Sunday, August 12, 2007

Ordonez Powers Tigers into First

I was unable to see the game today and heard only the last 2 innings on the radio so I can't provide much insight on their 11-6 victory over the Athletics. Magglio Ordonez's day can not go without mention though. With the Tigers trailing 2-0, the amazing Magglio led off the 2nd inning with a homer down the line in right field. He then capped the 8 run inning with a 3 run blast to left to make him only the second Tiger in the history of the franchise to hit 2 homers in one inning. The other was Al Kaline in 1955.

In case you hadn't noticed, Ordonez's mid-season slump is over. He has gone 18 for 44 (.409 batting average) with 5 homers and 3 doubles in his last 10 games. For the season, he is leading the league in batting (.357) and OBP (.437). He is second to Alex Rodriguez in slugging (.599) and OPS (1.030).

The Tigers got another mediocre performance from a starting pitcher today. Nate Robertson went 5 2/3 innings allowing 4 runs on 5 hits and 5 walks against the light hitting Athletics. The starting pitchers as a whole need to pitch better with two weeks of games versus the Indians and Yankees just around the corner. They did get some solid relief from Yorman Bazardo who was recalled today. He went 2 2/3 innings allowing 1 unearned run on 2 hits.

With the Indians getting swept in their weekend series versus the Yankees, the Tigers moved into first place by a half game. The Tigers finish their series versus the Athletics tomorrow while the Indians take the day off. The two central division leaders will face off on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Notes:

As you probably heard, Placido Polanco set the record for most consecutive chances without an error with his 647th successful chance in a row on Tuesday. Today he tied the record for most consecutive errorless games with 143. In each case, the previous record holder was Luis Castillo. Polanco's last error was on July 1, 2006 versus the Pirates.

Joel Zumaya will make his first rehab appearance for the Toledo MudHens tomorrow. The plan is for him to pitch in 3 games for Toledo and hopefully return to the Tigers next week.

Eulogio DelaCruz was optioned to Toledo after only one day on the roster and no game action. He was replaced by Yorman Bazardo. I think the reason for this strange move is that they wanted Bazardo but he was not ready to pitch on Saturday. Therefore, they brought up DelaCruz for one day so that they would have another fresh arm if needed.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Twitter

Blog Archive

Subscribe

My Sabermetrics Book

My Sabermetrics Book
One of Baseball America's top ten books of 2010

Other Sabermetrics Books

Stat Counter