(not) Playing the Match-ups

Ugh.

Duensing's magic has worn off, as he struggled through 4.2, giving up five. Of course the last two were not let in by him. Gardy chose to pull him for Mr. Bobby Keppel, who admittedly is better against right-handers, but when a pitcher isn't good, the match-ups don't matter. Keppel is a pitch-to-contact sinker-baller that walks his fair share of hitters, without striking out his fair share of hitters. In other words, his method of pitching (sinker, sinker, sinker) is not conducive to a bases-loaded situation. Anything can happen when a bat meets a ball, and rather than risking an error or hit, why not send in a guy who pitches righties more effectively (.215 vs .258 avg against), and can make batters miss? That's right, I'm endorsing Jesse Crain, at least to have pitched instead of Kepp Kepp. His skill-set matched the situation. Bob's did not match this or any situation.

It almost broke even in the end, as Jim Leyland failed to learn from his previous eighth inning against the Twins with Verlander on the mound. Already at 110 pitches on the night, Jim left his ace in there again, and the Twins rallied, again. Verlander lost his command, and the Twins started catching up to his fastball. It makes one wonder if the Twins could just take batting practice at his speed to adjust before the eighth inning. It was disappointing that Mr. "Chewie" Cuddyer couldn't continue his hot September, but Leyland turning over management duties to his pitcher let the Twins get close.

With much less drama, the Tigers' regained a crucial two-run cushion. Curtis Granderson is a case where the match-up makes all the difference. Grandstand bats one-seventy-eight against left-handers. He's hit two home runs against left-handers. If you ever throw a LOOGY (Lefty One Out GuY) at a batter, you throw it at Granderson. Gardy had his reasons I guess. Matty G hadn't pitched in awhile, and Mijares had already pitched in the afternoon game. Of course, those are superficial reasons. When you have a chance to keep a division-lead tying game within one run, you throw out all the stops. Mijares had warmed up in a previous inning. USE HIM. He only needs to get one guy, then Matt can clean up the rest.

Yet again though, Detroit gave back all that they took. Punto's deep line drive froze Granderson (much like a Mijares slider could have), allowing it to drop for an rbi double. The tying run was in scoring position and Denard Span came up to the plate. Unfortunately, Fernando "All But One" Rodney rarely allows the tying run, and Span's poke-fly ended the Twins' chances of a sweep.

But it did not end the season: Tomorrow Carl "Tiger Hunter" Pavano takes on E. "What's the 'E' stand for?" Bonine. Thursday is Scott "Surely Comerica Park is too big for him to give up a homer" Baker against Nate "85 mph" Robertson. Yes it's the rematch, and yes I'm banking on the Twins to do something against that bowling-ball fastball.

It's a moral victory, but of course, there are no moral victories at this point. Bonine better suck as much as he should.