Once again the Tigers started off the month on a down note by dropping their first 5 games. A tough one run extra inning loss to Cleveland was followed by an ugly sweep in Colorado. The Tiger bullpen absolutely collapsed in the thin air of Denver and the starters weren’t particularly effective either.

After Colorado the worn out pitching staff headed to New York to face the Yankees. Nate Robertson was shelled early and often, meaning that the already tired bullpen had to pick up the slack. The Tigers had already lost 5 in a row and had two more to play in NY and 4 games in Minnesota before the break.

Jason Johnson gave the Tigers just what they needed with 8 innings of one hit ball and the Tigers had the first win of the season. They took the rubber match as well before heading on to Minnesota.

The Tigers dropped the first game despite a strong outing from Mike Maroth. He was done in by a combination of infield hits and bad fielding. Surprisingly the Tigers took the last 3 from Minnesota capped off by a complete game shut out by Jason Johnson.

After the break the Tigers hosted the Yankees for a 4 game series at sold out Comerica Park. In a even hard fought series the Tigers and Yankees split. The highlight was Mike Maroth’s one hit complete game shut out.

At 44-47 the Tigers were almost in contention. Unfortunately they dropped 5 of the next 6 against the White Sox and Indians. This eliminated any talk of the Tigers being buyers at the trade deadline. Fortunately they finnished the month by going 5-2 and pulled to within 4 games of the elusive .500 mark.

Comings, Goings, and Doctor Appointments
After his latest poor outing Gary Knotts informed the team that his shoulder was hurting. Knotts was placed on the 15 day disabled list and AA reliever Roberto Novoa was called to take his place on the roster. The recently recalled Wil Ledezma assumed Knotts spot in the rotation.

Danny Patterson both went on the disabled list and came off in the same month with shoulder bursitis.

The Tigers were short handed in the outfield while Craig Monroe and Alex Sanchez both saw time on the disabled list. Nook Logan filled in admirably for Sanchez until Alex was ready to come back.

July also saw the return of Chris Shelton and the demotions of Craig Dingman, Franklyn German, and Steve Colyer (twice)

By the Numbers
The Tigers managed to keep scoring runs, despite a sharp drop in batting average and on base average. Their slugging percentage remained high, and they hit 41 homers for the month.

The story is similar for the pitchers. They held opponents on base average down, but the power numbers were up and the results were more than 5 runs a game allowed.

Who’s Hot
Now that Carlos Guillen has made the Hot list every month this season, is he still hot? For the month he was .337/.405/.625. His month was topped only by Marcus Thames who like Guillen had 6 dingers to go along with .344/.391/.750.

Dmitri Young also had a solid month hitting .307/.379/.505.

Jason Johnson was tops among starters posting a 3-1 record in 6 starts and a 3.40 ERA over 45 innings. Unfortunately he was the only starter to have a really strong month. Mike Maroth was decent also picking up 4 wins with a 4.36 ERA.

After a rough start to the month, the bullpen really picked things up. Leading the charge was …Al Levine… Levine allowed only one run in 13 innings. Right behind him was Esteban Yan who allowed only 3 runs in 14 innings while striking out 11.

Who’s Not
After Pudge’s tremendous June, he has definitely slipped. For the month he hit .244/.313/.395.

Also struggling is Bobby Higginson who is hitting .207/.293/.299 despite still playing everyday (24 out of 28 games).

The young corner infielders continue to struggle as Munson and Pena have .684 and .617 OPS’ respectively while striking out a combined 38 times.

Jeremy Bonderman has had some bad luck lately resulting in short starts. That combined with 9 homers allowed left him with an ERA over 6 for the month.

Gary Knotts tried to pitch through arm problems and allowed 29 earned runs in only 24 innings.

While Levine and Yan pitched great, Danny Patterson and Jamie Walker both stuggled. Granted, Patterson only made 4 apperances, and the bulk of Walker’s troubles can be attributed to one bad outing.

Lowlight of the Month
Any of the three games in Colorado. They were all bad so take your pick.

Highlight of the Month
Without question it had to be Maroth’s one hitter against the Yankees in front of a sold out Comerica Park. The buzz coming out of that weekend was incredible and the Tigers were actually relevant after the All Star break. Good Times

Honorable Mention: Jason Johnson’s pitching duel with Johan Santana. Both pitchers were on top of their games, and it’s going to be one of the finest pitching match ups of the season.

Looking Ahead
The Tigers finally get a reprieve from playing Central teams, and instead get to play their next 15 games against teams in the playoff hunt. After hosting Texas and Boston the Tigers head out west for series with Oakland and Anaheim. They cap the road trip with 3 more games against the White Sox.

They’ll get a slight break with a series against the Mariners before hosting the White Sox (again). They finish up the month on the road against Boston and Kansas City.