The Orioles are tough, and they're a lot like that Rangers team the Tigers saw in the 2011 ALCS. Nelson Cruz is back, for one thing, but on top of that this Orioles team features lots of homers, little in the way of team speed, and good relievers. Outside of Chris Tillman and Wing-Yin Chen, the starting rotation gets a little shaky though. The hitters to look out for are Nelson Cruz, Adam Jones, Steve Pearce, and... I don't know, Nick Markakis? Slugger Chris Davis is still suspended for amphetamines and will miss the series. 3B Manny Machado had knee surgery and is done for the year.
Even though this lineup isn't chock full of threats, Cruz, Jones and Pearce are all pretty good, and the Orioles' defense is among the best in the league (while Detroit's is nigh to the bottom). Fortunately, the Tigers' main starters got on a role (finally) down the stretch and will give Baltimore's sluggers plenty to handle. Ausmus announced the post-season rotation of Scherzer, Verlander, Price, and Porcello. The last month was not kind to Porcello, with 3 of his 5 starts lasting less than 4 innings and yielding no less than 4 earned runs each. His main problem lately has been inconsistency & leaving his splitter too high. If he can correct that and make these guys hit it on the ground, he'll have little trouble.
You wouldn't know it from the minor power outage vs. the Twins last week, but the Tigers' offense did pretty well in September. The team batted .292, scoring 124 runs, hitting 29 HR and netting a .783 OPS. Cabrera, Victor Martinez, and JD Martinez hit 8, 5, & 6 HR for the month respectively, and all hit over .350. Baltimore was less good in September, although Cruz and Pearce both hit well. This will be a good series, but I predict the Tigers' squeak this one out in 4 games.
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The Lions went out Sunday and won a game they were supposed to win, despite having Calvin Johnson on a limited basis. ESPN has them ranked 8th, which feels about right. Since the Giants game, this team hasn't dominated a game on either side of the ball. Still, Stafford played one of those games that isn't super sexy but brings home the 'W'.
As ugly as the game was, I was proud of the win. The running game was anemic but worked when it had to. The defense gave up more that it should have but locked down when necessary. And Detroit took care of the ball.
They've got the Buffalo Bills this week, and that's a good thing. Buffalo is switching QBs, and as bad as EJ Manuel has been, the move to Orton scares me not (that link is one of the top 5 youtube video titles, btw). Buffalo has a strong-ish running game, but they don't defend the pass well. They really should be 1-3, but they stole that week 1 game in Chicago. It's a home game for Detroit, they should look to make a statement.
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Speaking of making statements, embattled Michigan AD David Brandon decided to release a statement at 1 o'clock in the morning to the media regarding the status of Shane Morris. It turns out that Morris WAS concussed after the hit to the head on Saturday, which came as a surprise to NO ONE, except maybe embattled Michigan coach Brady Hoke.
The whole Michigan football program is embattled, from fans, opposing teams, local and national media outlets... They aren't producing on the field, and then this whole Shane Morris thing happened. I covered Hoke's problems ad nauseum in my previous post, so I'll keep this short. Hoke was caught with his pants down. The Shane Morris thing happened because he's clueless on the sideline and disconnected from the bigger picture.
It is well documented that Brady Hoke doesn't wear a headset on the sidelines. This is a HUGE point of contention between Hoke and his critics, and rightly so. It's forced his offensive and defensive coordinators to roam the sidelines behind him so they can communicate strategy with Hoke. As a result of this Luddite coaching philosophy, OC Nussmeier missed the hit on Morris that should've removed him from the game. Hoke wasn't in communication with anyone who had a good view because HE DOESN'T WEAR A HEADSET.
Communication being a major problem these days at Michigan, one presumes Brandon might mandate Hoke wear a headset from now on. If not to help him stay aware of the flow of the game, at least he can have a direct line to someone who's watching the game. Hoke missed the hit on Shane Morris, thinks this team can win a Big Ten Championship, and thinks they lost to Minnesota through simple lack of execution. I don't know what he's watching, but he must have missed Saturday's game.
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