The next time someone gets the urge to bitch about Joe Borowski, they should think about tonight. The Tribe's closer was forced to get five outs in the ninth as Victor Martinez and Ryan Garko put him in a viper grip.
First Victor let a perfect third strike bounce off the end of his mitt to the first batter in the ninth, Jerry Owens, who scampered to first without much of a challange by Victor, who stopped to pound his glove in annoyance before chasing after the ball.
Then Victor and Garko, with two outs and RBI machine Paul Konerko at the plate with Owens on third, did the old I-got-it-you-take-it on what should have been the third (fourth) out of the inning - a foul pop in front of the dougout.
You really have to wonder about the position players on this team, and their ability to play in the clutch. In the past ten days or so they kicked away three games with bad D and came damn close a couple of other times, including tonight.
With Seattle and the Yankees bearing down on them and the Tigers giving them every opportunity to pad their division lead, the Tribe's starting staff has been dominating. But the team's hitting has been awful, especially with runners in scoring position. (We did all the numbers the other day. They didn't get any better in the the past two nights).
This is the same pattern this team followed in the final week or so of the 2005 season. Despite good pitching, they didn't hit, or field, and pissed away a shot at the playoffs.
Last year, with fan excitement running high and the pressure of heightened expectations from the national media, the team fell flat on its face from the outset.
There's a lot of talk about how the nucleus of this team (except for CC) is assured of being together for several more years. With the way this team seems to handle pressure, I'm not sure if that's good news or bad.
Ya, the Tribe won tonight. But if they play like this over the weekend against New York and early next week against Detroit they might just as well bend over and kiss themselves goodbye.
It's time to get it together.
Posts
3 comments:
I love watching Martinez hit but he seems like he's a DH-in-waiting; his throwing and fielding leave much to be desired. However, on the good side, a win when Westbrook is on the mound is a good thing, especially when CC is next in the rotation, and a series win looks beyond possible.
Victor'sdefense has improved a lot this year, to the acceptable range. But what he was doing in the 9th inning last night, I have no clue, nor, I suspect, does he.
does borowski get a extra save for getting 5 outs in the ninth - yikes
but a win is a win - looks like the tigers are waking up against tampa bay - everyone does. lets hope westbrook has turned the corner - that gives 4 consistent starters where oh where is the hitting ???
Post a Comment