The season of unprecendented Tiger accomplishments continues…Okay, maybe not unprecendented, but certainly unfamiliar. The Tigers swept the Indians at Jacobs Field, which quite frankly is unprecedented. I’m not sure why it is working this way, but Detroit keeps seeming to get teams at the most opportune time. They faced the Rangers without their best pitchers, they faced the Twins when they were struggling, they faced the Athletics when they weren’t hitting, and they faced the Indians when nothing was going right for them. Witness the stats:

The Indians posted the better on base percentage while their pitchers threw a 24/4 K/BB ratio at the Tigers. And yet they were swept. Much like the Tigers let a couple winnable games get away, so did the Indians on Sunday. If it weren’t for the fielding errors and baserunning errors by the Indians this weekend, the series could have gone very differently.

I’m not trying to rain on anyone’s parade, because the Tigers did get the job done. But the next time the Tigers let a game slip away, remember that they stole a couple this year also.

Stuff of Note

• The Tigers posted a sub .300 OBP, and yet still managed to ground into 5 double plays.
• The Indians committed 4 errors. That’s not good.
• The Tigers 6-7-8 hitters powered the team, literally. Seven of the teams 11 extra base hits came from those 3 lineup spots, including all 3 homers.
• The Tigers bullpen was effective, but far from dominant. The Indians posted a 240/355/440 line against the pen.

Series Studs

• The starters combined to allow two earned runs in 20 1/3 innings – against the best offensive team in the AL. That’s as good as it gets.
• Craig Monroe was instrumental in the Tigers victory in the first game. He only had 3 hits, but one was a two run homer, and the other was a double. He also made an excellent throw to get Perez trying for a double.
• Chris Shelton had multiple hits in each game, and many of them were scorched including his 11th homer. He also had the heady play on Jhonny Perralta’s foul/fair ball.
• Curtis Granderson had a .400 OBP in two games, and made one of the best catches of the season to help preserve the Tigers lead on Friday night.
• Pudge hit 364/417/636.

And those who struggled

• The cold damp weather didn’t agree with Magglio Ordonez or Carlos Guillen. While both started the road trip on a roll, they combined to go 4 for 23.
• Fernando Rodney walked 3 in 2 innings to continue some of his struggles from Baltimore.
• While I typically focus on the Tigers heroes and duds, Victor Martinez accomplished nothing except for a caught stealing. He took and 0 for 12.