Yearly Archives: 2006

2006 Season, Game Post

Game 126: White Sox at Tigers

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PREGAME: Well the last time Mark Buerhle faced Kenny Rogers, the Tigers scratched out 3 runs. But then the Tigers surrendered 4 unearned runs amid an awful weekend series.

Then again, the last time the Justin Verlander faced Jose Contreras things didn’t work out so well for the Tigers either but last night’s game had the opposite result.

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: The Tigers came in to the series scrambling, but by taking the first 2 games of the series, the pressure is squarely on the White Sox.

Kenny Rogers seems to have shaken his July slump. In his 4 August starts he’s allowed only 5 earned runs. He also has owned the White Sox only allowing 3 earned runs in 4 starts.

In the process the Tigers secured a .500 season, which based on preseason expectations already makes this year’s edition a success.

Other thoughts:

  • It was nice to see Magglio Ordonez laying out for a ball. His defense hasn’t been very good this year, but the effort on that play was very much appreciated by this blogger.
  • It was nice to see Marcus Thames crush the ball a couple times and work a walk. What I don’t understand is pinch hitting for a hitter who is doing that well with a 4 run lead. This wasn’t giving a regular an early night off, it was taking the bat out of the hand of a guy in need of playing time.
  • And speaking of things I don’t understand, Neifi Perez leading off? Sorry Omar, you’re getting the short end of something. Neifi did make a nice play getting up for Thome’s line drive in the 9th inning.
  • And one more thing I didn’t understand was having Brandon Inge sacrifice bunt when the Tigers had tagged Buerhle for 7 hits that early in the game. Why concede an out with the team’s most prolific out maker (Perez)waiting on deck?
  • I know I shouldn’t complain about strategy in a 4-0 shut out, but some of Leyland’s moves have left me scratching my head lately. And I won’t rip Neifi everygame. Besides, the way things have been working for the Tigers this year he’ll probably hit .350 with 4 homers over the next couple weeks.
  • And while I’m all for Ozzie Guillen getting tossed out, again I don’t understand umpires yelling back. Dan Iasogna had to be seperated from Guillen by his crew chief. I don’t understand why umpires are allowed to do this.
2006 Season

Tigers Playoff Ticket Information

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There’s a headline I never thought I’d write.

The Tigers announced that playoff tickets will go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, September 19th. The American League Divisional Series tickets will be available at the Comerica Park box office starting at 10:00am and online starting at 2:00pm.

Tickets for the ALDS will range in price from $35-$110.

Information about tickets for the American League Championship Series and World Series will be announced at a later date.

The ALDS is scheduled to commence on October 3rd.

2006 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap – August 21st

Columbus 3, Toledo 2
Alexis Gomez hit his 11th homer for the Mud Hens and reallly seems to have found his power stroke. Chris Shelton was 0 for 4 with 2 K’s. Corey Hamman started and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits and 6 walks while fanning 6 in 6 1/3 innings.

Trenton 7, Erie 6
Don Kelly, Victor Mendez and Chris Maples had 2 hits each while Kelly Hunt homered. Jon connolly allowed 3 runs on 6 hits, including 2 homers, over 6 innings.

Dunedin 7, Lakeland 1
Kyle Sleeth started but didn’t make it out of the first inning as he surrendered 4 hits, 2 walks and 4 runs. Jeff larish was 1 for 4 with a double.

West Michigan 3, Lansing 1
Justin Justice knocked in all 3 runs with a 1st inning homer. Cameron Maybin was 1 for 3 with a walk. Burke Badenhop pitched 6 innings and allowed 1 run on 6 hits, no walks, and 6 K’s. Anthony Claggett picked up his 9th save with a scoreless 9th.

Oneonta 10, Vermont 0
Ronnie Bourquin homered as part of a 2 for 4, 1 walk day. Ryan Strieby and Scott Sizemore each had 2 hits as well. Lou Ott went 3 for 4 and drove in 4. Tom Thornton pitched 7 shut out innings scattering 5 hits and fanning 8.

GCL Tigers 3, GCL Yankees 2
Chris Carlson hit his 11th homer among his 3 hits and Gorkys Hernandez was 2 for 4. At 22, Carlson is old for the league, but his 11 home runs are first, his batting average is 9th, and his OPS is tops. Duane Below allowed 1 hit and 1 unearned run over 8 innings of work.

2006 Season, Game Post

Game 125: White Sox at Tigers

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PREGAME: There’s something going on with my webhost, so I’m not sure if you can even read this. That being the case this is a very short game post. Justin Verlander against Jose Contreras.

Game Time 7:05pm

POSTGAME: Judging by the comment volume, the site seems to be loading now. As for the game itself, what’s not to like?

After a season in which the Tigers kept finding ways to win, they spent a weekend finding ways to lose. As a fan, it was nice to see them rebound with such a complete effort. There was the balanced offensive attack fueled by line drives born of good pitch selection. The defense was solid. And Justin Verlander returned to form.

As for Verlander’s velocity, that is something that he’s been dialing back for quite some time. I think part of it is fatigue, which really is probably to be expected. For a 23 year old to still be throwing 99 at inning totals he’s never experienced may be an unrealistic expectation. The other part is maturity. He had stopped dialing it up consistently back in May. He still seemed to be working at 93-94 most of the game and he did dial it up to 96 for 3 straight pitches in the 6th inning.

And one last note. I’m not ragging on Todd Jones by any means, because he has been very good. But I would love it if he would stick his glove out for a ground ball once in a while. Those ground balls back through the box, he seems to go out of his way to avoid. Not a big deal by any means, but I’m just sayin’.

2006 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap – August 20th (Andrew Miller debuts)

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Columbus 5, Toledo 2
Chris Shelton was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and his hit was a triple. He has pushed his average to 307. Chad Durbin took the loss as he surrenderd 5 runs, 4 earned, over 5 1/3 innings.

Erie 1, Connecticut 0
Victor Mendez was 2 for 4 and picked up the lone RBI. Jair Jurrgens pitched 7 innings and allowed only 4 hits against 5 K’s.

Lakeland 5, Fort Myers 3
Andrew Miller made his pro debut. He faced 4 batters, hit one, and fanned 2 in a scoreless inning of work. Jeff Frazier was 3 for 4 with 2 doubles.

Fort Myers 4, Lakeland 3
Eleazar Aponte pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed 3 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks. Juan Francia and Gil Meija each had 2 hits.

Lansing 9, West Michigan 3
Jeremy Laster was 2 for 2 with 2 walks and hit a homer. Cameron Maybin was 1 for 4.

Vermont 8, Oneonta 5
Scott Sizemore had 2 doubles and a walk. Ronnie Bourqin added 2 hits. Louis Ott was 3 for 4. Zach Piccola was roughed up for 8 runs on 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings. Tim Robertson came on in relief and pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed only 1 walk and no hits.

GCL Tigers 9, GCL Braves 5
Chris Carlson was 2 for 5 with a homer. Gorkys Hernandez went 2 for 5. Eric Beattie who had a couple promising starts battled his control again today with 4 walks in 3 1/3 innings.

2006 Season, Roster Management

Tigers acquire Neifi Perez

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In light of Placido Polanco’s injury, the Tigers have traded for Neifi Perez. The player they sent to the Cubs is Lakeland Tiger Chris Robinson.

Neifi Perez is pretty much awful offensively with a career OPS of 677. Yet he is 33 and still in the big leagues, and teams have given him 5000 at-bats which tells you a little something about his glove. He can play 2nd, short, and 3rd base.

Now if they picked up Neifi to replace Ramon Santiago, not only on the roster but in his role as well, then this is a good move. While Perez isn’t good, he is an upgrade over Santiago. If it is an effort to find a new everyday second basemen, I’d just assume have Infante who has shown offensive glimpses and at 24 could improve.

Chris Robinson was the Tigers 3rd round draft choice last year. This year he’s hitting for a decent average (282) but with no power (357 slugging).

UPDATE: Shame on me. I didn’t even think to look into Neifi’s contract status. Turns out he’s signed for $2.5 million next year making this deal absolutely awful. The fact that the Tigers are taking on that contract should have meant giving up nothing.

Not only is it the money that is being committed to next year, but it’s a roster spot as well. In addition to sucking up a spot on the 25 man roster next year, a spot on the 40 man roster will need to be cleared this year.

Maybe it’s the losing streak making me grumpy, but I can’t see anything I like about this trade.

2006 Season, Game Post

Game 124: Rangers at Tigers

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PREGAME: Normally when a team needs to stem losing, they look to their pitcher to be the stopper. But I don’t think you could ask for a better effort than what Zach Miner and Nate Robertson turned in the last 2 days. The way the Tigers offense is going, Jeremy Bonderman will need a perfect game.

Hopefully the offense can perk up against John Koronka. Tiger chased him after 5 innings and 4 runs in their first meeting.

Game Time 1:05pm

2006 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap August 19th

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Toledo 20, Columbus 2
Pretty much everybody had a good game offensively with the Mud Hens knocking out 25 hits. Chris Shelton had 4, including a homer and he added a walk. Mike Rabelo added a grand slam. Mike Maroth went 6 innings on 85 pitches. He allowed one hit, which was a homer, no walks and he fanned 3.

Erie 7, Connecticut 0
Kelly Hunt had 3 hits including a homer and Kurt Airoso added 3 hits. Eulogio De La Cruz fanned 7 over 7 scoreless innings.

Lakeland PPD

Lansing 4, West Michigan 0
Mike Hollimon picked up the Caps only extra base hit. Cameron Maybin was 0 for 4. Erik Averill allowed 3 runs on 6 hits over 6 innings.

Oneonta 3, Batavia 2
Ronnie Bourquin had 2 hits. Christian Martinez pitched 6 innings and allowed 3 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks while fanning 6. Derek Witt pitched 2 scoreless innings before Brett Jensen pitched a scoreless 9th.

GCL Tigers – Cancelled

2006 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap – August 18th

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Toledo 5, Richmond 3
Jordan Tata probably had his best Toledo start. He allowed only 3 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run while fanning 3 over 8 innings. Ryan Ludwick had 2 homers as part of a 3 hit night. Chris Shelton was 2 for 4.

Erie 3, Connecticut 2
Victor Mendez, who is on his 4th organizational team this season, homered and singled. Kurt Airoso also homered. Virgil Vasquez pitched a complete game allowing 2 runs while scatterring 9 hits.

Lakeland 4, Fort Myers 2
Jeff Larish had 2 hits and a walk. Dallas Trahern allowed 1 unearned run over 5 innings. Jeremy Johnson pitched 3 innings of relief allowing 1 run.

West Michigan 5, Lansing 4
Cameron Maybin tripled and Justin Justice had 2 hits. Virgil Vasquez started and allowed 2 runs on 4 walks and 7 hits over 5 innings. Orlando Perdomo faced 2 batters in the 9th and didn’t record either while being charged with 2 runs.

Batavia 3, Oneonta 1
Ryan Strieby and Deik Scram had 2 hits. Brendan Wise pitched 7 innings allowing 3 runs.
GCL Tigers 6, GCL Indians 5
Chris Carlson was 3 for 3 with a walk. Gorkys Hernandez picked up another 0 for 5 and might be in a bit of a slump.

2006 Season, Game Post

Game 122: Rangers at Tigers

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PREGAME: With their next win, this will become the most successful Tigers season since an 85-77 mark in 1993. The Tigers will try to get that wrapped up tonight as Zach Miner takes on Kevin Millwood.

The Tigers beat Millwood back in April on the strength of 2 Chris Shelton triples (prompting Buster Olney to make Paul Molitor comparisons – sigh) and 7 innings of Verlander shut out ball.

Zach Miner will try to match his rookie teammates success against the Rangers. Step 1 would probably be not walking a lot of batters, an affliction that the last 2 Tigers starters battled.

Game Time 7:05