Sneaky Power!

Doug Fister threw 6 perfect innings to start the game.  Broken up in the 7th, and trailing by the end of the inning. 1-0, in what looked like might be a hard luck loss for the guy who has struggled mightily to get run support all season.

Magglio Ordonez, who has certainly lost a step or four and is at the twilight of his career, had a clutch, game tying single in the bottom of the 8th to tie the game at 1.  I will be quick to admit that I have said over and over, that Maggs shouldn't be in the lineup on a regular basis.  His offense AND defense are suffering.  But since Brennan Boesch is still nursing a thumb injury, we need him.  And he came through.  Then... Up came Ramon Santiago.

Ramon Santiago, walk off HR.

In the bottom of the tenth, in the game as a pinch runner in the 8th inning, connected off of Aaron Crow and sent the ball over the right field wall, sending 34,000 fans at Comerica Park home very happy.  His first career walk off home run, 4th HR of the year, 2-1 final score.

Great, because for a while it may have turned out to be one of the more egregious losses of the season.  Doug Fister pitched extremely well for his new ballclub, essentially making a mistake to leadoff batter Alex Gordon in the 7th inning, who drove Fister's first pitch into the gap in left center field, for the Royals first baserunner of the game.  He would score on a Billy Bulter sacrifice fly, and the way Royals starter Jeff Francis had started his game, it was looking like another flat performance from what is regarded to be a good offense.  The Royals pitching isn't special.  We saw that tonight, as Louis Coleman worked the 9th inning for Kansas City, walking the bases loaded with 2 outs.  Taking advantage of such an action was apparently a tall order, as Crow came in and struck out Wilson Betemit on 3 pitches to end the threat.

If it weren't for 2 clutch swings of the bat, we might be very angry with how this game could have or would have ended up.  Ultimately, the 2 bats that figured for a winning formula at Comerica tonight were probably the last 2 bats we all expected to clutch-up for the Tigers.  And for that, we thank Magglio, and Ramon... with the hopes that they contribute like that again down the stretch.

Everybody Panic! (Okay, Now Settle Down)

Last night, at least according to a couple of Twitter timelines, people were revisiting memories of a second-half collapse, when they really should have realized that they were beaten by a pretty good offensive team, on a night where Max Scherzer was downright terrible.

Perez (left) and Escobar following back-to back HRs (AP Photo)

Scherzer was flat and without command in the Royals 9-5 win over the Tigers last night.  Scherzer offered up 7 of those runs in just 3+ innings of work.  And while the Tigers offense ranks toward the top of the AL, so does the Royals offense.

After last night, the Tigers and the Royals both have a team batting average of .270.  The Tigers have only scored 16 more runs total than the Royals to this point, and the Royals have more hits than the Tigers.  All that would surprise most Tigers fans considering the Royals are sitting in the AL Central basement right now.  All that said, you can't blame the hitting for their woes, it's their pitching.  However, Luke Hochevar was good enough in last night's effort, giving up 4 runs and getting the Tigers to take some bad swings at offspeed pitches out of the zone.  That's going to happen once in a while, and fans really need to remember that.

So the Tigers need to either hit better, or pitch better in this series.  And since they didn't pitch all that well last night, we'll hope that Doug Fister goes out tonight and has himself the kind of start he did in his last outing vs. Tampa Bay.  And like the Tigers, the Royals won't always have a nasty offensive display like they did last night.  One game shouldn't turn fans against the team (or themselves), especially since they still have a 5 game lead over the White Sox in the Central.  Now I might have a different take if the Tigers get swept, but that's not going to happen.

I think...

Time To Put Turner on the Shelf

The announcement today that has a bunch of Tigers fans in an excited frenzy, is the Thursday afternoon spot start for prized prospect Jacob Turner. What fans are probably assuming, is that he is staying on for the stretch run in the hopes that he will contribute for the rest of the season, and potentially beyond. I'm here to say I hope that doesn't happen.

If the organization follows suit with the innings limits that were also used on current rotation anchors Justin Verlander and Rick Porcello, the general consensus is he is to be limited to 150 innings for this season (give or take a few innings), and then to be shut down. Currently, Turner is sitting at 136.1 innings pitched this season in his time between Erie, Toledo and his 1 start with Detroit. His minors numbers are good, posting a 3.44 ERA, striking out 110 and walking only 35. But none of this should matter, especially since the Tigers should be able to win this division without having to even feel like they should upgrade. That said, the future looks good for the 2012 Tigers rotation.

Jacob Turner

My assumption is, and I believe all Tigers fans would welcome this, is that Brad Penny will be gone after his 1 year of service to the Tigers.  The rotation would then look like this: Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Doug Fister, Rick Porcello, and Jacob Turner.  To me, there's no reason to throw him into a pennant race, especially if you're going to put him in a position he's not been training for, and that's bullpen duty.  If he were to stay with the Tigers, that's exactly where he'd be.  Especially if he's supposed to be on a limit of innings pitched.  Keep him doing what he's supposed to be doing, and don't ruin him with bullpen work, especially when we have seen improvement from what we have now.  Phil Coke has been very solid lately, as well as 8th inning setup man Joaquin Benoit and closer Jose Valverde.  Of course, the question marks that are Daniel Schlereth, Ryan Perry, and David Pauley shouldn't be the reason that Turner stays up and comes out of the bullpen.  I don't care to see him come in out of his element because of a few questionable arms.  They may or may not come around, but Turner shouldn't be the first choice to replace any of them.

Turner will likely throw at or around the 96 pitches he threw in his debut, assuming the Royals don't do damage off of him early in the game (and why would they, they're the ROYALS), and after that he should shake a few hands, pat a few backs, and look forward to 2012.  Because it'll be a fine rotation, if the Tigers don't burn him out first.

Not JV's Best Day, but Good Enough

Justin Verlander was quick to point out that he didn't have his best stuff vs the Minnesota Twins on Saturday, saying "name a pitch, I had trouble finding consistency with anything," after securing his 20th win of the season.  A 6-4 win, and Verlander becomes the major's first 20-game winner of the season, and for the first time in his career.  Verlander also becomes the first pitcher to hit that mark before the end of August since Curt Schilling did it in 2002.

Justin Verlander (AP Photo)

But while he wasn't at his best, he was still helped by one of the better offenses in the American League.  Miguel Cabrera had a solo HR in the first, but his RBI hit following another Delmon Young RBI single gave the bullpen just enough insurance to help close this game out.  The Tigers recent run vs the Twins, which includes an 11-3 record this year, and 15 wins in the last 18 meetings, is reminiscent of the runs that Minnesota handed to the Tigers over the course of the last decade.

The injury-riddled and otherwise snakebitten Twins will send out struggling lefty Brian Duensing to the mound to face a suddenly, but maybe only moderately consistent Brad Penny as the Tigers face the Twins for the last time at Target Field this season.  They'll do so with a 6.5 game lead over the second place Indians, with the hopes of finishing the road trip 6-1 before they go home for 4 games vs the Royals.

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As for yesterday's Fox broadcast, Fox paired Tigers play-by-play man Mario Impemba with newly inducted Hall of Famer and resident self-lover Bert Blyleven to call the game.  Even with the Dick Stockton/Rod Allen combination, which may have been the most awkward pairing ever, the game calling wasn't horrible.  However, I was disappointed with the way Bert needed take over and interject during the course of the ballgame.  I think Bert is a decent analyst, but Saturday's display made me think that Mario wasn't needed at all in the booth.  Bert was also nice enough to joke about Miguel Cabrera's "donkey strength", which after 5 years of living in his market I knew he was joking, but that doesn't mean everyone did too.  I myself am fully aware that these regional telecasts need the balance, but having 2 potential alpha-dogs talking over each other makes the broadcast messy.  And with Hurricane Irene postponing a lot of games, this was probably broadcast with a bigger audience than just the Detroit and Twin Cities markets.  Do better, next time, Fox.  Though I know that's hard to do.

Anyone who did catch yesterday's game and watched some of the advertising, probably caught an MLB postseason moment that included this:

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=12602373

Enjoy that.  Again and again.

Quest for 20

"Must See JV" takes its show on the road, as Justin Verlander tries for the first time in his career to win 20 games in a season.  He faces Carl Pavano and the struggling Twins, who have now lost 6 straight games, and have only scored 5 total runs in that stretch.  Pavano will essentially be asked to pitch a shutout, as he faces off with the potential Cy Young winner.

As for last night's effort, Delmon Young continues to punish his former team.  By punish, I mean having 3 softly hit balls go for singles, getting 3 RBIs in last night's 8-1 Tigers victory.  Rick Porcello, who needed a bounce-back type of outing, struggled over the first three innings, missing his spots, allowing baserunners aplenty, but getting help in each of those three innings by way of the double play ball.  Porcello only allowed a run (also helped with a blown call at first base, which would have scored the Twins second run; instead, ended the inning) and would settle down and pitch into the 7th for his first win of the month.

But for Porcello, struggling early against an offensively challenged team isn't a sign he might turn things around.  He got more ground balls last night, which is a sign his sinker ball might be working again, but his location and command are still questionable.  Naturally, run support would be the key last night, but it's not enough to convince me that he's even leaning back to his winning ways that we saw in the month of July.

Someone who might be back, as far as his control and energy might be one Phil Coke.  Coke, who came in for Porcello last night, pitch an inning and 2/3 of perfect ball, striking out 3 more, and showing Tigers fans that he may still belong in the back end of that bullpen.  Many fans loathed his time in the rotation, but this is the Phil Coke we can all appreciate.  And if the Joaquin Benoit haters can forget that April ever happened, the last 3 innings of any given game will be very much set, assuming Jim Leyland see it this way.

Lastly, for today's Fox broadcast of the game, we will be entertained by Tigers play-by-play man Mario Impemba, and Twins analyst Bert Blyleven, who may or may not remind us that he's now a Hall of Fame pitcher.  As far as these Fox combinations go, this one is tolerable as opposed to the Dick Stockton and Rod Allen experiment earlier this season.  I hate feeling awkward for the commentary when I watch a game.  We all know Rod and his penchant for certain outlandish statements, but it's broadcast dinosaur and potential dementia patient Dick Stockton who should never call a game anywhere again.  His tendency to be forgetful to go with his broken delivery is painful to watch and listen to.

Enjoy the game today.  Easy to say, of course... Justin is too good to miss.

Good Start to the Road Trip

Alright, Tigers fans, the hating on Inge can stop for now, okay?  Sure, I was rather upset at his not one, but 2 bad plays in the 10th inning of last night's loss to the Rays, but moving on is necessary.  Inge blew the last play by not throwing to first (whether he admits his faults or not) and Leyland threw him under the bus for it.  Fine.  A new day has come, and a Tigers win could quickly turn that around.

Though today's lineup wasn't exactly imposing, with Miguel Cabrera welcoming a new son to the world, Brennan Boesch still having issues with his thumb, and Alex Avila finally getting a day off.  Nonetheless...

Austin Jackson hit a no-doubter into the stands on just the third pitch of the game, and that would ultimately be the winning run (Jackson added a sac fly for good measure) as the Tigers won 2-0 today over the Rays, taking 3 of 4 at the Trop against what is deemed a pretty darn good young rotation that Tampa has.  But while 2 runs of support isn't very many, it was enough for support-starved Doug Fister, who pitched 7 brilliant innings and got his third win as a Tiger, matching the amount he had when he was traded from Seattle to Detroit (Fister was 3-12 when traded, 3-1 since).  Joaquin Benoit gave up a base hit but would strike out the side in the 8th, before Jose Valverde allowed a hit and a walk - and was bailed out by Matt Joyce's poor baserunning as he was doubled off first base after a fly ball to Ryan Raburn.  It's his 38th save of the season, as he continues to be flawless in that department.

So once again, this is why the games are played: not the best Tiger lineup, but good enough to roll.  Tigers fans can now settle down on another front: the trade that brought Fister to Detroit.  Outside of 1 bad outing, he's been exactly what the doctor ordered.  Command is there, works at a brisk, Mark Buehrle-esqe pace, and with the proper support from his offense can be a big winner despite that crooked 6-13 record he now has.

As for Brandon Inge, the next time he comes clean on his mistakes might be the first time.  If he truly believes that going to second with that throw was the right move, then he should never be allowed onto the field again.  His range is good enough to have fired that ball to first base, thus getting the Tigers into the 11th with another chance to win.  That's not to say they could have won; judging by the way they had been hitting all night long, but mental mistakes like that in this stretch run is something this already defensively challenged ballclub could do without.

Wait a minute: didn't I say it was time to move on from this?  Onward.  Next stop, Minnesota.

An Unexpected Win?

I viewed last night's game as a bit of a "throw away game," mostly because of lowering my expectations whenever one Brad Penny takes the mound for the Tigers.

Easy to think that, not just because of Penny's season-long inconsistencies, but add that the Tigers had made Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde, the back end of the bullpen, unavailable for last night's game.  Also add Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price, young stud lefty who in his short career has dominated the Tigers.

Add in the cliche, "the games aren't played on paper" and we have ourselves the Tigers 5th straight win.  I wouldn't call Penny dominant by any stretch either, as he missed the strike zone on his first pitch to almost everyone he faced.  And with a few missed opportunities against Price early, it could have spelled doom for the winning streak.  Instead, Penny gutted out 6 1/3 innings of work and only gave up 1 run.  Remarkable, as he wasn't getting adequate run support, albeit vs a good young pitcher.

The bullpen did the rest, with Daniel Schlereth and Ryan Perry pitching the rest of what would be an interesting 7th inning, as Schlereth would allow the bases to load up with Rays before Perry was brought in to get the final out.  Enter Phil Coke, who'd failed as a starting pitcher this season, to pitch what would end up being a 50 pitch, 2 inning save as the Tigers would win 2-1, also thanks in part to a 2-run seventh inning in which "Titanium Catcher" Alex Avila and Jhonny Peralta drove in runs for the Tigers.  Coke struck out 5 batters, and ended the game with a 10-pitch battle against Ben Zobrist, with 2 runners on, by grounding out to Miguel Cabrera to end the game.

Nobody should expect to win every game, but in that same thinking, nobody should expect to lose what I just called a "throw away game" either.  The Tigers beat Price for the first time in his career, and have given themselves a chance to win this 4-game series tonight with Max Scherzer on the mound.  And thanks to that win, the Tigers own a 6 game lead over Cleveland (who split a doubleheader yesterday) and 6.5 over Chicago, who lost in walk-off fashion vs the Angels last night.

I myself will take victories like this all the time, even though those last 3 innings were gut-wrenching with the Tigers moderately erratic bullpen.  A win's a win, and that's ultimately what matters.

Valverde, the NON-Saver

The Tigers started their 7-game road trip on a high note, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 5-2, notching win number 19 for Justin Verlander, the first pitcher to reach that win level this year. A rather ho-hum performance from Justin: 7 innings, 1 run, 3 hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts. You'd think it be moderately difficult to find fault in a game in which the Tigers would win their 4th straight ballgame, and increasing their division lead to 5.5 games over the Chicago White Sox AND the Cleveland Indians. But I will try my best and do it anyway.

Because all of us hate to see Jose Valverde when it is NOT a save situation.

But Jim Leyland does it anyway, because Ole Smokey doesn't really listen to what the fans have to say (not even a 6-yr-old girl), because if the fans pulled the strings, in hindsight, this team would theoretically be 127-0 right now. Leyland tends to out-manage himself on most days, such as going with lineups that might be righty-heavy for a lefty pitcher (queue tomorrow's lineup, to be sure)... And pitching match ups aren't any different in his world.

According to my quick research on baseball-reference.com, I noticed that Valverde does have 2 months out of this season where he has not given up a run in his non-save appearances (April and June). The numbers don't lie for the remaining months of the season, though. In May, he gave up 9 runs (8 earned), in July he gave up 6 runs, and so far in August he's allowed 3 runs (1 earned, and that was tonight). Overall, in a mere 19.1 innings pitched in non-save situations, he's given up 18 runs (15 ER), good for an ERA of 7.07.

Closers have a different mentality. Jose Valverde is just a different cat altogether. If you are going to send a character like that out there when he can't get the save, he may relax a bit too much, or lose focus. Either way, chances are, he's going to lob a few too many pitches, (22 tonight, only 11 strikes) and suddenly he's unavailable to pitch the next night. Who becomes the Tigers closer then? Not Joaquin Benoit either, also declared unavailable tomorrow night.

Valverde might be perfect in his save chances this year, but he's a bumpy roller coaster ride when that stat doesn't matter. Even though he won't, Jim Leyland needs to dig elsewhere in his bullpen to get those last 3 outs. As it is, should the opportunity arise tomorrow night, he's going to have to.

Sweep!

After the Detroit Tigers walked off the field Saturday night with a convincing 10-1 win over the Cleveland Indians, thoughts of a repeat performance Sunday afternoon were on display when they jumped out to an early 7-0 lead on Cleveland and newly acquired Ubaldo Jimenez. The Tigers pitcher who was given this early wealth of run support? Rick Porcello.

Porcello, who was unbeaten in July, isn't fooling anyone in August. After three scoreless innings, the third of which included an interesting pitch behind Asdrubal Cabrera, Porcello coughed up a 5-run top of the fourth inning, with four of those runs allowed coming with 2 outs. The command issues are still there, which is not a welcome sign as the Tigers march towards September and the stretch run. Just 3 2/3 innings pitched, which potentially taxes the bullpen. The Tigers would use 6 relievers today... Though some will suggest the Tigers don't need the bullpen tomorrow with Justin Verlander pitching... It's still not good heading into a 7-game road trip.

The fourth inning insurance run provided by newcomer Delmon young (who had 4 RBIs today) proved to be vital, as the Tigers would ultimately cling to a 1-run lead as the game entered the ninth inning. Enter Jose Valverde, who hasn't blown a save opportunity this season. Valverde, who lately has been making things tough on himself when he takes the mound, would walk the leadoff man Kosuke Fukudome, and on an 0-2 pitch, hit Jason Donald with a pitch. Valverde would almost blow it against someone who was TRYING to get an out, as Jack Hannahan finally sacrificed himself, allowing both lead runners to advance.

In what might be the play of the year, pinch hitter Matt LaPorta hits a relatively shallow, lazy liner to center fielder Austin Jackson. Jackson lines himself up, catches the ball, and throws an absolute DART, slightly up the third base line, and directly into the glove of Alex Avila, who was perfectly placed to catch that ball and block the attempt from Fukudome, who tagged up and tried to score. Ball beats Fukudome, tag is applied, Avila shows the umpire, DOUBLE PLAY, GAME OVER. A sellout crowd celebrated, as did the players, finishing off an incredible sweep of the Indians. With all that, the Tigers will take with them to Tampa a 4 1/2 game lead in the division, with the hopes of maintaining some of the momentum from this game on to the ensuing trip.

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Lost in that insane finish is the work of Rick Porcello.  He's certainly not proving his worth at all this month, but as mentioned in previous posts, he's young and the organization is not going to give up on this young talent.  However, mired in a pennant run, Jim Leyland is going to have to be careful with him, as he was today when he wasted very little time ripping him from the ball game.  His next scheduled start is Friday night at Minnesota, a team who has grossly underachieved this year, a team who right now isn't going to let that stop them from trying to be a spoiler.  I think Tigers fans desperately want Rick Porcello to be good, but most of those faithful aren't going to be too patient with what they are seeing now.

Big Win for Max

Last night, the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians started what some are calling a very big, meaningful, August series.  Max Scherzer vs Josh Tomlin, and... Joe West.

Major League Umpire and Grimace descendant Joe West essentially got in the way of what could have been a shutout by Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer when he called a pitch that went right down the middle of the plate, at the knees, for a BALL.  The batter was Lonnie Chisenhall, who instead of striking out to end the inning, would work an infield single after Miguel Cabrera stumbled as he tossed to first for what would have been out number 3.  Carlos Santana, who singled to start the inning, would eventually score on a wild pitch, all after an obvious blown strike call.

That trimmed the Tigers lead to 2-1, but a couple of big home runs in the bottom of the 7th off of Tomlin, a moon-shot by Alex Avila, followed by a back-to-back shot - on the following pitch - off the bat of Jhonny Peralta.  A 4-1 win for the Tigers to open a 2.5 game lead over the Indians in the AL Central race.  A monumental victory coming off a disappointing series with the Minnesota Twins (losing 2 of 3) and perhaps avoiding some short-time panic amongst the knee-jerkiest of Tigers fans.  Doug Fister pitches tonight against David Huff in the hopes that Fister can find some of that command that we all thought we were getting when Seattle sent him our way.  Always good to go into Sunday with a series win in hand vs your closest opponent.

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It seems that after that game was completed, bigger that the win itself was the news that the Tigers had purchased the contract of one Brandon Inge, and he will be joining the team for Saturday night's game.  Oh, and how about starting on Saturday night too.  Yep, batting .177 this season at the Major League level, comes back from his time in Toledo, having hit .287 with 7 home runs.  He will platoon with Wilson Betemit, who will likely get his starts with right-handed pitching, and Inge against lefties.  The casualty here is Andy Dirks, who was sent back to Toledo to make room for Inge on the roster.

More importantly, Inge's return will provide him a spot on the postseason roster, should the Tigers finish off this division and make the playoffs.  Dirks will be back after major league rosters are allowed to expand from 25 to 40, on September 1st.  Inge's defense, which isn't what it used to be, is still very important here.  Since Inge was Designated For Assignment, the Tigers have used Betemit, Ryan Raburn, and Don Kelly at third, all with mixed results.  Of the 3, Kelly might be better defensively but has struggled at the plate.  Betemit, many will say, hasn't had enough playing time since he was dealt to the Tigers from Kansas City, has the offensive numbers that are decent for every day play, but his range is limited in the field.  As for Ryan Raburn, Tigers fans will be fine if I don't remind them how terrible his is defensively.

The Tigers need Inge's glove, and if he can carry some of the mild success that he did at the plate in Toledo back to Detroit, that will be an automatic bonus for this team, and perhaps he can get the critics and fans to stop booing him... after all, he had a bitterness about that.  The clear answer to avoid that is to be the player he's being paid $5.5M to be.  Tigers fans will easily forget how bad he's been if he can pull this off.

Cy Verlander

A few questions were brought to my attention following another dominant performance by Justin Verlander last night: Why does it matter if his wins come after a win or loss? Would he approach the game any differently? Do the wins mean more?

The first question is easy to answer, mostly because his winning after the Tigers lose helps put at ease the common fans fears that during this second half run, any signs of a collapse doesn't stop the bleeding if he goes and loses.  It's just one game, right?  Except that without Verlander, especially lately, the Tigers record is below .500.  As far as his approach, most of us realize that Verlander is a fierce competitor and he's going to go pitch when it's his turn the same way he would no matter what the Tigers did the game before.  But since it's happened so often this season, we have to take notice, and it has shown that it's rather meaningful since he's now 14-3 in games pitched this season following a Tigers loss.

And I'll concede to some MVP talk too, in addition to the Cy Young award he's almost certain to have won already.  I have said that the MVP award should be given to a position player, mostly since they can't win the Cy Young.  But when you talk about who you give that award to, players are brought up by not only their numbers, but on their team's successes too.  And with those 14 wins after Tigers losses, his 18 wins up to this point, there's not another player that is more important to his team's success than Justin Verlander.  Yes, he's not an everyday player.  But it's impossible to believe that the Tigers would be in first place right now without his services.  The rest of the rotation hasn't been very consistent, and never mind how badly inconsistent the Tigers bullpen has been this season.  As far as the award goes, there isn't a clear cut runaway at this point of the season from any team (that includes Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox fans: he's SUPPOSED to put up those numbers, his contract says so), so it's hard for me to even fathom anyone taking votes away from Verlander.

In the end, whether or not he goes out there one way or another, Verlander shows up and does what he's supposed to do: win games.  The dominance he brings is just a very welcome bonus.

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We all got a bit of a jolt when news of Dombrowski making a trade within the division (again) happened again on Monday, when he traded a couple of minor league pitchers to the Twins for former number 1 overall draft pick Delmon Young.  At the time of the trade, Delmon was hitting .266 with only 4 HR, and also brings with him very suspect defense out in left field.  The true definition of an underachiever, right?  Well, his first game was a relative success, as he homered in his first plate appearance vs his former team and made a nice running catch in left.  I can only hope the change in scenery will do him some good, perhaps rejuvenate his desire to play up to his potential, especially now that he's back in a pennant chase.  He's still only 25 years old, and it's hard to give up on a guy like that but the Twins (and their fan base) had finally had enough.

Of course, with a couple of the trades DD has made, it might have improved our offense, but if you downgrade an already suspect defensive unit, it may make for a few frustrating games down the stretch.  As usual, I hope I'm wrong here.

Wrapping Up the Roadie

Newly acquired Doug Fister, pitching for the Detroit Tigers today, is used to not having a whole lot of run support in his starts.  Today, 9 runs would have been a lot to ask for.

Fister's first shaky outing as a Tiger was today in Baltimore, giving up 8 runs (6 ER) on 12 hits, had no real command of his pitches this afternoon and wasn't fooling anybody.  Usually in good control, he didn't have it today as the Tigers finished up this 9 game road trip by losing 8-5 to the Orioles.  As previously posted, the Tigers road woes have been well documented in the past, but at least this season they can boast a better record on the road than last year, which for me is progress.  As for Fister, no reason to worry about him, as he had a bad day.  No need for Tigers fans to blow up about the trade being good or bad for either the Seattle Mariners or the Tigers, as there hasn't been nearly enough time passed to make that kind of judgement (get back to me in 3 years, then we can discuss that).  He'll get his next start at home, and we'll all hope it's a better outing than today.  Call off the dogs.

As for the road trip, they did go 5-4, which from here looks like a winning record... albeit I'm reaching a bit by boasting that a single victory over the losses is a successful road trip.  To a degree, I am reaching: the 2 series wins were against 2 last place teams in the American League (KC and Baltimore) but the series loss was vs AL Central competitor, the Cleveland Indians.  Sure, winning this series would have been nice, but for me it's still about road trip success.  The Tigers can take care of their business at home, and bringing home more wins than losses on a long road trip is never a bad thing.

The Tigers road show comes home to face the Minnesota Twins, a team snakebitten by injuries and relative "UnTwinslike" play in the field this season.  A real chance for the Tigers to continue their recent dominance over this ballclub, having won 8 of 9 meetings so far this season.  They play the Twins 9 more times, with 6 of those games at home.  Take care of these guys, because those Indians are back in town for another big series next weekend.  And they'll need to play better against the Tribe next weekend, with Justin Verlander pitching in the middle of the Twins series, he won't be a savior this time around.  It'll be time for someone else to step up and have a good pitching performance, against a team that seemingly won't go away.

It still sets up well for the Tigers, they just need to remember that and take full advantage of their opportunities.

Starter, Setup, Closer

Tonight was about as important game the Tigers will have on the road this month during an August pennant race: losers of the first 2 games to the Cleveland Indians, and their stopper pitching in the finale.

The game was probably a little too close for comfort in the eyes of Detroit Tigers fans, as they got out quickly vs Fausto Carmona, and staked Justin Verlander to an early 4 run lead.  A solo HR later, and a 2-RBI double in the next inning, and we have a 4-3 Tigers lead.

A score that would stick throughout the course of the game.  And to quickly summarize the type of season Cleveland has had, exciting, close, pulled it out in the end.  They have a lot of walk-off wins this season, or wins earned late in games, which made many of us nervous about the potential outcome of a game to salvage the series.

Collective moans could be heard after the 7th inning, as it became known that after 7 innings, 3 ER, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts, and 108 pitches, his day was over.  Enter setup man Joaquin Benoit, who won no fans for how he started his season.  April and May were forgettable months for him, but Tigers fans won't be so quick: 6.10 ERA in April, 5.59 in May.  Got it together in June and July, with a hiccup in this month that leads fans to be nervous when he takes the ball, especially in a close game.

Strikeout, strikeout, groundout.  The haters are nowhere to be found.

Enter Jose Valverde, who has had a knack of making his save opportunities at times, very "exciting."  At times, putting runners on via the walk, not exactly making life easy on himself.  Add to that, the fact that he still hasn't blown a save opportunity this season (32 for 32), and more anxious Tigers fans await to see if this, in fact, was the night it might happen.

Strikeout, popout, groundout.  Ballgame.

And with that, Justin Verlander wins his 100th career game, and Jose Valverde came in and converted what is now a club record 33rd consecutive save to start the season, breaking the old record held by Willie Hernandez in 1984.  Yes, 2 big milestones were had tonight, but the win is bigger.

A loss may have sent panic through Tiger-town.  Talk would have been about Verlander perhaps not being able to stop the bleeding that was 13 straight losses in Cleveland, or perhaps how the bullpen was unable to hold onto what Verlander had left them.  They would move on to Baltimore with a slim 1-game lead in the standings, perhaps wondering what might have been, especially to allow the Indians back to within striking distance.

Instead, the top-dogs of the pitching corps did what they were supposed to do: Verlander struck out 10 more and only gave up 3 hits (big hits, but only 3).  Benoit, brought in this season to set up Valverde, did just that.  And rather impressively, I might add.  Valverde did his thing, minus the crazy dance at the end, and got his save.  Everything fell into place, and now it's time to move on to Baltimore with a 3-game lead in the division.

A sweep there would be nice.  Winning and fundamental baseball would be ideal.  Finishing road trips ahead would be paramount.

The Not-So-Clutch Rick Porcello

So I see now many Tigers fans are now piling on Rick Porcello, calling him worthless, citing his now near 5 ERA is terrible, etc, etc.

Well, give up 8 ER in any given start and you'll probably see a jump in that ERA.  But chalk it up to 1 bad game, the first he has had in his last six.  People have already forgotten that he went 5-0 in July, with a 3.06 for the month.  My brain tells me those are very good numbers.

A bigger issue to me other than a bad night or two, is the timing.  I'm going to assume that no pitcher (not even Verlander) is going to pitch a perfect game every night out.  Porcello left a lot of his pitches up, the sinker fastball just wasn't sinking, and a lot of balls got his very hard, and all over the place.  Fine.  But, in the end, it was a ballgame vs. your closest division competitor, a long time rival, your hated neighbor.

After Porcello's loss last night, the Tigers have dropped 13 straight games at Progressive Field, a futile mark that dates back to last May.  It's ugly, and we all needed Rick to put out that fire, not make it bigger.  It's never a good idea to give up on a talented, very young pitcher (still only 22), but at some point he needs to be a bigger, better pitcher in the clutch when his team needs him.  The present (and future) rotation needs that presence now, especially in the middle of a pennant run.  It can't just be Justin Verlander every 5th day, or even Max Scherzer, who in my opinion could also benefit the team from pitching in clutch situations.  If Rick Porcello wants to move up to that next level, he'll need to figure out what made him so bad last night for the first time in over a month.

The Tigers have a chance to be really great with that rotation, but Porcello will need to remove the kid gloves first.  I believe he can do it, but he needs to figure it out soon.  Because this year, there are no points for second place.

Worst Blog Post Ever

Since the Detroit Tigers found a way to lose last night's game in absolutely pathetic fashion, I'll keep this short and sweet...

That might have been the worst Tigers loss.  EVER.  Although fighting with me on that claim is April 30th's Tigers loss to Cleveland.

Losing by hit batsman is embarrassing.  Losing by our offense taking hacks and terrible pitches is embarrassing.  Losing by submitting some piss-poor baserunning, is EMBARRASSING.

And kudos to our newly extended manager, Jim Leyland, for... well, nothing.  Brutal game all over.  And for those who stayed up to watch it, we're the suckers.  Clearly.  On the flip side, we might have stayed up because we as fans knew the importance of that game.  And it went down the chute on a HIT BATSMAN.  I'll have to remind myself to only put forth 9 innings of ball tonight, because all season long, we've seen the Indians do what they do.  Win close games, and win them late.  Maybe THEY have the killer instinct necessary, and the desire to win this awful division.

For the sake of me and the fan base, I hope I'm wrong.

Sure, They're Extended, But...

So earlier today, Detroit Tigers President/GM Dave Dombrowski and Manager Jim Leyland were given contract extensions from the club, Dombrowski through 2015, and Leyland through 2012.  Like most fans, at least some of the fans I saw on Twitter today, were rather disgusted by the moves, myself included.  After all, I did post some dribble on here not too long ago about how Dombrowski and Leyland's time is up, and we need a new direction.

After digesting the news over the course of the day, I will admit that can come to terms with what we have with the Tigers, based on some chatter with common fans, and a journalist or two.  A few things come to mind though.

Leyland being extended is fine, mostly because you're not going to find an available manager out there who'll be a better replacement for this ball club.  I can accept that.  The problem is, most of the common fans don't see some of the successes but instead the errors in judgement, or just plain mismanagement.  The players like him, and he likes the players.  There's too much at stake to just swiftly make a change, though it wouldn't have happened until this offseason.

That said, same goes for Dombrowski.  And it's not just DD, it's the rest of the front office too.  There's a lot of potential still surrounding this team, along with a couple of expiring big contracts (Paging Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez).  DD, Al Avila, and the rest of the front office has the right hold on this team, and turning that over to someone different might be a little dangerous.  While it's not great to think of what happens IF the Tigers fail to make the postseason this year, the front office and its minions have a pitching rotation that is under club control through 2014, and the core of offensive threats are all around for at least that long too.  So in theory, there's no reason to turn all that over to another group.

So the Manager and the President are signed.  In the end, we don't have to like it, but that's what's out there.  The timing is strange, being that this could have taken place earlier this season, or at the end.  My theory is, take the stress and "lame duck" label away, and you're now focused for a stretch run.  But the common ground with this group is, that no one has won anything yet.  During the regime, the Tigers have won zero divisions, zero championships.  Sure, the wild card and pennant in 2006 was a great run, but it still came up short, and now were coming up on 5 years since that October run.  The common fan is impatient, and wants its winner now.

Random Thoughts: The Week That Was

Sitting here typing while listening to the Indians/Rangers game - a game I cannot watch because of MLB's and ESPN's "exclusive broadcast window" - wishing there was some Tigers baseball tomorrow. But, since the schedule says so, we'll have to live with the night off.  But that might be a good thing as we look at Victor Martinez.

Victor went down like a bag of stones after coming home on a grounder to second base, trying to dodge a tag.  At first glance, he had needed help off, putting no weight on his knee.  During the broadcast, we were informed that it was a sprain, and it would be further evaluated on Sunday.  Well, even as early as the post game locker room questioning, Dr. Jim Leyland had convinced all who would listen that he'd probably be fine.  I guess we'll see, when that Tuesday lineup comes out.

Here's the issue: Victor never should have put himself in that position, with the play dictating he should have stayed at third base. With a drawn in infield, the ball was hit directly to the second baseman.  Even the fastest runner probably gets thrown out.  In this case, the ball was there with plenty of time to spare.  Unnecessary.  Poor baserunning has doomed the Tigers at spots this season (Paging Jhonny Peralta), and in a pennant race, slow and steady wins the race.

Sure, we saw the successful debut of new Tigers acquisition Doug Fister earlier this week, but it may have been a little to close for comfort.  Another problem spot for the Tigers has been their defense.  Fister had some errors behind him, but held on for the win.  Run support has been an issue for Fister with his days in Seattle, but with one of the top (yet inconsistent) offenses that should ultimately change.  Ultimately, that's why I'm not worried about the fact that he's now 4-12 on the season.  Judging by his body language so far on his new team, he seems to be excited about his new role in a pennant chase.

The Rangers rallied tonight to beat the Indians, and as a result, the Tigers will have a 4 game lead in the standings over their next opponent.... the Indians, and on the road.  The Tigers recent history on the road hasn't been great, but this season they've turned a bit of a corner with their efforts.  Big wins on the road would be lovely, this week is no exception.  The Tigers are poised to finish better on the road this season than last season, and all they have to do is win 2 games (we hope more though).  The Tigers were an awful 29-52 on the road last year, and so far this year they are 28-28.  Sure, .500 ball isn't anything to write home about, but I'll accept it after what they did last season.  Sure, the Tigers lost their game today to the Royals, but they still won 2 out of 3.  Keep winning series like that, especially on the road, and the division is theirs to lose.

And it sets up well for the Tigers down the stretch.  The common cliche, "controlling your own destiny," is well in play here.  The Tigers non-divisional opponents down the stretch include the Orioles on the road next weekend and the Rays on the road later this month.  In September, they will have a 4-game series in Oakland in the middle of a 9-game road trip, and a 4-game series at home vs the Orioles before the season finale (vs Cleveland).  All teams who don't factor into the playoff chase, but can be dangerously scrappy because of that.  In short, all series that need to be won, not lost.  Easy, right?  And as we do come down the stretch we marvel at the amazement of the schedule maker, bringing Cleveland in for the final series of the year.

Stretch run time: bring on the Indians.

Leyland Shuffling the Rotation = No Brainer

Before today, Justin Verlander's turn in the rotation has him starting tonight, and then next Friday as they open a series in Baltimore.

Perhaps he's not as ornery as we have all thought he was, and he realized that pitching the future Cy Young winner would  be better off on Thursday against the Cleveland Indians in what will be an important series for the Tigers.  And he won't be losing any rest, as the Tigers are off on Monday.

But with that move for his workhorse, I hope he realizes he needs to to the same with his lineup.  Stop playing the percentages, and play who needs to be played, i.e. streaky batters, regulars who should have regular time in a stretch run.  Leyland's late-game management is always in question, as was displayed last night when he yanked starter Rick Porcello after only throwing 82 pitches.  Instead of perhaps letting his young pitcher work himself out of trouble, he allowed the bullpen (which is nothing short of awful this season) to cough up the lead, letting the game go into extra innings.  Sure, Brennan Boesch, who had a great night last night, came through last night in the top of the 10th with the game winning hit.  What I'm saying is it didn't need to come to that.

I will also say that Daniel Schlereth, who's had a rocky season out of the 'pen for the Tigers, looked sharp.  He was supposed to be the lefty specialist out of the bullpen this season, and still needs to be because of the horrid season Phil Coke is experiencing.  Valverde has been Valverde, converting his 31st consecutive save to open the season.  He and his asinine antics can tie the club record held by Willie Hernandez ('84) with his next successful save opportunity.

I shall keep hoping that Leyland figures other things out as we continue along the stretch run, as the Tigers play the Royals in the second game of the series, starting the day with a 4 game lead over second-place Cleveland.  It would be beneficial for this now .500 road team to maintain that margin before starting a series against the Indians on Tuesday.