LIVE BLOG: Tigers and Indians in Extras

Wade Fink is Live at Progressive Field covering all the action for the Tigers’ day/night doubleheader.  Click below and continue to click refresh to follow the Live Blog.  Send Wade an email at wafink@gmail.com or post your comments to interact.

12:18AM

Tigers lose a miserable game in extras, 2-1.

12:04AM

Robbie Weinhardt will pitch the 11th for the Tigers.

12:01AM

First of all, it’s Sunday.

Second of all, that was the worst at-bat of the evening in one of the worst Tigers games of the year. Congratulations to Alex Avila for failing to lay down two sacrifice bunts on consecutive strikes, and then instead, hitting into a 4-6-3 double play.

11:56PM

We move to the 11th.

11:48PM

Cannot fault this team for lack of effort.

Overheard in press box: “Who the (expletive) is Valverde?”

Only the best closer in baseball. Unbelievable. Cleveland writer of course.

11:37PM

Extra innings we go!

Phil Coke just had a pretty impressive inning. He had hitters completely fooled on every swing, and his only base runner came on an undeserved walk to Santana. He was fooled by every 2-strike pitch and couldn’t pull the trigger..the result? A walk.

11:26PM

Tigers strand a leadoff double, and run their total men left on base to 10. Really frustrating couple games.

Phile Coke in for Detroit.

11:24PM

As much as I like Jackson, he’s not the guy you want up in that situation, ideally. Guillen pinch hitting for Raburn–Leyland wants this one.

11:21PM

Jose Valverde immediately loosening in the pen following Damon’s double and Worth’s ensuing sacrifice.

11:16PM

Game on. Chris Perez takes the hill for the Tribe, and Johnny Damon will pinch hit for Gerald Laird.

Phil Coke loosening in the Tigers pen.

Top of the 9th, 0 outs, game tied at 1-1.

10:58PM

The grounds crew just jogged onto the field. Game will resume at 11:20PM.

10:26PM

Back into a downpour. We’re at LEAST 30 minutes from baseball.

9:48PM

Rain appears to be dissipating, but forecasters have the storm lasting for an hour or so. No word yet.

Rick Porcello’s night is finished. His final line: 8IP, 6H, 1R, 1ER, 6Ks, 97 pitches

Key Stat: 12 of 18 outs made in the field were on the ground.

9:24PM

Rain delay. I’ll give you updates as soon as I get them. Word is this will be no longer than an hour.

9:17PM

The rain has begun. The giant window in front of me is open, I’m going to get soaked.

Rick Porcello is in for the 8th inning, his pitch count in good shape at 84.

9:14PM

This is in no way a complaint, I want to finish this game..but the umpire is blatantly ignoring thunder and lightning..isn’t that something? Anything?

9:12PM

This is really getting annoying. Another web gem. Left Fielder Trevor Crowe, this time, robbing Brandon Inge of a hit.

<3 this game

9:10PM

Frank Herrmann in for the Tribe.

Nice numbers for this guy: 17IP, 2.65 ERA, 12 Ks, 3 BBs

9:04PM

Twins win, 1 GB Chicago, 2 games ahead of Minny.

9:01PM

Another dazzling play at third by Marte..what else is new?  That’s four gems by my count, second one with Mags as a victim.

It’s starting to get a little chilly outside, weather going to get nasty around 10PM. I love driving in hurricanes, and I especially don’t mind when I’m in a vacation destination like Cleveland, y’know? I can deal with it for a few hours because the rest of the time is utter bliss

Witness (swoosh)

9:00PM

This game is likely going to be delayed. Severe weather is in the area we’re being told.

8:53PM

The Tigers are 36-9 when they out hit their opponent.

8:43PM

Giving up back-to-back singles to the 8-9 hitters is usually a kiss of death. Porcello got out of a 2-out jam.

Porcello: 8 of 10 outs recorded in the field have come on the ground.

Jensen Lewis, just called up today, is in to pitch for the Indians.

8:35PM

Two stats tell the story of this doubleheader so far:

1) The Tigers have a combined 14 runners left on base in 14 innings

2) The Tigers 3-4-5 hitters are a combined 1-for-16 with 4 strikeouts, 5 walks, and 2 runs

8:28PM

Any other player in the major leagues, barring perhaps Albert Pujols, that pulls a dog move like Miguel Cabrera just did, he’s benched. That was terrible baseball right there. If you missed it, Cabrera slapped a shot to right field that he thought was out, but, instead, bounced off the wall. Cabrera was held to a single, as he walked out of the box expecting a dinger.

8:24PM

Porcello rebounds nicely from homer, striking out the next two hitters. His stuff looks good tonight, Santana is clearly seeing the ball well as he hit a shot up the middle in his first plate appearance as well.

8:21PM

One of the rare times that Porcello fell behind tonight, and he paid for it. Rick left it up in the zone giving up a solo shot to Carlos Santana (estimated 419ft.)

Tigers 1 Tribe 1

8:15PM

Another defensive gem from Andy Marte, this time his victim was Ryan Raburn. But also another atrocious call in the field. 7 left on base for the Tigers.

8:07PM

5 of Porcello’s 7 outs recorded in the field have been on the ground.

8:04PM

Laird stayed in the ballgame as Cabrera is now jawing with a fan.

8:01PM

Gerald Laird just took a nasty shot to the back of the head on the follow through of Chris Gimenez, who broke his bat on the swing.  Everything but the handle broke, and the large end of the bat whacked Laird in the head. Following the play, Miguel Cabrera was seen jawing with a player in the opposing dugout.

7:58PM

The Tigers have already left six men on base in three innings.

7:46PM

Porcello throws a 1-2-3 inning with 2 soft ground outs and a strikeout..again. So far, vintage Rick.

7:42PM

Twins all over Buehrle early (rhyme), 3-1 Twins on top.

7:40PM

In your face, Wade! Nice at bat from Ryan Raburn. Worked the count full, found a hole, picks up an RBI.

Tigers 1 Tribe 0

7:34PM

This series just seems like it was etched on the side of a mountain on some faraway mountain. All the bounces have gone the Indians way, and somehow Marte manages to collect that ball and throw Don Kelly out at the plate in one motion. Kelly just showed some high baseball IQ, he ran the bases to perfection through and through.

7:28PM

Two soft ground ball outs for Rick Porcello to go with a strike out in the first. Great sign.

I found this funny, just wanted to share:

Scoreboard says:

Due Up:

Kelly Laird Worth

Anyone else find that funny?

7:20PM

Anyone seen this movie before? Okay good I’m not spoiling the Shayamalan twist at the end. The Tigers failed to score a run despite having the bases full and nobody out. Unproductive outs from the 4-5 spots are infuriating, and that put Brandon Inge in a tough spot. He battled..1 smiley face for effort.

7:16PM

Followed by a Brennan Boesch weak pop out to first base. Another unproductive out.

7:15PM

Fresh off having his 20-game hit streak snapped, Miguel Cabrera strikes out with the bases loaded and nobody out. Yet another unproductive out.

7:07PM

Ryan Raburn’s batting average is .208. That’s all for now.

7:05PM

First pitch, 86 degrees..still. I’m going to be a puddle shortly.

6:55PM

Looks like most guys have shaken off game one. Most guys look very loose on the field, which is a welcomed sight.

The Indians attendance has skyrocketed from 23 to 44..people. Lots of Detroiters in the crowd, one holding a sign saying, “Quitness” with a Nike swoosh under it.

6:35PM

Now that I have a minute, let me share some observations from today.

As I said in the Postgame piece, the Tiger locker room was very somber.  When we were called in for interviews, it was dead silent. A few sat quietly at their locker, while a few chowed down on their in between meal. Austin Jackson faced his locker, head down and headphones on.  It was depressing to say the least.

Fausto Carmona threw 118 pitches and only 66 of them for strikes. I asked Brandon Inge how Carmona was so successful with such a low ratio of balls to strikes. He told me that Carmona was “effectively wild”, and sometimes when a guy is all over the place, but spots his pitches at the right time, it becomes even more difficult.

Justin Verlander was visibly upset, and shut himself down from everybody for about 20 minutes. In a way, it was nice to see that competitive spirit in an $85 million man. Once he regained himself, he was very professional and seemed to be focused on the next game. Very impressive.

The good news is morale, as a whole, remained high.  Gerald Laird told me this team has all the confidence in the world, and says the four day break has a lot to do with the sluggish start to the second half.

The Tigers only have themselves to blame for these two losses. Cleveland should not have been allowed to hang around as much as they did in the first game of this doubleheader. Oh, and I’ll go ahead and say it, I’ll be the whiner..the call at home plate in the first inning was atrocious, and cost the Tigers a run..just saying..

6:15PM

Doors are open and first pitch of Game Two is about 45 minutes away.

Here are the Lineups:

Detroit

Austin Jackson CF Ryan Raburn 2B Magglio Ordonez DH Miguel Cabrera 1B Brennan Boesch RF Brandon Inge 3B Don Kelly LF Gerald Laird C Danny Worth SS

Rick Porcello SP

Cleveland

Michael Brantley CF Jayson Nix 2B Carlos Santana DH Austin Kearns RF Matt Laporta 1B Trevor Crowe LF Andy Marte 3B Chris Gimenez C Anderson Hernandez SS

Mitch Talbot SP