PREGAME: So it’s just the Tigers now. No more Red Wings or Pistons or Lions. Just a singular focus on the Tigers.

Tonight the Tigers will face Zach Duke. Duke walks very few hitters, so he finds himself pitching deep into games on a regular basis having gone at least 7 innings in 8 of his 12 starts. What makes it particularly impressive is that he doesn’t need many pitches to do it and he’s only topped the 100 pitch mark 6 times. With the Tigers proclivity for swinging early and often Duke could probably go 10 innings. Opposing hitters are only OPSing 476 against Duke when putting the first pitch in play.

The Tigers will turn to Armando Galarraga to drive in runs from the 9-hole this evening. Galarraga has made a quality start his last 3 outings, but he hasn’t earned a win since April.

Detroit vs. Pittsburgh – June 13, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: I saw very little of this game, and none of the game that mattered. I was at a dance recital and followed along on mobile gameday so my thoughts on this game are formed based on a barage of “line drive to left” and “line drive to center” and “line drive to right” and…well you get the idea. So not seeing any of the plays in question may hamper my ability to comment accurately about the game. But I’ll try and you tell me if I’m wrong.

• Armando Galarraga was awful and was throwing batting practice. That the game was over in 2.5 hours and Pittsburgh had 16 hits I’d guess that at least Galarraga wasn’t nibbling and he gave up runs efficiently.
• Nate Robertson came in and changed the complexion of the game…twice. He took over with runners on first and second and nobody out and retired the side stranding the runners thus keeping the game within reach. Huge inning for Nate. But then he gave up a grand slam in the next inning destroying the Tigers chances. Huge inning for Nate.
• Marcus Thames and Ryan Raburn provided a boost with “in play run(s)” which was nice
• The Tigers swung early and often because as I’d watch the pitch-by-pitch with 15 second auto refresh there were outs being made and there wasn’t even time to display the pitch or the “in play out(s)”
• Did I miss anything?
• Despite Galarraga going out in the 3rd, the bullpen is still in really good shape for Dontrelle’s start tomorrow. With Porcello going 7 innings, the pen was well rested coming into the game. And with an off day Monday and nobody throwing too many pitches today, everybody should be available if an “all hands on deck” situation arises.

PREGAME: I can’t help but wonder if there are more Tigers fans in the stands tonight that Pirates fans. I think Tigers fans would be well represented with many planning to make the relatively short drive to see their team in a gorgeous ballpark. But with Game 7 tonight, I’d guess many Pittsburgh fans would be blowing off the Pirates for the Penguins, and will it just be Tigers fans who made the journey left in the stands?

Whoever decides to go will see Rick Porcello take on Ian Snell. Porcello is looking to regain his May-ish form after 2 outings that weren’t great.

Snell hasn’t had a very good season. He’s walking a batter every other inning and not striking out very many and the result is an ERA over 5. He has been much better at home where he’s only allowed 1 of his 7 homers.

Detroit vs. Pittsburgh – June 12, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Rick Porcello is the answer to what ails ya. Porcello had an incrdible individual effort both on the mound and in the batters box. Porcello went 7 innings and threw 99 pitches (a career high) and held Pittsburgh to 1 run, which was in part gifted due to a blown call at 2nd base.

But that was only half the story for Porcello. He also had 2 singles and drove in the first 2 runs. Who needs designated hitters?

Other stuff:

• Fernando Rodney was much better this time out. He threw 12 pitches, and 11 of them were strikes.
• Zach Miner as the primary set-up guy? He’s turned in a few nice relief appearances in a row now.
• The offense was far from stagnant tonight with 11 hits and 4 walks. That only 3 came around to score was odd and annoying and frustrating, especially with 4 of the hits being for extra bases.
• Placido Polanco with an excellent game with 2 doubles, 2 singles and a sacrifice bunt.

PREGAME: The Tigers have already won the series, but they really have a chance to put an exclamation point on it today. With Edwin Jackson on the mound, Tigers fans expect a dominating pitching performance because we’ve been so spoiled this year.

Gavin Floyd is on a roll of his own though. In his last 4 starts he has a 2.12 ERA with 31 strikeouts and 8 walks in 29.2 innings. He’s only allowed 1 homer in that span as well. So despite the 5.35 ERA on the season, this isn’t a struggling pitcher. But the Tigers haven’t done much against struggling pitchers anyways.

Detroit vs. Chi White Sox – June 11, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: At least it was interesting and the loss was much easier to take with the series already in hand, but the Tigers had to watch the White Sox win a walk-off. That it got to a bottom of the 9th was probably the biggest surprise though.

Gavin Floyd absolutely dominated the Tigers. Ramon Santiago homered, but that was really the only damage against him. Meanwhile, Jackson gave the Tigers a chance to win, but his control wasn’t on and he couldn’t get the call on breaking balls low in the zone and he was done after 5 innings.

Thankfully Curtis Granderson took Bobby Jenks deep to tie the game in the 9th. Listening to Hawk’s call was fun in that it sounded like he was punched in the gut. Listening to him when Podsednik bounced one between first and second to win was miserable.

PREGAME: It seems like only yesterday we were anxiously awaiting the Tigers first round pick, and waiting to see if the Wings would clinch, and kind of dreading a Buehrle-Willis pitching match, and trying to figure out how to fix my refrigerator. Well, it was only yesterday. The Tigers got their flame thrower, we’re still waiting on the Wings, the Buehrle-Willis pitching match-up wasn’t so bad, and my refrigerator still doesn’t work.

With that in mind let’s turn our attention to the less dreaded Justin Verlander and John Danks pitching match-up. Verlander has been kind of awesome for about 6 weeks now. BUT…things haven’t always gone swimmingly for Verlander at the Cell. In his career he has a 5.92 ERA and 11 homers allowed in 51.1 innings.

Danks has been struggling this year, sort of. He only has one quality start in his last 5 outings and his ERA is 5.10. BUT…his peripherals aren’t as bad as his ERA. He’s actually striking out more batters this year than last, but he’s also walking more meaning the ratio has dipped from 2.79 to 2.25. Not as good as last year but not bad either. What has hurt him is that he’s allowed 1.35 HR/9 this year compared to .69/9 last year.  And really, it’s not like the Tigers have been feasting on struggling pitchers anyway.

Detroit vs. Chi White Sox – June 10, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: The Tigers had lost 4 games in a row, people were freaking out and the Twins were only a couple games back. Then Edwin Jackson pitched a complete game 1 run effort striking out the heart of the Angels order to end the game with 98mph heat. That started a run of 5 wins in 6 games culminating with Justin Verlander pitching a complete game 2-1 effort and punching out Josh Fields (who came in for Paul Konerko when Verlander jammed him on a ground ball) with 98mph heat. I like symmetry.

Verlander was incredible once again with only one bad pitch to Thome against 121 pretty good ones. Some of you may be expecting me to be upset about the pitch count, and I’m not in the least. This is the time to extend him, in a tight game where he’s still got gas against a team he’s owning, on a night with a depleted bullpen. This is when you lean on your guys.

The offense wasn’t much to speak of, but Adam Everett homers always deserve mention. The other run came on a bases loaded walk so the Tigers weren’t really crushing Danks. But with a series win assured, there isn’t really anything to complain about.

PREGAME: There’s a lot going on tonight. The MLB draft, the Red Wings trying to clinch the cup, and my refrigerator isn’t working. So this is a pretty short game post. Basically this as lopsided of a pitching match-up as you’ll see. Mark Buerhrle against Dontrelle Willis. Party on.

Detroit vs. Chi White Sox – June 9, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: It seems so long ago since I wrote the pregame. This is one of those nights when I’m glad I’m not a real writer and have to craft a game story. For one thing they had to rewrite the story a couple times. For another, I couldn’t put a cohesive one together and I can resort to bulleted thoughts.

• I honestly thought the Tigers had little hope going into this game. The pitching match-up wasn’t favorable. Mark Buehrle struggled with his control, which is rare, but to the Tigers credit they waited him out. They also executed multiple times.
• Dontrelle Willis wasn’t good, but he gritted it out enough to give them a chance to win. It looked scary when the first 6 pitches missed the zone, and he looked rattled during the Pierzynski altercation. But he did enough. Did he do enough to save his spot in the rotation? I don’t know.
• Pretty much everybody chipped in with the bat. Inge had a great night, Raburn did his part, Laird had 2 big sac bunts, Everett and Polanco with clutch knocks and Miggy with the big blast to win it.
• But the bullpen. (Except Zach Miner who was excellent). Everyone else walked at least one batter. Rodney looked like his delivery was all out of whack and he completely lost it. Brandon Lyon fanned Dye but allowed a 2 out double to Konerko to tie the game after a Thome walk (not a horrible strategic decision). And he did get the last 3 outs relatively easily.
• What’s left of the bullpen for tomorrow is Robertson/Seay/Rodney.
• And yes, I think the White Sox have a beef. I think Wise got the hand in there. It wasn’t a blatantly bad call (notice I said “I think”), but I do think Wise was safe.

PREGAME: The nice thing about winning the first game of a doubleheader is that there is no pressure of being swept. But, a sweep sure would be nice.

The Tigers welcome back Jeremy Bonderman who will be throwing his first big league pitch in over a year. He’s still looking for all of his fastball velocity to return, so we’ll see what a craftier Bonderman can bring to the table.

Jose Contreras will be on the mound for the White Sox. The Tigers have scored at least 4 runs in each of their last 5 starts against Contreras. Hopefully that continues today.

Your lineup for tonight’s action:

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

Detroit vs. Chi White Sox – June 8, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Well that game sucked. Jeremy Bonderman wasn’t good. Not at all. It wasn’t just the homers, it was all the other hard hit balls, and the walks. I think it’s safe to say that Armando Galarraga’s spot in the rotation is safe for the time being. Jeremy Bonderman has options, he also has the right to refuse, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see the Tigers ask him to go to Toledo if there isn’t progress in his next start. And based on Bondo’s comments earlier it doesn’t sound like something he’d resist.

And then there was the offense which didn’t exist despite the fact Jose Contreras was pitching. Weak ground balls and lazy flyballs were the recipe for a near shutout. Finally, let’s not bat Josh Anderson leadoff anymore.

PREGAME: It’s the start of a 5 game series, which just seems kind of crazy. I guess the nice thing is that for the team that loses the first game they have 4 more chances to avoide the sweep.

Armando Galarraga gets the day shift in the double header today. He’s coming off of back-to-back quality starts after really struggling in his previous 5 outings. Clayton Richard gets the ball for the White Sox. To contrast, he’s coming off a rough start after a string of 3 games where he only allowed a combined 4 runs in 20 innings.

There’s more stats and stuff here: Baseball Reference Preview

Detroit vs. Chi White Sox – June 8, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

PREGAME: We can be fairly certain that Rick Porcello won’t be pitching a complete game today, so wouldn’t it bee nice if the Tigers knocked around Joe Saunders enough that he could leaven in the 6th inning or so with a quality start and a comfortable lead?

Saunders has had games lately where he hasn’t allowed a run, and other games where he has been hit hard. Hopefully the Tigers draw a hit-hard Saunders today and it would be nice to see the Tigers get a home run before the homestand ends.

LA Angels vs. Detroit – June 7, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME:  As bad as the homestand was for the first 4 games, taking the last 2 and a series win make things a little brighter as Detroit hits the road. Rick Porcello was victimized by a couple home run balls, but by and large the kept the ball on the ground.

And then there’s the offense. It was a week of futility but the Tigers finally managed to get some big hits, the biggest being a Clete Thomas grand slam. to the Tigers credit, they were content waiting out Angels pitchers who issued 9 walks. Thames had multiple hits. Adam Everett had a big hit with the bases loaded. Ryan Raburn had a great hustle play to score the tying run. This one felt good.  Mostly.

Joel Zumaya looked brilliant getting a double play ball to get out of a runners at the corners, 1 out jam in the 7th. But then he got wild and thanks to a dumb decision ended up walking in a run. The dumb decision being intentionally walking a guy with a sub .600 OPS when there are 2 outs to load the bases. Just dumb. Thankfully the Thomas slammed erased the decision.

The bad news is that Zumaya threw 31 pitches (actually 27 because of the intentional walk) and Fernando Rodney threw 23, and Ryan Perry threw 24. It was not particularly efficient for the trio with a double header on tap for tomorrow.

PREGAME: Time to change things up a little because nothing else is working. I’m changing my underwear everyday now, looking for that magic pair that brings the Tigers some offense and a win.

Edwin Jackson is coming off his best start of the season, but as Justin Verlander will tell you, even shut out ball isn’t enough given the Tigers offense.

Kelvim Escobar makes his first start of the year which means he’s looking for his first win of the year meaning the Tigers are in trouble.

It’s another ill-conceived lineup tonight:

1. Anderson
2. Polanco
3. Thomas
4. Ordonez
5. Granderson
6. Inge
7. Larish
8. Laird
9. Santiago

Seriously, this lineup looks a lot better when the guys Leyland has batting 1-2 are batting 8-9.

LA Angels vs. Detroit – June 6, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Now that’s an exclamation point. To finish off a complete game by humping up 98 and 99mph heat in the 9th inning and striking out the 2-3-4 hitters (who happen to be Bobby Abreus – Vlad Guerrero – Torri Hunter) almost makes you forget how good Edwin Jackson was throughout the first 8 innings. That he was able to finish the game with 109 pitches is a testament to his efficiency and the fact he only walked 1 batter.

The offense continued to struggle in run scoring situations. At least there were run scoring situations tonight though. They made Escobar work and he needed 92 pitches to get through 5 innings. It didn’t really help getting into the bullpen as it turns out, but 10 pitch innings are really unsatisfying.

As for the title of this post, should I keep it this way until they lose of was this a one time way to break the losing momentum?

PREGAME: Remember a few weeks back. The Tigers had won the first 6 games of a 9 game homestand and the Rockies came to town. The Tigers took the Friday night game and things were looking great. That was the last time the Tigers won a home game and now have a 5 game losing streak at Comerica.

Fortunately the Tigers have their ace, Justin Verlander on the mound tonight. Of course the last time Verlander faced the Angels he allowed 7 runs in 5 innings as the Angels ran his pitch count up by fouling off a ton of pitches, and then there was the little matter of Ryan Raburn playing really bad in right field.

The Angels send out Ervin Santana. He’s a pitcher trying to regain his form after spending time on the DL, kind of like when they face Matsuzaka on Tuesday night. Santana has been absolutely rocked in his last 2 starts allowing a combined 15 runs to Seattle and Boston.

LA Angels vs. Detroit – June 5, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Just home from the game. Yes I’m frustrated. The Tigers are fighting it. I’m going to try and boil this down to a couple thoughts:

• Verlander was quite good again. He walked a few too many and as a result it was probably best he wasn’t out for the 9th. You don’t beat up a pitcher because the offense is terrible.
• Fernando Rodney picked up his first loss. It is June 5th. Really. How many teams would love to say that about their closer? Don’t complain about Rodney. He wasn’t especially sharp going to several 3 ball counts but he also wasn’t shelled. He was ground balled to death and the second run scored because the grounder wasn’t hit hard enough. This stuff happens.
• When the Tigers made the decision to go with a defensive mindset (which also brought in additional speed), they knowingly gave up offense. We knew before the season started that there would be holes in the lineup. This situation has been exacerbated by a couple of the Tigers bigger bats performing well below career norms and even normal expected aging curves (the curve became a cliff). And when you take your biggest thumper out of the lineup you aren’t going to score a lot of runs. The Tigers need more offense, but just remember that to get it they will need to sacrifice some defense.

PREGAME: It is time for this series to mercifully come to an end. The Tigers have not so much looked good in these first 2 games and now have dropped 4 in a row at home. As for today’s afternoon tilt, I don’t really know what to expect.

Tim Wakefield will be heaving knucklers  towards home plate. I’ve seen the Tigers beat up Wakefield, and be stymied by Wakefield. Hitting conventional pitching hasn’t been their strong suit lately so maybe this is just what they need. Wakefield has been more wild this year with his walk rate at 4.4 per 9 innings while his K-rate of 5.4 is right in line with his past 4 seasons. He has already hit 9 batters.

Dontrelle Willis takes the ball for Detroit after a rough start against the Orioles. Dontrelle’s ability to throw strikes against the Red Sox has me concerned. And really, with the 2 starting pitchers combining to walk 8.4 batters per 9 innings, this game could take a while.

Boston vs. Detroit – June 4, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

PREGAME: It just has to be better tonight right? Fewer errors. Fewer baserunning mistakes. More big hits with runners on base. No plunking in a run? Does that sound good to everybody?

Armando Galarraga will try and build on his last start, which was his only quality start in the month of May. He faced Boston once last year and wasn’t good, but he managed a no decision despite allowing 5 runs and not getting out of the 6th inning.

Meanwhile the Tigers will face Josh Beckett. Beckett faced the Tigers once last year and destroyed them with 8 K’s, no walks, and just 1 run in 7 innings. And Beckett is rolling with 5 quality starts in a row and his last 2 starts he has allowed 1 earned run in 15 innings with 13 K’s.  Game on.

Boston vs. Detroit – June 3, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Well, Josh Beckett was really good. The Tigers offense has had their share of struggles lately. But this is one of those tip-your-cap games. Beckett was nasty and worked the edges of a big strike zone masterfully. Tuesday the Tigers let Matsuzaka off the hook. Tonight was a pitcher on his game toying with a struggling offense.

But there is some good to take from the game. Armando Galarraga looks to be regaining his 2008 form with his second consecutive quality start. And the Tigers once again made the 9th inning way more interesting than it should have been with some good at-bats. And Curtis Granderson tripled.

Of course the bullpen proved to be awful with Zach Miner and Nate Robertson turning the game into a laugher. Leyland had no way of knowing that the Red Sox would forget how to field the ball in the 8th and how to throw strikes in the 9th and the Tigers 4 run deficit appeared insurmountable at the time. And conserving some bullpen in a lost cause isn’t a bad tactic. Still, those runs proved to be the difference.