Interestingly, he layed off the Changeup, until later in the game. That's supposed to be his Pitch #2. He was a bit waffley with his curve to LHB's, trying to backdoor it and missing outside. But he fooled a couple of RHB's with it and his slider was WAY better than advertised.
Of course, his FB was a weapon. It seemd like he was 0-1 consistently and then he threw it up and down, in and out, on the black.
The 3-1 shot given up to Kinsler? No worries, Kinsler had hit 220 of them before that pitch. He was a smart professional hitter knowing the kid would give him something to drive. Stuff like that happens in the Bigs.
Oh, I loved his rhythm: Get the ball, get the sign, rock and roll. He's a guy that IF's will love to play behind. Mark Buehrle, from the other side. About 60 lbs less, than Buehrle, however.
I am not sure I saw a 94 MPH FB, but I think he hit 93. He sat at 92 until the 7th. AS well, I can't remember a single time when the umpire jobbed a Tiger, not giving them the call on an actual Ball 4. He kept a lineup of really fine hitters off balance all night, his FB, at it's best, having more legs than the radar gun would indicate. He threw 69 strikes in 100 pitches. 16 lookers and 7 swingers. He gave up 17 FB's (9 were of the LD variety, only one out was a FB rocket; the one Heredia went straight back for), 5 GB's, and 3 popups. If I've added that right, then he allowed 21 foul balls.
If you said you saw a little bit of Greg Maddux last night, I wouldn't send you to the corner of the room, with the three-legged stool and the pointy hat. When we see more of the changeup, you might think he and Kuma pitch in the same language.
All in all, it was a heck of an outing. Probably the only guy not tickled by it in the clubhouse was Gallardo. He has no role now, it's official.
If rain was beer, and I could get all that I wanted, I would wish for another K or two. Next game he'll show us a few more.
Felix up today. Sammy G. up tomorrow. Watch that one carefully. If we get a "classic" (if such a thing is possible for a guy with 7 MLB starts) Gaviglio performance vs. the Mash-tros, then the brain-trust better start talking to Kuma about the bullpen option.
Honest to goodness, it's looking more and more like there isn't any rotational room for BOTH Kuma and Smyly. One, but not both, if everybody stays heaalthy. And if Moore keeps dittoing last night's effort. A nice dilemma to have, but one to be dealt with. By my count, Gallardo is now #8.5, tied nose-to-nose with Bergman. And I think I'm being geneous to Gallardo.
Andrew Moore? He was the best pitcher in the state, 3 years running in HS. He was the best pitcher in the Pac-12. He's been the best pitcher (or nearly so) at every stop along his minor league way. He looked pretty dang good last night. He was the best pitcher in the game. He won't Zeus you to death, but the kid is MLB-good. To paraphrase, ZZ Top, he has stuff and he knows how to use it.
Go team.
38-37 has a wonderful ring to it. 39-37 is WAY more than .0065 better!