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PREGAME: Ah, good old game 81. The halfway point in the season. The point at which we can just multiply everything by 2 to see how the final numbers will look.

The Tigers try to close out the first half in style by capping a sweep of the Rockies. They’ll be going up against Greg Reynolds. Reynolds has some pretty scary peripherals. He’s given up 10 homers in 50.2 innings, which is almost as many guys as he’s struck out (15). That could be helpful as the Tigers trot out a lineup that most likely won’t have Magglio Ordonez or Pudge Rodriguez.

For the Tigers it will be Kenny Rogers. He was on the hill for their last loss, the series opener against the Cardinals. Rogers had trouble with his command and seemed to labor through his 5.1 innings.

Angel Hernandez will be the home plate umpire which should lead to lots of frustration for everyone. I’ll be listening to this one on the radio as I head back from Indianapolis, which may be for the best.

COL @ DET, Sunday, June 29, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 1:05

POSTGAME: I listened to the first 8 innings of this one. Let’s just say I wasn’t surprised when Dan and Jim were reporting that both umpires were upset with Angel Hernandez before the first innning had finished. By all accounts Kenny Rogers didn’t have an easy time of things, and From the Copa’s labeling of Rogers outing as Rasputin-esque seems accurate.

The Tigers offense were warming up for a rout in the first inning before things got tricky. Hits were abundant, but they were all singles save for a check swing double from Hollimon. That is until Dane Sardhina came up with his first big league hit, a 2 run triple. I have to admit I was wondering why Leyland wasn’t pinch hitting.

And props to Todd Jones. Leyland stuck his neck out running him out there 18 hours after Jones was rocked for 4 runs by the same team. Okay, maybe it was a stupid move. But Jones delivered a 1-2-3 inning bringing the first half of the season to a pleasant conclusion.
OOPS UPDATE: How did I forget the 2 innings that Freddy Dolsi pitched? The New Sexy, Freddy Solid, pitched 2 perfect innings with 3 strike outs. I had been lamenting his lack of K-ness of late and the trifecta today were his first since June 10th.

PREGAME: Once upon a time the Tigers were within one game of .500. With the team playing good baseball I figured that by the end of a 3 game series with the Twins (who weren’t the streaking Twins we see now) that they’d be well on their way to a winning record. Yeah, no so much. So it is with some trepidation that I view the next several games.

Marcus Thames, who Jim Leyland said wasn’t quite right, should return to the lineup tonight. As should Edgar Renteria. But in their absence the kids (Clete and Hollimon) did okay the last few games.

Jeff Francis takes the ball for the Rockies. The Royals blew him up in his last start and Francis is susceptible to the long ball with 16 homers allowed this season with 9 coming on the road where he has a 6.07 ERA. Slightly interesting, statistically insignificant factoid: In 16 starts this year the hitter leading off the game has reached base 9 times with 4 extra base hits. Good boding for Curtis Granderson to continue his hit streak?

Justin Verlander turned in a frustrating yet dominant performance in his last start against the Padres. The 10 strikeouts were good. That they came in only 5.1 innings was kind of amazing, yet problematic. It took Verlander 115 pitches to record those 16 outs, due in large part to a lot of full counts and 5 walks.

COL @ DET, Saturday, June 28, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: With ratings starting to sag it could be the end of Clete and The Shef. However the network may have another show in the pipeline tentatively titled Miggy and the Scrub.

Ryan Raburn acted the role of clean-up hitter tonight, even though it wasn’t by design. Raburn subbed in for an injured Ordonez and had the first big hit of the night in the form of a grand slam. He later walked and scored the winning run when Miguel Cabrera doubled him home in walk-off fashion (that darned first pitch swinging after a 4 pitch walk). The third walk-off win in the 5 games of the homestand so far.

• Todd Jones blew the save. The first time he’s done so this year and here we are at the end of June. Part of me was upset, but that part kind of went away. Jones hasn’t pitched that good this year, even by his standards. But he’d always found a way to not give a lead away until tonight.
• I particularly liked the moment in the post game celebration where Jonesy was hanging back, outside of the mob. But when Cabrera broke free Jones was standing there with open arms.
• When I started to think about the postgame write-up as Jones melted down, I was going to de-emphasize the Jones part and point out how many extra runs the Tigers left on the bases. A growing trend as of late. But it’s the 3rd such time I’ve had those thoughts of late and yet the team has scored at least 7 runs in each of those games. Maybe I’m just getting spoiled with all the opportunities that the offense is generating and should be focusing on the positive.
• Jim Leyland thought Marcus Thames would get 2 hits tonight, and indeed he did.
• Unfortunately Curtis Granderson had his 15 game hitting streak snapped.
• Verlander’s outing was reminiscent of his last time out. A decent number of K’s, a walk or two too many, and a pitch count that kept him from getting through 6 innings.
• Fernando Rodney seems to have found his old form. He did allow a walk, but that was it in a 12 pitch inning.
• Oh yeah, and the team isn’t under .500 for the first time since the morning of March 31st.

PREGAME: Ooohhh, subplots abound. There’s that whole Jim Leyland quitting on the Rockies thing, but he’s already made his one statement about that. Plus there is that Jason Grilli commenting on team chemistry thing, and the fact that he pitches awful at Comerica Park.

Of more concern though are the Tigers simultaneous marches to mediocrity and contention. The Tigers are 2 games below the .500 mark and Sunday marks the end of the first half of the season. If Detroit can somehow muster a sweep, they’d be +1 for the first half which isn’t a big deal on its own. But given the struggles of the first 2 months would be a mighty accomplishment.

The Rockies have lost their last 4 and are 15 games below .500. Tonight they send out Ubaldo Jimenez. Jimenz has been on a bit of a roll of late allowing only 3 earned runs in his last 3 starts. He strikes out a fair amount, but walks a batter every other inning.

For the Tigers it will be Eddie Bonine making his 3rd career start. The red flag with Bonine in the early going is that he’s allowed 3 homers in his 12.1 innings. And those innings came at notorious non-homer parks Comerica Park and Petco.

COL @ DET, Friday, June 27, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: I’d laud the outstanding efforts of Eddie Bonine and Curtis Granderson, but I’m leery. I touted Gary Sheffield’s awesomeness only to see a GIDP and a K in a hitless stat line. Maybe I should just let Bonine’s 8 innings of 1 run ball and 17 ground ball outs speak for themselves. And offensively, how much commentary is required when a player puts together back to back 4 hit games and extends a hitting streak to 15 games? Those kind of accomplishments don’t need to be propped up by some blogger. They stand on their own.

I will just reiterate a statement I made a few days ago. Watching Granderson go to third is a thing of beauty. There is that moment between first and second when you just know he’s going for the triple. It’s all so smooth with perfectly turned angles to the bases that an engineer can appreciate. But there’s still something about that moment when despite the smoothness, there is that one explosive step where he seems to get an extra gear as he braces himself to round second and head to third. Simply a joy to watch.

• The Tigers plated 7 runs, but it felt like it should have been so much more. Like Wednesday’s game I can’t really bag on an offense that racks up 15 hits and forces a starter to throw over 100 pitches in 4 innings. But this game seemed like it had double digit runs written all over it.
• Joel Zumaya had a nice outing. Sure there was the double and wild pitch. But a swinging strike out is what we really were looking for. Most important were no walks allowed.
• Oh yeah. And Clete Thomas reached base 4 more times. That’s not too shabby.
• Now if only the Twins would lose.

PREGAME: The teams have a 12 hour turnaround for today’s game. It will be Nate Robertson and Todd Wellemeyer, both of who I would guess didn’t stick around for the end of last night’s tilt.

Wellemeyer has a 3.67 ERA for the season and he’s striking out a little more than 2 batters for every one he walks. But in his last start he was lit up for 3 homers and 8 runs in 3.1 innings. It broke a string of 6 straight quality starts. Wellemeyer is a righty, but righties have hit him better this year with a 721 OPS for the right handers and a 663 for the hooks. I’m not sure that Jim Leyland saw that when he decided to play Clete Thomas instead of Marcus Thames in left today. For his career the numbers are strikingly similar for both sides.

Nate Robertson won his last time out despite allowing 5 runs in 6 innings.

And you guys will see me popping into the comments throughout the game today. For a change I’m not working and can actually watch and comment along.

1. Granderson, CF
2. Polanco, 2B
3. Guillen, 3B
4. Ordonez, RF
5. Cabrera, 1B
6. Thomas, LF
7. Sheffield, DH
8. Hollimon, SS
9. Sardhina, C

STL @ DET, Thursday, June 26, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME: CLETE! SHEF! SERIES WIN! The Tigers snuck away with one today. Nate Robertson wasn’t getting hammered, but he was pitching under stress all day. He only had one stretch where he retired more than 2 batters in a row. But through either luck or skill or Cardinal ineptitude he kept St. Louis off the board with the exception of an unearned run.

The Tigers squandered several chances of their own early on with the middle of the order failing to cash in on several opportunities. In the end though the Tigers came out on the right side of a bases loaded walk.

• I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that the Tigers are a better team when Gary Sheffield is hitting. He had some rough ab’s early on with a DP and a pop out, but when the team had to have a homer Shef delivered. The Tigers were down to their last slugger with Hollimon and Sardhina up next. After the long foul I figured that was the ball. For him to do it again was incredible.
• And how about Clete Thomas. I was one who was expecting Marcus Thames to pinch hit in both bases loaded situations. Yet Leyland stuck with Clete and Clete didn’t chase balls in either at-bat and walked in two runs. Is it possible that left field, which was a vat of suckiness early in the season, is now a fountain of glorious production?
• Stuff evens out in baseball. Granderson had a few hard hit balls find gloves lately. Today he had a few weak hit balls find holes for a 4 hit day.
• Fernando Rodney flashed signs of the plus reliever he’s been in the past. He pitched out of a tight jam and then retired the side in order the following inning. Five up, five down.
• Polanco and Thames ejected in the same series? Polanco didn’t really have an argument because it was a good pitch, but he got tossed quickly. The umpires did not have a good series. I don’t know if one team got hurt more than the other, but it was an awful display of officiating.
• And another nice outing for Bobby Seay who allowed a 2 out walk but nothing else.
• It was nice to see Mike Hollimon get a couple hits. I have no problem with him trying for third on that play in the 9th inning. He was barely out and if he makes it the Tigers have the winning run 90 feet away with 1 out. I like the aggressive baserunning so just tip the cap to the Cardinals who did it right in nailing him.

PREGAME: It’s Kyle Lohse and Armando Galarraga tonight. You know which Tigers like hitting against Lohse? All of them.

Meanwhile, here’s hoping that Galarraga can nail down that All Star game invitation.

And here’s really hoping the rain drops hold off so they can get this one in, cuz I’ll be there.

STL @ DET, Wednesday, June 25, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: I’m back from the game so you get the 2:00am post game report. I’m exhausted so expect lots of typos, more than normal even. Why did I stay you ask? Because a certain Yankees game last year taught me that good things happen when rain delayed games resume at 11pm. That and rooting on your team with 3000 strangers when the calendar flips to the next day is kind of a fun and surreal experience.

The early 2-0 deficit wasn’t too worrisome. After all, the Tigers were facing Kyle Lohse. It resulted in lots of baserunners. I just had the feeling that the hitters were all saying to each other, “Dude, it’s Kyle Lohse.” And when Galarraga kept giving up homers, the offense probably told him “Don’t worry about it. Dude, we’re facing Kyle Lohse.” The only concern was when Lohse was lifted. But it seemed as if the guys decided “Let’s just pretend these other dudes are Kyle Lohse.”

• First things first. Todd Jones put on a Magglio jersey and wig and reenacted the 2006 ALCS homerun during the rain delay and he added his own embellishment at the end by sliding into home. I guess the knee is feeling okay.
• And second things second. Paws caught a foul ball. It was on a ricochet and he made a nice play on it.
• After the delay we moved down and say behind home plate. And yes, the strike zone was ridiculous from that vantage point as well. We were standing in the concourse when Thames was ejected and I couldn’t really make a judgement on the pitch. But given Thames nature in general I’m going to trust that his reaction indicated a really bad call.
• This wasn’t the crispest of games. There was the Thames error. And Renteria not converting a double play. And a bad bunt by Polanco (and a questionable bunt decision by Leyland). And the 5 walks from Joel Zumaya and Zach Miner. And the Cardinals had their issues too with a couple double plays, and an error by Kennedy, and a should have been error on Duncan.
• But it was still very entertaining with multiple lead changes and scoring chances, and some nice defense as well like Carlos Guillen’s play in the 9th inning.
• And Todd Jones looked dominant. That is rare. And Bobby Seay K’d the only batter he faced.
• As for Zumaya, it was great to hear Voodoo Child reverberating through the park. Joel had his velocity. And he had his curveball working (but he hardly through it). But he couldn’t control the fastball to save his life.
• The offense was simultaneously great and frustrating. You can’t scoff at 19 hits. But it probably should have resulted in more than 8 runs. But the Tigers still got big clutch hits like Guillen’s 3 run homer, and Magglio’s game tying single, and Gary Sheffield’s game winning single.

PREGAME: The Tigers welcome in the St. Louis Cardinals for their annual trip to Comerica Park (seriously, why do the Tigers never play at Busch?). It also marks the third consecutive series for the Tigers against a sainted city (the others being San Diego and San Francisco for those with uber short memories).

The Cardinals are behind the Cubs in the Central, but are the current front runners for the Wild Card. They are coming off a series win in Fenway Park, and prior to that a sweep at the hands of the Royals. They are without Albert Pujols but have gotten some nice production from former minor league scrap heaper Ryan Ludwick. You may remember Ludwick from his 266/342/506 season with Toledo in 2006. Or maybe you don’t.

The pitching match-up features a couple guys who are on a roll. For the Cardinals it’s Braden Looper. The Tigers pummeled Looper last year, but the man hasn’t allowed a homer in his last 4 starts and he hasn’t allowed a walk in his last 3.

Kenny Rogers is also having some success of late going at least 7 innings inhis last 5 starts and only allowing 4 earned runs over that span. He has a 1-0 record to show for it.

Tonight also marks the return of Gary Sheffield to the Tigers lineup. He’ll bat 7th as Jim Leyland keeps the top 6 spots intact.

1. Granderson, CF
2. Polanco, 2B
3. Guillen, 3B
4. Ordonez, RF
5. Cabrera, 1B
6. Thames, LF
7. Sheffield, DH
8. Renteria, SS
9. Rodriguez, C

STL @ DET, Tuesday, June 24, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: Well both hot pitchers were derailed tonight. Of course Rogers got the worst of it. The Tigers broke up Looper’s homerless and walkless streak, but couldn’t manage many good scoring chances. Rogers on the other hand gave up a variety of hits. Some drilled, some dribbled, but in the end it was too much for the Tigers to overcome.

• Rogers pace tonight seemed to be exceedingly slow. Don’t know if he wasn’t feeling well, or if he just didn’t have a lot of confidence in his stuff. But I think it would qualify as agonizing – especially that game turning 5th inning.
• Yes, the 5th was when the Cards only tied it but it proved to be the pivotal inning. Rogers was a strike away from a 1-2-3 inning. Instead a full count pitch was deposited in the left field bullpen and Rogers would load the bases before fanning Rick Ankiel. It was a long draining inning that insured Rogers was almost done.
• Freddy Dolsi didn’t have it tonight either. He threw strikes and got ahead. But like his last few outings he hasn’t been able to put batters away. I believe he hasn’t fanned anyone since the Indians game which inspired the Sexy. That is bad boding.
• But, Fernando Rodney pitched a clean inning. His first couple fastballs were erratic but he settled down and pitched well.
• Gary Sheffield homered in his return. It’s only one at-bat but certainly an encouraging one.
• The Cabrera homer shouldn’t have been but the Pudge one was a no doubter.
• Cabrera did play some excellent defense tonight. He made a couple of tough picks of throws and did a nice job fielding balls to both his left and right.