Game 70: Tigers win 5-4 in a thriller

This is why I love sports. If Raburn does not hit that home run and/or if the Tigers lose this game then the topic of conversation is completely different tomorrow:

-Ordonez being placed back in the line-up despite the Tigers 4 game winning streak, and promptly going 0-2 would have certainly been discussed.
-The inability to get the runner home from third base TWICE with less than 2 outs would certainly have been discussed.
-Joel Zumaya throwing a change-up to a .262 career minor league player after blowing him away with fastballs over 100 mph would certainly have been discussed. Especially because that terrible change-up led to what could have been the game winning home run.

Instead, we can talk about this:

-Despite the 4 walks, Jackson put together another very good performance. 7 innings, 7 K's, 4 hits and only 2 ER is a stat line that Leyland will take all day, everyday. Jackson continues to impress. And, I smell a blog post on him in another day or two.

-Brandon Inge hit his 17th HR tonight. 17. On June 23rd. He is on pace for 39 HR's and 113 RBI's with an OPS north of .900. He also has the second best UZR (a defensive stat) rating for 3rd Baseman in all of MLB. And, should I mention that he has a 3.1 WAR (Wins above Replacement player). That is 2nd in all of MLB for 3rd Baseman. He is on pace to be worth 6.5-7 wins more than a replacement player would be worth. How good is that? A WAR of 4.0 for the entire season is usually an All Star. Hmmm. I smell a blog post on Inge coming very soon, as well.

-How great is a pinch-hit HR in the bottom of the 9th? The interesting thing is that Leyland was actually playing the percentages in that situation against Gregg. Against right-handed batters, Gregg has allowed a higher Avg, OBP, SLG, OPS, H, HR, RBI's, BB and thrown fewer SO's when compared to his splits against lefties. It made sense to put the right handed hitter (Raburn) in. And, he delivered. By the way, that was the spot in the line-up where Ordonez would have batted had he not been taken out of the game. Something to think about when considering whether or not to play Maggs.

-Tigers going for a sixth straight win tomorrow with the Golden Boy. To tie you over until then, here is a Sporting News article on Porcello. A very good read.