Tag Archives: Detroit Tigers

2011 Twins Game Recaps, View from the Ballpark

2011 Game 121: DC 1001011000 258

6 Comments

600!

How many taters is that? Well, it's exactly twice the number of homers Chuck Klein hit in his career. It's 154 more than the next two active players, Vladimir Guerrero and Chipper Jones. It's 15 40-homer seasons. It's 1 more than the combined career totals of Lou Pinella, Honus Wagner, John Kruk, Lonnie Smith, Todd Hollandsworth, Chuck Knoblauch, Jason Tyner, Al Newman, and Don Sutton. It's 100 more than the combined totals of Kent Hrbek and Kirby Puckett. It's twelve bushels' worth, if you figure one homer is the equivalent of one pound of potatoes.

It's a whole lot of mashin', that's what.

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And now, this week's View from the Ballpark:

photo by Flickr user joyosity

photo by Flickr user joyosity

Remember, no embiggening.

2011 Twins Game Logs

2011 Game 121: Marisa Monday, Post _elm_n Edition

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I just got this message from "ThaReal_elm_n":
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryAeNSzanKY

some rights reserved by GranniesKitchenThome Watch continues. Younger and wussier players around him continue to wilt in the August heat, but the Masher keeps on keeping on. The Tiggers have pretty much pwned the Twins for the last year, having won 12 out of their last 13 against our boys.

pitching matchup:
F-Bomb (tRA+: 92, FIP: 4.53, xFIP: 4.41, fWAR: 0.8, 97:66 K:BB in 117 innings)
Rick Porcello (tRA+: 108, FIP: 3.92, xFIP: 4.00, fWAR: 1.9, 76:30 K:BB in 126 innings)

The 22-year old Porcello is having a solid season. Amongst the mortal starters on the Tiger staff, he leads the way in pRAA at +4.8 (Verlander is at +33.0, tied for 7th in the Majors; he's third in pitching rWAR). But the real strength of this club is the offense, which weighs in at +43.2 bRAA and is 5th in the A.L. in runs per game at 4.44 (Twins are 12th at 3.87 -- behind Oakland, for goodness sake). So, tell me again why they wanted _elm_n???

Porcello is a ground-ball inducing righty. The Twins have a lefty-heavy lineup, with no _elm_n and a questionable Cuddy.

2011 Twins Game Logs

2011 Game 99: Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins

181 Comments

Max Scherzer vs Brian Duensing

I was hoping to be able to write about the Twins tying the White Sox for third place, but that is going to have to wait until tomorrow. Instead, let's investigate the non-Verlander pitchers. Verlander is 13-5 for the season, but the Tigers are 14-8 in games started by him. Makes sense. Especially since he has yet to throw fewer than 100 pitches in a game this year. He only had three last year and five the year before.

Anyway, that leaves the rest of the Tiger staff at 38-38. Tonight's starter, Scherzer, is only 10-5 but the Tigers are 13-7 in his starts despite his mediocre 4.53 ERA. The offense has also scored 5.2 runs/game for him. Note to Duensing: don't let the Tigers score that many runs. Note to Twins offense: despite Scherzer's ERA, he has a decent FIP and pretty good xFIP, so practice some patience.

2011 Twins Game Recaps

Game 98 Recap: Tigers 6, Twins 2

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DETROIT 6, MINNESOTA 2
Record - 46-52 (4th in Central, 1.0 game out of 3rd, 6.0 games out of first)
Highest WPA - Cuddyer and Mauer (both 2 for 4) were the only positive WPA Twins
Lowest WPA - Jim Thome (0 for 3, BB, 3 SO) - Only one true outcome short of the complete set.
NOTES - Twins are 0-6 against Detroit this year.
Fangraphs
MLB Recap

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Not exactly the start to the series that the Twins were looking for.  Verlander was pretty good, and he dialed it up a bit after Cuddyer's leadoff triple in the second inning.  Strikeouts of Thome and Valencia along with a Delmon groundout to second (BOOM BITCH!) got him off the hook and kept the game scoreless.

Then it was a matter of Pavano trying to keep it close.  After a frightening 4th inning (bases loaded, one out) was defused by a double play, it seemed like a one-run deficit could be overcome.  Then a 2-run Brennan Boesch homer in the 5th extended the Tiger lead.  3 runs against Verlander seemed a tall order, but the Tiger bullpen has been pretty bad and my friend who is a Tiger fan wouldn't admit victory.

The sixth inning saw the Twins score on a string of 2 out hits, but the top of the inning had already yielded two more Tiger runs, so the deficit was only narrowed to four.

Beating Verlander is always a tall order, and it was one the Twins weren't up to last night.  Fortunately, there are three more games in the series, and no more Verlanders in the Tigers' rotation.

2011 Twins Game Logs

2011 Games Logs: Game 53 Minnesota @ Detroit

231 Comments

Brian Duensing

@

Max Scherzer

 

Alright, let's hope the Twins put 17 or 18 on the board tonight before the basketball game starts. Because, honestly, if the Twins keep it close and ultimately lose late or in extra innings causing me to miss hoops I am going to be bummed out.

Yep. That is what I've got for right now. It is 90 degrees out in Buffalo and I am going to soak up some sun.

2011 Twins Game Recaps, View from the Ballpark

2011 Game 52: Tigers 6, Twins 5

29 Comments

Weather: 85°F, sunny
Wind: 9 mph
Attendance: 30,198
Time: 3:09

Twins record: 17-35 (last in AL Central, 14.5 GB)
Fangraphs boxscore | MLB wrap

Highlights:

  • Highest WPA, hitter: Kubel .140 (2-3, R, RBI) | Highest WPA, pitcher: Dumatrait .236 (0.2 IP, K)

Lowlights:

  • Lowest WPA, hitter: Delmon, -.188 (0-4, saw only 10 pitches in 4 AB) | Lowest WPA, pitcher: Blackburn, -.509 (6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 HR 5 ER, BB, 3 K)
  • Kubel is listed as day-to-day with a sprained right foot
  • Rene Rivera is whiffing in 40% of his at bats. Over his career Jim Thome has gotten on base in more than 40% of his at bats.

In case you didn't read it elsewhere already, Francisco Liriano was placed on the DL. Kubel is day-to-day. Meanwhile, according to the 4ltr's recap, Mauer is now able to throw from home to second. I didn't know bilateral leg weakness affected the arms, too.

Usually I watch Monday's game so I can write a recap, but this week I was down at my mother-in-law's place in Chicagoland, where the connection speed isn't particularly great. If the Twins were playing well I might have been tempted to watch the game anyway, but I figured I didn't need the frustration of the spotty DSL connection, plus terrible baseball. I suppose I could watch it now that I'm home, but I've decided not to waste my time. In the limited time I have on this earth, going back to watch yet another Twins loss isn't high on my list of priorities. Thus concludeth the game wrap.

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Let's be honest: If you're even reading this, the View from the Ballpark is probably why you are here. Well, let's dispense with the pleasantries (if that's the appropriate word for recapping another loss) and get right down to it:
photo by Flickr user rjcox

photo by Flickr user rjcox

Remember, no embiggening.

2011 Twins Game Logs

2011 Game Logs: Game 34 Detroit v. Minnesota

74 Comments

Rick Porcello

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Francisco Liriano.

 

I might be wrong here but I am pretty sure that Francisco Liriano, when starting on Tuesdays in 2011, only throws no-hitters.

Sorry for the shortness of this preview but I am going to be spending most of the week in Rochester this week. I will come back with scouting reports on Ray Chang, Chase Lambin, and Toby Gardenhire to make up for it.