually made it 6 innings at least. They didn't sign him to an expensive contract and only expected him to provide stability to the 4 spot in the rotation and if they were lucky catch lightning in a bottle. They didn't get lightning but they at least got a spark. He gave them more than Armando Galarraga would have likely.
It's not going to be a smooth transition to one of the young arms in waiting for next year, as was hoped. Phil Coke looks like he's going to be a bullpen ace rather than a starter. He was too poor in his turn as an early season starter and too sharp when they moved him back to the pen. Jacob Turner doesn't seem ready yet. Andy Oliver is walking many batters in Triple A so he doesn't seem ready. I doubt Penny would take less money to re-sign. He probably wants a raise and I doubt Detroit will do that.
In other news David Pauley surrendered a 3-run homer. His ERA is nearly 5 since he came over, after being right around 2 as a Mariner. It doesn't seem like he'll be a factor in the playoffs other than in a mop up role if at all. That's probably okay with Coke, Alburquerque, Benoit, and Valverde all providing solid work, with Daniel Schlereth and Ryan Perry being pretty solid more often than not lately, though I wouldn't bring either in with the bases loaded and one out and the World Series on the line at this point.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
tonight Justin Verlander could not win his 25th game
Verlander has his worst outing of the season, though he did settle down and right the ship. He gave up 5 runs in the first 3 innings pitched, including 2 home runs and a stretch of 4 hits and a walk in a 5 batter stretch. He did settle down to retire 13 of his last 14 batters and went 7 innings. Verlander went at least 6 innings for the 42nd straight start, which is the longest streak by a Tiger pitcher since at least 1919.
The offense came back to get him off the hook for the loss. Miguel Cabrera was 3-4 with his 28th home run of the season. Jhonny Peralta was 2-3 with 2 RBIs. Alex Avila drove in a run as did Austin Jackson.
But Detroit lost on a suicide squeeze in the top of the 9th, to go down 6-5. Daniel Schlereth took the loss to fall to 2-2 on the year. He was hurt on a wild pitch during a strikeout, which allowed a runner on first go go all the way to third.
With the loss Detroit fell a game behind Texas for home field advantage in the ALDS.
The offense came back to get him off the hook for the loss. Miguel Cabrera was 3-4 with his 28th home run of the season. Jhonny Peralta was 2-3 with 2 RBIs. Alex Avila drove in a run as did Austin Jackson.
But Detroit lost on a suicide squeeze in the top of the 9th, to go down 6-5. Daniel Schlereth took the loss to fall to 2-2 on the year. He was hurt on a wild pitch during a strikeout, which allowed a runner on first go go all the way to third.
With the loss Detroit fell a game behind Texas for home field advantage in the ALDS.
last night Detroit nipped Baltimore in extra innings
Victor Martinez hit a walk-off double to win the game for Detroit in the 11th inning, 4-3. That put Ryan Perry, who pitched the 11th for Detroit, in the win column for 2011. He's 1-0 on the season.
Miguel Cabrera was 3-5. He hit his 27th homer of the season, a 2-run shot, which gave him 100 RBIs on the season. It's Cabrera's 8th straight 100 RBI season, including all four as a Tiger.
He also became the first Tiger to drive in 100 runs, walk 100 times, and score 100 runs in a season since Norm Cash and Rocky Colavito both did it in 1961.
Ramon Santiago was also 2-4 with an RBI for Detroit
Miguel Cabrera was 3-5. He hit his 27th homer of the season, a 2-run shot, which gave him 100 RBIs on the season. It's Cabrera's 8th straight 100 RBI season, including all four as a Tiger.
He also became the first Tiger to drive in 100 runs, walk 100 times, and score 100 runs in a season since Norm Cash and Rocky Colavito both did it in 1961.
Ramon Santiago was also 2-4 with an RBI for Detroit
In Game Update: Baltimore at Detroit
The Tiger offense will likely get one more shot to bail out Justin Verlander and give him win 25. Verlander gave up 4 hits and a walk in a 5 batter stretch with 2 outs in the second inning. He also has surrendered a pair of long balls, to fall behind 5-0 after 3. The offense has clawed back. Verlander has settled down but it's still 5-4. Verlander is over 100 pitches through 6.2 innings so I don't see him coming back out for the 8th inning.
oh yeah...about that State-Cincinnati game on Thursday...
State got crushed 44-14. The defense was ineffective and really felt the loss of 4 starters to injury. The Bearcats piled up 503 total yards on the Wolfpack defense.
State's offense was rendered one-dimensional. State rushed for -22 yards on the game. Nobody on the team had positive yards for the game. A late scramble by Mike Glennon for 12 yards surpassed the previous game long run of 4 yards.
Glennon was 25-36 for 336 yards. He had 2 TDs and 2 INTs. T.J. Graham caught 7 balls for 176 yards and both TDs.
Glennon was sacked 6 times. He's just not very mobile and State's offensive line is not that good. Glennon is neutralized if he doesn't have time to hit his receivers. He's not going to have that time if State can't run at all, so the defense can look pass, set themselves up in 3rd-and-long, and blitz, blitz, blitz.
State fell to 2-2 on the season. I don't see anything in the team that points to anything better than a 5 win team, maybe 6 for a minimal bowl bid if they're lucky.
Would Russell Wilson fare any better? Probably just a bit since his legs can make some plays as things collapse around him better than Glennon can. With a new receiving corp and an anemic running game Wilson could probably get them to 7 wins.
So hey good for you moving on to get some deserved limelight Wilson. He led State to a 9 win season, second highest in school history, and a bowl win last year. That was as far as he could take them. I see a lean year next year too unless they can fix the offensive line to be able to have a rushing game that could approach 100 yards a game against FBS competion.
State's offense was rendered one-dimensional. State rushed for -22 yards on the game. Nobody on the team had positive yards for the game. A late scramble by Mike Glennon for 12 yards surpassed the previous game long run of 4 yards.
Glennon was 25-36 for 336 yards. He had 2 TDs and 2 INTs. T.J. Graham caught 7 balls for 176 yards and both TDs.
Glennon was sacked 6 times. He's just not very mobile and State's offensive line is not that good. Glennon is neutralized if he doesn't have time to hit his receivers. He's not going to have that time if State can't run at all, so the defense can look pass, set themselves up in 3rd-and-long, and blitz, blitz, blitz.
State fell to 2-2 on the season. I don't see anything in the team that points to anything better than a 5 win team, maybe 6 for a minimal bowl bid if they're lucky.
Would Russell Wilson fare any better? Probably just a bit since his legs can make some plays as things collapse around him better than Glennon can. With a new receiving corp and an anemic running game Wilson could probably get them to 7 wins.
So hey good for you moving on to get some deserved limelight Wilson. He led State to a 9 win season, second highest in school history, and a bowl win last year. That was as far as he could take them. I see a lean year next year too unless they can fix the offensive line to be able to have a rushing game that could approach 100 yards a game against FBS competion.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Cam Newton
Newton has certainly made an early NFL impact and silenced the naysayers who thought he wasn't worthy of being the #1 pick in the NFL Draft.
So far in 2 games, one against the defending Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers, Newton is 52-83 for 854 yards passing. He's got 3 TDs and 4 INTs. He's also rushed 18 times for 72 yards with 2 TDs.
He now holds the record for most passing yards ever by a quarterback in an NFL debut and most passing yards through 2 games by a rookie. He held the most passing yards in a 2 game stretch by any quarterback for a few hours until Tom Brady, who threw for 517 yards in week 1 against the Dolphins, claimed that.
Still though, a heck of a debut. Newton missed the Panther franchise record for passing yards by 1 yard in his debut. In week 2 he surpassed week1 and took that record. So in two games, Cam Newton has 2 of the top 3 passing yardage games in Carolina Panther's history.
Newton hasn't been perfect. But he's been poised. He forces the ball less than many quarterbacks of his experience level. He's developed good chemistry with Steve Smith. And very surprisingly for a mobile quarterback he doesn't have happy feet. He buys time to keep plays alive but is looking to throw first rather than bailing out of a play too early and tucking it away.
He does throw some balls that he should throw away. He has made a couple mistakes and gotten picked. Charles Woodson picked him twice last week for Green Bay. The throws weren't egregiously poor decisions, but were poor decisions against a corner of Woodson's caliber. Those throws may have beaten an average college corner, but they're not going to beat a veteran who's heading to Canton after he retires. So those decisions are a case of knowing what you can do at the NFL level, and against whom, and what you can't.
At any rate I don't expect that anyone expected this kind of debut. I didn't. He gets an A (not an A+) from me.
So far in 2 games, one against the defending Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers, Newton is 52-83 for 854 yards passing. He's got 3 TDs and 4 INTs. He's also rushed 18 times for 72 yards with 2 TDs.
He now holds the record for most passing yards ever by a quarterback in an NFL debut and most passing yards through 2 games by a rookie. He held the most passing yards in a 2 game stretch by any quarterback for a few hours until Tom Brady, who threw for 517 yards in week 1 against the Dolphins, claimed that.
Still though, a heck of a debut. Newton missed the Panther franchise record for passing yards by 1 yard in his debut. In week 2 he surpassed week1 and took that record. So in two games, Cam Newton has 2 of the top 3 passing yardage games in Carolina Panther's history.
Newton hasn't been perfect. But he's been poised. He forces the ball less than many quarterbacks of his experience level. He's developed good chemistry with Steve Smith. And very surprisingly for a mobile quarterback he doesn't have happy feet. He buys time to keep plays alive but is looking to throw first rather than bailing out of a play too early and tucking it away.
He does throw some balls that he should throw away. He has made a couple mistakes and gotten picked. Charles Woodson picked him twice last week for Green Bay. The throws weren't egregiously poor decisions, but were poor decisions against a corner of Woodson's caliber. Those throws may have beaten an average college corner, but they're not going to beat a veteran who's heading to Canton after he retires. So those decisions are a case of knowing what you can do at the NFL level, and against whom, and what you can't.
At any rate I don't expect that anyone expected this kind of debut. I didn't. He gets an A (not an A+) from me.
Detroit lost the first game of its final homestand last night
Baltimore jumped out to a 5-0 lead on Jacob Turner, who was making his third big league start. Turner lasted only 3 innings. He's not showing any indication that he's ready for the 5 spot in the rotation next season, but spring training and possible winter ball may have something to say about that.
Detroit's offense rallied to get Turner off the hook for an L, but David Pauley gave up the deciding run in 2 innings of work. He fell to 0-3 since he came over with Doug Fister from Seattle.
Delmon Young hit his 6th homer as a Tiger, a 3-run shot. Magglio Ordonez added an RBI. Ryan Raburn was also 3-4 with a double.
Detroit's offense rallied to get Turner off the hook for an L, but David Pauley gave up the deciding run in 2 innings of work. He fell to 0-3 since he came over with Doug Fister from Seattle.
Delmon Young hit his 6th homer as a Tiger, a 3-run shot. Magglio Ordonez added an RBI. Ryan Raburn was also 3-4 with a double.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
well, NC State looks terrible on national TV
They're getting trounced at Cincinnati, 34-7....okay make that 34-14, as TJ Graham just caught a 49 yard TD pass, his second of the game.
But State is too one dimensional. They have no running game. Their longest run of the game is 4 yards. Mike Glennon isn't playing badly, but since the offense is pass pass pass, the rush is getting to Glennon. They're either taking him down or rushing him.
But State is too one dimensional. They have no running game. Their longest run of the game is 4 yards. Mike Glennon isn't playing badly, but since the offense is pass pass pass, the rush is getting to Glennon. They're either taking him down or rushing him.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
thelast two nights Detroit split their last two road games of the season at Kansas City
Last night Brad Penny got bombed again. 7 runs on 10 hits in 4 innings pitched. He fell to 10-11 on the season. That's got to be the death knell for any spot in the playoff pitching rotation. Given that starters don't usually fare well in a relief role in the post season, and Penny's stuff seems to be gone I wouldn't be surprised if he's left off the ALDS roster entirely. Detroit would be better served with another actual relief pitcher or another position player. I'd guess a relief pitcher since they already have Ryan Raburn, Don Kelly, and Ramon Santiago who can play multiple positions if needed.
Detroit got pounded 10-2. Austin Jackson was 2-5 with a double and an RBI. Delmon Young added a sac fly.
Tonight Detroit won 6-3. They scored 3 runs in the 8th inning to break a tie. Victor Martinez was 2-5 with 3 RBIs. Don Kelly was 3-5. He hit his 7th home run of the season, a 2-run shot, and added a double.
Miguel Cabrera got a rare night off but delivered a pinch hit RBI double. Alex Avila was 2-5. Andy Dirks was 2-2.
Doug Fister got the win, making his first relief appearance as a Tiger. He allowed a run on 2 hits in 3 innings of work. He improved to 7-1 as a Tiger and 10-14 overall on the season. I guess he threw few enough pitches that the coaches felt comfortable pretty much letting him do his side work in a game situation. Weird decision though. Maybe they really, really wanted the win but didn't trust anyone else to do the long relief after Brad Penny's short outing yesterday. Max Scherzer started but went only 5 innings. He allowed 2 runs.
Jose Valverde came on to close out the 9th. He allowed a couple hits but sealed the deal for his 47th save of the season. Detroit won its 90th game of the season.
Detroit got pounded 10-2. Austin Jackson was 2-5 with a double and an RBI. Delmon Young added a sac fly.
Tonight Detroit won 6-3. They scored 3 runs in the 8th inning to break a tie. Victor Martinez was 2-5 with 3 RBIs. Don Kelly was 3-5. He hit his 7th home run of the season, a 2-run shot, and added a double.
Miguel Cabrera got a rare night off but delivered a pinch hit RBI double. Alex Avila was 2-5. Andy Dirks was 2-2.
Doug Fister got the win, making his first relief appearance as a Tiger. He allowed a run on 2 hits in 3 innings of work. He improved to 7-1 as a Tiger and 10-14 overall on the season. I guess he threw few enough pitches that the coaches felt comfortable pretty much letting him do his side work in a game situation. Weird decision though. Maybe they really, really wanted the win but didn't trust anyone else to do the long relief after Brad Penny's short outing yesterday. Max Scherzer started but went only 5 innings. He allowed 2 runs.
Jose Valverde came on to close out the 9th. He allowed a couple hits but sealed the deal for his 47th save of the season. Detroit won its 90th game of the season.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
congratulations go out to Mariano Rivera
Rivera closed out the Yankees win over Minnesota yesterday, for career save number 602. He now holds the all-time record.
The save was also his 40th. This is his 8th season of 40+ saves. Only Trevor Hoffman, with 9, has more. No other pitcher in history has more than 4.
One other footnote. It was noted that Brad Lidge is second to Rivera in all time post season saves. I'd wondered who was #2 to Rivera's 42, and how many. It's Lidge it turns out. With 18.
I'm not sure whether that record will be touched for a long time. Sure there are lots more playoff games for a team than there used to be. But you have to make alot of deep playoff runs. Rivera has won 5 World Series. He's played in a 6th that went 7 games. Most of their other long long string of playoff appearances, broken by only one season in his career when they didn't make the post-season, have ended in ALCS appearances at the very least.
Someone isn't going to approach that record (and Rivera will likely add to it this October) by playing in a World Series or two, then flaming out in a bunch of Divisional Series. You'd need alot of deep playoff runs. So either another era of dominance or a guy getting bounced around alot to many different playoff contenders.
The Phillies have won 5 straight NL Easts. They've won a World Series and lost another. Still Lidge isn't even close and it seems like he's already at or past his expiration date, in that short shelf life of a typical Major League closer. Usually the good ones are sharp for maybe 5 years then the wheels start falling off.
Eric Gagne is a prime example. He converted 84 straight save opportunities for the Dodgers from 2002-2004. He racked up season totals of 52, 55, and 45 over the 3 seasons. But he never saved more than 16 games in a season after that and was out of baseball after 2008 with 187 career saves.
So hats off to Rivera. And he does it with pretty much 1 pitch, his cut fastball, that nobody has ever solved in terms of hitting it consistently well. He more or less became the first pitcher to use that particular pitch.
The save was also his 40th. This is his 8th season of 40+ saves. Only Trevor Hoffman, with 9, has more. No other pitcher in history has more than 4.
One other footnote. It was noted that Brad Lidge is second to Rivera in all time post season saves. I'd wondered who was #2 to Rivera's 42, and how many. It's Lidge it turns out. With 18.
I'm not sure whether that record will be touched for a long time. Sure there are lots more playoff games for a team than there used to be. But you have to make alot of deep playoff runs. Rivera has won 5 World Series. He's played in a 6th that went 7 games. Most of their other long long string of playoff appearances, broken by only one season in his career when they didn't make the post-season, have ended in ALCS appearances at the very least.
Someone isn't going to approach that record (and Rivera will likely add to it this October) by playing in a World Series or two, then flaming out in a bunch of Divisional Series. You'd need alot of deep playoff runs. So either another era of dominance or a guy getting bounced around alot to many different playoff contenders.
The Phillies have won 5 straight NL Easts. They've won a World Series and lost another. Still Lidge isn't even close and it seems like he's already at or past his expiration date, in that short shelf life of a typical Major League closer. Usually the good ones are sharp for maybe 5 years then the wheels start falling off.
Eric Gagne is a prime example. He converted 84 straight save opportunities for the Dodgers from 2002-2004. He racked up season totals of 52, 55, and 45 over the 3 seasons. But he never saved more than 16 games in a season after that and was out of baseball after 2008 with 187 career saves.
So hats off to Rivera. And he does it with pretty much 1 pitch, his cut fastball, that nobody has ever solved in terms of hitting it consistently well. He more or less became the first pitcher to use that particular pitch.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
a neat little stat to come of out the recent Detroit sports success.
The Lions and Tigers had not won a game on the same day since 2007 before last week. Now they've done it two straight weeks.
Obviously the NFL and baseball regular season overlaps cover only 3 or 4 football games per year, but that was still 12-16 opportunities over the past four years. Obviously the Lions have been bad and piling up Ls. The Tigers also haven't been good in September in a number of years either.
Now I wonder when the last time is that the Tigers and Lions have won on the same day 2 straight Sundays.
Obviously the NFL and baseball regular season overlaps cover only 3 or 4 football games per year, but that was still 12-16 opportunities over the past four years. Obviously the Lions have been bad and piling up Ls. The Tigers also haven't been good in September in a number of years either.
Now I wonder when the last time is that the Tigers and Lions have won on the same day 2 straight Sundays.
the Lions crushed the Chiefs today
Detroit destroyed Kansas City 48-3 today. The 45 point margin of victory was Detroit's largest margin of victory in a regular season game in team history. It matched a 45 point win over the Cleveland Browns in the 1957 NFL Championship game. That would be the last championship they've won. Can they at least get off the thinning list of teams that have never played in a Super Bowl at some point in the next few years? Who knows. But the Saints and the Cardinals both exited that dubious list over the last few years.
Mathew Stafford threw for 294 yards and 4 TDs. Calvin Johnston caught 2 TD passes. Jahved Best had 123 yards combined rushing and receiving with a TD.
Scarily enough, the defense should still get better. Nick Fairley, the #4 pick out of Auburn hasn't played yet after a foot injury in pre-season. Green Bay is going to be extremely good this year. Chicago should be good. Minnesota looks like they're going to not have a good year. Maybe that opens the door for the Lions in the wild card.
Mathew Stafford threw for 294 yards and 4 TDs. Calvin Johnston caught 2 TD passes. Jahved Best had 123 yards combined rushing and receiving with a TD.
Scarily enough, the defense should still get better. Nick Fairley, the #4 pick out of Auburn hasn't played yet after a foot injury in pre-season. Green Bay is going to be extremely good this year. Chicago should be good. Minnesota looks like they're going to not have a good year. Maybe that opens the door for the Lions in the wild card.
Justin Verlander is dominant again to win his 24th game.
Verlander pitched 8 innings of shutout 3-hit ball to improve his record to 24-5 on the season. He's now won 13 straight starts. He'll get one chance to win 25 I'd say. Other than Bob Welch winning 27 games for Oakland during their late 80's/early 90's little dynasty during the Canseco and McGwire Bash Brothers Days, I can't think of any other pitchers exceeding 24 wins. I recall Roger Clemens and Dwight Gooden both going 24-4 but nothing else better than that other than Welch.
Detroit was being no-hit until the top of the 6th. Austin Jackson broke that up with a solo home run, his 10th of the year, to dead center field. It wasn't a cheapie - it went over the 400 foot sign. Jackson ended up being 2-4 on the game with 2 runs scored. That's good because his bat has cooled off again after he went on a 5 or 6 tear that pushed his batting average over .260. It' s now back below .250 again. They need him to help fuel the offense if they're going to make some serious noise in October.
Brandon Inge had a pinch-hit RBI double. Ramon Santiago added an insurance run by executing a suicide squeeze in the 9th inning on a very tough high and away pitch to bunt. It looks like Oakland detected the squeeze after the pitcher started his motion and he tried to adjust the pitch to something impossible to bunt to either get a popup, a foul ball, or a chance to tag out the runner, but Santiago got it down.
Jose Valverde locked down the 3-0 victory. He closed out the 9th for his 46th save of the season. He now has 48 straight dating back to the end of last season. That gives him sole possession of the third longest consecutive save streak in baseball history.
Only Flash Gordon, with 54 straight in 1998-99 and Eric Gagne's unreal streak of 84 straight for the Dodgers from 2002-2004 have been longer.
These games are still important. Detroit holds a 1 game lead over Texas right now. Keeping that lead would give them home field advantage over the wild card winner out of the AL East. Boston's lead in that department has been trimmed to two as Tampa Bay completed winning 3 out of 4 against them in a weekend series today. Detoit is 2 games back of the Yankees for the American League's best record, which would give them outright home field advantage until the World Series.
Detroit was being no-hit until the top of the 6th. Austin Jackson broke that up with a solo home run, his 10th of the year, to dead center field. It wasn't a cheapie - it went over the 400 foot sign. Jackson ended up being 2-4 on the game with 2 runs scored. That's good because his bat has cooled off again after he went on a 5 or 6 tear that pushed his batting average over .260. It' s now back below .250 again. They need him to help fuel the offense if they're going to make some serious noise in October.
Brandon Inge had a pinch-hit RBI double. Ramon Santiago added an insurance run by executing a suicide squeeze in the 9th inning on a very tough high and away pitch to bunt. It looks like Oakland detected the squeeze after the pitcher started his motion and he tried to adjust the pitch to something impossible to bunt to either get a popup, a foul ball, or a chance to tag out the runner, but Santiago got it down.
Jose Valverde locked down the 3-0 victory. He closed out the 9th for his 46th save of the season. He now has 48 straight dating back to the end of last season. That gives him sole possession of the third longest consecutive save streak in baseball history.
Only Flash Gordon, with 54 straight in 1998-99 and Eric Gagne's unreal streak of 84 straight for the Dodgers from 2002-2004 have been longer.
These games are still important. Detroit holds a 1 game lead over Texas right now. Keeping that lead would give them home field advantage over the wild card winner out of the AL East. Boston's lead in that department has been trimmed to two as Tampa Bay completed winning 3 out of 4 against them in a weekend series today. Detoit is 2 games back of the Yankees for the American League's best record, which would give them outright home field advantage until the World Series.
an NFL record for Detroit's Jason Hanson
Detroit kicker Jason Hanson, in his 20th season as a Lion, played in his 297th game as a Lion today. That breaks the all-time record for games played by a player with a single team.
Talk about toiling. Being a Lion for 20 years. He played with Barry Sanders. Detroit made the playoffs with some regularity on the latter part of Sanders' career, though they only one 1 playoff game in that time. To date that's still the last playoff game they won, when they went on the lose to Dallas during their Super Bowl Dynasty.
Since then they haven't been to the playoffs in forever. Could this season be the year that changes? They actually have talent on both sides of the ball at the same time for once. We'll see.
Talk about toiling. Being a Lion for 20 years. He played with Barry Sanders. Detroit made the playoffs with some regularity on the latter part of Sanders' career, though they only one 1 playoff game in that time. To date that's still the last playoff game they won, when they went on the lose to Dallas during their Super Bowl Dynasty.
Since then they haven't been to the playoffs in forever. Could this season be the year that changes? They actually have talent on both sides of the ball at the same time for once. We'll see.
Syracuse and Pitt are joining the ACC
The announcement has been made that the ACC unanimously voted to accept the two new members. No word yet on when they will officially join the conference. Big East by-laws state that teams have to give 27 month notice. If that's the case they could possibly get them in for the 2013-2014 basketball season.
It'll also be interesting to see what else the ACC does, and how they arrange their divisions. It makes sense to have an ACC North division with Pitt, Syracuse, BC, Maryland, Virginia, and Virginia Tech. It would make sense to group NC State, Duke, UNC, and Wake into an ACC South, though they're already broken apart. State and Duke already don't play each other in football every year. UNC is their annual crossover football rivalry. I'd also like to see State play home and home with Duke in basketball again every year.
It'll also be interesting to see what else the ACC does, and how they arrange their divisions. It makes sense to have an ACC North division with Pitt, Syracuse, BC, Maryland, Virginia, and Virginia Tech. It would make sense to group NC State, Duke, UNC, and Wake into an ACC South, though they're already broken apart. State and Duke already don't play each other in football every year. UNC is their annual crossover football rivalry. I'd also like to see State play home and home with Duke in basketball again every year.
Mariano Rivera has tied Trevor Hoffman atop the all-times saves list
Rivera closed out the Yankees win at Toronto yesterday to notch save 601 on his career. There's no reason to expect Rivera to not be an elite closer again next year. He'll tack on 30-40 more saved next season. By the time he retires he'll extend the save record quite a bit. He and Hoffman are already 150 saves beyond third place on the all-time list. His record will probably stand for a long time.
Michigan cruised over Eastern Michigan yesterday
Denard Robinson rushed 26 times for 198 yards and 1 TD. He didn't throw much, completing only 7 for 95 yards, but added 2 TDs.
Vincent Smith rushed 9 times for 118 yards. Michigan cruised 31-3.
Their defense, which will be under the microscope all year, held Eastern Michigan to 236 total yards.
Vincent Smith rushed 9 times for 118 yards. Michigan cruised 31-3.
Their defense, which will be under the microscope all year, held Eastern Michigan to 236 total yards.
NC State rolled over South Alabama yesterday
Mike Glennon was 17-20 for 294 yards and 4 TDs yesterday as State rolled over South Alabama 35-3.
TJ Graham had 5 catches for 128 yards, including a 64 yard TD. Taylor Gentry also caught 2 short TD passes.
James Washington carried the ball 16 times for 54 yards and a TD. Curtis Underwood also carried 10 times for 50 yards and caught an 18 yard TD pass.
TJ Graham had 5 catches for 128 yards, including a 64 yard TD. Taylor Gentry also caught 2 short TD passes.
James Washington carried the ball 16 times for 54 yards and a TD. Curtis Underwood also carried 10 times for 50 yards and caught an 18 yard TD pass.
the Tigers fell 5-3 at Oakland yesterday
If my personal memory serves, yesterday was Detroit's first "game after clinching" since 1984. In 1987 I believe they clinched the AL East on the last day of the season after beating second place Toronto in the final game of the season.
In 2006 they lost their final game to lose the Central to Minnesota, but they still claimed the AL Wild Card.
Rick Porcello was sharp, allowing 3 run in 7 innings pitched. He didn't get any early run support though and fell to 14-9 on the season. Ryan Perry gave up 2 runs on 3 hits in a third of an inning to extend the Oakland lead. Detroit rallied in the 9th on a 2-run pinch hit single by Don Kelly, but it wasn't enough.
Jhonny Peralta also drove in a run. Magglio Ordonez was 3-4. He's now got his batting average up to .252 on the season.
In 2006 they lost their final game to lose the Central to Minnesota, but they still claimed the AL Wild Card.
Rick Porcello was sharp, allowing 3 run in 7 innings pitched. He didn't get any early run support though and fell to 14-9 on the season. Ryan Perry gave up 2 runs on 3 hits in a third of an inning to extend the Oakland lead. Detroit rallied in the 9th on a 2-run pinch hit single by Don Kelly, but it wasn't enough.
Jhonny Peralta also drove in a run. Magglio Ordonez was 3-4. He's now got his batting average up to .252 on the season.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
sudden rumors of ACC expansion
All the talk of conference expansion lately has been the SEC, the Big 12, and "What are Texas and Oklahoma going to do?"
Apparently under the radar the ACC has been doing some work. Rumors have heated up over the last couple days of Pitt and Syracuse being interested in the ACC and vice-versa.
CBSSportsline is reporting that sources say that both teams have submitted applications to join the ACC.
It would be a perfect match for the athletics of the conference. Both teams have strong basketball teams. Syracuse is a big time basketball program obviously and brings another legendary coach to the ACC in Jim Boeheim. I doubt that Coach K, Roy Williams, and Jim Boeheim would be forming a Big 3 of coaches for very long. At their ages I'd say the end has to be visible on the horizon for Boeheim especially and for Coach K.
Jamie Dixon is another hot coaching commodity right now for Pitt and he has them as a national force for the last several years. They've achieved 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, though they haven't broken through to cut down the nets.
In football, Syracuse has struggled the last few years but they're rebuilding. Both they and Pitt bring in 7-8 win programs that can be frequent participants in non-BCS bowls. The ACC has had more teams in bowls than any other conference a couple times the last few years. They're not a BCS power player like the SEC but they have to be popular with non-BCS bowls because they put together a bunch of second tier football teams every year. That may not be the reputation that the ACC dreams of as they look down south at the SEC, but the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, Meineke Bowl, Papa Johns.com Bowl, etc. have to love it. The ACC will live with it too as long as the basketball is elite.
This addition certainly furthers that. If there is any truth that the ACC has been a Duke and UNC then nothing conference over the last couple years this would help. I agree that's true over the last couple years but it's more of a natural ebb and flow than anything long term. Duke and UNC don't rebuild. They re-load. But Georgia Tech, Maryland, and Wake have taken major losses to their rosters and coaching staffs the last few years. NC State has put talent together but underachieved. Maybe a coaching change can be an infusion there.
We'll see if this happens, but it seems like the kind of match the ACC is looking for.
Apparently under the radar the ACC has been doing some work. Rumors have heated up over the last couple days of Pitt and Syracuse being interested in the ACC and vice-versa.
CBSSportsline is reporting that sources say that both teams have submitted applications to join the ACC.
It would be a perfect match for the athletics of the conference. Both teams have strong basketball teams. Syracuse is a big time basketball program obviously and brings another legendary coach to the ACC in Jim Boeheim. I doubt that Coach K, Roy Williams, and Jim Boeheim would be forming a Big 3 of coaches for very long. At their ages I'd say the end has to be visible on the horizon for Boeheim especially and for Coach K.
Jamie Dixon is another hot coaching commodity right now for Pitt and he has them as a national force for the last several years. They've achieved 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, though they haven't broken through to cut down the nets.
In football, Syracuse has struggled the last few years but they're rebuilding. Both they and Pitt bring in 7-8 win programs that can be frequent participants in non-BCS bowls. The ACC has had more teams in bowls than any other conference a couple times the last few years. They're not a BCS power player like the SEC but they have to be popular with non-BCS bowls because they put together a bunch of second tier football teams every year. That may not be the reputation that the ACC dreams of as they look down south at the SEC, but the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, Meineke Bowl, Papa Johns.com Bowl, etc. have to love it. The ACC will live with it too as long as the basketball is elite.
This addition certainly furthers that. If there is any truth that the ACC has been a Duke and UNC then nothing conference over the last couple years this would help. I agree that's true over the last couple years but it's more of a natural ebb and flow than anything long term. Duke and UNC don't rebuild. They re-load. But Georgia Tech, Maryland, and Wake have taken major losses to their rosters and coaching staffs the last few years. NC State has put talent together but underachieved. Maybe a coaching change can be an infusion there.
We'll see if this happens, but it seems like the kind of match the ACC is looking for.
Friday, September 16, 2011
the Tigers are the 2011 American League Central Champions!
Doug Fister was dominant once again. He allowed 1 run on 3 hits in 8 innings pitched, throwing only 92 pitches.
He upped his record to 6-1 as a Tiger. Jose Valverde closed out the 9th of the 3-1 victory over Oakland for his 45th save.
Don Kelly was 2-4 with his 5th homer of the season and an RBI single. Wilson Betemit had an RBI triple. Ramon Santiago also added a triple for the Tigers.
He upped his record to 6-1 as a Tiger. Jose Valverde closed out the 9th of the 3-1 victory over Oakland for his 45th save.
Don Kelly was 2-4 with his 5th homer of the season and an RBI single. Wilson Betemit had an RBI triple. Ramon Santiago also added a triple for the Tigers.
the White Sox have been mathematically eliminated
Kansas City beat Chicago 7-6, which eliminates the White Sox from the AL Central race. Cleveland squeaked by Minnesota 7-6 to stay alive, as Jim Thome hit his 603rd career home run in the 9th inning.
Cleveland is alive for now. Detroit is leading Oakland 3-1 heading to the bottom of the 7th. If the Tigers hold on to win, they clinch.
Cleveland is alive for now. Detroit is leading Oakland 3-1 heading to the bottom of the 7th. If the Tigers hold on to win, they clinch.
Detroit's winning streak finally came to an end last night in Oakland
Oakland handcuffed the Tiger offense last night, holding them to 1 run on 5 hits. Delmon Young hit his 5th Tiger home run. Max Scherzer allowed 5 runs on 7 hits in 5 innings of work to fall to 14-9 on the season. That's the only concerning thing to come of of the game. Detroit needs Scherzer to bring his A-Game if they're going to make a run in the playoffs.
Miguel Cabrera had a double, but Detroit couldn't string together hits last night. They fell 6-1. Despite that, their Magic Number to clinch the A.L. Central dropped to 1, as both Chicago and Cleveland lost last night. So one more Tiger win or one more loss by co-second place teams Chicago and Cleveland clinches Detroit's first ever A.L. Central title, and first division crown since they won the A.L. East in 1987, then there were still 2 divisions in each league.
Miguel Cabrera had a double, but Detroit couldn't string together hits last night. They fell 6-1. Despite that, their Magic Number to clinch the A.L. Central dropped to 1, as both Chicago and Cleveland lost last night. So one more Tiger win or one more loss by co-second place teams Chicago and Cleveland clinches Detroit's first ever A.L. Central title, and first division crown since they won the A.L. East in 1987, then there were still 2 divisions in each league.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
the Tigers just can't lose right now
The Tigers stunned the White Sox again, to win another game against them in an epic rally. Carlos Guillen won it for them in the 10th inning with an RBI single. He was 3-5 on the game with his 3rd homer of the season and 2 RBIs. It was Guillen's first start since September 3rd. With the rosters now expanded Detroit has 5 guys who can play second base, now that Wil Rhymes and Danny Worth have been called up. Ramon Santiago has been hitting well lately and has gotten most of the starts, with Ryan Raburn mixed in.
But the big rally came in the 9th. Detroit was down 5-2. What do they do? Summon some pinch hitters. Ryan Raburn pinch hit for Omar Santos, who was catching to give Alex Avila a rare day off. Raburn promptly hit his 14th homer run of the season. Magglio Ordonez came on to pinch hit and drew a walk. Alex Avila then came on to pinch hit for Brandon Inge. He's got more power and was now needed to catch the 10th. Avila delivered a pinch-hit 2-run home run, his 19th of the season, to tie the game. The homer was off the same reliever that Ryan Raburn and Miguel Cabrera stunned with homers to complete the rally from 8-1 down a week and a half ago or so. Just like that the game was tied at 5 and the winning streak was alive.
Phil Coke ended up getting the win. He induced an inning inning double play with runners on the corners and 1 out in the bottom of the 9th. Coke is now 3-9 on the season. Jose Valverde struck out the side in the bottom of the 10th to earn his 44th save.
Brad Penny gave up 5 runs, 1 earned, in 6 innings pitched. As is normal for him, he gave up 1 big inning but then settled down as he was on the ropes. His error on a bunt led to 4 unearned runs in the 2nd inning.
Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez were both 2-4 with a double. Delmon Young also had a double.
The 12 game winning streak is now Detroit's longest winning streak in 77 years. They had the second of the two 14 game winning streaks in franchise history in 1934. This is the 3rd longest winning streak in franchise history. They won 12 straight games in 1927.
All 12 wins in the streak have come against the White Sox (6), Cleveland (3), and Minnesota (3). This is the second longest streak that comes entirely within a division since divisional play began in 1969. With the win Detroit became the 4th team in history, and first since the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers, to extend a winning streak to 12 or longer with a 3-run on larger rally in the 9th inning.
By my count, if Cleveland loses to Texas tonight Detroit's Magic Number will be 1. They'll have a chance to clinch the division while in Oakland.
But the big rally came in the 9th. Detroit was down 5-2. What do they do? Summon some pinch hitters. Ryan Raburn pinch hit for Omar Santos, who was catching to give Alex Avila a rare day off. Raburn promptly hit his 14th homer run of the season. Magglio Ordonez came on to pinch hit and drew a walk. Alex Avila then came on to pinch hit for Brandon Inge. He's got more power and was now needed to catch the 10th. Avila delivered a pinch-hit 2-run home run, his 19th of the season, to tie the game. The homer was off the same reliever that Ryan Raburn and Miguel Cabrera stunned with homers to complete the rally from 8-1 down a week and a half ago or so. Just like that the game was tied at 5 and the winning streak was alive.
Phil Coke ended up getting the win. He induced an inning inning double play with runners on the corners and 1 out in the bottom of the 9th. Coke is now 3-9 on the season. Jose Valverde struck out the side in the bottom of the 10th to earn his 44th save.
Brad Penny gave up 5 runs, 1 earned, in 6 innings pitched. As is normal for him, he gave up 1 big inning but then settled down as he was on the ropes. His error on a bunt led to 4 unearned runs in the 2nd inning.
Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez were both 2-4 with a double. Delmon Young also had a double.
The 12 game winning streak is now Detroit's longest winning streak in 77 years. They had the second of the two 14 game winning streaks in franchise history in 1934. This is the 3rd longest winning streak in franchise history. They won 12 straight games in 1927.
All 12 wins in the streak have come against the White Sox (6), Cleveland (3), and Minnesota (3). This is the second longest streak that comes entirely within a division since divisional play began in 1969. With the win Detroit became the 4th team in history, and first since the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers, to extend a winning streak to 12 or longer with a 3-run on larger rally in the 9th inning.
By my count, if Cleveland loses to Texas tonight Detroit's Magic Number will be 1. They'll have a chance to clinch the division while in Oakland.
another baseball milestone from last night
It happened in the wee hours Eastern Time, but Mariano Rivera closed out the Yankees 3-2 win at Seattle. It was save 600 for Rivera. He's the second member of the 600 save club and is now 1 save from tying Trevor Hoffman's all-time record of 601. Hoffman got a late run last year before he retired to take over the closer duties he lost to reach 600.
Trevor Hoffman was a great closer. In my mind though Rivera is the best closer of all-time, with pretty much no debate. The fact that he closed in a ton of post-season games and was even better than his regular season numbers puts him squarely on top. He's the best post-season closer of all-time, with 5 World Series rings and a bunch of deep playoff runs. In that time he's saved 42 games with a 0.76 ERA. I think he's only blown one World Series save, that being Game 7 of the 2001 World Series against the Diamondbacks. A lot of those saves have been of the 2 inning variety come play off time as well
Trevor Hoffman was a great closer. In my mind though Rivera is the best closer of all-time, with pretty much no debate. The fact that he closed in a ton of post-season games and was even better than his regular season numbers puts him squarely on top. He's the best post-season closer of all-time, with 5 World Series rings and a bunch of deep playoff runs. In that time he's saved 42 games with a 0.76 ERA. I think he's only blown one World Series save, that being Game 7 of the 2001 World Series against the Diamondbacks. A lot of those saves have been of the 2 inning variety come play off time as well
I figured it would be Brad Penny who would put Detroit's winning streak at risk
The winning streak is just a nice cherry on Detroit's September sundae. They're not going to end the year on a 25 game winning streak by winning out, so it's going to come to an end sometime. You'd think anyway since a 25 game winning streak would be a Major League record, beating the existing record by a number of games.
So Penny's start today is more of a post-season audition more than anything. Detroit's magic number is 3 and with the other four arms in the rotation that have been clicking of late, the division race is over. Detroit won't need a 5 man starting rotation in the playoffs, especially in the short ALDS series, so it comes down to figuring out which one pitcher or maybe even 2 is left off that roster or put in the bullpen.
Penny is likely with a 10-10 record and an ERA over 5. He also labors more than any other starter and would put more wear and tear on the bullpen. Today he's given up 4 runs on 5 hits in 2 innings pitched.
While everyone else is getting stronger, Penny isn't keeping up. Justin Verlander is the best pitcher in baseball right now. Doug Fister has an ERA below 2 in his Tiger starts. He looks like the second best pitcher on the staff. Scherzer can labor at times but he's had stretches of dominance. Porcello has gotten bombed in some starts and has a high ERA but he too has had stretches of dominance.
Penny looks like the obvious odd man out.
Carlos Guillen has hit his 3rd home run of the season for Detroit, but if they're going to stretch the winning streak to 12 it will be in spite of the pitching, which has been a rarity over the last 25 games or so.
Even with a loss, taking 2 of 3 in their last matchup of the season ends any chance of a comeback for the ages from the White Sox.
So Penny's start today is more of a post-season audition more than anything. Detroit's magic number is 3 and with the other four arms in the rotation that have been clicking of late, the division race is over. Detroit won't need a 5 man starting rotation in the playoffs, especially in the short ALDS series, so it comes down to figuring out which one pitcher or maybe even 2 is left off that roster or put in the bullpen.
Penny is likely with a 10-10 record and an ERA over 5. He also labors more than any other starter and would put more wear and tear on the bullpen. Today he's given up 4 runs on 5 hits in 2 innings pitched.
While everyone else is getting stronger, Penny isn't keeping up. Justin Verlander is the best pitcher in baseball right now. Doug Fister has an ERA below 2 in his Tiger starts. He looks like the second best pitcher on the staff. Scherzer can labor at times but he's had stretches of dominance. Porcello has gotten bombed in some starts and has a high ERA but he too has had stretches of dominance.
Penny looks like the obvious odd man out.
Carlos Guillen has hit his 3rd home run of the season for Detroit, but if they're going to stretch the winning streak to 12 it will be in spite of the pitching, which has been a rarity over the last 25 games or so.
Even with a loss, taking 2 of 3 in their last matchup of the season ends any chance of a comeback for the ages from the White Sox.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
A Milestone for Boston's Tim Wakefield
On his 8th try Tim Wakefield won his 200th game in the Major Leagues. He's the 108th pitcher in history to reach that milestone. The ol' knuckleballer just keeps plugging away and has put together a pretty fine career.
a couple other tidbits after Detroit's game tonight
Justin Verlander won his 11th straight start tonight. He's the first Tigers pitcher since at least 1919 to win 11 straight starts.
Detroit's 12.5 game lead in the AL Central is also its largest division lead since the end of the 1984 season, which ended with them holding a 15 game lead over the Blue Jays on the way to winning the World Series.
Detroit's 12.5 game lead in the AL Central is also its largest division lead since the end of the 1984 season, which ended with them holding a 15 game lead over the Blue Jays on the way to winning the World Series.
Tigers win their 11th straight, as Justin Verlander wins number 23
I think we can refer to Justin Verlander as Mr. American League Cy Young Award Winner. He pitched 7 shutout innings, allowing 6 hits and striking out 6, to improve to a Major League best 23-5 on the season. Verlander is the first American League pitcher to win 23 games since Oakland's Barry Zito in 2002.
Detroit won 5-0. Victor Martinez hit a 3-run homer, his 11th of the season, in the 6th to break open a 1-0 pitchers dual. Alex Avila had put Detroit up 1-0 in the first on an RBI groundout.
Miguel Cabrera was 2-3 with 2 doubles and an RBI.
Detroit is now 86-62. They have a 12.5 game lead in the Central with 14 games to play. They've won 11 in row, 13 of 14, and 21 of their last 25. They're also 30-11 since the trading deadline when they acquired Doug Fister.
I did some research and found that the longest winning streak in Detroit Tigers history is 14. It was accomplished twice, in 1909 and 1934.
Detroit won 5-0. Victor Martinez hit a 3-run homer, his 11th of the season, in the 6th to break open a 1-0 pitchers dual. Alex Avila had put Detroit up 1-0 in the first on an RBI groundout.
Miguel Cabrera was 2-3 with 2 doubles and an RBI.
Detroit is now 86-62. They have a 12.5 game lead in the Central with 14 games to play. They've won 11 in row, 13 of 14, and 21 of their last 25. They're also 30-11 since the trading deadline when they acquired Doug Fister.
I did some research and found that the longest winning streak in Detroit Tigers history is 14. It was accomplished twice, in 1909 and 1934.
Monday, September 12, 2011
the Tigers winning streak is 10 and their Magic Number is 5
Detroit pounded the White Sox for the second time in 8 days, ringing up 14 runs on 21 hits. Last Sunday the final was 18-2. Tonight it was 14-4.
Ryan Raburn was 4-5 with his 12th home run of the season, a double, and 3 RBIs. Jhonny Peralta was 2-3 with a 2-run home run, his 19th of the season, and 3 RBIs. Peralta and Raburns's home runs were back-to-back in the second inning.
Alex Avila was 2-5 with a double and 2 RBIs. Victor Martinez was 2-4 with an RBI. Miguel Cabrera had an RBI double. Ramon Santiago entered the game during Detroit's 6 run 6th inning to pinch run for Magglio Ordonez. He came around to score, then later came to the plate in the same inning and hit a 2-run double.
Brandon Inge was 3-5 with a double as well. In a nice moral victory he has his batting average over .200, at .204. As has happened frequently lately, every Tiger starter had a base hit, and 10 Tigers in all had hits.
Rick Porcello took advantage of all the offense. He started out a bit shaky but settled down. He gave up 3 runs on 6 hits in 6.2 innings pitched. He walked 3, all in the first two innings before he settled down after surrendering a run in both the first and second inning. Porcello is now 14-8 on the season.
The 10 game winning streak is Detroit's longest since an 11 game streak in September of 1968. That hot streak propelled them to a World Series victory in 7 games over the Cardinals.
Detroit's Magic Number is now 5. They have an 11.5 game lead over both Chicago and Cleveland with 15 games to play. With the streak and Boston's 5 game losing streak Detroit has now pulled to within percentage points of the second best record in the American League.
Ryan Raburn was 4-5 with his 12th home run of the season, a double, and 3 RBIs. Jhonny Peralta was 2-3 with a 2-run home run, his 19th of the season, and 3 RBIs. Peralta and Raburns's home runs were back-to-back in the second inning.
Alex Avila was 2-5 with a double and 2 RBIs. Victor Martinez was 2-4 with an RBI. Miguel Cabrera had an RBI double. Ramon Santiago entered the game during Detroit's 6 run 6th inning to pinch run for Magglio Ordonez. He came around to score, then later came to the plate in the same inning and hit a 2-run double.
Brandon Inge was 3-5 with a double as well. In a nice moral victory he has his batting average over .200, at .204. As has happened frequently lately, every Tiger starter had a base hit, and 10 Tigers in all had hits.
Rick Porcello took advantage of all the offense. He started out a bit shaky but settled down. He gave up 3 runs on 6 hits in 6.2 innings pitched. He walked 3, all in the first two innings before he settled down after surrendering a run in both the first and second inning. Porcello is now 14-8 on the season.
The 10 game winning streak is Detroit's longest since an 11 game streak in September of 1968. That hot streak propelled them to a World Series victory in 7 games over the Cardinals.
Detroit's Magic Number is now 5. They have an 11.5 game lead over both Chicago and Cleveland with 15 games to play. With the streak and Boston's 5 game losing streak Detroit has now pulled to within percentage points of the second best record in the American League.
The Tigers are hitting like a hitting machine or a video game
After a couple games of more modest offensive output Detroit it back to venting several years of White Sox frustration on Chicago. Eight days after destroying Chicago on the ESPN Sunday Night baseball game, they are again blasting the White Sox. 12 runs on 18 hits in the 6th inning. They're up 12-2. Detroit's Magic Number will be 5.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
the Tigers have their longest winning streak since 1984.
Detroit scored 2 runs in the bottom of the first. Delmon Young had an RBI single. Magglio Ordonez scored on a Victor Martinez double play.
Doug Fister made those runs hold up. He pitched 7 shutout innings, striking out 5. Fister is now 5-1 as a Tiger. He looks like their second best starter as Detroit thinks ahead to the playoffs.
Jose Valverde gave up a run in the 9th but closed out the game to set a new Tiger single season record with 43 saves.
Delmon Young was 2-4. But like they've done alot recently Detroit spread 9 hits among 8 players. They didn't have an extra base hit, and they were 1-10 with runners in scoring position, but got just enough offense and great pitching. In the The Can't Stay Hot Forever Department Victor Martinez was 0-4. He grounded into 3 double plays and lined into a double play in his final at bat. He's the first hitter since Joe Torre in 1975 to hit into 4 double plays in a game.
Detroit's winning streak is now 9 straight. They've won 11 of 12 and 19 of 23. Their Magic Number to clinch is now 8. Cleveland is leading Chicago right now so it could drop to 7.
Detroit's got to do some work on the road now. They could well clinch the division on the road. They start a 9 game road trip tomorrow, with the first of 3 games in Chicago. The White Sox get one final chance to put a tiny dent in Detroit's lead. They'd need to sweep to have any prayer. Taking 2 of 3 would only gain them a game. Detroit can make it all over in the Central except for the champagne (if it isn't already) by winning the series. Each Tiger win over Chicago will drop their magic number by 2.
8-8 in the final 16 games wraps it up for sure for Detroit, even if Chicago miraculously went 16-0 to end the season. Factor in the reality that the White Sox are essentially a .500 team, so they're likely to go 8-8 or 9-7 or so, Detroit in a practical sense only needs to win a couple more games on its end.
Winning is good though. If they stay ahead of Texas they'd get home field advantage in their first series. I think if things ended now the Yankees would get the Rangers or Angels out of the AL West. The Yankees seem to be on track to have the best record in the league. Since they can't play Boston in the first round, because two teams in the same division can't meet in the first round, that means they'd get the team with the next worst record. That would be the AL West Champion as it stands right now. Detroit would get Boston and could start with 2 games in Detroit to build momentum before heading to a hostile stadium of one of the AL Superpowers.
Doug Fister made those runs hold up. He pitched 7 shutout innings, striking out 5. Fister is now 5-1 as a Tiger. He looks like their second best starter as Detroit thinks ahead to the playoffs.
Jose Valverde gave up a run in the 9th but closed out the game to set a new Tiger single season record with 43 saves.
Delmon Young was 2-4. But like they've done alot recently Detroit spread 9 hits among 8 players. They didn't have an extra base hit, and they were 1-10 with runners in scoring position, but got just enough offense and great pitching. In the The Can't Stay Hot Forever Department Victor Martinez was 0-4. He grounded into 3 double plays and lined into a double play in his final at bat. He's the first hitter since Joe Torre in 1975 to hit into 4 double plays in a game.
Detroit's winning streak is now 9 straight. They've won 11 of 12 and 19 of 23. Their Magic Number to clinch is now 8. Cleveland is leading Chicago right now so it could drop to 7.
Detroit's got to do some work on the road now. They could well clinch the division on the road. They start a 9 game road trip tomorrow, with the first of 3 games in Chicago. The White Sox get one final chance to put a tiny dent in Detroit's lead. They'd need to sweep to have any prayer. Taking 2 of 3 would only gain them a game. Detroit can make it all over in the Central except for the champagne (if it isn't already) by winning the series. Each Tiger win over Chicago will drop their magic number by 2.
8-8 in the final 16 games wraps it up for sure for Detroit, even if Chicago miraculously went 16-0 to end the season. Factor in the reality that the White Sox are essentially a .500 team, so they're likely to go 8-8 or 9-7 or so, Detroit in a practical sense only needs to win a couple more games on its end.
Winning is good though. If they stay ahead of Texas they'd get home field advantage in their first series. I think if things ended now the Yankees would get the Rangers or Angels out of the AL West. The Yankees seem to be on track to have the best record in the league. Since they can't play Boston in the first round, because two teams in the same division can't meet in the first round, that means they'd get the team with the next worst record. That would be the AL West Champion as it stands right now. Detroit would get Boston and could start with 2 games in Detroit to build momentum before heading to a hostile stadium of one of the AL Superpowers.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
MICHIGAN MAGIC!!!!!!
Denard Robinson throws his 4th TD pass of the game with 2 seconds left! Michigan drives 80 yards on 2 completions in 28 seconds!! Michigan wins! Classic game! Classic Michigan moment! It took Brady Hoke 2 games to etch himself into Michigan legend for all time. Denard Robinson furthers his. He lit up Notre Dame for 502 yards last year, mostly on the ground. Tonight it was 446, mostly through the air!
In game observation: Notre Dame at Michigan
WOW!!! Notre Dame's secondary commits its own total breakdown. 65 yard yard pass down to the 15. Michigan has 8 seconds in order to try to win it!
In Game Update: Notre Dame at Michigan
Crappy Michigan late game defensive secondary breakdown #594959699593. Denard Robinson threw his third TD pass of the game to give Michigan its first lead with about 1:12 to play. Notre Dame marched right back down and scored a TD with 30 seconds to play. No pressure on the quarterback. Gaping holes in coverage and wide open receivers.
Can Denard drive Michigan into field goal range from their own 20 to send the game to OT?
Can Denard drive Michigan into field goal range from their own 20 to send the game to OT?
In game observation: Notre Dame at Michigan
Michigan has clawed back into things. Denard Robinson is running the ball a bit more and that's setting up the passing game. Michigan was down 24-7 but it's now 24-21. The big play Michigan offense has come to life a bit, and the defense is finally stepping up as well.
In game observation: Notre Dame at Michigan
It's the first night game in the history of the Big House. You'd think the Maize & Blue would be fired up. Instead they seem to be sleepwalking on both sides of the ball. Notre Dame is up 14-0. Their QB hasn't thrown an incompletion yet. Denard Robinson just threw a horrible one for Michigan, lobbing up a screen pass blindly. The back wasn't at the spot yet and it was an easy Notre Dame pick.
Tiger Magic Continues
I think I'm now officially starting to think "AL Central Champions"! I didn't even know the Tiger game was on TV as FOX's game of the week. I turned to FOX looking for another football game after the end of the NC State game.
Just in time to see Brandon Inge hit a walk-off solo home run with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th to propel Detroit to a 3-2 win over Minnesota. The win was their 8th straight. They've won 10 of 12 and 18 of 22.
For Inge it was his 3rd home run of the season, and second since he was recalled from Toledo. I just read that one of Inge's other 2 home runs was a walk-off game winner. He did it against the Rangers on April 13th. I'm sure that's in the ol' blog but I'd forgotten. That's something...3 home runs on the season, but 2 of them are walk-off game winners.
Wilson Betemit hit his 4th home run as a Tiger. So both halves of Detroit's current 2-headed third baseman monster hit homers. Victor Martinez also had an RBI. Ramon Santiago was 2-3 with a double. Detroit was held to 6 hits, its fewest in awhile, but 4 of those were for extra bases.
Al Alburqueque earned the win after pitching a perfect 9th. He's 6-1 on the season. Max Scherzer started and gave up 2 runs on 5 hits in 7 innings pitched. He struck out 6.
Detroit's Magic Number is now 9, with Cleveland and Chicago tied at 3 in the 10th inning as I type this. I guess if Cleveland wins the Magic Number will be 8. It doesn't really matter though since they are only separated by a half game.
Just in time to see Brandon Inge hit a walk-off solo home run with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th to propel Detroit to a 3-2 win over Minnesota. The win was their 8th straight. They've won 10 of 12 and 18 of 22.
For Inge it was his 3rd home run of the season, and second since he was recalled from Toledo. I just read that one of Inge's other 2 home runs was a walk-off game winner. He did it against the Rangers on April 13th. I'm sure that's in the ol' blog but I'd forgotten. That's something...3 home runs on the season, but 2 of them are walk-off game winners.
Wilson Betemit hit his 4th home run as a Tiger. So both halves of Detroit's current 2-headed third baseman monster hit homers. Victor Martinez also had an RBI. Ramon Santiago was 2-3 with a double. Detroit was held to 6 hits, its fewest in awhile, but 4 of those were for extra bases.
Al Alburqueque earned the win after pitching a perfect 9th. He's 6-1 on the season. Max Scherzer started and gave up 2 runs on 5 hits in 7 innings pitched. He struck out 6.
Detroit's Magic Number is now 9, with Cleveland and Chicago tied at 3 in the 10th inning as I type this. I guess if Cleveland wins the Magic Number will be 8. It doesn't really matter though since they are only separated by a half game.
State mounted a comeback but it fell short
State finally opened up the offense in the second half and stretched the field. They mounted a comeback but a fourth down pass in Wake Forest territory fell incomplete to end the comeback. Mike Glennon found a rhythm finally. He completed 24-41 passes for 315. He had 3 TDs and 1 interception. State rolled the dice on 4th and 10 from their own 36. Glennon found TJ Graham wide open for a 63 yard TD. Graham caught 6 balls for 119 yards. He also had a kickoff return for a TD called back for a block in the back. It looks like State may have found the big play weapon in the passing game. Tobias Palmer also had a 65 yard TD and 96 yards overall.
George Bryan also caught 3 balls for 40 yards and a TD. However he had a couple bid drops, including a what would have been a first down on the third down that preceded the final 4th down. He's had more drops than catches through 2 games. That inexplicable since he's so sure handed, including one great one handed leaping catch today over the top of a defender.
The final was 34-27. Despite the loss State at least look like they have an idea of what they want to do in the passing game. They need to work on their third down conversions. 5-14 in this game hurt them. They also need to work on being overly aggressive to the ball on defense. They got hurt on a reverse and a reverse - wide receiver option pass for a long TD. Over-pursuit in both cases led to huge plays.
George Bryan also caught 3 balls for 40 yards and a TD. However he had a couple bid drops, including a what would have been a first down on the third down that preceded the final 4th down. He's had more drops than catches through 2 games. That inexplicable since he's so sure handed, including one great one handed leaping catch today over the top of a defender.
The final was 34-27. Despite the loss State at least look like they have an idea of what they want to do in the passing game. They need to work on their third down conversions. 5-14 in this game hurt them. They also need to work on being overly aggressive to the ball on defense. They got hurt on a reverse and a reverse - wide receiver option pass for a long TD. Over-pursuit in both cases led to huge plays.
In game observation: NC State at Wake Forest
State's defense is being confused by Wake Forest's misdirection and crossing routes. State's moved the ball at times but have had to settle for field goals. State has 125 yards of total offense. They're down 20-6. They're lucky to be that close. The defense stiffened a couple times to hold Wake to field goals.
State's offense doesn't look good. The new quarterback and new receiving corps just isn't clicking. Mike Glennon is 8-12 for 52 yards at the half.
State's offense doesn't look good. The new quarterback and new receiving corps just isn't clicking. Mike Glennon is 8-12 for 52 yards at the half.
a couple observations from the Tigers' recent hot streak.
Two and a half weeks ago or so Detroit was in a dogfight in the AL Central, the ugly duckling division in baseball this year. Detroit was up about games in the division. They had a negative run differential on the year. Even as a first place team they would have still been in third place in 3 of baseball's other divisions. They had the 6th best record in the AL and were tied with Tampa Bay, who is third in the AL East, in record.
Then they took off. Now they're playing the kind of baseball that may be able to hang with the rest of the teams in the playoffs. Their run differential is still the smallest of the division leaders but it's a respectable +44. Their 9.5 game lead is now the second largest division lead behind Philadelphia's 11 game lead over Atlanta in the NL East.
Detroit is now percentage points ahead of Texas's record, so they no longer have the worst record of the division leaders.
All that is pure statistics. Detroit has the best pitcher in baseball going right now. Miguel Cabrera is one of the best players in the game. They have a closer who hasn't blown a save all year. In a short series if Verlander was dominant and Cabrera had a hot series anything could happen.
But the question was whether or not the Tigers offense was solid enough to score enough runs off of Boston's pitching, or CC Sabathia, or Texas pitching, and also outhit those potent offenses, in the AL or to handle Philadelphia or Milawaukee's total packages if they reached the World Series.
Now the offense is hitting. Austin Jackson is finding a groove at leadoff. Maggio Ordonez is hitting better and getting on base as well ahead of Cabrera and Martinez. Ramon Santiago is providing offensive production at second base and Wilson Betemit at third. So Detroit doesn't have the offensive holes that were limiting the effectiveness of the big bats behind them. They've been getting better the entire second half, which is what many analysts predicted for Detroit's "best case scenario" season.
Now they look like they have an offense that wouldn't be overmatched by CC Sabathia, Roy Halliday and Cliff Lee, Zack Greinke, and the other elite starters they'd be seeing in the playoffs.
Are they going to win? Still a tall order. The Phillies are loaded. The Yankee, Red Sox, Ranger, and Brewer offenses are loaded. But Detroit's offense is showing they can score some runs. Doug Fister and Max Scherzer are capable of being dominant behind Verlander, who has been dominant all year. They've made good roster moves and they look very solid.
Months ago my best case was to take joy that they could win a division for the first time since 1987, then hope for a Verlander win in the first round then some good fortune in the other games. Now I do feel they have a viable chance, though they'd be underdogs against the Yankees or Boston. They were underdogs against the Yankees in 2006 though too.
Then they took off. Now they're playing the kind of baseball that may be able to hang with the rest of the teams in the playoffs. Their run differential is still the smallest of the division leaders but it's a respectable +44. Their 9.5 game lead is now the second largest division lead behind Philadelphia's 11 game lead over Atlanta in the NL East.
Detroit is now percentage points ahead of Texas's record, so they no longer have the worst record of the division leaders.
All that is pure statistics. Detroit has the best pitcher in baseball going right now. Miguel Cabrera is one of the best players in the game. They have a closer who hasn't blown a save all year. In a short series if Verlander was dominant and Cabrera had a hot series anything could happen.
But the question was whether or not the Tigers offense was solid enough to score enough runs off of Boston's pitching, or CC Sabathia, or Texas pitching, and also outhit those potent offenses, in the AL or to handle Philadelphia or Milawaukee's total packages if they reached the World Series.
Now the offense is hitting. Austin Jackson is finding a groove at leadoff. Maggio Ordonez is hitting better and getting on base as well ahead of Cabrera and Martinez. Ramon Santiago is providing offensive production at second base and Wilson Betemit at third. So Detroit doesn't have the offensive holes that were limiting the effectiveness of the big bats behind them. They've been getting better the entire second half, which is what many analysts predicted for Detroit's "best case scenario" season.
Now they look like they have an offense that wouldn't be overmatched by CC Sabathia, Roy Halliday and Cliff Lee, Zack Greinke, and the other elite starters they'd be seeing in the playoffs.
Are they going to win? Still a tall order. The Phillies are loaded. The Yankee, Red Sox, Ranger, and Brewer offenses are loaded. But Detroit's offense is showing they can score some runs. Doug Fister and Max Scherzer are capable of being dominant behind Verlander, who has been dominant all year. They've made good roster moves and they look very solid.
Months ago my best case was to take joy that they could win a division for the first time since 1987, then hope for a Verlander win in the first round then some good fortune in the other games. Now I do feel they have a viable chance, though they'd be underdogs against the Yankees or Boston. They were underdogs against the Yankees in 2006 though too.
In game observation: Oregon State at Wisconsin
I just witnessed a football first for me. Never before the punt that Oregon State's punter just shanked off the side of his foot on a rugby style punt have I seen a punt for negative yardage.
I can mark that one off the list. That punt sliced off the side of his foot out of bounds for a -4 yard punt.
Even worse Oregon State was punting from about their own 20, so that set up Russell Wilson's third TD pass as a Badger.
I can mark that one off the list. That punt sliced off the side of his foot out of bounds for a -4 yard punt.
Even worse Oregon State was punting from about their own 20, so that set up Russell Wilson's third TD pass as a Badger.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Tigers keep rolling
Not only is Detroit red hot, but they're red hot at the perfect time for it, late August rolling into September. Brad Penny gave up 4 runs in the top of the first inning to Minnesota but the suddenly potent Tiger offense came roaring back with 3 in the second and 3 in the fourth. They pulled away for an 8-4 win, their 7th in a row and 17th in the last 21 games.
Alex Avila hit a 3-run home run, his 18th of the season. He was 2-3 on the night. Ramon Santiago had a 2-run shot, his 5th of the year. Delmon Young hit his 5th homer as a Tiger, again victimizing his former teammates. Wilson Betemit had an RBI triple, and Brandon Inge added a sac fly.
Brad Penny settled down after the first, allowing only 2 more hits. He went 5 innings and improved his record to 10-10 on the season. He's the fourth Tiger starter into double figure wins.
The bullpen locked it down again. Jose Valverde closed out the 9th but it was a non-save opportunity.
Detroit magic number to clinch the Central is now 10. If they go 10-8 in their final 18 they win it no matter what. Given that neither Chicago or Cleveland has been playing well of late that's not likely to be necessary. Chicago and Cleveland are playing each other this weekend so if Detroit can sweep that would shave at least 3 games off right there.
Alex Avila hit a 3-run home run, his 18th of the season. He was 2-3 on the night. Ramon Santiago had a 2-run shot, his 5th of the year. Delmon Young hit his 5th homer as a Tiger, again victimizing his former teammates. Wilson Betemit had an RBI triple, and Brandon Inge added a sac fly.
Brad Penny settled down after the first, allowing only 2 more hits. He went 5 innings and improved his record to 10-10 on the season. He's the fourth Tiger starter into double figure wins.
The bullpen locked it down again. Jose Valverde closed out the 9th but it was a non-save opportunity.
Detroit magic number to clinch the Central is now 10. If they go 10-8 in their final 18 they win it no matter what. Given that neither Chicago or Cleveland has been playing well of late that's not likely to be necessary. Chicago and Cleveland are playing each other this weekend so if Detroit can sweep that would shave at least 3 games off right there.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
In game observation: New Orleans at Green Bay - the 2011 NFL season kicks off
Ironically all the talk of moving the kickoff up and the first kickoff of the season isn't a touchback, going only about 2 yards deep into the endzone.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
the Tigers sweep the Indians
Is the AL Central race over? I don't know. I'm not going to concede it until Detroit's magic number is 1 and they still a 5 or 6 game lead. But they again won with an emphatic exclamation point.
Down 4-2 in the 7th after 2 of the 3 hits that Justin Verlander had allowed through 6 innings were Shelley Duncan 2-run home runs, Victor Martinez hit a grand slam on the 1st pitch he saw to punctuate a 5 run inning. All 5 runs came before an out was recorded. It was Victor's 10th home run of the season. He now has 12 RBIs in the last 4 games.
Miguel Cabrera was 2-4 with an RBI. Alex Avila was 2-6 with an RBI double. Wilson Betemit had an RBI double. Don Kelly added an RBI triple in the top of the 9th as an insurance run.
Once again every Tiger starter had a basehit. 10 Tiger hitters had hits, as they piled up 15 hits. It was the 11th time in 13 games and 31st time in the 51 games since the All-Star Break that they've reached double figure hits.
After Phil Coke gave up a 2-run homer to make it a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the 7th, Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde slammed the door. Valverde notched his 42nd save of the season tying Todd Jones' single season Tiger record set in 2000.
For Justin Verlander the journey to the Cy Young Award gets closer. Duncan got him twice for a pair of two run shots, but he allowed only 3 hits and struck out 7 in 6 innings. He upped his record to 22-5. Verlander is the first Tiger pitcher to win 22 games in a season since Joe Coleman won 23 in 1973. That was my first baseball season alive.
Verlander also won his 10th consecutive start. The last Tiger to win 10 straight decisions was Jack Morris in 1983. The last Tiger to win 10 straight starts was Hal Newhouser in 1946. Newhouser is in the Hall of Fame.
Since May 1st Verlander is 20-2. When he said in Spring Training that he was working on getting off to a better first half start, he did, even when that 2-3 start to the season made you wonder. I'll take 20-2 since then.
Detroit has now won 16 of their last 20 games.
Down 4-2 in the 7th after 2 of the 3 hits that Justin Verlander had allowed through 6 innings were Shelley Duncan 2-run home runs, Victor Martinez hit a grand slam on the 1st pitch he saw to punctuate a 5 run inning. All 5 runs came before an out was recorded. It was Victor's 10th home run of the season. He now has 12 RBIs in the last 4 games.
Miguel Cabrera was 2-4 with an RBI. Alex Avila was 2-6 with an RBI double. Wilson Betemit had an RBI double. Don Kelly added an RBI triple in the top of the 9th as an insurance run.
Once again every Tiger starter had a basehit. 10 Tiger hitters had hits, as they piled up 15 hits. It was the 11th time in 13 games and 31st time in the 51 games since the All-Star Break that they've reached double figure hits.
After Phil Coke gave up a 2-run homer to make it a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the 7th, Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde slammed the door. Valverde notched his 42nd save of the season tying Todd Jones' single season Tiger record set in 2000.
For Justin Verlander the journey to the Cy Young Award gets closer. Duncan got him twice for a pair of two run shots, but he allowed only 3 hits and struck out 7 in 6 innings. He upped his record to 22-5. Verlander is the first Tiger pitcher to win 22 games in a season since Joe Coleman won 23 in 1973. That was my first baseball season alive.
Verlander also won his 10th consecutive start. The last Tiger to win 10 straight decisions was Jack Morris in 1983. The last Tiger to win 10 straight starts was Hal Newhouser in 1946. Newhouser is in the Hall of Fame.
Since May 1st Verlander is 20-2. When he said in Spring Training that he was working on getting off to a better first half start, he did, even when that 2-3 start to the season made you wonder. I'll take 20-2 since then.
Detroit has now won 16 of their last 20 games.
the Tigers crushed Cleveland last night
Detroit scored 5 2-out runs in the top of the first inning on a walk and 6 hits. They cruised from there, stretching the lead to 8-0, before winning 10-1.
Rick Porcello allowed 1 run on a solo home, 3 hits in all, in 6.1 innings pitched. He upped his record to 13-8 on the season.
Al Alburquerque pitched two-thirds of an inning of relief, striking out two, but walking 2, in his first appearance since coming off the concussion DL. Hopefully Detroit can get their best bullpen arms tuned up.
Victor Martinez was 2-4 with 3 RBIs. He now has 8 RBIs in his last 3 games.
Jhonny Peralta was 2-3 with 2 RBIs. Miguel Cabrera was 3-5 with an RBI double. Don Kelly was 2-5 with an RBI.
Ramon Santiago had an RBI single and Delmon Young was 2-3 with a walk. Detroit pounded out 15 hits as their offense continues to click.
Detroit's lead over Cleveland is now 8 and half. Justin Verlander is on the hill this afternoon trying to complete the sweep.
Detroit has a 7 and a half game lead with 20 games to play. Given the recent collapses in the Tigers' past I'm not looking past anything, but at this point magic numbers to clinch start coming into play. After this series Detroit has 3 games against Cleveland in Detroit as the final series of the season. They'd certainly like to be clinched by then so they can arrange Justin Verlander's starts to maximize his availability the way they want it in the playoffs. Two years ago he wasn't available for the one game playoff at Minnesota because they needed him to pitch the second to last game of the season I think it was.
Detroit has 3 more games at Chicago, so the teams trailing do get a bit of a chance to cut into the lead. At this point though they'd need help. Other those series Detroit plays 4 at Oakland, 2 at Kansas City, and hosts Baltimore for 4 in the season's second to last series.
Rick Porcello allowed 1 run on a solo home, 3 hits in all, in 6.1 innings pitched. He upped his record to 13-8 on the season.
Al Alburquerque pitched two-thirds of an inning of relief, striking out two, but walking 2, in his first appearance since coming off the concussion DL. Hopefully Detroit can get their best bullpen arms tuned up.
Victor Martinez was 2-4 with 3 RBIs. He now has 8 RBIs in his last 3 games.
Jhonny Peralta was 2-3 with 2 RBIs. Miguel Cabrera was 3-5 with an RBI double. Don Kelly was 2-5 with an RBI.
Ramon Santiago had an RBI single and Delmon Young was 2-3 with a walk. Detroit pounded out 15 hits as their offense continues to click.
Detroit's lead over Cleveland is now 8 and half. Justin Verlander is on the hill this afternoon trying to complete the sweep.
Detroit has a 7 and a half game lead with 20 games to play. Given the recent collapses in the Tigers' past I'm not looking past anything, but at this point magic numbers to clinch start coming into play. After this series Detroit has 3 games against Cleveland in Detroit as the final series of the season. They'd certainly like to be clinched by then so they can arrange Justin Verlander's starts to maximize his availability the way they want it in the playoffs. Two years ago he wasn't available for the one game playoff at Minnesota because they needed him to pitch the second to last game of the season I think it was.
Detroit has 3 more games at Chicago, so the teams trailing do get a bit of a chance to cut into the lead. At this point though they'd need help. Other those series Detroit plays 4 at Oakland, 2 at Kansas City, and hosts Baltimore for 4 in the season's second to last series.
Monday, September 5, 2011
my first WTF of the new college football season
I just tuned into the Miami-Maryland game. Maryland is wearing some ugly ass helmet that is a fusion of two paint schemes on each side. It looks like fugly on one side, diarrhea spatter pattern on the other. I'm trying to find a picture of this abomination.
the Tigers keep rolling
Coming off of last night's crushing win to sweep Chicago in a game that perhaps made a huge statement about the rest of the AL Central race, Detroit had to make a quick turnaround for a day game at Cleveland. Three more good games and maybe, just maybe, Detroit can put the race away.
Mission accomplished in game one, in another very satisfying win. Doug Fister, who Detroit acquired after their negotiations to get Ubaldo Jimenez fell apart, outdueled Jimenez today in a battle of trading deadline starting pitcher acquisitions. Fister struck out a career high 13 in 8 innings pitched. He allowed 2 runs, 1 earned, and improved his record as a Tiger to 4-1. He's now 7-13 on the season and has won more games for Detroit in 5 weeks than he did with Seattle in over 3 months.
Detroit beat Jimenez for the second time since he was acquired, this time by a score of 4-2. Victor Martinez hit a 3-run homer off of Jimenez, his 9th of the season. It's the second homer that V-Mart has hit off of Jimenez in those two games.
Miguel Cabrera also drove in a run. Delmon Young was 2-4 and Ramon Santiago was 2-3 with a double.
Jose Valverde pitched a perfect 9th for his 41st save of the season. Detroit is now 14-4 since the first game of the last Cleveland series, when the Indians came to Detroit only 1.5 games back. Now Detroit is 7.5 games up, its largest lead of the season.
In one piece of bad news, it was announced that Brennan Boesch will be having surgery scheduled to repair a torn thumb ligament in the next few days. He's played only once since August 24th as the trainers worked to get him and the thumb through the rest of the season. It's become apparent that won't happen and the surgery will end his season.
Boesch's bat will certainly be missed. Delmon Young will certainly help fill that gap, but that means that Magglio Ordonez will be getting alot more at-bats. Maggs is hitting .375 over the last 3 weeks or so. Hopefully he can find some of his old magic for one final run with the Tigers.
Mission accomplished in game one, in another very satisfying win. Doug Fister, who Detroit acquired after their negotiations to get Ubaldo Jimenez fell apart, outdueled Jimenez today in a battle of trading deadline starting pitcher acquisitions. Fister struck out a career high 13 in 8 innings pitched. He allowed 2 runs, 1 earned, and improved his record as a Tiger to 4-1. He's now 7-13 on the season and has won more games for Detroit in 5 weeks than he did with Seattle in over 3 months.
Detroit beat Jimenez for the second time since he was acquired, this time by a score of 4-2. Victor Martinez hit a 3-run homer off of Jimenez, his 9th of the season. It's the second homer that V-Mart has hit off of Jimenez in those two games.
Miguel Cabrera also drove in a run. Delmon Young was 2-4 and Ramon Santiago was 2-3 with a double.
Jose Valverde pitched a perfect 9th for his 41st save of the season. Detroit is now 14-4 since the first game of the last Cleveland series, when the Indians came to Detroit only 1.5 games back. Now Detroit is 7.5 games up, its largest lead of the season.
In one piece of bad news, it was announced that Brennan Boesch will be having surgery scheduled to repair a torn thumb ligament in the next few days. He's played only once since August 24th as the trainers worked to get him and the thumb through the rest of the season. It's become apparent that won't happen and the surgery will end his season.
Boesch's bat will certainly be missed. Delmon Young will certainly help fill that gap, but that means that Magglio Ordonez will be getting alot more at-bats. Maggs is hitting .375 over the last 3 weeks or so. Hopefully he can find some of his old magic for one final run with the Tigers.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
possibly the most satisfying Tiger game I have ever seen on TV
The finale of the White Sox-Tigers series was ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball Game tonight. Detroit finished off a series sweep in crushing fashion. Detroit destroyed Chicago 18-2 tonight, scoring 16 runs on 22 hits in the first 6 innings.
Chicago scratched 2 runs across in the top of the 9th off Duane Below to avoid the ugliest shutout loss of the baseball season. They settled for the second biggest beat down of the year, behind only a 19-1 pounding that Cleveland put on KC back in April.
The accolades go on and on. Every Tiger starter had a hit by the 6th inning. 11 Tigers had hits in all. 7 guys drove in runs. 10 guys scored runs.
Miguel Cabrera was 2-4 with a 2-run homer that traveled 435 feet to dead center field and a 2-run double. He had 4 RBIs. Jhonny Peralta was 2-5 with a double and 3 RBIs. Victor Martinez was 3-5 with a double and 2 RBIs. Alex Avila was 4-6 with a double and 2 RBIs. Andy Dirks came in as a defensive replacement but was still 2-3 with a 2 run homer (his 7th of the season) and a 2 run single to tack on 4 RBIs.
Brandon Inge was 3-5 with an RBI, and Delmon Young was 2-4 with an RBI. Magglio Ordonez was 2-4 as well. The hot hitting Austin Jackson was 2-5 with a double and scored 3 times. His batting average is up to .261. I don't think it's a coincidence that he's 15-24 with 3 doubles, 3 triples, 2 home runs, 5 RBIs and 12 runs scored in the last 5 games, while Detroit's offense has scored 5, 8, 8, 9, and 18 runs in that time. He's starting or prolonging rallies rather than killing them and finally getting on base a ton where the guys who have been pretty hot all year behind him can drive him in.
In all Detroit pounded out 24 hits. It was a season high in runs and hits by the 6th inning. Detroit pounded Mark Buehrle for 8 runs, 7 earned, on 10 hits in 3.1 innings pitched. It's the most runs Buehrle has given up in 2 years. He's normally tough on the Tigers.
Max Scherzer stayed sharp through 2 very long Tiger half innings, their 5 run 4th and 7 run 6th, to pitch 7 shutout innings. He allowed 5 hits and struck out 6 to improve to 14-8 on the season. The win wasn't in doubt tonight. The quality of his start was what was important as Detroit tries to get all of the non-Justin Verlander cylinders firing for a playoff push then hopefully a post-season run.
Detroit's now up 6.5 games on Cleveland and 8.5 on Chicago. But they head to Cleveland to start a series tomorrow afternoon.
A 6+ game lead at Labor Day is nice. But it ain't over til it's over. Detroit hasn't won a division title since winning the AL East in 1987. They've had division leads in September 4 times since then, having but one wild card appearance to show for it.
Chicago scratched 2 runs across in the top of the 9th off Duane Below to avoid the ugliest shutout loss of the baseball season. They settled for the second biggest beat down of the year, behind only a 19-1 pounding that Cleveland put on KC back in April.
The accolades go on and on. Every Tiger starter had a hit by the 6th inning. 11 Tigers had hits in all. 7 guys drove in runs. 10 guys scored runs.
Miguel Cabrera was 2-4 with a 2-run homer that traveled 435 feet to dead center field and a 2-run double. He had 4 RBIs. Jhonny Peralta was 2-5 with a double and 3 RBIs. Victor Martinez was 3-5 with a double and 2 RBIs. Alex Avila was 4-6 with a double and 2 RBIs. Andy Dirks came in as a defensive replacement but was still 2-3 with a 2 run homer (his 7th of the season) and a 2 run single to tack on 4 RBIs.
Brandon Inge was 3-5 with an RBI, and Delmon Young was 2-4 with an RBI. Magglio Ordonez was 2-4 as well. The hot hitting Austin Jackson was 2-5 with a double and scored 3 times. His batting average is up to .261. I don't think it's a coincidence that he's 15-24 with 3 doubles, 3 triples, 2 home runs, 5 RBIs and 12 runs scored in the last 5 games, while Detroit's offense has scored 5, 8, 8, 9, and 18 runs in that time. He's starting or prolonging rallies rather than killing them and finally getting on base a ton where the guys who have been pretty hot all year behind him can drive him in.
In all Detroit pounded out 24 hits. It was a season high in runs and hits by the 6th inning. Detroit pounded Mark Buehrle for 8 runs, 7 earned, on 10 hits in 3.1 innings pitched. It's the most runs Buehrle has given up in 2 years. He's normally tough on the Tigers.
Max Scherzer stayed sharp through 2 very long Tiger half innings, their 5 run 4th and 7 run 6th, to pitch 7 shutout innings. He allowed 5 hits and struck out 6 to improve to 14-8 on the season. The win wasn't in doubt tonight. The quality of his start was what was important as Detroit tries to get all of the non-Justin Verlander cylinders firing for a playoff push then hopefully a post-season run.
Detroit's now up 6.5 games on Cleveland and 8.5 on Chicago. But they head to Cleveland to start a series tomorrow afternoon.
A 6+ game lead at Labor Day is nice. But it ain't over til it's over. Detroit hasn't won a division title since winning the AL East in 1987. They've had division leads in September 4 times since then, having but one wild card appearance to show for it.
In Game Observation: White Sox at Tigers
I am very gleefully watching Detroit crush the White Sox. This is getting so ugly though I'm almost starting to feel bad for the Sox. Detroit has scored 16 runs on 22 hits and there are only 2 outs in the bottom of the 6th. Those are season highs for runs and hits.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
NC State's season opener was The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The Good: State pulled away from Liberty in the second half and won 43-21. They did it with some defense and special teams. State had 4 interceptions and recovered 3 fumbles. Liberty's mobile quarterback tossed 3 of those INTs and lost all 3 fumbles, one of which was returned 52 yards for a Wolfpack TD. TJ Graham also had an 82 yard punt return for a TD in the first half.
Curtis Underwood carried 14 times for 114 yards and a TD. James Washington carried 14 times for 67 yards and 2 TDs. State was finally able to wear down Liberty's defensive line in the second half and ripped open big gains on the ground, especially in the 4th quarter.
The Bad: All of this was against Liberty, an FCS divison team. Even though they are the 4 time reigning Big South champions it's still an FSC team. Liberty outgained NC State 406-318. It was Liberty's defense that was more aggressive throughout, dialing up blitzes and getting pressure on Mike Glennon who seemed immobile and slow to release the ball in the pocket, and not feel the pressure. He got drilled from the blind side a couple times, one of which forced a fumble that Liberty returned for a TD.
The Ugly: Mike Glennon was 18-31 for 156 yards with 1 TD and no interceptions in his first career start. He was rushed and harassed by the Liberty pressure and seemed out of sync with his receivers.
State's kicker missed an extra point and had a second one blocked.
State won it but they have Wake Forest next week at Wake. They have alot to improve on or they'll get beat handily.
Curtis Underwood carried 14 times for 114 yards and a TD. James Washington carried 14 times for 67 yards and 2 TDs. State was finally able to wear down Liberty's defensive line in the second half and ripped open big gains on the ground, especially in the 4th quarter.
The Bad: All of this was against Liberty, an FCS divison team. Even though they are the 4 time reigning Big South champions it's still an FSC team. Liberty outgained NC State 406-318. It was Liberty's defense that was more aggressive throughout, dialing up blitzes and getting pressure on Mike Glennon who seemed immobile and slow to release the ball in the pocket, and not feel the pressure. He got drilled from the blind side a couple times, one of which forced a fumble that Liberty returned for a TD.
The Ugly: Mike Glennon was 18-31 for 156 yards with 1 TD and no interceptions in his first career start. He was rushed and harassed by the Liberty pressure and seemed out of sync with his receivers.
State's kicker missed an extra point and had a second one blocked.
State won it but they have Wake Forest next week at Wake. They have alot to improve on or they'll get beat handily.
Detroit rallied to stun the White Sox tonight
Detroit was trailing 8-1 in the 5th inning with Brad Penny surrendering 8 runs, 4 earned, on 10 hits in that time.
Then the rally began. The rally was paused by a rain delay (the same storms that led to the Michigan football game being ended early). It then reached its crowning glory with 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th on 2 home runs. Ryan Raburn tied the game at 8 with his 12th homer of the season . It scored Austin Jackson, who had led off the 9th with his 2nd triple of the game. Two batters later Miguel Cabrera ended it with his 25th home run of the season. All that off of a White Sox reliever who had not allowed a run in his last 30 appearances on the road, dating back to last season.
There were plenty of heroes. Austin Jackson was 4-5 with 2 triples. He scored twice and stole his 20th base. He's now 13-18 in his last 4 games with 3 triples, 2 home runs, 5 RBIs and 9 runs scored. He's pushed his batting average up to .259.
Delmon Young was 2-5 with his 4th Tiger home run and 2 RBIs. Wilson Betemit hit his 3rd Tiger home run. Miguel Cabrera added an RBI double before his walk-off home run. Jhonny Peralta also drove in a run.
The late offensive surge earned Luis Marte his first big league win. Marte pitched the top of the 9th. David Pauley also pitched 3 innings of one-hit ball prior to that, by far his best outing as a Tiger.
With the win Detroit gained another game on the White Sox and also a game on Cleveland. They now have a 6.5 game lead in the division and are a season high 15 games over .500 at 77-62.
Then the rally began. The rally was paused by a rain delay (the same storms that led to the Michigan football game being ended early). It then reached its crowning glory with 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th on 2 home runs. Ryan Raburn tied the game at 8 with his 12th homer of the season . It scored Austin Jackson, who had led off the 9th with his 2nd triple of the game. Two batters later Miguel Cabrera ended it with his 25th home run of the season. All that off of a White Sox reliever who had not allowed a run in his last 30 appearances on the road, dating back to last season.
There were plenty of heroes. Austin Jackson was 4-5 with 2 triples. He scored twice and stole his 20th base. He's now 13-18 in his last 4 games with 3 triples, 2 home runs, 5 RBIs and 9 runs scored. He's pushed his batting average up to .259.
Delmon Young was 2-5 with his 4th Tiger home run and 2 RBIs. Wilson Betemit hit his 3rd Tiger home run. Miguel Cabrera added an RBI double before his walk-off home run. Jhonny Peralta also drove in a run.
The late offensive surge earned Luis Marte his first big league win. Marte pitched the top of the 9th. David Pauley also pitched 3 innings of one-hit ball prior to that, by far his best outing as a Tiger.
With the win Detroit gained another game on the White Sox and also a game on Cleveland. They now have a 6.5 game lead in the division and are a season high 15 games over .500 at 77-62.
Michigan beat Western Michigan 34-10
The game was called with about a minute and 20 seconds to play in the third quarter, following the second 30 minute lightning delay in the third quarter. The first came just a minute after halftime, just after Michigan had a 3 and out in torrential rain. This was the first rain shortened game in Michigan history, and the first football game I've ever seen end early due to weather.
After play resumed Michigan pulled away on its second defensive touchdown. Michael Shaw then had a 44 yard touchdown run, 2 plays after he's ripped off a 42 yard gain pretty much on the same play up the middle.
I don't know that we honestly learned much. Denard Robinson was 9-13 for 98 yards. He also rushed 8 times for 46 yards. His longest was a 12 yarder, and that on a scramble when he couldn't find an open receiver. There were a couple designed runs but it definitely wasn't All Denard, All the Time. Fitzgerald Toussaint rushed 11 times for 80 yards and 2 TDs. That's right, a running back led the team in rushing attempts.
The offense could have used another quarter of reps. On the defense end, they made a couple big plays. There is more to the defense than the TDs they score. They seemed more aggressive in dialing up blitzes and put the squeeze on the Western Michigan passing game by getting to the QB more and more as the game progressed.
How will that translate to better opposition? We'll find out next week when Notre Dame comes to Ann Arbor for the first ever night game at the Big House.
We didn't get much of a look at Michigan's offense other than the obvious formation and emphasis differences. Notre Dame also didn't get that much of a look.
After play resumed Michigan pulled away on its second defensive touchdown. Michael Shaw then had a 44 yard touchdown run, 2 plays after he's ripped off a 42 yard gain pretty much on the same play up the middle.
I don't know that we honestly learned much. Denard Robinson was 9-13 for 98 yards. He also rushed 8 times for 46 yards. His longest was a 12 yarder, and that on a scramble when he couldn't find an open receiver. There were a couple designed runs but it definitely wasn't All Denard, All the Time. Fitzgerald Toussaint rushed 11 times for 80 yards and 2 TDs. That's right, a running back led the team in rushing attempts.
The offense could have used another quarter of reps. On the defense end, they made a couple big plays. There is more to the defense than the TDs they score. They seemed more aggressive in dialing up blitzes and put the squeeze on the Western Michigan passing game by getting to the QB more and more as the game progressed.
How will that translate to better opposition? We'll find out next week when Notre Dame comes to Ann Arbor for the first ever night game at the Big House.
We didn't get much of a look at Michigan's offense other than the obvious formation and emphasis differences. Notre Dame also didn't get that much of a look.
In game observation: Liberty at NC State
NC State is making Liberty's defense look like Nebraska. I realize that Mike Glennon is not Russell Wilson, but the offense is just not dynamic. Receivers aren't getting into space to get open. State's offensive sets just aren't generating any misdirection or confusion in Liberty's defense. Everything is rushed. Most everything is into coverage. The running game is non-existent. The loss of Jarvis Williams and Spencer Owen seems to be a huge problem in addition to the quarterback change.
In game observation: Liberty at NC State
A bit over a quarter does not a season make. However in this early stage it looks like defenses are going to be dialing up the blitzes on Mike Glennon while he stands in the pocket like a statue. Liberty dialed up another corner blitz and got to Glennon again. That time it was a hit from the blindside that he never saw. The result was a fumble, returned for a TD by Liberty. It's 7-3 Liberty.
In Game Update: Liberty at NC State
Early on in NC State's season debut it looks like State hasn't practiced. Mike Glennon started 2-6 for 19 yards. They didn't get a first down until their 3rd drive, and that was on a 16 yard third down scramble by Glennon.
It's been Glennon throws into double coverage and 1 yard and a cloud of dust for the running game. Liberty on the other hand has moved the ball but stalled in the red zone. Their defense has blitzed and gotten pressure on Glennon, including a sack on a corner blitz.
It's been Glennon throws into double coverage and 1 yard and a cloud of dust for the running game. Liberty on the other hand has moved the ball but stalled in the red zone. Their defense has blitzed and gotten pressure on Glennon, including a sack on a corner blitz.
In Game Update: Western Michigan at Michigan
The defense strikes again! Are they better than last year? Today they are, at least in the big play department. Michigan's defense delivers another touchdown. After a crushing sack on the QB it was Brandon Herron again, scooping up a fumble and taking it to the endzone from 28 yards out.
In Game Update: Western Michigan at Michigan
DEFENSE! DEFENSE! Michigan's defense makes a stand in the red zone. They got pressure to the QB and a hand up. A tipped pass leads to a 95 yard interception return to the house for linebacker Brandon Herron.
The defense cranked up the intensity on the next Western Michigan possession to force a 3-and-out, almost turning another tipped pass into an INT.
The interception return was the longest in modern Michigan history (since 1948). It was also their first Pick 6 since 2009.
The defense cranked up the intensity on the next Western Michigan possession to force a 3-and-out, almost turning another tipped pass into an INT.
The interception return was the longest in modern Michigan history (since 1948). It was also their first Pick 6 since 2009.
In Game Update: Western Michigan at Michigan
I got home just in time for Michigan's first offensive possession. Michigan scored on their first possession. The offense looked more healthily balanced. There were some designed quarterback runs, which is of course going to be a strength with a weapon as dynamic as Denard Robinson. But there was also a quick out to a wide receiver, a slant, a sighting of a pass to a tight end, and the good old handoff to the deep back.
We know what the offense can do, even if it will look different than the last two years. What I want to see is what the defense will look like. So far they're not making any more stops than they did the last couple years.
We know what the offense can do, even if it will look different than the last two years. What I want to see is what the defense will look like. So far they're not making any more stops than they did the last couple years.
Friday, September 2, 2011
One college football Cinderella gets her glass slipper shattered in week 1
Over the past couple seasons the two BCS Busters have been Boise State and TCU. Last year it was TCU going undefeated but not getting invited to the BCS Championship Game. Their consolation prize was the Rose Bowl, and they beat Wisconsin.
This season if there will be a BCS Buster it will be Boise State. We'll see how they do against Georgia tomorrow in the Kickoff Classic in the Georgia Dome. TCU went down 50-58 at Baylor. Baylor gets a huge upset over the #14 team in the country. Even if TCU had completed a comeback from a 21 point deficit to win, and they did have a lead late until Baylor kicked the game winning field goal with about a minute to play, giving up almost 50 points to Baylor wouldn't have impressed the BCS. That probably would have ended their BCS aspirations for this year, undefeated or not. Last year TCU was able to tout their #1 statistically ranked defense as part of their BCS resume.
One Cinderella down. Boise State to go. The other thorn in the BCS's side in recent years, Utah, is now a member of the Pac-10...err...12. If you can't beat the BCS, join 'em. Next season TCU joins the Big East. The Big East may be the Detroit Lions of the BCS, but they're in the BCS nonetheless.
This season if there will be a BCS Buster it will be Boise State. We'll see how they do against Georgia tomorrow in the Kickoff Classic in the Georgia Dome. TCU went down 50-58 at Baylor. Baylor gets a huge upset over the #14 team in the country. Even if TCU had completed a comeback from a 21 point deficit to win, and they did have a lead late until Baylor kicked the game winning field goal with about a minute to play, giving up almost 50 points to Baylor wouldn't have impressed the BCS. That probably would have ended their BCS aspirations for this year, undefeated or not. Last year TCU was able to tout their #1 statistically ranked defense as part of their BCS resume.
One Cinderella down. Boise State to go. The other thorn in the BCS's side in recent years, Utah, is now a member of the Pac-10...err...12. If you can't beat the BCS, join 'em. Next season TCU joins the Big East. The Big East may be the Detroit Lions of the BCS, but they're in the BCS nonetheless.
some more Justin Verlander milestones after tonight
With the win tonight Justin Verlander is the first Tigers pitcher since Denny McClain in 1968 to earn wins in 9 straight starts.
Verlander is now the third pitcher in the last 30 years to win 15 games in a season following a loss for his team. Verlander is now 15-3 with a 1.74 ERA following a Tigers loss this season. Kinda sad that he has only 6 wins in games after a Tiger victory. That's why they need better pitching out of the #5 spot so they can string together more winning streaks. Doug Fister has helped but the 5 spot is still4-13 (4-15 after some specific research) on the season by my quick count.
The other two pitchers who have won 15 games after team losses are Felix Hernandez for Seattle in 2009 and Roger Clemens for Boston in 1992.
Verlander is now the third pitcher in the last 30 years to win 15 games in a season following a loss for his team. Verlander is now 15-3 with a 1.74 ERA following a Tigers loss this season. Kinda sad that he has only 6 wins in games after a Tiger victory. That's why they need better pitching out of the #5 spot so they can string together more winning streaks. Doug Fister has helped but the 5 spot is still
The other two pitchers who have won 15 games after team losses are Felix Hernandez for Seattle in 2009 and Roger Clemens for Boston in 1992.
The Offense scoring runs + Justin Verlander on the hill = Verlander win #21
Detroit scored 3 runs in the first inning and 5 in the 5th. That was more than enough for Justin Verlander. Verlander took a shutout into the 8th. He ended up giving up 1 run on a solo homer in 7.1 innings pitched. Joaquin Benoit came in to get him out of a bases loaded 1 out jam fueled by back to back infield hits. Verlander's line: 1 run on 7 hits with 6 strikeouts in 7.1 innings pitched. He's now 21-5 on the season.
It was a big 8-1 win over the White Sox as Detroit works to surrender no ground to its two pursuers, Cleveland and Chicago, in the Central.
Austin Jackson continued his recent hot hitting. He was 3-5 with his 9th home run of the season and 2 RBIs. In his last 3 games he's 9-14 with 2 homers, 4 RBIs, and 7 runs scored.
Jhonny Peralta delivered a bases loaded double that cleared them in the 5th inning. Delmon Young had an RBI triple in the first. Miguel Cabrera singled him home. He then stole second base and scored on an Alex Avila single.
Brandon Inge was 2-4 on the game as he took over 3rd place on Detroit's all-time games played at third base.
In another milestone the win was Jim Leyland's 500th as a Tiger. He becomes the 5th Tiger manager to reach 500 wins with the club.
It was a big 8-1 win over the White Sox as Detroit works to surrender no ground to its two pursuers, Cleveland and Chicago, in the Central.
Austin Jackson continued his recent hot hitting. He was 3-5 with his 9th home run of the season and 2 RBIs. In his last 3 games he's 9-14 with 2 homers, 4 RBIs, and 7 runs scored.
Jhonny Peralta delivered a bases loaded double that cleared them in the 5th inning. Delmon Young had an RBI triple in the first. Miguel Cabrera singled him home. He then stole second base and scored on an Alex Avila single.
Brandon Inge was 2-4 on the game as he took over 3rd place on Detroit's all-time games played at third base.
In another milestone the win was Jim Leyland's 500th as a Tiger. He becomes the 5th Tiger manager to reach 500 wins with the club.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
In game observation: UNLV at Wisconsin
This is Russell Wilson's debut for Wisconsin. He's got alot more weapons available to him than he had at State, particularly in the running game. Wisconsin running for 100 yards in a game is a given. It's only a question of whether or not they'll rush for 200. 200 for Wisconsin is what 100 is for NC State. Wilson can just play off that and doesn't have to carry everything.
The end result tonight so far: 9-12 for 214 yards and 2 TDs. He's completed a 63 and a 39 yard pass to running backs out of the backfield. Wilson has rushed twice for 62 yards, including a career long 46 yard run for a TD.
The end result he's been a dual threat. He's picked apart UNLV's defense as they've brought 8 guys into the box to stop the run. Obviously the defenses will get better than UNLV's. But Wilson's got alot of tools and he's got alot of weapons that he can lead. Maybe his stats won't be as gaudy as the last couple years at State, but he's going to lead a very good team.
The end result tonight so far: 9-12 for 214 yards and 2 TDs. He's completed a 63 and a 39 yard pass to running backs out of the backfield. Wilson has rushed twice for 62 yards, including a career long 46 yard run for a TD.
The end result he's been a dual threat. He's picked apart UNLV's defense as they've brought 8 guys into the box to stop the run. Obviously the defenses will get better than UNLV's. But Wilson's got alot of tools and he's got alot of weapons that he can lead. Maybe his stats won't be as gaudy as the last couple years at State, but he's going to lead a very good team.
Tigers lost a slugfest in the series finale against KC
Jacob Turner's second big league start didn't go as well as his first right before the trading deadline. He gave up 7 runs, 6 earned, in 4.1 innings pitched.
Detroit put up enough offense to spare him a loss, but the bullpen couldn't hold an 8-6 lead. Phil Coke got tagged for the loss, allowing 3 runs without retiring a batter, to fall to 2-9 on the season.
Magglio Ordonez had a throwback game. He was 3-4 with his 5th homer of the season, 2 doubles, and 3 RBIs. For good measure he even stole third base in the third inning when KC fell asleep. It was only his 2nd steal of the year but he was opportunistic.
Austin Jackson was 2-5 with his 8th home run of the season and a double. He drove in 2 runs. Delmon Young had an RBI double. Miguel Cabrera drove in a run, and Alex Avila was 2-4 with a double.
KC went on to win though 11-8.
In a personal milestone, Brandon Inge played his 979th game at third base for Detroit, tying Tom Brookens for 3rd place in Tiger history at the position.
Detroit put up enough offense to spare him a loss, but the bullpen couldn't hold an 8-6 lead. Phil Coke got tagged for the loss, allowing 3 runs without retiring a batter, to fall to 2-9 on the season.
Magglio Ordonez had a throwback game. He was 3-4 with his 5th homer of the season, 2 doubles, and 3 RBIs. For good measure he even stole third base in the third inning when KC fell asleep. It was only his 2nd steal of the year but he was opportunistic.
Austin Jackson was 2-5 with his 8th home run of the season and a double. He drove in 2 runs. Delmon Young had an RBI double. Miguel Cabrera drove in a run, and Alex Avila was 2-4 with a double.
KC went on to win though 11-8.
In a personal milestone, Brandon Inge played his 979th game at third base for Detroit, tying Tom Brookens for 3rd place in Tiger history at the position.
Detroit's activity as the rosters expand
Major League rosters expanded to 40 effective today. Being in a pennant race Detroit wasn't going to be calling up 15 players since they will be playing meaningful games and they don't have 15 players ready to jump from the minors to the glare of a pennant race.
But they did reactivate Carlos Guillen from the 15-day DL and call up Will Rhymes, Andy Dirks, Jacob Turner, and right handed pitcher Luis Marte from AA.
Rhymes and Dirks of course have big league experience, and Dirks was on the big league roster until a couple weeks ago when he was sent down to make room for Delmon Young after that trade.
Justin Turner is being brought up to start against Kansas City today. Detroit wants to give Justin Verlander one more day of rest so he can pitch against the White Sox, who are trying to make a move in the Central, tomorrow.
Luis Marte is a hard throwing reliever who has averaged well over a strikeout an inning in the minors. Bringing a pitcher with nasty stuff, who major league hitters haven't yet seen and scouted, can be an edge in a pennant race and even in the playoffs.
The Angels were successful unveiling Francisco Rodriguez that way during their run to the World Title some years ago. Tampa Bay did the same thing with David Price a few years ago when they went to the World Series. Detroit also took advantage of that with Joel Zumaya in 2006, though he was up for pretty much the entire season.
Maybe it will work here. If Al Alburquerque is back to form after his return from the concussion DL in a few days (he was hit in the head with a ball during batting practice a couple weeks ago) that will be another power arm in the pen. Alburquerque, Marte, Benoit, and Valverde. Phil Coke is also getting back to his nasty form. That could make for a formidable bullpen even if David Pauley doesn't duplicate what he'd done in Seattle.
Honestly Pauley might not even make the 25 man post-season roster if Marte does pan out.
But they did reactivate Carlos Guillen from the 15-day DL and call up Will Rhymes, Andy Dirks, Jacob Turner, and right handed pitcher Luis Marte from AA.
Rhymes and Dirks of course have big league experience, and Dirks was on the big league roster until a couple weeks ago when he was sent down to make room for Delmon Young after that trade.
Justin Turner is being brought up to start against Kansas City today. Detroit wants to give Justin Verlander one more day of rest so he can pitch against the White Sox, who are trying to make a move in the Central, tomorrow.
Luis Marte is a hard throwing reliever who has averaged well over a strikeout an inning in the minors. Bringing a pitcher with nasty stuff, who major league hitters haven't yet seen and scouted, can be an edge in a pennant race and even in the playoffs.
The Angels were successful unveiling Francisco Rodriguez that way during their run to the World Title some years ago. Tampa Bay did the same thing with David Price a few years ago when they went to the World Series. Detroit also took advantage of that with Joel Zumaya in 2006, though he was up for pretty much the entire season.
Maybe it will work here. If Al Alburquerque is back to form after his return from the concussion DL in a few days (he was hit in the head with a ball during batting practice a couple weeks ago) that will be another power arm in the pen. Alburquerque, Marte, Benoit, and Valverde. Phil Coke is also getting back to his nasty form. That could make for a formidable bullpen even if David Pauley doesn't duplicate what he'd done in Seattle.
Honestly Pauley might not even make the 25 man post-season roster if Marte does pan out.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
How does Matt Millen get jobs again?
From http://awfulannouncing.com/2011-articles/august/matt-millen-jarrett-lee-miami-qb-lsu-espn-sportscenter.html
I see that Matt Millen is going to be as good as a college football analyst as he was an NFL GM for the Lions....
I see that Matt Millen is going to be as good as a college football analyst as he was an NFL GM for the Lions....
A phenomenal re-tweet by Jay Bilas
I'd retweet this myself but it wouldn't be seen by anyone who could appreciate it.
JayBilas Jay Bilas
Only when they want someone to speak in complete sentences. bit.ly/oMTlSV RT @mikeboch They let Duke graduates speak at Maryland?
another 1 run victory for Detroit
It was a quick turnaround from last night's late extra inning game to today's day game. Luckily Detroit's bullpen was in pretty good shape since Doug Fister went so deep in last night's game. Probably the only unavailable pitcher was Joaquin Benoit, who went 2 innings last night and got the win.
Detroit scored 3 times in the bottom of the 8th inning. Wilson Betemit broke a 4-4 tie with an RBI double.
Austin Jackson was 4-4 with 3 runs scored. He doubled and tripled. For good measure he also stole his 19th base of the season and threw out a runner at third base.
Victor Martinez, Delmon Young, and the suddenly hot hitting Ramon Santiago all drove in runs. Miguel Cabrera was also 2-4 with a double.
Daniel Schlereth earned the win, pitching1 inning in relief of Rick Porcello. He's now 2-1 on the season. Porcello gave up 4 runs on 8 hits in 7 innings pitched. Jose Valverde pitched the 9th for his 40th save of the season.
Detroit scored 3 times in the bottom of the 8th inning. Wilson Betemit broke a 4-4 tie with an RBI double.
Austin Jackson was 4-4 with 3 runs scored. He doubled and tripled. For good measure he also stole his 19th base of the season and threw out a runner at third base.
Victor Martinez, Delmon Young, and the suddenly hot hitting Ramon Santiago all drove in runs. Miguel Cabrera was also 2-4 with a double.
Daniel Schlereth earned the win, pitching1 inning in relief of Rick Porcello. He's now 2-1 on the season. Porcello gave up 4 runs on 8 hits in 7 innings pitched. Jose Valverde pitched the 9th for his 40th save of the season.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
the last two nights Detroit has split with Kansas City
Last night the Royals pounded Max Scherzer for 7 runs on 10 hits in 3 innings pitched. They connected for 3 home runs to drop Scherzer to 13-8 on the season. Detroit fell 9-5.
Miguel Cabrera had an RBI double. Victor Martinez, Delmon Young, and Ramon Santiago also drove in runs. But the pitching wasn't there. KC hit 3 homers and had 4 doubles.
Tonight, Ramon Santiago hit a walk-off home run with 1 out in the bottom of the 10th to send Detroit to a 2-1 win. For Santiago, who entered the game as a pinch runner in the bottom of the 9th, it was his 4th home run of the season.
Magglio Ordonez had a 2-out single in the bottom of the 8th to tie the game at 1. In the bottom of the ninth KC walked Alex Avila, Jhonny Peralta, and Ryan Raburn with 2 outs, but Wilson Betemit struck out.
Doug Fister took a no-hitter into the 7th inning before allowing a leadoff double. That runner came home to score on a sac fly to give KC the 1-0 lead. Fister allowed 1 run on 3 hits in 7.2 innings pitched, but got no run support. While he'd allowed no hits through 6, Detroit only had 1 hit through 6.
Joaquin Benoit matched his season high with 2 innings pitched. He earned the win, to up his record to 4-3 on the season.
Miguel Cabrera had an RBI double. Victor Martinez, Delmon Young, and Ramon Santiago also drove in runs. But the pitching wasn't there. KC hit 3 homers and had 4 doubles.
Tonight, Ramon Santiago hit a walk-off home run with 1 out in the bottom of the 10th to send Detroit to a 2-1 win. For Santiago, who entered the game as a pinch runner in the bottom of the 9th, it was his 4th home run of the season.
Magglio Ordonez had a 2-out single in the bottom of the 8th to tie the game at 1. In the bottom of the ninth KC walked Alex Avila, Jhonny Peralta, and Ryan Raburn with 2 outs, but Wilson Betemit struck out.
Doug Fister took a no-hitter into the 7th inning before allowing a leadoff double. That runner came home to score on a sac fly to give KC the 1-0 lead. Fister allowed 1 run on 3 hits in 7.2 innings pitched, but got no run support. While he'd allowed no hits through 6, Detroit only had 1 hit through 6.
Joaquin Benoit matched his season high with 2 innings pitched. He earned the win, to up his record to 4-3 on the season.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
another career milestone for Derek Jeter
Deter played in career game 2402 for the Yankees in a 2-0 loss against Baltimore in the first game of a doubleheader. He passed Mickey Mantle for most career appearances in a Yankees uniform.
Another franchise record, for baseball's most storied franchise, for Jeter. He was already the franchise career leader in hits and in stolen bases.
Another franchise record, for baseball's most storied franchise, for Jeter. He was already the franchise career leader in hits and in stolen bases.
Tigers could not complete the sweep of Minnesota
Brad Penny got tagged for 7 runs in 5 innings pitched to fall to 9-10 on the season. David Pauley gave up 4 more runs on 4 hit in 2 innings. His bullpen performance hasn't lived up to expectations since he came over in the trade with Doug Fister.
Detroit hit into 5 double plays that kept them from putting together big innings. Ramon Santiago was 4-4 with a 2 run single. It seems like he's taken over the every day second base role, at least until Carlos Guillen is back again. Alex Avila doubled and had an RBI. Victor Martinez also drove in a run, but Detroit was routed 11-4. Still, they went 5-2 on a 7 game road trip.
Cleveland lost today so Detroit still holds a 6 and a half game lead. They'll head into September with a good sized lead in the Central. This will make the 3rd time in 6 seasons that's happened. In 2006 they played poorly down the stretch and limped to the Wild Card, though they recovered in the post-season to reach the World Series. Two years ago they faded in the final 4 games and lost a 1 game playoff at Minnesota. We'll see what happens this season. One thing they didn't have in either of those two seasons was a dominant starting pitcher. Right now Verlander is pitching like the best pitcher in the game, and that could make the difference. They have a shutdown pitcher who can go to the hill in a must win game.
Detroit hit into 5 double plays that kept them from putting together big innings. Ramon Santiago was 4-4 with a 2 run single. It seems like he's taken over the every day second base role, at least until Carlos Guillen is back again. Alex Avila doubled and had an RBI. Victor Martinez also drove in a run, but Detroit was routed 11-4. Still, they went 5-2 on a 7 game road trip.
Cleveland lost today so Detroit still holds a 6 and a half game lead. They'll head into September with a good sized lead in the Central. This will make the 3rd time in 6 seasons that's happened. In 2006 they played poorly down the stretch and limped to the Wild Card, though they recovered in the post-season to reach the World Series. Two years ago they faded in the final 4 games and lost a 1 game playoff at Minnesota. We'll see what happens this season. One thing they didn't have in either of those two seasons was a dominant starting pitcher. Right now Verlander is pitching like the best pitcher in the game, and that could make the difference. They have a shutdown pitcher who can go to the hill in a must win game.
In Tiger news yesterday, the won again
Justin Verlander went a season low 6 innings last night at Minnesota. He gave up 4 runs on back-to-back home runs in the 5th inning and a 2 run double in the 6th. But he hung in there and battled and the offense and bullpen helped. In the end, Verlander became the first pitcher to 20 wins on the season. Verlander becomes the first Tiger pitcher to win 20 since Bill Gullickson in 1991. He's the first pitcher to reach 20 before the end of August since Curt Schilling in 2002.
Jose Valverde earned save 39.
Miguel Cabrera was 2-4, hit his 24th home run, and had 2 RBIs. Alex Avila hit his 17th home run and was also 2-4. Ryan Raburn had an RBI double. Delmon Young was 2-4 with a double and an RBI. Austin Jackson also drove in a run.
Detroit has now won 7 of its last 8 games with the 6-4 victory.
Jose Valverde earned save 39.
Miguel Cabrera was 2-4, hit his 24th home run, and had 2 RBIs. Alex Avila hit his 17th home run and was also 2-4. Ryan Raburn had an RBI double. Delmon Young was 2-4 with a double and an RBI. Austin Jackson also drove in a run.
Detroit has now won 7 of its last 8 games with the 6-4 victory.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Tigers continue their recent hot play
They beat Minnesota 8-1 tonight. Rick Porcello allowed 1 run in 6.1 innings pitched, breaking a string of recent poor outings. He improved his record to 12-8 on the year.
Victor Martinez was 2-3 with a 2-run double and 4 RBI. Delmon Young tormented his former team again. He was 3-5 with 3 RBIs. Ramon Santiago also drove in a run. Detroit has now won 7 of its last 8 games.
Victor Martinez was 2-3 with a 2-run double and 4 RBI. Delmon Young tormented his former team again. He was 3-5 with 3 RBIs. Ramon Santiago also drove in a run. Detroit has now won 7 of its last 8 games.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
the Yankees busted out the lumber in epic fashion today
At one point the Yankees were down 7-1 to Oakland. Then they busted out the bats. They became the first team in history to hit 3 grand slams in a game. Robinson Cano, Russell Martin, and Curtis Granderson all connected. The Yankees beat up the Oakland bullpen to the tune of 16 runs in 3.2 innings. They routed the Athletics 22-9.
Russell Martin had 6 RBIs. Granderson had 5 to push him over 100. He's got 103 and could be the favorite for the AL MVP at this point.
Also, as a note since there were whispers that Derek Jeter was about washed up around May or June when he was hitting under .270. Jeter was 3-6 with an RBI and has his batting average at .299. Ever since he came off the DL a few games before reaching the 3000 hit landmark he's been on a tear.
Russell Martin had 6 RBIs. Granderson had 5 to push him over 100. He's got 103 and could be the favorite for the AL MVP at this point.
Also, as a note since there were whispers that Derek Jeter was about washed up around May or June when he was hitting under .270. Jeter was 3-6 with an RBI and has his batting average at .299. Ever since he came off the DL a few games before reaching the 3000 hit landmark he's been on a tear.
the Tigers split the last 2 games of the Tampa series, to take 3 of 4
Last night, the Rays won 3-2 in the 10th. The game ended when Ramon Santiago was late getting to second base for a force play on a ball fielded by Brandon Inge. The runner beat him to the bag and the winning run scored. That's the first time I can recall seeing a walk off fielders' choice in the game recap.
Duane Below was the tough luck loser. He gave up that run in 1.1 innings pitched, to fall to 0-2 on the year. Max Scherzer started and went 5. Alex Avila hit his 16th homer for Detroit and Austin Jackson had a sac fly.
Tonight, Detroit finished the series with a 2-0 win. Doug Fister struck out 5 in 7 innings. He improved to 6-13 on the season, 3-1 as a Tiger. Jose Valerde closed out the 9th for his 38th save.
Austin Jackson led off the game with his 7th home run of the season. He also added a sac fly. Jackson also stole his team leading 18th base for good measure. Wilson Betemit was 2-3. Ryan Raburn and Victor Martinez had doubles.
Duane Below was the tough luck loser. He gave up that run in 1.1 innings pitched, to fall to 0-2 on the year. Max Scherzer started and went 5. Alex Avila hit his 16th homer for Detroit and Austin Jackson had a sac fly.
Tonight, Detroit finished the series with a 2-0 win. Doug Fister struck out 5 in 7 innings. He improved to 6-13 on the season, 3-1 as a Tiger. Jose Valerde closed out the 9th for his 38th save.
Austin Jackson led off the game with his 7th home run of the season. He also added a sac fly. Jackson also stole his team leading 18th base for good measure. Wilson Betemit was 2-3. Ryan Raburn and Victor Martinez had doubles.
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