<p>Our advantage is… CABRERA! </p>
<p>Though I wish he wasn’t in so much pain. It’s got to be really hard to keep going at his level when his whole body aches. </p>
<p>We need him to rest up for the World Series!! :P</p>
<p>It’s a pity he’s hurt. And it’s a real pity they can’t move him to DH because Victor Martinez would literally have no place to play. </p>
<p>The Tigers roster was constructed like the Red Sox did when they started to act stupid. They have 3 1B/DH’s for 2 spots. They are forced to play the league’s best hitter in the field and at the difficult 3rd base. That position has a long history of causing back and hip problems. Cabrera should be splitting time at first and DH with Fielder. </p>
<p>The Red Sox did this chasing Adrian Gonzalez. They had a 1B in Kevin Youkilis, who hit 29 home runs, had an over .400 OBP and drove in over 100 RBI, but they chased that special player who they imagined as 40 HR’s, etc. This based off one year in SD when he hit 41 and nothing else. And Youkilis set a record for most games without an error at 1B so, though Gonzalez is a very good fielder, they weren’t improving. They moved Youkilis to 3rd where he broke down and they were left with 3 guys who played 1B/DH so they tried moving Gonzalez to the OF for interleague play. That’s a move necessitated by stupidity. So they trashed Youkilis, whose career was ruined by the injuries at 3B, couldn’t find a way to get Ortiz in the lineup with Gonzalez and then had to trade Gonzalez anyway because he turned out to be overpaid, not an intense competitor (which Youkilis was) and lacking power. That is the definition of a word I can’t use here.</p>
<p>Tigers do the same by signing Victor when he’s clearly no longer a catcher and then Fielder when Cabrera needs to be at DH/1B to stay healthy. Look at Fielder. He doesn’t miss games because he’s not playing 3B. </p>
<p>3B puts intense pressure on the hips because so many balls require dives to the side. You don’t have the time to react and move like at SS or 2B. You have to play bent over and you have to charge the plate bent over, which wrecks your back.</p>
<p>And one thing the Sox learned is that when you have 3 big guys in your lineup who can’t run, you’re a slow team. People point to Ellsbury leading off, but the real difference has been increased team speed because Victorino is very fast and Pedroia can run. It isn’t one guy but the whole top of the order that runs well.</p>
<p>Can Fox possibly show the actual game instead of the stupid crowd shots? Jumping back when the pitch has already been delivered is unacceptable.</p>
<p>I’m sick of hearing about the great Detroit pitching(and the Sox are too it appears) when they are being matched pitch for pitch. Last I checked, relief pitchers are actually pitchers too. I loved it when Gomez turned the interviewers question around when asked about how great Verlander pitched. Basically he said lets talk about Lackey, if you didn’t notice, we scored 1, they didn’t score any.</p>
<p>Tigers tie the series up to 2-2. A fantastic performance by Fister, and tomorrow night is back to the game 1 pitching pair.</p>
<p>Detroit/Boston It’s a series now. I like it! Hoping the Dodgers can grab game 6 in St. Louis so that we have 2 highly competitive series.</p>
<p>I’m hoping FOX keeps on interviewing Tigers players during key innings right up until they lose their 4th game of the series. Picture Jim Leyland motioning down the bench but his pinch hitter is too busy discussing the cut fastball he hit the night before. </p>
<p>Now that the statue of Yaz is in place I expect the Red Sox to erect two new statues in the RF bullpen of Torii Hunter’s two legs and the policeman’s two arms raised up in the air. “W” for Win! </p>
<p>Detroit played a terrific game last night. Whoever wins the Det-Bos series should be the World Series favorite.</p>
<p>I’m revolted by the way they call phantom outs at 2nd on double plays and forceouts. And then they show super slo mo of the runner and ball at 1st. </p>
<p>It looks just terrible to see a guy 3 feet off the bag when the ball hits his glove at 2nd. Baseball needs to crack down on this. If the issue is safety, make a rule about takeouts at 2nd. But you need to get the actual out, not a phantom.</p>
<p>What’s the deal with the American League pitching?</p>
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<p>The Cardinals-Dodgers game had one the other night where the fielder was CLEARLY off the base when he caught the ball and never came close to the bag. He stepped on it and then went into the grass to catch the ball and throw it back to first!</p>
<p>Let’s go Tigers!</p>
<p>These phantom calls really bother me. THey run replay after replay of every close play at 1B or 3B. They let runners charge into catchers with their shoulders like it’s football but they won’t make the bleeping SS or 2B actually be touching the bag to make an out. It’s hideous. Every game I’ve seen has had multiple phantom 2B calls.</p>
<p>3-2 red sox.</p>
<p>Since I root equally for the Sox and Tigers … what the bleep happened at 3rd base in the top of the 9th? The umpire actually interfered with the catcher trying to tag the runner. I thought that was utterly incompetent.</p>
<p>great job Koji!!</p>
<p>Back to Fenway!</p>
<p>A very event-filled game last night. I agree that it’s horrible how the catchers totally got trampled. There seemed to have been more collisions than usual. </p>
<p>Even though we lost, I still have hope for the Tigers!</p>
<p>Back to Fenway with Max and hopefully Justin to finish the series. Either way, it’ll be a tough and competitive series for the AL Pennant!</p>
<p>Really a great series. As for collisions, always a hard nosed play. Clean and appropriate. As for the ump? they are part of the playing field, cannot be interference.
Go Sox!</p>
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<p>That’s not fully true. But in this situation, I would agree there really isn’t much to do about it… sometimes those things happen.</p>
<p>I can’t stand the Fox announcers, they are so biased for the Tigers. Lots subtexts and undertone as if to say that the Detroit is so much superior and they are going to win the series no matter what. Iggy is a great defensive player but to go on and on and gushing over him and how many episodes of Scherzer interviews do we really need, every single game? When the Tigers make a double play, it is pandemonium but actually the Redsox made a lot more of those. I guess they are a little miffed that the Yankees did not make the playoff and the Redsox did this year.</p>