Garret Craig

Miguel Cabrera has hit .291 this season, and only .292 over the past 7 days, but the Tigers are sure making him look good right now. Cabrera has batted in 9 runs in the last 3 games, about 53% of the Tigers total run production, and has earned them a 1-2 record in that span. But a .333 win percentage is not going to win very many ball games, especially the way the Tigers have played in their last 2 games.

On Tuesday night the madness started early, when the names Marcus Thames and Gary Sheffield were posted on the lineup card, and it transferred to the field early in the first inning. With one out and runners on first and second, Chris Lambert leaves a fastball right down the middle, but he get’s lucky; The batter pops the ball up to shallow right field. Placido Polanco circles under it for what seems like hours, but lets it tip off his glove, and everybody advances.

Polanco and the Tigers failed to play fundamental baseball again in the bottom half of the frame, as a ground out and a pop-out, both to third, fail to advance a man on second base with no outs. Miguel Cabrera picks up Polanco and Ordonez with a two-out RBI single. Then, with two outs, Gary Sheffield pops up with a 2-0 count to end the inning.

Good news came for the Tigers in the top of the second, when Edgar Renteria charged a ground ball! But we had to shield our eyes again in the next inning as Torri Hunter stole second base with 2 outs in the 3rd. This wasn’t just any steal… The Tigers were paying so little attention to what was going on, Hunter was probably half-way to second before the pitch was even thrown. Not to mention Placido Polanco couldn’t even beat him to the bag. It looked like defensive indifference, really.

I feel like I’m going to have to repeat myself alot here… That’s really how bad this is. Gary Sheffield fails to move another runner on second over with less than two outs; Ground ball to 3rd. Top of the 4th, one out, man on second, and Brandon Inge drops a pitch that hit him right in the glove, and lets the runner move to 3rd with one out. Brandon is one of the last players I want to be accusing of sloppy play, but it seems like it’s becoming a team trend now.

Off to the bottom half of the 4th now, nobody out, Renteria on first. Brandon Inge lines a ball to the right fielder, who throws it back in to first base. The ball hits the first baseman and trickles away about 5 ft. Edgar Renteria tries to advance and is easily thrown out. Now I understand taking a chance, making an effort, but sometimes it’s just plain stupidity, and that seems like the case here. Threat over.

The climax of bullheadedness starts in the top of the 5th, two men out, and a man on second. An error by Ryan Raburn on a ground ball to third moves the runner up and keeps the inning alive, and brings up Brandon Wood. Wood hits a ground ball back to the pitcher; Gary Glover kicks it away toward the 3rd base side, and every body’s safe. While the Tigers pick their noses and decide what to screw up on the next play, Mike Napoli moves over to 3rd with nobody covering.

Skipping through some more horrible play, I thought I should include something good in this article; Brandon Inge lays down a successful sacrifice bunt! That makes him 1/3 in bunt attempts all night!

Back to the bad… I believe most of the above falls on the manager, Mr. Jim Leyland. He has had poor decision-making all year. My expectations aren’t high for the next 2 games, but I’ll try to keep the complaining down for a few days.