Tuesday, October 06, 2009
One-Game Playoff in Minnesota
updated: 8:23 p.m.
I was about to write "Rick Porcello is writing a story that will go down in Tigers' lore." It was the bottom of the 6th and the rookie had just struck out American League batting champion Joe Mauer for the second out of the inning. I walked out of the room to reset the internet connection and came back just in time to see Jason Kubel launching a home run into the seats above the baggy in right. 3-2 Tigers.
One batter later (a walk to Cuddyer), and now he's been yanked by Jim Leyland. Zach Miner coming in from the pen.
Porcello was excellent today: 5.2, 4 hits, 2 runs (as of right now), 1 earned, 2 walks, and a career-high tying 8 K's.
An excellent start to post-season baseball.
Update 1: 7:01 p.m.
Bases loaded for the Twins now. Miner's given up a single and hit a batter, pinch-hitter Brendan Harris. Two outs.
Ron Darling as the analyst makes Chip Carey (edited, orig. I wrote "Skip") tolerable. Darling is excellent. Wish I could combine the radio broadcast PBP announcer (Dan Shulman) with the TV color guy . . . how could a team would that be?
Tolbert's up, and Miner's behind in the count 2-1 and looks very shaky.
Hit decently, but directly to dead center. Can o' corn for Granderson.
3-2 going to the 7th.
Gotta like the Twins' chances though, especially considering how maligned the Detroit pen has been this year.
Update 2: 7:07 p.m.
Baker still in the game. At 84 pitches to start the inning.
Inge/Laird/Santiago due up.
In case you're wondering here's the complete list of all the tie-breaker games in baseball history, courtesy of Baseball Reference.
Inge walks to lead-off the 7th and Gardy's going to the Pen to bring in Jon Rauch.
Baker really hung in there. He gave up the three-spot in the 3rd and didn't look long for this game. But he really cruised through the middle innings. A workmanlike performance.
Update 3: 7:18 p.m.
Laird pops up the sac bunt attempt. One out. Laird really pulled the bat back on the heater, and wound up in a bad bunt position.
After getting a fly out from Santiago, Gardenhire is changing pitchers again. This time going with Jose Mijares to face Granderson.
The Twins are the first team to play in a tiebreaker playoff in back-to-back years. In looking at that list it's interesting to note that there were no extra games to decide a playoff spot from 1981-1994. Obviously the implementation of the Wild Card round has increased the occurrence of these games: this is the sixth since 1995 and the third in three seasons.
Mijares not missing by much, but down 3-1 in the count.
The other sizable gap between games like this was 1963-1977, years that were book-ended by the Dodgers-Giants playoff series in '62 and the Bucky Dent game in '78.
Base hit for Granderson on a 3-2 count. A guy who is a tougher out in my mind than his numbers suggest. The Tigers have a bunch of those types of guys . . . Polanco . . . Guillen.
1st & 3rd, 2 outs.
Another pitcher for the Twins as the conveyor belt continues to roll: Matt Guerrier on the way in to pitch to Polanco.
Update 4: 7:21 p.m.
Huge spot in the game. Base hit here really opens up some breathing room for the Tigers.
Got out of it. Fastball in on the hands, ground ball to short.
Update 5: 7:33 p.m.
Miner still in. Punto leading off.
Nick Punto is not one of those guys that I envision as "better than his numbers." When I see .227, that pretty much sums it up.
Good at-bat here though. Seven pitches in, 2-2 count. Now 3-2.
Base hit, of course. Line drive to left.
For all the crap that the Metrodome has gotten over the years (and one of my new favorite writers playfully piled it on this morning), it sure looks like a fun building to be in for big games. My memories of '87 and '91 are still vivid; I just remember the place absolutely rocking back in those years. And it's jumping tonight as well.
Gardy decided not to bunt with Span. Darling was surprised, for what it's worth.
Struck him out on a sharp slider. No advance of the runner. Remember that at-bat if the Twins don't score in this inning.
Orlando Cabrera, with the reputation as a good situational player . . . just drilled one into the left field seats. 4-3 Twinkies.
Well maybe "drilled" is being generous. A low line-drive it just sneaked over the fence in left, beyond the outstretched glove of Raburn in left. Unbelievable.
Six outs away from a historic collapse by the Tigers.
Base hit Mauer.
The game is starting to reach it's "inevitable feeling" stage. As in it's hard to envision Minnesota not winning this game now. Posnanski is right: this building just doesn't want to die.
New pitcher for Detroit.
Update 6: 7:41 p.m.
Fu Te-Ni got Kubel and Brandon Lyon was brought in to get Michael Cuddyer, which he did on a comebacker to the mound.
Onto the 8th.
Update 7: 7:56 p.m.
Guerrier still in. Ordonez/Cabrera/Guillen.
And now the only sound in the building is the hootin' and hollerin' in the Tigers dugout. Home run Magglio Ordonez.
Four to four.
Three outs away from Nathan facing the bottom of the order . . . oh well. It's a new game.
Cabrera grounds out.
Darling: "They were tied after 162. Why wouldn't they be tied now?"
Juice in the Metrodome, on a scale of 1-10, went from about a 15 to a 2.5 on one swing. Flat, flat, flatsky.
Guillen walks with one out.
Good AB by Raburn, and the crowd is slowly starting to resuscitate itself. Full count.
A lot of throws over to first to check on the pinch-runner Ramirez.
Ball 4. 1st and 2nd now, 1 out.
Guerrier out. I think Nathan's coming in, as he was the only one I saw warming up before the commercial break. Makes you think they probably would've been better off just having Nathan start the 8th, but I know Gardenhire was trying to avoid having to use his closer at all costs in the 8th.
Update 8: 8:02 p.m.
It is Nathan.
Big out. Got Inge to pop up to 2nd on a high fastball, 2-0 count. Ball was high, probably was ball three.
Two outs.
Laird.
Shocker: Nathan's fastball looks great. Crisp, good movement.
Nice stop by Mauer on a slider in the dirt. 2-1 count.
Buried a fastball in on the fists to tie him up. 2-2
Gotta stick with the fastball here, no?
Slider, of course. A beauty on the outside corner that froze Laird looking.
Onto the bottom of the 8th.
Great game.
Update 9: 8:10 p.m.
I've now been live blogging for over an hour, which is probably some kind of record for this venerable, old blog. It just struck me that this site is the baseball blogosphere's equivalent of the Metrodome! Yes, it's a perfect fit. Under-utilized, ugly, not the best place to get your baseball information, but dadgumit (and yes, I just wrote "dadgumit"), this blog just refuses to die.
Lyon still in for Detroit. One out on a groundout.
Another ground ball, this time to third. Two outs.
That should be my new tagline: The Metrodome of Baseball Blogs. Perfect.
Matt Tolbert. A name I wasn't familiar with at all until the last couple of weeks.
Swing and a miss. End of inning.
Onto the 9th, game tied at four.
Update 10: 8:23 p.m.
So sick of the $5 footlong song.
9-1-2 for the Tigers here in the 9th.
Beautiful bunt by Santiago down the first base line for a base hit. And just as impressive of a slide into the first base bag to avoid the tag by Cuddyer. Spectacular play.
I think you have to bunt Granderson here . . . but maybe that's just me. He does have good numbers against Nathan, but with those three guys behind him I'd be very tempted to get that runner into scoring position.
First pitch: wasn't squaring, strike one.
Swing and a miss, strike two.
Worked out well. 1st and 3rd with nobody out after a jam-shot base hit to right field.
Polanco. Nathan's fastball doesn't look as good as it did in the 8th, and Darling just alluded to that. TBS gun showed it at 94-95. This inning it's been at 93.
1-2 after a good slider.
Cooked a fastball up to 95. Foul ball.
2-2.
Great slider on the inside corner to freeze him. 1 out. Miles to go before he sleeps, however.
Ordonez.
Amazing.
Line shot to short and Cabrera threw back to 1st to double off Granderson who went way too far off the bag.
A double play sends the game to the bottom of the 9th tied at four.
A classic considering the circumstances. Other duties call at this point, but I'll try and check back in for a wrap-up later tonight.
Good stuff.
updated: 8:23 p.m.
I was about to write "Rick Porcello is writing a story that will go down in Tigers' lore." It was the bottom of the 6th and the rookie had just struck out American League batting champion Joe Mauer for the second out of the inning. I walked out of the room to reset the internet connection and came back just in time to see Jason Kubel launching a home run into the seats above the baggy in right. 3-2 Tigers.
One batter later (a walk to Cuddyer), and now he's been yanked by Jim Leyland. Zach Miner coming in from the pen.
Porcello was excellent today: 5.2, 4 hits, 2 runs (as of right now), 1 earned, 2 walks, and a career-high tying 8 K's.
An excellent start to post-season baseball.
Update 1: 7:01 p.m.
Bases loaded for the Twins now. Miner's given up a single and hit a batter, pinch-hitter Brendan Harris. Two outs.
Ron Darling as the analyst makes Chip Carey (edited, orig. I wrote "Skip") tolerable. Darling is excellent. Wish I could combine the radio broadcast PBP announcer (Dan Shulman) with the TV color guy . . . how could a team would that be?
Tolbert's up, and Miner's behind in the count 2-1 and looks very shaky.
Hit decently, but directly to dead center. Can o' corn for Granderson.
3-2 going to the 7th.
Gotta like the Twins' chances though, especially considering how maligned the Detroit pen has been this year.
Update 2: 7:07 p.m.
Baker still in the game. At 84 pitches to start the inning.
Inge/Laird/Santiago due up.
In case you're wondering here's the complete list of all the tie-breaker games in baseball history, courtesy of Baseball Reference.
Inge walks to lead-off the 7th and Gardy's going to the Pen to bring in Jon Rauch.
Baker really hung in there. He gave up the three-spot in the 3rd and didn't look long for this game. But he really cruised through the middle innings. A workmanlike performance.
Update 3: 7:18 p.m.
Laird pops up the sac bunt attempt. One out. Laird really pulled the bat back on the heater, and wound up in a bad bunt position.
After getting a fly out from Santiago, Gardenhire is changing pitchers again. This time going with Jose Mijares to face Granderson.
The Twins are the first team to play in a tiebreaker playoff in back-to-back years. In looking at that list it's interesting to note that there were no extra games to decide a playoff spot from 1981-1994. Obviously the implementation of the Wild Card round has increased the occurrence of these games: this is the sixth since 1995 and the third in three seasons.
Mijares not missing by much, but down 3-1 in the count.
The other sizable gap between games like this was 1963-1977, years that were book-ended by the Dodgers-Giants playoff series in '62 and the Bucky Dent game in '78.
Base hit for Granderson on a 3-2 count. A guy who is a tougher out in my mind than his numbers suggest. The Tigers have a bunch of those types of guys . . . Polanco . . . Guillen.
1st & 3rd, 2 outs.
Another pitcher for the Twins as the conveyor belt continues to roll: Matt Guerrier on the way in to pitch to Polanco.
Update 4: 7:21 p.m.
Huge spot in the game. Base hit here really opens up some breathing room for the Tigers.
Got out of it. Fastball in on the hands, ground ball to short.
Update 5: 7:33 p.m.
Miner still in. Punto leading off.
Nick Punto is not one of those guys that I envision as "better than his numbers." When I see .227, that pretty much sums it up.
Good at-bat here though. Seven pitches in, 2-2 count. Now 3-2.
Base hit, of course. Line drive to left.
For all the crap that the Metrodome has gotten over the years (and one of my new favorite writers playfully piled it on this morning), it sure looks like a fun building to be in for big games. My memories of '87 and '91 are still vivid; I just remember the place absolutely rocking back in those years. And it's jumping tonight as well.
Gardy decided not to bunt with Span. Darling was surprised, for what it's worth.
Struck him out on a sharp slider. No advance of the runner. Remember that at-bat if the Twins don't score in this inning.
Orlando Cabrera, with the reputation as a good situational player . . . just drilled one into the left field seats. 4-3 Twinkies.
Well maybe "drilled" is being generous. A low line-drive it just sneaked over the fence in left, beyond the outstretched glove of Raburn in left. Unbelievable.
Six outs away from a historic collapse by the Tigers.
Base hit Mauer.
The game is starting to reach it's "inevitable feeling" stage. As in it's hard to envision Minnesota not winning this game now. Posnanski is right: this building just doesn't want to die.
New pitcher for Detroit.
Update 6: 7:41 p.m.
Fu Te-Ni got Kubel and Brandon Lyon was brought in to get Michael Cuddyer, which he did on a comebacker to the mound.
Onto the 8th.
Update 7: 7:56 p.m.
Guerrier still in. Ordonez/Cabrera/Guillen.
And now the only sound in the building is the hootin' and hollerin' in the Tigers dugout. Home run Magglio Ordonez.
Four to four.
Three outs away from Nathan facing the bottom of the order . . . oh well. It's a new game.
Cabrera grounds out.
Darling: "They were tied after 162. Why wouldn't they be tied now?"
Juice in the Metrodome, on a scale of 1-10, went from about a 15 to a 2.5 on one swing. Flat, flat, flatsky.
Guillen walks with one out.
Good AB by Raburn, and the crowd is slowly starting to resuscitate itself. Full count.
A lot of throws over to first to check on the pinch-runner Ramirez.
Ball 4. 1st and 2nd now, 1 out.
Guerrier out. I think Nathan's coming in, as he was the only one I saw warming up before the commercial break. Makes you think they probably would've been better off just having Nathan start the 8th, but I know Gardenhire was trying to avoid having to use his closer at all costs in the 8th.
Update 8: 8:02 p.m.
It is Nathan.
Big out. Got Inge to pop up to 2nd on a high fastball, 2-0 count. Ball was high, probably was ball three.
Two outs.
Laird.
Shocker: Nathan's fastball looks great. Crisp, good movement.
Nice stop by Mauer on a slider in the dirt. 2-1 count.
Buried a fastball in on the fists to tie him up. 2-2
Gotta stick with the fastball here, no?
Slider, of course. A beauty on the outside corner that froze Laird looking.
Onto the bottom of the 8th.
Great game.
Update 9: 8:10 p.m.
I've now been live blogging for over an hour, which is probably some kind of record for this venerable, old blog. It just struck me that this site is the baseball blogosphere's equivalent of the Metrodome! Yes, it's a perfect fit. Under-utilized, ugly, not the best place to get your baseball information, but dadgumit (and yes, I just wrote "dadgumit"), this blog just refuses to die.
Lyon still in for Detroit. One out on a groundout.
Another ground ball, this time to third. Two outs.
That should be my new tagline: The Metrodome of Baseball Blogs. Perfect.
Matt Tolbert. A name I wasn't familiar with at all until the last couple of weeks.
Swing and a miss. End of inning.
Onto the 9th, game tied at four.
Update 10: 8:23 p.m.
So sick of the $5 footlong song.
9-1-2 for the Tigers here in the 9th.
Beautiful bunt by Santiago down the first base line for a base hit. And just as impressive of a slide into the first base bag to avoid the tag by Cuddyer. Spectacular play.
I think you have to bunt Granderson here . . . but maybe that's just me. He does have good numbers against Nathan, but with those three guys behind him I'd be very tempted to get that runner into scoring position.
First pitch: wasn't squaring, strike one.
Swing and a miss, strike two.
Worked out well. 1st and 3rd with nobody out after a jam-shot base hit to right field.
Polanco. Nathan's fastball doesn't look as good as it did in the 8th, and Darling just alluded to that. TBS gun showed it at 94-95. This inning it's been at 93.
1-2 after a good slider.
Cooked a fastball up to 95. Foul ball.
2-2.
Great slider on the inside corner to freeze him. 1 out. Miles to go before he sleeps, however.
Ordonez.
Amazing.
Line shot to short and Cabrera threw back to 1st to double off Granderson who went way too far off the bag.
A double play sends the game to the bottom of the 9th tied at four.
A classic considering the circumstances. Other duties call at this point, but I'll try and check back in for a wrap-up later tonight.
Good stuff.
