Squeezed

It's wise for partisan baseball fans to never use umpires as an excuse for a loss. Umpires make mistakes, but they usually even themselves out for both teams. I'm sure Justin Verlander and the Tigers don't feel that way after their loss in game 1 of the ALCS to the Texas Rangers.

The Tigers had their ace on the mound. He hadn't lost a game since before the All-Star game. But he just didn't have crisp control this night, unable to consistently get his curveball over. He also wasn't getting the calls on outside pitches that he normally gets, becoming visibly annoyed with home plate umpire Tim Welke. The Rangers got some key hits off him, and the Tigers were down 3-0.

However, those three runs would be all the Tigers would get, and if you told me before the game that they would only give up three I would sign up for it. The key to this game was the quiet Tigers bats against the Rangers bullpen. They had chances to get to Rangers starter C.J. Wilson, but squandered chances. The inability of Victor Martinez to drive home a run with the bases loaded in the fifth inning was key.

If the Tigers are to have a chance in this series, and it's clear that they have an uphill battle ahead of them, they have to get some bats going. Austin Jackson did have a double this night, but he's almost reliably a strikeout victim. Alex Avila isn't hitting, either. The loss of Delmon Young could be critical. I like Ryan Raburn as a replacement, but at times, after defensive replacements come in, the Tigers lineup is pretty weak. And how hopeless did Wilson Betamit look against Neftali Perez? He didn't come within a foot of any of those pitches.

There's a lot of pressure on Max Scherzer tonight to get the series even. I'm pessimistic, because if the Tigers can't win Verlander's starts, they've got to get a lot of help from the other members of the rotation.

Terry Francona, providing color for the Fox broadcast, mentioned that an umpire should be "hunting strikes." Philosophically I think he's right, that an umpire giving a pitcher the corners and black makes the game better, moving it along. The base on balls is one of the least exciting plays in the game. But I'm sure the umpire's philosophy is to call them as they see them, and to hell with the pace of the game. We've heard a lot this post-season about a pitcher being "squeezed," which means the umpire is not giving them close pitches. Joe Girardi brought it up in C.C. Sabathia's start in game 3 of the ALDS. There's no clear answer to this problem, or even if it is a problem. Pitchers, like hitters, just have to adjust to an umpire's strike zone, at least until those computerized boxes on the screen become the way pitches are called officially.