We've heard Mario Impemba and Rod Allen say "It's not everyday you see Placido Polanco go 0fer in a game, let's see if he gets a hit here" literally hundreds of times. Most times, Polly comes through with a hit and proves them right or something like that.
Well, now, maybe the guys are going to have to change their tune to "It's not every season you see Polly go 0-10 to start off" or something. Even rarer is going to be the "It's not everyday you see the Tigers get three hits and one guy has all of them." I think you're catching my drift.
This isn't quite what we've come to expect from the Tigers in the past two seasons, when they've had hot Aprils at the plate. But the reality is, the lack of offensive production we've seen from both the Royals and the Tigers the past two games is the far likelier result of playing baseball in Detroit April. As nice as it looked outside today, it was still bitterly cold by baseball standards and pitchers most certainly have the advantage on days like today. Yes, I'm making excuses because I really don't have any other solutions to why the 2008 Tigers couldn't score more than four runs against Gil Meche and Brian Bannister, combined. Both are good pitchers, but they aren't that good.
Going 0-2 was certainly not the type of start expected from this Tiger team, especially not against the Royals. But through all the gloom that the lineup has cast over the passed two games, there have been some encouraging signs coming from the Tigers pitching staff. Literally, if Justin Verlander gets pulled before the 7th inning on Monday and if Kenny Rogers doesn't go out to start the 6th today, the Tigers bullpen might not have allowed any runs this season so far. Even though they have been thrust into tough situations, they've performed adequately enough. Zach Miner pitched pretty well today for the first inning and two-thirds he was in until allowing a couple of runs in the eighth.
The Tigs really need to get a strong performance from Jeremy Bonderman tomorrow afternoon - a complete performance too, not one like Kenny's and Justin's where they faded near the end of their outing - to get a victory. Getting swept by Kansas City would be probably the absolute worst way to start the new campaign. Personally, I'd really really really like to see the Tigers score like, I don't know, five runs tomorrow and have more than three hits by Edgar Renteria (who looked good today). If Bondo can get through the first inning, then that might be the first sign that a new season is finally ready to start going the right way.
Well, now, maybe the guys are going to have to change their tune to "It's not every season you see Polly go 0-10 to start off" or something. Even rarer is going to be the "It's not everyday you see the Tigers get three hits and one guy has all of them." I think you're catching my drift.
This isn't quite what we've come to expect from the Tigers in the past two seasons, when they've had hot Aprils at the plate. But the reality is, the lack of offensive production we've seen from both the Royals and the Tigers the past two games is the far likelier result of playing baseball in Detroit April. As nice as it looked outside today, it was still bitterly cold by baseball standards and pitchers most certainly have the advantage on days like today. Yes, I'm making excuses because I really don't have any other solutions to why the 2008 Tigers couldn't score more than four runs against Gil Meche and Brian Bannister, combined. Both are good pitchers, but they aren't that good.
Going 0-2 was certainly not the type of start expected from this Tiger team, especially not against the Royals. But through all the gloom that the lineup has cast over the passed two games, there have been some encouraging signs coming from the Tigers pitching staff. Literally, if Justin Verlander gets pulled before the 7th inning on Monday and if Kenny Rogers doesn't go out to start the 6th today, the Tigers bullpen might not have allowed any runs this season so far. Even though they have been thrust into tough situations, they've performed adequately enough. Zach Miner pitched pretty well today for the first inning and two-thirds he was in until allowing a couple of runs in the eighth.
The Tigs really need to get a strong performance from Jeremy Bonderman tomorrow afternoon - a complete performance too, not one like Kenny's and Justin's where they faded near the end of their outing - to get a victory. Getting swept by Kansas City would be probably the absolute worst way to start the new campaign. Personally, I'd really really really like to see the Tigers score like, I don't know, five runs tomorrow and have more than three hits by Edgar Renteria (who looked good today). If Bondo can get through the first inning, then that might be the first sign that a new season is finally ready to start going the right way.