Sunday Notes: Bullpen Fail.
Indians 4 - Tigers 0 ?Mike Aviles broke up a scoreless game with his first-ever grand slam, after Joaquin Benoit had walked the bags full, and the Indians salvaged their last game with the Tigers this year. The third walk was an IBB to Jason Kubel, after a sacrifice put 2 in scoring position with 1 out. Benoit was 4-0 this year and hadn?t let go a lead nor put Detroit behind in a game all year ? but he?s now allowed 5 career slams in 111 PAs, including a 2011-04-29 walk-off to Carlos Santana.
It was just the second 9th-inning slam in MLB this year, and the first since 2007-04-11 in a scoreless game in the 9th or later. It?s the first such 0-0-breaking slam for Cleveland or against Detroit in the searchable database, stretching back to 1945.
First shutout on 11+ hits involving an AL team since 2006-06-05. Second such against Detroit in the database (since 1916), the other by Robin Roberts on 1964-07-17. Fifth such for the Indians, last on 1976-06-12.
Cleveland?s last shutout of Detroit was 2010-09-29, when Mitch Talbot (7 IP) bested Max Scherzer in the start of a doubleheader sweep
Danny Salazar?s rematch with Detroit had no Miggy to stir the pot, nor Austin Jackson, who also homered off Salazar that night. The Tigers threatened a few times, but Danny went 6 shutout innings on just 77 pitches, no walks. Detroit missed a big chance in the 3rd: Andy Dirks doubled to deep CF with Alex Avila on 1st and 1 out, but Avila stopped at 3rd, then was thrown out at home on a grounder by Jose Iglesias, and they didn?t score.
Among 284 regular players (250+ PAs), Avila is 10th-worst in rate of extra bases taken on teammates? hits (19%).
Justin Verlander shook off a slow start and went 7 scoreless stanzas on 116 pitches, 6 Ks and 2 walks. He fanned Kubel in the 7th on three swing-and-misses with a man on 3rd and 1 out. But the first 2 innings seemed a capsule view of Verlander?s season: He got 2 strikes on 8 of the first 9 batters, but fanned only one. He threw 34 strikes out of 52 pitches ? just 4 misses, 8 looking, and 22 contacted. Here?s what the others did after 2 strikes:
4 fouls, walk.
3 fouls, popout.
Walk.
1 foul, lineout.
1 foul, flyout.
1 foul, single.
Groundout.
Cody Allen got the Tribe out of trouble in the 7th, getting 2 outs with 2 on to preserve the all-oval scoreboard. Nick Swisher started a nice 3-6-1 DP in the 6th, with Salazar getting over quickly, just like it says in the P.F.P Manual.
Nick Castellanos made his MLB debut, flying out as a pinch-hitter. Detroit?s top pick in 2010, Castellanos has hit .303 in the minors, and was leading the AAA International League in runs, total bases and doubles (2nd in RBI, 4th in HRs) before the call-up. At 21, he was the 2nd-youngest hitter in the I.L., after Xander Bogaerts. Castellanos attended Archbishop McCarthy HS in Florida, the same school that produced Alex Avila and Danny Farquhar (see Late Saturday Mariners note, below).
Aviles mooted this note, but anyway: Detroit?s last extra-innings shutout of Cleveland was in 1965, with Mickey Lolich going the 10-IP distance and winning on Dick McAuliffe?s double off starter Jack Kralick. The last for the Tribe vs. the Tigers was July 4, 1962, Jim Perry going 10 and starting the winning rally off hard-luck Hank Aguirre.
Despite losing, Detroit?s 15-4 mark against Cleveland is their best W% ever in that season series. They twice notched a 17-5 mark, including 1915, when the Tigers went 92-40 against everyone but pennant-winning Boston (to whom they lost 14 of 22 despite outscoring them 101-91, with eight one-run losses).
Someone on Baseball Tonight said, ?The Indians aren?t going away.? OK, breaking a 5-game slide is a positive step, and sure, Tampa?s slump has left the door open. But they?re 4 losses back of the Rays, one back of Baltimore, and tied with New York. The Tribe do have a good schedule left, 15 of 26 at home, and just 3 with a real contender. If they do make the tourney, it will come by further abuse of the weak teams: Cleveland is 40-17 against losing clubs, but 32-47 vs. teams at .500 or better. It?s not just the Tigers (4-15), but the BoSox and Yanks (1-6 each), the Rays (2-4) and the Braves (0-3). They?ve handled the Rangers (5-1) and A?s (5-2), but they really haven?t shown they can hang with the best clubs.
from HighHeatStats
