PREGAME: The Tigers come into the rubber game of the series looking to avoid something that hasn’t happened since the first week of July. The Tigers haven’t dropped a series since a 3 game set in Oakland on July 3rd, 4th, and 5th.

Standing between the Tigers and another series win is Johan Santana. The Tigers have had some success (relatively speaking) against Santana. The last time they met in Comerica Park Vance Wilson’s homer proved the difference in a 2-0 victory. Wilson finds himself in the lineup again tonight spelling Pudge Rodriguez who’s back is acting up.

Johan Sanatana isn’t the only pitcher who figures to have a say in the outcome as Jeremy Bonderman will take the ball for Detroit. Bonderman outpitched Santana in their last meeting but took the hard luck loss as everything imploded around Jeremy in the 8th inning.

Sean Casey will be the only lefty in the lineup as Curtis Granderson gets the night off in favor of Brent Clevlen who made his Major League debut against Santana with a double and a walk.

Game Time 7:05pm

POSTGAME It was all set up so nicely. The pitching match up was everything we had hoped for. Brandon Inge was the late inning hero putting Jeremy Bonderman in line for the win. The Tigers had 2 of their most reliable bullpen arms up to pitch the 8th. But Jamie Walker issued just his 2nd non-intentional walk of the year and Jusitn Morneau hit a no doubter to hand the Tigers their first home series loss since the beginning of June.

Losing sucks, but I’ll just try and take solace in the fact that over the last 6 meetings the Twins and Tigers have played some very entertaining baseball.

Toledo 4, Columbus 2
I know it’s only 2 games, but Chris Shelton has back to back 3 hit games. Tonight he was a triple short of the cycle and added 2 walks. Alexis Gomez added 2 hits. Jordan Tata allowed 1 run on 5 hits, but he only lasted 4 innings as his pitch count crept up to 95 due in large part to 4 walks.

New Britain 6, Erie 5
Jackson Melian had 2 hits and Kody Kirkland was 1 for 4. Eulogio De La Cruz allowed 3 runs on 6 hits, 5 walks, and 8 strike outs in 7 innings.

Lakeland 3, Jupiter 1
Clete Thomas and Juan Francia each had 2 hit games. Andrew Kown allowed 3 hits and 1 unearned run in 4 innings. He fanned 6 and walked none. Kevin Whelan pitched 2 scoreless innings, walking 2 and striking out 3.

Fort Wayne 2, West Michigan 0
Mike Hollimon tripled and singled and stole a base. Cameron Maybin was 0 for 4. Erik Averill worked 8 innings and allowed 9 hits and 3 walks for 2 runs. He struck out 7.

Tri-City 4, Oneonta 3
Ronnie Bourquin hit his first homer as part of a 1 for 3, 1 walk night. In a rare hitless game for Scott Sizemore he still managed 2 walks. Zach Piccola allowed 4 runs, 1 earned in 5 innings.

GCL Tigers – DNP

PREGAME Dating back to last September, the Tigers have beaten the Twins 8 straight at home. The last time that happened was 1981/1982.

Nate Robertson will try to keep the streak going. In his last start he limited the Devil Rays to 2 runs in 6 1/3 innings before taking the 2-1 loss. In his last start against Minnesota he picked up the win despite allowing 5 runs in 6 innings. He got that win because the Tigers got to Brad Radke early an knocked him out after 4 runs in 3 innings.

Radke takes the hill again tonight for the Twins. This should make Craig Monroe happy. Not only is Monroe hitting as well as umm, anyone, he is 15 for 31 lifetime against Radke.

Game Time 7:05pm

POSTGAME Remember back before last night’s game when the Tigers held a double digit lead in the Central? Ahem.

The Tigers didn’t play a bad game, they just got beat. Nate Robertson was solid. The offense had no trouble getting men on base with 11 hits and 2 walks. The problem was that all but one of those hits were singles.

The biggest lost opportunity came when the Tigers loaded the bases with nobody out. They did so much right that inning. Carlos Guillen followed a leadoff single by Ordonez with an 11 pitch walk. Dmitri Young hit a rocket single to right that was hit hard enough that Ordonez really didn’t have a chance to score. Craig Monroe does his job by hitting a line drive to left field on an 0-2 count. Unfortunately it happened to be at Jason Tyner for the first out. Even more unfortunate for the Tigers was that Tyner flung a bee-bee home and easily cut down Magglio Ordonez who was trying to score.

You could question Ordonez coming home on the play when he was about by a couple steps. Yet if the throw bounces or is a couple feet up the line he probably scores. It wasn’t a bad gamble and you just have to give the Twins credit for executing.

The next inning the Twins took the lead on a jam job double by Joe Mauer.

And such is baseball. The Tigers have had the ball bounce their way a ton this year. It didn’t happen for them tonight, and the Twins played a very good game. Yet the Tigers still brought the go ahead run to the plate in the 9th against one of the best closers in the league. Good game, good effort, the Twins just happened to be a little better tonight.

Toledo 15, Columbus 8
The Mud Hens had 7 homers including 4 from Alexis Gomez. Chris Shelton added one as part of a 3 hit night. Colby Lewis wasn’t sharp with 6 runs on 8 hits and 4 walks but still picked up the win. Chris Spurling faced 8 batters and allowed 1 hit against 3 K’s.

Erie – DNP

Jupiter 8, Lakeland 5
Clete Thomas had 2 doubles and a single. Jeff Larish added 2 hits also. Kevin Ardoin allowed 8 runs on 10 hits in 6 innings. Kevin Whelan pitched 1 scoreless inning with 2 K’s and walk.

Fort Wayne 5, West Michigan 1
The Whitecaps were limited to 4 singles. Wil Rhymes, Matt Joyce, Cameron Maybin, and Mike Hernandez had one apiece. Josh Rainwater pitched 5 1/3 shut out innings on 6 hits. Ricky Steik allowed 5 runs, 4 earned, on 4 hits and a walk.

Tri-City 5, Oneonta 1
Scott Sizemore went 2 for 4 and James Skelton added a double and a single. Christian Martinez gave up 5 runs, 3 earned, on 8 hits in 5 2/3 innings.

GCL Tigers 13, GCL Indians 6
Gorkys Hernandez was a triple short of the cycle. Michael Sullivan and Luis Arlet each added 3 hits. Alfredo Figaro allowed 3 unearned runs in 5 innings on 9 hits. He walked none and fanned 5. Paul Hammond pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings.

Toledo – DNP

Erie 9, New Hampshire 6
Chris Maples had 2 doubles and a homer. Andrew Graham had 3 hits and ahomer. Virgil Vasquez allowed 5 runs on 7 hits, 3 walks, and 8 strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.

Daytona 3, Lakeland 1
Jeff Larish went 2 for 4 with a double. Eddie Bonine allowed only 1 run on 5 hits over 8 innings. He walked none and fanned 9.

West Michigan 7, Fort Wayne 6
Cameron Maybin was 2 for 5 with 2 doubles. Mike Hernandez added 3 singles. Sendy Vasquez went 6 1/3 innings and allowed 2 runs on 8 hits. Orlando Perdomo allowed 3 runs on 2 walks and a hit without retiring anyone.

Oneonta 3, Aberdeen 2
Scott Sizemore was 2 for 4. Brendan Wise pitched 8 innings and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk. Brett Jensen pitched a scoreless 9th to pick up his 12th save and drop his ERA under 1.00. He has fanned 23 and walked 3 in 18 1/3 innings.

GCL Tigers 13, GCL Yankees 1
Eleazar Aponte was excellent. He allowed 4 hits over seven innings while fanning 8 and walking no one. Luis Arlet and Michael Sullivan each had 3 hits and Gorkys Hernandez added a 2 for 5 effort.

PREGAME: Wil Ledezma will be making his first start since June 4, 2005 as he fills in for Justin Verlander who is experiencing fatigue.

He’ll be opposed by C.C. Sabathia who the Tigers beat in Cleveland 2 weeks ago when Verlander outdueled him.

Brent Clevlen will be making his first Comerica Park start this afternoon.(thanks for the heads up Dillon)

Game Time 1:05 pm.

POSTGAME: I caught the bulk of this game on the radio while driving back from a weekend in Indianapolis (see, I went on vacation and kept the blog alive) and actually saw none of the game with the exception of what they showed on Baseball Tonight. But one didn’t have to see the game to understand exactly what kind of performance Wil Ledezma turned in. With 5 2/3 shut out innings, he just didn’t do as good as could be hoped for, he did as good as anybody else could have done as well. He took the game deep enough that a normal bullpen rotation could play out, and now everyone (save for Ledezma) will be available tomorrow night.

And surprise, surprise, Craig Monroe knocked in the deciding run in a one-run game. Meanwhile C.C. Sabathia, who committed the error that eventually led to scoring opportunity, has to be looking at his offense and saying “Do Something!” For the second time in a row against the Tigers he pitched quite well with nothing to show for it.

Of course the happy tone of this update was made possible by Jamie Walker and his punch out of Travis Hafner with the bases loaded.

PREGAME: Kenny Rogers gets another crack at the Indians after being knocked out in the first inning 2 starts ago. His one start since then wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t good. Rogers allowed 5 runs in 5 innings and walked 4. Of course the start looked worse due in large part to Dmitri Young’s error prone game and the Tigers whiffing against Casey Fossum.

Paul Byrd hasn’t done too well himself. The Tigers got him for 7 runs in 3 innings that same night Rogers got rocked, and he allowed 6 runs in 4 innings agaisnt the Red Sox in his subsequent start.

Game time 7:05pm

POSTGAME“: Another early deficit, another dramatic late inning homer in front of a raucous sell out crowd. But first things first – thank you Kenny Rogers. The first inning looked bad, but he settled down and gave the team 7 innings on a day when the bullpen was short. He also ensured that Wil Ledezma will have some back-up in case he falters in his Sunday start.

As for the late inning dramatics, the Tigers went down to their last out after a lead off bunt by Brandon Inge, a failed sacrifice by Curtis Granderson, and a force out by Placido Polanco. And then Pudge took the first pitch into just about the same spot as Monroe’s homer the night before. What was fun both nights was watching Pudge jumping around like a little leaguer as he circled the bases.

In the end, the Tigers notch another over their AL Central foes.