**crowd goes wild**
That's what I thought. Thank you, thank you. We got in from Lakeland late last night to the dreary Holland snowy weather. If nothing else, it was nice just to be in warmth for a few days - I'll take 75 and sunny over 6 months of winter any day. Here's my recap of the games we say:
Game 1: Tigers 14, Astros 3
The predictions about the Astros were true as of March 16. After the 2nd inning, the Tigers were up 10-0. Lucas Harrell got pounded, giving up a home run to Ian Kinsler and hobbled home with 9 earned runs (10 total) on 12 hits in 1.2 to suffer an ERA implosion of 10.13. Currently while I am writing this though, he has pitched 4 scoreless innings - so I'm glad to see he's recovered. On the other side, Scherzer (whom we saw at dinner on Tuesday night) pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on some very hard hit balls in the gaps. In a postgame interview he said he was not entirely happy with the start but he did not walk anyone - very good for a strikeout pitcher. After Scherzer, pitchers Blaine Hardy, Ian Krol, Jhan Martinez, and Luke Putkonen all pitched scoreless innings to keep the Astros to 3 runs. Torii Hunter stayed scalding hot, going 2 for 3 with a double, sending his average up to .367 for the spring. Tigers outfielder Tyler Collins continued to turn heads, ending the game a double short of the cycle. Also, I am making the conclusion that Astros first round pick Carlos Correa is just like Starlin Castro: amazingly smooth fielder, but a lengthy swing will create some offensive stagnation in the future.
Game 2: Tigers 2, Nationals 1
Boy what a thriller - even for Spring Training. The Nationals' stadium, Space Coast Stadium, is really cool. Despite there being a strong lack of shade and a visible speedometer for the fans to witness how fast Verlander was throwing, it's a nice place.
The game itself was exciting. We got there late and couldn't witness the first Tigers run, but got to witness Verlander mow down the Nationals, giving up one hit (to Zimmerman in his last inning of work) and threw fewer than 50 pitches to 16 batters. Incredible efficiency for his first start coming off of oblique surgery, solidifying manager Ausmus' choice to name him the Opening Day starter. The Nationals scored a run on an Evan Reed passed ball, and the game was locked 1-1 for another few innings until Danny Worth laced a double down the left field line, his fourth of the spring, scoring Steve Lombardozzi who had just stolen 2nd and 3rd consecutively against his former team. While it was a nice pitchers duel, the Nationals only collected three hits the whole game (never in the same inning) and struggled to even push a runner past second, confirming my fear that they live and die by the long ball. Similarly, the Tigers RISP woes continue from last year against good pitching, going 1-11 the game. Granted, a lot of the guys playing late will be AA or AAA players but the point rings true. We'll be seeing both of them in October, regardless. The pitching was incredibly high quality. Important note: Don Kelly got an RBI.
Game 3: Tigers vs. Nationals, cancelled
Though this game was rained out, the Nats took batting practice maybe 30 feet away from where we parked, necessitating these photos:
Aside from the skies looking ominous, I really enjoyed getting this close to some of the players. Tyler Clippard looks exactly like one of my English professors and Jamey Carroll is a great fielder. The ageless wonder.
Game 4: Tigers 18, Blue Jays 4 (SS)
Yes, you read that correctly. I was pumped to see the Jays because when you think about it, with a lineup of Reyes, Cabrera, Bautista, Lind, Rasmus, Izturis, they can do some serious damage. Though they did not do any damage today. Tigers starter Drew Smyly had an incredibly efficient 5 innings of work, walking one, allowing two hits, and striking out three. Smyly is growing into his craftiness, finding a comfortable array of offspeed pitches to complement his respectable fastball. Jays starter Ricky Romero had serious control issues, walking 5 batters in 2 2/3 innings of work and allowing an opposite field home run to Austin Jackson (who is also scalding hot this spring). The real woes came in the 5th inning, when Marcus Stroman came in and allowed 7 runs while only getting a single out. Marcus Walden came in to mop it up but apparently did bring a good enough mop, allowing 5 runs himself. I guess they really dislike pitchers named Marcus. The Tigers scored in 6 out of their 8 offensive innings, collecting 17 hits (and walked 11 times) - and they still left 7 men on base. The best part of this game, hands down, is the Don Kelly grand salami in the fifth. I don't think I've ever lost my voice faster than that.
This game confirmed my suspicions about the Jays - great offense, but bad pitching. Short of Mark Buehrle and RA Dickey, they are stretched thin. Through 19 Spring Training games, they have scored 80 runs (26th in MLB), and have allowed 105 (8th worst) with a team ERA of 5.73 (4th worst). In the AL East, that won't fly. Their only runs came off of a shaky Blaine Hardy 6th inning.
This was such a fun trip. Not just because of the weather or three Tigers wins, but because of how exciting it is to see that baseball is back and I got a job interview tomorrow! Wish me luck!
Thanks for reading, folks! The regular season is right around the corner!
PS - We saw the Lego Movie on Monday when the game was rained out. Do yourself a favor and go see it - I was in stitches.
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