This was a game the Tigers had no business winning. The Tigers gave up 17 hits, six walks and tossed in two errors for good measure against a hapless Orioles team that went a combined 3-17 with runners in scoring position. The Orioles put at least one runner on base in every one of the 11 innings it took them to lose. In another four-hour spectacle, the Tigers did everything they could to lose this game.
But, these are the Orioles and even when they took a 4-1 lead in the 8th inning, you still had the feeling that they were itching to give us back the lead. They did. With one out and Damon on first base in the 9th inning, Orioles closer threw one slider too many and Cabrera did what Cabrera does. As if he knew it was coming, Miggy unloaded with a softball swing and sent the game into extra innings. Why anyone pitches to Cabrera in close situations is beyond me but again, these are the Orioles.
Once this game went into extra innings, it was only a matter of time before Baltimore figured out how to give us the outright win and that chance came in the 11th when Mr. Walk-Off did it again. Johnny left no doubt with his 15th walk-off shot of his career. Sure, this win felt nice given how the Tigers had to battle back several times. But, you were left with the feeling that had the Tigers been playing a team like the Twins or Yankees, this game would have been over in the 5th inning.
- Damon's home run was #2,501 of his career. He is now 16 hits away from passing Joe Morgan, which will make my grandpa happy. Pops hates Joe Morgan.
- Cabrera is riding a 15-game hit streak among his other accomplishments. Along with his dramatic home run, he also posted a single and triple. It was 92 degrees in Detroit and Cabrera looked like a man in need of an oxygen tank after his triple. Hunched over and sucking air, he reminded me of Shaun Rogers after his interception return against the Broncos two years ago.
- Leyland Stupidity Exhibit A: Donnie Kelly led-off for the Tigers which makes no statistical sense at all. I'm all for giving AJ a blow in center field, especially against a dog shit team like Baltimore but Leyland's insistence on playing every reserve exactly in the lineup as who they replace is antiquated and stubborn. With three of the top run producers in baseball in the 3, 4 and 5 slots, you can't afford to put your worst hitter in terms of OBP in the leadoff slot. To top it off, we were facing a pitcher with a 5.86 ERA who was among the baseball's leaders in walks allowed. This plays more to Santiago's skills than Kelly's, who has drawn less walks than any Tiger and is a free swinger who misses more than he connects. Donnie can play some defense and deserves some PT but bat him 9th where he belongs.
- Leyland Stupidity Exhibit B: While trying to keep the game close in the 8th inning, Leyland chose to intentionally walk Miguel Tejada to face Nick Markakis with Dan Schlereth pitching. Look at your statistics Jimmy - Markakis is leading all left handed hitters in MLB with a .378 average against lefties. In comparison, Tejada is hitting .233 against lefties. So, we intentionally put a man in scoring position (walking Tejada put men on 1st and 2nd) to get to a matchup with a 15% higher chance of costing us a run. Of course, Markakis prompty singled to right field which scored the run that we just put on second base.
- Carlos Guillen has the sixth best batting average ever against the Orioles. In his career, he is hitting .365 against the orange birds but more impressive is the list he is on.
1. Ted Williams .374
2. Ichiro Suzuki .372
3. Ty Cobb .370
4. Al Simmons .370
5. Jimmie Foxx .365
6. Carlos Guillen .365
- I will give kudos to Leyland for calling two pitch-outs correctly from the bench. Both resulted in throw-outs by Avila. Some of that "old school gut coaching" came in handy at least.
- The at-bat of the game came from my boy Brandon Inge. Down two runs in the 8th with a man on first base, Inge looked terrible on two swing and miss sliders from Orioles closer Simon who had come in early to finish the Tigers off. Inge went to work - fouling off five pitches and taking two balls before raking a triple into the gap and bringing the score to within one run. Once again Brandon, you've escaped my wrath.
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