Clear the mind of last night’s debacle, and concentrate on tonight’s task. The Tigers hope starting pitcher Doug Fister will succeed against the hot-hitting Giants, who will counter with Madison Bumgarner on the mound. Follow along below for our live coverage.
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Inept is a good word to describe the Tigers offense tonight. They came into this game facing a pitcher who had done nothing well this postseason. But Madison Bumgarner owned the Tigers, throwing seven shutout innings while striking out eight.
Doug Fister was good tonight, but his pitch count was high and he couldn’t make it out of the seventh inning. He gave up one earned run (scored after he exited the game) on four hits while walking just one and striking out three.
It’s a shame the Tigers couldn’t steal a game in San Francisco, which now makes it impossible for them to win a world title at home. Still, the Tigers have to pick their heads up and win some games at Comerica Park, which is something they do very well.
Game 3 is Saturday in Detroit and first pitch is scheduled for 8:07.
Hunter Pence came up with one out and the bases loaded and hit a lazy fly ball to right field that was deep enough to bring home Angel Pagan from third base.
Drew Smyly walked Pagan to start the inning, struck out Marco Scutaro and then allowed Pagan to steal second base. Pablo Sandoval was walked intentionally and then Jim Leyland brought in Octavio Dotel who walked Buster Posey on four pitches to load the bases.
Unless the Tigers bats wake up in the ninth inning, they’re coming back to Detroit down 2-0.
Jhonny Peralta, Andy Dirks and Gerald Laird could do nothing against Giants reliever Santiago Casilla. The Tigers will have one more inning at the plate to get something on the board. They’ll be hoping their pitching can keep it a one run game.
I’m a little confused why Jim Leyland didn’t pinch hit Alex Avila for Gerald Laird against the right-handed pitcher in a one run game.
Drew Smyly came on in relief after Doug Fister gave up a single to Hunter Pence. Smyly walked the next batter before an attempt at a sacrifice bunt by Gregor Blanco stayed fair and loaded the bases with no outs. Smyly got Brandon Crawford to hit into a double play, but Pence scored and gave the Giants the first run of the game.
Smyly struck out Ryan Theriot to end the inning and prevent further damage.
Doug Fister came out to start the seventh inning and face right-handed hitting Hunter Pence, who singled off the Tigers starter. Drew Smyly has been brought in to try and get his team out of the inning unharmed.
Fister was coming out after he faced Pence whether the Giants right fielder hit that single or not. Fister had a good game, giving up four hits while striking out three and walking one on 114 pitches.
Miguel Cabrera walked to lead off the inning. It looked promising, but Prince Fielder hit a soft ground ball back to the pitcher for an easy double play. Delmon Young promptly ended the inning with a ground out of his own.
The Tigers need a hit or a walk in the eighth or ninth inning without a double play being turned to earn Miguel Cabrera a guaranteed at bat late in the game.
Doug Fister put together a good performance tonight and kept the Tigers in the game. Unfortunately, it looks like he’s going to be done after six innings. He’s given up three hits and a walk on 108 pitches.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it’s time for the Tigers bats to step up in support of their pitching.
Omar Infante had a chance to keep the inning alive for Miguel Cabrera with two outs and Austin Jackson on first. Instead, he became Madison Bumgarner’s eighth strikeout victim. The Giants pitcher has given up some hard hit balls tonight, but he is dominating this Tigers lineup, which only has two hits in six innings.
Luckily for the Tigers, the Giants only have two hits of their own. It’s going to be tough to get more than one more inning out of Doug Fister, but we’ll see how much Jim Leyland is willing to roll the dice.
Doug Fister and Madison Bumgarner have silenced the bats tonight, although Bumgarner is in much better shape to go deep into this game. He’s thrown just 56 pitches in five innings compared to Fister’s 86.
Tigers fans are still waiting for the bats to wake up. Bumgarner had been terrible in the postseason entering this game and the Tigers have not taken advantage of what was supposed to be a pitcher struggling with his confidence.
Doug Fister set the Giants down in order in the fourth inning, but he drove up his pitch count in the process. Fister has thrown 68 pitches in four innings, including 20 in the fourth. It’s a far cry from the 98 pitches Justin Verlander threw in four innings last night, but I’m not sure Fister will be able to go more the six innings tonight unless he works some quick ones in the fifth and sixth. The Giants are the masters of fouling off pitches and driving up pitch counts.
Delmon Young, Jhonny Peralta and Avisail Garcia are due up for the Tigers in the fifth.
Omar Infante singled to lead off the fourth inning. Miguel Cabrera hit a screamer down the third base line that Pablo Sandoval somehow snagged and Prince Fielder hit a towering drive to right field that just died on the warning track. Infante tried to steal second base but was picked off by Madison Bumgarner to end the inning.
This was the inning I thought the Tigers had to do something. Their outs were loud, but they were still outs nonetheless. Hopefully Fister continues to deal and the Tigers can still win Game 2 and get back to Detroit with a split.
Madison Bumgarner has five strikeouts in the first three innings. This is a guy who came into this game with an ERA over 11 this postseason.
Doug Fister has kept the Tigers in the game, but the Giants are taking and fouling off pitches to drive up his pitch count (39 in two innings).
I think the fourth inning is the biggest for the Tigers. They’ll have Omar Infante, Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder due up and they have to do something this time around. Bumgarner is in a groove, and if he gets through the meat of the Tigers order unscathed for a second time, it could mean trouble.
Doug Fister was in good form with two outs and a man on first. He was a strike away from getting out of the inning when Gregor Blanco hit a shot right back at Fister that nailed the Tigers starter in the side of the head. Amazingly, Fister stayed in the game. He walked the next batter to load the bases for Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner, who popped out harmlessly to Jhonny Peralta.
We’ll see if Fister comes back for the third. He is due to bat second in the top of the inning.
Prince Fielder got hit with a pitch to start the second inning and Delmon Young doubled down the left field line. Fielder got aggressive and tried to go first base to home but was thrown out by Marco Scutaro. It was a close play at the plate, but it was the right call by the umpire.
Gene Lamont should have held Fielder at third base. The Tigers would have had men at second and third with nobody out. Another Tigers mistake. Let’s hope it doesn’t come back to bite them later.
Jhonny Peralta popped out and Avisail Garcia struck out to end the inning.
Doug Fister looks to have good movement on his pitches so far in this one. That late life he has that makes the ball explode to the plate looks to be prevalent so far as he set the Giants down in order in the first inning. He even got Pablo Sandoval out on the first pitch. That’s a good sign considering what Sandoval did to Tigers ace Justin Verlander and the rest of the bullpen last night.
Austin Jackson and Omar Infante struck out before Miguel Cabrera grounded out to start Game 2 of the World Series.
An unimpressive start for the Tigers against a pitcher who has been off his game so far this postseason. The Tigers bats need to do something in the first few innings and not let Bumgarner settle in and find a groove.
Doug Fister takes the mound tonight as the Tigers try to rebound and even their series with the San Francisco Giants in Game 2 of the World Series.
Fister has been solid this postseason, amassing an ERA of just 1.35 in his two starts. He looked a little shaky against the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the ALCS, but he got out of a couple of jams by making big pitches when the situation called for it. He gave up no runs in that game.
San Francisco counters with Madison Bumgarner, who has been anything but spectacular this postseason. He gave up four runs in Game 2 of the NLDS, and six runs in less than four innings in Game 1 of the NLCS. While the Tigers have struggled against quality left-handed pitching in 2012, Bumgarner could be just what the doctor ordered.
Jim Leyland has made one change to tonight’s lineup, inserting Gerald Laird behind the plate for Alex Avila. Interesting to note, Avisail Garcia remains in the lineup despite looking lost in all of his at-bats last night. I know Andy Dirks is a left-handed bat, but with Bumgarner’s struggles of late and Dirks track record against pitching from either side of the bump, I thought he would have got the nod in right field. Don’t be surprised to see him pinch hit at some point tonight.
First pitch from San Francisco is scheduled for 8:07 p.m. on Fox.
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