Huff batting fifth at DH, Guillen in LF
I know there was a lot of speculation that Aubrey Huff could slot into the third spot, but for now, Huff will hit fifth and give Miguel Cabrera some protection. Cabrera, for one, appears to be a big fan of that.
"I just felt that's the way it best matched up," manager Jim Leyland said. "I don't know if it'll stay that way."
As far as where Huff will play, we'll see. But Leyland felt comfortable enough with Guillen and his throwing arm to give him a shot in left field tonight, his first game in the outfield since going on the DL in early May with his inflamed right shoulder.
"He told me he could play left field before," Leyland said, "so I just put him out there tonight. I probably wouldn't have before we got Huff."
TIGERS
MARINERS
"I just felt that's the way it best matched up," manager Jim Leyland said. "I don't know if it'll stay that way."
As far as where Huff will play, we'll see. But Leyland felt comfortable enough with Guillen and his throwing arm to give him a shot in left field tonight, his first game in the outfield since going on the DL in early May with his inflamed right shoulder.
"He told me he could play left field before," Leyland said, "so I just put him out there tonight. I probably wouldn't have before we got Huff."
TIGERS
- Curtis Granderson, CF
- Placido Polanco, 2B
- Carlos Guillen, LF
- Miguel Cabrera, 1B
- Aubrey Huff, DH
- Clete Thomas, RF
- Brandon Inge, 3B
- Alex Avila, C
- Adam Everett, SS
MARINERS
- Ichiro Suzuki, RF
- Russell Branyan, 1B
- Jose Lopez, 2B
- Ken Griffey Jr., DH
- Franklin Gutierrez, CF
- Jack Hannahan, 3B
- Rob Johnson, C
- Ryan Langerhans, LF
JackJosh Wilson, SS
I thought they would put Huff at 3rd being a weak link. Carlos though makes more sense as whilst he is hitting well now since the break with .301/.383 and .249/.323 overall for the season, his clutch hitting is no where near as good with his RISP .238/.333 post break and .216/.328 for the season.
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DD has quite frankly done a marvellous job the past month. He took his time and delivered good value trades for Washburn and Huff and obviously worked his butt off in the drafts picking up all of the top picks that were heading to college.
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Now it is up to JL to get the offense loose when it counts. Hopefully Huff is the catalyst for change.
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Carlos in left field? Oh dear. That was trouble when Carlos was relatively healthy. We'll see.
Otherwise, I'm liking this lineup. If everyone can come through now and again we might have something.
Have to get 6 good innings out of the Kid tonight.
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Porcello leads MLB with 21 GIDP
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Nice start by Rick - don't you just love the first pitch GIDP - not by a Tig!!!
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If any Tig lineup is going to hit Felix, this is it. Sorry Ramon is not in though.
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Clete Thomas and his .208 avg since the break, is in RF.
Ordonez with his .308 avg since the break, is on the bench.
Cletus vs Magglio.......
Magglio has a higher average by 100 points since the break.
Magglio has a higher OBP by 28 points
Magglio has a higher Slugging pct by 232 points
Magglio has a higher OPS by 259 points
Against RHP's, it doesn't mattter, Maggs is hot, Cletus is not
"If he hits he plays", apparently not
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Welcome to the Tigers Aubrey.
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I am surprised that Maggs is not in the lineup tonight. A little disappointed 'bout that. At least Clete isn't batting 3rd. I can't imagine Carlos in LF, but we'll see what happens. Rick looks terrific! Wonder if the crowd gave him a standing O when he took the mound?
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Good for Everett! And, a steal too. He's been the whipping boy since the Boston series. Doggone it. What an inning.
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Go Adam - more than happy to see you get a runner home!!
Couldn't believe that was only Clete's 2nd stolen base without a caught, from 85 TB's. At Toledo this year, Clete has 18 stolen bases, 3 caught from only 73 TB's.
Let you draw your own conclusions.
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Here's hoping Huff can contribute at the plate this evening because they sure don't need another DH on the roster.
If Huff can play 3rd and spell Inge every 3-4 games then could be a good late season rental. But for $2MM you think DD could have found a corner OF with speed, youth & versatility? I don't like exposing Guillen in LF this season unless Inge and Everett can make the cutoff throw less taxing on his shoulder. On paper, Huff looks like a good addition for his bat though. Go TIGS!
Jim
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Man, this Tiger flu is easy to catch - within 24 hours, Huff has all the symptons - GIDP and missed RISP.
Carlos and Miggs look sharp today.
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Bad call, that pitch
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Dave, I was just going to make the same comment about the Tiger FLU and Huff. This server has a 5-6 minute delay some nights. I guess Leyland knows that Porcello induces grounders so maybe that's why he stuck Carlos in LF. Only 2 balls out of the infield, RP has his "A" game on?
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Our bats better heat up now!
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Ryan Perry taking over. Oh, man, please get us out of this, Ryan.
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Granderson, 3 for 3 KO's that is and looks terrible up there tonight. JL needs to move Curtis down to the 6 or 7 slot to get him going "again" at least above .257, please.
Jim
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My God, what a game!
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I feel like I'm gonna have a heart attack. It's 9:53 pm, but my last post says 10:02. Maybe we've won and I don't know it yet.
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Come on, Rodzilla.
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That's our closer!
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I have a large bottle of Tums in the garage for feeding my tomato plants. I almost had to get that bottle from the garage tonight so I could make it through the 9th inning.
Anyhow, glad that I decided to postpone my evening workout to park myself on the couch and enjoy the game, thank goodness I didn't miss all the excitement! Now on to my workout...JP
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Well that was a heck of a battle there with Rodney and Lopez and thank you that we came out on top. Porcello was really good he looked like he came a little unwound after that homer. I think it may of threw him for a loop. We did luck out a little tonight - that guy in right field I believe did interfer with that foul ball. Then there was that error in the eighth inning. Well fair or not I'll take it.
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