Daily Detroit Tigers

Game 141: Record 75-66

2009-09-12T22:12:00.002-04:00

Tigers let this one get away

This is a game they should have won, no doubt about that in my mind. They had leads of 1-0, 3-2 and 6-3. They led 6-5 going into the 9th inning when Fernando Rodney came into pitch and after getting the first two batters, stained the bed by giving up a single, stolen base, HR, walk. The two run HR was the difference.

In the bottom of the 9th, they had a shot with two men on and Raburn at bat but it didn't happen. Fifth straight loss.

The White Sox won and the Twins lost again, so the White Sox are now in 2nd place - 5 games back. Magic number stands at 16.

Game 140: Record 75-65

2009-09-12T16:23:00.002-04:00

Losing streak hits 4

Nate started and pitched OK, but not great. He had to leave the game when it looked like he pulled his groin muscle. I know that feeling and it isn't good. Armando came in to replace NR and picked up where he left off - surrendering 3 runs in only 2 1/3 innings on the mound.

Next three games against the Blue Jays have the top 3 pitchers going - EJ, RP and JV. They need to win at least 2 of these games.

The good news is that the Twins have only closed the gap by 1.5 games during this 4 game loosing streak. Tigers had a 7 game lead after the sweep in the Bay and still lead by 5.5 games.

Magic number is at 17.

Games 137-139: Record 75-64

2009-09-12T16:17:00.002-04:00

Swept by the lowly Royals

Ugly series in KC. After sweeping the talented and defending AL Champs in Tampa Bay, the Tigers had a major letdown by getting swept by the last place Royals.

This was an ugly series and the Tigers got outplayed in pretty much every aspect. They had zero timely hitting, they had poor defense at times and poor pitching at times. When one area was good (Verlander), the other areas were bad (hitting). Just an overall nasty series that they must put behind them immediately.

Next game is against Toronto to start a 4 game series that marks the last games against non-AL Central opponents. Until the ALDS.

Game 136: Record 75-61

2009-09-07T10:17:00.002-04:00

Double wow. EJ pitches his butt off and Inge with the big hit.

Two straight sweeps of 3 game series for the Tigers. Very impressive as they open up a 7 game lead on the Twins in the AL Central. Things are looking promising for the postseason, but there is still a long ways to go.

This game was highlighted by Edwin giving up a couple of early runs and then just locking down the Rays and getting 8 complete innings in the books. It was also highlighted by the youngster Wade Davis of the Rays pitching 7 strong, impressive innings only to have his bullpen let him down.

But THE highlight was the top of the 9th inning. The walks by Miguel and Marcus were huge and often overlooked parts of that rally. Then the base hit by Magglio as well as the decision to hold the runner at 3rd by Gene Lamont, instead of risking a huge out at the plate. This setup Brandon Inge with the bases loaded. We know he went deep for a grand slam to win the game. But did you know it was on a 1-2 count? To put that kind of swing with two strikes makes it more impressive.

Great win. They get Monday off and start a series against the lowly Royals on Tuesday. Lets keep it rolling on our way to the AL Central title.

Game 135: Record 74-61

2009-09-05T22:29:00.002-04:00

Wow. 13 games over .500.

Nice win for the boys on the road, espcially considering Armando did not pitch well and the Tigers trailed 4-1 and 6-3.

Biggest note of the game for me was the appearance of Jeremy Bonderman. He pitched in relief and looked outstanding - retiring 5 of 6 batters faced and giving up no runs. Very impressive and extremely exciting to see.

A few big hits in this game, but I'd have to say the biggest were by Alex Avila and Marcus Thames. A clean, 1-2-3, ninth inning was pitched by Brandon Lyon as Fernando Rodney needed a night off after throwing about a thousand pitches last night.

OK, the last two nights have had a few really nice plays and clutch hits by one Mr Adam Everett. I have to admit the huge hit by AE last showed me something good about the guy I have not been won over by him. When he made that nice defensive play in the 8th inning, I was very happy. Carlos would not have made the catch if AE hadn't.

Lets get the sweep tomorrow!!! EJ pitches against his former team. He is likely to be a little over-pumped up, but hopefully he settles down quickly and pitches well.

Game 134: Record 73-61

2009-09-04T21:48:00.003-04:00

JV outstanding again, Rodney...not so much.

A win is a win, especially when it takes you to 13 games over .500 and 6 games ahead in the AL Central. Justin was simply fantastic in getting his 16th win. His line:

8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 7 SO, 1 BB

Offensive heros were the usual suspects - Miguel, Curtis, Placido...and on unusual suspect - Adam Everett! AE got a huge hit in the 9th to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead. How about that fantastic sequence of moves and plays that scored the 2nd run of the inning. Leyland pinch runs Wilkin Ramirez for Marcus, then Curtis pulls a hit to RF, Gross makes a fantastic throw to home, but Ramirez scores with an outstanding slide and tag of the dish between the catchers legs. Really fun play and huge run. After that, Placido made it 4-1 with a sac fly.

Fernando nearly blew it in the bottom of the inning, but somehow managed to wiggle out of the jam.

Armando makes his return to the rotation tomorrow against Shields. Will be interesting to see what AG can do for us down the stretch.

Game 133: Record 72-61

2009-09-04T12:19:00.002-04:00

10 innings is OK if you win.

Nate pitched is rear off - throwing 6 innings of shutout ball. Really nice to see him do what he has since coming off the DL. Two really strong outings. What a lift he could provide with Washburn struggling (and hurt), Armando being incredibly inconsistant (and hurt, too).

The bullpen almost blew the game when it blew an 8th inning 3-0 lead. Fu Te Ni had is first poor outing as a Tiger, allowing 2 earned runs plus 1 runner inherited from Ryan Perry. Zach Miner looked really good to finish the 8th as well as pitch the 9th and 10th innings. He gets the win for his trouble.

Big hits were from Ryan Raburn, who led off the 10th with a double, and Placido Polanco who drove in Ryan with the winning run with a sac fly.

Start a 3 game series in Tampa tonight. JV goes against Niemann. Rays are struggling to stay alive in the WC race, so they will be hungry. Tigers just need ot keep winning series. Exciting times in the D.

Game 133 review forthcoming...sad Harwell news first

2009-09-04T10:27:00.009-04:00

Reports today that Ernie Harwell has inoperable, incurable cancer of bile duct have been confirmed by Mr Harwell himself. This is incredibly sad news for all Tigers fans over the age of 10. Ernie was the voice of Tigers baseball for more than 40 years, including all the years of my childhood. His voice is distinctly baseball and I will always remember him and Paul Carey as the greatest team in announcing history.

Here are a couple of articles on the illness:
Freep.com
Detroit4lyfe

Here is a link to an interview with Ernie from today (9/4/2009):
Drew&Mike

Game 132: Record 71-61

2009-09-03T11:29:00.002-04:00

Rick Porcello continues to impress.

RP got his 12th win of the year. The rookies should have hit the wall by now, but he never seemed slow down. He seems to be getting stronger. His line from last night is extremely impressive for the 20 year old:

7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO

And...it only took him 80 pitches to get through 7 innings. Very nice, young man!!!

The Tigers made it to 10 games over .500 with some offense from Magglio, who is now on the north side of .280. Could he actually reach .300 by the end of the season? Not likely, but definately possible.

Nate pitches today against Carmona. NR pitched very well his last time out, so lets hope for a repeat. Tigers need to finish the sweep today and keep or grow their 4.5 game lead on the Twins.

Game 131: Record 70-61

2009-09-01T21:13:00.002-04:00

Nice team win against the Indians.

Edwin did not pitch all that great and only lasted 5 innings, while allowing 4 runs. The bullpen came in and did a great job. Zach, Bobby Seay, Brandon Lyon and Fernando all pitched and only one additional run was allowed.

Offensively, Aubrey Huff finally contributed with 2 hits and 3 RBI. Was nice to see him hit the ball. Yesterday, I asked for early runs for EJ and the Tigers put a 4 spot in the bottom of the 1st. That was great to see and made me very confident with Jackson pitching.

Defensively, there were some bad plays. Carlos made an error in LF and Adam made a couple of questionable plays at SS.

Game 2 against Cleveland is this evening. RP tries for win number 12.

Happy September and Happy Pennent Race

2009-09-01T17:08:00.002-04:00

September 1, 2009. 5pm Eastern Time.

Record 69-61
First place, AL Central
3.5 games ahead of Minnesota
130 games down, 32 games to go
Magic number for a playoff birth (AL Central crown): 29

After taking a long hiatus from writing about all the games, I am committed to finishing the season strong along with my Tigers. I plan to watch every inning, every pitch that I can (i.e. that my wife allows - ha ha. just kidding. not really. really. not really).

In my mid-season predictions for the second half, I made these bold predictions:

Tigers are buyers at the trading deadline and acquire one bat and one arm.
NOTE: Correct!!!! Aubrey Huff and Jarrod Washburn.

Second half record of 46-35 for a final record of 90-72.
NOTE: Current second half record is 25-23. Not looking likely that they'll win 90.

90 wins is just barely enough for the Tigers to win the AL Central by 1 or 2 games. Twins finish in second.
NOTE: Twins are in second and it looks like it could go down to the wire.

Other divisional winners will be Boston and LA Angels.
NOTE: Boson will not likely win the AL East, but Angels will probably win the West.

Wildcard winner will be Tampa Bay Rays.
NOTE: Still possible, but not likely. I expect Boston wins the WC, although Tampa and Texas are still in the mix.

I think the Tigers are the best team in a weak AL Central and should win the division. The Twins scare the crap out of me because they always seem to win in the head-to-head games (esp at the Metrodome). They are still too close for comfort. I think, ultimately, the Tigers starting pitching is just too good for the other divisional teams. Justin, Edwin, Rick are a great top 3. If Jarrod can turn the clock back to his before-the-trade self, then it'll be even better. Nate and Armando have both shown promise for the 5th spot, which will be an important position down the stretch if the Twins keep it close.

Bottom line, I am optimistic but nervous about the Tigers postseason chances.

Tonights game: First of 3 against the ugly Indians. EJ pitches at Comerica for the good guys. Would love to see a few early runs and Edwin get a 6-0 or 6-1 win.

Game 95: Record 51-44

2009-07-25T10:48:00.003-04:00

Boy is it nice to sweep a double header, especially against the White Sox

JV pitched is butt off in the day game on Friday and Eddie Bonine pitched very well in a no decision Friday evening. The bullpen was the big story in the evning game with 3 complete inning pitched, allowing only 1 hit and 1 walk. Brandon Lyon got the win and Fernando picked up save #21.

Tigers are now 2 games free of the White Sox with 2 more to play against them this weekend. EJ pitches Saturday and RP on Sunday. If they can win 1 or perhaps both of these games, things will look really good.

Game 94: Record 50-44

2009-07-24T16:23:00.003-04:00

JV comes through when needed most!

Justin was simply oustanding in a complete game, 127 pitch performance to help the Tigers win the first of two today. He only allowed 6 hits and 1 unearned run.

Plus, the offense finally scored more than 1 run. They smacked 10 hits and 5 runs against the White Sox.

Make no mistake. This was a game they needed to win and they did. Good job.

Another game tonight as Eddie Bonine makes his first start of 2009.

Games 89-93: Record 49-44

2009-07-24T11:50:00.002-04:00

How can a single team...any team...have four 2-1 losses in a span of five games???

Is this even possible? Even legal? In the 6 games since the All Star break, The Tigers have scored the following runs: 3, 1, 1, 9, 1, 1. Record in that span: 1-5 with the only win being the only game they scored over 3 runs. Suffice to say...actually a major understatement to say that the pitching has been solid-to-outstanding and the offense has been bad-to-horrible-to-embarrassingly pathetic.

Does not matter who pitches, they have all been dealing good stuff. Does not matter the lineup that Leyland cobbles together, they have all sucked at the plate lately. They are now .001 percentage point ahead of the White Sox. They start a 4 game series against that team beginning with a double header today. JV pitches the opener, which they must win. Eddie Bonine pitches the nightcap.

Huge series? Yes. But, what they do in terms of shoring up the lineup and offense is more important than these four games. Even if they got swept, they would only be 4 games out and if they could get Matt Holliday or some other corner outfielder who can hit, I would still like their chances of winning the AL Central.

Game 88: Record 48-40

2009-07-18T11:02:00.002-04:00

Zoom, zoom, there goes another win.

Joel Zumaya let another one get away Friday night after Luke French pitched really well again. French only gave up 1 earned run in 5 strong innings and then Fu-Te Ni pitched 1 scoreless inning, so the Tigers led 3-2 heading into the 7th when Zumaya took over.

Joel promptly allowed a single, then a double and finally a 3 run HR to Mark Teixeira. He rightly took the loss. Very frustrating for all Tigers fans. With Justin and Edwin pitching the next two in New York, it would have been outstanding to win that game with the youngster starting. But, the bullpen blew another one. They gotta get these next two.

Games 85-87: Record 48-39

2009-07-12T18:20:00.002-04:00

Tigers take 2 of 3 against the Indians and head into the break in first place by 3.5 games!

All-stars Edwin and Justin beat Cleveland while Aramando's good performance is not good enough. EJ pitched outstanding on Friday as he got his 7th win, then AG pitched 6 strong innings but got the loss on Saturday. The series ended with a dominating performance by JV, who pitched 7 complete innings of shutout ball. He is clearly the ace of this staff and clearly a deserving 2009 American League All Star.

The lines:

EJ on Friday 7/10: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO
AG on Saturday 7/11: 6.0 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO
JV on Sunday 7/12: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8 SO

Really good pitching all the way around. They are set up for a good second half and a strong run at the AL Central crown.

They now get 4 days off. They start the 2nd half in New York against the evil empire. Time to relax, enjoy watching the All Star game.

Game 84: Record 46-38

2009-07-10T11:57:00.002-04:00

French fries Greinke

Luke French, in his second career start, beat 2009 All-Star (and likely AL Starter) Zack Greinke. As I said yesterday, this was a mismatch on paper but luckily they do not play the game on paper.

The Tigers got 3 runs early against Greinke and that was all they needed because of the steller pitching that French, Ni, Lyon and Rodney provided. Really good pitching. And a series win when they needed it...after 3 straight series where they lost 2 of 3.

They now have three games against the Indians to complete the first half of the season and head into the All Star game. EJ goes first, then AG and finally JV pitches on Sunday.

Four Tigers will be competing in the mid summer classic - Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson, Curtis Granderson and Brandon Inge. With Justin pitching Sunday, I highly doubt that we see him pitch much if at all on Tuesday. If he enters at all, it'll be 1 inning maximum or else Leyland and Tigers fans will kill Joe Madden.

Brandon won the fan voting to fill the last spot on the AL roster. I voted probably 200 times and am really happy for him to make it.

Game 83: Record 45-38

2009-07-08T12:00:00.003-04:00

Good complete team win when they needed it

After giving away Friday's game and facing Greinke Wednesday, Tuesday's game with JV on the mound became a critical game that the Tigers needed to win. And they got it.

Justin pitched 6 strong innings, striking out 11 along the way. Unfortunately, once again, Justin just simply threw too many pitches. 114 pitches in 6 innings is too many. The amazing thing about this game is that he didn't walk anybody and still threw that many pitches. One of these days, JV is going to be pitching a 1 hitter or a no hitter or a perfect game and will not be able to complete it because he'll have thrown 130 pitches in the 7th inning.

Nice to see the offense come alive. Miguel with a solo HR that, in part, helped setup Marcus's three run HR in the big 5th inning. KC intentionally walked Miguel and then Marcus made them pay big time. This is what protection can do for you. If Leyland puts Marcus in the 4 hole again today, they'll think twice about walking Miguel. Placido also went deep, but this concerns me because he is still just hitting .262 and is pulling the ball way too much for him.

One quick note on defense. Leyland, in this game, put Josh Anderson in as a defensive replacement for Magglio in the 8th inning. Had he done that Friday, they would have had a better shot at winning because the leadoff man in the 8th would not have gotten on and would not have scored the tying run. Glad to see that he learned something.

Rubber game in the series with Zack Greinke against youngster Luke French. On paper, this could be ugly. But they play the game on grass, not paper. I am hoping for some patient at bats, some hits, some walks. Get Greinke out of the game by the 6th or 7th and win it in the late innings. French just needs to keep them in it, he doesn't need to win it.

Game 82: Record 44-38

2009-07-07T17:12:00.002-04:00

Absolutely disgustingly frustrating loss

This game, more than any other so far this season has highlighted the differences between the 2006 and 2009 Detroit Tigers.

In 2006, Magglio Ordonez was a decent fielder with a strong arm.
In 2006, Joel Zumaya & Fernando Rodney were lights-out 99% of the time.

On July 6, 2009 Magglio has a "hit" fall two steps in front of him to the leadoff hitter of the 8th inning with the Tigers nursing a 2-1 lead. That run, of course, scored to tie the game. In 2006, Magglio makes that catch. In 2009 he doesn't even make an effort ... cannot make the play. Any other defensive replacement in the 8th (Kelly, Anderson, Raburn) make that play.

On July 6, 2009 Joel enters the game in the 8th with a 2-1 lead. He gives up 2 runs and the Royals take a 3-2 lead. Tigers then tie it in the bottom of the 8th.

On July 6, 2009 Fernando enters in the 9th with the score tied and gives up a solo moon shot and they lose 4-3.

This was a game they gave away after an outstanding performance by Armando. His line was impressive:

7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO. They need this out of him, especially with RP starting to show some rookie wear and tear.

Adam Everett continues to ... uhh.... NOT be my Tiger. Grounding into a DP with the bases loaded and 1 out, misplays in the field with the occassional nice play that he is supposed to make. I am just not a fan of his.

1/2 of the season is over - 81 game evaluation

2009-07-05T12:58:00.013-04:00

With game number 81 in the books, it is time to evaluate our beloved first place Detroit Tigers and make some predictions on the second half.

All Stars:
The Detroit Tigers will send Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson and Curtis Granderson to St Louis for the All Star game on July 14. Brandon Inge is one of the 5 finalists for the last spot on the team that is voted on by the fans. Go to MLB.com and vote for Brandon today. Vote Inge, vote often.

Team stats:
Record - 44-37 (Home - 23-11, Away - 21-26)
Runs scored - 385. Number is far too low.
Runs allowed - 369. Far too high.
Run differential of +16 is better than only 6 other AL teams.
Team ERA - 4.20
Total wins by 5 opening day starters (JV, EJ, RP, AG and Zach) - 32.

Individual stats:
Brandon Inge had a HUGE first half with 19 HR and 52 RBI.
Miguel cooled off after a really fast start, but is still hitting .323 and has 16 HR and 47 RBI.
Carlos Guillen hardly played or contributed anything this season yet.
Magglio is hitting .266 and Placido is hitting .255.
Carlos, Mags and Placido have been a huge part of the Tigers success since they arrived in town and they need to get things turned around.
Curtis has also had a huge first half with 18 HR, 43 RBI, 15 steals and 51 runs scored.
Edwin has the 5th best ERA in the American League with 2.59.

Grades for first half:
Starting pitching: B+. Top 3 get an A, Armando gets a C and the 5th spot gets an F.
Bullpen: B
Offense: D. Has been really bad and extremely inconsistent.
Defense: B. Improved a lot from last year and even within the season, but not good enough. Still too many mistakes.
Results: A-. First place after 81 games is nothing to sneeze at, but their record should be better and they are not doing well enough against the AL elite.

Predictions:

Tigers are buyers at the trading deadline and acquire one bat and one arm. They probably trade away one or two major leaguers and some prospects to get major league players for a second half push towards a division title.

Second half record of 46-35 for a final record of 90-72.

90 wins is just barely enough for the Tigers to win the AL Central by 1 or 2 games. Twins finish in second.

Other divisional winners will be Boston and LA Angels.

Wildcard winner will be Tampa Bay Rays.

Playoff success is based on pitching matchups, so it is hard to predict playoff results without knowing who, where and when they would be playing. However, I will go ahead and guess that they would beat any of those teams in the ALDS, but lose the ALCS. The top of their rotation is as good as anybody, so a short series will favor the Tigs.

Game 81: Record 44-37

2009-07-05T12:58:00.009-04:00

One big inning is all the Twins need

After giving up a 2 run HR to Justin Morneau, RP gave up a couple more walks and a hit to make it 3-0 Twins. Then came the huge play. Ball hit into the hole between SS and 3B. Adam Everett fields it and throws it wild to Ramon covering second, allowing 3 runs to score. Horrible mistake. This is an error regardless of how it is scored. 3 runs scored on that play when it should have been 1. Horrible. Now it is 6-0 instead of a more manageable 4-0 deficit.

Offense was non-existent until the 9th, when they had a few hits including Brandon going deep for a 2 run HR. With two men on and two out, Leyland let Adam Everett hit instead of pinch hitting Marcus or Placido or even Ryan Raburn. Adam grounded out meekly to SS to end the game. Do not understand that move.

Three against KC next. I will be at Comerica tomorrow to see Armando against Gil Meche.

Game 80: Record 44-36

2009-07-04T18:35:00.004-04:00

Another QS for EJ results in another ND

Edwin Jackson pitched really well on Saturday, only giving up two solo HR's and left the game with a 3-2 lead, but Bobby Seay quickly allowed one inherited runner to score and tie the game. The tying run was scored by Span after he was walked by EJ to start the inning. Leadoff walks = trouble! Especially to a speedster like Denard Span.

The Tigers offense was completely dormant and trailed 2-0 heading into the 7th inning, when they got two hits on the first two pitches of the inning from Marcus Thames and Ryan Raburn. Then after Brandon was retired, Magglio hit a fast ball deep to Center and the Tigers suddenly had a 3-2 lead. Unfortunately, that lead lasted only a few batters.

Brandon Lyon then allowed a couple hits in the 8th to let the Twins take the lead. And it also allowed Joe Nathan to come into the game in the 9th with a 1 run lead and a save opportunity.

Nathan did his normal job of shutting down the Tigers in order.

Game 79: Record 44-35

2009-07-04T11:55:00.002-04:00

It is good to win a marathon

Really good win in a 16 inning game that lasted over 5 hours. Tigers blew a 6-0 lead and didn't score a run from the 4th inning, when they took a 7-1 lead, until the 14th inning when they took a 8-7 lead. Then after Freddie Dolsi allowed the Twins to tie it in the 14th, the Tigers won it with 3 runs in the 16th.

Placido had the RBI in the 14th as well as one in the 16th. Marcus and Gerald both hit home runs.

Luke French pitched well in this game, but didn't last long enough. He only got through 4 2/3 of an inning, but left with a lead. Zach came in and really was bad.

Zach's line: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO. Quite bad.

After Zach left, the bullpen was steller until Freddie gave up the tying run in the 14th. Good job by him in the 15th and 16th, though and he got the win. Leyland was forced to have Armando ready in the bullpen in case Freddie had to get yanked. The bullpen was empty at that point and I'm not sure what that would have done to the rotation, but luckily that did not happen.

Huge game Saturday on the 4th - Edwin is pitching against Liriano. Should be fun.

Game 78: Record 43-35

2009-07-03T13:25:00.002-04:00

Justin loses and the Tigers drop another series

JV pitched OK, but not good enough as the Athletics hit a couple of long balls to beat the Tigers 5-1 Wednesday afternoon. The offense continues to struggle and is becoming more and more of a concern as we approach the season's halfway mark.

So, they lose 2 of 3 to lowly Oakland and now travel to the crappy dome in Minneapolis. They lead the Twins by 3 and the White Sox by 2.5 games. After these three games, what will the lead be? These three games conclude the first half of the season.

Luke French makes his first start of 2009 in the big leagues, then we have Edwin and Rick pitching. Hopefully we can win this series, extend the lead in the AL Central and conclude the road trip on a positive note.

Game 77: Record 43-34

2009-07-03T13:20:00.003-04:00

Two words I have been wanting to say since April - Armando dominates!

Armando Galarraga was really good in a nice Tigers win on Tuesday. He overcame more bad defense by Adam Everett (one error and another misplay that wasn't called an error) and Ryan Raburn (error). AG's line:

6.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 6 BB, 5 SO. Too many walks, but very good job and much needed win for him.

F-Rod pitched the ninth and nearly blew it, but got out of the game to preserve the win...barely.

Placido went deep yet again. This is nice when he clears the fence, but makes me nervous that he his pulling the ball so much. He will not be hitting .300 come October if he continues to try to be a power hitter. He needs to dink and dunk the ball around for base hits and let Miguel drive him in.

Game 76: Record 42-34

2009-06-30T16:53:00.002-04:00

Athletics blow past Porcello and Tigers...or so I have read

No power in Chelsea last night forces me to rely on the box score for this one. RP had his second straight poor outing. Couple that with the offense still struggling and you have a bad loss to a bad team.

Armando goes tonight. He has pitched better of late, but not much to show for it. Lets hope he continues to improve and can come out the game tonight with a win.

Game 75: Record 42-33

2009-06-28T17:33:00.002-04:00

Brandon with the massive bomb

Tigers are losing 3-2 in the 9th inning with two outs and a full count on Marcus. He works a walk to keep the inning and the game alive. Brandon comes up to the dish and smashes one deep and gone to left. A no-doubt-about-it, toss-the-bat-and-trot kind of home run that had the pitcher on his knees and me on my feet. Clutch homer that saved the Tigers from a sweep.

Edwin pitched really good again and is happy with the no-decision because he was one strike away from a really disheartening loss. EJ has just been outstanding all year. I think he has only had one or two bad outings the entire season. He just has not gotten the run support to get as many wins as he deserves. Plus, today he was pulled for a pinch hitter in the 8th. Had this been an AL game, he would have had a chance to go back out there in the bottom of the 8th and may have gotten a win. No worries, though. The team wins that is all that matters.

On to Oakland for 3, then to the crappy dome in Minneapolis.

Game 74: Record 41-33

2009-06-28T12:05:00.002-04:00

We have a problem in Houston.

Alfredo Figaro pitched his second big league game and it did not go well. He gave up 10 hits and 8 runs in 6 complete innings of work. The Tigers got clobbered 8-1. They now have lost 2 straight to the Astros after coming into the series with a 7 game winnings streak.

On the bright side, Freddy Dolsi pitched in his first game with the Tigers in 2009 and went 2 complete innings. He gave up 3 hits, but zero runs. Hopefully he can use this as a springboard to give Leyland a good right-handed option of the pen.

Also, Ramon hit another HR. Makes you wonder again about the decision the skipper made to pinch hit for him in the ninth. I'm just saying....

They have to salvage one game Sunday with Edwin on the mound. Last interleague game of the year and they can finish with a winning record, then it is on to Oakland.

Game 73: Record 41-32

2009-06-27T12:28:00.003-04:00

Cannot count the number of missed opportunities.

Tigers absolutely let one get away against the Astros. This is a game they should have won and won easily. Justin pitched well again, although didn't make it deep enough into the game.

Joel gave up 2 runs in the 8th when he suddenly could not throw a strike and that was the difference, blew the save, blew the game and took the loss. Not good.

The Tigers had plenty of opportunities to add runs when they led, but continually let the opportunities slip away. They left 11 men on base, but that doesn't really tell the whole story. Lots of chances with men on base and less than 2 outs.

Curious move of pinch hitting Raburn for Santiago in the 9th. Leyland went to the same well that worked last time, but Ryan grounded out meekly to end the game this time around.

Two more againt Houston.

Games 71-72: Record 41-31

2009-06-26T18:02:00.001-04:00

Porcello keeps his rookie label just a label.

RP was good again the other day as he and the Tigers beat Rich Harden and the Cubbies in the first of 3.

After completing the sweep on Thursday afternoon, the Tigers find themselves 10 games over .500! This is the high water mark so far in 2009 and the best they have been since 2007. Great job with two straight sweeps and 7 wins in a row.

Jackson had another strong outing, but did not get a win (what else is new?) when the pen could not hold the small lead. Thats OK, yet again, because they won the game.

Miguel, Curtis, Ramon and Magglio went deep in these two games. Was great to see Magglio hit one out, but really good to see him pull the ball hard down into the left field seats. This is a good sign because it means he was picking the ball up early and hit it where he wanted to. I like it when he is slapping the ball to right, but his greatest strength as a hitter is that he can hit the ball to right for a single and also pull the ball down the left field line for a HR. He needs to be able to do both.

Three in Houston starting Friday night, then it is back to AL games.

Game 70: Record 39-31

2009-06-24T08:16:00.003-04:00

Roller coasters still exist, even without Todd Jones

Wow. What a game.

Game is tied 1-1 from the first inning until the 6th.
Tigers are down 2-1 in the bottom of the 7th and Brandon Inge hits a 2 run jack to put the Tigers ahead 3-2.
Joel Zumaya gives up an dramatic 2 run HR in the top of the 8th and the Cubs lead 4-3 entering the 9th.
Lead off walk in the 9th to Don Kelly. Then Leyland amazingly pinch hits Ryan Raburn for Josh Anderson. I am not the biggest Raburn fan in the world, but on the second pitch of the at-bat, Ryan hit a changeup a ton. How about a 2 run walk-off HR to left-center. A deep, dramatic, unbelievable, jaw-dropping, goose bump-inducing home run.
Wow.

Very exiting stuff.

Edwin pitched great yet again, but when Joel gave up the lead in the 8th, Edwin was left with a no-decision. Thats OK as long as the team wins the game.

Two more against the Cubbies. Porcello v Harden is next up.

The Blown Save

2009-06-23T10:26:00.002-04:00

I was watching the Tigers game the other day when Mario and Rod proudly proclaimed that Fernando Rodney was 13 for 13 in save opportunities. He is now officially 14 for 14. Meaning he has not blown any saves this year. Meaning every time he has come into a game with a save opportunity, he got it. At least that is what I thought the statistic meant.

As soon as FSD's dynamic duo made this statement, I was puzzled because I remembered F-Rod messing up one save. I'm getting older, so I decided to delay any immediate objection to the statement. However, upon looking back and finding the game, I am convinced that he should be 14 for 15 with 1 blown save.

The game in question was Game #58. It was a 7-6 extra inning win versus the Chicago White Sox on June 9, 2009.

In this game, Fernando entered to start the ninth inning with a 6-3 lead. He faced 3 batters, walked all 3 and recorded no outs. Brandon Lyon came in to replace him and allowed all 3 of Fernando's runners to score. So, when Fernando's line was finished, the game was tied 6-6. How is this NOT a blown save? If he gets three outs, the Tigers win and he gets a save. If he gives up 3 or more runs, the Tigers either lose or to go extra innings and this should be a save opportunity blown. Just because the Tigers won in extra innings should not matter.

I do not believe that blown saves are an official MLB statistic, but the stat is listed everywhere and talked about. I would like for somebody to explain how F-Rod is still "perfect" in save opportunities despite having let this one get away.

Game 69: Record 38-31

2009-06-22T18:13:00.002-04:00

Justin is Justin

Thats all you need to know about Sunday's game. Justin Verlander was virtually unhittable yet again. He gave up two solo home runs and the Tigers won 3-2 after Brandon hit a 3 run bomb in the 6th inning.

Justin's line is typical of him:
7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 8 SO, 3 BB

Fernando pitched another clean ninth inning for his 14th save. Very nicely pitched game for both teams. Tigers scored bunches of runs on both Friday and Saturday, but needed a huge hit in this one and they got it from Brandon. Nice to see them win big, win with offense and then win a pitcher's duel.

Day off Monday and then three versus the Cubs.

Game 68: Record 37-31

2009-06-21T09:03:00.003-04:00

Figaro, Figaro, Fi-Ga-Ro!!!!

Alfredo Figaro was impressive in his first ever start. He threw 96 pitches in 5 complete innings and got a win to show for it. His line:

5.0 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 7 SO, 2 BB

Nice job, young man! He labored a couple of the innings and I was worried that he wouldn't be able to complete 5 and even have a chance for the win, but he got a couple of quick innings and did the job. The pen was OK. Fernando pitched a clean 9th inning with no walks and 1 strike out - boy was that nice to see.

Miguel had a single, double and a long HR. I think somebody would have to fall down in the outfield for him to ever get a triple, though. Marcus also had 3 hits. Lots of offensive hero's when you score 9 times and have 17 hits. Loved seeing Placido hit one out also. That just doesn't happen very often.

It was a fun game to attend because there were lots of hits and lots of runs. There were people in the rows above and below us that left when the 9th inning began. The fat guy in the row in front of us muttered that he'd seen enough of Rodney. I do not understand how you can make the effort to drive to downtown Detroit, park your car, pay for your tickets and then leave with 3 outs left to go. It just does not make sense to me.

Game 67: Record 36-31

2009-06-20T03:19:00.002-04:00

Newsflash: Tigers offense was not offensive!

Tigers pounded the Brewers for 10 runs in only 7 1/3 inning of game action. Horrible rains swept through SE Michigan and the game was called in the bottom of the 7th with 1 out and the score 10-4.

Marcus went deep twice, Curtis once and Dusty Ryan hit a long double.

Armando pitched well enough to win...and would have won if not for the rain. He did not re-enter the game after a long delay in the 4th. Bummer for him because he really could have used a win. Zach pitched well in relief and got the win.

I am going to Comerica tomorrow and will see first hand the youngster Alfredo Figaro. Looking forward to it.

Game 66: Record 35-31

2009-06-19T09:18:00.003-04:00

Porcello very good, offense just enough to beat St Louis

Rick Porcello pitched 5.2 strong innings, allowing 3 runs, but only 1 of them was earned because of some bad defense yet again. RP now has 8 wins on the season, which is amazing considering he is only 20 years old. He will have a shot at having 10 wins by the All Star break, which is usually a good benchmark for pitchers to participate in the All Star game. My guess would be that Leyland would discourage Joe Maddon from selecting RP so that his arm can rest for those days.

The offense scored 4 in the first inning, but then went dorment until the 8th when Placido and Marcus both went deep.

This was a nice team win and it was good to win the last game of this 11 game road trip. They have lost 2 of 3 on all inter-league series so far in 2009, which is a major reversal from prior years.

Brewers start a 3 game series at Comerica Friday. I will be there to see the game on Saturday.

Game 65: Record 34-31

2009-06-18T09:29:00.002-04:00

Offense still on vacation

The Tigers dropped yet another game to the NL. They only scored 3 runs, two of which came on solo homers from Curtis. Edwin pitched very well, certainly good enough to win but he was pulled for a pinch hitter in the 7th. Joel came in and in 1 inning of work walked 3 and gave up 1 hit. He had the bases loaded and walked in the eventual winning run. Edwin took the loss, but it was Joel that gave up the crucial run.

The offense is becoming a major concern. They just cannot get the bats going. Leyland has tried about every different combination that can be imagined. The players just aren't getting the job done. And when they do hit, then the pitching isn't good enough.

They have to salvage one win in this series with RP pitching. Then they come home to face the Brew crew.

Game 64: Record 34-30

2009-06-17T12:33:00.002-04:00

Cards blow away Verlander and Tigers

Justin was bound to have a bad outing one of these days and hopefully this was the only one of these we'll see for a while. He only lasted 5 innings, gave up 8 hits, 5 runs and walked 2. He was not well served by some bad defense, but he just didn't have it for this game. The Cardinals scored 4 in the first and did not look back.

Nate came in for the 6th and gave up 4 runs without recording a single out. Then young Ryan Perry came in and gave up 2 more runs, including a moon shot from Mr Pujols. Complete, all around butt kicking. Bad defense, bad pitching, bad offense. Two long balls from Brandon and Miguel were the only swings that kept this from being a shutout.

Edwin on the hill next. Have to get a win to stop this 3 game slide. Plus, Armando is next after Edwin. Dontrelle will not be starting on Saturday against the Brewers, but it has not been announced who will start in his place. My guess is that it'll be Zach Miner. I will be at Comerica for this game and already saw Zach pitch this year. Would love to see somebody else, but with Jeremy on the DL and probably lost for the year, D-Train not being able to find the strike zone and Nate stinking up the bullpen I think the choices are slim.

Game 63: Record 34-29

2009-06-14T16:52:00.002-04:00

D-Train not on track, Tigers drop another interleague series

The last few years, the Tigers have been fantastic in interleague games, but they lost 2 of 3 to Colorado at Comerica Park a few weeks ago and now they lost 2 of 3 in Pittsburgh. Dontrelle was just not good, again and the offense seems to have gone on summer vacation along with our children.

Dontrelle's line is really bad:

3.2 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 8 BB, 1 SO

8 walks in 3 2/3 inning! Horrible. It is getting to the point now, where they are almost guaranteed 2 straight losses when it is Armando and Dontrelle's turn in the rotation. I think Leyland and DD need to do something before the next time around. This cannot continue. Either Zach or Nate (or both) get a start instead of these guys or they need to bring up somebody or make a trade happen quickly (unlikely).

I can't think of a time when the top 3 in a rotation were so good and the bottom two so bad. Justin, Edwin and Rick are consistently pitching out of their minds, while Armando and Dontrelle continue to drive us crazy.

Next up, day off on Monday followed by a series in St Louis. I expect a series win with JV, EJ and RP pitching.

Game 62: Record 34-28

2009-06-14T13:28:00.002-04:00

Galarraga continues to struggle

Armando only lasted 2 innings and gave up 4 runs. Nate then came in and lasted 2 innings and gave up 4 runs. Not a recipe for success.

The Pirates hit Tigers pitching hard and won 9-3 on Saturday. Not a good performance by the pitchers or the offense.

Dontrelle pitches on Sunday and if he struggles again, then I will be officially very concerned about the bottom of the rotation. Armando just cannot seem to get it together, D-Train is a wild card and Jeremy did not look good in his one start last Monday.

Our rotation 1-3 is outstanding, but the 4 and 5 spots are not good right now. The bullpen has been good but inconsistant. Defense has been solid of late and the offense has been good enough.

Lets get this win and win the series!!!

Game 61: Record 34-27

2009-06-13T09:51:00.002-04:00

Porcello dominates Pittsburgh

On a night where this Detroit-Pittsburgh matchup took a backseat the Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals, the Tigers young pitcher was the story in many ways. Rich Porcell had his best outing as a professional ... and he already had some very good outings, but this one was special. His line:

7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO.

This was an interleague game played in Pittsburgh, so Rick also had three at-bats. His "other" line might even be more impressive than his pitching line:

3 AB, 2 H, 2 RBI, .667 BA.

The Tigers won this game 3-1 and Rick drove in two of those three runs. Truly amazing. Leyland said after the game that Rick looked like he knew what he was doing at the plate and that he supposedly was a good hitter in High School, but he never expected him to get a hit. High School pitching is one thing, but this is the big leagues. He did it. Then he got another hit later for good measure.

Also, Placido Polanco went 4-4 with 2 doubles and 2 singles to raise his average to .262.

Two more games in Pittsburgh. Lets get them all.

Also...congrats to the Penguins for winning the cup. Lets hope for a 3rd straight matchup in the Finals next year.

Game 60: Record 33-27

2009-06-12T08:52:00.003-04:00

Grandy's heroics undone by Zumaya

Tigers trailed the entire game until Ryan Raburn got a hit on an 0-2 count off White Sox closer and Tiger killer, Bobby Jenks. He stole second and with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Jenks was just one out from ending the game with a 3-1 win for the Sox. Then Curtis came up and hit him, hard. He pulled the ball into the right field stands to tie the game in the top of the ninth. Awesome!

Then came the bottom of the ninth, where Joel did not record an out, even when the White Sox tried to give him one with a sacrafice. He gave up 2 hits, a walk had an error and got the loss. It was considered an unearned run because of the error, but it was his own error. Not good. Joel was throwing his usual heat - upper 90's to 100. But that isn't good enough if you do not have movement and you aren't throwing your off-speed stuff much or for strikes. These guys just sit on the fastball and can hit it. These are major league hitters and they will catch up with it.

Edwin pitched well, but not as good as usual and as a result, he was out of the game after 5 innings. Brandon Lyon pitched good in relief again, then Nate came in and gave up a long ball to Pierzynski (hate that guy).

Game 59: Record 33-26

2009-06-11T07:37:00.003-04:00

Justin continues to amaze!

Mr Verlander pitched a complete game 6 hitter in a 2-1 win. He was dominate, over-powering, deceptive and completely in control the entire game. Only one pitch in 9 innings was not good - a solo HR that Jim Thome hit about 10 miles. Other than that, he was incredible again. He only walked 1 batter, which helped him keep his pitch count under control and allowed him to complete the game.

John Danks pitched well for the Sox, but good enough:

Two good lines, but one is much better:

JV: 9.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO
Danks: 7.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO

Not much offense in this game, but I must give credit to Adam Everett as he went deep in the 6th inning. His second HR of the season and it gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead. If he stays away from the errors, he is beginning to win me over...slowly.

The key sequence of the game was in the top of the 7th. Magglio hit a sharp single to RF and Miguel followed that with another single. Then, after an out, Brandon supposedly was hit with a pitch. It must have just clipped a small part of his jersey because it was not viewable on TV and even Brandon stayed in the batters box but the umpire sent him to first to load the bases. Then came a very nice at bat by Ryan Raburn. It took him 8 pitches, but he finally worked a walk to force in the Tigers second run and the winning run.

Great win that already seals a series win. They have their other ace, Edwin Jackson, pitching Thursday afternoon. Lets get this last game and take 4 of 5!!!!

Game 58: Record 32-26

2009-06-10T08:29:00.003-04:00

An ugly win is still a win.

Dontrelle pitched OK, especially after falling and seemingly injuring his leg on a play at the plate (after a wild pitch) in the first inning. His last play of the game in the 5th was a great, great play that would make Kenny Rogers happy. Broken bat hit by Pierzynski that makes it past D-Train, who dives for it and throws him out by 2 steps from laying flat on his belly. Outstanding play that saved a run because that happened with the bases loaded.

Zach Minor pitched quite well in relief and got the win. Placido had a huge two out, bases loaded double to score 3 and give the Tigers a 6-3 lead that they would carry into the bottom of the 9th. Enter Fernando. Three batters later, 3 walks later, there are no outs, bases loaded and Brandon Lyon is coming in to releive the closer.

Brandon comes in to that mess and strikes out Dye (huge), then surrendors a double to Konerko that tied the game and nearly ended it. Nice play cutoff and turn by the Tigers to throw out Wise at the plate for out #2. Brandon then struck out Beckham to end the 9th.

In the 10th, Miguel went deep. He is a beast. Winning run as Lyon closed it out in the bottom of the 10th.

Nice win, especially considering they have JV and EJ going the next two days in Chicago.

Games 56 and 57: Record 31-26

2009-06-10T08:14:00.003-04:00

Splitsville in ChiTown.

Tigers split an old fashioned day-night double header on Monday in Chicago. They won the first game with Armando pitching and lost the second game with Jeremy making his 2009 debut.

In the opener, Armando pitched well enough to win and got a quality start out of the game, but not a win. Joel blew another save but got the win. That was the second straight game Joel gave up a late lead but got a win anyway. Gotta love baseball!

Brandon had a big hit to drive in the winning run in the top of the ninth. Fernando gave up a hit, but nothing further in the bottom of the ninth for the save. Good all around performance by the team.

In the nightcap, Jeremy was not good enough. His fastball was consistantly 89 on the radar gun and his changeup was at 81. This is not going to cut it. If your fastball is only at 89 or 90, your change or slider must be better than it was. He threw a few good sliders but not enough to keep the hitters honest. They were just waiting for the slow fastball and hitting it around. I was not very encouraged.

Jose Contreras was outstanding for the White Sox - he only gave up 1 hit and zero runs through 8 complete innings. Marcus hit a long HR in the ninth for the Tigers only run.

A split of a double header is nothing to sneeze at, especially the way the White Sox usually beat up on our Tigers in Chicago.

Game 55: Record 30-25

2009-06-07T15:26:00.003-04:00

Clete's granny wins it

Not his grandmother, but rather his Grand Slam in the bottom of the 8th inning that turned a 5-5 tied into a 9-5 lead and eventually a 9-6 win. Tigers trailed 5-4 entering the bottom of the 8th but they scored 5 and got the win as well as the series win.

Rick Porcello pitched well enough to win, but Ryan Perry allowed one of Rick's runners to score and tie the game. Joel pitched nicely and got the win to show for it.

I love it when I do not have to discuss defense! Another solid performance, including Ryan Raburn playing 1B after Miguel had to come out of the game because of that troublesome hammy. Very nice win.

They now play 5 in 4 days against the White Sox. Day-night double header tomorrow and we get to see Jeremy Bonderman pitch for the first time. Armando and Jeremy pitch the double header tomorrow. They basically have 6 starters now. Seems like Jeremy, Armando or Dontrelle will not be able to stay in the rotation and these 5 games in Chicago will determine who stays and who doesn't.

Game 54: Record 29-25

2009-06-07T00:43:00.003-04:00

Jackson simply sensational again.

Edwin was just masterful, unbelievable, dominant. Running out of adjectives. Best of all, he was able to pitch a complete game and get a 2-1 win to snap a 4 game loosing streak. Not giving the ball to the bullpen was HUGE and that happened because he controlled his pitch count - got some quick innings and only required 109 pitches for 9 full innings. Plus, he struck out the side in the ninth!!! Remarkable.

For those with short memories, we traded Matt Joyce for this guy. Joyce has been back and forth between AAA and the Rays. So far...this has been a steal.

Rick Porcello tries to get a huge series win on Sunday.

Game 53: Record 28-25

2009-06-06T09:02:00.003-04:00

Verlander outstanding, Santana better, Rodney...not so much.

Tigers lost their 4th straight game! This time to the Angels in a classic pitchers duel. Justin Verlander was off-the-charts awesome again. Ervin Santana for the Angels was a little more efficient with his pitches, which enabled him to come out in the ninth and that was the difference. The numbers:

Verlander: 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 7 SO
Santana: 8.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO

Santana gave up the 1 run in the 9th. Justin could not come out in the ninth because he had thrown 119 pitches through 8 innings. Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth in a scoreless game and promptly surrendered 3 straight singles to allow the Angels to take a 1-0 lead. Then came a sacrafice, intentional walk and another run scored on a ground out to SS. 2-0 Angels after the top of the ninth.

Again (as with the Boston series), the Tigers had chances in the bottom of the 9th. Josh Anderson hit a long triple, Miguel had a pinch-hit walk and Magglio drove in the lone run with a single. Winning runs on base and Curtis at the plate and he fouls out. Ugh.

Edwin on the hill today against Kelvim Escobar, who from what I can tell has not pitched in the majors this year. He was supposedly 'knocked around a little bit' in his triple-A rehab start.

Game 52: Record 28-24

2009-06-05T07:19:00.002-04:00

Dontrelle version 2009 meet Dontrelle version 2008

This is the worst case scenario for Tigers fans regarding Dontrelle Willis. D-train did not give up a hit in the game, but still only lasted 2.1 innings. In the 3rd inning he hit a batter and then walked 4 straight guys. His line looked like something from last year.

2.1 IP, 0 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 3 SO.

In previous games this year when he would walk a guy he could come back and throw strikes, in this game he seemed to have lost something with his control and could not get it back.

They still had plenty of opportunities to win the game on offense because the bullpen did not allow a run after the horrible 6 run 3rd inning. But, they did not break through. This series did not set up well for the Tigers because neither Justin nor Edwin were pitching. After Porcello lost the opener, I was fearing a sweep and that is what happened.

The Angels come to town for 3 over the weekend and we have Justin, Edwin and Rick pitching. The Angels always seem to play well against the Tigers, but I like our chances with those three pitching. Then after that, they play five in four days against the White Sox. Not sure how the rotation will work for that Chicago series. Seems like they need an extra starter. Not sure if they'll bring up somebody or give Nate/Zach a start. We'll see.

Game 51: Record 28-23

2009-06-03T21:40:00.002-04:00

Beckett did not need help from Papelbon or really anybody else.

Tigers absolutely dominated by Josh Beckett. They did not get a hit until the 7th inning and did not score until 8th when they trailed 10-0.

Good news is that the Tigers battled until the end. They scored 5 runs in the 8th and left the bases loaded in the 9th. Had Josh Anderson been able to scratch out a hit or walk, it would have brought up the potential tying run in the form of Miguel Cabrera. Too bad it didn't happen.

Beckett's line is: 7.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 SO.

Very impressive.

Game 50: Record 28-22

2009-06-03T16:20:00.004-04:00

Da Sawx too much for Porcello and team.

Rick Porcello pitched OK, but not good enough. Dice-K pitched better than OK, but not great. He always seems to "just barely" keep the Tigers down when he pitches against them. The Tigers always seem to be on the brink of breaking him down and getting him out of the game, but they never seem to do it.

Then Papelbon comes in for a non-save situation in the 9th and gives up 3 straight singles. So, the Tigs have the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th with no outs and a 5-1 deficit. Then Josh Anderson struck out for out #1. Then Jeff Larish pinch hit for Gerarld Laird...and he struck out for out #2. Finally, Ramon Santiago struck out to end the game. Pathetic ending to a promising inning. The only bright spot is that Pap had to throw 35 pitches, so he may not be available tonight if they need him.

No offensive stars as they only could muster one single run.

Now they have the two weakest guys in the rotation going the next two nights - Armando and Dontrelle. Here's hoping we do not get swept.

Games 46-49: Record 28-21

2009-05-31T16:51:00.002-04:00

Drop 2, win 2 in Baltimore

Justin was outstanding on Saturday and Jackson unbelievable on Sunday to allow the Tigers to pull out a split against the Orioles. It all continues to be about starting pitching as the stats for the 4 starters in this series show:

Galarraga
7.0 IP, 10 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO

Willis
5.0 IP, 10 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO

Verlander
6.0 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO

Jackson
8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO

Dontrelle was really the only one of the 4 to struggle, but Armando got severely out pitched in the opener also.

On Sunday, Curtis hit cleanup as both Miguel and Placido had the day off. It is great to give these guys a day off and still get a win.

Day off on Monday, then 3 big games against the Red Sox. Only bad thing about this series is that neither Edwin nor Justin will be pitching.

Game 45: Record 26-19

2009-05-27T17:06:00.003-04:00

Porcello, Polanco secure series win in KC

Rick Porcello won his 6th game of the year and it isn't even June yet. I had predicted that the 20 year old would win 5 for the year. He looks fantastic and seems to be getting better. I'm sure he will hit "the wall" at some point, but Leyland would undoubtedly give him some extra rest before and/or after the All Star break to hopefully minimize that effect.

Placido Polanco went deep for the first time in 2009. Josh Anderson, hitting leadoff, went 4-5 and stole a base. He could be a great leadoff hitter on a day-to-day basis. If Curtis continues to hit with the power he has shown so far, he seems to be well suited for the 5 hole, where he was today. Miguel hit another loooong HR and is hitting a cool .374.

They now play 4 against the Orioles.

Game 44: Record 25-19

2009-05-27T13:48:00.002-04:00

Greinke is simply unbeatable again

Zack Greinke was dealing some serious stuff that made the Tigers look bad doing it. Edwin Jackson pitched well, but not nearly well enough. You almost have to be perfect when Greinke is pitching against you and I imagine Jackson was thinking that when he made a few bad pitches and 2 throwing errors.

Two good performances, but one is clearly superior to the other:
Jackson: 6.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO
Greinke: 9.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO

Gotta win Wednesday afternoon to win the series or else they drop two straight series and the Royals would pull to within 2 games in the AL Central. Porcello is pitching and Greinke is not. I like our chances.

Game 43: Record 25-18

2009-05-26T17:18:00.002-04:00

Verlander = awesome

JV was unbelievably dominant again! His last 6 starts have been incredible. Stats in the last 6 outings:

IP: 42.1
H: 24
ER: 4
HR: 0
BB: 10
SO: 60 (wow!)

ERA started this stretch at 9.00 and is now 3.55.

Offense scored a lot of runs, Miguel is a beast...yada yada yada. Justin is the story everytime he goes out.

HUGE matchup tonight. Zack Greinke against Edwin Jackson. ERA of 0.82 versus 2.55.

Game 42: Record 24-18

2009-05-24T21:51:00.003-04:00

Lack of offense + good pitching = loss

Low scoring game and another good outing by Dontrelle. Our Tigers had lots and lots of opportunities to put runs on the board that would have gotten them a win today, but could not come up with the big hit they needed.

D-Train's like: 6.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 SO. Start #2 is quality start #2 for Willis. But the offense was quite offensive today. For the 2nd straight game, the top 3 spots in the lineup did not produce a single hit. This is not how you set the table for Miguel and allow him to do what he does. When Miguel is consistantly coming up to bat with nobody on base, the opposition is quite happy. This is what the Rockies did the last two games and they got two wins to show for it.

Huge 3 games against Royals begin tomorrow.

Verlander v Meche on Monday, then Jackson v Grienke on Tuesday. Outstanding. Cannot wait.

Game 41: Record 24-17

2009-05-24T11:15:00.002-04:00

Galaraga continues to struggle.

Armando was not bad by any stretch, but he was not real good either giving up 1 run in each of the first 3 innings. His final line was 5.1 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO. Normally that kind of a line will be good enough for this team because the offense will come through but in this game the Rockies pitching did the job.

Miguel hit a solo HR in the 2nd inning, his 9th of the year. Decent length bomb that hit off the roof of the bullpen area. After going 1-3, his average dropped to "only" .370.

So, the winning streak is over. Time to start a new one with Dontrelle back to the hill Sunday afternoon. Then a huge series with the Royals in which they will face Greinke.

1/4 of the season is over - 40 game evaluation

2009-05-23T09:46:00.003-04:00

OK, this is the ceremonial "quarter pole" of the season. This is the point where Sparky Anderson would say was the first time in the season to really take stock of your team and see where it ranks and what it can do that year. 40 games into 2009, things look good.

Some team stats:

Tigers are 24-16, solidly in first place with a 4 game lead in the AL Central.
15-5 at home! Outstanding!
Runs scored - 218
Runs allowed - 179.
Run differential of +39. Only Toronto has a better differential in the American League.
Team ERA is 3.96. This is 3rd in the AL.
Starters ERA is 3.85 - good for 2nd in the AL behind only the Angels.
The Tigers as a team have 18 errors. Only the Twins have fewer in the AL. Of course, this is misleading and somewhat useless statistic because there have been dozens of misplays by Tigers players that were not scored as errors. However, if you assume this is similar with other teams, then the stat is at least something to compare the Tigers against the competition.

Some individual stats:

Brandon Inge is 3rd in the AL in HR with 12. He is up there with big sluggers like Morneau, Bay, Teixeira and our old friend Carlos Pena.
Miguel Cabrera is hitting .371. Good for 4th in the AL.
Edwin Jackson's ERA is 2.55. Also good for 4th in the AL. (Note: Royals Zack Greinke has an unworldly ERA of 0.82. Can you say "starter in the all star game"?)

Grades for first quarter of the year:

Starting pitching: A-. Mostly oustanding, with a few clunkers thrown in.
Bullpen: B-. Good, but most of the losses (not all) were on their watch.
Offense: A. Consistently good.
Defense: C. A lot to improve on.
Results: A. Cannot argue with first place!

Game 40: Record 24-16

2009-05-23T09:41:00.002-04:00

7's are wild

Seven wins in a row now. Rick Porcello wins his 4th straight, 4-3 over the Rockies. Ramon and Brandon are the offensive hero's of the night. Outstanding pitching on both sides, except for the 9th, when Joel Zumaya nearly blew his first save opportunity of 2009. But, he got the last out with men on 1st and 3rd after giving up 2 runs. I was sweating bullets, but Zoom got the job done in the end.

Porcello's line: 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO. Then Ryan Perry came in and pitched two nearly perfect innings, giving up only 1 walk and zero hits. Very impressive job by the two youngsters. This should make all Tigers fans excited about 2009 and beyond.

Games 36-39: Record 23-17

2009-05-21T17:10:00.002-04:00

Sweep, swept, sweep, sweep

What a run for our Tigers lately. 6 wins in a row and 9 out of 12. Just those couple horrible losses in the dome has gone wrong lately. The pitching continues to be unbelievable, espcially the starters. Edwin was outstanding again today. JV was the Ace yesterday again, Porcello was really good, Dontrelle Willis returned to his 20-win form. Armando is the only starter struggling right now and he WILL get things back on track again soon.

Starters runs allowed in this win streak: Jackson 1, Porcello 1, Galarraga 5, Willis 0, Verlander 1, Jackson 3.

Keep it coming guys. Colorado comes in and the Tigers have torn it up in interleague play the last few years.

Game 35: Record 19-16

2009-05-17T09:22:00.002-04:00

Porcello and offense kill the A's again.

Miguel Cabrera had a 3 hit, 4 RBI game. He is now hitting an incredible .389 for the year. Other offensive hero's of the day: Ryan Raburn with a 3 run bomb, Placido with 3 hits and Gerald Laird with 3 hits. Lots of offsense to go around.

Add that to a very good starting pitching performance by young Mr Porcello and the outcome was predictable as the Tigs whipped the Athletics 9-1. These two games against Oakland, the combined score is 23-2!

Porcello's line: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO. Really, really good. He only threw 86 pitches and if the game had been close, I'll bet Leyland sends him back out for the 7th inning. No need to do that in this situation. The bullpen took over and kept the door closed on them.

Nice team win. Now lets get the sweep!

Game 34 : Record 18-16

2009-05-16T08:16:00.002-04:00

Jackson and offense > rain and Athletics

Edwin Jackson was simply outstanding Friday night as the Tigers pummelled the A's 14-1. The game's start was delayed by rain for 1 hour and Mr Jackson came out and pitched 4 strong innings. The Tigs led 9-1 when another 1 hour delay came after 4 innings. Amazingly, Leyland ran Edwin back out there after the 2nd delay. This is something you just do not see in the big leagues - after a pitcher has had to wait and get cold, he comes out of the game 99.9999% of the time. But Edwin picked up right where he left off and finished with an outstanding line: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 6 SO, 0 BB. Very, very impressive.

When you score 14 runs, there are a lot of offensive hero's. Brandon and Ryan Raburn both hit grand slams and both had 5 RBI. Magglio had 3 hits, scored 3 runs and drove in 2. Miguel had 3 hits and scored 4 runs. Good complete team win to stay in first place.

The Athletics had a pathetic 4 errors in the game that definitely helped build the huge lead. Fielding, fielding, fielding. Often overlooked, never forgotten by me.

Games 31-33: Record 17-16

2009-05-15T21:29:00.002-04:00

Swept away in the dome.

I hate the Metrodome. I hate everything about it. I hate watching games played there, I hate the supid hops in the infield, I hate the singles up the middle that would be a routine out at a normal stadium. I hate the fact that 1987 Twins won the World Series without winning a single playoff game away from that place.

I also hate the fact that the Tigers get owned in that place. Ever since Jeremy Bonderman had that horrible brain fart and baulk in 2006, it seems that nothing goes good for them there.

JV was outstanding in the last game in the series. Again. But the bullpen couldn't hold the lead. He left the game after 6 1/3 innings with a 5-0 lead. He had given up only 5 hits and 3 walks, he had 13 strikeouts ... but had thrown a whopping 122 pitches. He is a great, great pitcher. He clearly has his mechanics in order and looks dominate at times.

Games 26-30: Record 17-13

2009-05-15T21:19:00.002-04:00

Sweep of pathetic Indians highlights nice stretch by the boys.

Lots of strong pitching, especially Justin Verlander who is firmly back in shape as the Tigers ace. Quite frankly, the way JV has pitched lately, he is looking like an All Star. Edwin Jackson continues to have solid start after solid start. Young Mr Porcello has been a very pleasant surprise.

The offense has been interesting with Leyland changing things up. The main problem with the offense is Magglio. He is just not getting the job done and this has caused the skipper to drop him in the lineup for the first time as a Tiger.

The Tigers were looking outstanding heading into their personal house of horrors - the Metrodome.

Game 25 : Record 13-12

2009-05-05T12:31:00.003-04:00

Jackson has first bad outing for the Tigers.

Edwin's line isn't horrible, but not good enough especially against Minny.
6.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 7 SO. The bullpen allowed 2 tack-on runs which always hurts.

The offense left a lot of runs out there. Miguel came up to bat in the 8th with the score 6-2, two men on and two outs. If he can get a big hit there, perhaps he drives in two or perhaps a 3 run HR...this would have made the 9th much more interesting. Instead, he grounds out weekly to end the inning.

Tigers were severely out pitched in this game as Francisco Liriano was very good. He looks like he is creeping back towards 2006 form. Scary proposition for the rest of the AL Central.

Game 24 : Record 13-11

2009-05-05T12:30:00.001-04:00

Justin serves the Ace card again.

Two awesome, dominating performances in a row for JV. 11 SO through 7 complete. Outstanding and just what they needed to take the series from the Indians.

They got just enough offense for the 3-1 win. Cliff Lee looked good, but has already lost more games (4) than he did all of 2008 (3). Crazy, but it shows that teams need to capitalize when guys have career years. Ask the Tigers of 2006 about that. Lee has a Cy Young award, but nothing else to show for last year.

Brandon went deep yet again and Curtis had a huge - HUGE - hit in the 7th for the game winning hit.

Game 23 : Record 12-11

2009-05-02T17:26:00.004-04:00

More bad defense saved by the bats

In the 5th inning there was a horrible misplay by Raburn that I cannot believe was not called an error. It should have been E7 and all 5 runs unearned. Not that that matters to the final score, but it just makes the box score misleading. A second bad play of the inning - this one by Magglio - allowed the last 2 runs to score.

Raburn has just not been good since being called up. He played RF and had two bad plays, now he plays LF and nearly costs them a win.

Offense was awesome in this game with the big hits coming by Adam Everett with the grand slam and then Curtis with a 2 run HR in the 8th inning that gave the Tigs the win.

Game 22 : Record 11-11

2009-05-02T08:28:00.002-04:00

Next verse, same as the first.

Another game where they were seriously out pitched and only made it close by means of a late inning rally. Armando had is first bad outing of the year, giving up 5 run in 5 innings. Nate pitched OK but the one tack-on run he allowed ended up being the difference in the game.

Miguel hit a awesome 3-run HR in the 8th to make it 6-5. It was a long shot, but it was also a line drive into the seats beyond the Tigers bullpen in left field. Deep shot, but it never got much air because of the way and the power he hit it. The guy is an amazing hitter.

Three game losing streak brings them back to .500. They need to turn this around immediately. Today.

Game 21 : Record 11-10

2009-04-30T13:09:00.002-04:00

Porcello killed by Yanks.

Rick Porcello showed that he is a 20 year old rookie Wednesday night at Comerica Park. He was clobbered time and time again by the Yankees. His final line is not good: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO. Compare that with the somewhat-more-seasoned Jaba Chamberlain of NY: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO. It only took Chamberlain 88 pitches to get through 7 innings, where it took Rick 75 just for 3 2/3 innings. No contest.

The offense once again was non-existent until they made it interesting in the 9th after Curtis smoked a 3 run HR off Mariano Rivera. Had Placido been able to scratch out a base hit, it would have brought up Magglio representing the potential tying run, but he couldn't do it.

Day off today, then they play the first of 13 straight divisional games (versus Indians, versus Twins, @ Chicago, @ Cleveland, @ Minnesota). These 13 games will tell us a lot as to how our team stacks up against the AL Central competition.

Game 20 : Record 11-9

2009-04-28T20:11:00.006-04:00

Pathetic defense and horrible relief pitching.

The only thing worse than the defense was the bullpen's performance in the 7th inning. Edwin Jackson pitched very well again for the Tigers, but was really let down by the guys out of the pen. It started with Ryan Perry, then Nate Robertson and Brandon Lyon. Nobody was good and it all started with a horrible play on defense. Once again the defense let the team down...many times in this game:

4th inning - ugly misplay by Everett not called an error after an 11 pitch at-bat by Robinson Cano. Jackson saved him and no damage done.

5th inning - misplay by Miguel on a foul ball. Jackson saved him by fanning Jeter on the next pitch.

6th inning - horrible miscommunication and misplay by Curtis and Magglio. Again bailed out by Jackson.

7th inning - horrible error by Josh Anderson that gift-wrapped the Yankees first 2 runs and started that pathetic 10-run inning. Ugly, ugly, ugly.

Grades:

Pitching: D. Jackson is the only reason this isn't an F.

Defense: F. Pathetic, putrid, disgusting, horrible, bush league. Even though the official scorer only has them down for 2 unearned runs, it could be as high as 8 unearned runs given up.

Offense: F. First time they have been shutout this year. Ugly.

Game 19 : Record 11-8

2009-04-27T21:26:00.002-04:00

Verlander awesome in first win of 2009.

Justin was dominant against the Yankees, striking out 9 in 7 innings of work. He was throwing heat throughout the game, touching 99 mph on the radar gun. CC Sabathia on the other side was very good, but the Tigers were able to scratch out a few runs and that is all that was needed.

Magglio hit HR #2, Placido had 2 big doubles and Miguel drove in a run. Curtis laid down a perfect drag bunt for a hit. I was just marveling at Josh Anderson the other day for doing this and now Curtis pulled the same feat. I love that play, simply love it.

Nice win against the hated Yankees to stay in first place.

Grades:

Pitching: A-. Justin looked like a #1 pitcher for the first time, Bobby Seay was really good. Fernando really struggled - did not do well giving up 2 runs. Rodney got his bacon saved by a fantastic 5-4-3 double play.

Defense: A. Really great double play in the ninth. No errors. No misplays.

Offense: A-. Only four runs on six hits, but they were timely hits and one huge HR.

Game 18 : Record 10-8

2009-04-26T16:58:00.003-04:00

Galarraga masterful again.

Armando was fantastic Sunday against the Royals. He only made it through 6 innings, but gave up 3 hits and 1 run. His problem was 5 walks. The Royals hitters were patient, took a lot of pitches and got walks, elevated his pitch count and got him out of the game earlier than would have otherwise happened. This is the 2nd straight start that the opposition has taken this tactic and it is time to adjust by pounding the strike zone to get an early 0-1 and 0-2 lead on hitters.

In not-at-all surprising news, Brandon went deep and Everett screwed up another play he should have made. Adam's misplay was not an error but a supposedly-great defensive shortstop makes that play. He has yet to make a "web-gem" material play this year and he has messed up a lot of routine plays. He has yet to impress me.

Dane Sardinha was just called up to replace Matt Treanor on the roster and got the start today. He had an RBI on a sacrifice and gunned down Coco Crisp trying to steal. That throw was outstanding. The pitch was low, so he got no help from that and simply threw a strike to Everett. It wasn't close.

Grades:

Pitching: A. Our ace looked like an ace again after a shaky start his last time out. Bullpen was good, even though Rodney gave up one HR to make it a 1 run game.

Defense: B. No major screw-ups.

Offense: B-. Only threee runs on six hits, but enough to win.

Game 17 : Record 9-8

2009-04-26T15:27:00.002-04:00

Tigers offense rocks Royals.

Gerarld, Curtis, Magglio all go deep as the Tigers smoked the Royals 9-1. Zach Miner was OK, not great, but got through 5 innings for the win.

The bullpen was nearly flawless, including the return of Joel Zumaya. He came in throwing heat, gave up 2 hits in the 9th but did not allow anybody to score. It was nice to see Joel out there on the mound in a big league game doing what he does again. Very good sign indeed. Think of having him, Ryan Perry and Fernando Rodney all at the backend of the bullpen. It could be fantastic. It could mean squeezing Brandon Lyon's role down to next to nothing, which would be a good thing.

This was a big win for the Tigers as they now have a chance to win the series when Armando pitches on Sunday afternoon. I like their chances.

Grades:

Pitching: A-. Miner was good. Bullen (Seay, Lyon, Robertson, Zumaya did not allow a run).

Defense: C. Still not perfect.

Offense: A. Big hits all around.

Game 16 : Record 8-8

2009-04-26T15:26:00.000-04:00

Greinke too much for Tigs.

Zack Greinke was awesome for the Royals Friday night, pitching a complete game 3-hitter. He allowed only 1 unearned run. He was simply dominate.

This was the first game of the year that the Tigers did not get at least 8 base hits. They just couldn't muster much of anything against Greinke. The one run they scored was entirely because of Gerarld Laird's heads-up baserunning and good speed (especially for a catcher). Rick Porcello pitched good, but far inferior to Greinke.

Rick's final line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO. Greinke's line: 9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 SO. Complete game on only 108 pitches. Very impressive. Sometimes you have to just take your hats off to the other guy. They just cannot let no-name guys do this to them like what happened in 2008.

Grades:

Pitching: B-. Porcello was good, Nate was OK, Perry also good. 5 earned runs is too many, though.

Defense: F. Every game with at least one error gets an F. I am so sick of the defense being horrible and putting more pressure on the pitchers. It is a domino effect.

Offense: F. One unearned, manufactured run. They were dominated.

Game 15 : Record 8-7

2009-04-24T09:29:00.003-04:00

Putrid defense carries the day.

Absolutely horrible defense by the infield in this game, especially the left side where they were supposed to be so much better this year. Brandon was horrible and Adam Everett contributed his customary 1 error per 2 games played. Really, really bad and tough to watch at times.

The pitching was OK by Edwin Jackson. Not great by any stretch, but he pitched well enough to win had the defense and bullpen been better. Eddie Bonine came in relief and was not good at all. You know it is a bad night when Brandon Lyon comes in and is the only pitcher who didn't surrender a run.

Jackson: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO. Those unearned runs were HUGE.
Bonine: 1.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO. Really bad.

The offense was not good either, leaving 13 men on base. Magglio, Miguel and Carlos (our vaunted 3-4-5 hitters) left 8 men on base! Just not good enough - especially on a night when the pitching and the defense were smelly.

Grades for last night:

Pitching: D. Jackson was OK, but Bonine made up for it by being horrible.

Defense: F. 4 errors, 3 unearned runs, lots more pitches thrown because of the errors. This was the reason they lost.

Offense: D+. A few good at bats and some runs scored, but too many runs left on the field.

Game 14 : Record 8-6

2009-04-23T07:56:00.003-04:00

Verlander still struggling, but the offense bails him out.

Large, huge, massive win on the left coast last night. It did not look good for most of the night as Justin gave up 7 runs in only 5 innings pitched. His final line: 5.0IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO. He had to throw 104 pitches just to get through the 5th, which is very similar to what Armando did the previous night. The difference is that Armando only gave up 3 runs versus 7 by Justin. All of the runs he allowed were scored as earned runs, but that is somewhat ridiculous. There were two horrible misplays by Ryan Raburn in RF. Ryan was just called up after the Tigers put Marcus Thames on the DL. He looked horrible, absolutely horrible in the field last night and it cost the Tigers a few runs. I know he is a better fielder than what he showed, because we saw him play pretty good defense last year, but he had a forgettable night.

On the plus side, Curtis & Brandon both went deep and Magglio had 3 hits. Even little Adam Everett had 3 hits in his return to the lineup.

Grades for last night:

Pitching: D+. Not a single pitcher had a clean line last night. Even Fernando struggled at the back end of the bullpen.

Defense: C. Those misplays by Raburn could have cost the team a win.

Offense: A+. Sometimes you can get away with outscoring your opponent. They won't win many games 12-10, but we'll take it when they do.

Game 13 : Record 7-6

2009-04-22T13:31:00.002-04:00

Lyonized again!

Perhaps bringing a guy named Lyon to Detroit wasn't the best idea on the heels of the Lions 0-16 season.

Armando did not pitch great or even good last night, but he battled and battled and left after 5 innings with the game tied. Gave the team a chance to win. This is what good pitchers manage to do...battle their way through on nights where they do not have their best stuff, and this definitely qualified.

His line for last night: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO. The biggest stat is that he threw 110 pitches in only 5 innings of work. This is why he had to leave so early and, ultimately , why they lost the game. He threw huge volumes of pitches in the first 3 innings. Exhibit one on why it is always a good thing for players to take pitches and make guys throw strikes. Even if you make an out, the pitcher's pitch count is elevated and you will usually get to the other teams bullpen sooner.

On a positive note, Curtis hit two HR last night.

Justin pitches tonight. Time for win #1 for him in 2009!!!!

Game 12 : Record 7-5

2009-04-20T07:32:00.003-04:00

Porcello gets first win and the Tigers win the series in Seattle.

20 year old Rick Porcello got his first major league win in Seattle on Sunday afternoon. He pitched 7 strong innings and got the win. His line: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO. He needed only 86 pitches to get through 7. I'm sure if any of the other starters had that line, they would have been sent back out there in the 8th, but young Mr Porcello is being handled with care to not ruin his arm or ruin him for the rest of 2009.

Ramon Santiago went 2-3 with 5 RBI. This included a bases clearing double in the 8th to put the game effectively away for the good guys. He has been on fire since starting to play every day with the injury/sickness of Adam Everett. As said on this blog earlier, if Everett cannot hit very well (Leyland has said this outright) and he is making errors every other game he plays, then let Ramon start and have Everett be the backup. Ramon's defense is second to nobody and his hitting is better than you'd think. He is proving this to be true day after day.

Also....Miguel went 2-3 and scored 3 runs. He is now hitting .489. He cannot be stopped.

They are off Monday and then get to play 3 against the mighty Angels. First game has our 2009 ace (so far) Armando Galaragga against Jered Weaver. Can't wait. Bring em on.

Zoom and C-Mo

2009-04-19T13:32:00.003-04:00

Joel Zumaya pitched for the Mud Hens on Saturday and by the accounts that I've read, did well. His line: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO.

Only one strikeout concerns me because that makes me wonder how hard he was throwing. But, he only gave up 2 hits and didn't let anybody score, so that is pretty positive. Also..no walks!!! Gotta love that. Lets hope he has another 1 or 2 successful outings down on the farm and then joins the Tigers soon.

Interesting note from the Pirates - Braves game yesterday. One of our 2006 hero's, Craig Monroe, had a huge day and I am very happy for him. He got the start in RF, hit two HR and drove in 6. Nice job, Craig. Keep it going young man!

I'll always remember Rod Allen after a number of Craig's late inning heroics in 2006 saying "Craig did it again"...."he did it again"!!! Good times.

Game 11 : Record 6-5

2009-04-19T08:56:00.002-04:00

Jackson into action means a win for the Tigers.

Edwin Jackson was outstanding yet again for the Tigers. His great line: 7.2 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO. Really, really good.

Bullpen (Seay and Rodney) did not give up a hit in 1.1 innings to close the deal.

Erik Bedard was also very impressive for the Mariners, but the Tigers were able to squeeze out a run along with an unearned run in the 6th inning to get a shutout win.

No errors at all in this game by the Tigers. You need a very clean to get a shutout and they got it!

Other notes:
Magglio reached .300 average after going 2-3.
Miguel dropped to .488 average. The guy is remarkable!
No errors from the SS position since Ramon started playing everyday. He is the wizard of glove.

Game 10 : Record 5-5

2009-04-19T08:49:00.002-04:00

Justin...what happened in the 5th????

That game Friday night was unbelievable. Just Verlander was untouchable through 4 innings - perfect 12 for 12 with 7 strikeouts. He looked the best he has looked since his no-hitter in 2007 against the Brewers. But in the fifth, everything changed with a long double, single, single, sacrifice.

The biggest play in that inning was the throwing error on Brandon. It was still 3-1 at the time with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Hard grounder right at Brandon and the runner on 3rd heads home. Brandon smartly throws to Laird who got the ball in plenty of time, but it was not a good throw...short hop for the catcher who couldn't come up with it. So, instead of a 3-1 lead with 2 outs and 2 men on, it was a 3-2 lead with 1 out and 2 men on. That play was huge. The defense once again plays a crucial role in a loss.

Justin's final line: 7.1 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO. This was a promising outing for him even though he took another loss. He will win some games this year.

Game 9 : Record 5-4

2009-04-15T17:46:00.002-04:00

I love it when Chicago loses, especially to Detroit!

Armando Galarraga was outstanding again today. Virtually unhittable in his two outings. His line for today: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO.

His numbers for 2009 so far: 13.1 IP, 9 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 13 SO. 2-0 record.

These numbers cannot be quibbled with - they are too good.

Placido had a nice game today also with 3 RBI and Miguel went deep with a no-doubt-about-it HR in the 6th. Ramon "Mantle" Santiago had another base knock, plus 2 walks and 2 RBI. As I said previously, Ramon is a better hitter than we all tend to think and his defense is second to none. He should play everyday and Everett should be the backup.

Josh Anderson showed why the Tigers got him and are so high on him. He had 2 hits today and scored two runs. His bunt for a hit is something we have only seen from this set of Tigers a few times in the past 4 years. They just haven't had guys that can do that. It is such an exciting play and I love to see it executed properly. The last Tiger that was really good at that was Alex "roid" Sanchez. That kid could bunt really well...he had many other problems as a player, but the guy could put it down and run it out.

So, they split the shortened two game series with Chicago. They are 5-4 with a day off tomorrow and then play 3 in Seattle. Good luck out west, guys!!!

RIP Mark Fidrych

2009-04-14T08:40:00.002-04:00

I felt it necessary to take a brief diversion from my normal, daily posts about the games in the 2009 Detroit Tigers season to comment on The Bird. Mark Fidrych died yesterday, April 13 at the age of 54. I read about this after returning home from a cold but fun day at Comerica Park. It was truly sad to read about the accident that took him from us. It is reminiscent of the injuries that took him from our sports lives in the years after his tremendous 1976 season.

His numbers from 1976:

19 W, 9 L, 2.34 ERA, 24 Complete games, 250.1 IP, 53 BB, 97 SO, 1.079 WHIP. He won AL Rookie of the Year and started in the All-Star game.

I remember listening to him pitch on the radio and watch him on TV back in that great year. MLB network had just recently shown a Monday Night Baseball game against the Yankees in 1976 that was his national coming out party. Hope they show it again soon.

The Bird was not just a goofy kid, he was a great pitcher whose career was shortened by injuries to his knees and shoulders. Now, his life is shortened by a horrible accident.

Game 8 : Record 4-4

2009-04-14T08:31:00.002-04:00

Miner has minor league stuff again.

I went to the game yesterday and enjoyed the park, the team and the atmosphere in 38 degree weather. Very cold, windy and ugly. The sun never came out and I'm sure the players were not enjoying themselves at all.

Zach Miner reverted to his previous self and was hammered time and time again. Final line: 3.1 IP, 9 H, 8 ER, 3 BB. Ug-ly!!!

Then Eddie Bonine came in and pitched OK. Gave up a couple of tack-on runs for the White Sox in 2 2/3 innings. The Tigers offense was fine. They kept showing signs that the game was not out of reach, but then the pitching would give up another run or two.

Hero of the day: Ramon Santiago. 3 hits, including a 3 run HR. We were sitting in the 2nd row in shallow left field when young Mr Santiago was signing some autographs prior to the game. I told him "lets get a couple hits today Ramon". He needs me there everyday.

Game 7 : Record 4-3

2009-04-12T19:13:00.002-04:00

How sweep it is. First place looks nice even early in the season!

Fantastic win today. They really stole one from Texas as this is probably one they should have lost. But, good teams find ways to win games they are outplayed for the majority of the game. Getting shutout on 4 hits through 7 innings and losing 4-0 entering the bottom of the 8th was not a good situation to be in. But when Texas removed Kevin Millwood after 112 pitches, they had life. Brandon Inge opened the 8th with a solo HR (his 4th) and they were definitely alive. 2 outs and few hits later the game was tied and Brandon got a second at bat of the inning. He delivered for the 2nd time with a game winning single up the middle.

Brandon is hitting .304, has 4 HR and 7 RBI with a slugging percentage of .870 so far. Unbelievable numbers so far for him.

Edwin Jackson pitched OK today. Not nearly as well as his first outing, but still gave the team a chance to win, which they cashed in. The real pitching stories of the day were Kevin Millwood and the Tigers bullpen, including Fernando Rodney.

Rodney had another 1-2-3 ninth inning for a his second save in 2 days. Both games were saved with 1 run leads. Fernando looks outstanding so far. Our friend Brandon Lyon also pitched 2 perfect innings in relief, which was a very nice thing to see after his first horrible performance for the Tigers.

Long ways to go, but they swept the Rangers, are above .500, in first place and have had decent-to-outstanding starting pitching in every game except the first game of the year. A lot to be excited about. Oh, and Miguel had another 2 hits and is hitting .520.

Game 6 : Record 3-3

2009-04-11T14:24:00.005-04:00

Good outing by Justin today. Not great because he could only make it through 5 innings and because of the unearned runs caused by Horrible defense!!!! Errors by Inge and Everett in the 5th inning led to 2 unearned runs. Both were plays that clearly should have been made. Adam's error was pathetic...routine grounder that he fields cleanly but cannot get out of his glove and is late throwing to 2nd. That would have ended the inning. Hamilton followed the Everett error with a flare to left that drove in 2 and gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead.

Justin's line: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 8 SO.

Placido had a nice game with 2 doubles, but it continues to concern me that he is getting too many hits to left field. This trend seemed to start in 2008 and has continued in 2009. He pulls the ball too much.

Nate has pitched outstanding out of the pen for the most of this season. Today was no exception as he faced 6 batters and got them all out. Really good.

Fernando Rodney was awesome to get his first save. 3 batters faced and 3 K's. Wow. The mix of a 96 MPH fastball and 81 MPH changeup is fantastic. He just needs to keep mixing them up properly.

Laird called another great game. The Rangers only had 2 hits!

Game 5 : Record 2-3

2009-04-10T16:01:00.003-04:00

Opening Day Massacre

What a great game for the Tigers today. Galarraga was awesome and Miguel continued his impressive start.

Galarraga: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO

Career high in strike outs for Armando. He was in total control the whole game and was fun to watch him kill the Rangers, who have a good offensive team.

Miguel drove in 6, including a huge grand slam that turned a lead into a rout. He is hitting .611!!!

Lost stat in the offensive explosion....ZERO errors today! Good defense all the way around. Brandon made a tremendous play early in the game and even Carlos made a nice play in LF.

Nice win. Now, lets win the series.

Game 4 : Record 1-3

2009-04-09T17:35:00.004-04:00

My new least favorite player is Adam Everett. Who's NOT your Tiger? They sign this guy for defense, bat him at the bottom of the order and he can neither hit nor defend to save his life so far. Two more misplays today. Neither were errors, but so what. He makes a nice diving stop on one ball but is unable to even make a throw, then drops the ball when trying to turn two. Not happy with him. If the guy cannot hit and they do not expect him to hit, then just play Santiago at SS everyday and let this guy be the backup.

Porcello was impressive in his major league debut today. His line: 5.0 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO. Not great, but not too bad for a 20 year old in his first start. He gave up two long balls which hurt and of course, the bullpen allowed one of his runners to score.

Miguel had another hit, going 1 for 3 to drop his average to .615. Not too bad. Curtis went deep for the 2nd time this young season.

Key points in the game:
Top of the 3rd when the Tigers left the bases loaded.
Top of the 4th when Santiago reached on infield single, then Everett doubled but Santiago was thrown out at home. Everett advanced to third on the play at the plate, but Curtis struck out to end the inning.

Too many missed opportunities.

Of course, the game effectively ended in the bottom of the 6th when the score changed from 2-2 to 6-2 on a couple home runs and a long double (off 3 different pitchers).

Game 3 : Record 1-2

2009-04-08T22:06:00.002-04:00

Miner & Cabrera to the rescue!

Miguel has had an outstanding start to the 2009 season and so has Brandon Inge. Miguell hit a 3 run bomb in the first inning to stake the Tigers to a 3-0 lead, then hit an absolute monster solo shot to center field in the 5th. He is hitting an incredible .700 in the young season.

Brandon added his 3rd HR of the season in the 6th to end the scoring.

Zach started out with a very shaky first inning where he gave up 1 run and stranded 2 more when the inning ended. But, he worked through it and located his pitches better from the 2nd inning onward.

Miner's final line: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO. Really, really good job.

I liked having Santiago at SS. He is better defensively than almost anybody, including Adam Everett and can hit better than we all tend to think.

Cannot wait to see Porcello pitch tomorrow night. His fellow fireballing rookie, Ryan Perry made his major league debut tonight and pitched an impressive 1-2-3 8th inning. He threw in the upper 90's the majority of his pitches, but threw a number of off speed pitches also. Very nice to see somebody come out of the pen and just shut the door. Also nice to see Rodney pitch an uneventful ninth inning.

Game 2 : Record 0-2

2009-04-07T21:24:00.003-04:00

Thank you bullpen for screwing up this game. Thank you Brandon Lyon for ruining my night, for pissing me off and for putting the Tigers in an 0-2 hole to start the season.

A masterful outing by Edwin Jackson was spoiled.

Jackson's line: 7.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO. Outstanding game in his Tigers debut until he was pulled after only 89 pitches in the 8th with a 3-0 lead. Bobby Seay came in to get one quick out and then Mr Lyon made his Tigers debut with much different results than Jackson.

Give up lead on a 3 run HR, check.
Watch Brandon Inge hit a monster HR in the top of the 9th to tie the game and temporarily save your butt cheeks, check.
Blow the game a second time in the bottom of the ninth, check.

Positives from tonight: Edwin Jackson, Miguel Cabrera, Brandon Inge.
Negatives: Lyon, defense (one huge error by Inge), 16 men left on base.

Ugh.

Game 1 : Record 0-1

2009-04-06T20:08:00.000-04:00

Verlander was throwing heat from the beginning, but had to throw way too many pitches. Was consistently in the upper 90's, which is a good sign, but the Jays were locked in on him and were hitting him pretty hard. He threw 62 pitches through 3 innings.

Final line for Justin: 3.2 IP, 8 H, 2 BB, 8 ER.

First 2 AB's were good for Curtis (BB and HR), followed by two horrible AB's by Placido (GIDP, pop out).

Halladay was impressive as usual. His final line: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 1 BB on 99 pitches.

Defense was not good. 2 big errors. Everett was supposed to be here for his defensive stability at SS and made a huge error.

Nice game by Brandon and Curtis. OK game by Bonine, although his first batter effectively ended the game at 9-1. Other than those guys, I give everybody else an F.

How about the classy those classy Toronto fans, littering the field with garbage and baseballs in the 8th inning with their team ahead 12-5? Pathetic. They seemed to be giving Anderson the business the whole game and he appeared to be the target of the baseball thrown on the field. Why? What did the kid do? Was this just a bunch of drunken a-holes or was their some give and take?

First Inning of 2009

2009-04-06T19:28:00.000-04:00

Lets see how many bad things happened in the first inning.

1. Polanco hits into a DP.
2. Justin throws too many pitches even in the guys he got out.
3. Justin hits a batter.
4. Magglio has an error.
5. Gave up 4 runs.
6. Trail 4-0 after 1 inning.

Bad pitching, poor defense and really bad situational hitting. Just like 2008.

2009 AL Central Prediction

2009-04-06T16:11:00.000-04:00

Optimistic prediction

Tigers 94-68
White Sox 90-72
Indians 90-72
Twins 85-77
Royals 65-97

Realistic prediction

Indians 93-69
Tigers 89-73
White Sox 87-75
Twins 87-75
Royals 71-91

Pessimistic prediction

Indians 95-67
White Sox 89-73
Tigers 88-74
Twins 87-75
Royals 70-92

Super Pessimistic prediction

Indians 95-67
White Sox 89-73
Twins 85-77
Tigers 80-82
Royals 70-92

Season opens tonight in Toronto!!!!!

2009-04-06T10:45:00.000-04:00

First pitch in approximately 8 hours!

Good thing the game is not in Detroit tonight as we have a few inches of snow on the ground and the NCAA Championship Game is right next door at Ford Field.

Tonight, Justin Verlander tries to get the season off to a good start.

Lets go Tigers, Lets go!

2006 versus 2009: Pitching Staff

2009-04-04T10:48:00.000-04:00

2006 Starting Rotation

Kenny Rogers
Jeremy Bonderman
Nate Robertson
Mike Maroth (later Zach Miner)
Justin Verlander

Projected 2009 Opening Day Rotation

Justin Verlander
Edwin Jackson
Armando Galarraga
Rick Porcello
Zach Miner

Total number of wins by the 6 starters listed above in 2006: 73

If the 5 starters plus Bonderman approach that number in 2009, we will be in very good shape.

Here are my guesses for wins in 2009:
Verlander: 16
Jackson: 13
Galarraga : 15
Porcello: 5
Miner: 5
Bonderman: ?

Total without Bonderman: 54. If Jeremy can come back strong and wins 10-12 games, this makes the number jump to the mid 60's, which is much better. If he cannot, then I see this as a major dropoff from 2006.

The bullpen in 2006 was outstanding. They had 46 saves, 16 blown saves and 75 holds. Can this years group match that? Can Brandon Lyon match Todd Jones numbers from 2006 (37 saves and 6 blown saves)? Will Joel come back and be productive? Can Ryan Perry be a consistent major leaguer and fill the Zumaya role? These guys will have their opportunities.

The staff ERA in 2006 was 3.85, WHIP was 1.318 and opponents batting average was .257. It seems unlikely that they'll be able to match these numbers this year. However, it comes down to whether Justin can be dominate again & whether Jeremy can come back and be good. Also, will Porcello be a productive starter at the age of 20 and what happens in the 5th spot.

Overall, it seems like Kenny, Justin, Zach and Jeremy all had good -to- great years in 2006 that the guys in those spots probably will not be able to match. Justin is capable of winning 20 games, but the way he pitched last year, I do not see it. If he starts consistently pitching in the high 90's and occasionally touching 100, then he has a shot. However, I haven't seen him do that since his no-hitter in 2007.

Advantage: 2006

2009 Rotation

2009-04-01T13:28:00.000-04:00

Based on what I have heard today, the Tigers 2009 Starting Rotation at the beginning of the season is set. It will be an all right handed rotation.

Verlander
Galarraga
Jackson
Porcello

and the coveted 5th spot goes to....Zach Miner.

Nate Robertson evidently will be working out of the pen, unless they plan to release him and eat his contract also.

As I have said previously, I have serious concerns about Miner but I am rooting for him and hope he does well. Seems like it will be a start-by-start tryout for Zach. Especially if Nate pitches well in relief.

Roster is coming together

2009-04-01T11:26:00.000-04:00

Roster moves today:

Porcello will start the season in the rotation.
Ryan Perry will start the season in the bullpen.
Raburn and Rapada sent down to Toledo.
Hessman placed on waivers. If he clears waivers, it sounds like he will look for work in Japan before accepting the minor league stint in Toledo. Do not blame him one bit.

When Jeremy Bonderman went on the DL, it opened the door for Porcello and he walked through it by having some very good spring training outings. Good for him. Congratulations young man! Welcome to the big leagues.

By all accounts, Perry was one of the most impressive youngsters in camp this year. He earned his spot in Detroit from the beginning of spring training and did not require an injury to make it. Double congrats!

Will Porcello and Perry turn into Verlander/Zumaya from 2006? Will it be enough? What if they are Verlander/Zumaya AND we get the real Justin and Joel back this year? Can't let myself think of that possibility...too good to think about....must resist the thought.

Enough about Sheffield's contract

2009-03-31T17:39:00.000-04:00

After a full day of listening to sports radio and reading a few blogs, I have to say the following with passion:

I do not care about the 14 million dollars that they have to pay Sheffield to not play!

There, I said it. This was a good baseball decision. They are a better team today than they were yesterday and I do not give one little iota about the money. Why should I? There is no salary cap in baseball and Illich will not raise ticket prices this year (I already have my tickets anyway).

DD, Leyland and crew should be making decisions 100% based on what makes them a better team and zero percent based on money. This decision confirms that they agree with this notion and that makes me feel good about the brain trust of this organization.

Sheffield used to be a feared power hitter. Now, he is just a decoy who will occasionally hit one out. Not often enough to justify a place in the lineup everyday. If Marcus Thames gets the AB's that Sheffield would have gotten, he'll hit 30-35 HR where Sheffield would have hit 15-20. If Carlos Guillen gets a lot of starts at DH instead of LF, then he might play 130 games instead of 110 games.

They are a better team because of this move!

Tigers release Sheffield!!!

2009-03-31T10:45:00.000-04:00

The Tigers released underachieving DH Gary Sheffield today when he is just 1 HR shy of historic number 500.

I believe that his shows Tigers management does not care about the attention that will come with #500. I think this shines a good light on DD and the skipper.

What does it mean for the lineup?

Will Marcus be the everyday DH?
Will Carlos be the DH and newly acquired outfielder Josh Anderson play everyday in LF?

More to come....

2006 versus 2009: The Outfield

2009-03-25T18:18:00.000-04:00

Left Field: Monroe versus Guillen

Craig's numbers for 2006: 28 HR, 92 RBI, .255 BA, .301 OBP. These were career numbers for him that he will never match again.Career averages for Carlos: 15 HR, 82 RBI, .290 BA, .360 OBP.

Another big stat from 2006 is that Craig played 147 games. There is NO WAY that Carlos Guillen's body will hold up long enough to match that. He will play probably 110-120 games.

Advantage: 2006

Center Field: Granderson versus Granderson

Curtis continues to improve and cut-down on his strikeouts. He had 174 SO's in 2006, 141 in 2007 and 111 in 2008. This is a very positive trend for a great young player. Curtis is and should be the face of the franchise. He is outstanding defensively and good offensively.

Advantage: 2009

Right Field: Ordonez versus Ordonez

Magglio is hard to judge. His 2006 numbers were: 24 HR, 104 RBI and .298 BA. He is a career .312 hitter and that .298 number is probably his basement. Magglio is a pure hitter and when he is smoking it to the right-center gap, he is unstoppable. I expect him to have another year in the neighborhood of .320 with 100 RBI. He will not have as many RBI opportunities hitting out of the three hole, but with Granderson and Polanco ahead of him, he'll have plenty of shots and he will do what is expected.

Advantage: 2009

Overall, I would give the edge to 2009 because Curtis will be better than he was in 2006 and Magglio will put up better numbers than he did in 2006. However, there will be a huge dropoff in both defensive prowess and the offensive production in left field. Carlos will not play all year and his numbers will not match what Craig did that fantastic year.