PREGAME: I’ll be heading down to tonight’s game. I actually picked out these tickets prior to the season because tonight is the 25th anniversary of my very first Tigers game. I don’t remember many details about the game, but I do remember that it was a twi-night doubleheader against the Blue Jays and that Kirk Gibson was on the DL with a broken wrist. I remember Gibson not playing because he was sitting in the stands a few rows in front of me. That information was enough for me to id the game on retrosheet.

As for tonight’s game it will be Chad Durbin returning to the rotation. He’ll be taking on James Shields who has been quite good for most of the year and shut down the Tigers in May. However, he has struggled in his last 5 starts posting a 7.39 ERA with batters hitting 322/385/559 against him.

Game Time 7:05

TBD @ DET, Wednesday, August 8, 2007 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME: You know that first doubleheader I went to the Tigers allowed 7 runs in both games. Maybe there is something there.

• I’m a little frustrated with the Tigers offense. When they put runners at first and second with nobody out and a chance to tie the game, or at least get it to one run and ended up going down on 3 straight K’s pretty much sealed the game right there.
• But at the same time Shields is a decent pitcher, and if POlanco strikes out twice in one night, I have to believe the pitcher deserves a little credit.
• And I know the game was out of hand in the 8th, but 4 K’s in 2 innings against that bullpen isn’t acceptable.
• I thought the boos for Grilli were excessive. I’m not saying he’s good, but what was the point when he entered the game tonight. I guess it’s everyone’s right to do what they want, I just don’t get it.
• I agree completely with Mike R’s comment that the bullpen is misconfigured with 3 LOOGYs. McBride was getting rocked in his 2nd inning, but circumstances that necessitate him throwing 31 pitches need to be avoided.
• The top 5 hitters in the Rays order are actually doing quite well this year, so production from the top of their order doesn’t bother me. Zorbrist and Navarro combining to reach base 5 times tonight though just can’t happen.
• On a lighter note, with it being 70’s night they doctored the photos that are displayed of the players while at-bat. These were quite amusing, and I hope to post a couple in the next couple days. But let me just say that Pudge with a full head of wavy black hair is the spitting image of Erik Estrada.

PREGAME: Whatever you did last night, do the same thing tonight. The Tigers aren’t nearly as superstitious and have juggled the lineup. Guillen is back at shortstop, Craig Monroe is back in left field, and Pudge Rodriguez returns behind the plate. But fear not Ryan Raburn fans, he’s playing 2nd tonight so Placido Polanco can DH.

Also different will be the starting pitcher. The Tigers go with Nate Robertson. Robertson turned in a quality start last time out against Oakland, but took the loss as the offense did not much.

He’ll be opposed by Jason Hammel making just his 4th start of the season after toiling in the bullpen. Hammell has been tough on lefties allowing just a 212/349/346 line. He has 24 K’s in 30 innings which is solid, but 19 walks to go along with it.

Game Time 7:05pm

TBD @ DET, Tuesday, August 7, 2007 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME: On to the good stuff in a minute. But first, Dave Dombrowski needs to cut Jason Grilli right now. No discussions with Jim Leyland who has a huge blind spot towards the ineptitude of Jason Grilli. Grilli is what he is, a mop-up guy at best. A really nice guy, great with the kids, but that doesn’t qualify him to pitch in tight games.

Removing Nate Robertson was a questionable decision at best and it was Leyland out thinking himself. And what I don’t understand, is if Leyland didn’t think Nate Robertson could get out of a 2 out, runner on first jam on a night when he had 9 K’s and 0 BB’s, why did he think that Jason Grilli would be able to get out of a bases loaded jam? Much like the Jones-Cleveland-debacle Leyland made several mistakes. It was a mistake taking Robertson out. It was a mistake brining Grilli in. And it was a mistake leaving him in to tie the game.

Part of this is the culmination of the Rogers and Miller injuries because Chad Durbin wasn’t available in that situation due to starting tomorrow. And that left Zach Miner and Todd Jones as the only other available right handers. Which is why a move needs to be made.

Now for the good stuff:

• The offense was drilling the ball all over the place, and pretty much everyone took place at some point except for Craig Monroe.
• Great baserunning tonight with Ryan Raburn getting home on a contact play and Curtis Granderson going first to third on a blooper, and even Sean Casey beating out a double.
• But Curtis Granderson was caught stealing for the first time this year. Kind of a bummer and it looked like he didn’t get a solid first step.
• Nate Robertson was awesome. He spared the bullpen which could be helpful with Chad Durbin taking the mound tomorrow. Not that Durbin isn’t up to the task, but he’s probably going to be limited at around 75-85 pitches.
• Curtis Granderson made a rare mistake in centerfield when he completely lost a fly ball and it led to a run. It happens, and it rarely happens to Granderson. But he made up for it with an excellent diving catch in the 9th.
• Another nice effort for Todd Jones allowing only a ground ball single.
• The Tigers took advantage of the pitching match-ups that clearly tilted in their favor in these first 2 games. Facing James Shields and Scott Kazimir will definitely be a challenge the next 2 games.

PREGAME: The Rays have lost 11 of their last 15 and the Tigers have lost 13 of their last 17. The Rays send out Edwin Jackson who is a good bet to go 6 innings. He’s pitched exaxtly 6 innings in 5 of his last 7 starts, but with mixed results. His last time out he allowed just 1 unearned run on 5 hits, 1 walk, and 5 K’s. Three starts ago he shut out the Yankees for 6 innings, so he can be good.

Justin Verlander battled the Oakland lineup his last time out, not pitching bad, but racking up 106 pitches in 5 1/3 innings.

As for lineup notes, Pudge is having an ankle issue and will miss tonight’s game. Sean Casey moves back to first and bats 3rd while Carlos Guillen takes DH duties. Ryan Raburn is your left fielder tonight.

Listening to Danny Knobler on WDFN tonight, Marcus Thames will start a rehab assignment tomorrow for Toledo and could be back as soon as Thursday’s game.

Game Time 7:05

TBD @ DET, Monday, August 6, 2007 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME: Hey, a win. Yes it’s against the Devil Rays, but for a team that has been struggling against everyone I don’t care who the opponent is.

• Justin Verlander had a long first inning as he struggled with his control, even hitting a batter with an 0-2 count. He did settle in until 4 straight hits cost him a chance at the win. He did stick around long enough to get through 6 innings. He wasn’t great tonight but good enough.
• The bullpen came through with 3 innings only allowing one baserunner. Fernando Rodney and Todd Jones retired the 6 they faced with ease. Of course I was nervous with Jones pitching to Rabelo since the two haven’t always been on the same page.
• For the last week Placido Polanco was the only hot player on offense and ironically he posted an 0 for 4 on a night when the team notched 13 hits.
• Ordonez and Guillen were the offensive stars and packed quite a punch in the 4-5 spots. Rayburn and Rabelo came through in the 7th, but both had numerous opportunities early on.
• Speaking of Rodney, Leyland just mentioned that he would be off tomorrow after pitching 2 straight days. Regardless, the strut after the 96mph fastball punch out was nice to see.
• The Tigers didn’t seemed to be fooled by Edwin Jackson, but they couldn’t push many across the plate either.
• And congrats to Sean Casey who knocked his first Comerica Park homer of the year, and a timely one at that.

It’s one game, but a win streak has to start somewhere. Let’s hope they can build on it.

PREGAME: I’ll be listening to this one as I jouney back from Indianapolis. It’s Jordan Tata and Gavin Floyd for whatever that’s worth.

One depressing stat to throw at you. So far in this young month Tigers pitchers have pitched to exactly 8 batters while the team has had the lead. Not innings mind you, plate appearances.

Game Time 1:05

BR Game Preview

POST SERIES: I was in Indianapolis this weekend, and so on Friday I only heard chunks of the game (mlb.tv was no help because Indy is in the White Sox black out region). Saturday I saw 90% of the game. Today I heard it all on the radio. So take these comments with those parameters in mind. I also just got done catching up on the comments for all 3 games and I’ll respond to some themes there as well.

• I’m not sure that Leyland yelling at the players will help. I also don’t think that any of us are qualified to judge the intensity or effort that players are playing with. Teams look more alive when they are hitting well, or pitching well, or doing something well. A lack of execution can easily be confused as a lack of effort. And just because all of our attitudes are bad because of the losing, assuming that players are thinking the same way is quite a leap. Maybe these guys aren’t playing hard, but I know that I’m not in a position to say one way or the other. And as for the game on Saturday, I saw guys battling through at-bats and working each count. I also saw guys hustling, in essence I saw nothing out of the ordinary.
• And to the comments that “if they keep playing like this they’ll miss the playoffs” I think that’s kind of a given. If you’re out hit and out pitched the rest of the way you’re going to lose a lot.
• There has been lamenting about the lack of clutch hitting, but I thought the Tigers did a decent job of that on Saturday night. And just going off the radio broadcast it seemed like they were hitting balls hard, but either at people or the Sox were making some fine defensive plays. Today was a different story with no hard hit balls (again according to the radio) and thus very few clutch opportunities.
• And that’s really all I’ve got. Another bummer of a series. Tampa’s coming into town, but at this point does it matter? I’d almost rather see a contender just to see how the team would respond.