Bless You Boys

Twins 4, Tigers 3: I got your recap right here, buddy!

2012-05-17T22:11:38Z

Final - 5.17.2012	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota Twins	0	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	4	10	1
Detroit Tigers	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	3	4	2
WP: P.J. Walters (1 - 1) SV: Matt Capps (8) LP: Doug Fister (0 - 2)

Complete Coverage >

You know what? I don't want to write about the team. There's not much new to say.

You probably don't want to read it, based on the recent numbers I've seen on our stats pages.

And I bet you're all commented out, judging by the steep drop on the snap reaction.

So forget it. There's the line score. You'll find the Roars and Hisses below.

3 ROARS

Andy Dirks - HR, walk

Brayan Villarreal - 2 scoreless innings pitched

Prince Fielder - HR, walk

3 HISSES

Alex Avila - 0-for-4

Delmon Young - 0-for-4, GIDP

Ramon Santiago - 0-for-1, GIDP

Game 37 POG

Andy Dirks with 50 percent of the vote

Twins 4, Tigers 3 Snap Reaction: Everything is out of sync

2012-05-17T19:49:17Z

Snap Reaction: Still out of sync. The Tigers' limit the Twins to four runs, but can only score three. Go figure.

A lot of pregame celebration occurred with Tigers starter Doug Fister taking the mound. He's one of the reliable ones. Yet ... not so much against the Twins. He got into trouble several times, but was finally burned when he gave up a pair of home runs in the third inning. Morneau added a third RBI on the day in the fifth inning, when he grounded out to score a run. Just for fun, Detroit's corner infielders, Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder, each contributed an error. His fifth-inning error made one run unearned.

Fister allowed nine hits and two walks in six innings. The Tigers' bullpen of Phil Coke and Brayan Villarreal combined for three innings of scoreless relief.

So the starting pitching gave up a few too many runs, but was serviceable. The bullpen did its job well.

The Tigers lost, anyway. They were no hit until Brennan Boesch homered in the fifth inning. Andy Dirks homered in the sixth, and Prince Fielder followed two batters later.

But that was it for Detroit. Four hits, three left the park.

They threatened in the eighth. Glen Perkins couldn't find the strike zone. The first two batters walked. Then Fielder struck out and Delmon Young hit into a double play.

So the Tigers were swept at home in a two-game series by the Twins. Oh, Tigers. Not what the home fans wanted to see. Detroit is now two games under .500 at 18-20.

The Pirates come to town Friday for an interleague series.

Game 38: Twins at Tigers, 1:05pm

2012-05-17T16:30:04Z

Current Series

Twins lead the series 1-0

Wed 05/16	WP: Alex Burnett (1 - 0) LP: Duane Below (2 - 1)	7 - 11 loss
Minnesota Twins Twinkie Town @ Detroit Tigers Bless You Boys Thursday, May 17, 2012, 1:05 PM EDT Comerica Park P.J. Walters vs Doug Fister Sunny. Winds blowing in from left field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 65. Game 38 Preview: Twins at Tigers posted by Rob Rogacki 42 minutes ago 0 comments \| 0 recs Complete Coverage >

Tigers lineup: Kelly CF, Dirks LF, Cabrera 3B, Fielder 1B, Young DH, Avila C, Boesch RF, Peralta SS, Raburn 2B

Twins lineup:

Scary moment for ex-Tiger Will Rhymes

2012-05-17T13:17:00Z

Cleaned up some of the links and bumped to the front. -- Rob

Last night during the eighth inning of the game between the Rays and Red Sox second baseman Will Rhymes (of the Rays) came up to bat against the hard-throwing left-handed reliever Franklin Morales. But it was what happened after the at-bat that is still being talked about by all of the major media outlets this morning. Video of the incident is here.

Morales, who throws his fastball anywhere from 93-96 on any given night, missed inside with one of those fastballs, ultimately drilling Rhymes in his right forearm, and square on the bone.

Rhymes felt the pain immediately, however he was able to shake it off long enough to trot down to first base. He would then wave off his manager and training staff, assuring them that he was okay to run. Only, Rhymes wasn't okay to run, or even walk.

After realizing that the adrenaline was wearing off, Rhymes "lost his legs" (not literally, or this would be a bigger story), as you can see in the video at the website above.

After collapsing into the arms of his first base coach, Rays trainers had to come back out to attend to Rhymes. In the process the only laughable moment from this serious incident came, as when asked what his name was, Rhymes replied, "I'm Batman."

Thankfully, after the game Rhymes was found to be okay. X-Rays were negative, and he was left with a badly bruised forearm; however, his sense of humor was unaffected, as seen in this post-game interview.

I always liked Rhymes in Detroit, and I think he got a bad shake, truth be told. I am glad he is okay, and I thought that many of us who remember Will (some having worshiped him) would like to know that he is okay as well.

Game 38 Preview: Twins at Tigers

2012-05-17T13:00:19Z

Minnesota Twins (11-26) at Detroit Tigers (18-19)

Time/Place: Comerica Park, 1:00 p.m.

SB Nation Blog: Twinkie Town

Media: Fox Sports Detroit, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Pitching Matchup: Doug Fister (0-1, 0.54 ERA) vs. P.J. Walters (0-1, 3.00 ERA)

Walters is a 27 year old righthander with a whopping five starts to his name in 3+ seasons in the major leagues. He hasn't seen a lot of MLB action -- his career high for innings pitched in a season is 30 with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2010. He appeared in a game against the Tigers in 2009, giving up one run in 2 innings of relief action.

Walters' first and only major league appearance this season came in a start against the Toronto Blue Jays five days ago. He pitched well, giving up just two runs in 6 innings, but got Doug Fister'd (a.k.a. saddled with the loss) when the Twins only scored one run. His LOB % rate is very high, but a HR/FB ratio of 33% is likely to come down today. If you think I'm grasping at straws here, you'd be right.

How good has Doug Fister been this year? Even though he's been injured and only has 16 2/3 innings under his belt, he has given up one run. His K/BB ratio is 4.67 and his WHIP is a Verlander-esque 0.900. I wouldn't advocate celebrating "Fister Day" just yet (for multiple reasons), but he is starting to bring me that almost zen-like calm that Justin gives most Tiger fans when he's scheduled to take the mound. This is especially true during day games; Fister has a career 2.64 ERA in 20 daytime starts.

Outlook

Walters is a young pitcher going up against one of the most talented lineups he'll ever see. So, as has been the case with seemingly every other player in this situation against the Tigers in recent memory, he will probably walk away with a quality start. On a brighter note, the Tigers offense is finally starting to show some teeth, having scored 22 runs in the past three games. The bottom of the order will need to step up to score runs today if Jackson is not in the lineup, which will likely be the case.

Prediction

The Tigers continue their Jekyll and Hyde pattern by winning a low scoring game with a late RBI from Alex Avila.

Gameday Reading:

Postgame: Doumit to DL; Revere recalled; Blackburn hurting - Minneapolis Star Tribune, Joe Christensen
The Tigers weren't the only ones making roster moves after last night's game.

Twins 11, Tigers 7: Blackburn's Best Efforts Can't Stop Twins From Winning - Twinkie Town
"Somehow, though, despite the terrible starting pitching, the Twins' offense managed to step up and not only keep Minnesota in the game, but score more runs than the Tigers and win the whole deal (I know, crazy concept, right?)"

Twins 11, Tigers 7: Day-to-Day in Detroit - Walkoff Woodward, Brian Packey
"The Twins hammered out 14 hits and even induced the Tigers usually stellar defense (sarcasm) into four errors, three of which led to the difference in the score."

Detroit Tigers Links: Justin Verlander's Giving Nature and Prince Fielder Is Baseball's Current Iron Man

2012-05-17T10:00:20Z

AL Central Standings

	W	L	PCT	GB	STRK
Cleveland	21	16	.567	0	Won 3
Detroit	18	19	.486	3	Lost 1
Chicago	17	21	.447	4.5	Lost 2
Kansas City	15	21	.416	5.5	Lost 1
Minnesota	11	26	.297	10	Won 1

(updated 5.17.2012 at 8:07 AM EDT)

Justin Verlander donated a lot of money to charity, Prince Fielder leads the majors in consecutive games played, and Brett Lawrie gets suspended for 4 games. These stories and an unfortunate anniversary for Ty Cobb in today's Morning Prowl.

Tigers' Verlander gives $45K to veterans from 'Fastball Flakes' proceeds - The Detroit News, Tony Paul
"Every once in awhile, Justin Verlander will sneak into a Metro Detroit Meijer and pick up 20 or 30 boxes of Fastball Flakes, the cereal he's been pitching since February." Now I'm curious. Is he eating all of this cereal? Donating it to charity? Giving it to Taco Bell employees in exchange for his tomato-free pregame meal?

Tigers' Prince Fielder Is Now MLB's Iron Man With 217 Straight Games Played - SB Nation Detroit, James Brady
According to Shannon Hogan during last night's broadcast, Prince's streak would be at 500+ games had he not missed a game in 2010 because both he and his children had the flu.

Jackson leaves with mild abdominal strain - Beck's Blog
"Jackson is listed as day-to-day." This is one of those nagging injuries that might keep Jackson's effectiveness at the plate limited for a while, but it shouldn't impact his defense.

Centennial anniversary: Ty Cobb beats up a cripple - The Hardball Times, Chris Jaffe
As mentioned earlier in the comments, Tuesday was the 100 year anniversary of one of Ty Cobb's infamous (if regrettable) moments.

Miguel Cabrera Is Here to Hit Baseballs and Chew Bubble Gum... and He's All Out of Bubble Gum - Detroit4lyfe, Rob Rogacki
This is probably the best headline that I have ever written. I posted the same .gif at Walkoff Woodward, so be sure to check it out there too.

Tigers And The 2012 Draft - Motor City Bengals, John Verburg
A quick summary of the new draft process and how it impact the Tigers. Summary: don't expect much.

Detroit Tigers prospect Andy Oliver strikes out nine, continues to impress in Toledo - MLive, James Schmehl
A couple of days ago, I would have said that the Tigers don't have any issues in their rotation. While I would still take Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello over Oliver, it's nice to see Andy pitching well.

Around the AL Central:

Royals Lose 4-3 in 15 As Broxton Blows Save Chance - Royals Review, Jeff Zimmerman
Well, at least the Oakland A's aren't falling back to oblivion just yet. Now if they could just beat Cleveland...

Angels 7, White Sox 2: Floyd can't finish - South Side Sox, Jim Margalus
"After Jake Peavy's first bad start of the season, it was time for Gavin Floyd to regress to the mean." This is what I get for taking Floyd in Pick 6 yesterday.

Game 37: Indians 9, Mariners 3 - Let's Go Tribe
"Tonight we had a role reversal. Not quite, as Jimenez wasn't exactly Felix Hernandez on his normal days. But Hernandez was definitely Jimenez on one his worse days."

Elsewhere in Baseball:

Brett Lawrie receives four-game suspension, fined for ‘aggressive actions’ toward umpire - Big League Stew, Kevin Kaduk
I'm a little surprised at how brief this suspension was. Intentional or not, the fact that Lawrie's helmet made contact with umpire Bill Miller is a huge no-no in the MLB. I don't mean to condone Lawrie's actions, but he should have been on first base.

A Miracle Squared: Celebrating The Greatness Of Bo Jackson - SBNation, Jon Bois & Bomani Jones
Obligatory link for anything involving Bo Jackson.

Brandon Inge’s Second Rare Feat - FanGraphs, Wendy Thurm
His third feat? Heading to the disabled list.

Pirates fans attack a PNC park security guard and police officer; guard loses a finger - HardballTalk, Craig Calcaterra
This is one of the oddest headlines I've seen in weeks. Regardless, don't let this stop you from catching a game in Pittsburgh when the Tigers are there in June (or at any point, if you're in the area).

Twins 11, Tigers 7: Detroit puts a team effort into the loss

2012-05-17T03:43:04Z

Final - 5.16.2012	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota Twins	2	3	1	0	0	2	1	0	2	11	14	0
Detroit Tigers	1	5	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	7	11	4
WP: Alex Burnett (1 - 0) LP: Duane Below (2 - 1)

Complete Coverage >

What an ugly loss. You can be forgiven for reaching for your panic button. If you're still grabbing it in the morning, well, time to relax, OK? But certainly you may press it or throw it at your television screen (note: do not actually throw anything at your television screen) for all I care.

The Tigers stunk. It was a team effort. I don't get what makes fans tick sometimes, to be honest. They want to blame someone. Well, there are generally about 10-12 position players who make it into a game on any day. You've got the starting pitcher, of course. Most days about three relievers pitch.

If a team loses by a bunch of runs, it's probably the fault of a lot of people, for not getting hits, not getting in runs, not recording outs, etc. If a team loses by a run or two, there were probably multiple moments throughout the game where one hit or one pitch make a difference.

In the case of Wednesday's game, the team gave up 11 runs. That's because Rick Porcello's defense committed four errors. Every single infielder had one. That's just ... bad. That's like those unrealistic nightmare scenarios dreamed up during the offseason come to life. Of course, Porcello couldn't keep the ball in the park all that well, didn't miss bats, and generally wasn't that good. So he definitely contributed to his six runs, even if only two were earned.

And the batters did score seven runs. Unfortunately, after the second inning they scored just one. The fault for that has to be placed on many, just as credit has to be given to the Twins. Meanwhile the Tigers' bullpen sputtered. Duane Below gave up runs. Luke Putkonen gave up a run. Collin Balester gave up runs. Unfortunately, the Tigers can't run out Joaquin Benoit and Phil Coke every game -- especially when Jose Valverde is day-to-day with back pain. So it's not as if there were other options hanging around being wasted.

It's not a one man game. You want to credit or blame one person? Watch golf. Watch singles tennis. Watch the UFC. Watch boxing. Watch track-and-field. Watch swimming. But not the relays.

It's a team game. Detroit's loss was most definitely a team loss Wednesday.

Earlier links:

Austin Jackson is day-to-day
Brayan Villarreal recalled, Danny Worth optioned
Twins 11, Tigers 7: Detroit's bullpen can't keep up with Minnesota's

3 ROARS

Austin Jackson's play before the injury

Miguel Cabrera - 2 hits, double, 2 RBI

Andy Dirks - 3 hits, still on fire

3 HISSES

Rick Porcello

Infield defense

Bullpen

* I could break those categories down further but it's late and I'm grumpy and ready to go to bed. So I won't.

Game 36 Player of the Game

Ryan Raburn barely, for his HR and 4 RBI. He had 50 percent of the vote.

Poll

Game 37 POG

Austin Jackson leaves with abdominal pain, is 'day-to-day'

2012-05-17T03:25:31Z

When Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson left the game after the fourth inning, it was a bit of a scary moment. He grimaced as he swung the bat and ran to first base for the final out. Assisted by Tigers trainer Kevin Rand, he was replaced by Don Kelly between innings.

Naturally when you see the replay of the injury, you start to worry about the oblique. It's the kind of injury that seems mysterious and lingers for far too long. Jackson described the problem as being an abdominal strain when speaking to the media during the Fox Sports Detroit post game.

"I kind of felt it pull a little bit," Jackson said. "It was just a sharp pain. That's pretty much it.

"I had a doctor look at it. He diagnosed an abdominal strain and a day-to-day thing. Hopefully it won't be anything where I have to go on the disabled list. We'll go day-to-day and get necessary treatment ... and see how it feels after that."

Jackson said he had a similar injury in 2011, but probably not as serious. He wasn't real sure about what the treatment would be for the injury.

Meanwhile the Tigers obviously lose a key member of the outfield defense, and the table setter on offense. Jackson has been one of the top players on the team all season, so it would no doubt be a tough loss to absorb.

"It's unfortunate," Jackson said, "But things like that happen all the time. (I will) just do what we have to do to get back out there."

Tuesday, Jose Valverde left his game against the White Sox with back pain. He is also called "day-to-day."