Game 77 Recap

Tigers 5 Rangers 2

Todd Jones can indeed pitch a 1-2-3 inning in a save situation. Yes, I know refrains along the lines of blind squirrels finds nuts and sun shining on dog's behinds will greet that statement. But it does occur every now and again. Kenny Rogers scoreless streak ended at 11 innings after surrendering a sac fly in the 6th inning of this afternoons game. Gary Sheffield ended his 14 game home run drought with a insurance 2 run shot in the 7th. Sean Casey is just one point below .300, and might have gotten that hit to push him over instead of two intentional walks had the pop fly machine Craig Monroe not been hitting behind him. Bottom line, Tigers notched a win when they needed one, and that's all that matters.

Tiger Hero:
Carlos Guillen. Has been coming up with clutch at bats all year, today was no exception.

Tiger Zero:
C-MO for 4. The only Tiger not to reach base. Nine walks were issues by Texas pitchers and Craig never got past a 3 pitch at bat.

Tigers Record:
W - L
46 - 31
1st Place AL Central (Cleveland 0.5 GB)

The Tigers have an interesting weekend with two intriguing pitching match-ups; Justin Verlander vs. Johan Santana in a battle of two likely AL Cy Young candidates, then two outstanding young prospects in Kevin Slowey vs. Andrew Miller. They also get the national spotlight again with the afternoon game on Saturday (which I'll be at and more than likely blamed for the loss), and ESPN on Sunday. Par for the course with the last couple of weekends so the recaps will be scattered throughout.

Game 76 Recap

Tigers 6 Rangers 9

I have been there for 8 of the Tigers 15 home losses, so I'm used to the bullpen blowing leads...but twice in the same game? Todd Jones will take all the heat for this one, but Craig Monroe seriously needs to get his act together. The line drive in the 7th was hit right at him. Maybe since he refers to himself in the third person,the only thing I can think of is that he was hoping that extra guy would help him catch it. That was unforgivable laziness on his part. Say what you will about the bullpen, but at least they're trying. I sure would like to see Sheffield or Thames starting in left tomorrow to send a message to Craig. Unfrickingbelivable...

Tiger Hero:
Sean Casey. 3 for 4 and drove in half of the Tigers runs.

Tiger Zero:
Grilli, Byrdak, C-MO, and Jones, ruined a good night for Nate

Tigers Record:
W - L
45 - 31

Game 75 Recap

Tigers 3 Rangers 8

While the Tigers can't win them all, losses like this aren't particularly fun to watch. In what looked like an audition to not get sent down to Toledo when Nate Robertson returns tomorrow, Jim Leyland trotted out Macay McBride and Eulogio De La Cruz out to face the Rangers in the 8th and 9th innings. McBride held his own striking out one while allowing two hits. The run credited to him was one of four surrendered by De La Cruz. DLC did his best Fernando Rodney impression tonight. He was erratic, the runner he inherited moved to first to third on two consecutive errant pitches. He imploded, allowing three runs to score off of three hits, one being a home run by Jerry Hairston. Then, after all the smoke cleared he got a strikeout to end the inning. Jeremy Bonderman took his first loss of the season, based in part to his recent trend of moving the patented first inning blowup to later in the game. This game is was in the third. The Rangers took a page out of the Tigers playbook scoring 4 runs on Jeremy Bonderman with 2 outs in the inning, all hits were singles. The inning was extended by a throwing error by Bondo, but was ended with a nice throw from the outfield by Craig Monroe.

Tiger Hero:
Curtis Granderson. Another triple to brings his MLB leading total to 14.

Tiger Zero:
Eulogio De La Cruz. After this performance it's looking like Frankie goes to Toledo

Tigers Record
W - L
45 - 30
1st Place AL Central (Cleveland 1 GB)


Tomorrow's game features Nate Robertson return to the mound. As you may recall, Nate's 6 run first inning vs. the Rangers on June 5th was the last time we saw Nate in action. For what it's worth I'll be there first hand to see if Nate's "tired arm" has healed.

Game 73 & Game 74 Recaps

Game 73

Tigers 2 Braves 1

Game 74

Tigers 5 Braves 0

I don't care if Atlanta batters have been struggling, what the Tigers pitching staff did this weekend was impressive. In the three game sweep, Tiger hurlers allowed 1 run, on 13 hits, while walking only 7 and striking out 25. These type of performances are what the Tigers need to keep them atop the AL Central for the long run.
Some quick notes:

• Carlos Guillen drove in 4 of the Tigers 12 runs this weekend, going 4 for 9.
• The Tigers 3-4-5 hitters went 12 for 35
• Chad Durbin in his first relief appearance pitcher 3 scoreless innings, scattering two hits while getting three strikeouts. Plus he recorded a save and his first career RBI with a sacrifice fly.
• The Tiger bullpen pitched 9 scoreless innings, allowing only 6 base runners (3 hits and 3 BB) while getting 7 K's.
• The Tigers are at home until the All-Star Break, where hopefully more than a few Tigers will maker the trip to San Francisco. Vote NOW!!!! (25 votes per e-mail!)

Tigers Record:
W - L
45 - 29
1st Place AL Central (Cleveland 2 GB)

Game 72 Recap

Tigers 5 Braves 0

The Tigers showed that they had confidence in Kenny Rogers, dealing away Mike Maroth hours before Rogers was to make his first start since the World Series. Rogers repaid that confidence with one of the best pitching performance this year by a Tiger. Kenny started off kind of shaky, hitting lead off batter Kelly Johnson on the first pitch. He pulled himself together and only allowed two more Atlanta batters to reach base the rest of the six innings he pitched. The Tiger bats exploded for a five run 6th inning, with all five runs coming with two outs, to give Rogers the lead. The bullpen took over and was nearly perfect, with only one batter reaching base with a walk. It's games like these that have to scare the crap out of the rest of the AL.

Tiger Hero:
Kenny Rogers, Jason Grilli, Bobby Seay and Eulogio De La Cruz. Two hits, one walk and a HBP. That's all these guys allowed.

Tiger Zero:
Sean Casey. He's been hot of late, but today was the only Tiger (pitchers excluded) that didn't get a hit.

Tigers Record:
W - L
43 -29
1st Place AL Central (Cleveland 1 GB...Thank you Nationals!)

So About that Extra Spot in the Rotation...

Everyone knows that Kenny Rogers comes off the DL, and into the starting rotation tomorrow in Atlanta. What is uncertain is the situation of the rest of the pitchers on the roster. The first move is most likely new acquisition Macay McBride to Toledo, as he's not even listed on the team depth chart. Even with that move, the Tigers rotation features six starters, with a seventh (Nate Robertson who was pitching a no-hitter in Erie before he hit his pitch limit) returning soon. Andrew Miller is a starter and should continue to start...in the minors. Miller needs that full year a la Justin Verlander to build up that arm strength that will carry him thorough the 2008 season.

That still leaves 5 spots for 6 pitchers. Chad Durbin I think will win that fifth spot for two reasons: 1) he's pitched well enough to deserve it. 2)I think Mike Maroth would get more in a trade than Durbin. So what to do with Mike Maroth, who has been trade fodder ever since Kenny Rogers' first rehab outing? Well The Tigers certainly picked a great time to have a pitching surplus, as many teams across the majors have pitchers taking trips to the DL, so here's a few teams and scenarios that I've been bouncing around.

Los Angeles Dodgers:
They just lost Jason Schmidt for the season and have a wealth of bullpen talent. So could the Tigers get Jon Broxton or Chad Billingsley for Mike Maroth? Only if David Dombrowski has pictures of Dodger GM Ned Coletti in a very unflattering situation. The best Maroth could drum up is probably Brett Tomko or Rudy Seanez, who are basically are right handed Mike Maroths.

Atlanta Braves:
Having just dealt Wil Ledezma to them, I don't see the Braves in the market for another Tiger lefty. Atlanta will probably set their sights on Chicago's Mark Buerhle for that help in the rotation. But in a perfect world, wouldn't it be nice to see the Braves repay the Tigers for the Smoltz-Alexander trade with a Maroth for prized catching prospect Jarrod Saltamacchia deal?

Florida Marlins:

Could Dombroski strike a deal with his former employer to send Maroth to the Fish to give Dontrelle Willis some veteran back-up to fuel a playoff push? Marlin pitchers have been on and off the DL all year, having Maroth around to eat up some inning in a spacious ballpark could be intriguing for the Marlins. Florida is 7 games back of the NL Wild Card mostly due to the hot start of the teams out west. But they sit only 4.5 games back of first in the NL East. If they stay close, they could be buyers at the trade deadline. Unfortunately Maroth might be lost in the shuffle by then. If Florida showed some interest the guy I'd go after is Henry Owens. He was the Marlins closer earlier this year, but lost his job to injury to Kevin Gregg. If he is healthy he could be a good 7th-8th inning set-up man.

Toronto Blue Jays:
The Jays have 3 starters on the DL, and relievers such as Casey Janssen, Scott Downs, or Jeremy Accardo could be had for the right price. Had B.J. Ryan not been hurt for the year the a deal might be made. We can always hope that Manager John Gibbons gets mad and challenges one of them to a fight, then they could be had cheap.

St Louis Cardinals:
The pitching staff is in bad shape. How bad? Kip Wells with his 11 losses and 6.75 ERA is listed as the #1 starter. Compared to Kip Wells, Mike Maroth would seem like Johan Santana. With the pitching staff is such a horrid state, I wouldn't really want a pitcher in return. Who then? Well how about Chris Duncan. the power hitting lefty had been converted to an outfielder and has made a few mistakes in the outfield. His natural position? Why it's first base. I know Sean Casey's started to turn things around, but if the Tigers could get a guy who's splitting time with Juan Encarnacion and Ryan Ludwick, and has hit 13 home runs in 58 games this year and a career .349 OBP. This deal probably won't happen due to Jim Edmonds injury, but hey to make it happen I'd even thrown in Marcus Thames.

So that's what I have. Who knows where or even if Maroth will go anywhere. He's a good guy and having suffered through the rough times, It'd be nice to see him on the field if the Tigers make it back to the World Series this year. But if trading him means the Tigers are better equipped to win it all, then see you later Mike.

On Deck:
Out and about again this weekend. I'm hoping I'll be able to watch Kenny's return tomorrow. More than likely I'll have to weekend recap sometime after Sunday night's game or Monday.

Game 71 Recap

Tigers 8 Nationals 4

The story of the day coming into the game was the trade of Wil Ledezma to the Braves for lefty Macay McBride. The move basically was a trading a guy that had done well in the past, has potential, but has struggled lately, for a guy that had done well in the past, has potential, but has struggled lately. The only difference is McBride is two years younger and can be sent to the minors. Not the lefty pitcher we thought would be moving *cough*mikemaroth*cough*, but with shots of Dave Dombrowski chatting on the phone during the game, and an off day tomorrow, I'm sure the moves aren't finished. As for the game itself, things pretty much stayed static with the Tigers racking up hits on Nationals pitching. Only two extra base hits out of the Tigers 13 today though. Maggs went 3 for 4, lifting his batting average to .383, up 13 points from the start of this series. As for the Bullpen, well other than Jonesy's Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day, wasn't that bad. Subtract Jones performance, and the bullpen had a stat line of 7 hits, 3 walks, 1 run, 7 strikeouts in 10 innings pitched. Four of those runs came tonight.
Let's just hope the Tigers keep the pitching and hitting up when they head into Atlanta to face a Braves team who were just outscored 15-0 in their last two games vs. the Red Sox.

Tiger Hero:
Omar Infante. His marathon at bat in which he fouled off 8 pitches, ended up with an RBI single and kept the bases loaded and allowed the Tigers to score three more runs that inning.


Tiger Zero:
Fernando Rodney. He shall be known from here on out as WTFernando. His pitches were scatter shot as he took over for Tim Byrdak and promptly added two runners with a walk and a plunking. Ronnie Belliard represented the tying run at the plate before hitting a deep fly ball to get Rodney out of the inning.

Tigers Record:
W - L
42 - 29
Tied 1st Place AL Central

Game 70 Recap

Tigers 15 Nationals 1

Chad Durbin made his case for his continued inclusion in the rotation with a five hit, five strikeout performance; and only allowing one run over 6 innings pitched. Strange things were afoot at the Circle (RF)K all night starting with Wil Ledezma loading the bases, but not surrendering a run. This an inning after he struck out the side. Sean Casey finally got his first home run of the year and drove in 4 to lead the Tigers in RBIs for the night. Magglio Ordonez hit his 34th double of the year, putting him halfway there to breaking the record of 67 in a season, with 92 games left to go. By the way he's hitting .377!!!! yet still trails Ichiro by about 78,000 votes for the final outfield spot. So while your stuffing the ballot box for Polanco, make sure to add your vote for Maggs.

Tiger Hero:
Sean Casey. Not only did he hit his first HR of the year and drive in four, he passed Jason Giambi for (a distant) third in All Star voting

Tiger Zero:
1st Base umpire Mike Everitt. Yeah the Tiger were up 13-1 at the time, but come on Neifi Perez needs all the help he can get.

Tigers Record:
W - L
41 - 29
Tied 1st Place AL Central

Game 69 Recap

Tigers 9 Nationals 8

Uh, guys, you know you can win a game without drama every once and a while, right? Todd Jones was within seconds of going Three Mile Island tonight, but somehow he got through the ninth with the Tigers ahead. Part of it seemed the Nats were swinging at everything. Thanks to the miracle of MLB Gameday we can see why. Jones had only two pitches outside of the strike zone. When facing a .174, .217, and .234 hitters I'd say that's a pretty good strategy...except when those pitches you're throwing in the strike zone are in the exact same spot. Three of the five hits Jones surrendered that was the case. The triple looked to be an inside pitch that didn't break and Zimmerman's single he was swinging on the first pitch. As bad as Jones looked, the only guy he came close to walking was Ronnie Belliard, who grounded into the final out. Usually when Jones throws strikes, everything works out. But tonight those strikes, became easy to hit pitches, and almost ruined what was a good night for the Tigers Bullpen. Speaking of that bullpen...look who's here: The Eulgoogoolizer. Eulogio De La Cruz made his major league debut tonight. He showed he had the stuff (well as much as you can one inning into you're major league career against the Nationals) to play the Joel Zumaya part in the pen, until the big guy gets back. So maybe finally some good news for the bullpen?

Tiger Hero:
Carlos Guillen. Yes he did have an error in game, but he drove in three and made two great plays, one to get Nook Logan, and another one on what ending up being the game ending ground ball

Tiger Zero:
Pudge: the only 0fer of the starters, that includes the pitcher Mike Maroth.

Tigers Record:
W - L
40 - 29
2nd Place AL Central (1 GB Cleveland)

Weekend Round-Up

Game 66
Tigers 12 Phillies 8

Game 67
Tigers 3 Phillies 6

Game 68
Tigers 7 Phillies 4

The Tigers spent their weekend in the city of brotherly love, while mine was spent with future brother-in-laws and family. The Tigers started the weekend with a bang, with 12 runs in the first game of the series. The also went out with a bang, scoring 5 runs in the 7th inning of the series finale yesterday. While they weren't able to figure out Jaime Moyer on Saturday, the did win a series against a team who play well at home, and had just won 8 of 11 before entering the weekend with the Tigers.

Game 65 Recap

Tigers 5 Brewers 6

Had to listen to listen to this on on the radio today. I came perilously close to turning it off when Wil Ledezma balked in a run, and again when a Ledezma wild pitch allowed another run to score. But i hung it there and was almost rewarded with a comeback in the ninth. Almost, because with the tying run 90 feet away and only one out, Craig Monroe was unable to make contact with the ball for the 5th time of the day. While most of the bats that have struggled earlier in the season have come around, Monroe is still struggling. Maybe in an attempt to change things up he has adopted that Sheffieldesque bat waggle in his stance. It doesn't seem to be working, and after today 5 K's Craig sits one back of B.J Upton for the AL lead in strikeouts. With the Tigers heading to NL parks for the next nine games We might be seeing more of Gary Sheffield patrolling left field.

Tiger Hero:
Magglio Ordonez. Another double and Maggs drove in 3 of the Tigers 5 runs.

Tiger Zero:
Craig Monroe. Tied a team record with 5 strikeouts in a 9 inning game.

Tigers Record:
W - L
37 - 28
2nd place AL Central (2 GB Cleveland)

Game 64 Recap

Tigers 2 Brewers 3

Yet another game I attend where the bullpen lets it get away. I saw Bill Hall's home run sail directly over my head and land several rows back.If you look at the highlights of it, you'll see me...I'm the guy at the bottom of the picture in the gray hat with the Granderson t-shirt and the slumped shoulders. I don't know what's worse, that the bullpen blew another one, or that Chris Spurling got the win.

NO HITTER!!!!! (a.k.a. Game 63 Recap)

Tigers 4 Brewers 0

Justin Verlander armed with nuclear heat and wifilurty breaking balls, etched a spot in Tigers history with his performance tonight. Racking up a career best 12 strikeouts, and backed with great defensive plays by Magglio and Neifi (I just bought myself a couple more months in a Tiger uni) Perez; Verlander joined Jack Morris, Virgil Trucks, George Mullin, and Sen. Jim Bunning as the only Tigers to throw no hitters. I watched the whole game, but the ninth inning I had teh same feeling that took hold when I was watching Game 4 of the ALDS. That nervous countdown of every out from the seventh inning on. The gasp and relief when every swing missed, or tossed a ball harmlessly towards a waiting glove. The fist pumps of every strikeout and amazing play. I'll be honest, I was doing other things with the game as background noise, but once I heard Verlander had 7 strikeouts through 4 innings, I pulled up a chair. After 7 innings, I was calling friends to see if they were watching this. After that amazing double play to end the 8th, I wondered how he couldn't get it. After the final out, like Jim Leyland, I had a little lump in my throat, knowing I had just seen history.

Vote Early, and Often

A busy weekend prevented me from posting this earlier, but Scott from The Cutoff Man and Quo Vadimus has started a campaign to depose Yankee Robinson Cano at the top of the polls for the starting 2nd basemen for the AL in the All-Star game. As of tonight, so far so good. Placido has jumped into the lead at 2nd base. So keep at it denizens of Tiger Town, and while your at it cast a vote for Maggs, and a write in for Curtis Granderson as well.

Go here to vote

Image from Quo Vadimus

Game 61

The Tigers look to bounce back today after last night's let down. And they'll need to if they want to keep pace in the AL Central. Cleveland plays Cincinnati, who holds the worst record in the NL. This time their Saturday game is the featured national game on FOX...take that Roger Clemens' "comeback" game. Let's hope the Tigers can play like they deserve the attention. Especially with myself being one of the 40,000 that's going to be there in person.

Pitchers:
Tigers - Jeremy Bonderman RHP (5-0, 3.27 ERA)
Mets - Oliver Perez LHP (4-2, 2.80)

Post-Game:

Tigers 8 Mets 7

Fans nationwide got a glimpse in to the roller coaster ride that the bullpen has become this year. The tigers survived a three run 7th, where the Mets brought 9 batter to the plate, but left the bases loaded. Fernando Rodney also gave up a home run to David wright to lead off the 8th, but settled down and struck out 2 to get out of the inning with the Tigers still in the lead. Todd Jones was a few inches from getting a 1-2-3 inning with 2 strikeouts. My Preseason NL MVP candidate, Carlos Delgado, was the Tigers MVP by hitting an inning ending groundout in the 7th, and a game ending one in the 9th.

Tiger Hero:
Carlos Guillen and Placido Polanco. Guillen's three run homer put the Tigers in the bottom of the first. Polly's 4 for 5 day raised his average 10 points to .345

Tiger Zero:
Omar Infante. I don;t know how it looked at home, but he seems lost in centerfield today. And if he's not going to hit lefties, I don't see why Granderson can't start no matter who's on the mound.

Tigers Record:
W - L
35 - 26

Game 60 Recap

Tigers 0 Mets 3

After Having success shutting down a Sosa in Texas, the Tigers ran into another Sosa that returned the favor. Jorge Sosa and Billy Wagner combined on the first shutout of the Tigers this year. The Tigers shouldn't feel special, Sosa has been doing that to teams all year. He's only allowed more than 2 runs a game once all season. I'd hadn't heard much about this guy coming into the game, and I knew he had a great year a couple years ago, but he's has been outstanding this year. I can't believe a guy pitching like this, in New York isn't getting a little more hype.
Chad Durbin gets the hard luck loss, his first since the first game he pitched this year. Hopefully the Tiger bats were just a little groggy from their early morning arrival back into Detroit.

Tiger Hero:
Chad Durbin. He kept the game close just in case the Tiger bats ever got to Sosa.

Tiger Zero:
Carlos Guillen. Still struggling, and struck out 3 times in the game.

Tigers Record:
W - L
34 - 26
2nd Place AL Central (2.5 GB Cleveland)

Game 59 Recap

Tigers 11 Rangers 4

The day started off pretty good for the Tigers. With the 27th pick of the draft the Tigers selected Rick Porcello, a pitcher regarded by many experts as one of the top prospects in the draft. Largely because of this, Fox Sports' Dayn Perry (who predicted the Tigers wild card last year) says the Tigers had the best day one of the draft. Ian at Bless You Boys has all the draft day details you could ever ask for. As for Porcello, this wasn't some Brady Quinnesque draft day slide, this is like the Chicago Bears getting Calvin Johnson. Because of Porcello's choice of agent (Scott Boras) many teams passed on him due to the price he might demand. Mike Illich has no qualms about opening up the checkbook (funny how a 119 loss season changes your philosophy) and because of this The Tigers have seen the best players in the draft fall to them in the past two years.

As for that guy they picked last year, Andrew Miller will be rejoining the team after Nate Robertson's "tired arm" earned him a stint on the DL. Miller will face off against future Hall of Famer Tom Glavine on Sunday. In a strange quick of scheduling, Miller's next start will be against another 40+ year old lefty in Jamie Moyer.

Tonight game was a continuation on the offensive outburst of yesterday's game. Another game scoring and recording hits in double digits. Brandon Inge should break his toe more often. Since returning from his injury he is 5 for 11, with 5 RBIs. Gary Sheffield hit another home run and has as many hits in the past 10 games as he did in the month of April. Lets hope the Tigers can keep the bats on fire as the NY Mets come into town this weekend, fresh off of getting swept by Philadelphia.

Tiger Hero:
Curtis Granderson. Two triples and 3RBI tonigh for Curtis. I think Curtis should start showing up in the line-up even if a lefty is on the mound.

Tiger Zero:
Carlos Guillen. Unlike Inge, Carlos hasn't really rebounded from his injury. He only had one hit in this series which the Tigers recorded 40 hits

Tigers Record:
W - L
34 - 25
2nd Place AL Central (2.5 GB Cleveland)

Game 58

Let's try this good team beating up a bad team thing again. Things should be different this game. Justin Verlander is coming off of his worst start of the season, but was pretty stellar in the month of May besides his last start. Kevin Millwood is making his second start after returning from the DL. In his last 5 starts Kevin Millwood is 0-3 with an 8.87 ERA and a .336 opponent batting average.

Line-ups:

Detroit (32-25)
C Granderson CF
P Polanco 2B
G Sheffield DH
M Ordonez RF
C Guillen SS
I Rodriguez C
S Casey 1B
C Monroe LF
B Inge 3B

Texas (21-37)
K Lofton CF
M Young SS
M Teixeira 1B
S Sosa DH
F Catalanotto LF
M Byrd LF
I Kinsler 2B
G Laird C
R Vasquez 3B

Pitchers:
Tigers - Justin Verlander RHP (5-2, 3.44 ERA)
Rangers - Kevin Millwood RHP (2-4, 6.69 ERA)

Post-game:

Tigers 10 Rangers 0

And that's how things are supposed to happen. The Tigers scored in the double digits for the 12th time this season. Gary Sheffield went crazy...on the field this time, driving in half of the Tigers runs. Magglio Ordonez set a new team record for doubles before the All-Star break, with his 29th. Curtis Granderson added another triple, extending his major league high total to 10. Justin Verlander's curveball it was wicked, it was filthy, it was durty, it was...wifilurty. That curve ball was the pitch that recorded strike three in all of his 6 k's on the night. Bobby Seay and Todd Jones turned in 1-2-3 8th and 9th innings to preserve the Tigers second shutout of the year.

Tiger Hero:
Gary Sheffield. No one in the AL has more home runs since May 1st than Sheff.

Tiger Zero:
Craig Monroe. One of two Tiger starters with an 0fer, but Sean Casey had a pretty sweet grab of a foul ball leaning into the stands.

Tigers Record:
W - L
33 - 25
2nd Place AL Central (2.5 GB Cleveland)

Game 57

The Tigers head into Arlington facing, record-wise, the worst team in the majors. This isn't a team to be taken lightly, they lead the AL in home runs hit, but then again only the White Sox and Royals have worse OBP than Texas, so a lot of those home runs aren't doing a great deal of damage. Even if Tiger pitchers struggle to keep Ranger batters off the basepaths, Ranger pitching does a great job of giving those runs back. Texas' team ERA is one of two team ERAs above 5.00 (Tampa Bay being the other). Maybe Pudge Rodriguez will get his 3rd walk of the year as well, the Rangers are third in the majors in walks allowed. In injury news, Carlos Guillen and Brandon Inge return to the line-up today, and Vance Wilson begins a rehab stint in Toledo.

Line-Ups:

Detroit (32-24)
O Infante CF
P Polanco 2B
G Sheffield DH
M Ordonez RF
C Guillen SS
I Rodriguez C
M Thames 1B
C Monroe LF
B Inge 3B


Texas (20-37)
J Hairston Jr. CF
M Young SS
M Teixeira 1B
S Sosa DH
V Diaz LF
M Byrd RF
I Kinsler 2B
G Laird C
R Vasquez 3B

Pitchers:
Tigers - Nate Robertson LHP (4-5, 4.25 ERA)
Rangers - John Rheinecker LHP (No record)

Post-game:

Tigers 4 Rangers 7

Nate Robertson did not heed my advice. After allowing a lead-off single, he walked the bases loaded, then a single and grand slam later, and he was down 5-0 after facing five batters. A triple to the sixth hitter he faced ended his night. The Tiger bats mounted a comeback and cut the lead in half after the 2nd. But wasted opportunities came back to haunt them. They left five runners in scoring position with one out or less. It's not like the bullpen didn't give them every opportunity to get back in it. Jason Grilli, Zach Miner, and Tim Byrdak combined for 7 shutout inning, giving up only five hits and one walk, while striking out 8. After Marlon Byrd's triple in the first, no Ranger reached second base until Gerald Laird advance on a hit and run in the 6th. Fernando Rodney surrendered the bullpen's only run as he returned from the DL. Rodney was erratic as he gave up a run on two hits and a walk, had a wild pitch (and another that got away from Pudge, but no runner advanced), yet still struck out two in an inning of work.

Tiger Hero:
Jason Grilli. He hasn't allowed a run, has struck out 6, and given up only 5 hits in 7 innings of work, after getting hit in the leg with a line drive May 26.

Tiger Zero:
Nate Robertson. If what's causing his troubles can't be solved soon, I wouldn't be surprised to see his spot in the rotation given to Kenny Rogers when he is ready to return.

Tigers Record:
W - L
32 - 25
2nd Place AL Central (3.5 GB Cleveland)

Games 55 & 56

Game 55
Tigers 9 Indians 5

Game 56
Tigers 9 Indians 2

So just like like that most of the panic in Tigertown has subsided. Maybe it's due to the fact that Jose Mesa will no longer be terrorizing the hearts and minds of Tiger fans. More importantly the now Mesa-less bullpen did not allow a run in six innings of work Saturday and Sunday. That bullpen gets another big arm back with the return of Fernando Rodney tomorrow in Texas. Hopefully Rodney will bounce back from his time of the DL just like Jeremy Bonderman did. And for some more good news Detroit's offense that racked up 34 runs on 54 hits against the top team in the AL Central, rolls into Texas to face the worst team in the majors.

Game 54 Recap

Tigers 11 Indians 12

I have only one comment for this game...WHY THE HELL WAS TODD JONES ALLOWED TO THROW 46 PITCHES?????


It's September '06 all over again. The Tigers find new and horribly frustrating ways to lose. Bill at Detroit Tigers Weblog pretty much summed up the way I feel, so I'll direct you to that post so I don't have to relieve the horror of last night debacle again.

I Have some family happenings the rest of the weekend, so more than likely I have recap of Today and tomorrow's games, sometime Sunday night. Let's hope I have something positive to write about.