The Tigers have now gone 2-3 three weeks in a row. While it sounds bad on the surface (6-9 in their last 15), they have not lost any ground in the Central League standings, thanks to the Carp and Giants also putting up poor numbers. Honestly, the Tigers’ relief pitchers really let them down this week. Two of their three losses were blown in the final two innings of the game. The usually steady Oh put up some more crooked numbers on Tuesday, and then Fukuhara gave away the game in the 8th on Friday despite the Tigers leading 3-0 when he came in. Granted, he came into the game with two runners on board and only one out, but his walk and 3-run HR allowed did not help matters. The hitters also did not really post great numbers in the three losses, though they put up 23 runs in the Tigers’ two wins! Hopefully they can be a little more consistent in the week to come! Here is the calendar for the past week.
The Giants had a good week, but the Carp did not. As a result, the Giants took over top spot. The Tigers did not move higher in the standings, but they are closer to first place than they were at the end of last week. The current standings look like this:
Here are this week’s stat lines for our foreigners:
| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | K | SB | CS | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Gomez | 5 | 17 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.353 | 0.522 | 0.529 | 1.051 |
| Murton | 5 | 21 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.286 | 0.318 | 0.381 | 0.699 |
| Player | GP | GS | W | L | SV | BS | HLD | CG | SHO | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | K | ERA | WHIP |
| Messenger | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2.25 | 0.38 |
| Oh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10.78 | 1.80 |
This week starts with the series finisher against the Softbank Hawks at home. Tuesday is a travel day (or makeup day if Monday’s game is rained out), and then the Tigers hit the road against the Lotte Marines on Wednesday and Thursday. The week finishes up with a two-game series against the Seibu Lions on the road on the weekend. Interleague play has not gone well so far, but here’s to hoping this week the men in yellow and black can move up in the standings. GO TIGERS!
Yes, I agree that the relief pitchers really let the team down, but looking at the final scores, it looks like the batters should share some of the blame as well. It looks like they have two modes, off or on.
Indeed. As I mentioned at the top, they produced 23 runs in their two wins. They squeezed out just 7 in their three losses. On the whole, they outscored their opponents 30-21 on the week, but when you win by gaps of 8 and 6, but can’t seem to consistently produce, you’re in trouble. Monday and tonight (6/11) are evidence of the team’s offensive woes. Yes, I used the word “offensive” to describe their woes. (Not “woes” to describe their offense.)