World Series Game 2: Tigers rally behind Rogers
posted in St. Louis Cardinals, World Series |
(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Kenny Rogers threw his 23rd straight scoreless inning and a third scoreless game. He was asked about the feat and had one response: He’s no Christy Mathewson (who threw 27). But he is Kenny Rogers, and that’s pretty good in the post season in 2006. So 23, 23, 23 consecutive scoreless innings in the postseason for Rogers, and the Tigers are heading to St. Louis with a 1-1 series split after a 3-1 victory.
KEN-NY! KEN-NY! KEN-NY!
The AP article mentioned: “Rogers became only the second pitcher to have three scoreless starts in a single postseason. Christy Mathewson had three complete-game shutouts (27 innings) for the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1905 World Series.”
“Dirtgate” is going to be talked about more than anyone will want to hear I’m sure. I look at it this way: Rogers pitched better when his hand was clean than when it was dirty. That really shuts the cover on the book for me. His second through eighth innings were better than the first. The Cardinals were a bit annoyed at the moment, but they let it drop. I hope the media follow suit. Now I see how the White Sox must have felt last October.
These looked a lot more like the Tigers we’re used to. That’s good, and that’s bad. The good was the double plays turned, the fine defensive plays by Curtis Granderson, Craig Monroe and Magglio Ordonez in the outfield. The cool defense in the middle infield. We got a homer by Monroe — who is going to be known for being a capable power hitter in the national media after the five home runs October he’s hit so far — timely hitting by Sean Casey, and Carlos Gullen was great. Two interesting notes from the Elias Sports Bureau:
Craig Monroe became the fifth player to hit a home run in each of his first two World Series games. …
The Tigers have hit at least one home run in each of their 10 postseason games this year. Only two other teams did so in their first 10 games in any postseason. The Blue Jays homered in their first 10 games in 1992, and the Astros homered in their first 12 in 2004.
On the flip side, there was that whole thing with loading the bases with no outs and putting a goose-egg on the scoreboard. And, of course, Todd Jones made the ninth interesting WAY, WAY, WAY too interesting, as he is wont to do. He’s done it once each playoff series (and many times during the year) and rebounded to pitch fine. That, too, is Tigers baseball. Just Tigers baseball we havent’ seen in awhile.
So now we move to St. Louis. If they take care of their home field, Comerica Park has seen its last of the Fall Classic. But I don’t think that’s going to happen. We saw the worst of the Tigers Saturday. We just hope to see the best of them in the coming days. I think when Detroit plays its game, it’s good enough to come out of this. Which isn’t to imply anything bad about the Cardinals. They’re a fine team. But I think the Tigers are a better one. I don’t know if Nate Robertson is going to outduel Chris Carpenter Tuesday — but he doesn’t have to. He just has to keep it close, and certainly that he can do that. I am sure Detroit will take one, possibly two, and have a chance to close this out at Comerica Park.
Admit it. Yeah, it would be fun to cruise to a World Series victory in four games. But having some drama, both on-field and off, makes this pretty enjoyable, too.
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[...] Mack Avenue Tigers: A Detroit Tigers Blog » World Series Game 2: Tigers rally behind Rogers On the flip side, there was that whole thing with loading the bases with no outs and putting a goose-egg on the scoreboard. And, of course, Todd Jones made the ninth interesting WAY, WAY, WAY too interesting, as he is wont to do. He’s done it once each playoff series (and many times during the year) and rebounded to pitch fine. That, too, is Tigers baseball. Just Tigers baseball we havent’ seen in awhile. [...]
That inning we left the bases loaded was depressing. Pudge is becoming a liability at bat. I guess I can’t complain because of his defensive prowess though. A win is a win, and we can leave all the men on base we want as long as we take three out of the next five games.
We can leave men on base and win, as long as we don’t make a habit out of it. It had to happen some time. The postseason run was just too good.