Chicago has been very stubborn in relinquishing the lead completely and for whatever reason, the Tigers have been very stubborn in not taking advantage of opportunities.
especially when we have to keep sending up Porcello to defend our honor..these next 8 games are playoff games and he should not be starting.....
Great game by the pen tonight. Shutout baseball. 5 innings, 3 hits, 0 walks, and 6 strikeouts. Marte, Al Al, Benoit, and Valveda getting it done when we needed it. Getting a win with Porcello against a Royals pitcher with a 3.00 ERA is a great outcome.
First place for awhile ....hopefully the rest of the season... Dirks takes out the second basemen in the bottom of the 8th to breakup a DP and allow the winning run to score. Ajax and Avila go long to get the Tigers back to even after Porcello gives up four early runs.....Papa Grande holds....my wife says he has pitched well the last two games because he cut off that red/blond beard and shag.... Miggy has a HR #43 taken away from him as the Royals left fielder has an eternity to wait for an fly ball to fall before he reaches over the fence to rob him..... Tigers first one run win in 12 games.....
Scherzer will miss his Friday start with shoulder tightness. It makes me wonder if he has tried to throw it too hard this season. Great, gritty win by the Bengals last night. Gotta love Dirks for the DP slide. Somewhere Pete Rose is smiling. Or he's drunk.
Realistically, Scherzer is probably out until the playoffs. Muscle strain, so he should fully recover if he gets the proper rest. Too good of a pitcher to push it. This makes it even more likely that Verlander might have to pitch the last game of the season on 1 less day of rest. Hopefully the other pitchers can do their part and create some much needed space between us and the Sox.
Fister strikes out nine batters in a row between the 4th and 7th innings to set an AL record. He was breezing along with a 4-0 lead before the roof fell in during the 8th inning..giving up 4 hits and 3 runs. Benoit gives up a leadoff homer in the top of the ninth denying Fister a win, and the tigers scratch thru with the winning run by loading the bases in the bottom of the ninth. Miggy gets a hit, but strikes out on what we hope will not be the last time he bats in iger stadium this year. Lets hope that he can reach the seats in both Minneapolios and KC and we basically win all of the remaining six games....at minimum 5....and the Rays sweep the Sox...
Pretty amazing to think that Fister struck out their entire lineup consecutively to set the AL record. And we have 2 other pitchers that have been going back and forth with the AL strikeout lead this year. It really is an abnormally good starting pitching staff that we have. A day time win puts the pressure on the Sox. And they are going against a tough team. Peavy vs Shields tonight. In his last 10 starts, the Rays have won 8 times. The 2 losses were 3-5 and 0-1. Shields has allowed 0 or 1 run in 5 out those 10 games. Current playoff odds = 79.7%
These guys had it in the bag all along...they were just yanking our chain. TaS, that's why there is no reason in the world we've been hanging around .520
OK six games left in the regular season on the road vs some potential spoilers After going 7-3 during that 10 game home stand, we have turned a 3 game deficit into a 2 game lead.....and dare I say it...or is it too early? The Tigers magic number is 5!!!
The Twins would absolutely love to ruin the Tigers season. They've certainly done it before. Golf post: Does Tiger suck in Ryder Cup pairs play or what?
Keep the bubbly on ice as the Twinky Spoilers are in play. JL probably took Smyly out to early and then stayed with Villareal too long. Coke as usual gives up the key hit (HR) that breaks the 0-0 tie. (the Fielder error didn't help matters). Second guessing now, but wonder if he should have let Dotel who threw 11 pitches and 9 strikes in the 7th, in there to pitch the 8th instead of putting Villareal in there...3 walks including an INT in one inning will lose a game for you. To bad we don't have any home games left to play....
