With a win, no sure thing with the unpredictable starter, the Tigers would eliminate the Yankees and move on to the American League Championship Series against the Oakland A’s.

Twenty-three-year-old Jeremy Bonderman was the Tigers’ starter that chilly Saturday afternoon and he faced righty Jaret Wright, who’d gone 11-7 witha 4.49 ERA in 30 appearances (27 starts) for New York.

Tigers fans didn’t want to seem overconfident, but compared to the Yankee starters in the series’ first three games (Chien-Ming Wang, Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson) Wright seemed like a notch above batting-practice quality.

That day, the Tigers staked Bonderman to a 3-0, second-inning lead on home runs by Magglio Ordonez and Craig Monroe. They tacked on five more runs by the end of the sixth. (Detroit chased Wright with two outs in the third after he’d surrendered four runs on five hits.) The late Cory
Lidle allowed three runs in his inning-and-a-third of work.

But at the start of the day, all eyes were on Bonderman. Could he handle the big stage, an elimination game against a New York lineup that Jim Leyland dubbed “Murderer’s Row and then Cano” and prevent a trip back to the Bronx for a decisive Game 5?

Could he ever.

All he did was no-hit the Yankees through five before Robinson Cano’s leadoff single in the sixth – after which he retired the next three in order.

Bonderman worked 8-1/3 innings throwing 99 pitches and allowed just five hits and two runs, walked a lone batter and struck out four. Jamie Walker recorded the final two outs of Detroit’s 8-3 win and the Tigers soon headed to Oakland.

Tonight the Tigers are in a eerily similar circumstance. Game 4 of the ALDS is nigh and the club’s hopes of avoiding a trip to New York rest on the almost-23-year-old Rick Porcello (he’ll be 23 on Dec. 27, the same age as Bonderman in 2006.)

That year Bonderman, in his fourth big-league season, finished 14-8 with a 4.08 ERA in a league-leading 34 starts. In 2011, Porcello, in his third season, finished 14-9 with a 4.75 ERA and made 31 starts.

In ’06, Bonderman threw 210 innings. This year, Porcello threw 182. Bonderman fanned 202 that season, Porcello 104 in ’11.

There’s no question that Bonderman and Porcello, despite their similarities at this point in their respective careers, are two different pitchers.
Bonderman relied on a firm fastball and a devastating slider. Of course, he was never able to command a third pitch — an annual Grapefruit League quest for him — and it frustrated at least three pitching coaches and two managers.

Porcello, on the other hand, has a moving fastball, a sinker, a changeup and curveball, making him a more complete pitcher, and one with a bright future.

So, should Tigers fans feel confident in Rick Porcello in a close-out game at Comerica Park against the American League’s finest lineup?

Absolutely. And here’s why.

In 2006, Jeremy Bonderman, like nearly every other player on that club, had no postseason experience. It was a concern that he would crumble under the pressure — particularly given his propensity to have disastrous first innings. But he didn’t.

Two years ago, Jim Leyland handed the ball to Porcello, then just 20 years old, in Game 163 — a one-game playoff to decide the American League
Central Division against the Twins. And he did not disappoint.

Porcello pitched five and 2/3 innings, scattered four hits, walked two and struck out eight. And he yielded just two runs in the most pressure-packed game of the season and many players’ careers.

Two years ago, by giving him the Game 163 start, the Tigers invested heavily in Porcello’s future. I think tonight the Tigers and their fans finally get the payoff from that miserable day in October 2009.

Can Porcello be as good tonight as Bonderman in ’06 or himself on ’09? With A.J. Burnett pitching for the Yankees, he might not need to be. But at least this time around Tigers fans know they have a starter with a more wicked repertoire than Bonderman, a skosh more experience and at least as much mental toughness. Anyone needing proof can re-visit his take down of the Red Sox’ Kevin Youkilis.

Let’s hope history does, in fact, show reruns.

He didn’t pitch enough in the regular season and, left hander or no, he wasn’t going to appear in the ALCS or World Series. And God knows we didn’t want him to.

This morning we learned that another seemingly no-brainerish decision — to leave Brad Penny off the ALDS roster — was, in fact, not made. What the …? Jim Leyland hasn’t, and likely won’t, offer much to the media to chew on in the way of rationale for this decision.

Here’s the most obvious question: In what scenario, a Game 4 start, long relief, middle relief, would any Tigers fan feel comfortable seeing Penny on the mound? Speaking for myself: None.

Jason Beck reports on his blog:

Both Rick Porcello and Brad Penny are on the roster. One of them is expected to start Game 4 is necessary (sic). The other will work out of the bullpen.

Would I feel better seeing David Pauley? It depends. If it’s relief, absolutely. And would I feel more confident in Porcello starting Game 4? Ditto. (But if there’s a rainout between tonight and Game 4, are we still to believe that Justin Verlander won’t make that start?)

And what about Ryan Perry? Can the Tigers afford his baffling inconsistency in the postseason?

So what we’ve got are four pitchers — the three P’s: Penny, Porcello, Perry, and Max Scherzer — on the ALDS roster that make us wonder if the good version or bad version will show up.

I have no problem with the position-player decisions, even backup catcher Omir Santos. There’s no way Leyland is going to lose a playoff game — or series — by having to put Brandon Inge or Don Kelly behind the plate. No chance. I think Santos makes sense.

But the real news here is Penny. I’m afraid that if we see him in this series we’re going to long for Sid Monge.

Dave Schoenfield weighs in on both A.L. Division Series rosters on the SweetSpot blog.

Leading Off: The Tigers enter tonight’s game against the Twins having won 16 of their last 20 games dating back to Aug. 19, an .800 winning percentage – which leads the majors during that stretch … Detroit’s hitting .333 with runners in scoring position dating back to Aug. 11, second-best in the A.L. clubs over that period. The Tigers lead all clubs with a .284 batting average with RISP this season.

Around the Central: The White Sox and Indians are, theoretically, beating each other up this weekend in a four-game series in Chicago. The Sox took the first game last night, 8-1. The Royals are in Seattle this weekend, in a battle of clubs churning toward 90 losses. The M’s won last night, 4-1.

With a win tonight, Penny would join Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello to become the first quartet of Tigers pitchers with 10-or-more wins in the club’s first 144 games of the season since Verlander, Kenny Rogers, Nate Robertson and Jeremy Bonderman did so in the first 144 games of 2006.

Keeping that thought for a moment, right now Verlander, Scherzer, Porcello and Penny have combined for 58 wins. (Trust me, I’d much rather include Doug Fister in this year’s numbers, but Penny’s been around for the whole year.) In 2006, Verlander (17), Rogers (17), Bonderman (14) and Robertson (13) combined for 61. And in 1984, Jack Morris (19), Dan Petry (18), Milt Wilcox (17) and Juan Berenguer combined for 65. Does the ’11 foursome have enough wins in them between now and Sept. 28 to meet or pass the ’84 rotation?

On this date in 1970, commissioner Bowie Kuhn handed Denny McLain his third suspension of the year, this one for carrying a gun, plus other unspecified charges, and ended McLain’s season with a 3-5 record.

Happy 28th Birthday to Edwin Jackson, and a Happy 41st to Dan Miceli.

Finally, happy birthdays to Adam Sandler (45), Cliff Robertson (88) and Topol (76).

Have a great weekend.

In the column, Henning pointed to specific examples in Tigers history where heavy workloads resulted in truncated careers – among them Mark Fidrych.

Here’s the gist:

[L]et’s talk about some past Tigers history that might help put the Verlander decision in better perspective.

(snip)

Denny McLain won 31 games in 1968 — the only man in the past 77 years to have done so — and 24 the following season.

He won two Cy Young Awards during those two seasons. He won Most Valuable Player in 1968.

He pitched a combined 661 innings — no misprint — during those two campaigns.

He was 25 years old at the end of the ’69 season.

He won 21 games, total, the remainder of his career. His arm had been fried during those two colossal seasons.

I knew pitchers 40 years ago regularly went deep in games and threw a lot of pitches, but McLain’s output in 1966 was staggering.

On Aug. 29, 1966, McLain threw 229 pitches in the Tigers’ 6-3 win over the Orioles. He gave up eight hits, walks nine and struck out 11 Orioles to notch his 16th win. According to the Baseball Reference.com box score, McLain faced 43 batters in the game.

He was just 22 at the time.

In that game, McLain set the Orioles down in order only one time, the bottom of the second. In every other inning he faced, on average, about five hitters per inning.

Did I mention he was only 22?

Three days later, on Sept. 1, McLain faced the Indians in Cleveland and again went the distance, facing 39 batters. He retired the side 1-2-3 twice in the game but otherwise had a similar pattern to his previous start. (The Tigers won, 4-2.)

On Sept. 6, McLain pitched nine innings, allowed 11 hits, two runs and struck out six, in an 8-2 win over Washington at Tiger Stadium. He faced 38 Senators hitters in this game, his 18th win.

McLain’s 1966 campaign concluded with him making three starts in the span of eight days. On Sept. 23, he didn’t make it out of the third inning, surrendering eight earned runs on seven hits.

Three days later he went eight innings, allowed one run on four hits against 30 Angels batters on the way to his 20th win.

On Oct. 1, the next-to-last day of the season, McLain would pitch 3 2/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on seven hits. He took the loss, his 14th, 5-2 to the A’s.

Fourteen and a third innings in three days. Totals like that can certainly make it a bit easier to appreciate today’s pitch-count obsessed mindset in baseball.

All told, McLain threw 264 1/3 innings in 1966. Forty years later, a 23-year-old Verlander threw a comparatively meager 186 innings – and there was talk then that he was approaching overworked status.

There’s no chance the Tigers would put such a ridiculous workload on Verlander – or, in a more apt comparison, Rick Porcello, and Lynn Henning’s column makes a good case for why pitch counts matter, even though I admittedly roll my eyes when I hear them mentioned during games.

And a closer look at a season from 45 years ago explains Denny McLain’s precipitous fall from a 31-game winner at the age of 24 to the loser of 22 games three years later, and his departure from baseball when he should have been entering his prime.

• Dave Schoenfield lists his unsung heroes, among them is Jhonny Peralta:
  

  I’ve sung Peralta’s praises on several occasions, but everyone just keeps talking about this Verlander guy. All Peralta has done is hit over .300 with power and played surprisingly well on defense. He’s been the best shortstop in the AL.

• In case you missed it on Thursday, ESPN ran “What’s important in September” list for each American League team. Here was my contribution about the Tigers:
  

  The pressing issue for the Tigers in September is finding a consistent rotation behind Justin Verlander. At times, Detroit’s starting five — or at least four of five (sorry, Brad Penny) — has looked sturdy enough to be a scary proposition for a Division Series opponent. At others, Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello have looked dreadful and scare only Tigers fans. If trade-deadline prize Doug Fister can continue the trend of his past three starts (21.2 IP, 2 ER, 15 hits, 1 walk and 18 strikeouts), the Tigers will feel considerably better about October.

• Joe Janish from the Mets Today blog examined the Tigers/Diamondbacks/Yankees trade from 2009 and sees all three teams as winners:
  

  Though none of the players the Tigers received are having an MVP-caliber year, it’s fair to say the deal worked out well for them as well. After all, they are currently leading the AL Central by 6.5 games, with roughly one-sixth of the team’s 25-man roster filled by players obtained in that deal — including their starting center fielder and their No. 2 starting pitcher.

• Ben Jedlovec writes Austin Jackson was the best on defense in August.
  

  Austin Jackson led baseball with 11 Defensive Runs Saved in the month of August, and his 17 Defensive Runs Saved this season is tied for third among all center fielders. Robinson Cano tied for the infield lead with 7 Runs Saved on the month.

That is all.

Leading Off: I’ve watched a lot of Tigers baseball in my time but I can’t recall a more exciting final out sequence as the one we saw on Sunday to preserve a 8-7 Tigers win. Austin Jackson’s flawless throw to Alex Avila. Rick Porcello seemed hell bent to surrender a seven-run cushion but thankfully the bullpen did enough to blow it entirely … The Tigers head to Tampa Bay for a four-game set … They also are looking for their first winning streak of more than three games since June 7 when they had a four-game winning streak snapped.

Around the Central: The White Sox crushed the Rangers 10-0 at U.S. Cellular Field; the Red Sox downed the Royals, 6-1, and the Yankees blanked the Twins, 3-0.

• The Tigers are #10 in ESPN’s Power Rankings, up from nine last week. They trail the D-backs (who have one more win) and this week’s opponent, the Rays (#7).

• Somehow I missed out on Dave Schoenfield’s reminiscing about Chet Lemon last week:
  

  If you’re too young to remember Chet Lemon, he was a superb ballplayer. He could them run down in center field — in fact, his 512 putouts with the White Sox in 1977 remains the American League record, not bad for a guy who had converted from third base as a rookie the year before. He hit .300 three times, had some power, drew some walks, got hit by 10 to 20 pitches a season. He did a lot to help his teams win.

  What Chet Lemon wasn’t very good at was stealing bases.

• This is a topic that deserves more thought than I have time for today but am I the only one who thinks Miguel Cabrera has a profound lack of hustle on the bases, particularly out of the batter’s box?

• SI‘s Joe Sheehan thinks the stars are aligning in the Tigers favor after sweeping the Indians:
  

  Jackson’s base-runner kill helped Jose Valverde escape a bases-loaded, no-out jam and convert his 37th consecutive save this season. The Tigers have fended off a series of challenges by the Indians, and after a trip to Tampa Bay get seven games against the Twins and Royals to stretch their lead before six more against the White Sox and Indians. That week may represent both teams’ last shot to keep the Tigers from making September a coronation.

• Are the Tigers winning with other clubs’ talent?

• Not a game goes by that I don’t wish the Tigers still had Placido Polanco batting second.

• It doesn’t matter if the Twins send Jim Thome to the Indians before Aug. 31. The Tigers are set to face both clubs six more times this season so, they’re hosed either way.

Finally, Happy 47th Birthday to tennis hall of famer Mats Wilander who, in 1988, won the Australian Open, French Open and U.S. Open.

Leading Off: The Royals or the Tigers’ bullpen, depending on your point of view, did their best to ruin another terrific outing by Rick Porcello – but neither was up to the task. The Tigers came back, after leading 3-0, to win 4-3 in 10 innings. Daniel Schlereth (1-1) earned the win in relief for Detroit, while Jose Valverde notched his 31st save … Porcello went 6 1/3 allowing seven hits and three runs. He was pulled in the seventh and Jim Leyland explained why … With last night’s win the Tigers are 7-3 against the Royals this season and now 27-27 on the road this season.

Around the Central: Michael Young and Rangers spoiled Ubaldo’s debut with the Indians, defeating Cleveland 8-7 in 11 innings, the five-games-under-.500 White Sox beat the 10-games-under-.500 Twins 5-3 at Target Field.

More on JV’s Mastery: Buster Olney today writes that Verlander has started to consider adding another pitch to his arsenal: a split-finger fastball.

The suggestion amused Avila. Verlander, after all, already has refined four pitches – his fastball, changeup, slider and curveball. “The way he’s been pitching this year,” Avila said, “he’ll throw almost any pitch in any count.”

That’s no lie. Hitters’ batting average against him in the 2-0 (and beyond) hitter’s counts? .171, that’s third in the bigs behind Cole Hamels (.170) and Ricky Romero (.157).

Against 3-1 and beyond counts he ranks tied for eighth overall (with Matt Cain and Matt Garza) with a .161 average against.

Betemit: The 46-percent Solution? When the Tigers traded for Wilson Betemit last month the hope was that he’d be an upgrade at the plate over his predecessor, Brandon Inge. Sure, he’s hitting .281 in his 12 games in Detroit but in 39 at bats he has 18 strikeouts. Even Inge was better than that (60 strikeouts in 215 at bats, or 27 percent.)

The Odds are Good; the Goods are Odd. As of this writing, Baseball Prospectus has the Tigers’ playoff odds at 80 percent … or to be more specific: 80 percent to win the division, 0 percent to win the Wild Card spot. Sadly for Indians fans, BP has them with the third-best odds (6.9 percent). The White Sox are second with 11.5-percent. Take heart, Twins fans. BP says your club still has a 1.6-percent chance of taking the division.

Draft-pick Signings: The Tigers today announced they’ve agreed to terms with two players selected in the June draft: shortstop Brandon Loy from the University of Texas (fifth round) and righthanded pitcher Chad Smith from the University of Southern California (17th round). The Tigers now have agreed to terms with 30 of the club’s selections from this year’s draft.

Finally, Happy 39th Birthday to outfielder Duane Singleton who appeared in 18 games for the dreadful 1996 Tigers. He hit .161 with 15 strikeouts in 61 plate appearances.

The way Justin Verlander is pitching this year, the only title up for grabs now is second best starter on the staff. Still, I’m sure no Tigers fans would mind if Scherzer or Rick Porcello solidify that spot, but the way they’ve both been throwing of late would give anyone pause.

Scherzer was able to bounce back with a quality start against Toronto at home on Monday (7 IP 6 HA 2 ER 1 BB 9 K), but now he’s looking at some serious home and road splits. For the year, he has a 3.13 ERA in 10 home starts and an ugly 6.64 ERA in seven starts on the road. Despite a higher strikeout rate on the road, he’s getting torched away from Comerica Park as opponents are OPS’ing .920 against him (compared to .704 at home).

There must be some explanation for what basically turns hitters from Andy Dirks (.712 OPS) at home to Alex Avila (.914 OPS) on the road against Scherzer.

Obviously, Comerica Park is a pitcher’s park and all of the Tigers starters have better numbers at home, but with Scherzer it’s tough to tell what the Tigers have at this point.

The Diamondbacks were willing to part with him at such a young age that most people around the game assumed the only reason he was even available was that Arizona was afraid of his delivery and they thought he’d get hurt. Having seen Scherzer pitch a lot over the last two years, he doesn’t seem like a guy who struggles at all to hold his stuff. Max is certainly a max-effort pitcher, but he doesn’t seem to be overdoing it and he rarely fades away in games. Usually, he’ll come out just like on Monday throwing all three of his pitches from the word go and not look back.

When he struggles, it’s been the command that comes back to bite him. His worst home starts with Detroit have come both times he’s faced the Boston Red Sox. In each of those starts he didn’t have his control and changeups were served up over the middle of the plate. In his last road start against the Dodgers, he threw some lazy strikes that were just begging to be hit.

I’m sure this was a question Arizona had about him two years ago: can he be consistent enough in the strike zone or is this a guy who needs to be effectively wild? Even now, that’s tough to answer. He’s still young, but it’s fair to wonder if Scherzer is ever going to ascend to being a consistent top of the rotation pitcher or settle for Matt Garza 2.0.

Porcello, on the other hand, is not a max-effort stuff guy like Scherzer. He’s part of the Madison Bumgarner/Henry Rowengartner association of pitchers who threw in the mid-90’s before they turned 18, but have since abandoned the high heat. Porcello has been rocked silly in his last three starts giving up a total of 21 runs (18 earned) and failing to complete five innings as his ERA has climbed from a respectable 3.61 to 5.06. His problems seem oddly more easily correctable than Scherzer’s as he just needs to stop catching so much of the plate with his pitches and get more sink on his fastball. I’ve been banging the ‘Porcello needs to miss more bats’ drum for quite some time now, but that doesn’t appear to be in the cards as he’s retired just 45 batters on strikes this year in 83.2 innings. He’s only recorded two strikeouts over his last three horrendous starts, but if ‘Ricky P’ wants to keep doing it his way he’ll absolutely need to be effective in the strike zone (re: the bottom of the strike zone). If not, he’s going to continue getting shelled, in which case I recommend he invest in a helmet. How many line drives up the box did the Mets hit on Tuesday? I think I counted six.

It’s possible that both of these pitchers’ mechanics have just been off a bit. Minor mechanical adjustments are something you hear a lot about in this game and a lot of the time you wouldn’t even notice the difference (you know, except for the results). For big guys with moving parts like Scherzer and Porcello, a slight mechanical adjustment could be all they need to get back on track and not let this June swoon carryover into the second half.

Nick Shlain, a Journalism student at Eastern Michigan University, writes for Detroit Baseball Page.com. You can follow him on Twitter @nshlain.

1-2; 4th place, 1.5 GB Royals

Today’s Game

Tigers @ Orioles | 3:05 p.m. ET – Baltimore | On the air: FSD/AM 1270 and 97.1 FM

Pitching Matchup

Rick Porcello (0-0) vs. Jake Arrieta (0-0)

Yesterday’s Results

Tigers 10 – Yankees 7

• W: Max Scherzer (1-0)
• L: Phil Hughes (0-1)
• HR: Miguel Cabrera (2), Brennan Boesch (1)

Tigers History Lesson

Today’s Birthdays

• Cameron Maybin, 24

On this Date in Tigers History

• 2005 – On Opening Day in Detroit, Dmitri Young hit three home runs to lead the Tigers to an 11-2 win over the Royals. Here’s what the starting lineup looked like that day behind starter Jeremy Bonderman:
  1. Omar Infante, 2b
  2. Carlos Guillen, ss
  3. Pudge Rodriguez, c
  4. Magglio Ordonez, rf
  5. Young, dh
  6. Rondell White, lf
  7. Carlos Pena, 1b
  8. Craig Monroe, cf
  9. Brandon Inge, 3b

ESPN highlights available here.

The Score: Twins 6 – Tigers 5, 12 innings

The Gist: The Tigers and Twins played a game for the ages and both teams followed the respective scripts of the past three weeks. For the Tigers, that meant squandering countless opportunities and watching a division lead evaporate. For the Twins: everything going their way. Rick Porcello was awesome, Miguel Cabrera showed up for the first part of the game and Fernando Rodney, while taking the loss, pitched almost brilliantly in what was assuredly his last Tigers performance.

The Quote: “No matter what we did, it seems like it wasn’t meant to be. This is the best game, by far, that I’ve ever played in no matter the outcome.” — Brandon Inge

The Stat: 1 – The go-ahead run scored by Don Kelly in the 10th. Oh, how I wish it would’ve held up — for his sake.

Up Next: Spring Training, Lakeland, Fla., February 2010

Follow The Daily Fungo on Twitter: @DailyFungo

Since the 2000 season, the Tigers are 40 games under .500 against the White Sox. That’s beyond ugly. That’s hideous.

Since Ozzie Guillen arrived in 2004, the Tigers are 19 games under .500. But somehow the Tigers, in this season of uneven play and disappointment, Tigers fans (or, at least this Tigers fan) can rejoice in their winning the season series against the White Sox in 2010, 11 wins and 8 losses.

Detroit eked out a 10-8 record against the Sox — up from 9-9 last season — and were able to play the role of spoiler in the series at Chicago Sept. 17-19, essentially knocking Ozzie’s band of jolly outlaws from playoff contention. Huzzah!

Top Performers Against the White Sox

• Don Kelly – .419, 2 HR (13 games)

• Ryan Raburn .321, 3 HR (17 games)

• Carlos Guillen .360, 2 HR (6 games)

In his 16 games against Chicago, Miguel Cabrera hit just .161 with a pair of homers.

On the pitching side, Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello pitched the most innings against the White Sox, each with 29.2, with Scherzer faring better: 1-1, 31 strikeouts and a 3.34 ERA in four starts, compared to Porcello’s 1-3, 10, 7.28 ERA in five.

Justin Verlander (2-0, 2.25 ERA) and Jeremy Bonderman (2-1, 3.08 ERA) were the best starters.

With the Tigers playing out the schedule in gloomy Baltimore — and hoping against hope that they can muster enough offense to finish 82-80 — we have to accept some consolation prizes. For me, the best is the season series win over the White Sox. Small potatoes to be sure, but we take what we can get.

And if you’re curious, you’ll have to wait until April 22, 2011 before you can see the Tigers and White Sox tussle again.

Sounds fine with me.

Head-to-Head: Tigers-White Sox 2010

• May 18 @ Detroit: White Sox 6 – Tigers 2; W: Freddy Garcia L: Rick Porcello
• June 8 @ Chicago: Tigers 7 – White Sox 2; W: Brad Thomas L: Matt Thornton
• June 9 @ Chicago: White Sox 15 – Tigers 3; W: Freddy Garcia L: Rick Porcello
• June 10 @ Chicago: White Sox 3 – Tigers 0; W: John Danks L: Max Scherzer
• Aug. 3 @ Detroit: Game 1: White Sox 12 – Tigers 2; W: Mark Buehrle L: Rick Porcello | Game 2: Tigers 7 – White Sox 1; W: Jeremy Bonderman L: Carlos Torres
• Aug. 4 @ Detroit: White Sox 4 – Tigers 1; W: Edwin Jackson L: Armando Galarraga
• Aug. 5 @ Detroit: White Sox 6 – Tigers 4 (11 innings); W: Santos L: Jose Valverde
• Aug. 13 @ Chicago: White Sox 8 – Tigers 4; W: Mark Buehrle L: Jeremy Bonderman
• Aug. 14 @ Chicago: Tigers 3 – White Sox 2; W: Phil Coke L: J.J. Putz
• Aug. 15 @ Chicago: Tigers 13 – White Sox 8; W: Brad Thomas L: J.J. Putz
• Sept. 6 @ Detroit: White Sox 5 – Tigers 4 (10 innings); W: Chris Sale L: Jose Valverde
• Sept. 7 @ Detroit: Tigers 9 – White Sox 1 69-70; W: Justin Verlander L: Freddy Garcia
• Sept. 8 @ Detroit: Tigers 5 – White Sox 1; W: Jeremy Bonderman L: John Danks
• Sept. 9 @ Detroit: Tigers 6 – Tigers 3; W: Rick Porcello Gavin Floyd
• Sept. 17 @ Chicago: Tigers 9 – White Sox 2; W: Max Scherzer L: Edwin Jackson
• Sept. 18 @ Chicago: Tigers 6 – White Sox 3; Justin Verlander L: Sergio Santos
• Sept. 19 @ Chicago: Tigers 9 – White Sox 7 (11 innings); W: Robbie Weinhardt L: Sergio Santos

Rejoice!

1. Between now and October 3, Miguel Cabrera will probably blow past the American League record for intentional walks. He has 30 now and Ted Williams’ mark of 34 during the 1957 season doesn’t stand a chance.

2. Yesterday Buster Olney wrote about Rick Porcello’s rough start to 2010, his late-season resurgence and prospects for a breakthrough 2011.

   He went back to the minors and worked with pitching coaches Jon Matlack and A.J. Sager, and during that time he became more adept at diagnosing when his left shoulder — the front shoulder in his delivery — was flying open, and in keeping his head and eyes locked on the target. He also worked on his grip to improve his breaking ball.

   In the middle of his third start in the minors, he had an inning in which his pitches had the movement he had in the past, in which he felt in control. “It was kind of like a light bulb went off,” Porcello recalled. He walked back to the dugout and Matlack was waiting for him with a smile; he had seen what Porcello had felt.

3. In a Fungo Flash Poll last week we asked “Where in proximity to .500 will the Tigers finish the season?” Here are the results (from 119 total votes):
   • Just above (52%, 62 Votes)
   • Just below (31%, 37 Votes)
   • Even Steven (17%, 20 Votes)

   Love the optimism! By the by, you can see the results of every Fungo Flash Poll in the archives.

Finally, Happy 61st Birthday to Ed Begley, Jr., who played a small but important role in one of my top-three favorite movies, “The In-Laws.”

72-73, 3rd Place; 14.5 GB

Today’s Game

Tigers @ Rangers | 8:05 p.m. ET – Rangers Ballpark in Arlington | On the air: FSD/AM 1270 and 97.1 FM

Pitching Matchup

Armando Galarraga (4-5, 3.89 ERA) vs. Colby Lewis (9-12, 3.96 ERA)

Yesterday’s Results

Rangers 11 – Tigers 4

• W: Dustin Nippert (4-4)
• L: Robbie Weinhardt (1-2)

Tigers History Lesson

Today’s Birthdays

• John Pacella, 54 (Fungo Flashback here)

On this Date in Tigers History

• 2000 — The Tigers outlast the Red Sox, 7-6. The two teams combine to use a league record-tying 42 players in the contest.

• 1969 — Denny McLain records his ninth shutout, a Tigers record, beating New York, 2-0 at Yankee Stadium.

• 1901 — The Tigers steamroll the Cleveland Blues behind Ed Siever with the most lopsided score in American League history: 21-0 (equaled on August 13, 1939). Detroit pounds out 24 hits off rookie Jack Bracken as Pop Dillon leads the way with four hits. The game is mercifully called after 7-1/2 innings to allow Cleveland to catch a train. Bracken’s ERA is not helped by this outing and he will end this season, his only one in the majors, with a 6.21 mark, the highest in the deadball era.

71-70, 3rd Place; 12.5 GB

Today’s Results

Tigers 6 – White Sox 3

• W: Rick Porcello (9-11)
• L: Gavin Floyd (10-12)

Yesterday’s Results

Tigers 5 – White Sox 1

• W: Jeremy Bonderman (8-9)
• L: John Danks (13-10)

Tigers History Lesson

Today’s Birthdays

• Edwin Jackson, 27

• Dan Miceli, 40

• Reggie Sanders (1949-2002)

On this Date in Tigers History

• 1997 — Scott Sanders hurls a one-hit, 4-0 shutout over the Rangers. Domingo Cedeno’s single is the only Rangers hit.

• 1990 — Right fielder Scott Lusader loses the battle to bright sun and soggy turf and makes three errors (two fielding and one throwing) in the first inning against the White Sox. It’s a first in the American League since 1925. The Sox score seven runs in the inning and coast home 13-3, snapping the Tigers’ seven-game winning streak.

• 1977 — In the second game of a doubleheader loss at Fenway Park, Tigers rookies Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell debut together. They will hold down the second base and shortstop jobs in Detroit for a record 19 years. Boston wins both games, 5-1 and 8-6, respectively.

• 1970 — Bowie Kuhn hands Denny McLain his third suspension of the year, this one for carrying a gun, plus other unspecified charges, and ends McLain’s season with a 3-5 record.

• 1932 — The Tigers beat the Yankees 14- 13 in a 14-inning game in which Lou Gehrig hits a grand slam and
  drives in eight runs. He has reached this RBI feat twice before. Frankie Crosetti strikes out four times in the game, including twice in one inning.

  Detroit also tops the Yanks, 4-1, in five innings to finally complete the protested game of August 1, and the tie of yesterday. The Yankees score their lone run in the third inning off Buck Marrow with their only two hits of the game.

65-66, 3rd Place; 10 GB

Today’s Game

Off Day

Tomorrow @ Minnesota

Yesterday’s Results

Tigers 10 – Blue Jays 4

• W: Rick Porcello (7-11)
• L: Marc Rzepczynski (1-2)
• HR: Ryan Raburn 2 (10), Brandon Inge (9)

Tigers History Lesson

Today’s Birthdays

• Randy O’Neal, 50

• Steve Baker, 54

• Steve Partenheimer (1891-1971)

On this Date in Tigers History

• 1995 — Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell tie an American League record by playing in their 1,914th game together, a 10-7 loss to the White Sox. The record was set by the Royals’ George Brett and Frank White.

• 1912 — At Navin Field, the Browns’ Earl Hamilton no-hits the Tigers, 5-1.

• 1905 — Making his major league debut, Ty Cobb doubles off Highlander Jack Chesbro in a 5-3 Tigers victory at Bennett Park.

50-45, 3rd place; 2.5 GB Chicago

Today’s Games

Game 1

Tigers vs. Blue Jays | 1:05 p.m. ET – Comerica Park | On the air: FSD/AM 1270 and 97.1 FM

Pitching Matchup

Armando Galarraga (3-3, 4.50 ERA) vs. LHP Brett Cecil (8-5, 3.99 ERA)

Game 2

Tigers vs. Blue Jays | 6:05 p.m. ET – Comerica Park | On the air: Radio Only – AM 1270 and 97.1 FM

Pitching Matchup

Jeremy Bonderman (5-6, 4.98 ERA) vs. RHP Jesse Litsch (1-4, 5.79 ERA)

Yesterday’s Results

Blue Jays 3 – Tigers 2

• W: Shaun Marcum (9-4)
• L: Rick Porcello (4-8)

Tigers History Lesson

Today’s Birthdays

• Torey Lovullo, 45

• Fred Scherman, 66

• Mick Kelleher, 63

• Larry Sherry (1935-2006)

On this Date in Tigers History

• 2002 — The Tigers acquired outfielder Hiram Bocachica from the Dodgers for RHP Tom Farmer and a player to be named later (RHP Jason Frasor).

• 1993 — Mike Moore hurls a one-hit, 3-0 shutout over the Royals. Wally Joyner’s second-inning single is the only Kansas City hit.

• 1967 — Race riots in Detroit force postponement of a Tigers-Orioles game. The games
  scheduled for July 26 and 27 are shifted to Baltimore.

• 1960 — The Tigers acquired catcher Hank Foiles from the Indians for catcher Bob Wilson and infielder Rocky Bridges.

• 1904 — The Tigers acquired catcher Monte Beville from the Yankees for fellow catcher Frank McManus.

50-44, 2nd place; 2.5 GB Chicago

Today’s Game

Tigers vs. Blue Jays | 7:05 p.m. ET – Comerica Park | On the air: FSD/AM 1270 and 97.1 FM

Pitching Matchup

Rick Porcello (4-7, 5.63 ERA) vs. RHP Shaun Marcum (8-4, 3.36 ERA)

Yesterday’s Results

Rained Out

Tigers History Lesson

Today’s Birthdays

• Jason Smith, 33

On this Date in Tigers History

• 2002 — The Tigers shut out the Royals, 3-0, in one hour and 41 minutes, the fastest nine-inning game in the major leagues since 1984.

• 2001 — The Yankees edge the Tigers, 6-5, despite an eighth inning moon shot by Juan Encarnacion, off Ramiro Mendoza, that lands in the second row of the empty blue bleacher seats in left centerfield. It’s believed to be the first ball hit into that area since Yankee Stadium was remodeled in 1976.