Life In The Cell

Just Like the Primaries: Series Preview Review - Detroit July 25-27

So I did a small breakdown of the Tigers’ series earlier, and I figured we might as well take a peak at it and see what I got right and where I went wrong.

The biggest thing about this series, going in, was that a sweep in either direction would strongly change the division race. As I said,

This could prove to be a pivotal series in the season for the Tigers. Or, it could be like most of the big primaries in the Democratic race, in that it doesn’t really decide anything.

There was no sweep, and things basically remain the same. That’s not to say that I’m not thrilled (pardon the double negative) that the Sox won the series, but in terms of standings it resulted in a net change of 1 game rather than the 3 that would have resulted from a sweep. Anyway, let’s take a look at the individual games.

In Game 1, the pitching matchup was Nate Robertson against Gavin Floyd. This basically sums up my thoughts going into the game:

Basically, the Sox should score some runs against this guy [Robertson], which is always nice to have when Floyd is on the mound. I’m still at the point where I think Floyd will pitch well, but am secretly bracing myself for the worst. Maybe I’ll get over it completely if he tames the powerful Tigers’ lineup.

I got things half way correct. I assumed the Sox would score a fair amount on Robertson, which is quite the opposite of how things turned out. Robertson was charged with 3 runs in total, though he was only on the field for 1 of the. The Sox just were not hitting him well. Prior to the 7th, they managed all of 3 hits during the game.

Floyd on the other hand lived up to my prediction/fear. He pitched well enough, but it was like nails on a chalkboard; it was a cringe worthy performance as I was bracing for impact. He allowed 13 batters to reach base (9 hits, 4 walks) in his 6 innings of work, yet he gave up only 3 earned runs (4 total). The explosion just never came. I mean, I’ll take it, but I just haven’t gained any new confidence in Floyd as I was hoping for.

I linked over to Mack Avenue Tigers in my preview, and I hope you went over there to read up on the enemy, because, well, as spot on as I was with Floyd, Kurt was just as spot on with the Tigers.

Nate Robertson wows us in an un-Nate performance Friday, but the bullpen blows it.

All I really need to add to that is, good work JD and Todd, it’s been a blast, but we’re going to miss you in that closer’s role.

Game 2 featured John Danks vs. Justin Verlander. It was a sexy match up and I expected to see a pitching clinic on display at Comerica, which of course resulted in 12 runs being scored upon the two starters (Verlander was responsible for 7 [all earned] and Danks for 5 [4 earned]). Neither pitcher was as poor as their stat lines would indicate. They were just merely decent on day where the hitters were on top of their collective games. The back to back homers by Quentin and Dye in the 3rd were fair pitches, the location was just a little bit off. Danks had the same problem, he hung a couple change ups and didn’t use his cutter nearly enough. Like the first game, this wasn’t a pretty victory. After jumping out to a 7-3 lead, the Sox slowly but surely let the Tigers creep back into the game. Thankfully (SARCASM!) Boone Logan decided to have his first scoreless outing in 9 appearances. He came in to face one batter and allowed a hit, so I’m not all that thankful for him. I was grateful though for Bobby Jenks and Octavio Dotel’s combined scoreless 2 1/3 innings.

The finale was a very painful game to watch. In essence the all three games had their painful moments (which makes me feel bad for Tigers’ fans, well, sorta), but the Sox just never seemed like they were going to win this one. Javy was his inconsistent self allowing 6 runs in 7 innings of work. I thought after the game against Texas, he would be better than this. I thought his 10 strikeouts that game were more of an indication that he was finding his stuff, rather than merely just a result of playing the free-swinging Rangers. It seems that my optimism was misguided. As poorly as Javy pitched and as poor as the Sox hit against reliever turned starter, Miner, the Sox very nearly caught the Tigers (by the toe, couldn’t resist, sorry). In the 8th, the Sox loaded the bases and scored 2 runs with 2 outs. Unfortunately, Paulie came up to snuff out the rally. In the ninth, all three batters that faced new closer Fernando Rodney reached full counts and struck out on fastballs up and way out of the zone. It easily could have been bases loaded no outs (all things the same), but I’ll juts tip my hat to Rodney for having the stones to get all three of them out on high cheese.

It would have been nice to severely hurt the Tigers playoff aspirations, but I’m still very happy with 2 outta 3. I guess there also is the added benefit of demolishing their bullpen’s confidence even more, which could have a slightly magnified impact if Joel Zumaya’s injury sidelines him for an extended period of time.

The idea of this was not to completely recap the series but to see how my predictions/thoughts played out. I’ll link to fuller recaps in Around the Bases in the morning and I’ll also do a similar (probably more detailed preview) for the Twins series, because that one is quite important.