Tonight they had a good come from behind win.  In the seventh inning, Placido Polanco and Carlos Guillen each had RBI singles to bring the Tigers within 1 run of the Twins.  In the eighth Matt Joyce delivered a game tying RBI triple, and Curtis Granderson followed with a RBI single to give the Tigers a 5-4 lead they would not relinquish. 

Casey Fossum came on in the seventh inning and gave up 1 hit and struck out 1 to get his first win of the year, and Joel Zumaya pitched the last 1 2/3 to get his first save of the year.  He did give up three hits, and the Tigers committed three errors, but we’ll take the win.

The jawing betwen Wade previously had the beginnings of a bench clearing brawl as Wade started shouting at Guillen, but cooler heads prevailed.  We don’t want to see an ugly series between these two teams.  Today Eddie Bonine makes his Tiger big-league debut, and hopefully he will continue the string of good pitching we have seen.  

 

What a series this was! 

The Tigers were able to get three great pitching performances including today by Kenny Rogers. Miguel Cabrera finished things in dramatic fashion with a walk-off solo shot in the 9th for a 2-1 victory.

The Tigers played these games like they had a purpose. They dispatched the Sox rather quickly in each of the three games, but especially the second and third. Two hours and thirteen minutes last night and two hours and four minutes this afternoon. 

This was a fun series to watch, and it was nice to see the type of baseball the Tigers are capable of playing. 

 

The run scoring was highlighted by a 3-run home run by Marcus Thames in the second inning.  That was all Verlander needed to get the win.  It was nice to give the bullpen a well deserved rest, and this game took just 2 hours and 13 minutes.  The innings go by quickly when your ace has his stuff working.

Note:  Tonight was ’70’s night at Comerica Park.  I would have liked to have seen the White Sox wear their  old style, dark blue visiting uniforms with the white collars and the word “Chicago” printed in white manuscript letters across the jersey. 

The Tigers are scheduled to face Jose Contreras on Tuesday, Javier Vazquez on Wednesday, and Mark Buehrle on Thursday. Of these three, the Tigers best chance to get a win is Thursday as Kenny Rogers opposes Buehrle.  They are running into another pitching juggernaut as they have a few times this season, and their lineup has not shown that they are up to the challenge. 

I have a lot of concern going into this series as these will be three tough games to watch. When the dust clears, will the Tigers have 40 losses and find themselves beaten morally? 

It looked like it was going to be a different story earlier in the game. In the second inning with men on first and second and one out, Franklin Gutierrez hit a ground ball that Miguel Cabrera allowed to get under his glove and into right field. This allowed Jhonny Peralta to score from second base. Kelly Shoppach followed with a ground rule double to center field on which Casey Blake scored. The ball on which Cabrera was charged with an error could have been a double play ball to get the Tigers out of the inning. In the sixth inning Ben Francisco led off with a bunt which Kenny Rogers fielded on the third base side of the pitchers mound in his acrobatic fashion. The Tiger veteran pitcher then did something un-Rogers like when he threw the ball to no one, and the ball dribbled into right field as if it were a single hit in that direction. Francisco reached third on the error, and this setup a sacrifice fly by Ryan Garko to score Francisco.

With a 3-2 lead at the middle of the sixth inning, this was a recipe for another Tiger loss given their track record of not scoring late in games. It would have hurt to lose as a result of the two errors the Tigers committed, but this one had a happy ending. Marcus Thames led off the bottom of the eighth with a home run to tie the game.  Magglio Ordonez then doubled followed by a single by Cabrera to score Ordonez. This gave the Tigers the lead for the rest of the game, and the exclamation point which was Renteria’s grand slam provided the Tigers with what they needed to get an 8-4 win.   

 

The team is on a 4 game skid which has found them a season high 12 games below .500 and 10 games out of first.  They have found a lot of ways to lose this season in their 36 setbacks.  If this team is to turn the corner, the time to start is now.  They can’t wait until after the All-Star break and have a good second half.  The Tigers cannot count on the A.L. Central to struggle for the rest of the season. 

I am going to Comerica Park this afternoon to give my support.  I look for Kenny Rogers to deliver another good pitching performance.  I hope the Tiger bats can give him adequate support for a win.

Todd Jones made things interesting in the bottom of the 9th by giving up a couple of runs, but he got the job done to preserve the victory and get the Tigers a win of the series. 

This was a game that had loss written on it, as have a few of the 56 games the Tigers have played this season.  We need this game to be a momentum shifter to bring the Tigers more run scoring in the series starting tonight in Oakland.  Thanks to the recent losses by the White Sox, the Tigers are only 6 games out of first place, and they are not yet out of the race.  We’ll see if they are up to making the effort to gain some ground.

 

Justin Verlander pitched 6 strong innings allowing only one run on four hits while striking out 7 to bring his record to 2-7.   Aquilino Lopez gave up 3 runs in 2 innings of work, and Clay Rapada gave up four runs in 1/3 of an inning for his worst appearance in his brief Tiger career.

What’s important is that the Tigers did get the win, but this game adds to the reason that Steve Czaban on the First Team on Fox had the topic this morning of why the Tigers are not doing as well as they were advertised before the season started.  The nation knows that the Detroit Tigers have been a disappointment.  This team has not had enough lights out performances to reverse this belief. 

The Twins were able to get to Armando Galarraga for four runs on six hits which was enough to hand him his first loss of the season. Galarraga also gave up a bases loaded walk with nobody out and a RBI double play ground out which accounted for two of those runs. Aquilino Lopez came on in the seventh and got the first out of the inning, but then surrendered four runs on six hits before giving way to Denny Bautista who got the Tigers out of the inning.

I thought the tough night was over, but in the eighth, the Twins were able to get three more runs off Bautista. He allowed a walk, a wild pitch, and a single to score one run which was followed by a passed ball by Brandon Inge. The Twins then got the other two runs in the inning on a double to deep right field and an infield single to first. This was followed by another infield single to first before Francisco Cruceta came on to strike out Mike Lamb to end the inning.

A lot of the Twins 16 hits in this game were legitimate, but they also got a few strategically placed balls that the Tigers just could not field. This was just a game that happens to even the very best teams on occasion.

We’ll just chalk this one up as one of those.

Nate Robertson had a rough first inning by giving up three runs on a home run by Bobby Abreu. He did settle down and gave up a total of four runs on seven hits, struck out three and walked two to get his first win of the year. 

The Tiger bats did the rest as Magglio Ordonez hit a double and a single to drive in three runs. Miguel Cabrera added a couple of RBI with a triple and a home run, and Ramon Santiago hit a double and had a two-run triple.

The Tigers got their first look at Francisco Cruceta who came on the ninth and gave up a lead-off walk to Bobby Abreu, but really encountered no further trouble. He got a hard hit ball which Carlos Guillen stopped and threw to second to force Abreu, and he got a ground ball to first and a line out to left which Ryan Raburn caught to end the game.

This was a great series to watch, and the Tigers find themselves tied for second in the Central with Cleveland and Minnesota just 1-1/2 games back of the White Sox. Now we’ll see if they can do some damage to put some distance between themselves and the Twins.

The bullpen did fairly well in relief with the exception of Danny Bautista who accomplished the same feat as Rogers by walking the bases loaded in the 8th inning. He then added insult by hitting Derek Jeter to force in a run. Bautista did all of this with his jersey untucked. It took Clay Rapada coming into the game to induce Bobby Abreu to hit a ground ball to third and allow Carlos Guillen to tag Johnny Damon to end the inning.

The Tigers were able to win this game 6-4 despite Todd Jones giving up 2 runs in the 9th, but this game could have gotten away. Fortunately they held on and were able to celebrate with the high fives and shoulder bumping we have seen with Tiger victories this season.

If you have ever been there, you know there is a lot of history surrounding the building outside and inside the park. I had the privilege of going to two games at the House that Ruth built. On Saturday, May 17, 1986 my dad, my cousins Jon and Nick, and I saw the Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners 11-6 (exactly 12 years to the day before David Wells’ perfect game against the Minnesota Twins). On Saturday, July 17, 1999 I watched the Yankees beat the Atlanta Braves 11-4 (exactly one day before David Cone’s perfect game against the Montreal Expos).

I have had much more experience watching games played on television. Most of the games have involved the Tigers. I remember on April 22, 1981; Howard Bailey gave up a home run to Reggie Jackson that at first to me look like a pop-up. As the camera followed the flight of the ball, you could see the ball against the black sky. You then saw the ball fall in front of the stadium lights, then the center field scoreboard, then land amongst spectators in center field.

Exactly one year later, the Tigers started a 4 game weekend series at the stadium in which the Tigers won the first 3 games. The play I remember most fondly was a home run by Chet Lemon into the third deck in left field off Tommy John in the 3rd inning of the first game in that series. I can still hear George Kell saying in his southern accent “five rows into the third deck.” The Tigers could not complete the four game sweep as they fell 3-1 to the Yankees on that Sunday, April 25. Joel Zumaya mowing down Yankee hitters in game 2 of the 2006 ALDS was a great memory also.

I will enjoy this last trip in the Bronx for the Tigers, unless they meet the Yankees in the post season. I believe they can make this series a good one by winning two out of three.

Both starting pitchers looked great in the first 3 innings not allowing a run.  In the 4th, Nate Robertson  gave up 4 runs including a 2 run homer by Vladimir Guerrero and a two-out, two-run single with the bases loaded.  This one inning proved to be the difference in the game as the Tigers answered back in the bottom of the 4th with a solo home run by Curtis Granderson and a RBI ground out by Magglio Ordonez. They only managed one more run in the 6th, and they missed opportunities when they left the bases loaded in the 7th and two on in the 8th.

The Tigers were never out of this game, and they had me hoping they were going to get another late inning come back win.  A fast fact is that 9 of their 10 wins this season are of the come back variety.  That definitely should keep people watching even when the Tigers are behind by 3 runs in the 7th inning.

Note about which team in Detroit is getting the most attention:  I was at 24 Seconds in Berkeley, Michigan on Wednesday watching both the Pistons playoff game and Tigers game with friends.  Both the Pistons and Tigers were blowing out the Sixers and Rangers respectively, but the crowd reaction was much more noticeable when the Tigers did something great.  Nice to see fans take a strong interest into this baseball team.

Jacque Jones contributed with a triple and a double which is hopefully a sign of things to come.  The Tigers also got 2 home runs in one inning for the first time this season in the 3rd when Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera hit back to back jacks off starter Vicente Padilla, and Ramon Santiago hit his first home run of the season later that inning.  For Magglio, that home run gave him 250 for his career and 1000 RBI. 

After the Tigers added 3 runs in the 8th, fans could relax going into the 9th, even with Jason Grilli on the mound.  The biggest thing I came away with tonight from this game was that Mr. Verlander showed he can have his good stuff working.  Even though the Rangers are struggling, we have seen Justin have problems with teams that on paper the Tigers should beat.  I believe he will build on this outing and move ahead with confidence in his coming starts. 

 

In the 6th inning things changed when the Tigers got RBI from Marcus Thames and Ivan Rodriguez.  One inning later Magglio Ordonez drove in a run and scored when John McDonald made an error at shortstop.  Edgar Renterria started his night of being the hitting hero in the same inning by hitting a 2-run homer to right field to cap a 4 run 7th, and in the 9th added an insurance run by driving in Miguel Cabrera from third base with two out.  The team’s output helped Rogers get his first win of the season.

This was another great comeback effort by the Tigers, and even Jim Leyland was seen smiling in the dugout toward the end of the game.  These types of efforts will have all Tiger fans smiling.

Forget that the Tigers lost 11-1 tonight!  Verlander gave up 5 runs in his 5 innings of work which enough for the Tribe to get the win.  Our number 1 starter is 0-3!  You have to wonder what’s bothering him whether it is a physical ailment or a mental block.  Something has him off his game, and he is leading the league in hit batsmen including two tonight!  Somehow the Indians thought it was intentional as the pitch that hit Gary Sheffield had all the looks of a payback, but we know that Justin did not intend to hit either Ryan Garko or Jason Michaels. 

I don’t have any confidence when Verlander or Kenny Rogers takes the mound these days.  Rogers will take an 0-3 record to the hill in Toronto tomorrow night, and I hope he will find his groove, but his 6.75 ERA going into this game has me nervous.  Just like the Tiger batters, you have to believe that their one and two starters will give this team the quality starts they need. 

Armando Galarraga came up big in his Tiger debut.  He did not walk anyone, and the solo home run he gave up to David Dellucci in the 1st inning was the only base runner allowed until the 7th inning.   Galarraga struck out 6 before leaving with 2 out with an 11-1 lead.

As of right now things seem to be coming together.  The Tigers are now having some fun at the ballyard, and they’re giving us reasons to look forward to watching this team.

 

The Tigers poured it on with the go ahead sacrifice fly by Jacques Jones, which was followed up by a triple by Clete Thomas (the first of his major league career) and 2 out single through the middle by Placido Polanco to add an insurance run.  This was all done off submarining Pat Neshek off whom many teams have been able to do nothing.

This game certainly looked like loss number 11 earlier in the game, but the Tigers found their hitting stroke tonight.  Does this mean that this team is out of the early season swoon?  Not yet, but with this first win at Comerica Park this season, they showed signs of life we have not seen.

I am enjoying each win the Tigers get now, whether or not they gain a game in the standings.  The last three days have been fairly good, especially if you take out that 13-6 game.  The bottom of the ninth win over the Blue Jays after two were out was one of the more thrilling finishes of the season!

Seeing Gary Sheffield hit his first home run since coming off the disabled list was a nice thing and hopefully a sign of more positive things from him.  Todd Jones looked good in the ninth tonight which also made me feel good.  Another thing I look forward to is the possibility of Magglio Ordonez winning the A.L. batting title.

I do hope September is not the last month of baseball for the Tigers, but if it is, we still have some things this month we have enjoyed.