Another Painful Loss, This Time 5-0 to Red Sox

I've been out of town and unable to blog since last Wednesday and wow, have things gone badly for the Tigers. The bats are covered in ice, the starters are just holding on for dear life, and the bullpen is making sure every runner on base scores when they come in. If I tried to dream up a worse start before this season, it still would've looked better than this. Polanco, Magglio, and Cabrera all look like they are at the plate for the first time in their careers. At least Clete Thomas has been hot, so you can guess who didn't play today. You all know this disappointing, stomach-punching news, so I'll try to calm down and recap today's game: a 5-0 loss to the Red Sox in Boston to fall to 0 wins and 7 losses in the 2008 season.



Game in a Nutshell

Dice-K Matsuzaka took the mound for the Sox today and it may have looked like he pitched nothing but magical gyroballs, but he didn't. He just smoothly cruised through our lineup for 6 2/3 scoreless innings while striking out 7 Tigers. Kenny Rogers battled through 4 2/3 innings giving up 3 runs, 2 of them earned over 109 pitches. Jason Grilli followed Kenny and gave up two more runs in the 6th. Manny Ramirez tripled in the 3rd and scored on Polanco's first error since 2006 while Kevin Youkilis had three hits and two RBIs for the Sox. Gary Sheffield was the only Tiger with a pair of hits on the day. It was a dominant win for the Red Sox coming off three straight losses to the Blue Jays. Detroit will look to try to pick up the pieces tomorrow when Jeremy Bonderman takes the mound to face Jon Lester and this tough Boston lineup.



Bullpen Watch


Jason Grilli came in for Kenny Rogers with two outs and two on in the bottom of the 5th, and shockingly got the out and got out of the inning. But we know better with Grilli. He gave up two runs on three hits and one of his three walks scored a runner with the bases loaded before getting pulled with two outs in the 6th. But hey, at least Grilli got his ERA down to 19.29! Aquilino Lopez was brought in with the bases loaded and got Grilli out of his jam. Lopez also looked solid in the 7th and 8th, giving up two hits and no runs. Lopez good, Grilli very bad.

Concern Level: 8 out of 10



Today's Key Play



In the bottom of the third and a 1-0 Red Sox lead, Manny Ramirez hit a line drive over Brandon Inge's head in center field. The not-so-graceful Manny rounded second while Inge's cutoff throw hit Placido Polanco. Polanco's throw to third was off the mark, Miguel Cabrera tried a quick scoop-and-tag, and the ball rolled into the Red Sox dugout scoring Ramirez. Just another example of the way things have been going for the Tigers. Every time they've had an opportunity to make a big play, things have gone horribly wrong.



Tiger of the Game: Aquilino Lopez



I couldn't possibly give this to a Tigers hitter, who have failed to produce more than 2 runs for the fourth time in seven games. So I'll give the Tiger of the Game to Aquilino Lopez, who pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Lopez only gave up two hits and struck out two. He even managed to come in to the game with the bases loaded and got Grilli out of his jam. Nice work by Lopez; one of the few positives to another wretched game by the Tigers.