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2-0, 4.03 |
4-1, 2.76 |
Very smart of you Tiger fans. I was listening on the radio, and haven't seen any of the replays on TV at the time of this writing. Hearing Mike Shannon make the call, it sounded like Miles would've went home and perhaps scored if it hadn't have been for a fan interference call (one of the more stupid rules in the baseball rulebook) off of Scott Spiezio's "ground rule" double. There's your home field advantage, the Cardinals would've tied the game if not for a ball grabbing fan. That's a nasty rub.
Well, the good news is the Cardinals since Monday are averaging 6 runs per game. The bad news is the rotation's ERA for that period has been 11.25. If it ain't one thing, it's another. I don't know what to say after last night's loss, personally I thought it was over after the 3rd inning, so much so I sat on the couch and watched a movie with my wife. I proceeded to check out Gameday and was pleased they showed the fight they did. I worry about Rolen's health, I can't remember the last time he struck anything with any sort of authority. That final and costly pop up just makes my point, Rolen is either hitting weak flies or ground balls, there's no pop, no zing, no zing, no zig...you get my drift. Edmonds seems to be starting to find some sort of footing as of late, but only 4 of his 22 hits have been for extra bases, and one of those was a happy accident in LA. Pujols seems to be heating up, but the Tigers won't even give him much of a chance to put the ball in play last night for fear they awoke the sleeping giant the previous game.
Same ol' story, the team has been rotten at it's core. Combine the pitching rotation and the hitters, the team is a combined -72.18 batting runs above average. (BRAA) Real quick, what is BRAA? Well, per David Appelman at fangraphs.com it is-
"... calculated using Tangotiger's Run Expectancy tables and play-by-play data. Depending on the base/out state, the batting team is expected to score X amount of runs. BRAA tracks the difference between the Run Expectancy at the start of the play and the end of the play and attributes that difference to the correct player."
In other words, the rotation has allowed more runs then the expected and the lineup to the tune of 22.23 runs and the lineup has scored -49.85 runs below average (!!!). They just haven't been producing when the situation warrants it, as The Commish lamented today. The bullpen has been the only bright spot, with a + 11.03 BRAA
What made me bring all that up? Ah, yes. Rolen and Edmonds. Without them flipping the switch or whatever it is they need to do in their heads, hearts or bodies, this season is toast. I know that's not profound, but what do you want me to say here? We all know what the issues are, and it's not been pretty to watch. Winning the World Series has bought them at least 3 or 4 years of grace with me, but it's no fun watching the big boys underachieve the way they have. I miss hearing Mike Shannon say "Get up, baby! Get up!". Of course, it would behoove Mr. Thompson to have a good start today as well, as the lineup has tended to support him more then others.