PREGAME: Things were looking good earlier this afternoon. Michigan was beating up on Wisconsin, and the Mariners held a 7-2 lead before a rain delay settled in moments after the 5th inning was completed. While the Wolverines held on, the Mariners collapsed when play resumed and as I write this they are trailing 11-7. So the Tigers will have to wait until at least tomorrow to have a chance to celebrate their first playoff birth since 1987.

Tonight the Tigers will turn to Kenny Rogers to get them one game closer. He’ll be opposed by Mark Redman in a battle of soft tossing lefties.

Game Time 7:10pm

POSTGAME: A certain Tiger returns to the lineup and the bats came alive. Welcome back Chris Shelton! I kid of course, but it was nice to see all the members of the early season lineup swinging the sticks together again. The first inning was, long, fruitful, unreal, fun…Curtis Granderson and Carlos Guillen combined for the cycle in that first inning.

Kenny Rogers did a good job of making sure this game didn’t turn interesting. Really the only downside from the game was Mike Maroth surrendering 3 runs in the 9th inning. In his last 2 outings he’s allowed 3 homers. Now in Maroth’s defense, he’s made 3 appearances spread out over 15 days. For someone used to going out every 5th day it is probably an adjustment, not to mention the fact he is coming off of surgery.

Maroth is teetering on the edge of not making the playoff roster. The Tigers can get by without him, but I’m rooting for Maroth. He endured so much during the 20 loss season and was a sacrificial lamb that season. For what he went through in 2003 and for being an all around good guy, I’d love for him to contribute to a post season run.

PREGAME: So the Tigers magic number to clinch the division is 10, but they only have 9 games left. Essentially they can’t guarantee their own fate anymore. It’s time that they took control again.

The first step will be with a 3 game set in Kansas City. Wil Ledezma will start for the Tigers. After making a big splash when he first entered the rotation, he’s struggled his last 2 games.

He’ll be opposed by Luke Hudson. Will it be the Hudson that retired one Indians batter and allowed 10 runs, or will it be the Luke Hudson who fanned 10 Yankees?

Game Time 8:10pm

POSTGAME: I’m glad this one turned out the way it did, because I was getting frustrated watching Detroit hit ball after ball hard but at people. Meanwhile the Royals cobbled together a rally out of a bunt, a groundball through the middle, and a comebacker gone awry.

Ledezma was very solid and the Royals weren’t able to get good swing off him. He nibbled around the edges too much as he battled with control, but he kept the Royals off balance and the Tigers in the game.

And with the Twins losing, the Tigers now have the opportunity to “control their own destiny.”

I was hoping to come back from Baltimore and post a great game recap with photos of the Tigers shaking hands after another victory. However, it wasn’t meant to be.

Continue reading My Camden Trip →

PREGAME: Here we are, the final 10 games. It starts this afternoon in Baltimore as Nate Robertson and Kris Benson hook up in a rematch of Saturday night’s game. I’m headed to Baltimore for the game and can’t wait.

Game Time 4:05

PREGAME: Tonight is one of those games that is much bigger if the Tigers win than it is if they lose. After tonight there will be 10 games left and the Tigers will have either a 4 or 6 game lead over the White Sox. Both put the team in line for the playoffs, but the 6 game lead would probably be enough to assure the postseason practically speaking. Now of course there is that other matter of the division title of which the Tigers hold a precarious 1/2 game lead.

Tonight it will be Jeremy Bonderman taking on Jon Garland. The last time the Tigers faced Garland they were shut out. The time before that they were held to one run. And the time before that they shelled him. And the time before that they shelled him. Now Garland is throwing much better now than he did early in the season, so the Tigers will have their work cut out.

Jeremy Bonderman will try to minimize the extent of that work. He bounced back in his last start on Friday night after struggling in his previous 5. His last start against the White Sox was a 4 hit 7 run effort. On another Bonderman note, he is on pace to set the Tigers season record for strikeouts per 9 innings. He’s current at 8.83 which narrowly eclipses Mickey Lolich’s 8.68 mark from the 1969 season.

Game Time 8:05

POSTGAME: When Tiger killer Joe Crede grounds into 3 double plays, I think you know something is going Detroit’s way. Bonderman turned in his 2nd strong performance in a row and hopefully he’s shaken off that late August slump. The bullpen once again didn’t give the opposition much of a chance. And the offense had another solid game.

Number 8 hitter Marcus Thames, number 9 hitter Brandon Inge, and leadoff man Curtis Granderson went a combined 7 for 12 which will help get some runs.

Magglio Ordonez had another fine game with a solo homer to straight away centerfield and a fine diving catch.

Finally, Omar Infante who’s defense isn’t good enough to keep him in the lineup each day made 2 great defensive plays. He made one ranging to his right that save a run, and another play ranging far to his left to take a hit away.

Today didn’t insure a playoff spot, but it certainly made it pretty darn likely.

PREGAME: After a decisive victory last night, the Tigers look to put another nail in the coffin of the White Sox and stave off the Twins. To do it they’ll send out a stacked lineup with Sean Casey batting 3rd and another night of Neifi Perez. If I could type that confused sound that Scooby Doo makes I would.

Omar Infante has once again been relegated to the bench as Perez makes his 3rd start in a row.

Now I know that Jim Leyland likes to look at batter-pitcher history when making his lineup. Somehow Neifi’s 2 for 13 is more impressive than Infante’s 5 for 25 with 2 homers. And Chris Shelton’s 7 for 19 with 2 homers doesn’t warrant a start either. Harrumph.

Hopefully Justin Verlander will be in Rookie of the Year form instead of Rookie form and it all becomes a moot point.

POSTGAME: As the Tigers did to the White Sox Monday, the reverse took place last night. The White Sox homered the Tigers to submission while Freddy Garcia was simply awesome. After the first 2 batters reached base for the Tigers, Garcia only allowed a walk for the remaining 8 innings. Essentially it didn’t matter how good Verlander was, the Tigers weren’t scoring.

And as for Verlander, he was erratic with his control. This was exemplified when a hit batter and a walk (followed by a tweener single) led to the Pierzynski grand slam. In Verlander’s defense, that pitch that AJ hit out was really a pretty good pitch. It was a curve ball down in the zone. As much as I hate to compliment Pierzynski, because, well, he’s Pierzynski, that was a great piece of hitting.

The Twins won, as you’ve probably heard. The Tigers lead is down to a half game, and Thursday morning we could be looking at a new division leader.

PREGAME: While the Tigers had success in the friendly confines of Wrigley, their trips to US Cellular have benn anything but friendly. The Tigers have only won once in Chicago this year spanning 6 attempts. However, heading into this series the bulk of the pressure is on the White Sox. If the Tigers can manage to get 1 game in this series, they’ll have a 4 game lead for the wild card with only 10 games to go.

Of course getting that one game out of the way tonight would certainly be satisfactory.

Tonight it will be the battle of crafty lefties Mark Buerhle and Kenny Rogers.

Game Time 8:05

POSTGAME: The trend of taking the series opener in convincing fashion continued in Chicago. This game looked like it might be over before the first inning was done with the Tigers first 4 hitters picking up 4 hits. They did it by basically swinging at anything that was over the plate, which is what they have been maligned for during the slump. When they actually hit line drives it doesn’t seem as problematic.

Unfortunately the rally was short circuited on a triple play. I was going to call it an improbably triple play, but really that just seems redundant. Carlos Guillen was jammed and hit a soft liner to 3rd that made Marcus Thames and Magglio Ordonez easy outs. Ironically, they were running on the pitch to avoid the double play. Personally I’ve never understood the strategy of sending runners on a full count with less than 2 outs just to avoid the double play, especially runners with the speed of Thames and Ordonez in an inning where the pitcher is getting hammered. I’m not just saying this because of the triple play, because there is really no way to anticipate that. I just hate the strategy in general.

But the Tigers made it through and really only threatened with a couple 2 out runners in the first. The rest was Kenny Rogers doing what he does. Allowing the occasional baserunner but minimizing the damage by inducing a ton of ground balls.

After a couple homers by Magglio Ordonez, the game was put out of reach with a 3 run shot in the 9th from Brandon Inge. The homer was big not only from a comfort standpoint, but it kept Todd Jones in the bullpen. Jones had pitched the last 3 games, and was set to come in for the 9th. Inge turned it into a laugher and the result is Jones being available and rested for Tuesday’s game.

And in all fairness, Neifi Perez played a good game last night. He hit well with 2 singles and a sacrifice bunt while doing a nice job on the Thome/Pierzynski shift. He gets ripped a ton here, but he was good last night.