How Sweep It Is… A Poem

Come On Tigers, Show me something.

Show me that this 3 game sweep wasn’t a fluke.

Show me that Kenny Rogers still has an arm that can make batters flail.

Show me that Verlander is back to form.

Show me that Cabrera can still hit for the fences.

Show me that your better the White Sox, Twins, and Indians.

Show me that you can keep this type of high-quality play up.

Show me that I’m wrong, that you do care, can win, and will make the playoffs.

Show me that without 4 supposed key pitchers you can still dominate (Bonzo, Willis, Zoom-Zoom, and Rodney)

Show me that Chuck Hernandez isn’t a complete and utter moron…

Show me that the Marlboro man doesn’t need to retire, and still has a few tricks up his sleeve.

Show me that you can turn this season around.

Show Me Tigs, Show me.

Pitch Good… lack hitting, Hit good… Lack Pitching…

Justin Verlander is off crying somewhere today

He and his team suffered the plague of losing yesterday after the marvelous game on Saturday.  It was a game that Justin handed to his team, pitching 7 innings and only giving up 1 run.  Then Cruceta came in, and the wheels fell off.  A grand slam later and this was marked as another loss in the Tigs column.
I’m not gonna write much about this game, except a few notes:

-  Verlander looked strong. Period.  Finally seems to be turning the corner this season and he deserved a win yesterday.

-  Cabrera must have the most silent .276 i’ve ever seen… He still seems to be struggling at the plate to a point of embarassment  … maybe Lloyd McClendon will get off his ass and try to keep his job by getting this superstar to hit the cover off the ball again.

-  Sheffield has been hitting… THANK GOD! Hope he stays this way… cuz $13 million and batting .216 don’t add up …

-  This offense is the most rollercoaster offense I think that I’ve ever seen… 19 runs on Saturday followed up by 1 run (on a Guillen HR) on Sunday? REALLY?????

-  Am I the only person that misses Jair Jurrjens? Was he worth giving up for an aging Renteria?

-I Love this picture from the Tigers MVN blog… very amazing

WOW… did that just happen?

The Stat Line For Today’s Game

Thought that would be an appropriate start to this entry.

My feelings immediately after watching the Tigs game today can be summed up nicely in 2 words, WOW (see above) and frustrating (see below).  Tonight, your 2008 Detroit Tigers were 3 runs away from setting a team record (21 runs) for runs scored in a single game.  Yes, tonight’s game made me smile, and yet was also extremely frustrating.  Let me explain:

Tonight we saw the ridiculus “murderer’s row” type lineup that we were promised (despite what Guillen seems to think), which had me thinking… ummm Where was this the past 40 games?  Our team has the ability.  And while our starting pitching is still weak, the hitting should be there.  Tonight villified it.  I want everyone to think about something.  We have 7 games where the Tigs have hit for 7 or more runs.  Guess how many times we have gotten shutout… 7 times… THOSE NUMBERS DON’T ADD UP!!! Teams that score 19 runs in a single ball game, DO NOT GET SHUTOUT 7 TIMES, especially before the halfway mark of the season!!!  The Tigs are averaging 10.6 runs per game in the past 5 games, a fantastic ammount of runs for a team that was predicted by many to score a 1000 runs before the season started.  So, the only thing that we can hope, is that this is something that we can expect to continue.

On to the next frustrating part of this matchup today.  Nate Robertson actually didn’t pitch terribly!!! 3 runs over 5 innings is bareable from him (though not great by any means)… Where was this pitching earlier in the season against such powerhouses as the Royals?  Frustrating…

Another thing… Sheffield has been hitting. This man still belongs on the DL (IMHO), but its nice to see him being anything other then a black hole in the offense.  Another strong game again today 2 hits, 3 RBI’s, and is now batting over .200!!!! WHOOOOOOO! *sarcasm* Wake me up when he’s batting .275.

The Tigers have it in them to win, I saw it tonight, and I sincerely hope for Tigs fans alike that this is no longer going to be a rare sight, Its now or never Tigers…  Show the world what you can do.

Flex that Detroit Muscle.

Notes:

• Magglio has been a beast of late.  2 HR’s today… simply amazing, arguably the best right-handed hitter in the game.
• Cabrera still seems to be struggling to me.  He still is looking lackadaisical at the plate and swinging at bad pitches, but his play at 1st base has been very encouraging.
• Aquilino Lopez is still playing pretty damn good (2.2 IP, 1 H)
• GO WINGS!!!