Sweep!

After the Detroit Tigers walked off the field Saturday night with a convincing 10-1 win over the Cleveland Indians, thoughts of a repeat performance Sunday afternoon were on display when they jumped out to an early 7-0 lead on Cleveland and newly acquired Ubaldo Jimenez. The Tigers pitcher who was given this early wealth of run support? Rick Porcello.

Porcello, who was unbeaten in July, isn't fooling anyone in August. After three scoreless innings, the third of which included an interesting pitch behind Asdrubal Cabrera, Porcello coughed up a 5-run top of the fourth inning, with four of those runs allowed coming with 2 outs. The command issues are still there, which is not a welcome sign as the Tigers march towards September and the stretch run. Just 3 2/3 innings pitched, which potentially taxes the bullpen. The Tigers would use 6 relievers today... Though some will suggest the Tigers don't need the bullpen tomorrow with Justin Verlander pitching... It's still not good heading into a 7-game road trip.

The fourth inning insurance run provided by newcomer Delmon young (who had 4 RBIs today) proved to be vital, as the Tigers would ultimately cling to a 1-run lead as the game entered the ninth inning. Enter Jose Valverde, who hasn't blown a save opportunity this season. Valverde, who lately has been making things tough on himself when he takes the mound, would walk the leadoff man Kosuke Fukudome, and on an 0-2 pitch, hit Jason Donald with a pitch. Valverde would almost blow it against someone who was TRYING to get an out, as Jack Hannahan finally sacrificed himself, allowing both lead runners to advance.

In what might be the play of the year, pinch hitter Matt LaPorta hits a relatively shallow, lazy liner to center fielder Austin Jackson. Jackson lines himself up, catches the ball, and throws an absolute DART, slightly up the third base line, and directly into the glove of Alex Avila, who was perfectly placed to catch that ball and block the attempt from Fukudome, who tagged up and tried to score. Ball beats Fukudome, tag is applied, Avila shows the umpire, DOUBLE PLAY, GAME OVER. A sellout crowd celebrated, as did the players, finishing off an incredible sweep of the Indians. With all that, the Tigers will take with them to Tampa a 4 1/2 game lead in the division, with the hopes of maintaining some of the momentum from this game on to the ensuing trip.

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Lost in that insane finish is the work of Rick Porcello.  He's certainly not proving his worth at all this month, but as mentioned in previous posts, he's young and the organization is not going to give up on this young talent.  However, mired in a pennant run, Jim Leyland is going to have to be careful with him, as he was today when he wasted very little time ripping him from the ball game.  His next scheduled start is Friday night at Minnesota, a team who has grossly underachieved this year, a team who right now isn't going to let that stop them from trying to be a spoiler.  I think Tigers fans desperately want Rick Porcello to be good, but most of those faithful aren't going to be too patient with what they are seeing now.