PREGAME: Jeremy Bonderman and Gil Meche in a matineee.

Game Time 1:05

POSTGAME:There wasn’t a lot to like about this game with the exception of Jeremy Bonderman and Curtis Granderson. Bonderman went 7 innings on 86 pitches but wasn’t allowed to come out for the 8th. This is the 2nd time in a week that Jim Leyland didn’t send out Bonderman even when his pitch count and performance probably warranted another inning.

Granderson mentioned this offseason that Gil Meche was one of the toughest pitchers he faced last year. He seems to have gotten past that with 3 hits today, granted one was a dribbler, but he was one of the few to get a solidly hit ball all day. Granderson and Placido Polanco combined to get on base 5 times, and Sheffield failed to do anything to drive them in once again.

As for the bullpen, at least Joel Zumaya was good. I’m not too upset about the Todd Jones blown save. It was the walks which were uncharacteristic for Jones that did him in. He’ll allow hits because he doesn’t strike out many, but normally it takes several of those hits. With the free passes Jones loses his slim margin for error. Blown saves are frustrating, but no closer is perfect.

Fernando Rodney continues to struggle. I understand frustrations with him, because he quite frankly hasn’t been effective. And when Rodney is struggling it is excruciating to watch as he takes a long time between each pitch. Still, I’m not terribly worried. He could be a set-up man for many teams, and he’s only splitting the role in Detroit.

As for some of the moves today, I know this will sound like second guessing due to the timing, but I was questioning them as they happened. I didn’t agree with taking out Bonderman. There was no need to. Jones was going to pitch the 9th no matter what, so using Zumaya in the 8th was unnecessary and rendered him unavailable in the 10th.

I also disagreed with the designated bunter approach. For the chance to move a runner into scoring position which would still require another hit, Leyland was conceding an out. The probability of not scoring with a no out-runner on first situation is 57.8% and in a 1 out-runner on second situation it is 60.4% (in a 4.5 RPG environment). So even if it is successful, it reduces the chances of winning. If it were a matter of moving a runner from 2nd to 3rd I’d agree with the move, but not in this case.

A well pitched game in which the the Royals defense handed a struggling offense some runs slipped away. It stinks, but it is also going to happen. Detroit has come out on the winning end of some of these as well.

Kansas City 4 Detroit 3

PREGAME: Abbreviated pregame tonight. Jorge De La Rosa takes on Mike Maroth. Jim Leyland is using the “Sunday” lineup with Omar Infante in centerfield, Neifi Perez at third base, and Marcus Thames playing first base. All righties all the time.

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: It was a nice offensive night. Placido Polanco got the biggest hits, but he wasn’t the only one hitting the ball hard. Magglio Ordonez hit the ball hard repeatedly tonight, as did Pudge Rodriguez.

Marcus Thames was inexplicably taken out in the 5th inning, after hitting a home run. I don’t really get it. The lefy de la Rosa was still even in the game at that point and it seems too early for a defensive replacement.

Maroth narrowly missed a quality start, and Wil Ledezma wasn’t quite as sharp as he’s been.

PREGAME: The Tigers return home after a 10 game trip. Tonight they’ll send out Justin Verlander, who has arguably been the best pitcher in the majors this year riding a 13 inning scoreless streak. Of course, the second best pitcher might be whoever is facing Verlander. The Tigers bats have mustered one run off Verlander opponents Jorge De La Rosa and Adam Loewen.

Tonight’s opponent will be much tougher in Zach Greinke. Greinke has posted a 12:1 K to walk ratio in his first 13 innings this year.

The wind is ridiculous tonight and will most assuredly be a factor. Let’s hope that the Tigers cope with it better than they did in their last home game.

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: The Tigers finally got that laugher they’d been waiting for. They took advantage of some Zach Greinke wildness (and an erratic strike zone) to set up a grand slam for Pudge Rodriguez in the first inning. Some bad defense and Greinke was chased in the first inning. In the end, the Royals burned out two of their relievers for the rest of the series tonight.

It was a big game for most of the offense, and everybody reached base at least once. Sean Casey got a gift double. Magglio Ordonez got lucky with a botched double play ball, but was later robbed of a hit by Jason LaRue. Everybody else had some hard hit balls, but Carlos Guillen and Pudge delivered the big blows.

Justin Verlander allowed more hard hit balls then he probably would have liked, but his 6 K’s helped limit the damage. Jose Mesa was asked to eat a couple of low pressure innings, and couldn’t even make it through an inning. By allowing 2 runs, it also prompted Jim Leyland to burn through Joel Zumaya making him unavailable tomorrow.

PREGAME: It’s the last game of a 10 game road trip that has already been deemed successful. They’re also coming off a game featuring some late inning heroics. Do they have enough juice to take one more before heading home?

Maybe they can draw on the history of Jackie Robinson. Gary Sheffield, Marcus Thames, Craig Monroe, Curtis Granderson, Lloyd McClendon, and Pudge Rodriguez will be among the MLB players wearing the retired 42 today. For more on the day, check out Bless You Boys.

The Tigers send out Nate Robertson who is coming off a sterling performance against Baltimore in which he went 7 1/3 innings on only 80 pitches and allowing only 5 baserunners.

Josh Towers will be making his second start of the year. In his first start we last 5 2/3 innings while allowing 10 hits, but no walks and 6 strikeouts.

Game Time 1:07

POSTGAME: Three singles and a walk. That combination would probably make for a nice rally some inning, but not spread out across 9. The offense which had been showing signs of life the last few days crawled back into a hole. What was most frustrating is that this was a lineup full of starters, against a pitcher that hasn’t done much since 2005. And yet they had to rely on a thrown away pick-off attempt and Granderson’s legs to plate a run.

Nate Robertson was good, but he would have needed a shut out to win this one. Still, he was in line for a no decision until Sean Casey cut off a Gary Sheffield throw home. I don’t know that Royce Clayton would have been out, but there certainly would have been a play. Compounding the problem, Casey didn’t even throw to 2nd to cut down John Macdonald advancing.

Granderson picked up the 2nd error of his career when he air-mailed everybody in the 2nd inning. The error didn’t cost the Tigers though as it set-up an outfield assist for Granderson on the next play ending the inning.

Even with the loss today, the 6-4 road trip has to be considered a success. The Tigers won despite not generating a whole lot of offense. They are probably lucky to have the record they have, but there’s no reason to apologize for that.

Tigers 1, Blue Jays 2

PREGAME: Yesterday was pitcher’s duel extraordinaire. I’m not expecting the same today. Chad Durbin was roughed up in his last start, and the Tigers tagged a wild AJ Burnett for 6 runs chasing him in the 3rd inning. Of course Burnett rebounded with 6 2/3 3 hit innings in his next start against the Royals.

Neifi Perez is 9 for 16 lifetime against Burnett, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see Carlos Guillen or Placido Polanco get the day off.

UPDATE: Polanco gets the day off, but in favor of Omar Infante who makes his first appearance on the field this year. He bats 9th and Pudge is in the 2-hole.

Game Time 1:07

POSTGAME: Some walks, some misplays, some bloops, and a broken bat got the job done for the Tigers in the end. If you’re a Blue Jay fan stopping by, I can certainly understand your frustration because that one slipped away.

BJ Ryan certainly had control problems, but at the same time there were a couple pitches to Gary Sheffield that I thought could have been (and should have been) called strikes. What appeared to be a very inconsistent strike zone manifested itself in that at-bat and changed the complexion of the inning.

After loading the bases I was thrilled to see Jim Leyland turn to Marcus Thames. After Thames swung through 2 belt high fastballs on the inner half I was just praying it wouldn’t turn into a double play. Instead a shattered bat double was the result.

For those that complain about Todd Jones, he won’t walk the bases loaded setting up rough luck situations. Granted, it wasn’t the norm for Ryan either, but when Jones gets beat it’s because the other team hit the ball.

Other stuff:

• Jason Grilli draws a lot of ire in internet circles. It’s largely overblown for a long guy in the bullpen. Today Grilli came up big with 3 scoreless innings and gave the offense a chance to get back into the game. Without Grilli’s performance, the Tigers don’t win today.
• Gary Sheffield seemed to coast a couple times on the base paths. Once with Ordonez’s double and the other time with the bloop hit. I understand that players can’t go all-out all the time, but not scoring either of those runs would have been huge slip-ups.
• For a guy that was staring down the golden sombrero at one point, Craig Monroe had actually put together some impressive at-bats. His first 3 at-bats were K’s, but he saw 5, 7, and 9 pitches with full counts in the latter 2 ABs. His double off the top of the wall also came on a full count, 8 pitch plate appearance. On the day Monroe saw 33 pitches.
• Brandon Inge had 3 more well hit balls. The average is still way down, but it’s climbing
• Props to 2nd base umpire Jeff Kellogg who made a nice call on Brandon Inge’s stolen base. The throw was there, but the tag wasn’t applied in time. It seems obvious, but that call isn’t always made.

I probably need to comment on Chad Durbin as well. Leyland said that he’ll still start as scheduled against the White Sox on Friday, but I’d imagine he’ll really have to show something. He was simply not good today. He doesn’t have to be great, but getting to the 6th inning and giving up fewer than 4 runs would at least be keeping the team in the game. The trouble is Zach Miner has struggled in Toledo, Jordan Tata is on the DL, and Andrew Miller was roughed up in his last start. In other words there isn’t anyone knocking the door down.

Tigers 10, Blue Jays 7