The Tigers lost a golden opportunity last night to take a road series against the team with the best record in the league. With the quick turnaround to the day game today, we will see what they are made of.

Anibal Sanchez was simply great last night. I was hoping they would still leave him in after the opposite field squink of a double that Coco Crisp hit, but I suspect that Anibal let Brad know he was done. Points to BA for giving him the chance to start the 9th. Anyway, at this moment, he is the best starting pitcher on the staff.

Nathan looked awful, almost sailing two consecutive pitches over Avila’s head, and then later serving up a walk off. Castellanos didn’t help any by mispronouncing a line drive right off his glove into left field. And it would have helped to score another run or two.

Nathan didn’t waste any time throwing Castellanos under the bus after the game: “The big out there was getting Jaso,” Nathan said. “You get him and it changes everything, it gives me a chance to play with (Donaldson) a little bit.”

The crew has one more shot at the A’s today. No sleep ’till Seattle!

Postgame

Considering how this series started, a split looks pretty good. Ricky looked pretty good today also, allowing one to hope that maybe he really is for real this season. The A’s are a legit scoring offense, they do lead the league in runs scored.

Nathan, on the other hand. Well here’s a scenario for you to mull over as the Tigers ride their bicycles north to Seattle. Alburquerque and Chamberlain have been pretty good lately; maybe they turn into a strong 7-8 inning combo. And when Hanrahan is ready to make his comeback, maybe he is good (and maybe he isn’t). But if he IS, and Nathan continues to pitch like he has been pitching…well, that creates an interesting scenario, doesn’t it?

It would have been enough for me last night for the Tigers to just play a competitive game, and keep Oakland under 10 runs; that’s how bad things had gotten. But the Tigers did more, much more, and got a quality win against a quality team: Oakland leads the AL in both runs scored and fewest runs given up, which is a pretty good recipe for success.

Max Scherzer wasn’t great last night (although the did have some great moments), but he kept the Tigers in the game. The hitters put up 4 runs against a very tough Sonny Gray, led by Cabrera, Avila, and J.D. Martinez, who is quietly making a case for playing time. If 4 runs doesn’t sound like a lot, it should be pointed out that’s that most that has been plated against Gray so far this season.

The real fun started in the 7th though, when Hunter hit a massive (410 ft.) shot to dead center to tie the game. In the bottom of the inning Krol walked the leadoff hitter on 4 pitches, Ausmus yanked him, and from that point on the bullpen shut down the A’s.

Still, Detroit needed a run and that came at the hands feet of Rajai Davis. After Castellanos walked as a pinch-hitter (his 6th walk in 4 games!), Ausmus put Davis in to pinch-run. He promptly scooted to second on a passed ball, and then daringly stole 3rd while the catcher was throwing the ball back to the pitcher, and scored on a grounder to short when Jackson beat out the double-play attempt to first.

The stunned A’s announcers picked ex-A Rajai Davis as the Player of the Game.

The bullpen did the rest, with Kevin in Dallas nervously counting down the last 6 outs. It was a needed win, and a good one, and one won in a way the Tigers didn’t win games last season.

Davis gets a start today, as Austin Jackson sits against a lefty he has never managed to hit (3-for-14). In center, which could possibly be an adventure.

Anibal “Only Good Starter Last Week” Sanchez takes the mound against Scott Kazmir.  Look for Victor Martinez for the big hits (11-for-23 against Kazmir). Oh, and I’ll just throw this out there: Victor Martinez never takes an at bat off. Even in 10-0 games.

If you missed Vince in MN’s link, Suarez has been impressing people. More fun and excitement may be had at the shortstop position in the near future.

Tonight’s Never-Before-Used Lineup:

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

I jinxed Romine yesterday by mentioning his 4-game hitting streak, so now Danny gets a chance to show his worth.

Postgame

Damn. Best start by any Tiger this year. That one hurt.

Well down your lattes, slap your own cheeks, and prepare for a 10:05 spectacular (except for those of you not in the Eastern time zone, which is, actually, probably, a majority of you).

The Tigers have been plagued with facing Cy Whoever lately, but tonight, at least, they get a legitimate Cy Young candidate in Young Sonny Gray (pardon the redundancy), the 24-yr old with the 1.99 ERA and the 5-1 record. Let’s take a moment to pre-tip the cap to Sonny Boy, but that’s no reason we have to give up double-digits again. We need a chance to back off the ledge here, so, no matter what happens with Sonny, let’s keep these guys to single digits tonight, okay? We don’t need to win tonight, but we can’t have another massacre.

The Tigers are all about Team Unity right now: they wear matching Zubaz, their pitching–even the celebrated Starting Pitching–has been awful, and the bats are in tune, making average pitchers seem like Cy Young. We’ve seen this before, and every team sees it at some point every season. But didn’t it just rankle you a little bit when, shut down by Random Rookie Guy or Bruce Chen or Whoever,  Jim Leyland would start his post game comments with “you’ve got to tip your cap to Random Rookie Guy…?” Right?

Well it looks like it bothered Legendary Lloyd a bit too. McClendon’s Mariners were shut down by Houston’s Dallas Keuchel (remember him? he went all Cy Young on the Tigers on May 8). Lloyd was NOT about to cap-tip: “I saw average stuff,” he said. “We didn’t swing the bats very good. At some point, you’ve got to stop giving credit to average pitchers. That becomes a broken record. At some point, we’ve got to start swinging the bats.” Lloyd’s getting some blowback for that one, but I find it refreshing. By all means, tip your cap to Sonny tonight if he shuts us down, but it’s not ALWAYS good pitching.

What we really need is a Zubaz bonfire. I mean the stuff became popular in the early 90s in professional wrestling circles (red flag!). I don’t really believe in an actual Zubaz Curse, but I do think there is a symbolic aspect worth contemplating. I appreciate the team-unity aspect of the Zubaz-flaunting. But other than the hideous patterns of the stuff, the big selling point of Zubaz is the comfort. Thus the symbolic aspect: did the team get too comfortable, too early? Burn it.

Also, a sacrificial lamp wouldn’t hurt (tip of the cap to Jud). It’s very cool that Ausmus is all cerebral and whatnot, but that would make it even more effective were he to smash a lamp in the clubhouse. And wear the lampshade in the dugout.

Well, we can make our suggestions here, but they mostly float into the ether like the smoke from a Leyland Marlboro. What we CAN do though, is choose appropriate nicknames, and I’m not feeling it for “Smokey Jr.” Ol’ Smokey was perfect for Leyland, but Ausmus is just not a Leyland Jr. to me (among other things, the lineup shakeup yesterday was very un-Leyland-like). This may be a trial-and-error thing, but I’m going to throw this one out there to start: Ol’ Smarty.

Tonight’s Ol’ Smarty’s Slump-busting Lineup:

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

Andrew Romine now has a 4-game hitting streak.

This afternoon the Tigers begin a 7-game road trip to the dreaded West Coast: dreaded because of the travel, but also because those of us on the East Coast are treated to games that begin after 10 pm. Today is an exception, a rare day game to start off the trip, without a day off for travel.

Speaking of which, by the time the Tigers finish this trip they will have played 17 straight games without a day off, including a trip to the West Coast for a day game, and a Zubaz-clad flight-delayed morning on the way to Cleveland. Previous to that they played 13 straight, giving them only two games off and two coastal road trips in the month of May.

Could their current struggles simply be the result of fatigue?

Below are the days/times (in EST) and projected starters for the road trip:

Tigers at A’s

Monday       May 26 – 4:05     Drew Smyly vs Tommy Milone (L)

Tuesday      May 27 – 10:05    Max Scherzer vs Sonny Gray

Wednesday  May 28 – 10:05   Anibal Sanchez vs Scott Kazmir (L)

Thursday     May 27 – 3:35      Rick Porcello vs Jess Chavez

Tigers at Mariners

Friday      May 30 – 10:10     Justin Verlander vs Hisashi Iwakuma

Saturday  May 31 – 10:10     Drew Smyly vs Chris Young

Sunday     June 1 – 4:10       Max Scherzer vs Roenis Elias (L)

The should not be an easy trip, considering that the A’s may have leapfrogged Detroit as the best American League team after its collapses against Cleveland and Texas. Oh wait, Oakland has lost 4 in a row themselves. What kind of way is that for two teams to head into a best-in-the-league showdown?

At least Oakland’s games were close; Detroit lost by a combined 35-15 against Texas. Oakland has been beating up on teams this year and has a run differential of +90, which is best in MLB by a lot (the Angels are 2nd best at +47). Some of those teams Oakland has beat up on have been the Central teams: Oakland has a 9-3 record so far against the Central Division. But they have yet to play the class of the division, which is Detroit. Right?

Today’s Memorial Day Shake-Up Lineup:

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

Jackson batting 2nd, as some of us here suggested trying. Didn’t see Worth at 2B coming–Kinsler has been Detroit’s hottest hitter and is hitting .308 career against Milone. Then again, Kinsler hasn’t had a day off yet this season.

Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day, and a big thank you to all the men and women who have given their lives for our country, and their families.

Postgame:

A 5-game winning streak, a 10-game road winning streak, 26-12, a 6 1/2 game division lead. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Rick Porcello also hasn’t been much better than he’s been this year. Here  is a nice story about Porcello, where Jeff Jones talks about how much better Porcello’s secondary pitches have gotten.

Tonight the Tigers pursue the difficult task of pulling off a Fenway Park sweep; the last time the Tigers even won a series there (which is a given now) was in the magical season of 2006; the last sweep was…well I don’t know when. The preview said Sept 28-30 1993, but when I look back at that season I see that they actually split a doubleheader on the 28th. The Research Department will have to look into this.

Their hopes will rest on newly returned Anibal Sanchez, making his first start since leaving his April 26th start with a lacerated finger. To make room for Sanchez, Justin Miller was sent packing to Toledo. I had assumed it would be Robbie Ray heading back to Toledo, where he could continue to get work in as a starter. Combine this with seeing Ray get up in the bullpen in the 8th inning last night, and it looks like Ray is going to stick around in the bullpen for now, a move I don’t like. He is going to be a starter, he should be in Toledo starting. But that’s just me (obviously).

The Red Sox will send out Jake Peavy, the last man standing in the Peavy-Garcia-Iglesias trade. Seeing Jake should bring a smile to the face of Torii Hunter, who is 8-for-18 career (.444) against Peavy, with a 1.307 OPS.

Tonight’s Sunday Night Baseball Lineup:

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

The Tigers seem to do the opposite of whatever I through up there in the lineup header: when I called them Green Monster bashers they squeaked out a 1-0 win; when I called them one-run wonders they blasted Boston 6-0. I’m trying to figure out how they will not be a Sunday Night Baseball lineup.

Postgame

The Tigers are now a ridiculous 14-4 on the road.

Of course we have been beating up on the weak division: currently the AL Central is 32-18 against the AL East.

A 4-game winning streak, a 9-game road winning streak, 25-12, a 6 1/2 game division lead. There is a lot of baseball left to be played; it is still early in the season. If the season were a 9-inning baseball game, we’d just be starting the top of the 3rd. The winning won’t last forever, without a losing streak here and there. It’s baseball. One more tonight would be nice though.

I used to look up this stat reluctantly last season, coming as it did with sighs and grumbles. But the 2014 Tigers so far have excelled in one-run games, the latest being the 1-0 victory last night. So far this year, the Tigers are 8-4 in 1-run games, as opposed to a 20-26 record last season. Feel free to offer your thoughts on the difference between this year and last (small sample size is a fair caveat).  On the other end of things, the Red Sox are at 5-10 in 1-run games (the 10 1-run losses leading the league), which is one reason they can be under .500 with team hitting and team pitching near the top of the league.

Perusing the League Leaders, one sees a bunch of Tigers right now:

• Max Scherzer leads the AL with a 1.83 ERA
• Victor Martinez leads the AL with a .333 BA (how’d that happen? That actually surprised me).
• Joe Nathan is tied for the AL lead with 11 saves (see parentheses above)
• Rajai Davis leads the AL with 14 stolen bases. The Tigers have 36 SB as a team. In 2013 they had 35.

Tonight’s Trivia: Who was the last Tiger to lead the AL in stolen bases?

And how about that Tiger bullpen? So far on the East Coast road trip: 4 games, 12 innings, 0 runs.

The bullpen should get another workout tonight, with Rick “Six Great Innings” Porcello on the mound vs. John Lackey.

Tonight’s game is on the MLB Network, unless you live in the wrong place, in which case you get Orioles-Royals.

Tonight’s One-Run Wonders 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

Postgame

Well the Tigers keep rolling along. Last night was one of those rare games, even during this winning streak, where there were never really any moments when it seemed like the Tigers might lose.

Thumbs Up:

Rick Porcello. Porcello is now 7-1 with a 2.91 ERA and an impressive 1.03 WHIP. He made one mistake pitch to Bogaerts, and got in one jam (that he calmly got out of with a ground ball), but otherwise it was smooth sailing. He even made it through 8 innings, which is what I get for being a wise guy and calling him 6-inning Rick.

Doubles. Kinsler, Hunter, Cabrera, Martinez, Jackson, Avila, and Davis. No manufacturing runs last night.

The bullpen. That makes 5 straight games without a run–and Phil Coke pitched.

Rajai Davis. Davis kept daring Mujica to pick him off at 2nd, refusing to shorten his lead after one pickoff attempt, then two, then three. The fourth went into center, Davis went to 3rd, and came home on a sac fly. That was fun to watch.

Thumbs Down:

Andrew Romine, or Golden Sombreromine as we can now call him. Right-handed, left-handed, it didn’t matter, he didn’t look like he would have hit anything in 10 at bats. And he booted one in the field.

The Tigers continue their East Coast road trip with a 3-game sweep of Baltimore under their belts, and an 8-game road win streak, their longest since 1984 (good luck catching that one: 17).

Going into Fenway comes with its perks, and the Tigers will be showing on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, which is a treat for those of us who normally watch the games via laptop. On the downside, the series is being inevitably plugged as a rematch of that ALCS some of us would like to forget, and the promos all feature that Ortiz blast that makes us feel whatever the opposite of warm and fuzzy is.

Here is the series schedule; Anibal Sanchez is scheduled to make his comeback on Sunday night.

Tigers (24-12) at Red Sox (20-20)

Friday        May 16    7:10     Max Scherzer vs John Lester (L)

Saturday    May 17    7:10     Rick Porcello vs John Lackey

Sunday      May 18    8:00     Anibal Sanchez vs Jake Peavy

Boston, at .500, might not look like quite the same team that handled Detroit in the ALCS (although it is worth noting that Boston was only 23-17 at this point last season).  The Red Sox are also only 10-11 at Fenway, and 3-3 against the AL Central, having just lost 2-of-3 to the Twins. One difference so far for Boston has been less offense. Last year’s league leader in team OPS (.795) is currently 7th at .721. Perhaps they are missing Jacoby Ellsbury more than anticipated.

Tonight Max Scherzer (5-1, 2.04) takes on lefty Jon Lester (4-4, 2.75).  Before the Tigers get too excited about getting a rare shot against a lefty, they might want to check out Lester’s 2014 splits: right hand batters are only hitting him for .220 this season (.617 OPS).

One guy who is probably looking forward to facing Lester is Miguel Cabrera, who is hitting over .500 against him (10-for-19). On the other side, Boston’s big man is certainly not phased by Max: 7-for-15, with 3 HRs. This game may hinge on the battle of the big men.

Game time weather forecast: 64 with 30% chance of rain. At the moment (4:15) rain is 100% likely at the park.

In other news, Putty Time is on hold. Luke Putkonen’s rehab assignment has been halted, and he and his elbow are off to see Dr. James Andrews. Could Putkonen by joining this season’s Tommy Johnapalooza?

Tonight’s Green Monster-Bashing Lineup:

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

Postgame

OK, so there wasn’t much bashing going on last night. When Torii Hunter drove in a run with a clutch 2-out single in the first, it looked like the game was off to a good start, but in fact the scoring was all done for the day. Max was great (as was Lester), the bullpen held–again–and here we are with a 4-game winning streak and a 6 1/2 game lead.

Thumbs Up

• Torii Hunter, for the 2-out single that turned out to be the game-winner
• The Tiger Bullpen (Reed, Krol, Chamberlain, Nathan). The bullpen is still yet to give up its first run on this road trip.
• Max Scherzer. He struck them out when he needed to (7), and got the double play when he needed to. Ausmus after the game “This might have been the best his stuff has been all year, really.”
• The Tiger infield. Three double plays killed Red Sox rallies.

Thumbs Down

• The weather. Max struck out the side in the bottom of the 3rd, and looked unhittable. Then the rain started, and it looked like some of that Fenway bad luck. Luckily it only lasted 45 minutes, and didn’t seem to throw Scherzer off his game.
• Evan Reed. It might seem picky when the bullpen is doing so well, but starting an appearance with a balk and a hit batter is not what we were looking for. I could throw in Alex Avila and the strike zone, which drew some comments, but two thumbs down is enough–the Tigers won!

20-9. That sure looks nice in print, doesn’t it? A lot better than, say, 21-10.  Either way, the Tigers remain the last team in baseball with single-digit losses, and try to keep that going when they finish off their 4-game Houston series this afternoon in Detroit. (There are also no teams with 10 losses. Or 11. Or 12). Sweeping any team in a 4-game series is no easy task, whether that team is the 2014 Houston Astros or 2003 Tigers or whomever. Enjoy it now, though, it’s only a matter of time before everyone starts proclaiming the Tigers as the Best Team in Baseball, to be followed by a losing streak, because That’s Baseball.

Detroit also leads the American League in hitting, with a .285 team batting average, and a .772 team OPS. It’s still early to proclaim them a great offense, but it’s worth pointing out that they have put up those numbers without much help from Miguel Cabrera, who has a lower OPS than Victor Martinez, Torii Hunter, Austin Jackson, and Rajai Davis (yep). Anyone miss Prince Fielder yet? The Tigers don’t seem to.

I was being tongue-in-cheek of course with the Don Kelly player of the game prediction last night, but he did go 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base, and raised his average to .333 in the process. Today I’m all about Rajai Davis. He is moved up to the leadoff spot, where he tends to cause havoc. He stole his 12th base last night, which is the most for any Tiger since Quintin Berry stole 21 in 2012.  Why not Cabrera, you ask? Miguel Cabrera is beginning to be Miguel Cabrera. He hit another home run last night, and is facing a lefty today. Sadly, he is at DH today, where he has been a ho-hum .245 (.719 OPS) hitter for his career.

Looking for another reason to be encouraged today? Today’s pitcher, Drew Smyly, so far has thrown 42% breaking pitches. Since last season, the Astros have hit .185 against left-handed breaking balls, .129 this season (stats courtesy of ESPN).

Today’s Mountain Drew Lineup:

1. Davis, LF
2. Kinsler, 2B
3. Cabrera, DH
4. V. Martinez, 1B
5. J. Martinez, RF
6. Jackson, CF
7. Castellanos, 3B
8. Holaday, C
9. Worth, SS

Well Robbie Ray’s debut was a roaring success, with Tigers knocking Astro pitching all over the place to back him up, and the Tigers now have a 7-game win streak, and at 19-9 the best record in baseball. What a great start, right? Now to match the start of the 1984 team, they only have to win…17 more in a row (that puts 1984 in perspective!)

Rick Porcello tries to build on his great start last out, and a solid 4-1, 3.66 2014 campaign. They will face Brad Peacock, who is struggling a bit (0-2, 5.26). Peacock’s biggest problem is his control (7.01 walks per 9 innings, worst in baseball), but we know those kinds of pitchers sometimes skate by against the aggressive Detroit lineup.

I’ll go with Don Kelly as the player of the game, since he’ll have to be if they pitch around Cabrera and Martinez.

Tonight’s Donkey-For-The-Win Lineup:

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

Don Kelly gets a start, and bats 5th (naturally). What’s the over/under on intentional walks for Victor Martinez?