The 14-13, 2nd Place Tigers take the long bus ride to Seattle and take on the Mariners in a 3-game series.

Tonight marks the return of Doug Fister; from the DL, and to the team that traded him to the Tigers. To make room for Fister, the Tigers optioned Brayan Villarreal to Toledo.

Facing 6’8″ Doug Fister is Blake Beavan.  Taking on Fister is a tall order, but The Beave, at 6’7″ 240 could be up to the task.  It should be a big pitchers’ duel.

The Tigers headed west without broadcaster Jim Price, who is staying back for health reasons. Former Tiger pitcher Dan Petry will fill in for Price.

And it’s nice to see Dirks becoming a fixture in both left field and the two-hole.

Today’s Player of the Pregame: Ryan Raburn.  Raburn looks to get hot and work towards his career May average of .162.

Today’s Who’s On Second Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Andy Dirks LF
3. Miguel Cabrera 3B
4. Prince Fielder 1B
5. Delmon Young DH
6. Alex Avila C
7. Jhonny Peralta SS
8. Brennan Boesch RF
9. Ryan Raburn 2B

Though last night’s loss was pinned on Valverde, the offense has to take some of the blame. The offense went 2-8 with RISP and had only 2 doubles to go along with 7 singles. Other than Cabrera and Jackson, no one else has caught fire, and most of the guys are in minor slumps (Raburn is just Rayburn). I have every confidence that the team will hit. Not sure when, but we’ll be okay.

Now, let’s talk about Papa Grande. Valverde started the Sox off with 8 straight fastballs, and by the 6th one, the Sox were ahead. Valverde’s WHIP on the year is now an alarming 1.80, and he has almost as many walks (7) as Ks (8). A 6.35 K/9 is terrifying, considering his career average is over 10 per 9. A decline in K rate is usually the signal of the end for a closer. This is a small sample size, but note that Valverde has only 2 3 up 3 down innings in 12 appearances this year. We all know that Smokey isn’t reading and he’s ignoring this info as it’s being told to him internally, but I’m sure that DD is following along.

Dylan Axelrod slides into the rotation for the Sox after Chris Sale was sold to the farm. Axelrod has only three big league starts to his name, but one of them was an impressive 6 inning 6 hit 2 ER effort last September 14th against the Tigers. He doesn’t throw hard but he throws a lot of off-speed stuff which leads to swings and misses.

The Unpredictable Mr. Porcello takes the mound today for the Tigers who hope to stop their home series losing streak at 2.

In other news – Steve proposed a DTW get together over the 4th. I live in the Big D and not the D, so I would not be able to attend, but I think it’s a fine idea and I will be sure to bring it up as we get closer to the holiday. Also, if you missed it the first time around, Ed Randall, a Yankees Media guy, put some of his Tigers interviews onto DVD and offered us a discount. I’ve seen several of the interviews and they are really a great watch. More info here.

Today’s Series Clinching Lineup (as I would like to see it – I’ll post the real one when it’s up):

1. Jackson, CF
2. Dirks, LF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Avila, C
6. Peralta, SS
7. Boesch, RF
8. Young, DH
9. Santiago, 2B

Updated lineup

1. Jackson, CF
2. Dirks, LF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Young, DH
6. Avila, C
7. Peralta, SS
8. Boesch, RF
9. Rayburn, 2B

13-12, 2nd place, 1.5 games behind Cle

Jhonny Peralta may have hit the walk-off, but Alex Avila won that game.

On another night when the Tigers bats struggled against a front line pitcher, Avila reached base 4 times, banged out 2 XBHs, and started the 9th inning rally. Not to mention that Avila also called a tremendous game.

I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Avila has caught every one of Smyly’s start’s this year. Last night, Drew Smyly had another strong outing, striking out 7 and allowing only 2 runs in 6 IP.  That makes 4 straight quality starts, and his debut only didn’t qualify because of a pitch count limit.

Raburn lucked into his 2nd RBI of the season (he’s on pace for 14) when a fly ball he hit happened to be with a runner on 3rd and less than two outs. I’ve been a big Raburn supporter in the past, but this is too much. It’s only a matter of time before someone else on the farm gets a shot.

Mad Max against Gavin Floyd this afternoon. Last time out Floyd carried a no hitter into the 7th and ended up allowing 3 runs in 6 2/3 against Boston. He’s held the opposing team to 3 hits or less in 3 out of his last 4 starts, though he’s been roughed up in his other 2 starts this season.

Mad Max has been flat out awful this season. He’s posting a 2.04 WHIP through 5 starts, and while the Ks are there, he’s sporting a 7.77 ERA thus far. Part of that is bad luck, as his BABIP against him is a ridiculous .442, even though his LD% is near his career average. The BABIP and BAA (.346) will regress, but they won’t account for that much of an ERA swing. There is still plenty of time to work things out, but Jones & Smokey have got to be concerned.

Delmon Young is sorry, not a racist, and back in the lineup. He’s at least trying.

In player news – Leyland thinks that Schlereth’s shoulder injury may have had something to do with his poor performance before he was sent down to Toledo a few weeks ago.

Today’s Series Clinching Lineup Is:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Boesch, RF (I don’t like it)
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Young, DH
6. Avila, C
7. Peralta, SS
8. Dirks, LF (I like it)
9. RABurn, 2B (gonna help him get started today)

Today’s Game is the Fox Game of the Week.

(sorry for the delay, server was down, back now)

Last minute so this will be short, but a couple of newsworthy items:

– Fister is back and will start on Monday.

– Delmon Young’s suspension is over today and Leyland has said that he will DH tomorrow and Sunday.

The 12-11 Tigers, now only percentage points out of first, look to sweep the abbreviated 2-game home series with the Royals this afternoon.

Justin “No-Hitter” Verlander will take on Jonathan “No-Hitter” Sanchez.

Today’s player of the Pre-game:  Austin Jackson, who last night put up his 3rd 4-hit game already this season.

Today’s Dirks-Day-To-Day Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Brennan Boesch RF
3. Miguel Cabrera 3B
4. Prince Fielder 1B
5. Ryan RaburnLF
6. Jhonny Peralta SS
7. Alex Avila C
8. Brad Eldred DH
9. Danny Worth 2B

After a rain postponement to be rescheduled for September 24, the Tigers are still 11-11, tied for 2nd with Chicago, 1 game behind Cleveland.

Duane Below and his 0.00 ERA have been bumped back to the bullpen, and instead Rick Porcello will face off against Luke Hochevar.  Tune in early for an idea how this is going to go: Porcello has a 2012 1st-inning ERA so far of 22.50.

The lineup is pretty much the same as what was scheduled for last night, although with the extra day to mull it over Ol’ Smokey bumped Ramon Santiago in front of Don Kelly.

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Tonight’s random fact: Last year, to solve their 3rd base problems, the Oakland A’s acquired Virginia Commonwealth product Scott Sizemore from the Detroit Tigers.  This season, with Sizemore injured, the A’s aquired Virginia Commonwealth product Brandon Inge from the Detroit Tigers.

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Tonight’s player of the Pre-game:  Still Miguel Cabrera, who is 15-29 career against Royals starter Luke Hochevar

Today’s Best-LFielder-DHing Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Brennan Boesch RF
3. Miguel Cabrera 3B
4. Prince Fielder 1B
5. Andy Dirks DH
6. Alex Avila C
7. Jhonny Peralta SS
8. Ramon Santiago 2B
9. Don Kelly LF