It was a comedy of errors at Comerica Park on Thursday night. The Tigers now trail 3-2, facing elimination, so it’s no laughing matter.
Any discussion of the game must start in the bottom of the first. Everyone’s got their own take on how that play went down with Miguel Cabrera and Tom Brookens.
Some lay all the blame on Cabrera for running through an obvious stop sign. Others vilify Brookens for first windmilling, then holding Cabrera, making it too tough for the hobbled slugger to stop his momentum.
A MVP like Miguel Cabrera needs to think about the game at a higher level.
As a guy who has played his fair share of baseball and softball, let me add another wrinkle:
Not only does Cabrera know he never was that swift to begin with, that play was in front of him. He was on his way to third, the ball was rapped sharply to left right in front of his eyes.
While Brookens is obviously there as a guide of sorts, any player worth his salt can pretty much see that play’s evolution as the ball skips through to the outfield. He had to know this was a situation where he could not score.
MVP Needs High-Level Thinking
If a guy is on first and the ball is laced into the right field corner, that’s different. He’s huffing and puffing to third, totally blind to the action behind him. His fate lies completely with the man in the coaching box.
But Cabrera had this one right in front of him. While the initial “go" gesture from Brookens is indefensible and inexcusable, a MVP like Miguel Cabrera needs to think about the game at a higher level.
Nobody can doubt the man’s skill. He is as gifted a major leaguer as there’s been in the last 25 years.But you’d like for your best player to also be your smartest, and you don’t always get that with Miggy, or at least of late.
Even Wednesday night, in a game won handily by the Tigers, Cabrera displayed a disturbing lack of insight based on the game's time and score. The Tigers led by five runs in the seventh inning. Boston has a man on second with nobody out. Clearly, in this case, you just need outs.
You’re up by five, there are only three innings left. If ever there was a time to forget about the meaningless base runner and go after the hitter, this was it. Sure enough, Dustin Pedroia hit a slow bouncer to Cabrera at third. The only play was to first. Again, that man on second was unimportant.
But after fielding it, Cabrera felt the need to take a good, hard look at Shane Victorino on second to assure he wasn’t going anywhere. Then, with Dustin Pedroia busting it down the line, Cabrera whipped it to Prince Fielder for an out by the slightest of margins.
Situational Awareness Seems Lacking
Obviously, the play was made. No harm done. But it resonated with me.
In such a big game, why aren’t you fully aware of the current circumstances when the ball is hit to you? Had Cabrera waited another beat to toss that ball across the diamond, you’re looking at two on with none out and flashbacks to Game Two popping up all around Comerica Park.
And that’s what my mind went to after the brain freeze in inning one Thursday night. There are plays being made in this series, mostly by the Tigers, that reek of absentmindedness and lack of focus.
Will Middlebrooks traveled 180 feet around the bases before our pitcher or catcher could reach third base to cover. We’re not talking about a player blessed with tremendous speed, either. Brayan Peña did all he could to catch, spin, avoid the umpire and apply a tag at the end of the play. But note of what happened before that comical conclusion.
Peña lollygagged it 60% of the way down the line, thinking Middlebrooks would likely stop at second. Once he realized what was going on, he turned it up a notch and busted it the rest of the way.
It’s not good enough.
Focus Is Fading
Execution and performance are difficult to criticize. Sure, we can all sit here and rattle off various stats about which guys are struggling and to what degree, but slumps do happen. They are terribly frustrating, but also inevitable, even to the greats.
But you can always control the mental aspect of the game. Knowing the score, knowing the situation, knowing the count, knowing your body. The Tigers clearly are having a very difficult time at the plate, but now it appears their focus also is waning.
The play at the plate in the first inning was a lack of understanding by coach and player, not a physical mistake.
In the seventh, Cabrera's failure to realize that Junichi Tazawa was pitching him in the exact same fashion (away, away, further away) as he did Tuesday is also a thinking issue, not poor execution.
And not to add on to the wave of criticism that is directed at Jim Leyland every night, but did anyone else find it telling how much was made of his lineup tinkering the other night? A manager that is constantly thinking, adapting, reacting, can make changes on a daily basis without anyone batting an eye. John Farrell and Don Mattingly have been doing it all post-season.
But Leyland decides to finally move some pieces around and it makes national headlines. Perhaps it tells you that the man is a bit too set in his ways in the first place. Such a change should not have caused such ripples. But when so little imagination and/or creativity is displayed throughout the year, one minor shuffle is met with an almost collective shock.
Crisp Playing Is Crucial Now
So the Tigers stumble back east, needing a pair of weekend wins to capture the American League flag. The last time the Tigers were in this spot was in 2011. They trailed the Rangers three games to two going back to Arlington.
Max Scherzer started Game Six, the Tigers got off to a quick 2-0 lead and then all hell broke loose. The Rangers exploded for a nine-ball in the third on their way to a ten-run victory (15-5).
Clearly, Scherzer is a different pitcher now. He is not a guy that allows nine runs in a month, let alone an inning. But history is most definitely not on his side in this spot.
The Tigers need to play 18 innings of crisp baseball to steal this series from the Beards. That means running the bases with purpose, even if you have to swallow your pride and go station-to-station like an over-75 softball team.
It means throwing to the right base at the right time, recognizing the inning and the score and the base runner. It means taking the first pitch after a four-pitch walk.
You can’t win ‘em all, and that’s understood. But there is a difference between getting beat and beating yourselves. On Thursday night, the Tigers did too much of the latter.
It must change.
Or else the next game in this series will become the last game of the season.
