PREGAME: It’s the rubber game against the Angels after two pretty well contested battles. For the Tigers tonight is noteworthy because it will be the first time that the Tigers have their full projected lineup together. It will also be Carlos Guillen’s first start since his Mariners days at third base.

On the mound it will be Justin Verlander and Jered Weaver. Verlander reclaimed some of his missing velocity his last time out after tweaking his arm angle. He also earned his first quality start going 6 innings allowing one run.

Weaver has struggled with consistency – or a lack thereof. He’s allowed 10 hits in each of his last two outings. The time before that he allowed 5 runs on 4 hits and 4 walks. And the time before that he pitched 7 innings of 3 hit shut out ball. The Tigers have a limited, but productive history against Weaver.
LAA @ DET, Sunday, April 27, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 8:05

POSTGAME: Well that kind of sucked. Justin Verlander looked like the Verlander of old through the first 3 innings. The first run came in the 4th on a poorly played ball by Ordonez in which Verlander should have been out of the inning. And the run that scored in the 5th came on a single, a weird balk/rushed-delivery-thingy, and two fly outs. But oh man, that 6th inning…

A walk and a single and a bobble by Guillen put runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. Verlander quickly got ahead of Torii Hunter 1-2 who had chased a curve ball down and away. After another curve ball which Hunter fouled off it seemed that Verlander had him set up for the elevated fastball for a much needed K. Instead he went back to the curve which Hunter grounded down the line, out of the reach of a pulled in Guillen scoring two more. Hardly a rocket, but why couldn’t Verlander put a free swinger like Hunter away? Why go with 3 straight curve balls?

And then the intentional walk was followed by an unintentional walk, and a ground ball single and the game was out of reach. Verlander was hardly “rocked” in this game. But in the end it added up to a horrible night as he was undone by the 3 walks in the 6th.

As for his velocity, it looked good on the ESPN gun with him at 95-96 on the fastball, but pitch f/x had him 3 mph slower. I don’t know where the truth is.

As for the offense, they were doing a good job laying off of borderline pitches and picked up two walks in each of the 3rd and 4th innings. But a double play, a caught stealing, and a pick off made sure that Weaver didn’t have to work too hard at all.

I guess the bright spot for the night was Pudge Rodriguez gunning down two baserunners with perfect throws to second.

PREGAME: Armando Galarraga makes his 3rd start in Dontrelle Willis’s spot in the rotation. In the first two he has allowed 4 hits, 4 walks, and only 2 runs in 12 innings.

For the Angels it will be Dustin Moseley. Moseley allowed 7 homers in 92 innings last year, but he’s already at 4 in 19.2 innings in 2008. He made one start against Detroit in 2007 and was knocked out in the 5th inning after allowing 4 runs.

This game is a Fox game of the week. The good news is that this is the “B” game meaning we avoid Joe Buck. The bad news for everyone not living in LA or Detroit you won’t be able to see the game.

LAA @ DET, Saturday, April 26, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 3:55pm

POSTGAME: Another game for Armando Galarraga, another rough day for opposing offenses. After a rough first inning featuring 2 walks and an error, Galarraga got out of it and carried a no hitter into the sixth inning. And like with Nate Robertson’s start the night before, he did it very efficiently getting into the 7th inning on only 80 pitches.

The Angels figured him out though in the 7th inning, or he just got rattled after an error fielding a bunt. Regardless, it was another quality start for a team that is desperate for them.

Aquilino Lopez nearly got out of the 7th with the lead, but a 2 out single plated the tying run negating the win for Galarraga.

As for the offense, it’s funny how things work out. On Friday night the Tigers had some real good at-bats and well hit balls turn into outs. Today they had some poorly hit balls go their way. Gary Sheffield hit a ball to the wall on Friday night that if it just a little harder would have been a grand slam. Today he hit a chopper over the mound that if it were hit just a little harder would have been an inning ending double play. Instead it resulted in an RBI. Curtis Granderson also benefited from a bloop double. So these things kind of resolve themselves.

Granderson also picked up a triple. And Polanco had his second consecutive multi-hit game. Things are starting to look normal at the top of the Tigers line-up.

PREGAME: The Tigers once again welcome in a team coming in from Fenway Park. But while the Rangers had just been swept, the Angels took 2 of 3 from the Red Sox.

The Tigers send out no-luck Nate Robertson. Robertson has been the one guy in the rotation who hasn’t been plagued by walks. He’s fanned 21 while only walking 6. But the trouble is guys are hitting line drives (27.9%) nearly as often as they are hitting grounders (30.9%). Plus Robertson is only stranding 58% of runners so the result is a 7.48 ERA.

The Tigers will be taking on Ervin Santana. Santana has been tough this year and has a 2.67 ERA through his first 4 starts. He’s been killing right handed hitters to the tune of a .128 BAA with only 2 extra base hits.

One thing to watch in this series are the starter’s pitch counts for Detroit. The Angels actually see fewer pitchers per plate appearance than anyone else in the AL and are near the bottom in walks. They just hit the snot out of the ball instead.

LAA @ DET, Friday, April 25, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: Sometimes you play a pretty good game, but still come up short. The Tigers got a solid start, some good bullpen work, played some nice defense, generated some scoring chances, worked long at-bats, but they still fell to the Angels 4-3.

Robertson breezed through the first 3 innings. He doubled his pitch count with a 4 run fourth inning. Then retired the next 9 batters on 25 pitches with only one ball leaving the infield. I was actually surprised to see him lifted at only 89 pitches. He was sharp, continually getting first pitch strikes and throwing 65% of his pitches in the zone.

The offense tried to grind out at-bats. Miguel Cabrera and Brandon Inge each had 10 pitch at-bats. But they just couldn’t get the big hit. Gary Sheffield took one to the wall with the bases loaded. Pudge Rodriguez ripped a line drive that was right at Casey Kotchman with 2 men on. The only really bad plate appearance of the night came when Ordonez popped to first on the first pitch with the bases loaded in the 6th. The Tigers only picked up 1 run from the loaded-no out scenario and that proved to be the difference.

Angels 4 Tigers 3

PREGAME: The Tigers try to extend their 4 game home winning streak as they look to finish off a sweep of the Rangers. Texas pitchers have thrown a lot of pitches the last two nights and I’d guess that there are probably at least 3 pitchers in their pen who are unavailable today. So getting to the starter early could prove fruitful.

That starter is Scott Feldman who is making his second start. He went 6 innings against the Blue Jays on April 13th and allowed 3 runs on 8 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strike outs.

The Tigers send out Jeremy Bonderman who has more walks than strike outs so far this year. That ratio swung the wrong way after his 6 walk effort on Saturday against the Blue Jays.

TEX @ DET, Thursday, April 24, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 1:05

POSTGAME: Let us take a moment to rejoice in a sweep and a 4 game winning streak. A series in which the Tigers went from a middling offensive team to the 2nd scoring-est team in the AL. A series in which Curtis Granderson returned to his rightful place at the top of the lineup and Placido Polanco avoided a DL stint. A series where the bullpen was nearly flawless.

Now let’s look at the warts… Continue reading Game 23: Rangers at Tigers →