Well, we asked for it, and now we got it.  Rick Knapp is out as the Tigers pitching coach, Jeff Jones is in.  The Tigers’ pitching staff has been awful over the last two years, and really hasn’t been good as a whole since 2006.  But is Knapp the culprit?  Or the scapegoat for Dombrowski’s under performing roster and/or Leyland’s mismanagement?  Drew Sharp thinks it’s a sign of panic…and Knapp says he’s already getting calls, but those could be orders for ham sandwiches for all we know.

Before we get to tonight’s game, does Hiroki Kuroda do anything for you? Rumor is that the Tigers are “interested”, but I’m guessing that they are interested in plenty of starters these days.  Kuroda gets run support like Ryan Raburn gets hits, so you’ve gotta ignore his 6-9 record, and focus on his 2.90 ERA, and his career 3.48 ERA and 1.18 WHIP.  I love Kuroda, but he has a VERY SHORT shelf-life, and I don’t think the Tigers are in a position to play for this season only.  The Kuroda reward doesn’t justify the Jair Jurrjens risk.  On the other hand, if a cash strapped Dodgers team is willing to shed salary, then we can easily find a spot for Kuroda.

On to the Angels…who are 13-5 over their last 18…

Charlie Furbush gets his first big league start today, in an audition to take Phil Coke’s spot in the roster.  Furbush put up great numbers at Toledo, limiting hitters to 29 hits in 46 1/3 innings for a 2.91 ERA and .95 WHIP over 8 starts.  Predictably, he’s allowed more hits in the bigs (1.29 WHIP), but he’s still been pretty good out of the pen thus far.  He’s only going to get 75-80 pitches tonight, let’s hope those are in the 7th, not 2nd.

Angels hurler Joel Pineiro sports an impressive 7-3, 3.33 ERA career record against the Tigers, though he was lit up for 9 runs last time he met the Tigers in April 2010.  He’s better on the road than at home, posting a 4.97 ERA in six starts at home this year.  He hasn’t pitched out of the 7th since May 15th, and he’s allowed 4 or more runs in 1/2 of this starts this year.  But pitchers like Pineiro seem to give the Tigers fits.

In other news:

– JV has started a Twitter campaign to help Martinez get voted in by the fans. #votevictor
– David Ortiz did not pick Cabrera to be on his home run derby team.  I know what that feels like.
– Magglio Ordonez did get picked to one team…but teammates like Dunn and Uggla are not what he was hoping for.  (need Insider)
– While we’re not the only ones wondering why Raburn continues to start everyday, I don’t think this offense needs any help.  The Tigers are batting an AL leading .296 over the past 30 games an are averaging just over 5 runs per game.  Boesch is hitting .404 during that stretch.

Today’s pick to click is Maggs, who is a career .393 hitter against Pineiro and is showing signs of hitting again.

Tonight’s Can’t Don Kelly Play 2B AND 3B Lineup?

1. Jackson, CF
2. Boesch, LF
3. Ordonez, RF
4. Cabrera, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Peralta, SS
7. Avila, C
8. Raburn, 2B
9. Inge, 3B

I chose to watch the alternate baseball reality version of yesterday’s game, where the Tigers were rained out in the 3rd inning.  No word so far on the makeup date.  I hear there was another version of the game played;  I hope I didn’t miss anything.

The Giants wield the interleague brooms today as they go for the sweep of the 3-game series, which concludes the both the homestand and the 2011 interleague schedule.

The matchup looks favorable for San Francisco. The surprising Ryan Vogelsong (6-1, 2.09) takes the mound for the Giants against the equally surprising–and not in a good way–Rick Porcello.  Kid Rick (6-6, 5.06) has allowed 18 runs in his last 11 innings, and concedes that he has hit a “bump in the road.”  Porcello attempts to smooth the bumps today, and keep the Tiger rotation from devolving into Verlander then Head For Cover.

Adam Wilk was recalled from Toledo to bolster the beleaguered bullpen. (The phrase beleaguered bullpen has been used so much for the Tigers this season that they might want to look into a trademark). To the surprise of no one, Villarreal was sent down.

In other news, the Tigers signed Adelin Santa, a 16-yr old Dominican 3rd baseman, known for his raw power and arm strength. In the meantime, Adam Everett is always available–he was just released by the Indians.

Oh, and by game time today the final results of the All-Star voting should be public.  Go Alex!

Update:  Alex Avila has been voted as the American League starting catcher for the All-Star game (fireworks). Miguel Cabrera, Jose Valverde, and Justin Verlander have also been named to the team.

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Don Kelly

Yes, the Donkey is not in the lineup.  But after catching last night, Kelly has now played all 9 positions in the major leagues.  Today he takes over as manager.

Today’s Broom-busting Lineup:

1. Andy Dirks CF
2. Brennan Boesch LF
3. Magglio Ordonez RF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez DH
6. Alex Avila C
7. Ryan Raburn 2B
8. Ramon Santiago SS
9. Brandon Inge 3B

Brad Penny was once again Good Enough, but the Tigers were unable to do any damage against Cy Bumgarner, and after a brief bit of excitement when they sent The Beard to Zambrano-land, the rug was pulled out from under on a bang-bang game ending double play. It was exciting enough that Aubrey Huff had tears in his eyes after the victory, although that could have also been because the Giants took a pass on a really delicious ham sandwich to keep him on the roster, or from relief that he changed his mind at the last second about strolling to the water cooler as Brian Wilson was coming off the field.

On the bright side, Casper Wells made Sportcenter’s Play of the Day when he thwarted interfering fans and threw a perfect strike to a plate-blockingly perfect Avila.  You don’t run on The Ghost!  Good stuff.

Pablo Sandoval is about the only guy hitting for the Giants, and yet that was somehow enough.  And also we somehow threw him a strike on a 0-2 count with 2 out, because…well, just because.

At any rate, 2 more games, and the interleague horror show is over.

Tonight the Tigers give the ball to Home Boy Max Scherzer.  Home Boy because he is 5-1 with a 3.13 ERA at Comerica.  Barry “The Contract” Zito flings it for the Gigantes, in only his 2nd start since April.

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Jhonny Peralta

Zito is pretty much the definition of what you would call a “finesse” pitcher.  If you look at the BBRef pitcher type splits, Peralta just jumps off the page with a .360 / 1.045 OPS vs finesse pitchers.  As opposed to, say, Inge (.182 / .473).  In fact Inge and Ordonez are a combined 7-for-49 (.143) vs Zito.

Today’s Raburn is SO Due Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Casper Wells RF
3. Magglio Ordonez DH
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez C
6. Jhonny Peralta SS
7. Brennan Boesch LF
8. Ryan Raburn 2B
9. Brandon Inge 3B

They might be giants.

Than again, who knows.  The Giants are the reigning champs of MLB, so they are certainly not to be discounted.  And once again, their pitching is top-notch.  Lincecum, Cain (who recorded his career 1,000th K last night), and the surprising Vogelsong are easily the class of the league, and The Beard leads the NL in saves.

On the other hand, they have been struggling like mad to score runs lately;  they only managed 2 in 13 innings against the Cubs yesterday in their 2nd consecutive walkoff loss, and the loss of Buster Posey becomes larger and larger the more Tejada and our old friend Aubrey “Ham Sandwich” Huff drop down the downside of their careers.  It’s gotten so bad they are rumored to be interested in picking up Mike Cameron.

The Tigers, meanwhile, have the momentum of yet another Verlander gem behind them.  The great thing about the way the DTW rotation has worked out is that I seem to get all of the post-Verlander posts, which is always fun.

This was Verlander’s 9th straight win, which is the longest streak for a Tiger pitcher since David Wells pulled off 9 straight in 1995.

On the downside, in a stretch where we’re likely to need our bullpen, we are going to have to do it without Captain QuerK:  Al Alburquerque has been placed on the DL with a sore elbow, or in layman’s terms, right flexor mass inflammation.  Right-hander Lestor Oliveros has been recalled from Toledo to take his bullpen spot. His Toledo stats have been underwhelming;  it wouldn’t be a surprise, if Al-Al’s stay on the DL is extended, to eventually see Chance Ruffin get a shot at his role.  At the very least he would be able to keep up the cool-nameness factor.

Oh, and the last time the Tigers faced the Giants, there was a minor stir caused when the game-winning run was knocked in by Ryan Raburn, and the SF Chronicle called him “a scrub.”

In other news, Carlos Guillen has crept up the rehab ladder from Lakeland to Toledo. A representative of Guillen says Carlos expects to be back in the lineup after the All-Star break. Stay tuned.

Today Brad Penny takes on Madison Bumgarner.  Penny has been a Good Enough Penny of late, so it will in all probability come down to run support.  Speaking of probability, ESPN voters say there is about a 55% chance the Giants win this.  Accuscore says there is about a 55% chance the Tigers win this.  Game on!

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Andy Dirks

Andy goes for 4 tonight–he has homered in 3 straight games.

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game Deux: Ryan Raburn

Ryan says:  Scrub this!

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game Trois:  Casper Wells

The Faceoff:  The Ghost is the only player in MLB history named Casper.  The Bum is the only player in MLB history named Madison.  Who will prevail?

Today’s Raburn’s Batting WHERE? Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Casper Wells LF
3. Magglio Ordonez RF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez DH
6. Jhonny Peralta SS
7. Ryan Raburn 2B
8. Alex Avila C
9. Brandon Inge 3B

The Tigers limped in to the midway point last night, allowing 14+ runs on consecutive nights to the Mets, who are two games above .500 for the first time since April 5th.  The Tigers pitching staff has been pummeled by the Mets, and change is coming.  First of all, Schlereth was sent down last night and Villareal was called up.  Secondly, Coke’s spot in the rotation is in flummox, and Furbush may be offered the spot.  I would love to see Coke return to the pen, but I’m not sure that Furbush or Oliver at the 5 gives us a better chance every week.  We’ll likely find out shortly.

It’s going to take a heroic effort from JV to tame Mets bats that have set a club record with 52 runs scored in 4 ball games.  During that time, the Mets have 17,14, 18, and 20 hits, and are batting a ridiculous .404 as a team.  Maybe we just caught them at the wrong time.

On the bright side of things, the Tigers enter game 82 5 games over .500, in a tie for first place, and get JV versus Mike Pelfrey today.  Verlander’s last month+ has been epic.  He’s 6-0 with a 0.72 ERA in his last six starts, and 8-0 with a 1.56 ERA in his last 10.  Over his last six he’s allowed just 26 hits over 49 2/3 innings.

The Tigers have been something between bad and awful in the 2nd half under Leyland since he’s been here, and I’m not sure that he’s done anything to change that.  On the other hand, even with all of their shortcomings the Tigers have the most talent in a pretty weak AL Central, and according to two odds predictors, they have the best chance of winning the Central.  We should be in a pennant race for the next three months, and for us baseball junkies, we can’t really ask for anything more.

Thank you Wily Mo Pena…

The Tigers sent 13 runners safely towards first base last night, but managed only 3 runs.  A coupla GIDPs and 0-6 with RISP will do that to you.  Maggs reached twice in three at bats, but before we get too excited about his return, realize that he only has 2 XBH out of his 10 hits since his return a few weeks ago.  He was taken out in the 6th last night, but it looks like it was simply precautionary.  Leyland took some of the heat for Schlereth’s woeful performance (8 earned on two swings is quite a feat), mentioning that he (Leyland) had not done a good job of keeping Schlereth sharp.  Last night was Schlereth’s first appearance in a week.

In other news…

– Apparently the Tigers are looking to move Brad Thomas.  I don’t think DD needs to worry about overages on his cell plan.  In fact, they might get more interest if they shopped Dave Thomas.
– New Mets skipper Terry Collins is an EMU alum.  Remember when they were the Hurons?  Can we bring that back?  (Did you know that EMU was originally named “Michigan State Normal School?”  What does that say for our friends out in East Lansing?)
– Avila is only about 400,000 votes behind Russell Martin.  If you have not already, get out there and vote.  Avila really deserves it this year.  And do you want Russell Martin and Derek Jeter batting in the first three innings in a game which could determine whether the Tigers or Phillies get home field advantage in October?
– Oh yeah, there’s a game tonight.  We really need a solid outing from Phil Coke.  More on Coke v. Capuano later today.

The Tigers desperately need a good start from Coke today.  Pretty much the exact opposite of his last two starts.

Capuano had a rough go early on in 2011, but he’s posted 4 straight quality starts dating back to June 7th.  On the year he’s a pedestrian 6-7 with a 3.99 ERA and 1.37 WHIP.  He’s walked 1 or fewer in 8/15 starts.  I think the boys will have their work cut out for them tonight.

Cabrera is the only Tiger with more than 4 career plate appearances against Capuano, and he’s got 7 hits in 19 ABs with 2 HR.  VMart is 2-3.

Tonight’s Troops Are:

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Casper Wells, RF
3. Magglio Ordonez, DH
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, C
6. Jhonny Peralta, SS
7. Brennan Boesch, LF
8. Brandon Inge, 3B
9. Ryan Raburn, 2B

The Tigers welcome the resurgent Mets into CoPa today for the first time since the Mets took 2 of 3 at Citi Field last year.  After a horrendous 5-13 start, the Mets have been playing pretty well, and may even be buyers at the trade deadline instead of dangling Reyes and Carlos Beltran over drooling front runners.

Journeyman R.A. Dickey throws for the Mets, his 3rd team in 4 years.  Dickey was phenomenal in his second year with Mets last year, posting a 2.84 ERA and 1.18 WHIP over 175 innings. He’s returned to closer to his career numbers this year, with a 3.76 ERA (remember, it’s the NL), and a 1.32 WHIP.  He’s striking out 6.1/9 this year, his best since his first full season with the Rangers in 2003.

Porcello looks to get the Tigers to a season high 8 games over .500 tonight.  Porcello has been drilled his last two outings, and is looking to return to his late April and May form which saw him go 6-1 over a 9 game stretch.  Let’s hope the heat is not starting to affect his sinker.  Game time temperature is expected to be 75.

Now for today’s obligatory Ryan Raburn talk…  Joe Posnanski wrote up a piece yesterday on how boring Adam Dunn is to watch, and spent a little time on Dunn’s record setting strike-out rate. Currently, Dunn is striking out in 36.6% of his PAs (it’s gone up since Posnanski did his research) which would be the worst such rate in baseball history.  As many swing and misses Raburn and Jackson have put us through, their rates are 27.25% and 32.9%, respectively.  So it could be worse.  That said, though I couldn’t find anywhere which lists K/PAs, Jackson and Raburn seem to be comfortably in the top 5.

A few other notes of interest:

– Tigers are 2nd in the AL in BA with a .266 mark
– Tigers starters named Brad, Phil, Max and Rick do not have a win since June 7th.  Tigers are 7-9 in games when JV doesn’t pitch over that stretch.

Your Ra-Barely Made It Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Brennan Boesch, LF
3. Magglio Ordonez, RF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Jhonny Peralta, SS
7. Alex Avila, C
8. Brandon Inge, 3B
9. Ryan Raburn, 2B

Today is the misfit 1-game make-up series with the Blue Jays, at the misfit game time of 6:05.  At least the Tigers don’t have to travel for the one-day trip like the Blue Jays do.

We’ll make this short today, as befits a one-game series.  Max Scherzer takes the mound for Detroit. Scherzer leads the team in run support, so maybe we can have some more offensive fun like yesterday.  The Jays counter with rookie Zach Stewart (0-1, 5.91).  (Warning! we have had problems with Rookie Guy in the past).

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Andy Dirks

We haven’t seen the Dirks much lately; let’s see how he does in the leadoff spot.  At least he is less likely to K.

Today’s Would it have killed you to try Ramon at 2nd Lineup:

1. Andy Dirks CF
2. Don Kelly 3B
3. Brennan Boesch LF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez DH
6. Magglio Ordonez RF
7. Jhonny Peralta SS
8. Alex Avila C
9. Ryan Raburn 2B