Bowie 6 Erie 1
Alex Avila went 2 for 4. Scott Sizemore homered. Jeff Frazier walked twice. Jay Sborz walked 4 and allowed 4 runs (2 earned) in 3.1 innings. Alfredo Figaro was supposed to start this game but was shelved with back stiffness.

Tampa 0 Lakeland 5
Audy Ciriaco and Kyle Peter were both 2 for 3 with a walk. Andy Dirks walked twice and singled. Thad Weber pitched 7 innings of 2 hit ball with 3 walks and 6 strikeouts. Lester Oliveros walked 3 in his 2 innings but didn’t allow other baserunners.

West Michigan 0 Cedar Rapids 3
Bryan Pounds, Gustavo Nunez and Ronnie Bourquin had the only hits for the Whitecaps. Victor Larez allwed 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk in 3 innings.

PREGAME: It’s kids day at Comerica Park with Joba Chamberlain taking on Rick Porcello. Porcello has been solid in his first 3 starts, but he has been susceptible to the homer with 5 dingers allowed in his 18 innings.

Chamberlain is making his 4th starter and he brings in a 3.94 ERA. But Chamberlain hasn’t been striking out many by his standards (6.2/9) and he’s been walking quite a few by anyone’s standard (5.6/9).

The Tigers bats have been relatively quiet of late with only 17 runs scored in their last 5 games – and 9 of those came in one game. But Ramon Santiago returns to the lineup tonight:

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

Over at Tigers Corner you’ll be able to get a different perspective as Gary Gillette blogs from the press box.

Game Time 7:05

NY Yankees vs. Detroit – April 29, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Another disappointing game. Porcello struggled in his first home start and he was shelled for 6 hits to go with 3 walks and didn’t get out of the 4th inning. And what a 4th inning it was with 7 runs plated for the Yankees. And that was that.

In terms of positives, the defense wasn’t bad and Miguel Cabrera made a couple nice plays. Also Joel Zumaya looked quite good and is probably ready to assume the set-up duties. And with 3 more walks  Ryan Perry looks ready to relinquish the role.

Also, after the offense went very quiet for 2 games, they woke up in the 9th inning for 5 runs. Hopefully it carries over.

I hate off days.

PREGAME: It looks to be a chilly and blustery night at Comerica Park. The Tigers are looking to extend their winning streak to 4 games and will send out Edwin Jackson to battle Philip Hughes.

Hughes was just added to the Yankees roster to replace Chien Ming Wang. Hughes has dominated AAA for 3 starts this year with 19 K’s and 3 BB’s in 19.1 innings.

The Yankees are a familiar foe for Jackson from his days in the AL East. Derek Jeter has lit him up in 27 at-bats with a 417/481/667 line.

Game Time 7:05

NY Yankees vs. Detroit – April 28, 2009 | MLB Gameday

POSTGAME: It’s my fault guys. I’ll take the hit on this one. I’ve been to 2 Edwin Jackson starts and I’ve seen him pitch 13.1 innings and allow 1 earned run. I’ve seen the bullpen allow 14 runs in those 2 starts. It must be me and Brandon Lyon would prefer never to see me again.

Of course the Josh Anderson misplay is the play that really stood out, but it was actually the 4 pitch walk that Ryan Perry issued to Melky Cabrera that really messed things up. Cabrera was trying to give the Tigers an out, but 4 pitches out of the zone set-up the 2nd and 3rd situation in the first place. But yeah, the Anderson play was catastrophic because the ball was shallow enough that it would have been a tough tag-up situation.

The defense was pretty awful. Beyond the Anderson play there was Everett botching a grounder (more on this in a minute), and Miguel Cabrera not corralling a foul pop-up. There was also a tough play with Granderson and Magglio but I’m not to upset about it.

As for that Everett misplay of a Robinson Cano grounder, the misplay and the at-bat itself may have had a huge impact on the game. Cano battled Jackson for 13 pitches, and he started 0-2 in the count. Jackson was one strike away from being out of the 4th inning and he was at 56 pitches. After Cano’s battle, Everett’s stumble, and a walk to Swisher, Jackson’s pitch count had run to 76. If Cano doesn’t hang in there that long, or if Everett makes the play, there’s a chance that Jackson is still pitching in the 7th.

And to top it all off Hughes was awesome and the Tigers offense didn’t muster anything making runs 2-11 largely irrelevant.

There’s a lot of freaky stats to look at it in this one, but I’ll leave you with this one: Edwin Jackson threw 41 pitches for balls in 6 innings. The bullpen threw 38 pitches for balls in 3 innings.

Columbus 6 Toledo 9
Clete Thomas doubled twice and homered. Don Kelly had 3 hits. Eddie Bonine started and allowed 2 runs on 5 hits in 3 innings. Ron Chiavacci fanned 6 in 5 innings of 2 run ball.

Bowie 9 Erie 7
Alex Avila doubled and tripled. Jeff Frazier went 3 for 5. Jonah Nickerson allowed 5 runs on 7 hits and 4 walks in 4.1 innings. Zach Simons fanned 5 in 2 innings, but he allowed 2 runs on 2 hits with 2 walks.

Tampa 6 Lakeland 0
Jordan Newton in his first game after being promoted went 2 for 4. Audy Ciriaco and Chris Carlson each had 2 errors. Andrew Hess allowed 4 runs in 5 innings, but only one was earned. Scott Green fanned 3 in 2 innings.

Lansing 1 West Michigan 5
Luke Putkonen pitched 6 shut out innings allowing 2 hits and 2 runs while fanning 4. Ronnie Bourquin tripled. Brent Wyatt had 2 hits and a walk.

PREGAME: The Tigers finally return home after spending a good chunk of the season batting first. The Tigers played a MLB leading 13 games on the road to date (the Dodgers have played 13 roadies also).  It will also be the first night game at Comerica Park this season. Tonight they get to face the New York Yankees, a grumpy group of guys who were just swept in Fenway Park.

CC Sabathia will pitch the first game of the 3 game series. Sabathia has had 2 good games and 2 clunkers so far this season. Of course the Tigers are familiar with him from his day’s on Lake Erie. Surprisingly Sabathia has 14 BB’s against 12 K’s. Sidney Ponson had a similar ratio heading into yesterday’s game and the Tigers could barely hit him. For more on the Yankees check out Bronx Banter.

Justin Verlander takes the mound for the Tigers, still looking for his first quality start of the year. Here’s hoping he finds some solid defense behind him. Coincidentally Ryan Raburn is in the lineup for the first time since his adventures in right field during Verlander’s last start.

Tonight’s Starting 9:

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

Game Time 7:05

NY Yankees vs. Detroit – April 27, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

Continue reading Game 2009.019: Yankees at Tigers →

PREGAME: It’s get-away day as the Tigers play the last game of their 10 day, 9 game road trip. So far they are 4-4 on the trip and 2-2 for the season against the AL Central. It would be nice to push both of those numbers into the winning side.

The Tigers take on Sidney Ponson and I’m hoping for a better game than they put up when leaving LA. Ponson has allowed 30 baserunners in 15.1 innings and he’s walking as many as he’s striking out. The Tigers need to pummel him.

Detroit sends out Armando Galarraga who had to work against the Angels. Current Royals only hav 38 PA’s against Galarraga and there hasn’t ben a lot of success except for Alberto Callaspo who is 3 for 3.

Game Time 2:10

Detroit vs. Kansas City – April 26, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: So much for the pummelling, but a win is a win. I watched the first 6 innings of this after hte fact in super fast forward mode. Ponson was uncharacteristicaly good. Speaking of uncharacterisitically good, Brandon Inge hit his 7th homer. Both Inge-lovers and Inge-haters should be able to agree that the magnitude of his start is exceptional and unexpected.

Armando Galarraga walked 5, but that was about the only blemish and he continues to rack up a strike out an inning.

Fernando Rodney allowed a solo homer but still preserved the lead, as did Seay and Perry. One thing to keep an eye on. Seay is being used a lot. This was his 9th game and some simple math tells you he’s on pace for 81 appearances.

A 5-4 trip and a 3-2 record in division so far is reason to smile though.

PREGAME: There was a time when Kyle Davies wasn’t scary to face. Now the dude has 21 strikeouts in 18.1 innings and sports a 2.89 ERA. After back to back losses the Tigers are back at .500 and they’ll need to find some way to muster some offense to have a chance at posting a winning record on the road trip. Davies has pretty much scrapped his slider and is throwing his change-up much more. He’s also improved his rate of first pitch strikes.

The Tigers send out Zach Miner who is returning to the rotation after 3 off days in a week negated the need for a 5th starter. Miner pitched a good game against the Blue Jays, and was shelled on a cold and wet day against the White Sox. Hopefully it’s more of the former Miner that shows up. He’s made 2 starts and 5 appearances total at Kaufman Stadium but has yet to allow a run in 18.1 innings.

Game Time 7:10

Detroit vs. Kansas City – April 25, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: That’s a more better. The Tigers played a very nice, crisp, clean game. Offensive – good. Pitching – pretty good. Defense – good.

Zach Miner was shaky the first few innings. He either had too much movement on his fastball, or he was pitching scared. He was living in the right hand batters box against lefties, but he managed to escape any damage. By the end he was cruising and picked up the easy win.

Gerald Laird and Magglio Ordonez hit their first homers of the year and now there are 7 Tigers who have gone deep this year. Laird’s hit was part of a 3 hit night.

Granderson hit his 4th homer in the last 5 games and with 3 homers tonight it is FREE ROAST BEEF SANDWICH TIME. Just print off a box score and head to Arby’s tomorrow. Yeah!

Some excellent defense in this one as well. It was the good Adam Everett and he and Placido Polanco teamed up for some nice plays.

The bullpen, which was used extensively in this one (which I don’t really get) was solid enough. Joel Zumaya pitched a scoreless 9th. He allowed 2 hits but was helped by a double play ball.

Good stuff all around.

PREGAME: A sleepy Tigers team landed in Kansas City at 5:56 a.m. ET this morning. The Tigers even got to use fly Red Bird One despite the fact Red Wings are in the playoffs.

Hopefully they’ll wake up in time to face Zach Greinke. They’ll try to do something that hasn’t been done against Greinke this year and that is score a run. He’s pitched 20 scoreless innings this year fanning 26 and walking only 5.

The Tigers will send out Rick Porcello who likely caught an earlier ride than the rest of the team. He is coming off his first win and has certainly drawn a tough match-up.

Game Time 8:10

Detroit vs. Kansas City – April 24, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: The Tigers lost back-to-back games for the first time since the first 2 games of the season. I’m not going to fret too much about this one, just give credit where it is due. Greinke was masterful. That happens. It also highlights how disappointing Thursday night’s game against a struggling pitcher was.

The only other thing of note is that Nate Robertson made an appearance, his first in 2 weeks. Hard to believe he was a little rusty.

PREGAME: It’s the rubber match! Again, the exclamation point isn’t necessary but it worked in the 3rd game against the Mariners so I figured I’d stick with it. Is anyone else tired? Back to back nights of late games have left me exhausted, but I’m a gamer and the Tigers head somewhat East after the game to reasonable start times.

Edwin Jackson takes the mound for Detroit. He’s been efficient in his first few starts. The Angels have forced Tigers starters to throw a ton of pitches in the first 2 games. What will happen tonight?

The Angels send out rookie Matt Palmer who was recently called up to bolster the decimated pitching staff. He walked 13 in 12.2 innings for the Giants last year. The Angels hope he can do a little better tonight and perhaps give the bullpen a break.

Your Tigers lineup is:

1. Granderson, CF
2. Polanco, 2B
3. Ordonez, RF
4. Cabrera, 1B
5. Guillen, DH
6. Inge, 3B
7. Anderson, LF
8. Treanor, C
9. Everett, SS

Game Time 10:05

Detroit vs. LA Angels – April 23, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

PREGAME: Tonight it will be lefty Joe Saunders taking on Justin Verlander. Verlander is coming off a remarkable start in Seattle where he was pretty much untouchable except for an awful 5th inning. Still, his velocity, command, and breaking ball were encouraging.

Saunders has only fanned 7 batters in 20.2 innings with 6 walks and 2 HBPs but he’s posting a nice 2.18 ERA because he’s only allowed 13 hits so far.

The Tigers will send out:

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

Game Time 10:05

Detroit vs. LA Angels – April 22, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: This probably deserves a more thorough analysis, but I have to be at my day job in 5 hours. So this is what you get:

• Verlander not so good. The Angels worked him like they did Galarraga the night before. Of course they had help in the form of Ryan Raburn who totally botched two plays (and minorly botched a third). Some of those runs should have been unearned but a disappointing Verlander outing regardless.
• Rincon allowed a run, and on that run he didn’t do too bad. It was a chop infield single and a double on a nice pitch. But then a wild pitch and 2 walks later I had lost all sympathy.
• The top of the order really got it going with the top 5 being on base 14 times
• Angels have the most generous scorer ever. It’s kind of a joke really
• Adam Everett had 3 “hits” and played some nice defense.
• The big rally in the 7th was bizarre. Hits went exactly where they needed to go, including another en-Inge-matic hit where he dribbles it somewhere and it results in runs.
• Rodney didn’t really struggle, but the 9th was way too interesting. An infield hit, a double play, a couple bloop singles, a well hit double a wild pitch and then it was over. Good night.

PREGAME:  There’s a lot going on tonight for Detroit sports fans. You’ve got the Red Wings against Columbus. The Detroit Pistons against the Cavs. Dontrelle Willis is starting for Lakeland. Joel Zumaya is pitching for Toledo. And oh yeah, the Tigers play after all of them in Orange County.

Prior to the season this series looked to be the toughest part of this 3 city trip. But bad fortune has been following the Angels around. John Lackey, Ervin Santana, Kelvim Escobar, and Vladimir Guerrero are on the DL. On top of all that there was the tragic loss of Nick Adenhart. The result is a struggling team that has lost most of its rotation (and is looking all over for help) and a lineup that lost its biggest threat. I’m not saying this will be an easy series, but the Angels have faced several seasons worth of adversity.

On the mound tonight will be Jered Weaver and Armando Galarraga. Both pitchers are off to solid starts. According to his pitch f/x data Weaver throws a 5 pitch repertoire that he mixes fairly well. In 2 games he has 10 Ks and 4 BB’s and allowed 2 homers. Galarraga has pitched so well I’m a little nervous to comment on it for fear of jinxing it.

Feel free to comment on any of the above games in this space (and please do, I’ll be in a meeting for a lot of it).

Game Time 10:05

Detroit vs. LA Angels – April 21, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Well that wasn’t the least bit satisfying. Armando Galarraga wasn’t good, but somehow managed to limit the damage to 3 runs while lasting 5 innings. Despite not having his good stuff he gave his team a chance to win. Curtis Granderson hit well, Carlos Guillen hit well, but not enough hits could get bunched together.

Especially frustrating was the 9th inning that saw a leadoff single wasted when pinch hitter Adam Everett couldn’t get a bunt down and Josh Anderson was picked off. I was pretty upset that Thames wasn’t hitting in that situation, but Ian pointed out that Marcus Thames just hit the DL (that’s a Jason Beck tweet).

Too tired to say more, but this was disappointing to say the least.

Oh, and I’m not blaming the loss on this so this isn’t a sour grapes thing, but that was some horrendous home plate umpiring by Timmons. Astoundingly awful. The whole game, both teams.

PREGAME: It’s a rubber match! Okay, maybe the exclamation point wasn’t necessary. The Mariners haven’t lost a series this year but the Tigers have a chance to take them down.

Today will be Rick Porcello’s second career start. I’d guess his pitch limit would be in the 95-100 pitch range and we’ll see if he attacks the strike zone like he did in his first outing.

Carlos Silva takes the mound for the Mariners. The Tigers beat him mercilessly last year. A 472/500/660 line was what they did to him in 3 games last year and a similar performance would certainly make things easier on Porcello.

Anybody remember the last get-away game the Tigers played in Seattle? It went 15 innings and the Tigers got the win against catcher Jamie Burke?

Game Time 4:10

Detroit vs. Seattle – April 19, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: A very nice all around effort today. Rick Porcello is the big story getting his first win. He allowed baserunners, and I think with his style he will. There will inevitably a couple of infield hits and jam shots. But with the heavy heavy sinker he chucks he’ll also throw a number of double play balls.

It seemed like he didn’t have pinpoint command early in the game, but in the end he finished with 56 of 86 pitches going for strikes and lasting 7 innings. A little suprised to see Porcello out of the game at that point. I thought this would have been a good opportunity to stretch him out a little more. But I also understand the decision to not needlessly have him throw extra innings.

The pen allowed a run and baserunners, but it was largely inconsequential. It was only noteworthy because Bobby Seay allowed a bloop single, the first baserunner he’s allowed this year.

Offensively the Tigers did what they needed to do against Carlos Silva. And the bottom of the order continued to amaze. On a team full of All Stars, Ramon Santiago was the only one to find a gap all series when he cleared the bases with a double, just 3 of the 5 RBI he had on the day. And Josh Anderson and Brandon Inge continued to mash as well. The Tigers only had 4 extra base hits all series, and Anderson/Inge/Santiago accounted for 3 of them.

On to Orange County.