Tigers/Twins Game 163 Liveblog

I felt like crap and stayed home from work today. After sleeping until noon I haven't been able to sit still. I Can't imagine what it's been like for the Tigers, who are about to let a 7 game division lead slip away in the final month of the season. Add in the distraction of the Cabrera situation, I have no idea how anyone in that clubhouse could possible be loose for this game. On the other side of the field, the Twins, Morneau-less, have been playing loose for weeks. Here we go.

4:53 PM
The lineups are posted and Granderson is leading off. If he goes 0-4 with two strikeouts, the Tigers are done. Raburn is batting 6th and Santiago getting the start at SS. One observation I made at the beginning of the season about Leyland not ever starting the same lineup two days in a row has played out this season. I still maintain that this is one reason for the Tigers offensive inconsistencies.

5:13 PM
Tigers go down 1-2-3. Granderson does NOT strike out, but Polanco does. Maggs looks a half second slow on the fastball, which is all they threw him. Also, why is Craig Sager the third man in on the broadcast? If I have to put up with him for the duration of the playoffs I'm not going to be happy.

5:28 PM
Runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out. I would have had Guillen bunt, but what do I know. Three sliders and Inge will be a strikeout victim. A low fastball gets two outs with one swing. Can you feel my optimism?

5:31 PM
Inge has a good swing and still comes up Millhouse. Laird hits a lazy fly and the leadoff double produces squat, the story of September for the Tigers. Money on the Twins scoring at least 2 in the bottom half...

5:47 PM
Maggs gets a hold of a fastball that tails in on him and takes it the other way sending Grandy in for the first run. I can hear my Mom "wooo-ing" all the way from Michigan! It would be real nice if Miggy could pound one and tag on a few more.

5:50 PM
He must have heard me. 3-0 Tigers, Bazinga! Keep pouring it on please.

6:05 PM
2 Hits, 2 flyouts and a wild pitch equal a run for the Twins. Mauer walked on four pitches and now Kubel is down 1-2, check that, Strikeout and the inning is over. A two run lead is a lot different than a 3 run lead and the Twins have 18 outs left. There is no way Porcello pitches, I mean Leyland allows Porcello to pitch, more than 6 innings. Conclusion: the Tigers need to score more runs, now, a lot more.

6:25 PM
Porcello is looking good. Set them down in order in the 4th, but like I said, he is going no further than the sixth. If the score is 3-1 at the end of 6, that would not be good.

6:50 PM
Mauer strikes out to make it two outs with no one on, then Kubel goes and hits an upper deck shot to make it 3-2. I feel ill.

7:20 PM (stretch time)
Polanco fisted one to short to end the inning and the Tigers threat. It's 3-2 and no Tigers fan can feel comfortable at this point with the way the bullpen has given away games the last two years. Who is even the setup man at this point? Perry? Lyon? I definitely would not give the ball to Lyon with this one run lead. And you know if it gets to Rodney the ninth will be interesting.

Detroit Tigers 2009 Season, Time of Death - 7:31 PM
Cabrera hits a two run homer, it's all over but the crying. There will be no need for any additional posts. I quit.

Miguel Cabrera "Wife Beater" Athletic Apparel

Bad form? Maybe, but it's the first thing that popped into my head. It's sad, but expect to see these at the game tomorrow, I'm sure I wasn't the only one to think of this:



Bad timing Miggy. I hope you are able to get your life/career together.

Stay tuned for a Sixty Feet Six Inches liveblog tomorrow, which apparently may be the only one of the postseason regular season.

P.S. Please excuse my horrible horrible photoshop skills.

I Won a Contest and You Can Too!

Just go to WaxPackRelapse and leave a comment for a chance to win some Bowman's Best cards!

Now if only the Tigers could win something tonight...

Detroit Tigers: 1985 World Series Champs!?

According to ESPN. WTF. Screenshot of tonight's game:

Tommy Hanson Signs; Mike Gonzalez Shaves (his arms).

This past weekend was a good one. I spent both Saturday and Sunday afternoon down at Nationals Park to see Chipper and the Braves. We got soaked Saturday sitting in the rain but it was worth it. Hanson pitched great and the Nats Presidential mascots were apparently unloading whatever they had in storage for random fan giveaways. I was able to score a John Halama game worn jersey from the 2005 season thanks to President Washington who apparently did not care that I was wearing a Braves jersey! Pretty cool pickup. Halama was part of the Randy Johnson to Houston trade as the player to be named later by Houston. Current Tiger Carlos Guillen and former Tiger Freddy Garcia also part of that trade. Braves won, I was happy, let's do it all again on Sunday.


Lowe pitched on Sunday and was not his best. It rained again and the Braves offense rained down as well, scoring a solid 10th inning win to get within 2.5 games of the wild card leading Rockies. Even better, though there was no batting practice (ironic since it was sunny and warm before Sunday's game) a number of players were out and signed for the Braves fans. Among them who I was able to get were Mike Gonzalez, Ken Kawakami and Mr. Hanson, who was kind enough to sign the sweet spot for anyone that asked. The ball looks fantastic right next to my Chipper sweet spot I picked up in Milwaukee a few years ago. Enjoy the pictures and hopefully the Braves continue (and the Tigers once again begin) their winning ways.





Also, Mike Gonzalez apparently shaves his arms and hands. Strange.

Pittsburgh Pirates Getting Attention at the G20 Summit!

Had to post this. A guy I went to high school with lives in Pittsburgh took this picture.

As a native Detroiter I know what it's like to suffer through years and years of losing seasons with the Wings and Tigers, but really Pittsburgh is out of excuses. They have in my opinion one of, if not the best ballparks in the league, ownership that can spend money (but doesn't) and a fan base that would support their team if they were even close to .500.

There's always next year!

Flash Forward, to a New Comerica Park?

Anyone else catch Flash Forward on ABC tonight (8pm)? Solid premiere for the show in my opinion, however, slightly confused about the Detroit aspect at the end of the show. I'll try not to ruin the ending of the first show, but they showed "video footage of a stadium in Detroit," a large stadium where baseball was being played, and at first glance it did look like Comerica until they showed left field. While yes, they did add some bleacher sections underneath the scoreboard this year, it did not at all look like what Comerica's left field. Maybe it was the 27" standard def TV in my hotel room, or the fact I haven't been in Detroit since opening day or that it was a short clip, but I'm pretty sure that it was in fact not Comerica Park. I'll post a screen shot from the show when they post the show online but until then, anyone else see this? Thoughts on the show, or the baseball clip?