For the 2nd time in a month The Tigers have put up 19 runs in a game. Of course, there weren’t a whole lot of victories between those two games…but when the bats are on, it’s exciting.
Magglio was pulled early out of respect for the MLB record books (and more likely, a need to have him fresh for tomorrow’s game) after going 3 for 3 with 2 home runs and 6 RBI. Since Leyland went bat-shit crazy, Detroit has gone 4-1 putting up 53 runs in 5 games. Here’s to your bat-shit craziness, Jim!
But the most impressive thing for me was the sell-out crowd. This was on a day where The Detroit Red Wings were playing in game 1 of The Stanley Cup Finals, and The Detroit Pistons were playing in game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals - all in Detroit! The fact that The Tigers could sell out a night game with all of these things going on in Detroit is a true testament to this city being the sports capital of the world! Of course - it’s also the murder capital, the city with the lowest graduation rate in a non-third world country, has the highest level of unemployment this side of Mogadishu, and the highest rate of foreclosures in the world…but how ’bout our sports teams! It’s….really something to be #1 in so many areas.
But back to the game. Boof Bonser got tagged for 9 runs, getting pulled in the 4th with bases loaded. His relief didn’t do much better. It was an offensive onslaught. all 19 runs came in the first 5 innings, and The Tigers looked like they lost interest after that - probably went to the clubhouse to watch the Wings beat Pittsburgh in game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals. It didn’t matter.
So let’s see where the batting averages are now
As a team, The Tigers are 7th in the MLB with a team batting average of .270 and 6th in the MLB in runs scored at 245. Individually, here’s how they stack up:
*Ramon Santiago .353 (*only 34 AB)
Magglio Ordonez .330
Placido Polanco .294 (amazing, after that horrendous start)
Carlos Guillen .288
Edgar Renteria .284
Miguel Cabrera .282
Ivan Rodriguez .275
Ryan Raburn .257
Matt Joyce .256
Marcus Thames .254
Curtis Granderson .245 (WTF!)
Brandon Inge .229
Gary Sheffield .208 (improving, but has a looong way to go)
But before we get excited, let’s look at the pitching. Team ERA is 2nd to last in the MLB at 4.90 and have served up the 2nd fewest strikeouts in all of baseball. The Pirates hold the distinction of being #1 in both of those categories. So although the hitting seems to be turning around, the pitching hasn’t. There is still a long way to go.
