GOG 2009 #40

This weekend, the A's finish off their season series against Detroit. Their record so far against Detroit is a 2-4, so it would take a series sweep to get into the positive column. The Tigers will be trying very hard to avoid that outcome, as they are perched only 2.5 games above the White Sox. And... that's all the analysis I have right now.

Links

• Probable pitchers
• Tiger's stats
• You'll need to wait a little longer for the results of GOG's #38 and #39.

GOG #40 :: Tigers and Elephants, A Trip To The Zoo (32 points possible)

Three game series vs Detroit Tigers -- August 21-23

UPDATE -- answers added below in bold

1. Series outcome [3 points] 2-1 Oakland
2. In five games against Oakland this season, Ryan Raburn has seven hits, five of which went for extra bases (three doubles and two home runs). How many total bases (total bases counts only hits, not walks, stolen bases, etc) for Raburn in this series? [3 points] 9 total bases for Raburn (2 HR and a single), even though he only started one game and came into the other two as a late inning PH
3. Rajai Davis is definitely a valuable player if he can keep up his current .363 OBP. One big difference from last year is that he has nearly tripled his BB rate. The good news is that last year's 3.6 BB% might be the real aberration -- in 2007 he posted a BB rate of 10% and pretty much the same OBP that he is sporting right now. How many times will Davis get on base in the series? [3 points] Rajai reached base 4 times
4. Edwin Jackson is having a big year. A lot of the improvement seems to be real, as he has improved both his strikeout and walk rates. Of course, like many pitchers having career years, his BABIP is a very low .267. Predict Jackson's ER/BB/K against Oakland [2 points each] 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
5. I think it's safe to say that Tomko's start against the Yankees caught us all by surprise. How many earned runs does he allow against Detroit? [3 points] 1 ER for Tomko
6. Curtis Granderson is having a down year, but a lot of it seems to be bad luck. His OPS is down by 60 points, but that is pretty much entirely due to a 26 point dip in his batting average. He still hitting line drives at an excellent 21% rate, but his BABIP is much lower than would be expected (rule of thumb is that Batting Average on Balls In Play should be roughly your line drive rate plus 12%). How many walks, hits, and line drives for Granderson against Oakland? [2 points each] 0 BB, 3 H, 2 line drives
7. How many total home runs in the series, from both teams combined? [3 points] 8 home runs!!
8. By relief pitcher Runs Above Replacement, Oakland has the most productive bullpen in baseball this year (note: this doesn't necessarily mean the best... A's relievers have pitched more innings than the relievers for all but 3 other teams). How many earned runs for the A's bullpen in this series? [3 points] Oakland bullpen allows 3 earned runs
9. Will we see new addition Scott Patterson in a major league game this series? [+1 if right, -1 if wrong] nope
10. Which team commits more errors? [+1 if right, -1 if wrong] Detroit

This GOG is up a little late, so post your guesses already. Go Gio!

Results

That was a lot of home runs!

Overall scoring statistics

• mean = 5.28571 points
• standard deviation = 3.14835 points
• mode = 2, 4, or 10 points

via cfcp.uchicago.edu

Your Scores

Victory is split three ways, between Angry Sean, Rated-R Superstar, and stranahanahan. RRS is continuing to tear up the GOG standings, despite getting a somewhat late start. Will he be able to close the large gap that nevermoor and zaniac75 have put between themselves and everyone else?

Also, welcome zaniac75 into the 300 points club!