Game 2011.109: Rangers at Tigers

Your first place Tigers welcome the first place Texas Rangers to Comerica for a three game set.  Though the Rangers have not played well at Comerica as of late (3-14 over the last 17 games here), they are happy to be out of the Texas heat for a while, as it has been 108+ for the past week with no end in site.

The Rangers have been lauded by the pundits as the big winners of the trade season, while the Tigers’ moves have gone largely unnoticed.  The Rangers added Mike Adams and Koji Uehara to a struggling bullpen, arguably the only chink in the Rangers armor.  Adams and Uehara should be on full display during the series, though hopefully it will simply be to get their work in.

In a move that really won’t surprise anyone, Purcey was designated for assignment today to clear room for David Pauley in the pen.  In that same Freep article, DD noted that Al Al is fine and ready for tonight’s game if needed.

Colby Lewis is 10-8 on the year with a 4.00 ERA, with a 1.19 WHIP and 114 K against only 39 walks in 135 IP.  Detroit has had Lewis’ number over his career, as they have beat him up for 30 hits and 19 ER in 23.2 innings, including posting 9 against him back on June 6th.   Lewis allowed 4 earned against Minnesota last time out in 6 and 2/3, but he had two quality starts against Sea and Tor prior to that.  Lewis has alternated between really bad, and really good months this year, and August is setup to be really bad.  Let’s see if we can make that really, really bad.

Scherzer has been great as of late, throwing four straight quality starts with a 1.95 ERA dating back to July 2nd.  Mad Max is 3-0 against the Rangers with a 3.48 ERA in 5 career starts, and was the benefactor of the above mentioned run support in the win against the Rangers on June 6th.

A few notes:

– Benoit has a 1.54 ERA and 32 ks over his last 27 appearances covering 23.1 IP.
– VMart is hitting .522 with RISP over the last two weeks, and leads the AL with a .398 RISP average for the year
– Miggy’s career OPS vs. the AL West is 1.009

Tonight’s Watchout for the Rainout Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Brennan Boesch, LF
3. Magglio Ordonez, RF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Jhonny Peralta, SS
7. Carlos Guillen, 2B
8. Alex Avila, C
9. Wilson Betemit, 3B

29 thoughts on “Game 2011.109: Rangers at Tigers”

    1. Yeah…that whole move makes me sick….Sizemore could still be in Minors for us, instead Oakland got him for free. And now, do we even have anyone in the Minors ready to be 2B.

  1. Ok Jackson, the court may be lenient if you plead guilty to Impersonating a Leadoff Hitter.”

  2. I love watching Boesch run the bases; he almost ran over Lamont (which wouldn’t have been a bad thing), and scored like a wide receiver diving for the end zone cones. And someday he’s going to just kill some poor infielder trying to make a DP.

    1. OK I take it back, it just looks like they packed their clown suits for this one.

  3. We have got to capitalize…the Rangers offense is 3rd in the majors in RS.

  4. I’m very anxious about this. I don’t want to be the test case for Adams & Uehara holding Ranger leads.

  5. Jeez Austin. I thought I could count on one of your typical strikeouts. Just when you thought he couldn’t be more of a waste of an AB

    1. Yeah…I’m thinking Jackson needs a break from lead off….Of course, that is never going to happen, so I think I just wasted time typing that.

  6. Let’s hope Pauley is solid/dependable and AA elbow gets/stays healthy – because other than Valverde, the rest of the Tiger bullpen is erratic (at best).

  7. Chance Ruffin to the Mariners as the PTBNL. I would rather have it be Ruffin than Smyly or Castellanos.

    1. Why? He was our most valuable prospect. Smyly and Castellanos were drafted behind him and Ruffin already developed to earn a shot in the majors! There was no chance they were going to take the other guys, those were desperate bait choices that DD was praying would lure them away. The fact that they even bothered to write those names down and negotiate them just makes imagining DD at the bargaining table even more laughable and humiliating.

  8. 1. Austin Jackson, CF
    2. Brennan Boesch, LF
    3. Magglio Ordonez, RF
    4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
    5. Victor Martinez, DH
    6. Jhonny Peralta, SS
    7. Ryan Raburn, 2B
    8. Alex Avila, C
    9. Wilson Betemit, 3B
    Starting pitcher: Doug Fister

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