What’s Wrong with the Detroit Tigers?

The 2006 World Series championship Detroit Tigers just can’t seem to get their bums in gear this year.  The Tigers have just lost a three-game series to the Kansas City Royals for the second time this season.  At .390, the Tigers are now in last place in the American League Central Division, six games behind the first-place Cleveland Indians.  They have the fourth-worst record in baseball, behind the .357 San Diego Padres, the .366 Colorado Rockies and the .381 Seattle Mariners.

Pitching is one of the problems.  In 2006, the Tigers had the best team ERA at 3.84.  But they have overcome their past glory and, at 5.10, now have the highest ERA in the American League. 

Although the Tigers scored only 11 runs in the six losses to Kansas City, their over-all batting and scoring statistics compare pretty favorably with the rest of their division.  With a .262 team batting average, the Tigers are second only to the Minnesota Twins with a .264 team BA.  The Royals tie the Tigers at .262 and the first-place Cleveland Indians (.236) and the second-place Chicago White Sox (.242) lag behind.  At 179 team RBI’s, the Tigers are second in the division to the White Sox (180) and have scored ahead of the Indians (170), the Twins (166) and the Royals (141).

It’s still relatively early in the season, and a team can still turn things around.  But it gets harder as the summer sets in and the gap between first and last grows.

Chicago Cubs Watch — May 16, 2008

Ryan Dempster came within two outs of a complete game Thursday as he led the Chicago Cubs to a 4-0 shut-out of the San Diego Padres.  The Cubs took three games out of the four-game series with the Padres and have won six of their last seven.

Dempster, 5-1, struck out 12 and retired 15 straight batters.  He permitted 6 hits and 1 walk, throwing 115 pitches before he started to get in trouble in the ninth inning. 

With runners on first and third, Kerry Wood stepped in to relieve Dempster and got his eighth save in his past 11 chances.

The losing pitcher was former Cubs hero Greg Maddux, who allowed all four runs on eleven hits in his 4-1/3 innings.  Maddux won his 350th game last weekend.

Jim Edmonds made his first appearance for the Cubs against the team that released him last week.  Playing center field, he got one hit in four at-bats and struck out once.  Edmonds, who had been a thorn in the side of Cubs fans when he played with the St. Louis Cardinals, signed with the Cubs five days after being released from the Padres.

The Padres struck out 14 times Wednesday and 15 times the day before.

The Padres, who at 15-27 have the worst record in baseball, are in last place in the National League West Division, 11.5 behind the Diamondbacks.  The Cubs, at 25-16, are in first place in the National League Central Division, 1.5 games ahead of the Houston Astros.  The Astros have slipped ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals for the second place spot.

And it has been a century since the Cubs last won a World Series championship.

Nice Paycheck for Braun

The Milwaukee Brewers just offered Ryan Braun a nice paycheck.  The 24-year-old has signed an eight-year deal for $45 million.  This is the priciest contract the Brewers have ever inked.

Ryan hit .324 with 34 home runs and 97 RBI’s last year, earning him the NL Rookie of the Year.  Although he started the season at third base, he was moved to left field after making 26 errors, the highest in baseball.

So far this season, his average is .287, with nine home runs and 29 RBI’s.

Nice paycheck.  Don’t spend it all in one place.

 

Detroit Tigers Struggling

The Detroit Tigers continued to struggle Wednesday night, losing to the Kansas City Royals 2-0.  The sixth shutout of the season brought their string of scoreless innings to 16.  The Tigers have lost nine of their last 11 games.  In Wednesday’s days, they failed to score despite getting six hits and leaving eight on base. 

The loss went to Justin Verlander who, at 1-7 for the season, has lost more games than he did all of last year when he went 18-6.

At 16-24, the Tigers are in last place in the American League Central Division, five games behind first place Cleveland and 2.5 games behind the 18-21 Royals.

Chicago Cubs Watch — May 15, 2008

The Chicago Cubs remain in first place in the National League Central Division after Wednesday night’s 8-5 win over the San Diego Padres.  The Cubs, 24-16, are one game ahead of the second-place St. Louis Cardinals.  The Padres are in last place in the National League West Division, 10.5 games behind the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks.  The Padres, 15-26, have the worst record in baseball.

This week’s buzz among the Cubs is the imminent arrival of Jim Edmonds.  The veteran outfielder, a former St. Louis Cardinals star, was signed by the Cubs less than a week after being released by the Padres.  He is expected to take the field for the Cubs for Thursday’s game, the fourth and last in a series against the team that let him go.  He and the rest of the Cubs will be facing former Chicago pitching ace Greg Maddux in that game.  The Big Leagues are a small world.

The Cubs have optioned Felix Pie to Triple-A Iowa to make room for Edmonds.

During spring training, Edmonds injured his right calf and he started the season on the disabled list.  Since coming back to active status, his batting average has been a life-time low .178, with one home run and six RBI’s.  This year’s stats are well below his total career numbers of a .286 batting average with 363 home runs and 1,127 RBI’s.  Edmonds, who is not expected to play every day, brings a left-handed bat to a largely right-handed Cubs line-up.

When he was a star for the Cardinals, Cubs fans and some players developed some animosity towards him.  The Chicago Tribune reports a ChicagoSports.com survey that found 13.9% of respondents were against signing Edmonds precisely because he used to play for the Cards.  And there was the 2004 game in which tempers flared between Edmonds and his new teammate, pitcher Carlos Zambrano.  In that game, Edmonds hit a home run off the Big Z and, instead of hustling around the bases, stood at home plate to watch the ball sail over the fence.  An irate Zambrano heckled him as he finally ran the bases.  Later in the game, Zambrano hit Edmonds with a pitch and was ejected from the game.

But if Edmonds generated animosity from Cubs players and fans, it was because he was good.  The four-time All-Star has 32 career home runs against the Cubs, 17 of them at Wrigley.  He has won the Gold Glove eight times.  He is 68th on the list of top home run hitters and has hit 30 or more home runs in five seasons.  And he assisted the Cards in their 2006 Word Series championship.

At 37, his best playing years are probably behind him.  But he probably still has some contributions to make.  We’ll see how it goes with the Cubs.

Chicago Cubs Watch — May 14, 2008

Despite Tuesday’s 4-3 loss to the team with the worst record in baseball, the Chicago Cubs remain in first place in the National League Central Division.  

San Diego Padres pitcher Shawn Estes won his first game since September 9, 2005, battling back from a 3-0 deficit after the third inning.  Khalil Greene’s fourth inning three-run homer and Jody Gerut’s run-scoring double put the Padres ahead for the game.

The Padres are in last place in the National League West with a 15-25 record, 9.5 games behind first-place Arizona.  At 23-16, the Cubs are one game ahead of the second-place St. Louis Cardinals.  It has been a century since the Cubs won a World Series.

Asdrubal Cabrera Turns Unassisted Triple Play

Cleveland Indians‘ second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera entered the record books Monday night, making only the fourteenth unassisted triple play in baseball history.

The feat came in the fifth inning of the Indian’s 3-0 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.  Kevin Mench and  Marco Scutaro each singled in that inning, placing Mench on second with Scutaro on first.  Lyle Overbay then hit a line drive up the middle as the base runners charged.  Cabrera dove to catch the ball backhanded for the first out.  He then scurried to his feet to step on second, getting Mench out, who had already reached third base.  Finally, he tagged Scutaro for the third out, after Scutaro had already touched second.  Watch the video.

But if Cabrera had the highlight of the game, the Blue Jays had the win, scoring three in the tenth inning to split a double header.

The Indians, 15-15,  are in second place in the American League Central Division, 1.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins.  The Blue Jays, 18-22, are in last place in the American League East, 5.5 games behind the Red Sox.

Manny Ramirez Home Run Watch

With 498 career home runs as of Monday night, Boston Red Sox left-fielder Manny Ramirez is closing in on home run number 500.  The eye-catchingly coiffed Ramirez is 24th on baseball’s all-time homer list.  Monday night’s two-run blast came in the first inning off Minnesota Twins‘ pitcher Livan Hernandez.  Although he leads his team with eight for the season, he had only a single HR in his previous 19 games.

Number 498 also brought his career RBI total to 1630, putting him in 26th place for that stat.

Ramirez’s first inning home run didn’t take the Red Sox as far as they wanted to go, however.  They lost to the Twins 7-3.  With a 24-17 record, the Red Sox are in first place in the American League East, 0.5 games ahead of the surprising Tampa Bay Rays.  The Twins are 20-17 for the season, in first place in the American League Central, 1.5 games over the second-place Cleveland Indians.

 

Chicago Cubs Watch — May 13, 2008

Pitcher Carlos Zambrano led the Chicago Cubs to a 12-3 win over the San Diego Padres yesterday.    In the seven innings he pitched, the Big Z allowed six hits and all three of the Padres’ runs and took the win, bringing his record to 6-1. 

Zambrano helped the team with his bat, too, starting the six-run fifth inning with a double, and going on to get a single during the fifth-run sixth inning.  This brings to 17 the number of games in his career in which Zambrano has had more than one hit. 

The Cubs ended the game with a total of 13 hits and nine walks and brought their winning streak to five in a row.

The Cubs, with a 23-15 record, have retaken the lead in the National League Central Division from the St. Louis Cardinals, who are now a game behind.   The Padres, at 14-25, have the worst record in the majors and are in last place in the National League West, 9.5 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks.

It has been a century since the Chicago Cubs last won a World Series. 

 

Geovany Soto Is April NL Rookie of the Month

Chicago Cubs catcher Geovany Soto was named the National League Rookie of the Month for the month of April.

Soto spent his 23 games in April accumulating a .341 batting average, with five home runs and 20 runs batted in.  His 29 hits in 85 at-bats include nine extra-base hits.  Drafted by the Cubs in 2001, the Puerto Rico native made his Major League debut on September 23, 2005 against the Houston Astros.