AND THAT'S A WHITE SOX WINNER!!!

[RZZZA]

I find the 1st comment funny because thats similar to what fans here were saying about Robin and Olmedo a few days ago. actually, I think it was just yesterday.

Edited September 11, 2012 by RZZZA

[TaylorStSox]

Updated playoff %'s

 

Texas

NYY 80.4

SOX 80.1

OAK 79.5

TB 60.5

Balt and LAA around 40%

 

 

30,287

 

Will be pretty darned surprised if they don't have 34-35,000 tomorrow night after winning this game...

I'm guessing 28k. Tonight was 1/2 price night and there were a lot of Tigers fans.

[clyons]

Just my second game of the season. Started out all kinds of bad offensively, and I said to my buddy that it looked like we would need the long ball to win it. Very glad it worked out that way.

 

Oh, and Detroit really can't catch the baseball. That's been the biggest factor in our favor in this race.

 

 

[The Ginger Kid]

I know they're hitting awful with RISP right now, but at least they're getting base runners. Quintana, like Santiago and Axelrod recently, delivered in a big way tonight. Huge win, hopefully this settles the team down. Oh, and Donnie Veal is awesome!

The way Q turned it around tonight....just wow. Never saw that coming with Cabrera at the plate. Wow.

[kitekrazy]

Do you want to see what some Tigers fans are saying? They sound as over-reactionary as some people here.

 

"I just do not understand why they have not released him yet... Seriously he must give good bj's or something... Guy is hitting .172 with 1 Hr and the season is almost over... But that is good enough to not only start but to hit 2nd on a team trying to win a division... I guarantee pretty much every other team would have cut him by now "

 

"Oh well. One step closer to Leyland being gone. "

 

"Lol this team is just like the team that finished last in the division a few years back. "

 

"This night has effectively ended our season imo "

 

motownsports is like a mirror image of Soxtalk and WSI. Many of them have a good sense of humor.

 

If you removed the head to head matchups, Tiger fans are going through what Sox fans use to go through with the Twins. On paper the Tigers are the more talented team but the Sox have been winning by playing better fundamental baseball most of the season where the Tigers have relied on out clubbing the opponents. Outside of their 3 and 4 hitters, they don't have a great supporting cast in their line up.

 

[Swingandalongonetoleft]

What a display by Quintana. That was a thing.

 

Beckham going yard was nice exclamation point. Foundation is in place, now build upon it.

 

Has anyone else noticed how tense the IF looks when they're turning a double play lately?

Edited September 11, 2012 by Swingandalongonetoleft

[2nd_city_saint787]

I'd like to dedicate this song to the Detroit Tigers...

 

 

 

WELCOME TO CHICAGO MOTHERF*CKERS!

 

 

Edited September 11, 2012 by 2nd_city_saint787

[Chisoxfn]

Ooohh Yeeaaah! Great win Sox!

[nickofypres]

motownsports is like a mirror image of Soxtalk and WSI. Many of them have a good sense of humor.

 

They're good people for the most part, but they're a bit full of themselves too.

 

"Best fans in baseball"....since 2006....

 

Sox fans chanting "Deeeetroit" is just awful, but calling Sox fans trailer trash and Sux fans isn't on the same field?

 

But, its whatevz.

[caulfield12]

But haven't the White Sox outhomered the Tigers and most of the AL?

 

You'd call the Sox the team of home runs (especially in the last 6 weeks at USCF)...solid/above average defense, and timely/clutch hitting, until we came to DET for the sweep last weekend and have been playing abysmally with RISP.

 

Actually, it started with the Baltimore series.

 

Not sure where we stand exactly now, but probably in the low .280's hitting as a team with RISP, having fallen off from .295 about 2 weeks ago.

[Real]

Do you want to see what some Tigers fans are saying? They sound as over-reactionary as some people here.

 

"I just do not understand why they have not released him yet... Seriously he must give good bj's or something... Guy is hitting .172 with 1 Hr and the season is almost over... But that is good enough to not only start but to hit 2nd on a team trying to win a division... I guarantee pretty much every other team would have cut him by now "

 

"Oh well. One step closer to Leyland being gone. "

 

"Lol this team is just like the team that finished last in the division a few years back. "

 

"This night has effectively ended our season imo "

 

97.1 The Ticket (Detroit Sports Station) called last nights game a must-win, so it's not just the fans, the whole town including sports media are freaking out

[greg775]

97.1 The Ticket (Detroit Sports Station) called last nights game a must-win, so it's not just the fans, the whole town including sports media are freaking out

 

Our fans are the same, me included. If Detroit wins the next three, their fans will be all happy and ours will be mad/worried/furious/etc.

[caulfield12]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,4704494.story

 

 

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/i...amous-than-good

 

It's possible, in the end, that the Detroit Tigers just aren't as good as everyone believed. Famous? Sure. Big-name players? Sure. A playoff team? Not so sure.

 

Take Monday's starter in the first game of a crucial four-game showdown against the American League Central-leading Chicago White Sox. Rick Porcello has been famous in baseball circles since he was the 27th pick in the 2007 draft. Many scouts believed he had the best arm in the draft that year but he fell to Detroit because of a high price tag. After one year at Class A ball, he was in the majors as a 20-year-old rookie in 2009 and had a pretty nice season, going 14-9 with a 3.96 ERA. Jim Leyland had enough confidence in Porcello to start him in the AL Central tiebreaker game against the Twins, and Porcello left in the sixth inning with a 3-2 lead, although the Tigers would eventually lose the game.

 

The Tigers' season still isn't over, this is certain. There's still time for them to get hot and turn it around. But with every passing day, the odds of them turning it around seem less and less likely; three games back feels more like 30 at this point. And if this game is indeed the straw that breaks the camel's back, it's only appropriate that the story of said game -- a 6-1 loss at Chicago -- was a punchless offense, bad defense, and clutch hitting by someone other than Detroit.

 

With their 3-2 victory over the Tigers Tuesday, the Indians have assured that they will at least win the series. It's amazing what, like, pitching well will do for you. Scoring hasn't been the Angels' problem for a while and certainly wasn't when the staff fell victim to some unsustainable poor performances and likewise lost ball games at an alarming rate in August. But in the past two weeks the staff ERA is 1.85 (3.50 FIP) and, presto, they're 11-1.

 

Many in the game still love Porcello's arm, especially his bread-and-butter power sinker, and they've been waiting for a breakthrough season. It hasn't happened. Monday night, he was cruising along through five innings, having allowed only two hits and his sinker had helped generate six groundball outs.

 

Fourteen pitchers later, he was out of the game and the White Sox ended up with a 6-1 victory behind a strong 7.1-inning effort from Jose Quintana. Porcello dropped to 9-12 with a 4.59 ERA.

 

In the sixth, he struck out Kevin Youkilis but Dewayne Wise reached on Omar Infante's error. Paul Konerko singled to left on a 1-2 92-mph sinker. That led to a visit from pitching Tigers pitching coach Jeff Jones. Whatever advice Jones gave him ("Go get 'em, kid!"), it certainly didn't help. Two pitches later, Alex Rios drilled Porcello's two-seam fastball -- his 10th two-seamer in a row in the inning -- over the left-field fence for a three-run homer. Two pitches later -- a changeup and then another two-seamer -- A.J. Pierzynski made it 4-1 with a crushing solo shot to center. Exit, Porcello.

 

It's no coincidence that Porcello struggled the third time through the Chicago lineup. Look at stats entering Monday's start:

 

First time through the order: .281/.314/.377, 3.40 SO/BB ratio

Second time through the order: .304/.346/.464, 3.08 SO/BB ratio

Third time through the order: .356/.407/.494, 1.60 SO/BB ratio

 

Look, Infante's error set the inning in motion. Maybe Porcello goes 1-2-3 without the miscue. On the other hand, this outing was par for the course for the right-hander. For whatever reason, his sinker becomes less effective as the game goes along. Here's another stat that shows that:

 

Innings 4-6: .239/.283/.307 (220 plate appearances ending with a sinker)

Innings 5-7: .410/.453/.581 (129 plate appearances ending with a sinker)

 

Sabermetricians keep track of a stat called BABIP -- batting average allowed on balls in play. I cite it here quite often. The consensus theory is that pitchers have little control -- some argue none -- over what happens once the ball is put in play, that the result is the residue of defense and some combination of good or bad fortune. Among qualified starters, Porcello entered Monday's games with the worst BABIP in the majors at .350. Considering teammate Max Scherzer was second-worst at .336, it's fair to suggest the Detroit defense is somewhat to blame here -- the Tigers are 27th in the majors in percentage of balls in play that are turned into outs. (Although it's interesting to note that Porcello is a fairly extreme groundball pitcher and Scherzer a fairly extreme fly ball pitcher.)

 

Still, the above numbers seem to suggest that Porcello clearly has a large degree of control of what is happening against him. It is worth mentioning that the typical major league pitcher also fares worse as the game progresses, numbers here:

 

First time: .251/.310/.401, 2.83 SO/BB ratio

Second time: .263/.322/.420, 2.44 SO/BB ratio

Third time: .273/.331/.446, 2.22 SO/BB ratio

 

But Porcello's decline is obviously much more severe than the average starter, which is undoubtedly why Jeff Jones paid Porcello a visit after an error and a single. It's hard to tell exactly what goes on to explain Porcello's decline in the middle innings. Here are two heats map of Porcello's two-seam sinker location:

 

Rick Porcello's sinker doesn't have the same location later in the game.As you can see, those maps aren't exactly the same thing. Opposing hitters fare very well with the location on the second map, as Porcello's sinker apparently flattens out and gets less movement.

 

So now the famous Tigers are 3 games behind the less-famous White Sox. (Jose who?) There are still three games left in the series and 22 games remaining in the season. Maybe the Tigers will finally go on that big run like we saw when they began the season 9-3. If so, it better start on Tuesday. And if so, it's time for somebody besides Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder to do something on offense ... and maybe time for Leyland and Jones to realize before his next start that Porcello is good for about four or five innings.

 

 

Edited September 11, 2012 by caulfield12

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

There were 30K people there tonight? Wow.

[hogan873]

Nice to see the Sox take advantage of Detroit's lousy defense. I was a bit concerned early as they did squander a few chances. Rios' bomb was just what the team needed. Let's hope they stay hot tonight.

[Kyyle23]

I would like to find the greg775 on motownsports. I wonder if his name is something like jeff664. That would be awesome

[southsider2k5]

97.1 The Ticket (Detroit Sports Station) called last nights game a must-win, so it's not just the fans, the whole town including sports media are freaking out

 

It was a huge game. The pressure of being down three games is much greater than just one, even if it is all in their heads. The Sox are now in control of this series. Even if they lose all three, they are still tied for first place.

[RockRaines]

I would like to find the greg775 on motownsports. I wonder if his name is something like jeff664. That would be awesome

They simply dont have enough posters to be that specific on crazy.

 

They do however have one guy who only points to attendance whenever they lose. "We lost but SOx fans are .01% the size of a fanbase than ours"

[Balta1701]

Nearly collapsed when Rios hit that damn ball.

[hogan873]

Nearly collapsed when Rios hit that damn ball.

It's amazing how good Rios has been this year, especially compared to last year. This is probably the best Alex Rios we've ever seen.

[IlliniKrush]

It was a huge game. The pressure of being down three games is much greater than just one, even if it is all in their heads. The Sox are now in control of this series. Even if they lose all three, they are still tied for first place.

If they lose all 3 they are in a hell of a lot of trouble. It won't be "hey we're still in first place!"

[jenksycat]

It's amazing how good Rios has been this year, especially compared to last year. This is probably the best Alex Rios we've ever seen.

 

Comeback player OTY rankings:

 

Rios

Dunn - (mostly because of how bad he was last year)

Peavy

[caulfield12]

Justin Morneau and Kendrys Morales also merit consideration in that category, just off the top of my head.

 

 

[iamshack]

motownsports is like a mirror image of Soxtalk and WSI. Many of them have a good sense of humor.

 

If you removed the head to head matchups, Tiger fans are going through what Sox fans use to go through with the Twins. On paper the Tigers are the more talented team but the Sox have been winning by playing better fundamental baseball most of the season where the Tigers have relied on out clubbing the opponents. Outside of their 3 and 4 hitters, they don't have a great supporting cast in their line up.

I was watching the Tigers' broadcast last night and even their announcers admitted the White Sox have been the better team this year. Not head to head, but against other teams, the White Sox have played better baseball.

 

 

[shakes]

They simply dont have enough posters to be that specific on crazy.

 

They do however have one guy who only points to attendance whenever they lose. "We lost but SOx fans are .01% the size of a fanbase than ours"

 

 

This attendance thing is getting really irritating with Detroit fans. That is all they wanted to talk about at the game last night, until Rios homered. They act like they have drawn like the Yankees for the past 30 years, when it has been for more like 4. Prior to 2007 the Tigers didn't outdraw the Sox, except for the new park opening since 1990.

 

The clowns around us brought it up like 5 times yesterday. So I told them to take all of their money from attendance and see if they can find a few players who can catch the ball. Didn't hear another word from them after that.