Baffled in the Bronx

July 20th, 2009 | by jelletlambie |

It’s hard to watch someone you love suffer. It’s difficult to see them struggle with routine tasks. You feel powerless in the face of their deterioration. You want to reach out, to hold their hand and help them. You find yourself screaming in frustration, knowing they are capable of so much more. It is especially difficult when you know there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. If you don’t believe me, talk to a Detroit Tigers fan.

After a four day rest (for most of the team) that we hoped would rejuvenate the flailing offense the Tigers travelled to the big apple to face the New York Yankees in a potential post-season preview. Let’s hope things work out differently come October. Unless this ballclub learns to score runs in a hurry, we won’t have to worry about that anyway.

In embarrasing fashion the Tigers scored a total of five runs over three games and were swept out of Yankee stadium like spilled popcorn and empty beer cups. Despite strong starts from rookie Lucas French and all-stars Justin Verlander and Edwin Jackson the Tigers left New York a beaten, downtrodden bunch, a direct result of a continued offensive slump that is quickly getting downright ridiculous.

Counting the three losses over the weekend the Tigers have now scored three runs or less in 41 of the 90 games they have played this season. In those games the Tigers hold a record of 10-31. Of the 14 teams in the American League only the Mariners (42) and the Royals (47) have accomplished this less than impressive feat more often. Even the Washington Nationals, they of the 26-65 record, have fewer games (40) with three runs or less of offense. I feel I’ve beaten this horse to death, although not in the same painful manner in which the Tigers offense has abused Edwin Jackson.

After the now infamous Joel Zumaya meltdown of Friday night and a Saturday where Justin Verlander found run support to be non-existent, I thought perhaps Edwin was due for an outburst from the Tigers bats. I suppose I should have known better.

Jackson dazzled, again, allowing two runs in seven innings only to look up at the scoreboard and find himself behind, again. He made three mistakes. Two of those were low fastballs turned into home runs by Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez. The third mistake was believing this offense could possibly give him a chance to win. The seminole moment of Sundays 2-1 loss, and one of the most poignant moments of the season so far was watching Edwin Jackson in the ninth inning of Sundays contest. He stood there, leaning over the dugout railing in Yankee Stadium, shaking his head as Mariano Riviera put the Tigers to bed once again. The look on his face told the story, and should be seen as a warning to the organization.

Jackson has started 19 times thus far in a Tigers uniform. Despite having 15 quality starts and 17 outings allowing three runs or fewer he boasts a paltry 7-5 record. Despite a 2.52 ERA and the fact that he has thrown 89 pitches or more in every start the Tigers are 10-9 when he takes the hill. If I were him I might now be wondering, what’s the point?

The abysmal performance over the weekend shrunk the Tigers lead in the AL Central to 1.5 games over the White Sox and 2 games over the Twins. The Tigers record vs. the AL East this year now stands at 4-13. It gets scarier when you consider that AL East teams appear on the Tigers schedule 19 times before the season ends. 11 of those games are against the Red Sox and Rays, two of the upper echelon teams in the AL.

If nothing else perhaps this lambasting will finally push the organization to address this offense, this problem that has been festering unaddressed for weeks now. I believe in giving credit where credit is due, and the Yankees starting pitching deserves credit. A.J. Burnett, C.C. Sabathia and Joba Chamberlain executed nicely and pitched well all in all during the weekend sweep. They each deserve a cookie. However, had the Tigers been better than 1-26 (.038) with runners in scoring position the results would most certainly have been different.

I suppose that’s the most frustrating element of watching this team fail repeatedly to score. It is not for a lack of opportunity. Between the brilliant starting pitching, the lack of focus in the field and the utter inability to drive the ball, this past weekend stands as a miniature version of the Tigers struggles this year. It’s just small enough to put on a shelf, like a snow globe, to remind us all of the shake up that needs to happen to make it useful, and entertaining.

After resting today the Tigers will host the aforementioned Seattle Mariners. They seem to be the Tigers of the AL West, with frontline starting pitching in Felix Hernandez, Erik Bedard and Jarrod Washburn and an offense slightly better than a good junior high school team. All three have ERA’s of 2.87 or less and strikeout to walk ratios of better than 2.5:1. The Tigers will face King Felix and Mr. Washburn to complete the upcoming three game trist, lefty Garret Olson will square off with Armando Galarraga in the opener tomorrow night.

The Tigers will play 10 games in the next nine days, all 10 against teams with a winning record. In that span the Tigers will face some of the better starting pitchers in the American League this year. In addition to seeing Hernandez and Washburn of the Mariners the Tigers will likely face Mark Buehrle and John Danks during the White Sox series along with Kevin Millwood and Scott Feldman of the Texas Rangers during that series in Arlington early next week. All six of these hurlers have a winning record and an ERA under 4.00.

It’s time to shake the snow globe. It’s time to make a deal. It’s time to add a bat, or two, let’s make it two. It’s time for the Tigers to show us what a first place team looks like, for they certainly aren’t playing like one these days.

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Rating: 9.3/10 (3 votes cast)

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