Your thoughts on the big series

[moochman]

I agree, mcq, that it seemed like Vasquez's bad pitches more than good hitting. But you could also say it was opportunistic hitting, no?
Bonderman may have broken another thresehold with his game. He really came through when his team needed him the most.

Today was a study of great pitching and the strange late game play that the Tigs have done so much this year. You just knew after seeing Thames dump Tadahito to break up the DP that it would lead to a run. Even Jones couldn't mess up that kind of Karma.

I have to say that this series is something that the Tigers didn't really need to win, but that might help make winning easier in the future. It's got to get easier to win big games once you've done it a few times.

Loved how the espn guys were drooling over Z and his 100+ MPH pitches. A star is born? They should hang Zs instead of Ks for him.

[mcqfesijiba]

Bottom line is that aside from Robertson's struggles (which could be a concern in the second half given his history), the Tigers simply outpitched the Sox. The Sox have some pitching issues right now, although we didn't see as much of that this series aside from Vazquez folding under the pressure. And these may not necessarily have been must-win games for either team, but you could easily tell both teams were looking to make statements, and the Tigers did just that. The White Sox aren't going to go away though...

It's amazing. Some of us in here were debating if the Tigers would even finish above .500 earlier in the preseason, and now a debate could easily be made as to whether or not this team can win 100 games.

[moochman]

It is an amazing turn-around. Nobody expected this from the Tigers. I think I was hoping for a winning season with 82 or 82 wins. They do have a shot at 100, but the pitching staff has to keep it together over the second half. They never have shown that ability. I do wonder though how much of that is due to Kluck. Hernandez(??is that the pitching coaches name??) is my MVP for this team. Talk about an unsung hero. He has done an amazing job. Seems like he has gotten the staff to buy into going after the hitters as opposed to the fool 'em approach of the Kluckster.