51-44, 1st place, .5 games up.

On July 21, 2011, Justin Verlander threw 8 innings, allowing 1 ER and 5 hits to beat the Twins as the Tigers took over sole possession of 1st place; a position they never relinquished. Exactly 1 year later, Rick Porcello threw 8 innings, allowing 1 ER and 5 hits to beat the Chicago White Sox and the Tigers have now taken over sole possession of 1st place.

Apparently, someone read the memo. Porcello was dazzling. He had only allowed three hits through the first 8 innings – on 94 pitches. He was pulled after 2 singles in the 9th. Jackson came up huge with 4 RBI and Boesch tagged Sale with Sale’s first HR allowed to a lefty all season. All Tiger runs were scored with 2 outs, making that 11 runs in a row with 2 outs, and 35 out of 48 since the break scored in that fashion.

Though the White Sox have had trouble scoring runs as of late (2 runs or less in 6 out of their last 7), Jacob Turner has had problems not giving them up, so something may give today. Philip Humber has been one of the worst starters in the AL this year, and that includes a perfect game on April 21st against Sea. I’m hoping that we can score a few runs early to get Turner some confidence, and then turn it over to a well rested pen (other than Phil Coke) in the 4th or 5th. The top of the 1st will be key.

Latest Trade Rumors:

– The White Sox added Astros closer Brett Myers just hours before Saturday’s game.

– The Tigers had scouts watching James Shields‘ last start.

– Carlos Quentin looks to be close to signing a 3 year extension in San Diego; though Berry and Boesch have waned the Quentin rumors over the last few weeks (remember that Dirks is back in a few weeks as well).

– The Tigers have asked Seattle about lefty Jason Vargas, reports the Boston Globe.

– A Stephen Drew for Peralta deal looks to be a “long shot” according to sources quoted by Jack Magruder

– Still interested in Dempster, tweets Morosi.

I think that something will be done this week, even if it’s just getting Omar Infante back. Though I expect it to be more. I think that Mr. Illitch is committed to winning it all in the very near future, and has instructed DD to do what’s necessary to accomplish that.

Today’s Series Sweeping Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Berry, LF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Young, DH
6. Boesch, RF
7. Peralta, SS
8. Avila, C
9. Santiago, 2B

49-44, 2nd place, 1.5 games back.

Your Tigers are now 5 games over for the first time since they were 10-5; or they are 39-39 over their last 78 games. Taking three out of four from a scorching hot Angels team is quite an accomplishment, but the kind of baseball that we’ve expected from the Tigers all season long. If you remove Turner’s start, here’s what the starters did:

Porcello: 5.2 8 H 5 ER 3 BB 5K
Fister: 8 IP 2 H 1 ER 2 BB 10 K
Scherzer: 7 IP 3 H 1 ER 4 BB 9 K

That’s a 3.04 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 10.45 K/9. We’ll win a lot of baseball games with pitching like that.

I know that Porcello was shelled, but he’s going to be in the rotation through the rest of the season.

Look for defense to play a big role in this weekend’s series…the White Sox have only allowed 14 unearned runs all season, and are on pace to finish with the second fewest in a full season since 1920. The Tigers have allowed an AL worst 46 unearned runs this season, though they have not allowed any during this 10-2 run.

I predict that we take 2 out of 3. Verlander gears up for the division rival; Porcello gives up a few and Sale pitches a gem, then we win a wild one on Sunday as Jacob Turner loses all remaining trade value.

Tonight’s Running to a Meeting that Better End Before 6:05 PM Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Berry, LF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Young, DH
6. Boesch, RF
7. Avila, C
8. Peralta, SS
9. Santiago, 2B

Detroit Tigers, 48-44, 2 1/2 games behind Chicago.

Doug Fister had his best start of the season, and after two good starts in a row he looks like the Fister from the 2011 pennant run. Fister gave up a solo HR to Albert Pujols in the 1st, and only allowed a single and 2 walks after that, until he was pulled in the 9th at 108 pitches.  Fister struck out 10, which hopefully won’t trigger Leyland’s Too Many Strikeouts response.

Leyland said after the game that he originally was going to give Fister a shot at the complete game, but that Fister felt a little bit stiff so it wasn’t worth the risk (also, as Jeff Molby pointed out last night he hadn’t gone beyond 96 pitches since his injury).

Brennan Boesch continues to bash, adding 2 doubles last night to his home run the night before. Since the break, Boesch is leading the Tigers with a 1.149 OPS, and also leading the team with 7 RBI.

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Today the Tigers look to go 2-for-2 in post-break series, and send out Max Scherzer vs Angels right-hander Jerome Williams. Scherzer had one of his Bad Max outings last out (4 runs and 9 hits in 5 innings); Williams is making his 2nd start since an asthma attack landed him in the hospital.

The Tigers are also going with Danny Worth again at 2B, instead of the usual Santiago platoon.  It may be the Tigers want to take an extended look at Worth (or give someone else one) before making a move.

The popular rumor of the moment has the Tigers re-acquiring 2B Omar Infante, which makes a lot of sense.  Not only is Infante an ex-Tiger, but he is a Marlin, and you know how that is. At any rate the Tigers are supposedly the team most likely to make a deadline deal.  

Stat of the Day: Prince Fielder leads the Tigers with an On Base Percentage of an even .500 since the break.

Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Brennan Boesch. Boesch is in a groove right now.  With Cabrera and Fielder getting on base regularly in front of him, Boesch adds to his RBI total (as long as Delmon can avoid the GIDP).

Today’s Let’s-See-What-Danny’s-Worth Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Quintin Berry LF
3. Miguel Cabrera 3B
4. Prince Fielder 1B
5. Delmon Young DH
6. Brennan Boesch RF
7. Jhonny Peralta SS
8. Alex Avila C
9. Danny Worth 2B

Detroit Tigers, 47-44, 3 1/2 games behind Chicago.

Alice Cooper threw out the ceremonial first pitch before last night’s game, and from that point on it was Welcome To My Nightmare for young Jacob Turner, who bombed.

An outburst of offense was predicted, but I didn’t quite have that in mind (the Tiger offense politely refrained from getting involved).

But the good news is that it only counts as one loss, and we go into tonight’s game all tied up in the series.

It isn’t going to get any easier to score runs though:  the Angels send out C.J. Wilson (9-5, 2.43).  Fister will try to duplicate his strong last out performance (7 innings, 1 run, 3 hits, 8 Ks) and show he is back from his injury.

Actually the Tigers already won today–they won a pick in the Competitive Balance Lottery.

On the trade front, the word is that Detroit is actively seeking pitching.  Ryan Dempster still tops the rumor list, but one angle not mentioned enough is that he would have to approve any trade, and has said he thinks the Dodgers would be a good fit.

Dempster isn’t good enough for Drew Sharp, who says the the Tigers MUST get either Cole Hamels or Zack Greinke.  No, no says Lynn Henning. The Tigers should be cautious and just make a little trade for a 2nd baseman.

Stat of the Day: The Tigers fell 4 games short of the equivalent of an entire season without being shutout, when their streak ended last night at 158 games.

Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Ryan Raburn. He is SO due!

Today’s Let’s-Hope-Fister’s-Really-Good-Tonight Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Ryan Raburn LF
3. Miguel Cabrera 3B
4. Prince Fielder 1B
5. Delmon Young DH
6. Jhonny Peralta SS
7. Brennan Boesch RF
8. Gerald Laird C
9. Danny Worth 2B

Detroit Tigers, 47-43, 2 1/2 games behind Chicago.

A lot went right for the Tigers last night, as they beat the Angels and finally gained a game on the White Sox.  Perhaps no moment was better than in the 7th inning, when Berry singled, stole 2nd, stole 3rd, and tied the game on the sometimes-elusive sacrifice fly.  The Boesch Basch was the cherry on top.

When was the last time the Tigers had someone in the top 10 in stolen bases? Q-Berry is now 13th with a bullet, as one used to say.

As Kevin noted, there was an almost playoff-like atmosphere to the game last night.  In fact, if the playoffs were to be held today, the first game would be a one-game wild card matchup between the Tigers and the Angels.

That game would not likely feature Jacob Turner, making his 2nd start of the season, or Garrett Richards, who is 0-1, 12.46 in his last 2 starts.  The forecast calls for an 80% chance of offensive outbursts.

Turner’s outing today could be a bit of a showcase; his name comes up regularly in the trade deadline rumors, which now include, in addition to the unlikely Dempster and more likely Scutaro rumors, one that has the Tigers pursuing pretty much half of the Diamondbacks.

Stat of the Day: Latroy Hawkins, who came in last night in the 7th, intentionally walked Prince Fielder, who was 3-4 lifetime against him.  Hawkins fared better against dad: Cecil Fielder was a career 1-for-11 against him.

Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Quintin Berry.  Berry is one of two players in the league with at least 10 stolen bases who has yet to be caught stealing (14-for-14).  The other is across the field, Maicer Izturis (11-for-11).

Today’s It-Worked-Last-Night Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Quintin Berry LF
3. Miguel Cabrera 3B
4. Prince Fielder 1B
5. Delmon Young DH
6. Brennan Boesch RF
7. Jhonny Peralta SS
8. Alex Avila C
9. Ramon Santiago 2B

Detroit Tigers, 46-43, 3 1/2 games behind Chicago.

The Tigers try to continue their 2nd-half surge with a 4-game series against the redundantly named Los Angeles Angels.  The series will feature neither Justin Verlander nor Jered Weaver, much less a rematch between the two, since they both pitched yesterday.  Perhaps that will have to wait until the 1-game wild card playoff.

Instead Rick Porcello will take the stage for tonight’s ESPN Monday Night Baseball affair, and try to stop the Trout-Trumbo express, which has combined for an 8.0 WAR (a fancy way of saying they are worth as much as the rest of the team combined).

They are right handers, but the righty-righty match won’t necessarily help Kid Rick:  Porcello this season has given up a .319 BA against RHB, and .318 against LHB.  (Yes, that seems awfully high…but you see, there are all those ground balls, and there is the Tiger infield…).

The Tigers face Ervin Santana, who has the AL 3rd worst ERA at 5.75

Or you could look at the matchup as the meeting of the two highest priced free agents:  it’s Pujols vs Fielder! (Just trying to guess the ESPN angle).

In other news, the Tigers are still supposedly interested in Ryan Dempster and Marco Scutaro.

Stat of the Day: The Tigers have yet to be shutout this season.

Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Jhonny Peralta.  Over the past 2 weeks he is hitting .344 (.989 OPS), and even his outs have been largely of the hard-hit sort.  Is he coming back into 2011 form?

Today’s Trying-To-Score-From-2nd-On-A-Shallow-Single Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Quintin Berry LF
3. Miguel Cabrera 3B
4. Prince Fielder 1B
5. Delmon Young DH
6. Brennan Boesch RF
7. Jhonny Peralta SS
8. Alex Avila C
9. Ramon Santiago 2B

45-43, 3rd place, 3.5 games back.

Well, the win streak (and Austin Jackson’s hit streak) came to an exciting end last night. I checked my phone yesterday on hole 14 of a rather forgettable back nine on a course in North Dallas. Down 4-1, bottom of the 8th, 1 out, and the bases full of Orioles courtesy of Darin Downs. Honestly, I didn’t have much hope, and put my phone down.

Lo and behold, I checked in 30 minutes later, and the game was tied. A double play ball and a few key hits, and we we’re going extra innings. Then we took the lead! And our closer was coming in! But our closer is Jose Valverde. Tie game again.

Then we took the lead again! Valverde couldn’t come back in again! Benoit was warming up, here comes 7 in a row! JJ Hardy is 0-28. ZERO FOR 28! Bomb. Okay, we’ll get them in the 14th. Taylor Teagarden hasn’t played all season. Two-run bomb; and an 8-6 loss.

In reviewing the game, I watched Berry’s game tying single in the 9th, the one where Boesch is thrown out by out 110 feet. What in the world was Lamont thinking? Watch this video, and pause it at the 9 second mark. Boesch still has 2 steps to go before 3rd base when Endy Chavez has the ball in his glove. As Coleman suggested, Lamont’s WAR is about -10.

The good news is that the White Sox and Indians lost, so after all that, we’re still 3.5 games out.

JV takes the ball today, looking to recover from Tuesday night’s All Star start debacle. JV admitted that he geared it up in the first inning because the fans don’t want to see him “paint the corners” but rather they want to see him throw 100. And give up 5 ER. Look for JV to get back to his low-mid 90s 1st inning self today.

The Tigers take on Orioles rookie Miguel Gonzalez. Gonzalez is a 28 year old rookie who will be making his 2nd big league start, and 5 big league appearance today. So far so good, as Gonzalez has only allowed 4 ER in 18 2/3 IP for a 1.93 ERA. He’s struck out 18 and walked 7 during that time frame. Not a big sample size, but the Tigers have been known to struggle against worst. That said, the guys are really hitting the ball well over the past two weeks, so let’s see if they can hand Gonzalez his first loss.

Today’s Series Clinching Lineup (because we can’t win every game, but we can win every series):

1. Jackson, CF
2. Berry, LF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Boesch, DH
6. Peralta, SS
7. Avila, C
8. Santiago, 2B
9. Kelly, RF

45-42, 3rd place, 3.5 games back.

They just keep winning and winning. The guys are playing some of their best baseball of the year right now, and have a lot of people thinking that the post season is a real possibility.

Unfortunately, those words could have been written about the Indians, White Sox, or Tigers. During this 6 game winning streak, the White Sox have only lost once, and over the last 10 games, the Indians and White Sox are both 7-3 to the Tigers’ 8-2. As a result, the Tigers have only been able to pick up 1 game since last week.

So we just gotta keep winning.

Max Scherzer gets the call  today, looking for his 6th straight QS. Over his previous 5 outings, Mad Max is 3-1, he’s allowed just 9 ER in 33 innings (2.45 ERA), and has posted 41 Ks against only 9 BBs with a 1.00 WHIP. Look for Leyland to scold Max for striking out too many.

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With the trade deadline approaching, there will be an increased focus on filling team holes. Even before Smyly’s most recent injury, another starter had to be on a shopping list that includes a 2B (is Infante much of an upgrade over Santiago?), and maybe a left handed bat since Boesch can’t seem to get anything going.

Problem is that there increased demand will increase prices (remember that there is an extra wild card spot this year) and the Tigers don’t have a ton of chips to begin with. Henning wrote a nice piece on Thursday which discussed some potential trade pieces.

A few notes:

– AJax hit streak is at a career high 16 games. Using WAR and wRC+, he’s a legitimate 1st half MVP candidate.
– Smyly to the DL retroactive to July 7th, Marte up. Turner likely to pitch on Tuesday.
– Tigers haven’t been shutout in 155 games now, the previous club record was 110.

Today’s Series Clinching Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Santiago, 2B
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Young, DH
6. Peralta, SS
7. Raburn, 2B
8. Laird, C
9. Berry, LF

44-42, 3rd place, 3.5 games behind CWS, win streak is at 5

The Tigers kick off the back half of the season with a 3 game set against the Orioles. The Orioles are in the middle of their predictable pattern of everybody’s darling to mediocrity to irrelevance as they get passed up by everyone else in the East. But this doesn’t mean that they aren’t full of talent, they simply have the unfortunate consequence of playing in baseball’s best division.

Tonight’s pitcher, Jason Hammel is in the midst of a career year (which also happens to be a contract year). On the year he’s 8-5 with a 3.47 ERA and 101 Ks against 38 BBs in 106.1 IPs, though he’s had a tough go against Detroit in his career. Covering 6 outings, the Tigers have roughed up Hammel for a 6.20 ERA.  Hammel’s worst inning is the 4th, so look for a Raburn bomb there. Peralta is averaging an RBI every 1.7 ABs against Hammel. Hopefully we can get to Hammel because the Orioles bullpen leads the majors in ERA (2.75) and Jim Johnson leads the majors with 26 saves and sports a 1.21 ERA.

Fister has allowed 18 ER in his last 14 1/3 IPs. To boot, the Orioles are batting .314 off of him as a team.  Let’s see what Fister can give us this 2nd half.

A few notes:

– The Orioles video production department was recently recognized by the other video guys at the “Best Overall Video Display In Baseball” as the sparsely attended and new to me Information Display Entertainment Association conference in Minneapolis earlier this week.
– Worth up, Ortega down.
– What could Delmon Young have in common with the following names that I know from Tony LaRussa Baseball for PC Circa 1991 – Rudy York and Vic Wertz, along with Hank Greenberg, Willie Horton and Marcus Thames? If he hits a HR tonight he’ll find out.
– AJax is on a 15 game hitting streak.

Tonight’s  Lineup:

1. CF Austin Jackson
2. LF Quintin Berry
3. 3B Miguel Cabrera
4. 1B Prince Fielder
5. DH Delmon Young
6. RF Brennan Boesch
7. SS Jhonny Peralta
8. C Alex Avila
9. 2B Ryan Raburn

Detroit Tigers, 43-42, 4 1/2 games behind Chicago.

Today the Tigers try to do something they have yet to do this season:  win 5 in a row.  And they will need it to keep pace in what has suddenly become the hot division in baseball.  Over the last 10 games, the White Sox are 8-2, the Indians are 7-3, and the Tigers are 7-3.

The Tigers send out Mysterious Max Scherzer, who has been hot and cold this season, most recently hot.  But he tweaked his hamstring, conceded his last start to Duane Below, and again takes the mound wearing a question mark.

The Royals counter with Sir Everett Teaford, Archduke of Kansas City.

Meanwhile, back in Kansas City, Tiger prospects Rob Brantly, Nick Castellanos, and Bruce Rondon prepare to play in tonight’s minor league all-star Futures Game (5pm, ESPN2).

Stat of the Day: Justin Verlander is tied for 9th in the AL with 4 sacrifice bunts.

Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Delmon Young. ESPN’s  Least Valuable Player of the first half has gone on a 3-game home run binge. Could he make it a 4?

Today’s Winning-Out-Into-The-Break Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Quintin Berry LF
3. Miguel Cabrera 3B
4. Prince Fielder 1B
5. Delmon Young DH
6. Brennan Boesch RF
7. Jhonny Peralta SS
8. Alex Avila C
9. Ramon Santiago 2B