Detroit Tigers Getting Back On Winning Track In Solid Week 10
(To read Week 9’s issue, click here.)
What a much, much better week for the Detroit Tigers. They seem to be getting back on their winning ways as they split their series with the Chicago Cubs and took the series from the Cleveland Indians.
Just like mentioned before this Tigers team is playing better against division opponents. The Indians looked to start a hot streak going in only to be denied by the Tigers.
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More good news? Well with Sunday’s win against the Indians the Tigers creep their home record back to .500. It’ll be huge for this Tigers team to win a lot more at home. Good teams aiming for the playoffs need to win a majority of their games at home.
The Tigers are 16-13 away from Comerica Park, which is perfect. Being around .500 or above on the road is the sign that a team can take care of its business away from home.
Some big news for the Tigers this week though. Shane Greene got sent down to Triple-AAA Toledo and Justin Verlander made his 2015 season debut. With the offense starting to pick up the slack, the starting pitching will also have to do its job.
The bullpen has been surprisingly formidable in recent weeks and the Tigers need to get better starting pitching to compliment that. If Tigers starters don’t last too many innings it has an adverse effect on the bullpen and they might get burned out.
Overall though the Tigers had a solid Week 10. They had a winning record and did a good job slimming down their deficit in the AL Central. They’re now only 3 games out of the 1st place Kansas City Royals.
And now, a look back at Week 10 for your 2015 Detroit Tigers.
Record: 3-2
vs CHC: 1-1
vs CLE: 2-1
Game of the Week: Tuesday, June 9th vs Chicago Cubs 6-0 W
The Week 10 Game of the Week was the win against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday. Highlighted by Anibal Sanchez‘s sparkling pitching performance (0 ER in 7.2 IP), the Tigers clawed their way to a win.
Rajai Davis also proved to be a spark plug on the offensive side of things and even flashed some leather stealing a home run from David Ross.
The game was featured with highlights from the Tigers and they roughed up Cubs ace Jon Lester. They roughed him up for 5 ER in 4.1 IP and the offense looked healthy for the first time in weeks.
Even Joba Chamberlain got in on the festivities by striking out the only batter he faced to preserve Sanchez’s marvelous start. His ERA is at a startling 1.13, showing the flaws in the stat with all the inherited runners he allows to touch home base.
Speaking of the bullpen, Alex Wilson would pitch the 9th to finish the game lowering his ERA to 1.86. A throw-in on the Rick Porcello–Yoenis Cespedes trade Wilson has looked sparkling so far for the Tigers.
Overall the game had good vibes to it. The tone of the game was set up by Davis’ early web gem and the Tigers appropriately came through for their home crowd after that.
Tigers Pitching Performance of the Week:
David Price vs Cleveland Indians 6/12/15
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Motor City Bengals
Line: 9 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 8 K, 7 H, 0 BB, 93 pitches, 67 strikes
What a gem by David Price in Week 10. He takes back-to-back pitching performance honors with his second complete game in as many weeks. This time though he went for the shutout against the Indians.
To even start off the game Price looked good in the first inning. He threw 10 pitches and 10 strikes allowing only a single. That would set the tone for the rest of the game as he wound up shutting down the Indians.
The ace keeps showing General Manager Dave Domebrowski why he should re-sign him. And Tigers fans want exactly that. The once mighty Tigers rotation is in shambles and Price is doing his best to keep it all taped together.
Starting pitchers don’t go a full 9-inning game often anymore. That’s why Price pitching back-to-back complete games is so impressive. To do that after another Tigers loss helps things too.
Overall there’s no denying Price this spot. He keeps showing Tigers fans why Tampa Bay Rays fans adored him all those years down in Florida.
The methodical lefty pitched an absolute gem for the Tigers team, right when they needed it.
Biggest Takeaways from Week 10
While there were only five games played in Week 10 for your Detroit Tigers, there are still plenty of things to take away.
First and foremost is easily about the starting pitching. As mentioned before, Verlander is back while Greene was shipped down to Toledo. Tigers fans should be optimistic after Verlander’s performance on Saturday against the Indians.
Two earned runs in five innings is impressive while on a pitch count. He only threw 87 pitches overall as that seemed to be an emphasis. While that might seem like a lot more a mere five innings, mid-season Verlander from earlier years would have gone seven innings if the team needed it.
For his season debut, this was fine for Verlander. He seemed to struggle with his command a bit as the game went on, but he probably still needs to shake off a bit of rust. Overall, the addition of Verlander should and will help the team. To what capacity though is what fans and critics should be looking at.
Then there’s the issue of Greene. Greene looked so promising through his first three starts of the season. Then he fell off a cliff and has struggled immensely since. With the Tigers pushing for another playoff run, they cannot afford bad starts and that’s why Greene was sent down to the Minors to work on things.
This should and will not be the end for Greene though. He’s having some confidence issues but those can be fixed. If Tigers fans remember, in 2010 newly-acquired Max Scherzer was sent down to the Minors to work on a few things.
After coming back to the Majors after a few starts, Scherzer would pitch admirably for the team. His first game back he would strikeout 14 Oakland A’s in 5.2 IP (this writer was there watching in awe).
There’s no denying that there are some moves focused on the starting rotation. With rumors circulating that the Tigers are looking to add starting pitching, Trader Dave might make a move come July 31st once again.
You can never have too much pitching and this is exactly the case for the Tigers. With a bare farm system though it’ll be interesting to see what Dombrowski does come playoff time. Owner Mike Illitch isn’t getting any younger and this team is geared towards a win-now mentality.
Whatever the case, Tigers fans should have their ears peeled for any rumors about the Tigers. Dombrowski has dipped into his Major League-talent to get what he wants before. He’s not about to let the “window” close too hard after such promise to begin this season.
Upcoming Schedule 6/15-6/21
vs CIN 6/15-6/16
Game Times: 6/15: 7:08 PM, 6/16: 7:08 PM
@ CIN 6/17-6/18
Game Times: 6/17: 7:10 PM, 6/18: 7:10 PM
@ NYY 6/19-6/21
Game Times: 6/19: 7:05 PM, 6/20: 7:15 PM, 6/21: 1:05 PM
The Tigers will start this week with back-to-back two game sets at home then away against the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds who are hosting the 2015 All-Star game, have struggled in a strong NL Central.
They’re now in 4th place in the division and 5 games under the .500 mark. This doesn’t mean the Tigers should look over this team, however. With the likes of Johnny Cueto and Joey Votto this team is still dangerous.
One thing that’s interesting though is that the Tigers may look to trade with the Reds if they’re too out of the playoff picture by the July 31st trade deadline. Cueto is a free agent after this year and they might be looking for a package to get some value out of him.
After the Reds will be the hated New York Yankees. The Yankees have been a surprise team in 2015. They’re fighting for the top spot in the AL East all year. Alex Rodriguez has been a pleasant surprise for them after knocking in his 2000th career RBI the other night.
They took three out of four games at Comerica Park earlier this season against the Tigers. They too are a solid team and the Tigers need to go into this series with the mindset they might have to grind out games.
It helps too that winning against the Yankees feels so good. The Evil Empire haven’t been too relevant recently but they still spend boatloads of money.
Standing only 3 games back in the standings, it’s time for the Tigers to make up some ground once again this week. The Royals have scuffled a bit recently and the Minnesota Twins seem to be slowing down (3-7 in the last 10).
The AL Central this year will be a dogfight and the Tigers need to climb back into relevancy. This is the perfect week to do so against two strong, but not overly intimidating opponents.
Next: Can Verlander Spark The Rotation?