Monday Mankowskis: ALDS Game 3 Notes

For reasons I can’t explain, I’ve been listening to baseball talk on SiriusXM for most of the day. The prevailing wisdom is that the Tigers will win tonight, with the experts saying that the pressure facing CC Sabathia is more fierce than what Justin Verlander has to deal with. It has little to do with Sabathia and significantly more to do with the Yankees’ Game 4 starter, A.J. Burnett.

I think the pressure is equal for both pitchers and both teams. After all, it’s game 3.

[callout title=The ALDS Game 3 Rundown]

The Tigers and Yankees are tied one game apiece in the American League Division Series.

Today’s Game: Justin Verlander (24-5, 2.40 ERA) vs. CC Sabathia (19-8 3.00 ERA) | 8:37 p.m. – TBS/1270 AM and 97.1 FM

This is Verlander’s sixth postseason start (including his abbreviated start in Game 1). Verlander has started 98 games at Comerica Park during his career. He is 57-23 with a 3.24 ERA in his previous 98 starts. His last shutout was June 19, 2011 at Colorado

Tigers’ Lineup

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Ramon Santiago, 2B
3. Delmon Young, LF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Magglio Ordonez, RF
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS
8. Alex Avila, C
9. Brandon Inge, 3B

Yankees’ Lineup

1. Derek Jeter, SS
2. Curtis Granderson, CF
3. Robinson Cano, 2B
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Mark Teixeira, 1B
6. Nick Swisher, RF
7. Jorge Posada, DH
8. Russell Martin, C
9. Brett Gardner, LF

[/callout]

Of course, no one could resist talking about Jose Valverde’s tongue-in-cheek/foot-in-mouth “it’s over” declaration after Game 2. It seems, though, that none of the shows’ hosts or callers bothered to read below the headline. You know, the part where Valverde shouted: “I’m joking, guys.”

I know these shows have to talk about something and running with the juicier (though incomplete) story certainly helps them fill airtimem, it doesn’t make the hosts look very sharp.

As Jim Leyland said this afternoon: “It was in jest, but the Yankees don’t need anythinig to fire them up. This isn’t a high school rivalry.”

Did you know the Yankees are facing a Central Division opponent in the ALDS for the fifth straight year? They went 22-14 (.611) against the AL Central this season.

According to the Free Press, Comerica Park is only one of two AL stadiums in which the Yankees have a losing record.

Elias Sports Bureau reports that tonigh’ts gamemarks the first time a pitcher will start both Game 1 and Game 3 during a post-season series since San Diego’s Kevin Brown did so on Sept. 29 and Oct. 3, 1998 versus Houston. The last American League pitcher to do so was Oakland’s Dave Stewart during the World Series versus San Francisco in 1989.

ESPN’s Jim Bowden posted his keys to the game for each series. Here’s his advice for Cabrera:

For as well as Cabrera is swinging the bat, he continues to play too far off first base. What ends up happening is that he goes for balls that are routine for the second baseman, and the pitcher is forced to cover first on what should be a routine 4-3 play. Cabrera must start playing closer to the first base bag and let his second baseman, whether it’s Ryan Raburn or Ramon Santiago, make the play.

Speaking of Miguel Cabrera, Jerry Crasnick wrote a nice profile of the Tigers first baseman:

“Not to take anything away from guys in the past for the Tigers, because I have more respect for them than anyone,” Inge said. “But you can make a case, if he finishes out his contract and keeps hitting like this, that he’s the best Tiger ever. Heck, he might be now.”

That seems like hyperbole, when you consider that the Tigers’ illustrious history includes such icons as Ty Cobb, Al Kaline, Greenberg and Gehringer. Then you watch Miguel Cabrera hit, and consider that he’s only 28 years old. And suddenly the notion doesn’t seem so far-fetched anymore.

Happy Birthday to Eric Munson (34), Junior Felix (44), Steve Foucault (62) and Chuck Scrivener (64).

On this date in 1968, in Game Two of the World Series, Mickey Lolich ties the Series at one game apiece. He pitches a six-hitter and hits his first career home run to defeat the Cardinals, 8-1.

Finally, Happy 62 Birthday to Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac.

Post-Game Reading: Game 2 Edition

Magglio Ordonez went three-for-three in Game 2, but he almost retired at midseason.

Interesting scoop here from Danny Knobler on Dave Dombrowksi’s dogged pursuit of Doug Fister. Teaser: “Over a three-week period, we called [the Mariners] a couple of times a day. Sometimes three times.”

Ian O’Connor says that Yankees’ Game 4 starter A.J. Burnett should strike fear in New York fans, not the Tigers lineup:

A.J. Burnett is the Yankees’ worst nightmare, a pitcher with good stuff and bad everything else. He isn’t wired to carry the burdens tethered to a 2-1 division series lead, never mind a 2-1 division series deficit.

And yet there he is lurking around the bend, ready to follow Verlander versus Sabathia with a misadventure his team can’t afford to weather in the early hours of October. If Mariano Rivera is the indomitable closer, Burnett is the indefensible opener.

Buried deep in this piece from Knobler we find out that Kenny Rogers is throwing out the first pitch Monday night before Game 3.

And to think I used to like A-Rod:

“I’m assuming over the next day or two or three that there will be some big at-bats I’ll be waiting for,” Rodriguez said. “Two outs, runners in scoring position all over the place. It’s something that I relish.”

Nice article on Scherzer and Alex Avila in The New York Times.

Avila tracked the ball, moving slowly, and stole a glance at the railing, before he stepped onto the plastic on-deck circle, which he later said felt like a slip-and-slide.

Jose Valverde declares the series over … but not really.

Great stuff from Ian on Scherzer showing the world that the Tigers are more than a one-man rotation.

Happy 42nd Birthday to former Tigers catcher and minor-league manager, Matt Walbeck. Today’s the 52nd birthday of Dave Beard, who pitched in two games for the 1989 Tigers.

Game 2 Recap: Tigers 5 – Yankees 3

ESPN highlights available here.

The Score: Tigers 5 – Yankees 3

The Gist: Miguel Cabrera got to Freddy Garcia early, crushing any potential mind games the Yankees’ starter could potentially play on the Tigers, lining a two-run homer down the rightfield corner. Cabrera finished with three hits and RBI. Victor Martinez and Don Kelly drove in the other two runs to give a cushion that wasn’t needed until the bottom of the ninth. The bulk of the day belonged to Max Scherzer who was brilliant, no-hitting the Yankees for six innings. I won’t go into Jose Valverde‘s appearance. If you were lucky enough to miss it, just know it was an inning fraught with panic and despair.

The Quote: “It’s going to be electric.” – Justin Verlander on the environment Monday night at Comerica Park for Game 3.

The Stat: 1 – The number of stolen bases by Cabrera, the only one in the game by either team.

Up Next:

Monday: Tigers vs. Yankees @ Comerica Park | 8:37 p.m. ET | On the air: TBS/AM 1270 and 97.1 FM

Justin Verlander (24-5, 2.40 ERA) vs. CC Sabathia (19-8 3.00 ERA)

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Rapid Reaction: From Rainout to Blowout in 24 Hours

What can you say? In a game in which the Yankees found the right holes, plugged the right holes and the Tigers’ bats were filled with holes, even Doug Fister can’t save you … or keep you close, evidently.

For me, the balloon popped in the sixth when Magglio Ordonez hit a ball up the middle that would’ve been a hit had not Robinson Cano been covering the base on Austin Jackson‘s stolen-base attempt.

And, when Al Alburquerque gives up his first home run of the year, a grand slam to Cano, it’s not going to end well. (By the by, left-handed hitters batted .176 [12-for-68] against Alburquerque in the regular season.)

The Tigers offense showed a few flickers of life but not until the ninth inning. And the, not nearly enough.

So now it’s up to Max Scherzer to bring the Tigers home for Game 3 tied at one game apiece.

Here’s your boxscore.

ALDS Game 0.95: Tonight’s Matchups

Doug Fister against the Yankees:

Liftetime

1-2, 6.00 ERA, 3 G, 3 GS, 18.0 IP, 24 H, 12 R, 12 ER, 3 BB, 10 K

In 2011

0-1, 3.86 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Last Start/Loss: July 26, 2011 at New York, 4-1

Last win: Aug. 16, 2009 at Seattle, 10-3

—

Yankees head-to-head against Doug Fister

Robinson Cano .333 6-2-0

Eric Chavez .250 8-2-0

Brett Gardner .250 4-1-0

Curtis Granderson .333 3-1-1

Derek Jeter .400 10-4-0

Andruw Jones .200 5-1-0

Jorge Posada .333 6-2-0

Alex Rodriguez .200 5-1-0

Nick Swisher .286 7-2-1

Mark Teixeira .333 9-3-1.

Tigers head-to-head against Ivan Nova

Wilson Betemit .500 2-1-0

Miguel Cabrera .000 1-0-0

Brandon Inge .000 1-0-0

Austin Jackson .000 1-0-0

Don Kelly .000 1-0-0

Victor Martinez .000 1-0-0

Magglio Ordonez 1.000 1-1-0

Delmon Young .333 3-1-0.

Rainout (Over)Reaction

You could’ve sketched out a dozen or more scenarios for Game 1 in this ALDS but a suspended game after an inning and a half with the game tied at one?

That might have been in your second or third dozen scenarios.

In what seemed like an eternity, Twitter was blowing up during the rain delay with dire prognostications of how the game and the Tigers’ suddenly appeared doomed. The thing is, at that point we knew nothing.

Now we do. And despite the rainout and the Tigers having to pitch Doug Fister and Max Scherzer at Yankee Stadium, I still like the Tigers chances. So too does Jim Leyland:

“This is not a big deal,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. I don’t worry about stuff like that. I think when the manager makes a big deal about something like that, it affects the players. It is what it is. Good Lord, it rained. So what? It’s all about three. It’s all about three. Win three, lose three.”

The rumors of a day-night doubleheader (should Saturday’s game get washed out too) never seemed right to me. And I’m glad Major League Baseball eliminated that option right away.

Continue reading “Rainout (Over)Reaction” →

A Tigers-Phillies Dream Series? Not According to The Weather Channel

When the weather is bad in Detroit and most other Midwest and Northeast cities in April and early May, fans complain, as they should, about the crummy conditions at the ballpark. Bad weather in October is much more bearable because, hey, it’s the postseason and it’s supposed to be cold. Besides, not every team gets the pleasure of playing in the fall. So we deal with it.

The folks at The Weather Channel posted a story titled “A Fantasy World Series Pairing … Weather-Wise” and of all the possible World Series scenarios, a Tigers-Phillies matchup ranks as the worst:

Philadelphia’s Weather Basics:
Average Highs, Oct. 19-27: 63-66 degrees
Average Lows, Oct. 19-27: 45-47 degrees
Earliest Measurable Snowfall: Oct. 10, 1979 (2.1 inches)

Detroit’s Weather Basics:
Average Highs, Oct. 19-27: 57-60 degrees
Average Lows, Oct. 19-27: 40-42 degrees
Earliest Measurable Snowfall: Oct. 12, 2006

(snip)

Spending an October night in either of these stadiums has the potential to turn ugly. In the 2008 World Series between the Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays, rain delays held up Games 3 and 5 in Philadelphia, the rain delay in Game 5 actually lasting two days. A storm system came through the area and forced a Monday night game to be postponed until Wednesday, when the Phillies finally won the championship-clinching game.

Detroit is also no stranger to nasty World Series weather. In their 2006 series against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Tigers hosted Games 1 and 2, which had first-pitch highs of 56 and 44 degrees, respectively. When the series shifted to St. Louis for Games 3-5, the temperature for any of those three games never made it above 53 degrees, and Game 3 had a first-pitch temperature of 43 degrees.

All of it true. Game four of the 2006 ALCS the 4 o’clock-ish game-time temperature was 45 degrees or so. By the time Magglio Ordonez launched his pennant-clinching homer, it was in the high 30s.

Didn’t matter. I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else. Same goes for this year. Snow or no snow, if I can get a ticket to the World Series in Detroit, I’m there.

Tigers Roster Set … and a Tad Upsetting

In 1984, the Tigers made the no-brainer decision to leave southpaw reliever Sid Monge off the playoff roster. Monge had an undistinguished half seaon with the Tigers after being picked up off waivers from the Padres — 1-0, 4.25 ERA in 19 games.

He didn’t pitch enough in the regular season and, left hander or no, he wasn’t going to appear in the ALCS or World Series. And God knows we didn’t want him to.

This morning we learned that another seemingly no-brainerish decision — to leave Brad Penny off the ALDS roster — was, in fact, not made. What the …? Jim Leyland hasn’t, and likely won’t, offer much to the media to chew on in the way of rationale for this decision.

Here’s the most obvious question: In what scenario, a Game 4 start, long relief, middle relief, would any Tigers fan feel comfortable seeing Penny on the mound? Speaking for myself: None.

Jason Beck reports on his blog:

Both Rick Porcello and Brad Penny are on the roster. One of them is expected to start Game 4 is necessary (sic). The other will work out of the bullpen.

Would I feel better seeing David Pauley? It depends. If it’s relief, absolutely. And would I feel more confident in Porcello starting Game 4? Ditto. (But if there’s a rainout between tonight and Game 4, are we still to believe that Justin Verlander won’t make that start?)

And what about Ryan Perry? Can the Tigers afford his baffling inconsistency in the postseason?

So what we’ve got are four pitchers — the three P’s: Penny, Porcello, Perry, and Max Scherzer — on the ALDS roster that make us wonder if the good version or bad version will show up.

I have no problem with the position-player decisions, even backup catcher Omir Santos. There’s no way Leyland is going to lose a playoff game — or series — by having to put Brandon Inge or Don Kelly behind the plate. No chance. I think Santos makes sense.

But the real news here is Penny. I’m afraid that if we see him in this series we’re going to long for Sid Monge.

Dave Schoenfield weighs in on both A.L. Division Series rosters on the SweetSpot blog.

Who’s Picking Who?

Predictions are such a cliche, aren’t they? But, hey, the Tigers are in the postseason and in the spirit of supporting the home team, here’s a rundown of predictions for the Tigers/Yankees series from across the baseball galaxy:

Local Writers

Tom Gage: Tigers in five
Lynn Henning: Tigers in five
Tony Paul: Tigers in five
Bob Wojnowski: Tigers in five
John Niyo: Yankees in five
Mitch Albom: Tigers in five
John Lowe: Tigers in five
Michael Rosenberg: Tigers in five
Drew Sharp: Tigers in four

New York Writers

Newsday

Erik Boland (Yankees beat reporter): Tigers in four
Mark Herrmann: Yankees in four
Jim Baumbach: Tigers in four
Anthony Rieber: Tigers in five
David Lennon: Tigers in five
Kimberley A. Martin: Yankees in five
Ken Davidoff: Yankees in four

ESPN

Jim Bowden: Yankees in five
Jim Caple: Tigers in five
Jerry Crasnick: Yankees in four
Jayson Stark: Tigers in five
Eric Karabell: Tigers in five
Curt Schilling: Tigers
John Kruk: Yankees
Keith Law: Yankees
Howard Bryant: Yankees in four
Dave Schoenfield: Yankees in five
Christina Kahrl: Tigers in five

Fox Sports

Ken Rosenthal: Tigers in five
Jon Paul Morosi: Tigers

The CBSSports.com Crew

Consensus: Tigers in five

Yahoo! Sports

Jeff Passan: Yankees in four
Kevin Kaduk: Yankees in four
Steve Henson: Tigers in five
Dave Brown: Tigers in five

And one final prediction: on the ride to work on Thursday I heard Larry King call into Power Alley with Jim Duquette and Kevin Kennedy on SiriusXM. Ol’ Larry picks the Tigers, for what it’s worth.

The Tale of 2011, Told Through Power Rankings Comments

One of my favorite parts of being the Tigers blogger on ESPN.com’s SweetSpot Network is contributing to the weekly MLB Power Rankings. While I don’t have a vote in where the Tigers rank, I do have a tiny voice in reporting the state of the club.

Rather than do a traditional season recap, here’s how the 2011 Tigers season unfolded, one week — and one comment — at a time.

WEEK	RECORD	RANK	COMMENT
Week 1	1-2	15	Tigers pitchers solved Mark Teixeira’s early-season hitting woes — surrendering three homers to him in as many games during the opening weekend — and were lucky to leave the Bronx with one win.
Week 2	3-6	23	Other than a dominant performance by Justin Verlander against the Orioles and similar work by Phil Coke in his first start, the otherwise Tigers stunk it up last week with a dormant offense, dropping two of three to the Royals at Comerica (three hits off Bruce Chen?).
Week 3	7-9	16	The Tigers are starting to string together wins more regularly but won’t be able to do so consistently until the offense is better balanced. Their most urgent need is getting leadoff man Austin Jackson (.175 batting average) going — and fast.
Week 4	12-10	14	The Tigers used dominant pitching and opportunistic hitting to sweep the White Sox and finish a 5-1 week. Detroit pitchers held the Sox scoreless over the last 20 innings of the series.
Week 5	12-16	20	Back-to-back sweeps, first to the Mariners then to the Indians, have left the Tigers reeling. Free-agent prize Joaquin Benoit surrendered six earned runs in two-thirds of an inning this week and was tagged for two of the losses against the Tribe.
Week 6	17-18	16	Fans of the Jekyll and Hyde Tigers are in better spirits after a week in which they took three-of-four from the Yankees, Justin Verlander no-hit the Blue Jays and leadoff hitter Austin Jackson at last showed signs of life (8-for-24 this week) at the plate.
Week 7	22-18	9	From swoon to surge in a matter of weeks. The Tigers have won seven straight and 10 of their last 11. Speaking of surges, Jhonny Peralta hit .529 for the week to raise his season average to .307.
Week 8	23-23	14	So much for momentum. The once-surging Tigers scored 10 runs in their last six games — only five in the three-game weekend series against the Pirates. At the same time, the bullpen has unraveled, posting an ERA over 14.50 last week.
Week 9	26-26	16	Want just one reason the schizophrenic Tigers trail the Indians by six games? How about a run differential of minus-11 versus Cleveland’s plus-45?
Week 10	31-27	15	The Tigers are only 2.5 games behind the Indians for many reasons, including seventh-inning specialist Al Alburquerque. Last week, he struck out nine and allowed one hit in 4.1 scoreless innings. He has 35 K’s in 19.2 IP so far in ’11.
Week 11	35-30	10	The first-place Tigers’ offense depends on a lot of things, not the least of which is the suddenly hot Austin Jackson. After two sleepy months the Tigers’ leadoff man is hitting .370 in June with a .420 OBP.
Week 12	39-33	6	The past week belonged to Justin Verlander, who nearly threw his second no-hitter of the season on Tuesday. His line from two complete-game starts last week: 18 IP, 1 R, 6 H, 1 BB, 17 K. Oh, and this month he’s 4-0 with a 1.06 ERA in four starts.
Week 13	42-36	9	Three Tigers tidbits: In his start against the D-backs on Friday, Justin Verlander had 14 strikeouts. In his last 10 games, Austin Jackson has 14 strikeouts. Joaquin Benoit seems to have settled down: he’s allowed just two runs in his last 10 appearances (8.1 IP).
Week 14	45-40	11	Tigers pitchers surrendered 14 or more runs three times last week and 32 in a three-game set against the Mets. The 54-run total likely cost pitching coach Rick Knapp his job on Sunday.
Week 15	49-43	13	For the fourth time in Jim Leyland’s six years as Tigers manager, the club is in first place in the AL Central at the All-Star break. And last year they were only a half-game back. How this team finishes will determine if Leyland gets a seventh season in Detroit.
Week 16	50-45	13	The Tigers continue to play with fire: They’ve lost six of their past eight series but still manage to hang around the top of the AL Central. Look for them to make upgrades via trade soon to fuel a more consistent run to the division title.
Week 17	54-47	9	It looks like the Tigers have solved their second base problem with Carlos Guillen’s return to the lineup. Lou Whitaker he’ll never be, but if Guillen hits anywhere close to the .360 he’s posted in his first seven games, the Tigers will take the tradeoff of his slow-footed defense.
Week 18	57-51	10	After posting a 13-13 record in July, the Tigers look ahead to August, when they’ll face Central Division foes in six of nine series — including six games against the second-place Indians.
Week 19	61-53	10	The Tigers enter the week with a four-game lead on the Indians. With a three-game set on tap in Cleveland (one that unfortunately won’t feature a Justin Verlander-Ubaldo Jimenez matchup), they’re poised to put some serious distance between themselves and the Tribe.
Week 20	64-56	10	If the Tigers are determined not to run away with the AL Central, it mirrors their approach to winning games. The club’s last eight wins all were by one run. Their last win of more than a lone run came on July 29, a 12-2 win over the Angels.
Week 21	68-58	9	If you told Tigers fans a week ago that Delmon Young and Brandon Inge would play key roles in wins over the Twins and Indians, they’d have asked what bizarro world they were living in. Young batted .308 with two homers during the just-completed homestand and Inge homered in his first at-bat after returning from Triple-A.
Week 22	73-60	7	August has been a breakthrough month for the Tigers: Justin Verlander won his 20th game, the tireless Alex Avila is hitting .400, and Jose Valverde continues to rack up saves — to the tune of 39 straight. And they’re six up on the Indians, four more than on Aug. 1.
Week 23	78-62	8	Austin Jackson is getting hot at the right time for the Tigers. The leadoff man hit .500 last week (16-for-32) with two doubles, three triples and a pair of homers. What’s more, he had nine hits in the weekend sweep of the White Sox.
Week 24	84-62	4	How have the Tigers strung together nine straight wins? For starters, their standard lineup is hitting .339 so far in September, led by Victor Martinez at .361. Meanwhile, setup man Joaquin Benoit hasn’t surrendered a run since Aug. 2, a span of 16 2/3 innings.
Week 25	89-64	3	With the AL Central title secured, there’s little drama left for the Tigers. Remaining questions: Can Jose Valverde pad his his club record for saves and sustain his season-long perfection? And how many wins over 90 can they notch over the final 10 days of the regular season?
Week 26	92-67	5	The Tigers’ last bit of remaining business is to catch or pass the Rangers to secure home-field advantage in the ALDS. If Detroit and Texas finish with the same record, the Tigers will hold the tiebreaker.