Motor City Bengals
FanSided

Detroit Tigers: Cabrera’s heroics, Vintage Verlander, Stealing Signs

By Dave Holcomb

facebooktwitterreddit

The Detroit Tigers have their hero back, but they still can’t win even with him.

Miguel Cabrera went 2-for-3 with two walks, a home run and three RBI on Sunday, but the Tigers still lost to the Houston Astros, 6-5. The loss means the Tigers are 2-4 on their road trip and lost both the series to the Kansas City Royals and the Houston Astros.

More from Motor City Bengals

The good news is Justin Verlander pitched very well again on Saturday and has been much better in his last five starts. The right-hander has a 1.75 ERA and .214 batting average against over that stretch, but rather than claiming this is his vintage self, Verlander is just saying ‘this is the pitcher I am.’

Since the dugout fight with Jose Iglesias, rookie catcher James McCann seems to be a lot more outspoken. Last week, he called out 12-year veteran Alex Rios for stealing his signs from second base.

As if Tigers fans needed another reason to hate the Royals.

Tigers stumble in ninth to lose another series – Chris McCosky, The Detroit News

"The directive from both Ausmus and catcher Alex Avila was to pitch carefully, try to get Altuve to chase something — if you fall behind in the count, just walk him.That was not Wilson’s mindset.“Careful, yeah, but you still have to be able to attack,” Wilson said. “And I wanted to get ahead.”With Avila set up outside the outer edge, Wilson threw Altuve a first-pitch cutter that was up and sliding over the heart of the plate.Ballgame."

Verlander: This gem not vintage, ‘this is the pitcher I am’ – Anthony Fenech, Detroit Free Press

"And although there weren’t any triple-digit readings on the Minute Maid Park radar gun on Saturday evening and although he didn’t strike out a slew of batters or flirt with a no-hitter, the Detroit Tigers veteran right-hander is looking more and more like the pitcher of the past.But don’t tell him that.“I think last year was an aberration for me,” he said. “I think I did a lot of work this off-season to get myself and my body in a position to be able to pitch well again. I look at this as more the norm than an aberration.“I don’t think this is a throwback,” he said. “This is the pitcher that I am.”"

Kansas City’s Alex Rios denies James McCann’s claims of stealing signs against Detroit Tigers – James Schmehl, MLive.com

"Rios addressed McCann’s insinuation that he tried to steal signs from second base in the ninth inning Wednesday, telling MLB.comthat he “wasn’t stealing signs.”“(McCann) needs to get his facts straight,” Rios said.Sign-stealing isn’t prohibited in baseball’s official rulebook, but it’s highly frowned upon in the unwritten “code” of baseball.McCann acknowledged Friday in Houston that he suspected Rios may have been attempting to steal signs, which led to an awkward stare-down between the two."

Next: Detroit Tigers: Astros walk off, win series rubber match, 6-5

Home/Detroit Tigers News