9th
April
2008
Game 8: THE TIGERS WIN THE P… er GAME!!!
posted in 2008 season |Tigers 7,
Red Sox 2
Fans:
Recap:
- Didn’t lose
- WON
- Not sure which of those is more important.
- But I’m taking credit, if you don’t mind.
- Renteria was great, as he went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs against the team he used to play (badly) for. Fans booed him. They’ll do it even more Thursday, I’m sure.
- Marcus Thames finally played. And he homered to give the Tigers a 4-2 lead.
- Carlos Guillen homered. … and might be figuring out this first base thing.
- The stars were the bottom of the lineup. The top of the lineup did fine. The middle of the lineup — Sheffield, Ordonez, Cabrera — didn’t really do much. I think that’s a good sign the Tigers won anyway but I’d like to see those guys hit.
- Pudge threw out two basestealers.
- Jeremy Bonderman allowed one earned run in five innings. He wasn’t pitching a masterpiece, but he was pitching a win, so good enough for me. He walked four and only struck out two.
- Bobby Seay was incredible in the sixth inning. He really got the Tigers’ bullpen off on the right foot, and they cruised through four mostly painless innings without giving up a run.
Analysis
- The Tigers actually appeared to be playing the sport of baseball. The defense was not bad. It was still a bit shaky at times, but it was no where near as ugly as the previous games. They appear to finally be getting in sync.
- The bats were timely. The pitching was good enough.
- I don’t want to overstate anything. And it’s only one game. But hey, if they actually continue to play at least this level of baseball — and they are capable of playing better — they’ll be fine. Heck, they’re only 2.5 games behind the Indians!
Wow…finally.
It is amazing how a win can give you a different perspective on things. It was nice to get the win, especially since they didn’t play very well early. On the play when Guillen pulled his foot off the base, I wonder why Cabrera felt the need to triple clutch the ball before throwing it. He really took a long time to get it over there and in my mind was a big reason why the runner was called safe on that play. I had a huge problem with the first base umpire when he called Guillen for being off the bag (which was very close) and then called Mags out in the very next inning on a play where I thought the first basemen pulled his foot (although close) and may have beat it out anyway. Those two calls were inconsistent at best, and probably had a lot to do with the reputations of the first basemen involved.
Another error by Polanco…strange.
It was nice to see Bonderman settle down after struggling early, especially only giving up 2 with the bases loaded in the 2nd and walking home a run.
In my mind Pudge threw out 1.5 runners, as the only reason he got the 2nd one is that when the runner popped up after the slide his foot came off the base…but I was very happy that it happened and will take it.
Even with Jones loading the bases, what a great game by the bullpen. They really stepped up for the team last night.
I’m as thrilled as anyone to have Cabrera locked up as a Tiger for years to come, but somehow I think watching him play defense at third this season will force Brandon Inge’s many detractors to at least admit he’s been a great asset to the Tigers in the field over the last several seasons.