PREGAME: The Tigers will lean on Edwin Jackson to try and avoid being swept in Houston. Jackson has been a little afflicted by the walk phenomenon that is spreading like swine flu through the Tigers clubhouse with 10 free passes in his last 3 games.

Russ Ortiz has some pretty dramatic reverse platoon splits with an 840 OPS against for right handers and 663 for left handers.

Detroit vs. Houston – June 28, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: I missed this entire game live. I was at an outdoor thing, and was limited to updates on the Blackberry. The offense looked pretty frustrating from that regard. We were in the car on the way home for the 9th inning and the family let out a huge yelp in the car. When I got home I saw the Cliff Notes version I DVR’d. Not as dramatic but just as satisfying as seeing it live.

A loss today wouldn’t have been the end of the world. The Tigers still have a cushion in the division. It would have been frustrating but I think the team would have coped with it better than the fan base who’s emotions are tied to the mini winning losing streaks the team takes them on, only with a multiplicative factor.

That said, if this season turns out the way we’re all hoping for, the Inge homer could be one of the defining moments. The unexpected star put the team on his back and limping them home on an injured knee. Marcus Thames and Curtis Granderson get to be the supporting cast where Granderson and Inge  pound it out for the team lead in homers and Thames is one strike from capping a sweep and ends up scoring the tying run.

In other words, the win is likely bigger than the loss would have been.

PREGAME: In terms of subplots, you need to look no further than the Tigers taking on “the little pudgy one.” Pudge Rodriguez, the catching-est catcher of all time and his former skipper Jim Leyland have already exchanged phone calls in the days leading up to the series. So it sounds like there are no hard feelings.

The Astros come into the series at 33-37. They post a league average OPS, and a league average batting average with RISP. But somehow they only score 4.10 runs per game (NL average is 4.49). Like the Astros offense, the defense is largely average as well.

Random Factoid of the night: The Astros hitters have the highest ground ball percentage in the NL.

Tonight the ‘stros send out Wandy Rodriguez. Looking at his game logs he seems to be either awesome or awful. His numbers on the whole though are pretty impressive with nearly a K an inning and nearly 3 K’s for every walk allowed. He’s given up 10 homers this year, and 9 have come in his last 4 starts.

Bonus Random Factoid of the night: Wandy Rodriguez has made one start against the Tigers, which coincidentally came on June 26th, 2006.

Justin Verlander will be on the mound for the Tigers tonight. He’s been good.

Tonight’s DH-less lineup is:

1. Granderson, CF
2. Polanco, 2B
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Thames, LF
5. Inge, 3B
6. Ordonez RF
7. Laird, C
8. Everett, SS
9. Verlander, P

Detroit vs. Houston – June 26, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: What started off so promising turned so frustrating. Verlander wasn’t sharp today. He didn’t have great command (especially to Lance Berkman unless he meant to throw every pitch a foot outside) and he couldn’t put hitters away. That spelled doom as the bullpen was tasked with holding a 1 run lead for 3.2 innings and the pen wasn’t up to the job.

Joel Zumaya finished off the 7th with a couple pitches, but the 8th inning was a disaster. When he couldn’t put Darrin Erstad away everything unraveled and two more walks meant the game was tied and Zumaya was done. Freddy Dolsi limited the damage in a bases loaded 1 out situation to 1 run which isn’t bad for his first appearance.

• On one hand you want to bash the offense. They scored 4 early runs and that was it. But it wasn’t like the offense went to sleep, they just couldn’t push a run across. I don’t know if the fact they had eleventy chances with RISP and got nothing after the 2nd inning is more or less frustrating than if they’d been no hit the rest of the way
• Magglio Ordonez had an awful game. His first time up he drove the ball to right field and that was fine, a hard out. But then it was ground ball fiesta again including a double play. He also failed to make a play on what looked to be a pretty catchable ball.
• Zach Miner did a nice job once again throwing a double play ball to end the 6th inning.
• Leyland said as much in his postgame, but this one had a bad feeling for awhile. With Verlander struggling and the offense not cashing in on chances, and the Astros chipping away, it felt like the Tigers were on the wrong side. The side they hadn’t been on as of late where they were coming back and doing what they needed to do. They just didn’t get it done tonight.

PREGAME: It’s freakin hot and muggy. So Armando Galarraga keeping the ball on the ground would be a good thing today, otherwise his 15 homers allowed total may grow.

Ted Lily will try to extend his quality start streak to 6. He’s been particularly impressive in his last 4 outings with a 1.98 ERA, and a 23/3 K/BB ratio in his last 27.1 innings.

Seven game win streaks are kind of tough to come by, and the match-up on paper certainly doesn’t tilt the Tigers way. But the real wild card is Chris Chelios. He’ll be throwing out the first pitch. And he’s also sung Take Me Out to the Ballgame at Cubs games. This one could really go either way.

Chi Cubs vs. Detroit – June 25, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

PREGAME: Last Thursday things were looking bleak for the Tigers. They had lost 4 in a row, and their 2 aces couldn’t even stop the bleeding. So it was Rick Porcello’s turn and he managed to flip the switch. The Tigers have won 5 in a row and made it through an entire turn through the rotation. Now it’s Porcello’s turn again.

On the other side Rich Harden will get the ball for the Cubbies. Harden has struggled with consistency this season. He was rocked by the Indians last weekend and it ran his ERA over 5. His walk rate is rather high (26 in 54.1 innings) and he’s given up 11 homers. But he also has 64 K’s on the year. So he’s entirely capable of shutting down a team, or getting rocked. Hmm.

If you are a Twitter-er, the Tigers are hosting a Twitter event tonight where you can ask questions and there is a ticket giveaway. Follow @official_tigers starting at 7p tonight. (You can also follow me @billfer but I’m not giving anything away).

More of the same with the lineup tonight, except Everett is in for Santiago. Maggs is still 7th after a remarkably uneventful (either good or bad) night last night. (Dusty Ryan will likely play tomorrow, but I’m surprised that he didn’t get the start tonight instead. That’s 4 games in a row for Laird and I’d like to see Ryan worked in a little more.)

1. Granderson
2. Polanco
3. Cabrera
4. Thames
5. Kelly
6. Inge
7. Ordonez
8. Laird
9. Everett

Chi Cubs vs. Detroit – June 24, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: The Tigers are finding a way to do just enough, but they’re doing it consistently. Rick Porcello wasn’t great, he allowed 11 baserunners in 5+ innings. But like Jackson on Tuesday, he managed to not be hurt by it (other than the pitch count). And really, it’s turning into a theme because despite numerous jams the last 2 games, the Tigers have limited the damage. I don’t know if that is the Cubs struggling, or the Tigers pitchers doing things right under pressure, but it’s working.

• How about the bottom of the lineup with 7-8-9 coming up with 2 hits apiece, including a short haired Magglio Ordonez?
• There were 14 walks in this game, 7 per team. But 2 of the Tigers came with the bases loaded, and the margin of victory was 2 runs. Do the math.
• Nate Robertson faced one batter. Didn’t get him out. Frankly he looks miserable, not the performance, but he just looks miserable on the field.
• Miner did a nice job getting out of a bases loaded no out jam with just 1 run, but then he created a jam the next inning.
• Joel Zumaya was quite good, lot’s of gas, lot’s of strikes.
• Fernando Rodney not so good.

PREGAME: The Cubs come to town, and so does Alan Trammell who says he is Always a Tiger (hey, that sounds like a good marketing campaign). So if you’re heading out to the game tonight (like I am), make sure you have yourself situated by 7:05. The Tigers do announce the base coaches and a standing ovation at a moment that is typically trivial at best, or ignored altogether, would be pretty special. Now on to the game.

Edwin Jackson takes the mound for Detroit. Jackson was recently the subject of a Pitch Count Warrior column at Baseball Digest Daily (h/t Neyer). Jackson hasn’t won in his last 2 decisions, though he hasn’t pitched poorly either with 5 runs allowed in his last 11 innings.

The Tigers will face Carlos Zambrano. Zambrano has 4 straight quality starts under his belt, but he’s also been prone to walks as of late with 17 in his last 32.2 innings.

I’m really hoping the Tigers win tonight, and so is Magglio Ordonez. He was benched and the Tigers won 4 games in a row. I heard callers on sports radio say that the reason for the 4 game winning streak was Ordonez’s absence. So with him back in the lineup, a loss could be difficult for many fans to swallow.

1. Granderson, CF
2. Polanco, 2B
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Thames, DH
5. Kelly, LF
6. Inge, 3B
7. Ordonez, RF
8. Laird, C
9. Santiago, SS

Chi Cubs vs. Detroit – June 23, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: It’s rare that I go to 2 Tigers games in a row. It’s why I’m so satisfied with the 2 games that I got to witness. A pitcher’s duel culminating in a walk-off for the good guys?! Are you kidding me?

Edwin Jackson and Carlos Zambrano pitched very similar games. Both were solid. Both got themselves into and out of jams repeatedly with minimual damage. The Tigers had 3 at-bats with a runner on 3rd and less than 2 outs early on and failed to convert. The Cubs only plated 1 run in a bases loaded no out situation in the first and only scored 1 run in a 2nd-3rd no out situation later on. It was high drama (and high frustration).

Brandon Inge once again comes through with a go ahead homer in the 7th inning and things are looking great. Joel Zumaya comes in and his first pitch is 100. Two quick outs and a pitch that displayed as 104 mph on the stadium gun (and 103mph in pitch f/x) and people were giddy. Then he threw an 85 mph fastball that was launched for a homer. Now there is much complaining about Zumaya throwing the change-up when he was throwing heat past guys. It ended up being a bad pitch, not because of the decision but because of the location. How often do we see Zumaya get hit and then we complain that “he can’t jus throw fastballs by everybody.” He got beat because he didn’t execute his 3rd best pitch. It wasn’t a horrible decision, and fortunately we don’t need to dwell on it.

We don’t need to dwell on it thanks to Don Kelly, Ryan Raburn, and a nice decision by Leyland. Don Kelly who was a full count machine tonight and who saw 26 pitches and drew walks in front of both 2 run homers. And Raburn for making Leyland look smart for forgoing the platoon match-up and going with the superior hitter. And Leyland for what I just said. I’m thankful that Leyland has come around to the idea that Josh Anderson isn’t really a big league hitter and that the situation called for someone who had a shot at thumping the ball.

PREGAME: The Tigers look to keep their offense rolling and they look for Justin Verlander to bounce back as they go for the sweep of the Brewers.

Verlander broke his streak of sheer dominance with a rough 5 run, 4 inning outing against the Cardinals. For the first time since April the whole game seemed to be a struggle for him. Verlander has only faced the Brewers once in his career, and I think we all remember how that turned out.

Yovanni Gallardo takes the mound for the Brewers. Like Verlander, he strikes out a batter an inning. Like the Verlander we sometimes see, he also has a tendency to throw 100 pitches in 5 innings. Walks have been a recent issue for him with 14 walks in his last 3 games. The Tigers have yet to walk in this series, so that should be an interesting facet to watch today.

Jim Leyland is sticking to the same lineup, almost. Polanco gets the day off after being plunked in the thigh yesterday, but otherwise it is the same:

1. Granderson, CF
2. Santiago, 2B
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Thames, DH
5. Kelly, LF
6. Inge, 3B
7. Anderson, RF
8. Laird, C
9. Everett, SS

Milwaukee vs. Detroit – June 21, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: I forgot in my hasty pregame to wish all the Dads out there a Happy Father’s Day. My haste was fueled because I was heading to the game with my family. I could swear that on Father’s Day Dads used to be able to run the bases. It seems like they don’t do that anymore. Oh well, at least it was an awesome game.

The Verlander/Gallardo match-up was everything you could hope for. Gallardo was very much on top of his game, and while he had 3 walks he was all up in the strike zone and was very efficient and the Tigers weren’t centering the ball. Through 4 2/3 innings the Tigers had managed 2 balls out of the infield, but then they broke through.

The Tigers had back to back singles in the 5th. And then in the 6th the Tigers made the adjustments to start hammering the ball. A sharp single by Cabrera was followed by a towering, majestic blast from Marcus Thames that found the wind blowing the ball to the deepest part of the park and resulted in an out. But then another sharp single set up Brandon Inge for a no doubter home run. That was the Tigers offense.

Verlander’s rough outing against the Cardinals was mostly a hiccup. He didn’t have a 1-2-3 innig until the 5th, and threw 74 pitches through 4 innings, but he also wasn’t being hit hard except for a McGehee homer. He was also inducing more grounders than normal and there were no outfield outs in the first 4 innings.

Fortunately he rebounded  and made it through 7 2/3 innings thanks to an 11 pitch 5th and a 6 pitch 6th inning.

Bobby Seay K’d Prince Fielder on 3 pitches and Fernando Rodney had a drama free 9th inning to complete the sweep, extend a 4 game winning streak, and extend the division lead to 4 games.

PREGAME: It’s a hot and muggy and breezy afternoon, the kind of weather where the balls tend to fly. That could be good boding for the Tigers because Milwaukee starter Dave Bush has had homer issues, with 17 allowed so far this season. He’s been taken deep in 12 of his 14 starts and multiple homers 4 times this year.

The Tigers will lean on the big league debut of 24 year old Alfredo Figaro. Figaro posted a 7.8 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and 1.1 HR/9 in 68 innings for AA Erie.

Milwaukee vs. Detroit – June 20, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: First things first, let’s talk about the kid making his debut. I was impressed with Figaro. The stuff definitely seemed to live up to the billing with more fastball velocity than I expected and a pretty nasty breaking ball when he could control it. That said, he did get knocked around quite a bit and the Brewers stranded 2 runners in each of the first 3 innings. But with 7 K’s Figaro was able to pitch around some jams. He finished with 96 pitches, many of them thrown in tough situations. All in all a promising debut.

And then there is the offense. Miguel Cabrera is swinging like he did in April where everything off the bat seems possible of injuring someone. Marcus Thames is locked in. Heck, everyone was locked in today except for Curtis Granderson and Brandon Inge. even then Grandy hit a couple balls well and Inge had a sacrifice fly.

• Miggy has been playing some superb defense at first base, not just making the plays fielding the ball but making heads up plays when he has it in his glove.
• Speaking of heads up, how about Alfredo Figaro being in the right spot backing up a throw to 3rd. Yes, he should be there but in a big league debut I can see it easy for him to be distracted.
• The Tigers didn’t take a walk today, and yet they scored 9 runs. The last time the Tigers scored that many runs without a walk was…Friday night when they plated 10. What’s odd is that since 1954 the Tigers have scored at least 9 runs with no walks only 7 times.
• Ryan Perry was not good with the walks.
• Brandon Lyon walked in one of Perry’s runs
• Nate Robertson added a walk after 2 quick outs
• Fernando Rodney had a 1-2-3 inning

PREGAME: After an extensive 11 game road trip, the Tigers finally return home to Comerica Park. They welcome in the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers are 37-29. They have a propensity to slug the ball and rank 3rd in the NL in slugging percentage. The plurality of that power comes from Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder who are OPSing 991 and 1.024 respectively.

Tonight Armando Galarraga will try to suppress some of the slugging. Unfortunately Galarraga has been especially susceptible to the long ball and he’s allowed the 3rd most in the AL this season with 14.

Braden Looper is on the mound for the Brewers. Looper has had his own homer problems with 13 allowed. The difference is that he’s walk a third fewer hitters.

For more on the Brewers I encourage you to check out Brew Crew Ball.

Milwaukee vs. Detroit – June 19, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Other than Armando Galarraga getting hammered again, and an uncharacteristic butchering of balls by Adam Everett and Brandon Inge, this was a nice game. The bats broke out in a big way and got Tigers fans Arby’s + 1. Don Kelly threw in a nice defensive play and the Tigers got good (but rain-limited) bullpenning from Zach Miner, Joel Zumaya, and Bobby Seay. Getting the first win of the series should take a little bit of pressure off of Alfredo Figaro (who will already be really nervous) in the Fox afternoon tilt.

PREGAME: Four game losing streaks warrant backwards game threads. The Tigers top 2 in the rotation couldn’t coax out a win, so it is now up to the kid to stop the losing streak.

Rick Porcello was on the mound for the Tigers last start, and hopefully he’ll be on the mound for their next one as well. He does get the benefit of not facing Albert Pujols tonight.

Joel Pineiro has some pressure himself. Opposing pitchers have kept the Tigers under 4 runs for 7 straight games. I’m actually stunned that Pineiro is only 30. He’s having a solid season with only 11 walks and 2 homers allowed in 76.2 innings.

Detroit vs. St. Louis – June 18, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: It’s a win. Sigh.

The Tigers finally had a big inning, and they got it early in the game and took some of the pressure off of everyone. Grandy and Polly each had 2 hits and the top of the lineup produced. Inge and Laird had big hits. Thames with a foul-poul thump. Sigh. Runs. Whee!

Porcello was good again. He gave up a number of hits, but got a ton of ground balls as well. He also slithered out what could have been a bad inning after a Gerald Laird error (Laird’s throw wasn’t good, but Inge seemed like he could have reached it).

Bobby Seay was very good. Brandon Lyon was fine. Fernando Rodney was nearly a train wreck as he was throwing the ball all over the place. Fortunately Rick Ankiel decided to swing to end the game with a double play.

PREGAME: I figure we’re one bad game away before I have to post this backwards again. Hopefully the team will fare a little better. Did you know that through 64 games the 2008 team outscored the 2009 team 09 version has only outscored the 08 version by 7 runs?

Edwin Jackson is the man tonight and hopefully he can work deep into the game with Verlander leaving early yesterday and Porcello on the mound tomorrow.

Todd Wellemeyer hasn’t had a quality start since May 22nd. That doesn’t mean a lot given the Tigers recent struggles against struggling pitchers. Who knows, maybe tonight’s new look lineup will be the one to get it done:

1. Granderson
2. Polanco
3. Cabrera
4. Thames
5. Ordonez
6. Inge
7. Laird
8. Everett
9. Jackson

Detroit vs. St. Louis – June 17, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Another day, another loss. I guess the difference is this wasn’t an awful game. Edwin Jackson was fine, 3 runs in 6 innings wiht 7 K’s, just not great. He hurt his cause with an error on a pickoff throw and Magglio Ordonez butchered what might have been caught and at the least should have been a double.

Curtis Granderson and Miguel Cabrera hit, but again that was it. The Tigers had some good at-bats early on, forcing Wellemeyer to throw a boat  load of pitches in the 1st and in the 3rd, but the big inning continues to elude them instead settling for solo homers and other 1 run innings.

And then there was Joel Zumaya who had another tough outing. He didn’t get hammered and he mixed in a number of curves. But he also couldn’t find the strike zone and he walked in the Tigers 13th run of the season. Nine of those have come in the month of June (the Tigers had 20 in 2008).

PREGAME: So, is this game going to be first team to 4 runs wins? The Cardinals have scored more than 3 runs only 4 times in their last 15 games. The Tigers have scored more than 3 runs only 4 times in their last 15 games, and are riding a streak of 5 straight games without topping that mark.

Further complicating things is the pitching match-up which features Justin Verlander and Adam Wainwright. Verlander has been outstanding of late and is coming off a complete game, 1 run effort.

Wainwright has been solid with  7.5 K/9 and 2.1 K/BB ratios. Lefties knock  him around to the tune of an .822 OPS while righties struggle at a .602 clip.

Unfortunately the Tigers lineup only has 3 lefty hitters in it tonight (not that I’m stumping for Josh Anderson):

1. Kelly, LF
2. Polanco, 2B
3. Ordonez, RF
4. Cabrera, 1B
5. Granderson , CF
6. Inge, 3B
7. Laird, C
8. Santiago, 2B
9. Verlander, P

Detroit vs. St. Louis – June 16, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: That was just a pathetic display. Awful, and coming on the heels of the last 2 games, this is a very ugly 3 game stretch.

• Verlander couldn’t get the swings and misses on the fastball and didn’t have good control of the curve. And he got beat-up. He made a fielding error. He balked. He wasn’t good. But he’s been awesome of late so he gets a pass.
• Cabrera swung the bat well. A homer, a walk, and a sharp single is definitely a positive.
• The Tigers had awful at-bats with runners on. In the first Polanco struck out with a runner on third and nobody out. Then Ordonez couldn’t get it past the pitcher. Polanco also fouled out on the first pitch with runners on first and second later int he game. Curtis Granderson tried to pull an outside fastball on a 3-1 count. Too many bad at-bats.
• And the defense was poor also.

PREGAME: It appears that the Tigers Saturday/Sunday invincibility only applies to intra-league games as they have been stymied in their first 3 match-ups with the senior circuit.

Dontrelle Willis gets the ball for the Tigers and fans will get to see what is better, his hitting or his pitching. Despite his struggles in his last start, Willis’s stature in the rotation seems somewhat more secure with the news that Bonderman will be out for a couple more months.

Russ Ohlendorf is your typical back of the rotation starter. One of these days the Tigers will need to thump an opposing pitcher. Maybe this is the day. Five of the eleven homers that Ohlendorf has allowed this year have come on the first pitch. This could play into the Tigers approach.

Oh yeah, and they’ll be wearing 1909 throwback uni’s. Always a good time.

Detroit vs. Pittsburgh – June 14, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: When the lineup was posted this game felt like a lost cause. When the Tigers sacrifice bunted in the first inning to play for one run and the plan backfired it was demoralizing. When Dontrelle Willis walked in 2 runs in the first inning it was the beginning of a disaster.

Nothing about this game felt good except for the fact that Don Kelly had a nice game. Willis was bad. Really bad. Miguel Cabrera and Curtis Granderson combined to not get the ball out of the infield. And Josh Anderson batted third. This was a couple days after Leyland was quoting he thought Anderson wasn’t cut out to be a leadoff hitter. Yeah, batting 3rd should fix it.

I think this is pretty good timing for an offday.