Ian Kinsler continued to be hot, and hit a 2-out, 9th inning home run to save the Tigers from being shut out in back-to-back games. Randy Wolf really did quite a decent job, only giving up 3 earned runs in 7 innings. They could hardly have expected more. Wolf said he used his experience to keep the Tigers in the game.

Scratch one tool off the list of things Ty Collns brings to the game: two nights in a row he has made absolutely awful throws home. Makes me miss that Cespedes guy; that and that 5-for-5, 3 HR, 7 RBI night he put up while the Tigers were in the process of being shut out.

Collins was swinging a hot bat, but moving up to 2nd in the lineup seemed to cure that (8 at bats, .000 OPS in the 2nd spot), so Brad gives up and moves him down to 9th.

More bad pitching news: as StorminNorman posted, Shane Greene has an artery problem and has been shut down for the year.

Today’s Boyd in the Hood Lineup:

1. Rajai Davis, CF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, DH
4. Victor Martinez, 1B
5. Julio Martinez, RF
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. James McCann, C
8. Jose Iglesias, SS
9. Ty Collins, LF

Note: Victor swaps with Miggy at 1st

Last night may have been frustrating and disappointing, but you can’t say it wasn’t a classic 2015 Tigers game:

• Pitching or hitting but not both: Justin Verlander easily pitched well enough to win, but once again was the tough luck guy, losing on a 1-earned run performance. Of course, the 2nd run was his fault, but it may not have made any difference. The offense was Miggy and a bunch of human fans. That and the next two categories below meant Cabrera pulled the rare feat of three doubles with no runs or RBI.
• Bad base running: the Tigers got their 19th runner of the season thrown out at home, and one doubled off second. It was the same guy, and both instances were bad base running. Not so much the actual out at the plate; but Miggy had two very easy chances to tag and advance from 2nd, and failed to take them.
• Double-Plays, of course: The Tigers have now grounded into a league-leading 118 DPs, and have a comfortable 13 DP lead in that category.
• Bad umpiring: Justin was visibly upset for not getting calls on the corner, and I don’t blame him, since Colby Lewis was getting an extra 6 inches. In the JD at bat in the 9th, there were literally 5 pitches in the exact same spot, and 2 were called balls, and 3 were strikes. The replay guys weren’t any better, overturning a call at home, even though there was at best sketchy evidence, and leaving a bad call at 2nd, because hey, there has to be clear evidence.

Anyway, today is another day, and it’s hard not to root for journeyman Randy Wolf, who is getting his first Major League start in 3 years today, on his 39th birthday. Has he been around the block? Let’s just say Brad Ausmus has caught him.and managed him.

Today’s Clap for the Wolfman Lineup:

1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
2. Ty Collins, LF
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. Julio Martinez, RF
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. James McCann, C
8. Jose Iglesias, SS
9. Anthony Gose, CF

A 1-hitter by Mr. Eephus, the Big Pasta? I did not see that coming. What it means is that the Tigers are now on a 3-game winning streak for the first time in 2 months,  when David Price picked up a win on June 23. It sure would be nice to have a David Price to send out there every 5 days right now, wouldn’t it?

The last time the Tigers won 4 or more in a row? The first week of the season.

The Tigers do at least have their ace on the mound tonight, as Justin Verlander looks for his 3rd strong start in  a row. His last start he got through 7 innings with no runs and only 3 hits and 2 walks, against 7 strikeouts.

Verlander started the season off injured, then was a shaky 5th starter, then turned into a decent enough starter, then a good starter, then staff ace, if not the only reliable starter at all (with all due respect to Simon’s performance last night). It’s been quite a season’s journey for Justin.

In other Tiger-related news, the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame has named its class of 2016, and it includes Pudge Rodriguez and Omar Vizquel. Vizquel, incidentally, will be coaching 3rd tonight (with Trammell at 1st), with Dave Clark off to attend his daughter’s wedding. Omar promises Clark he will do his best to send Castellanos home at some inappropriate time.

Today’s Let’s Make it Four Lineup:

1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
2. Ty Collins, LF
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. Julio Martinez, RF
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. Alex Avila, C
8. Jose Iglesias, SS
9. Anthony Gose, CF

Kinsler continues to smoke the ball, although his success at bat seems to be having and adverse effect on his fielding. No matter, we need Kinsler to keep getting on base.

Hmm. Kevin is apparently still stunned by 38 hits in 2 days. Hard to blame him.

Unfortunately, Babe Norris is on the 15-day DL with an oblique strain. I’m calling shut down for the season.

Anibal Sanchez is also on the 15-day DL with a rotator cuff strain. Oh.

Did I mention: oh?

The Tigers went out and bought LHP Randy Wolf from the Blue Jays for 25 delicious sandwiches, enough for each player on the roster. Coaches will have to eat sunflower seeds and leftovers. The Sandwich will also be starting Saturday. Did I mention: oh!?

The Tigers have also purchased from Toledo the contracts of RHP Jose “Oil Spill” Valdez and RHP Guido Knudsen, who has the coolest odd name since Vlad Guerrero.

This is a huge series for Texas. A Tiger sweep would pretty much bury their chance to win the division.

Today’s I Bet Castellanos Gets a Big Hit Lineup:

1. Rajai Davis, LF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, DH
4. Victor Martinez, 1B
5. Julio Martinez, RF
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. James McCann, C
8. Jose Iglesias, SS
9. Anthony Gose, CF

Alfredo “I’m Glad I Don’t Have to Bat After What Babe Norris Did” Simon, P.

I didn’t think I’d get to watch the Tigers last night, but thanks to a 2-hour plus rain delay I got to see most of the game, and I saw a little of everything. The lowlight of the game for me was Iglesias–again–being thrown out at the plate. The Tigers still lead baseball in runners thrown out at the plate, and it looks like they won’t be caught. Meaning they will be caught. You know what I mean.

This time was a particular head-scratcher, because holding Iglesias on 3rd would have meant bases loaded for Miguel Cabrera.

The highlight had to be the 8th inning, which began with a Gose bunt single (hey, how’d they think of that?) and then a surprise bunt single by Mr. October, Ian Kinsler, who was a mere 5-for-5 last night. It turned into a 3-run inning, and it turned out they needed all 3, especially after the weirdlight of the night, when a runner on 3rd was awarded home after a ball became briefly caught under McCann’s mask. Can’t say that I’ve seen that before.

Mr. Kinsler now sports these ridiculous 2nd half numbers: .387 BA, .412 OBP, 1.009 OPS. And that’s not exactly a small sample size, that’s 131 plate appearances. If the Tigers were in a pennant race, he’d be the talk of baseball.

The Tigers burned through a lot of bullpen last night, so they’ve finally sent Jefry Marte back down and called up RHP Drew VerHagen. See you in a couple of weeks, Jefry.

Today’s Let’s Score Another 10 Lineup:

1. Raji Davis, LF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. JD Martinez, RF
5. Nick Castellanos, 3B
6. James McCann, C
7. Victor Martinez, DH
8. Anthony Gose, CF
9. Van Norrison, P

The Tigers stop in Chicago for a couple, but not with that team with the annoying announcer, for 2 with the Cubbies. Tonight Anibal Sanchez will try to keep the ball within the friendly confines, and Brad Ausmus will match wits with Joe Maddon. who goes weeks without changing his socks.

I’m off to watch the Royals and Reds, a game that I assumed way back when would be an important one. So much for that.

The Cubs have released their starting lineup already, but not the Tigers, the slackers, so I’ll have to leave that to one of our fine commentators here.

When the Tigers only got 4 hits on Monday, all you could really do was shrug; it’s not like Johnny Cueto hasn’t done that before, to other teams. A different feel after a 2nd 4-hit night last night, an “oh this again feel. And it didn’t help that the Tigers made more outs on the base paths again.

Remember when the Tigers were leading the league in a lot of offensive categories? Well, they still are. They are #1 in:

• Runners thrown out at the plate (17). Castellanos leads with 3.
• Pickoffs (16). Kinsler leads with 5.
• Caught Stealing (38) Gose leads with 8.
• GIDP (111) Castellanos leads with 16.

The one bit of life the Tigers have had this series has been Jefrey Marte, who has half of the team’s 8 hits so far. Today will likely be the last day we see him for a while, since there is a tentative plan to activate Miguel Cabrera from the DL for Friday’s game in Houston. Miguel is itching to play. The question is whether he will play first or DH; Ausmus has had discussions about the possibility of playing Victor Martinez at 1st.

Today’s More Play For Marte Lineup:

1. Anthony Gose, CF
2. Jose Iglesias, SS
3. Ian Kinsler, 2B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. JD Martinez, RF
6. Tyler Collins, LF
7. Nick Castellanos, 3B
8. Jefrey Marte, 1B
9. James McCann, C

Brad may have figured out that James McCann hits right-handed pitchers still better than does Alex Avila: Avila has only caught 4 of the last 21 games.

It looked like another blowout in the making yesterday with Boyd’s first inning, but he pulled it together and ended up pitching a good game, and giving Detroit a chance to win. Unfortunately: Johnny Cueto vs. Detroit bats. Even Ian Kinsler was blanked.

You know Norris and Boyd have a little bit of a competition with each other. Boyd just pulled in front.

Brad Ausmus complained about Johnny Cueto’s delivery both during and after the game, which provoked a huge shrug.

In other, more interesting news, Miguel Cabrera is fixing to come back. Apparently there was a rehab assignment discussed, but Cabrera says he doesn’t do no rehab.

In preparation for Cabrera’s return, Tom Gorzelanny pitched batting practice to him. These things write themselves sometimes.

Today’s First Time We’ve Seen This One Lineup:

1. Anthony Gose, CF
2. Jose Iglesias, SS
3. Ian Kinsler, 2B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. JD Martinez, RF
6. Tyler Collins, LF
7. James McCann, C
8. Jefrey Marte, 1B
9. Andrew Romine, 3B

Last night McCann and Iglesias both out, tonight both in. They are now forever linked.

If things weren’t bad enough in Tigertown, it looks like there’s a glitch in the feel-good story about building a recreational field for kids at the old Tiger Stadium site. It turns out people have gotten wind that the plan is to replace the grass with…artificial turf.

Anyway, tonight Johnny Cueto takes on Gas Can Boyd. That’s mostly a nod to Oil Can, for us old timers, but if he imitates Norris for his 2nd start, we know how this one is going to turn out. Or…do we?

Maybe Jose Iglesias is hurt again, or maybe he is just slumping, or maybe he is feeling the fatigue of his first full season as a starter. Either way, he doesn’t seem to be handling it well, so Brad says: sit a spell. It has absolutely nothing to do with the dugout blowup, oh no, not at all, how could you think that?!

Today’s Iggy Needs to Chill Lineup:

1. Anthony Gose, CF
2. Tyler Collins
3. Ian Kinsler, 2B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. JD Martinez, RF
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. Jefrey Marte, 1B
8. Alex Avila, C
9. Andrew Romine, SS

Impressive debut number two was nice to watch, and even more impressive, and surprising, was the way Rondon-Hardy-Wilson came out of the bullpen and slammed the door shut.

We may have something with these two lefties, although, as our Hong Kong correspondent pointed out, we felt the same way about Shane Greene.

Still, maybe their performances will inspire the veterans. I’m looking scowling grinning shrugging at you, Anibal.

As good as the game was yesterday, it didn’t really have a rivalry game feel. Maybe that’s because the Royals are too used to the Tigers being a level above them, but you’d think with the chip the Royals have on their shoulders that would make it worse. Especially considering how chippy the Royals seem to get with other teams. It may have something to do with the Royals being 11 1/2 games up on us, but I watched the Reds and Cardinals last night, and the 20 game lead didn’t seem to make them play each other any less hard.

Today’s Alex Gets His Chance Lineup:

1. Anthony Gose, CF
2. Jose Iglesias, SS
3. Ian Kinsler, 2B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. JD Martinez, RF
6. Tyler Collins, LF
7. Nick Castellanos, 3B
8. Alex Avila, C
9. Andrew Romine, 1B

“I respect that when you own the team you can run it however you like.” Thus David Dombrowski finally spoke to the media about his departure, and made it clear that it was a firing and and not a resignation or mutual parting. I imagine we haven’t heard the last of the saga yet.

Here is Jason Beck’s interview with Dave Dombrowski, and here is a look back at the major moves of the Dombrowski era.

Speaking of resignation, I’m resigned to watching a bit of a lopsided contest tonight, as the Royals send their newly-acquired ace Johnny Cueto out to face the Tigers’ newly-acquired…well, he’s newly-acquired, that’s about what we know about Matt Boyd. He got shelled (as in 14.85 ERA, 2.400 WHIP) in 2 starts with the Blue Jays, but has solid minor league stats–1.65 ERA and 0.855 WHIP in AA/AAA, where his 4-1 strikeout to walk ratio catches the eye. Considering how good Norris looked, if Boyd has promise also we may look back on the Price trade as a huge steal.

Today’s Aw, C’mon Dad, Again? Lineup:

1. Anthony Gose, CF
2. Jose Iglesias, SS
3. Ian Kinsler, 2B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. JD Martinez, RF
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. Tyler Collins, LF
8. Jefrey Marte, 1B
9. James McCann, C

Alex Avila has yet to play during the Al Avila Era.

Well today is the first day of the Al Avila era, wasn’t expecting to be saying that. It is also a chance for Justin Verlander to try for a third straight dominant outing. If he does it will be a pretty exciting sign that we have at least one dependable starter in the rotation. I wasn’t expecting that one guy to be ol’ JV.

The Tigers have also announced that LHP Matt Boyd has been called up from Toledo and will start Wednesday’s game.

And congratulations to Med Hen Mike Hessman, who has set the record for most minor league home runs with his 433rd.

More on the Dombrowski story can be found here and here. Of note is the information that Avila was offered the job the day after the trading deadline.

Today’s Aw, C’mon Dad Lineup:

1. Rajai Davis, LF
2. Jose Iglesias, SS
3. Ian Kinsler, 2B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. JD Martinez, RF
6. James McCann, C
7. Nick Castellanos, 3B
8. Jefrey Marte, 1B
9. Anthony Gose, CF