Tigers manager Jim Leyland walked to the mound. What did Leyland say to Verlander when he got there?
“In the ninth?” Verlander asked, then cracked a grin and laughed. “He said, ‘You’re going to get me fired.’ “
...Alex Gordon, who had doubled off Verlander to lead off the first inning, came to the plate. Verlander’s pitch sequence for pitches 127 through 131: fastball, fastball, fastball, changeup, fastball.
The radar readings: 100, 100, 100, 88, 100. Pitch No. 131 was a called strike three, and Verlander headed to the dugout with his first victory of the season.
...“Skip can’t win for losing,” Verlander said. “He takes me out, we (fall into a tie). He leaves me in, we lose. Tonight he’ll get questioned because I threw 131 pitches.”
But both the pitcher and the manager said it was important for Verlander to finish the job after what happened in his last outing.
“I had some demons to exorcise,” Verlander said. “I wanted that thing. I wanted the ball. I wanted to go back out there and shut those guys down. Obviously, it didn’t go the way I would have liked, but when it came down to it I made the pitch that I needed to.”
...“I told Skip,” Verlander said, “I said, ‘Sorry for getting your blood pressure up. Now that that’s out of the way the rest of them will be easy.’ “
Repoz
Posted: April 17, 2012 at 06:33 AM |
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1. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: April 17, 2012 at 08:27 AM (#4108686)Also, while the call wasn't as bad as the Cody Ross call earlier in the day, it was still not a strike.
Was there a discussion on this site about the Rays signing Jose Molina and all the new catcher metrics that look at framing and stuff like that? Well, it looks like Molina earned his 2012 salary yesterday.
Not sure if that will be enough to console him. Molina will forever be known as the catcher who gave up Kelly Shoppach's first and only career stolen base.
I only saw the bottom of the ninth last nite. How did Duffy look? He put up a good line.
Most are saying it just shows Leyland's faith in Verlander. I guess that could be the case. To me, though, it seems like it also shows a lack of faith in the bullpen. Leyland narrowly avoided losing the game because he thought a wild Verlander was a better bet to get that last out than anyone in that bullpen.
It's become commonplace for Verlander to keep such velocity in his hip pocket until his last inning of work.
Leyland narrowly avoided losing the game because he thought a wild Verlander was a better bet to get that last out than anyone in that bullpen.
The larger problem is I don't think "anyone" in the bullpen was considered. For Leyland, like most other managers, the choice was tired Verlander or, because it's a save spot, it's the ninth, etc., Valverde, who's been pretty crappy so far this year. Sure, there are other pitchers like Coke or Benoit who I'd be very comfortable bringing in to face Gordon in that spot (or coming in earlier!), but I just don't think Jim saw it that way.
The highest I saw for Duffy was 99, but I might have missed a higher one. I don't always look for the velocity readings. But you know what? Official Pitch F/X data show that his highest velo on the night was 99.5 with an average of 96.6. And that, yes, Verlander's four fastballs to Gordon in the 9th averaged 100.2 with none of them under 100.
Pitch F/X also agrees that the called third strike to Gordon was not a strike. But it didn't miss by much.
No, this was more about the home plate ump, Larry Vanover, than it was Jose Molina's brilliant (or not; all catchers do it) framing.
Over the weekend Vanover called out Jason Bay on the same outside pitch, prompting Bay to argue and Terry Collins to get ejected.
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