The Blowtorch Deserved Better

The last time JV took the mound, he threw a near No-Hitter.

His follow up to that performance was just as stellar as he only gave up 2 runs.

However, we could only muster 1 run and The Blowtorch took the loss. I would have liked this to be a grandiose post about how we should have won but there seems to be an abundance of those kinds of posts. To keep things sweet, I'm giving JV an 8 on the Verland-O-Meter. Solely because of his 8th inning performance. Dude reached 102 with his fastball and followed up with an 82 mile an hour Curve. The man can take 20 MILES off a pitch.

Ridiculous.

GOOO TIGERS! Yeah....

The Ballad of the Blowtorch

On a whim, I went to the game last night.

I hadn't been to a game in a few weeks so I felt it was time to take a stroll downtown.

I made my way to the Hard Rock Cafe, took the shuttle to the park and settled into my seat. Now, I know everyone could say this but yesterday I had a feeling about something. I didn't know what it was but I felt like something awesome was going to take place.

You got a friday night, perfect weather, A Tigers game and The Blowtorch is on the mound. It just felt......right.

So as I watched the game, I started to notice 2 things going up on the board: Lots of K's and lots of zeroes.

This was nothing new mind you, this is Justin Verlander we're talking about here. But then in the 7th inning, Garret Jones struck out looking and the ump had quite possibly the most electric strikeout call. I feel like it was similar to this:   STEEEEEEEEEERRRIIIIIKE!

So now, S&^# just got real.

Then in the 8th, The Blowtorch carved up McGehee, Mclouth and Barmes. 3 straight punch outs to launch this game into crazy town.



Now the 9th started and everyone was one their feet. Some were on their chairs. I looked around at the crowd and saw a mixture of cheering, nervousness and camera phones. We all knew what was up and all we needed to do was take the ride. Michael McKenry's ground out made it seem like a sure thing then. Pumped beyond pumped. So in walks Josh Harrison to take his cuts agains the Ace.

With just 2 outs from his third No-Hitter, Justin Verlander threw a mediocre pitch. A mediocre pitch that Josh Harrison was able to dink into center field.

The agony and the ecstasy.

This was me for the next minute:



The No-No was Bye-Bye. But then JV just did what he had been doing all night. Induced some ground balls and gave the Tigers a masterful win. A win they sorely needed to keep pace with the Indians.

The last out was made and the whole team came sprinting on the field to show JV his effort was second to none. The crowd was ecstatic and cheering on the man who just dazzled them with pure domination. All I could do was soak in the moment as JV got the high fives he deserved.

Then in a moment all to brief, the jumbotron camera was turned to Justin. The expression on his face was one of bittersweet determination. Yes, he got the win but he was fully aware of what he lost. With the camera still trained on him JV said empahtically, "I'm Sorry". The epitome of class.

Whether it was meant for the crowd or for someone off camera, I'll reply to JV:

No Apologies Needed My Friend

The Blowtorch threw a one hit shut out with 12 K's. The best thing about this guy? He's only 5 days away from trying again. This rocked the Verland-O-Meter for a 9. Bravo Maestro, Bra-Flipping-Vo.

Go Tigers, Go Verlander, Go Detroit! ThunderCats GOOOOOOOOO

I Guess He's Just What We Needed

So you're in a situation where you need to salvage a split against the A's.

Brandon Inge had been striking with a vengeance and the A's pitching had been surprising. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. We put up 10 runs, A's put up 10 runs he very next night.

This was a series that I had hoped would set some things right, I had hoped we could take 3 of 4. But alas, with the whirlwind reunion against Inge and the struggling offense, here the tigers were on the verge of LOSING 3 of 4. 

So again, when you need to split the series, who ya gonna call?

THIS GUY

The MVP, The Ace, The Motor City Blowtorch

Boy oh Boy did this guy throw well. He had 8 K's and threw half a perfect game. I won't waste time spinning the same old yarn about JV. I know he's great, you know he's great, even residents of Asgard know he's great. (Lest we forget, JV is a descendant of the God of Thunder. Don't believe me? Look it up!) (Don't look it up)

The man was on fire and got us the win we needed to split against Oakland. Putting to bed the Inge madness and making us look better, not great, but better. Clutch doesn't even begin to describe.

The man rocks an 8 on the Verland-O-Meter. I hope this guy throw a PG or a NO-NO this year. I want to see if the Verland-O-Meter can take it!

Later this week, I should be able to unveil both my way too early Playoff Bracket AND some crazy trade ideas. Emphasis on the crazy folks, I leave nothing to the imagination. Anyways, Go Tigers and GOOOOO THUNDER CATS!

Better, Closer, Warmer

After a 9th inning snafu that resulted in a walk-off win for the Mariners the night previous, the Tigers needed a boost. Yes, that sentence contained the obvious.

And since we're on the subject of being obvious, it would make sense to also point out that Justin Verlander pitched last night. The Blowtorch rides again.

In the previous post, I had asked that the Tigers to not sit on their hands and to put up some run support for JV. It was quite refreshing to have that request answered in the form of Dirks and Delmon tag teaming to scratch 5 runs across. Ask and ye shall receive.

The Tigers looked like they had a burr in their saddle, something that I seldom see in sports these days. I fear that the days of teams being "OK" with poor games and heartbreaking losses are beginning to outweigh the days where teams would be pissed. JV and the Tigers showed up last night, and they did not disappoint.

The Blowtorch was locked in, making sure the Mariners would not get an easy ride. Things got a bit heated after Leyland was tossed for arguing with the home plate ump. Leyland was tossed and the next batter took his cuts. There was a....generous call in favor of the batter and JV didn't look to happy. It looked like Verlander was seconds away from being tossed as well, but JV's teammates and coaches came to save the day and, ultimately, the quality start of our ace. Though JV would give up 7 hits and 3 runs, he didn't give up anything else. 6 K's would compliment his ability to keep the ship straight and true. His stuff was nasty once again and he definitely gave the speed gun a workout. This was a situation JV has been in time and time again, and he played it the same way he always does.

The Tigers needed a win after a loss. They needed a stopper and The Blowtorch answered the bell. He got win #3 and the Tigers are above .500. Here's hoping we can continue the trend of playing better baseball, but that goes without saying. Yet here I am, saying it. Last night was a wild and difficult ride for our ace but hell if it wasn't entertaining. Plus, he got his first win IN Seattle in 3 years. I render an 8 on the Verland-O-Meter. As I said, The Blowtorch rides again.

Now I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't mention Prince Fielder's home run. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT....

In honor of this most holy lift-off, I present the video that will sweep the nation. At least, that's the goal then! Gooooo ThunderCats!!!! GO TIGERS!

OK, That's Enough Messing Around

Justin Verlander is great. 

He's got top notch stuff and has come into his own to be come arguably the best pitcher in the game.

HOWEVER!

There seems to be a trend developing that I'm not fond of. I've noticed that when JV pitches, there's not a lot of offense from our guys. Maybe it's a confidence in your pitcher thing, but on the flip side, JV's gotta be able to have confidence in the guys behind him. 

JV brings his best stuff every time he comes to the mound. But that doesn't mean he only needs a couple runs to be great. Verlander is a horse, we all know this but the fact is that he isn't gonna go 8 innings every night. There are gonna be days where he's gonna work his tail off and leave in the 6th.Don't get me wrong, I love it when JV is pitching, it's a tight game and he's dazzling with pitching. But how about we post like 5-7 runs just to make sure nothing weird happens, eh? As much as I want him to throw a No-No or a Perfecto, I wouldn't mind seeing some vintage Verlander where he has some wiggle room to get creative. It's time to pay back the favor boys. 

This offense has too much talent to only score a small handful of runs when JV is pitching. The batting tagged KC pitching for 7 hits and 5 runs IN THE FIRST INNING the previous evening. Yet somehow they fell silent when it's JV getting the call. This can't happen anymore. 

The Blowtorch's outing was solid, dealing his best stuff to keep the game close, and kept it close for B-Boesch to blast a 2 run homer in the 8th to make things interesting. Classic Verlander, working to keep the team within striking distance. So with that in mind, I render a 7 on the Verland-o-Meter. (You may notice that it's gonna be rare for this better to dip below 7. C'mon, it's Verlander, he earns it every night!)

GO TIGERS!