15th
April
2008
Game 14: Someone forgot to tell Minnesota
posted in 2008 season |Don’t wake a sleeping Tiger…
Tigers 6,
Twins 5
Recap:
- Nate Robertson fell behind 4-1 and left the game in the seventh with soreness on his left side.
- The bullpen closed out the game to give the Tigers a chance. Aquilino Lopez and Clay Rapada, who I saw pitch for the first time, look like they may be reliable relievers in the long run, though it’s possile to read too much into a few games for Lopez. Rapada has a funky delivery and lefty specialist written all over him. They went 1-2/3 hitless innings.
- That bought the offense time to rally. A solo homer by Carlos Guillen in the seventh cut the game to 4-2. (Gary Sheffield scored the Tigers first run on another solo homer).
- Placido Polanco drew a walk in the eighth inning, moved to third on a wild pickoff throw, and scored the tying run on a Magglio Ordonez double to right.
- Miguel Cabrera gave Detroit the two-run cushion with a homer into the Tigers left field bullpen after fighting off an 0-2 count. 6-4.
- Todd Jones scared us. Ryan Raburn almost made a web gem, as he saved a home run but dropped the ball. (And he did drop it, if we take off our Tigers colored glasses). Delmon Young did go on to score after Craig Monroe drove him in, but Jones eventually shut the door.
- Rapada got his first major league win. (By the way: he came to the Tigers from the Cubs in the Monroe trade.)
- That gives the Tigers their first winning streak — two whole games. And sweep, if you can call two games a sweep. (At this point, I can. Your mileage may vary.
Analysis
- For the first time, I really do feel like this team is the Tigers. For each of the first two wins, you could have thought “OK, this is it. They will finally turn things around.) Watching these series, I feel like they have finally caught some traction and are starting to play like expected.
- It’s not there yet. And you can’t make a season of come-from-behind victories. But there were some positive signs.
- Gary Sheffield, Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera are taking more quality swings. They’re taking more pitches. Jim Leyland has said in the past professionals like those three don’t “press.” I don’t pretend to get in their head and know. (Of course he turned around and said Cabrera was taking too much onto his shoulders, which strikes me as, oh, pressing.) But fact of the matter is, they are looking at pitches and getting better contact. That is a HUGE good sign.
- And Cabrera catching on is a must-have for a good season. Hopefully he builds on his recent successes.
- The bullpen isn’t going to be great. It won’t be top 5 in the AL or anything. But I think we’re finding there are guys who you can trust, more or less. I like Lopez. I think I’ll like Rapada. I still like Seay. I like Bautista. I like Jones (despite everything.) Fact is, it would be pretty hard to continue sucking as bad as they did during several of the first 12 games. Yes, even Jason Grilli isn’t that bad.
- The starting pitches have had several good showings. They haven’t always been rewarded. But they’re making it into the seventh and getting quality starts — or real close. Hopefully Robertson is OK.
- I like Leyland’s ninth inning defensive subs. Again, he put Brandon Inge at third base, Miguel Cabrera at first — where he looks much better — and Ryan Raburn at left, to go with Clete Thomas in center. The Tigers really show the flexibility of their bench when they do that and I think we’ll see them give up fewer runs when they’re playing with a lead and able to do that.
- Winning is fun. I’m getting the feeling this team might do all right after all.
I agree with what you said about the bullpen, all they really have to do in close games is keep us there. It helps kill rallies when the pen allows runs. Last night they kept it close and gave the line up a shot. I just feel like hitters are less likely to come up with big hits in come from behind situations when the pitching is just giving up tons of runs. They did a great job last night of keeping us in it and retiring some tough hitters.