PREGAME: The Tigers return home from their 2 city, 3 game road trip to take on the Twins. The Tigers found some offense on the road while the Twins went into a funk. Over the last 5 games Minnesota has only managed 12 runs.

It is a battle of sub 3.00 ERAs tonight on the mound with Nate Robertson taking on Ramon Ortiz.

Ortiz has allowed only 8 extra base hits this season. He’s also only given up 2 walks in 29 innings. Combined with a low K-rate of 3.72/9IP means that there are lots of balls in play, and some pretty quick at-bats.

And here is your interesting stat for the night:
Placido Polanco has only swung and missed 3 times this season That’s right, 3 times. Out of the 139 times he’s taken a hack, he’s missed the ball only 3 times. His last whiff was April 11th against the Orioles meaning he is riding a “contact streak” of 88 swings.

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: It’s a frustrating feeling when no lead feels safe. The starters do their job, only to have the pen undo it. Jim Leyland is sending out his best guys, but no matter who he turns to, the job isn’t getting done.

I put less of the emphasis on the game winning hit. Zumaya followed up the strikeout of Hunter by getting 2 quick ones on Joe Mauer. He then forced a jam shot to center, which is just unfortunate. The bigger problem was the doubles off the wall. Those were the products of 98mph fastball left up. We saw in Chicago that Zumaya couldn’t get the ball down and didn’t have the same velocity. It could be mechanics, it could be injury, but something ain’t right.

Bobby Seay did turn in a nice performance.

By and large the offense did okay. They didn’t strike out, they worked some walks, made the Twins throw some pitches. But Brandon Inge continued to struggle, and as several have mentioned, enough with the check swing K’s. Inge did make an outstanding play on a pop-up early in the game.

PREGAME: I’ll be home from traveling later tonight, so these game posts should have more robust information soon. In the meantime you guys have been awesome with the comments in the game threads.

Tonight it is Chad Durbin and John Danks.

Game Time 8:11pm

POSTGAME:
So I actually got to see all of this game. I got back from Chicago (and yes the weather was freakin’ miserable) just in time for the first inning. With nearly 200 comments I think everyone has covered everything, but just a few comments:

• Chad Durbin was quite awesome tonight. Some will point to a lineup and say he benefited from not facing Jim Thome and Jermaine Dye, to which I say “Duh.” Next I say “so what?”
• Durbin has now made 4 starts, and I’d contend he’s done his job in 2 of them. Of course last night we got way more than we hoped for. But in his prior start against the White Sox he only allowed 2 runs in 5 innings. That is more than serviceable from a 5th starter. Now the 6th inning in that last start was of course dicey, but he’d already done his job keeping the team in the game.
• As for leaving in Durbin to finish the job, he was really right in that gray area of pitch count. I certainly understand both camps here. On one hand, how often do you even have a chance at a complete game shutout? And at 106 pitches, he probably could have gone another one. On the other hand, it was a crappy night, it’s early in the season, he’s done his job.
• As for why Joel Zumaya in a blowout? I’d guess it’s because Zumaya had been warming up in the 7th inning when it was a 4 run game. If Leyland gets a pitcher up, he tends to use them. It wasn’t Leyland’s fault that Zumaya couldn’t find the plate to save his life and is now unavailable for tomorrow.
• With 13 hits, the offense is definitely coming around. Sure there are still 4 regulars struggling, but that number was at 6 a week and a half ago.
• And just because it came up in the comments, clutch hitting. There are definitely things such as clutch hits, but I’m still not sure there are clutch hitters. The basic contention being that if you can will yourself to a hit with runners on, why can’t you do it the rest of the time. That said, I’d be inclined to believe that there are “unclutch” hitters who to suffer under pressure but that the perception is overblown. For one thing defining clutch situations is difficult. For another, sample size becomes an issue. Third, athletes playing in the major leagues have faced pressure situations all through out their careers to get to that point in the first place. I think that would be a significant weeding out process for those who were “unclutch.”

Tigers 6, White Sox 2

PREGAME: Jeremy Bonderman and the Tigers will take Kelvim Escobar and the Angels on get-away day.

Game Time 3:35pm

PREGAME: The Tigers kick off an asinine 4 game road trip that takes them to California for 2 games and Chicago for 2 games. The team flight arrived in LA about midnight eastern time last night.

It will be Mike Maroth taking on Jered Weaver. Let’s hope they can avoid extra innings tonight.

Game time 10:05pm

PREGAME The Tigers need this win to salvage a .500 homestand, and to keep their record from sliding back to .500 overall.

One thing that definitely isn’t a key to the game is grabbing the lead early.

Gary Sheffield gets the day off today, so naturally Omar Infante will get the start at designated hitter and bat 3rd. It should be noted that Infante has amassed 32 at-bats against Jon Garland and is hitting .438 against him. Infante won’t be any less productive than Gary Sheffield has been at driving in Placido Polanco and Curtis Granderson, but it is a curious decision nonetheless. If Infante comes up with a big hit it is Leyland’s magic touch. If not …

Marcus Thames will start in leftfield and Mike Rabelo will start behind the plate.

Jon Garland gets the start for the White Sox. The Tigers end out Justin Verlander who’s been great this year. Last year the White Sox were the team Justin struggled with the most posting a 7.84 ERA over 5 starts.

Game Time 1:05pm

POSTGAME: Ah, so many thoughts and so many emotions. To hard to string them together logically, so I’m going bulletized: Continue reading Game 18: White Sox at Tigers →

PREGAME: The Tigers look to snap their first losing streak of the season. To do it they’ll send out Nate Robertson.

Robertson has been very effective this year because he’s kept the ball in the park. In twenty innings he’s only given up 1 long ball. (I know, beware of the DTW reverse jinx). Last year Nate surrendered 7 homers in 26 2/3 innings to the White Sox. (trying to counteract the DTW reverse jinx).

The White Sox will send out Jose Contreras. Contreras has had severe control problems this year to the tune of 10 walks in 12 innings. Of course the Tigers have made lesser pitchers look great this season, so this doesn’t mean a whole lot.

Game time 1:05pm

POSTGAME: For the 3rd time in 3 games the Tigers had another come from ahead loss. Once again it was the same story in that only a couple of guys provided offense and the pen couldn’t secure the lead.

I lamented Jim Leyland going with Jason Grilli in a high leverage situation yesterday. Today he went with Joel Zumaya who did the job in the 7th, but couldn’t protect the lead in the 8th. After a scoreless 9th from Todd Jones, Fernando Rodney was hammered for a couple doubles and a single in the 10th. I can’t be upset with the bullpen use today. Leyland went to his top guys, but 2 of the 3 let him down.

And as for Rodney, he was awful today. He’s been pretty bad in all but one of the losses. Yet if you want the Tigers to ditch him, it ain’t gonna happen. Rodney signed a 2 year deal and the Tigers aren’t going to eat that 3 weeks into the season. That would be a tremendous overreaction. I can understand short of that wanting him to not see as many high leverage situations. From a baseball strategy standpoint it would be hard to argue with that. But I’ve never been one to understand the psyche of a Major League reliever. I’ll leave it to Leyland to manage Rodney’s mental state, and hope that Chuck Hernandez can straighten out the mechanics.

The bottom 3 in the lineup combined to go 0 for 12 today, and Pudge batting 6th was right there with them until a single in his last at-bat. The Tigers continue to rely on 4 guys to provide all of the offense. Even bunching it today wasn’t enough.

And one note for Gary Sheffield. I’m still pretty confident he’ll get things turned around. But in the meantime stop complaining. That pitch to end the game on Friday was a strike. Instead of arguing the foul ball on strike 3 today, run. And instead of arguing the swinging bunt, run. If you don’t like the car, hit the ball farther than 6 inches.

PREGAME: Now it gets interesting. The Tigers will be taking on one of the contenders from the AL Central. Not to diminish the Royals, but this is the first divisional series that can really be used as a measuring stick.

The Tigers send out Chad Durbin. Durbin struggled in his first 2 starts and the Tigers had to rely on Wil Ledezma and Jason Grilli to share the load in those games. Leyland has said that Durbin’s job isn’t in danger, but another outing where he doesn’t really give the team a chance to win and I think it will be hard for Leyland to send him out there again. I’m not looking for a quality start, but 6 innings and 4 runs allowed would be fine out of the 5th starter.

The Tigers will face John Danks, who the White Sox acquired from the Rangers. Danks has a pretty solid WHIP of 1.235 and has fanned 10 in 11 1/3 innings. The only knock against him in his first 2 starts is that he’s allowed 3 homers already.

Game time 7:05

POSTGAME: Chad Durbin did his job tonight. He gave the team 5 innings and allowed only 2 runs, and did it relatively easily. Of course, he was charged with 2 more runs in the 6th after he loaded the bases on a tweener and a couple of walks. Leyland then went to Jason Grilli who gave up the 2 run single.

I don’t blame Grilli so much. He is what he is, and chances are runs are going to score in a bases loaded no out situation. I would have felt better with Joel Zumaya pitching, but at the same time I can’t expect to see him in every high leverage situation. Yet the way the pitching has been handled the last 2 games just hasn’t sat well with me.

Bobby Seay and Aquilino Lopes did a nice job in their turns in relief.

I still don’t understand starting Thames and lifting him with a lead in the 5th inning. Both times the Tigers went on to relinquish the lead. I hear Leyland talking about defense and such, but I guess I still just don’t get it.

And Gary Sheffield, I just don’t know.

PREGAME: Jeremy Bonderman and Gil Meche in a matineee.

Game Time 1:05

POSTGAME:There wasn’t a lot to like about this game with the exception of Jeremy Bonderman and Curtis Granderson. Bonderman went 7 innings on 86 pitches but wasn’t allowed to come out for the 8th. This is the 2nd time in a week that Jim Leyland didn’t send out Bonderman even when his pitch count and performance probably warranted another inning.

Granderson mentioned this offseason that Gil Meche was one of the toughest pitchers he faced last year. He seems to have gotten past that with 3 hits today, granted one was a dribbler, but he was one of the few to get a solidly hit ball all day. Granderson and Placido Polanco combined to get on base 5 times, and Sheffield failed to do anything to drive them in once again.

As for the bullpen, at least Joel Zumaya was good. I’m not too upset about the Todd Jones blown save. It was the walks which were uncharacteristic for Jones that did him in. He’ll allow hits because he doesn’t strike out many, but normally it takes several of those hits. With the free passes Jones loses his slim margin for error. Blown saves are frustrating, but no closer is perfect.

Fernando Rodney continues to struggle. I understand frustrations with him, because he quite frankly hasn’t been effective. And when Rodney is struggling it is excruciating to watch as he takes a long time between each pitch. Still, I’m not terribly worried. He could be a set-up man for many teams, and he’s only splitting the role in Detroit.

As for some of the moves today, I know this will sound like second guessing due to the timing, but I was questioning them as they happened. I didn’t agree with taking out Bonderman. There was no need to. Jones was going to pitch the 9th no matter what, so using Zumaya in the 8th was unnecessary and rendered him unavailable in the 10th.

I also disagreed with the designated bunter approach. For the chance to move a runner into scoring position which would still require another hit, Leyland was conceding an out. The probability of not scoring with a no out-runner on first situation is 57.8% and in a 1 out-runner on second situation it is 60.4% (in a 4.5 RPG environment). So even if it is successful, it reduces the chances of winning. If it were a matter of moving a runner from 2nd to 3rd I’d agree with the move, but not in this case.

A well pitched game in which the the Royals defense handed a struggling offense some runs slipped away. It stinks, but it is also going to happen. Detroit has come out on the winning end of some of these as well.

Kansas City 4 Detroit 3

PREGAME: Abbreviated pregame tonight. Jorge De La Rosa takes on Mike Maroth. Jim Leyland is using the “Sunday” lineup with Omar Infante in centerfield, Neifi Perez at third base, and Marcus Thames playing first base. All righties all the time.

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: It was a nice offensive night. Placido Polanco got the biggest hits, but he wasn’t the only one hitting the ball hard. Magglio Ordonez hit the ball hard repeatedly tonight, as did Pudge Rodriguez.

Marcus Thames was inexplicably taken out in the 5th inning, after hitting a home run. I don’t really get it. The lefy de la Rosa was still even in the game at that point and it seems too early for a defensive replacement.

Maroth narrowly missed a quality start, and Wil Ledezma wasn’t quite as sharp as he’s been.

PREGAME: The Tigers return home after a 10 game trip. Tonight they’ll send out Justin Verlander, who has arguably been the best pitcher in the majors this year riding a 13 inning scoreless streak. Of course, the second best pitcher might be whoever is facing Verlander. The Tigers bats have mustered one run off Verlander opponents Jorge De La Rosa and Adam Loewen.

Tonight’s opponent will be much tougher in Zach Greinke. Greinke has posted a 12:1 K to walk ratio in his first 13 innings this year.

The wind is ridiculous tonight and will most assuredly be a factor. Let’s hope that the Tigers cope with it better than they did in their last home game.

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: The Tigers finally got that laugher they’d been waiting for. They took advantage of some Zach Greinke wildness (and an erratic strike zone) to set up a grand slam for Pudge Rodriguez in the first inning. Some bad defense and Greinke was chased in the first inning. In the end, the Royals burned out two of their relievers for the rest of the series tonight.

It was a big game for most of the offense, and everybody reached base at least once. Sean Casey got a gift double. Magglio Ordonez got lucky with a botched double play ball, but was later robbed of a hit by Jason LaRue. Everybody else had some hard hit balls, but Carlos Guillen and Pudge delivered the big blows.

Justin Verlander allowed more hard hit balls then he probably would have liked, but his 6 K’s helped limit the damage. Jose Mesa was asked to eat a couple of low pressure innings, and couldn’t even make it through an inning. By allowing 2 runs, it also prompted Jim Leyland to burn through Joel Zumaya making him unavailable tomorrow.

PREGAME: It’s the last game of a 10 game road trip that has already been deemed successful. They’re also coming off a game featuring some late inning heroics. Do they have enough juice to take one more before heading home?

Maybe they can draw on the history of Jackie Robinson. Gary Sheffield, Marcus Thames, Craig Monroe, Curtis Granderson, Lloyd McClendon, and Pudge Rodriguez will be among the MLB players wearing the retired 42 today. For more on the day, check out Bless You Boys.

The Tigers send out Nate Robertson who is coming off a sterling performance against Baltimore in which he went 7 1/3 innings on only 80 pitches and allowing only 5 baserunners.

Josh Towers will be making his second start of the year. In his first start we last 5 2/3 innings while allowing 10 hits, but no walks and 6 strikeouts.

Game Time 1:07

POSTGAME: Three singles and a walk. That combination would probably make for a nice rally some inning, but not spread out across 9. The offense which had been showing signs of life the last few days crawled back into a hole. What was most frustrating is that this was a lineup full of starters, against a pitcher that hasn’t done much since 2005. And yet they had to rely on a thrown away pick-off attempt and Granderson’s legs to plate a run.

Nate Robertson was good, but he would have needed a shut out to win this one. Still, he was in line for a no decision until Sean Casey cut off a Gary Sheffield throw home. I don’t know that Royce Clayton would have been out, but there certainly would have been a play. Compounding the problem, Casey didn’t even throw to 2nd to cut down John Macdonald advancing.

Granderson picked up the 2nd error of his career when he air-mailed everybody in the 2nd inning. The error didn’t cost the Tigers though as it set-up an outfield assist for Granderson on the next play ending the inning.

Even with the loss today, the 6-4 road trip has to be considered a success. The Tigers won despite not generating a whole lot of offense. They are probably lucky to have the record they have, but there’s no reason to apologize for that.

Tigers 1, Blue Jays 2

PREGAME: Yesterday was pitcher’s duel extraordinaire. I’m not expecting the same today. Chad Durbin was roughed up in his last start, and the Tigers tagged a wild AJ Burnett for 6 runs chasing him in the 3rd inning. Of course Burnett rebounded with 6 2/3 3 hit innings in his next start against the Royals.

Neifi Perez is 9 for 16 lifetime against Burnett, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see Carlos Guillen or Placido Polanco get the day off.

UPDATE: Polanco gets the day off, but in favor of Omar Infante who makes his first appearance on the field this year. He bats 9th and Pudge is in the 2-hole.

Game Time 1:07

POSTGAME: Some walks, some misplays, some bloops, and a broken bat got the job done for the Tigers in the end. If you’re a Blue Jay fan stopping by, I can certainly understand your frustration because that one slipped away.

BJ Ryan certainly had control problems, but at the same time there were a couple pitches to Gary Sheffield that I thought could have been (and should have been) called strikes. What appeared to be a very inconsistent strike zone manifested itself in that at-bat and changed the complexion of the inning.

After loading the bases I was thrilled to see Jim Leyland turn to Marcus Thames. After Thames swung through 2 belt high fastballs on the inner half I was just praying it wouldn’t turn into a double play. Instead a shattered bat double was the result.

For those that complain about Todd Jones, he won’t walk the bases loaded setting up rough luck situations. Granted, it wasn’t the norm for Ryan either, but when Jones gets beat it’s because the other team hit the ball.

Other stuff:

• Jason Grilli draws a lot of ire in internet circles. It’s largely overblown for a long guy in the bullpen. Today Grilli came up big with 3 scoreless innings and gave the offense a chance to get back into the game. Without Grilli’s performance, the Tigers don’t win today.
• Gary Sheffield seemed to coast a couple times on the base paths. Once with Ordonez’s double and the other time with the bloop hit. I understand that players can’t go all-out all the time, but not scoring either of those runs would have been huge slip-ups.
• For a guy that was staring down the golden sombrero at one point, Craig Monroe had actually put together some impressive at-bats. His first 3 at-bats were K’s, but he saw 5, 7, and 9 pitches with full counts in the latter 2 ABs. His double off the top of the wall also came on a full count, 8 pitch plate appearance. On the day Monroe saw 33 pitches.
• Brandon Inge had 3 more well hit balls. The average is still way down, but it’s climbing
• Props to 2nd base umpire Jeff Kellogg who made a nice call on Brandon Inge’s stolen base. The throw was there, but the tag wasn’t applied in time. It seems obvious, but that call isn’t always made.

I probably need to comment on Chad Durbin as well. Leyland said that he’ll still start as scheduled against the White Sox on Friday, but I’d imagine he’ll really have to show something. He was simply not good today. He doesn’t have to be great, but getting to the 6th inning and giving up fewer than 4 runs would at least be keeping the team in the game. The trouble is Zach Miner has struggled in Toledo, Jordan Tata is on the DL, and Andrew Miller was roughed up in his last start. In other words there isn’t anyone knocking the door down.

Tigers 10, Blue Jays 7