The Tigers try to keep pace with the Texas Rangers for 2nd-best AL record, and try to take one last look this season at what rookie prospect Jacob Turner has to show.  Turner will be pitching to his old Mudhen buddy, Omir Santos. The Orioles will be no pushovers;  in fact they just finished throwing … Continue reading Game 2011.156: Orioles at Tigers →

A bit of  post-celebration malaise perhaps?  At any rate, the Tigers are in danger of losing their first series since approximately the invention of styrofoam. Magglio Ordonez continued his September surge with 3 more hits, raising his September batting average to .464.  Seriously. Taking the mound today at the absurdly named O.co Coliseum (shouldn’t Bud … Continue reading Game 2011.153: Tigers at A’s →

This afternoon the Tigers take the field in Oakland as AL Central Division Champions,  the first time the Tigers have won the Central Division, and their first division championship since 1987. The improbable big bat belonged to Don Kelly, who made Jim Leyland look like a lineup genius, while on the mound Doug Fister was … Continue reading Game 2011.152: Tigers at A’s →

Well, they didn’t clinch, and they didn’t extend the winning streak to 13, and they didn’t look particularly good. (Actually, they did clinch a playoff spot, if you count the game 163 thing as a 1-game playoff). Some of the credit has to go to Brandon McCarthy, who shut down the hottest offense in the … Continue reading Game 2011.151: Tigers at A’s →

The Tigers pulled off the Grand Sweep in stunning fashion,  sweeping their 4th consecutive Central series (and back-to-back Sox-series-sweeps) with 2 9th-inning pinch-hit home runs, the first time that has been done since…well, I don’t know.  That’s harder to look up than you would think. The Tigers have won 12 in a row, even overcoming … Continue reading Game 2011.150: Tigers at A’s →

The D (for Domination) train rolls into Chicago tonight as the Tigers look win 10 in a row for the first time since 1968.  The Tigers now find themselves perched at number 4 in both the ESPN power rankings and the MLB.com fan rankings, and their 9 win streak matches the longest since 1984.  1968 and … Continue reading Game 2011.147: Tigers at White Sox →

Smokin’ September continues. as the Tigers extend their win streak to 8 games, the longest September win streak since the magical 1984 season. The last time through the Tiger rotation Fister, Porcello, and Scherzer were all better than Verlander, and with Alburquerque back the pitching staff looks in top form right now. Tonight Doug Fister … Continue reading Game 2011.146: Twins at Tigers →

The Tigers have roared into September with consecutive series sweeps against their closest division rivals, and now head back to Comerica with a chance for the Three-Sweep against the struggling Twins. Tonight’s game features the epic pitching matchup of Slowey and Slower. The Tigers, perhaps in the spirit of sportsmanship, will lead off the series … Continue reading Game 2011.144: Twins at Tigers →

Brad Penny was daytime Bad, and surrounded by a bit of clown show defense, but the Tigers made an improbably comeback from a 7-run deficit to put the White Sox on the verge of a sweep, and an 8 1/2 game Central hill to climb. Max Scherzer  (13-8, 4.52) climbs the mound for the Tigers, … Continue reading Game 2011.140: White Sox at Tigers →

The Tigers lost yesterday and Justin Verlander  (20-5, 2.38) is pitching today, we we all know what that means. Tonight will be Verlander’s 20th start of the season following a Tiger loss (which says something about the bottom of the rotation, doesn’t it?), and his record in those games is 14-3. Verlander was a bit … Continue reading Game 2011.138: White Sox at Tigers →

Ignoring the last two games… There’s a great debate brewing over Verlander’s candidacy for the AL MVP.  MLB.com weighed in with a yay and a nay, and Buster Olney recently wrote that JV would get his vote if he had to vote today (you’ll need insider).  One of the key contentions is that pitchers should … Continue reading Game 2011.135: Royals at Tigers →

Previously here at DTW we pointed out how much better Brad Penny was pitching at night vs pitching during the day, and hoped that Leyland would change the rotation to get him off of the day shift. Sure enough, he returned with a solid night start against Minnesota and a great 1-run evening win against … Continue reading Game 2011.133: Tigers at Twins →