I’d like to start with a few thoughts on the first week.

First of all, we got shorted by two games. Opening week off days are kryptonite to my baseball superman.The rain made things worse.

Secondly, day games are awesome. Props to the Tigers’ scheduling powers that be. I love following as much as I can during the work day, knowing that I can re-watch at night.

Thirdly. 4-1 to start the season is fantastic. The starters were fantastic, the hitting was good enough, and the late inning wins can mean a lot for a team with some new key pieces. This is going to be a great season.

Finally…the bullpen. Oh boy, this is going to be a problem.

Bullpens are curious creatures. Often morphing on a weekly basis. What you look for from your bullpen is consistency, and we have had very little of that over the past few years. Rondon going down didn’t help, but let’s be honest, he was far from a sure thing. I know that Nathan hasn’t been sharp early, but he’s earned a long leash. Coke has used up 8 of his lives. Al Al has had an abundance of opportunities and continues to disappoint. I don’t see great things from Krol, Chamberlain, or Reed, so any setup help we’re going to get is likely going to come from outside the 25 man roster.
It’s early, but a 6.08 K/9 from the pen isn’t gonna get it done. This will be an ongoing topic.

Stat of the Pregame – the Tigers as a team have struck out 26 times this season. The Upton brothers have struck out 21 times in 47 ABs.

Puig out tonight. Interesting NL style lineup moving the speed guy from 9 to 1.

1. Rajai Davis, LF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Torii Hunter, RF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 3B
5. Victor Martinez, 1B
6. Austin Jackson, CF
7. Alex Avila, C
8. Andrew Romine, SS
9. Max Scherzer, P

Before this season started, a lot of Tiger followers predicted that this year’s Tigers would win more one-run games than last year (20-26). I don’t think yesterday was what they had in mind.

There was a lot to like about yesterday’s game (how about that Donkey!), but almost blowing a 6-run lead conjures up the spectre of the dreaded blowpen. Evan Reed had a 2nd good outing, but Phil Coke…is Phil Coke. The real worry is Joe Nathan. The season is still in its infancy, but Nathan has now had two bad, almost disastrously bad, outings in a row, and has a very un-closer-like WHIP of 1.875. History says Nathan will be fine. Until then, fingernails will be bitten.

Rick Porcello though, that is a different kind of surprise. Some people predicted this would be a breakout year for him (while others wished Detroit would have dealt him instead of Fister), and he sure looked like it yesterday. Porcello overcame a rough start and his own history (he has typically pitched poorly early in the season and in cold weather) to toss a gem, getting 11 outs on groundouts.

Is there a broom in the house? The Tigers are MLB’s last undefeated team.

“Hopefully we go 162-0.” –Torii Hunter

Today’s Leylandesque Sunday Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, DH
4. Martinez, 1B
5. Jackson, CF
6. Collins, LF
7. Castellanos, 3B
8. Holaday, C
9. Romine, SS

DET P: Justin Verlander (RHP)

BAL P: Chris Tillman (RHP)

It was a dark and rainy afternoon, and the Tigers continued their winning ways, cruising to a 10-4 victory over Baltimore.

The highlight of the game of course was Miguel Cabrera’s 2-run home run in the 8th inning, which also just happened to be his 2,000th career hit.

Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Mel Ott, Joe Medwick, Jimmie Foxx, Robin Yount, and Alex Rodriguez. That’s the short list Cabrera joins of players with 2,000 hits before their 31st birthday.

While thy Tigers went to 3-0 and kept Brad Ausmus perfect in his managerial career, Ausmus did lose his perfect record in challenges when the umpires refused to overturn a call at 2nd. Ausmus is still confused as to why the umpires ruled the way they did, as was I, the Baltimore announcers, and countless other people. I would hate to think that the powers that be have decided that too many calls are being overturned, and that is effecting the decisions.

Today the Tigers go for #4 with Rick “The One They Kept” Porcello making his debut. Porcello has a history of starting slowly:

ERA

• 6.58 Mar/Apr
• 4.51 Overall

BA Against

• .322 Mar/Apr
• .286 Overall

WHIP

• 1.581 Mar/Apr
• 1.389 Overall

At one point I painstakingly looked up how Porcello did based on game temperature for a season, and when the temperature was low he did seem to do worse, no matter which time of the season it was, so it is possible the March/April numbers are really just cold weather numbers. Does his sinker not sink in the cold? Does he have trouble with his grip in the cold? It’s something to watch for.

Game time temperature should be in the low 40s.

Today’s Chillin’ Donkey Starting Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Martinez, DH
5. Jackson, CF
6. Avila, C
7. Gonzalez, SS
8. Kelly, 3B
9. Davis, LF

DET P: Rick Porcello (RHP)

BAL P: Bud Norris (RHP)

Or is it Pre-Game? I’m never sure which way to go with that. At any rate, the Tigers will make another attempt at Game 3 of their perfect 162-0 season, which will include 81 walkoffs (or is it walk offs? walk-offs?), which is the max for that stat, as T Smith pointed out.

Yesterday’s rainout means that Drew “Can’t Buy A Start” Smyly will be skipped in the rotation, and the Tigers will hand the ball to Anibal this afternoon. At least it looks like him. It’s too foggy to tell for sure. In fact today’s game will likely be delayed; there is almost zero visibility at the moment.

If and when they do tee it up, Andrew Romine will get his first start at short as a Tiger, and oh-so-briefly-ex-Tiger Steve Lombardozzi will be starting at 2B for the Orioles. And this flew under my radar somehow, but on the bench for Baltimore is our old pal Delmon Young. Will be a pity not to watch him track down fly balls in the fog.

Today’s Thick-As-Pea-Soup Starting Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Martinez, DH
5. Jackson, CF
6. Avila, C
7. Castellanos, 3B
8. Romine, SS
9. Davis, LF

P. Sanchez

Tigers go for the sweep today, with Anibal “The Third Tenor” Sanchez going up against some guy in a cap we’ll pretend is not an “unknown” rookie, just to be safe.  No, he’s a grizzled veteran with a long history of success against Detroit. He’s virtually unhittable and it’s probably not even worth trying. Kelly at 1B, Miggy’s gonna sit. That’s the ticket.

The last time these two teams played on a Thursday, the Tigers pummeled Jeremy Guthrie with hits and yet not many runs, but Prince Fielder’s two-run shot early would be all they needed in a 4-1 win, with the aforementioned Sanchez turning in a typical gem (and a pretty gaudy 81 strikes in 115 pitches).

Obserwują grę, słuchają gry, następują gra. Niech widzieć niektórą reakcję tutaj. Wartościowe nagrody czekają na was dla “Post of the Game.”

POST OF THE GAME:

We’ll probably never know if Vince did that on purpose.

1: Scherzer was lost and a bit flustered. Hard to believe only 4 batters in this long inning. Billy Butler really did us a favor.
1: Jason Vargas did a number on Cabrera for the called third.
2: Collins comes in hard and leaves his feet for the catch, and Max is fired back to form – we hope.
2: Jackson hits the ball hard for an out (there wouldn’t be much of that against Vargas.)
3: Nice K on Nori Aoki for Max.
3: Avila drawing a walk is becoming a rally-starting pattern. Oh, not today. But the SB attempt by Avila wasn’t bad, but good. It was close, friends.
4: Oh! Sweet to see an opponent do the inning-ending line drive to 1B lightning-quick double play (Butler scorched it right at Miggy.)
4: Kinsler looked like AJ on that home run swing. 1-0 with runs at a premium!
5: Salvador Perez struck himself out, but Max, really in command now, did the rest.
5: Tigers struck out in order. Did I mention that Avila will never hit above .220 again?
6: Fine play and well-bounced throw by Castellanos to get Omar Infante, Scherzer retires the side in order.
6: Gutsy challenge by Ausmus overturns the call! Rally. Miggy lets us down, Mike Moustakas makes smart choice and goes home for the out, rally fizzles to zip.
7: Max only getting stronger, pitch count in great shape.
7: Did I mention that Avila will never hit above .200 again?
8: Give Perez full credit for that double on a good pitch. This guy is dangerous. Now imagine trying to finish this inning with PR Jarrod Dyson behind you at 2B. Scherzer was just superb.
8: The bats sleep on, Kelvin Herrera makes Collins look like a rookie.
9: OK, Nathan is in, rest easy. Right? Wrong. Joe has the kind of 9th Scherzer had in the 1st, only worse. Yes, the Royals really had to scratch and scrape for their run, but the inexplicable balk right after? What up, Nathan? Darn good thing Brett Hayes was batting instead of the lifted C Perez, eh? 1-1.
9: You can’t often say Cabrera had a crap day at the plate, but you can today. Wade Davis made a fool of him. I really didn’t want extra innings. I watch late. I work in the morning.
10: Al-Al done good, again. Should Gonzalez have charged? I think Lorenzo Cain flat out beats it regardless. Cain gets to 2B despite Avila’s first good throw of 2014, and it’s getting nail-bitey again. Aoki tapper, beats it out, steps on Miggy’s foot – WAIT! Brad’s gonna challenge again!! OVERTURNED, INNING OVER! Damn good judgment by Ausmus and his support crew, game-changing good. I love replay!
10: Wow-whee! I thought Kinsler’s hit was gonna leave the park, but the LF gap was far enough. Jackson scores, Tigers win.

Max Scherzer deserved the W and got most of it. Just-in-time hitting and smart challenges by Ausmus got the rest of it. Woo-hoo! Oh, and Ian Kinsler drove in all the runs. (And I love the way he throws.) How ya doin’ there today, Prince (0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts) Fielder?

They’re back at it today, with lefty Jason Vargas opposing Max Scherzer.

The last time these two teams faced each other in game two of a three-game series, it was another 2013 nail-biter pitched by a couple guys since departed for the NL. Ervin Santana (so glad he’s gone) stymied the Tigers as usual, while Doug Fister (not so glad he’s gone) was putting ’em on (8 H, 4 BB) but not letting ’em in over 7.2. Detroit came out on the losing end by virtue of a 1st inning run. The game ended with Prince Fielder being thrown out at home trying to score on an Omar Infante double. I’m sure Tom Brookens had nothing to do with this.

Ver el partido, escuchar el juego, seguir el juego. Vamos a ver alguna reacción aquí. Valiosos premios te esperan para “Post of the Game.”

POST OF THE GAME: (You do need to step it up, though, guys and gals. Regular season now. Spring training is over.)

Started off with great Opening Day enthusiasm. 90 minutes later I was in a bad mood, and the Tigers hadn’t even relinquished the lead yet. It wasn’t the game. It was the inability to watch it. Don’t know if it was the network, my ISP, or mlb.tv itself, but after 3+ innings of hiccups and start-overs, I settled on radio.

0-0: Verlander started off throwing strikes and getting hit in about equal measure. Nice early outs v. Billy Butler and Alciedes Escobar were about as good as it got for Justin… When the game is still tied at 0, you can overlook things like a misplayed attempt at a shoestring by Jackson, or a routine flyball dropped by Hunter. And forget them when Martinez homers to RF in his first AB of the season.
1-0: Not an easy 4th inning to watch (or watch by listening). Verlander really scuffled. (A scuffling 6 innings overall for JV.) Gonzalez raised the doubt level by bobbling the bases loaded and keeping the inning alive, but walking Omar Infante to drive in the 3rd KC run – that’s on Verlander…. Salvador Perez was hitting everything all game.
1-3: There was a bit of good fortune going for James Shields, especially in the 4th inning, but for the game, he pretty much owned the Tigers. Tough luck for Detroit, with a near 2-run homer by V-Mart going just foul and a bad 3rd strike call on Jackson with Cabrera standing at 3B. Cabrera left standing on 3B as Avila swung through a breaking ball, well, that’s not luck. Did I mention Perez was hitting everything?… So the game started to get that flat, we can’t win this feel, despite a pretty close score. Watching for encouraging signs, or at least interesting ones, there was JV making a fine play to start a 1-6-3, Castellanos testing Alex Gordon’s arm and paying the price (mixed feelings about that one, however dumb it may have looked), and Davis flashing that speed to make Eric Hosmer work for an out that would have been easy in 2013 (unless it was Iglesias). .. 7th inning rolls around. Reed has a slider? No one told me. Kinsler and Gonzalez make a couple great plays behind Evan. The tide may be turning. Tigers up, and Shields is starting to come down to earth. Jackson smashes a triple to the LF gap, Avila walks. Tigers favorite Aaron Crow comes on in relief (goody!). Castellanos strikes out, but oh no becomes oh yes when the afore-praised Mr. Perez lets strike three (swinging) get away, and Jackson scores. And then Alex Gonzalez – yes, that one – triples in the tying run! It’s a game again.
3-3: Alburquerque and Nathan get the job done handily, and it’s down to the bottom half. Jackson is again burned by a strike zone apparently reserved for him alone. Facing Wade Davis, Avila draws his second walk in a clutch situation (kudos). Collins comes in to pinch-run (kudos to Ausmus). Castellanos singles Collins to 3B – this is MAKING IT HAPPEN! And then, facing Greg Holland, who needs no introduction to Tigers fans, Alex Gonzalez does make it happen, singling in Collins to win it. Welcome to Detroit, Alex Gonzalez. To think that I doubted you. (And still do.)

A game won by a bullpen that was everything Verlander wasn’t, and by late-inning offense (and some +1 managing by Ausmus) – how about it? A game taken back from an opposing starter who was largely dominant. Sweet, that too.