66-45, 1st place, 5 games up on the Tribe.

Well, that was nice. Justin Verlander started out looking a bit uh-oh, but put together the strongest 8 innings we’ve seen from him since… when? Velocity, command, breaking ball working – what more can you ask? Justin Masterson actually pitched as well or better than Verlander most of the game. All it took was that 5th inning, and my favorite part was that both hit – and hurting – Tigers batters eventually scored. Gotta love Ramon Santiago busting it from 1st to 3rd after taking a pitch on the knee. Don Kelly had himself a game. First time I saw Jose Veras as a Tiger, and the breaking ball is as advertised. A few pretty good plays on foul pop-ups, and Miguel Cabrera even managed to snag one.

The Tigers starting pitching has been very good all season, and remarkably free of injuries, and now it’s on one of those epic rolls we’ve seen more than once over the past three seasons. I like the way the rotation was reset after the break, even if I don’t know if that really matters. You know, mixing up pitcher type game to game. With a starting five like the Tigers have, does it matter so much who follows who? I don’t know. Maybe. It’s not something immediate like batting order, which may be a bit overrated itself. Still… I like the way the rotation was reset after the break.

Pitching, pitching, pitching. Pitching wins. Perhaps all the more so with a guy like Jose Iglesisas at SS. We’ll see. Certainly all the more so when part of the pitching is the bullpen. It’s all clicking now. Even in the games where the Tigers hitters are mostly baffled by the opposing starter, as they have been the last two games, they’re pulling it out, one way or the other. Big difference from earlier in the season, when Detroit always seemed to be running on three, even when winning. I hope that there’s either a lot of this magic left in the tank or that they save some of it for the postseason. You’d hate to see the Tigers become the 2013 version of the 2012 Yankees.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves with “postseason.” 51 games left. A lot can happen. The Cabrera situation remains troubling to me. It’s nice that he can still hit. But you still have to run after you put the ball in play. Miggy is hobbled and playing. Tell me how this is good. Tell me how this is not going to end badly at an inopportune time. Maybe I’ll believe you. Meanwhile, the Tigers have a few other guys who can hit home runs and doubles for a couple weeks. Who can move around at 3B, run the bases, get down to 1B in under 2V (two Victors, standard unit of measure in snail racing). Hear me now and believe me later.

When were the Tigers last 21 games over? September 10, 2011 (Brandon Inge walkoff HR against G. Perkins and the Twins), in the middle of reeling off 12 straight, and it only got better after that (12-5 finish).

How were the 1968 Tigers doing at this point? 70-41, 1st place AL, 6.5 up on the Orioles. 1972 Tigers? 59-52, 2nd place AL East, 1.5 back of Baltimore. 1984 Tigers? 73-38, 1st place AL East, and yet “only”  9 games ahead of a superb Toronto team. 1987 Tigers? 65-46, 2nd place AL East, 1.5 behind the Blue Jays. 2006 Tigers? 75-36 (BETTER THAN 1984!!), 1st place AL Central, 9 games ahead of the White Sox. You may notice something all these Game 111’s – including last night’s – have in common.

Pitching, pitching, pitching. Doug Fister up next. The unknown rookie opposing him. Uh-oh. Time to break another habit.

When was the last time the Tigers had a starting rotation this good? Prior to last season with the addition of Sanchez, let’s say. That’s the question of the day. 2006 was kind of flukey, wasn’t it? I think you have to go back farther. Will 2013 prove flukey? How long does any starting 5, or 4, or even 3, stay strong together? Even in the olden days, it probably wasn’t that long. Enjoy it now. You’ve gotta believe that it’s capable of carrying the next two games, eh? And don’t stop there.

64-46, 1st place, 2 games up on them Indians. In the Elbow Room series, things have gotten a bit more cramped.

About last night: I’m sorry. I was really tired, and I guess my mind was elsewhere. Oh, sorry. Wrong speech.

About last night: Sanchez was good, but Kluber was better, even though a number of Tigers seemed to have a line on him the first time through. That 8th inning rally that could have turned the game, well… what’s worse, Jackson asleep at the wheel for out #2 or the lame grounder from M. Cabrera that would have killed it anyway? 2-0, something like the 16th or 17th shutout for Cleveland in 2013. Hunter cost the Tigers one run, and Michael Bourn cost ’em another – wait! Stop the presses!

65-45, 1st place, 4 games up on them Indians. In the Elbow Room series, things have gotten a bit less cramped. Wow wow wow!

When all seemed lost in that eleventh hour, Prince (who I had traded for Jason Kipnis straight up earlier in the game) started the rally, Victor spoiled the shutout, and then Alex won it all (as it turned out, as we hoped, as we all but knew – anticlimax would have had some nerve to show up last night). All against Chris Perez on the very anniversary of his famous 2012 meltdown against your very own Motown Bengals. Prince even batted again in this 9th inning, with the bases loaded for him instead of empty this time, and I wanted those insurance runs, believe me. ‘Twere not to be. But Joaquin was no-drama. A win! All is forgiven. Almost.

Even a big fan of Torii Hunter has to admit that his erratic judgment and impulsiveness has cost the team more times than you can count on your fingers and toes.

DL Miguel? The guy can’t run or field his position, and the Tigers already have a DH. Eh? What do you say? Should this go on for the next 50 games? Didn’t I just beg to have him reinstated in the lineup? No. That never happened, and anyone who says differently is lying.

So Jhonny is suspended for 50 games and possibly done as a Tiger. That’s a drag, even if Jose Iglesias is already paying dividends. One question for Jhonny: Why the denial this past spring? Why not a simple “no comment”? Why do people do this? Lie, then stonewall, and then admit it.

Tigers vs. Indians in 2013 (coming into the series):

Verlander: 3 games, 17 IP, 11 ER, 23 H, 22 K, .311 BAA, .810 OPSA
Fister: 1 game, 6 IP, 6 ER, 6 H, 3 BB
Scherzer: 3 games, 23 IP, 7 ER, 0 HR, 21 K, .175 BAA, .447 OPSA
Benoit: 4-20, 488 OPSA
Smyly: 9-29, .858
Rondon: 2-8, .583
Veras: 1-4, .500
Coke: 3-14, .714
Alburquerque: 4-12, 1.054

Jackson: 5-27 (10 K), .493 OPS, 0 HR, 2 RBI
Hunter: 17-51, .919, 2 HR, 10 RBI
M. “DL” Cabrera: 15-47, 1.129, 5 HR, 14 RBI (no further comment at this time)
Fielder: 10-47, .744, 2 HR, 7 RBI
Martinez: 17-46, .980, 1 HR, 8 RBI
Dirks: 18-50, .916, 2 HR, 6 RBI
Avila: 4-24 (10 K, 7 BB), .552, 0 HR, 4 RBI
Iglesias: 4-8, 1.170, 0 HR, 1 RBI
Santiago: 3-22, .356, 0 HR, 2 RBI
Tuiasosopo: 1-7, .821, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Pena: 8-18, 1.088, 1 HR, 5 RBI
Kelly: 4-14, .944, 1 HR. 4 RBI

Don’t stare at these stats too long, lest the word “sweep” should come to mind.

Man. Hell of a win last night. These are the days. Time for Justin – the Verlander one – to join the party.

OK, I admit that I made a mistake. I want to apologize to [everyone] for asking for Miggy back in the lineup, when he really belongs on the DL, as long as he can still pinch hit from there. I fully accept my 24-hour suspension.

64-45, 1st place, 3 games up on Cleveland. That last is simply not possible. I’m sure the lead is really 7 or 8 games by now, but I’ve got to pay lip service to the dubious standings information over at mlb.com.

If my speech seems a little garbled, it’s because I have no jaw. It didn’t just drop. It fell off over the weekend as the Tigers took 3 from the White Sox to extend their winning streak to 8. I found it on the floor today, but then Rick Porcello walked off with it. He gave it to Bruce Rondon, who then handed it to Torii Hunter. It’s OK. I don’t need it. The Tigers have a bullpen. The Tigers have defense. The Tigers have clutch hitting. The Tigers are winning close games. The already great starting pitching has now gone completely off the charts – and it’s not being wasted. All this magic is taking place without… well, you know the story. And taking place with a suspension (for something – if anything – that I have to believe is well in the past) hanging over the head of All-Star SS Jhonny Peralta. (Kevin’s right – nerves of steel there.)

So… it’s time for the Showdown in O-Town*. The Motown/O-Town Showdown. Which would make this the Lowdown on the Motown/O-Town Showdown. If this series should give us cause to celebrate, be here Thursday for the Motown/O-Town Showdown Hoedown (and Friday for the ensuing Lowdown). No, nothing about the AL Central is going to be decided in early August, but it’s still pretty big.

* “O” for Ohio, of course. I’m pretty sure “O-Town” is the hip local insider slang term for “Cleveland.” Though I could be wrong.

The Tigers have won 9 of 12 against the Indians. 5-1 at Progressive Field, 4-2 at Comerica Park. Study up:

May 10, Tigers 10-4
May 11, Indians 7-6
May 12, Indians 4-3
May 21, Tigers 5-1
May 22, Tigers 11-7
June 7, Tigers 7-5
June 8, Tigers 6-4
June 9, Tigers 4-1
July 5, Tigers 7-0
July 6, Tigers 9-4
July 7, Indians 9-6
July 8, Tigers 4-2

Obviously, Detroit has found its way around a few bothersome things about the Indians: a) When hitters reach base, they tend to steal, and then score; b) They hit home runs, which is annoying; c) Their starting pitching is often better than it’s supposed to be, which is very annoying, and; d) Ryan Raburn. That last actually counts as something the Tigers haven’t found their way around, while remaining bothersome.

Some 2013 vs. Tigers stats to chew on (tomorrow it’ll be vs. Indians):

Kluber: 3 games, .320 BAA, .976 OPSA, 5 HR & 22 K in 17 IP
Masterson: 2 games, .283 BAA, .732 OPSA, 7 BB in 12 IP
McAllister: 1 game, 6 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 5 K
Perez: 4-16 .583 OPSA
Shaw: 7-30 .636
Hill 5-22 .761
Smith: 5-15 .874
Hagadone: 2-10 .685
Albers: 6-24 .774
Allen: 2-17 .463

Bourn: 11-50 .475 OPS, 0 HR, 3 RBI
Brantley: 12-42 .810, 2 HR 11 RBI
Kipnis: 10-50 .533, 0 HR, 5 RBI
Reynolds: 7-37 .457, 0 HR, 3 RBI
Santana: 10-42 .772, 2 HR, 5 RBI
A. Cabrera: 8-32, .726, 0 HR, 2 RBI
Chisenhall: 6-24 .792, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Giambi: 1-18 .404, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Stubbs: 7-26 .709, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Raburn: 4-14 1.340, 3 HR, 6 RBI
Gomes: 6-18 .924, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Aviles: 4-25 ,360, 0 HR, 1 RBI
Swisher: 10-37 .846, 1 HR, 3 RBI

Don’t stare at these stats too long, lest the phrase “piece of cake” should come to mind. But I’m hoping that Anibal sets the tone right away. Sanchez has been excellent of late, though not the strikeout king he began the season (rather unexpectedly) as. One start against Cleveland this season, a reasonably good limited pitch count outing on July 6.

We will probably see the re-debut of Jeremy Bonderman as a Tiger this series, out of the bullpen at some point. Cool, and good luck to him, of course. This pales next to the pending news on Peralta, which everyone seems to be taking as a foregone conclusion. We’ll see. Losing Jhonny will not be good, but the team has prepared itself as well as it can. Will Miguel Cabrera please return to the lineup ASAP and make us all feel a little bit better, preferably with a 3-HR game?

63-45, 1st place, 3 games up on Cle.

Jhonny Peralta has nerves of steel. Over his last ten games he’s hitting .351 with 3 HR and 8 RBIs. I don’t know how he’s not vomiting every time up the plate with what he’s facing on Monday. This reminds me of that time my boss called me into his office during a summer internship. Had he seen the email? Or had he not?. Rumors were that he had, but that was last week. Why the wait? Maybe he just wanted to discuss the project I was working on.

Turns out he had seen the email. Anyway, Peralta has proven to quite a few people that he can be a tremendous hitter, without PEDs (I think) and rejoining the roster will be a good problem to have if we stay the course into the playoffs.

As dominating as Scherzer has been all season, these past two games arguably have been his best stretch all season. 13 2/3, 3 H, 0 ER, 13 Ks, and 3 BBs. His 16-1 start is the best start in the majors since the Rocket in 2001.

Porcello gets the ball this afternoon after earning pitcher of the month honors for July, when he was 4-1 with a 2.53 ERA. Tigers starting pitchers have turned in 14 QS out of their last 17 starts. Off of the top of my head, 2 of those non-QS were JV.

Miggy who? The Tigers are now 7-1 without Cabrera in the starting lineup. They’ll try again today. Benoit is unavailable, look for Smyly or Veras to pitch i the 9th if necessary. Also, Downs down to Toledo.

Today’s Eat ‘Em Up Tigers and Homestand Sweeping Injury Filling Lineup:

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

62-45, 1st place, 3 games up on Cle.

I’m going to make the bold claim that my son, and PHToy in HKs child, are the most spoiled Tigers fans out there. The Tigers are 10-2 in my little guy’s lifetime, and to be honest, he slept through most of those losses.

And he’s also very curious as to who this “Miguel Cabrera” guy is that we won’t stop talking about. Miggy is not in tonight’s lineup, and his day-to-day injury has become week to week. Had he sat out of the 1.5 games he played in last weekend, he’d be nearly done with a 15 day DL stint. Even with the two off days this week his abdominal strain isn’t fully healed. (Wasn’t it his hamstring before? Are we getting good information here?)

With the 1 day off in August gauntlet that began last night, this is beginning to be troubling. Though I’d rather sit him for a few weeks now to be ready for late Sept/Oct. Meanwhile Chris Davis has taken this opportunity to overtake the RBI lead, and increase his HR lead to 8, and presumably, jump ahead in the MVP race.

The Tigers look to continue their winning ways against the White Sox, losers of 8 in a row. CWS is only a few games ahead of the Astros for rights to next year’s top amateur.

Can we take a second to appreciate stand up and applaud Joaquin Benoit? Here are his stats since he was handed the closer role in early June (I’m using June 9th, correct me if I”m wrong): 18 IP, 1 ER, 23 Ks, 5 BB. That’s an ERA of .50, a WHIP of .78, and a K/BB of 4.6. That’s domination. If he’s just remotely this good the rest of the year, then he’ll be the best closer we could possibly have.

Today’s Let’s Eat ‘Em Up Tigers Again Lineup (with #s off of Danks):

1. Austin Jackson, CF (12-29, 3 HR)
2. Torii Hunter, RF (12-37, 2 HR)
3. Matt Tuiasosopo, LF (1-8)
4. Prince Fielder, 1B (5-7, HR)
5. Victor Martinez, DH (7-35, 3 HR)
6. Jhonny Peralta, SS (10-46, HR, 11 Ks)
7. Jose Iglesias, 3B
8. Brayan Pena, C (2-9)
9. Ramon Santiago, 2B (0-2)

61-45, 1st place, 2 games up on Cle.

What a week of baseball this has been.

1. Our Tigers have been red hot as of late, winning 9/10 and 5 in a row, and have lost ground on the 2nd place White Sox and 3rd place KC Royals. I’d say that the AL Central is En Fuego but the Indians and Royals have been beating up on the White Sox and Twins.

2. Then we have the quietest trade deadline of all time. What, Bud Norris didn’t do it for you? What we haven’t really discussed much on here is that Dave Dombrowski has established himself as a trade deadline wizard. Doug Fister, Anibal Sanchez, Omar Infante, Jose Veras and Jose Iglesias. The Doug Fister trade is a verified W. (That’s 2 links). Jacob Turner still has a lot of upside (he’s been great this yea – 2.4 WAR), but Sanchez and Infante are posting a combined 5.8 WAR this year. And Keith Law calls Iglesisas one of the best two fielding shortstops in baseball…”The Tigers should just bat him ninth — not second, please, Jim, for the love of all things holy — and let him be Death To Ground Balls for the next five years.” I’m going to let that sink in for a minute.

For as much grief as we give DD regarding 4th OFers, backup IFers and bullpen depth, let’s give him the praise he deserves for his mid-season deals. The Tigers have been as active and as successful as a franchise can be over the last 2.5 years. It’s going to pay off. Soon.

3. Now that my royal baby watch is over, all of my attention has been turned to the latest ridiculous gossip covering spoiled royalty – the Biogenesis suspensions. I still believe that this will be Peralta’s last regular season weekend as a Tiger, but the ARod stuff is fascinating. First of all, the guy’s own GM seems to be pretty close to Tonya Harding’ing him just to keep him on IR, and now ARod is planning on fighting any suspension. I pretty distinctly remember Pete Rose’s last days (I’ll never forget that SI cover), and I feel that even he left with more dignity than ARod is/will. It was also curious to see Jon Daniels make a move for Garza, but not one for an OFer.

A few notes:

– Ryan Raburn.

– Bob Tewksbury is walking Fangraphs readers through his personal notes from the 1992 season. It’s fascinating.

– You know, I don’t subscribe to SI anymore, but every time I pick one up, I read it cover to cover. Such a great magazine.

– Cabby sitting again, presumably to get Iglesias more ABs. Nothing new on Infante.

Tonight’s Eat ‘Em Up Tigers Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Tuiasosopo, LF
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Peralta, SS
7. Iglesias, 3B
8. Pena, C
9. Santiago, 2B