Standings Check:

Det   27-12   —
KC    22-21    7
Min  21-21    7.5
Chi   21-24    9
Cle   19-25   10.5

My car had a mechanical failure and I sat around in my work parking lot in Jams all day.

Lots to talk about, coming post-game.

Tonight’s Put Kelly in Coach Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Martinez, C
5. Kelly, CF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Avila, C
8. Romine, SS
9. Davis, LF

Postgame:

Corey Kluber struck out 7 of the first 12 outs he notched, and only 1 of the last 9.  His stuff was NASTY early on. BOOBS did a hell of a job to tie it up; twice.

I don’t think it’s useful to gang up on Romine’s (lack of) hitting. He was our third option at SS, and is doing a fine job defensively.

Smyly got lit up like a christmas tree. A 2.4 WHIP, over 5 innings, should not keep you in the game. The Indians are not good.

Coke was terrible, again. And yet his ERA plummeted by over 1/2 a run.

JV up tomorrow.

A 5-game winning streak, a 10-game road winning streak, 26-12, a 6 1/2 game division lead. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Rick Porcello also hasn’t been much better than he’s been this year. Here  is a nice story about Porcello, where Jeff Jones talks about how much better Porcello’s secondary pitches have gotten.

Tonight the Tigers pursue the difficult task of pulling off a Fenway Park sweep; the last time the Tigers even won a series there (which is a given now) was in the magical season of 2006; the last sweep was…well I don’t know when. The preview said Sept 28-30 1993, but when I look back at that season I see that they actually split a doubleheader on the 28th. The Research Department will have to look into this.

Their hopes will rest on newly returned Anibal Sanchez, making his first start since leaving his April 26th start with a lacerated finger. To make room for Sanchez, Justin Miller was sent packing to Toledo. I had assumed it would be Robbie Ray heading back to Toledo, where he could continue to get work in as a starter. Combine this with seeing Ray get up in the bullpen in the 8th inning last night, and it looks like Ray is going to stick around in the bullpen for now, a move I don’t like. He is going to be a starter, he should be in Toledo starting. But that’s just me (obviously).

The Red Sox will send out Jake Peavy, the last man standing in the Peavy-Garcia-Iglesias trade. Seeing Jake should bring a smile to the face of Torii Hunter, who is 8-for-18 career (.444) against Peavy, with a 1.307 OPS.

Tonight’s Sunday Night Baseball Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V Martinez, DH
5. Kelly, 3B
6. Jackson, CF
7. JD Martinez, LF
8. Avila, C
9. Romine, SS

The Tigers seem to do the opposite of whatever I through up there in the lineup header: when I called them Green Monster bashers they squeaked out a 1-0 win; when I called them one-run wonders they blasted Boston 6-0. I’m trying to figure out how they will not be a Sunday Night Baseball lineup.

Postgame

The Tigers are now a ridiculous 14-4 on the road.

Of course we have been beating up on the weak division: currently the AL Central is 32-18 against the AL East.

A 4-game winning streak, a 9-game road winning streak, 25-12, a 6 1/2 game division lead. There is a lot of baseball left to be played; it is still early in the season. If the season were a 9-inning baseball game, we’d just be starting the top of the 3rd. The winning won’t last forever, without a losing streak here and there. It’s baseball. One more tonight would be nice though.

I used to look up this stat reluctantly last season, coming as it did with sighs and grumbles. But the 2014 Tigers so far have excelled in one-run games, the latest being the 1-0 victory last night. So far this year, the Tigers are 8-4 in 1-run games, as opposed to a 20-26 record last season. Feel free to offer your thoughts on the difference between this year and last (small sample size is a fair caveat).  On the other end of things, the Red Sox are at 5-10 in 1-run games (the 10 1-run losses leading the league), which is one reason they can be under .500 with team hitting and team pitching near the top of the league.

Perusing the League Leaders, one sees a bunch of Tigers right now:

• Max Scherzer leads the AL with a 1.83 ERA
• Victor Martinez leads the AL with a .333 BA (how’d that happen? That actually surprised me).
• Joe Nathan is tied for the AL lead with 11 saves (see parentheses above)
• Rajai Davis leads the AL with 14 stolen bases. The Tigers have 36 SB as a team. In 2013 they had 35.

Tonight’s Trivia: Who was the last Tiger to lead the AL in stolen bases?

And how about that Tiger bullpen? So far on the East Coast road trip: 4 games, 12 innings, 0 runs.

The bullpen should get another workout tonight, with Rick “Six Great Innings” Porcello on the mound vs. John Lackey.

Tonight’s game is on the MLB Network, unless you live in the wrong place, in which case you get Orioles-Royals.

Tonight’s One-Run Wonders Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Martinez, DH
5. Jackson, CF
6. Avila, C
7. Castellanos, 3B
8. Romine, SS
9. Davis, LF

Postgame

Well the Tigers keep rolling along. Last night was one of those rare games, even during this winning streak, where there were never really any moments when it seemed like the Tigers might lose.

Thumbs Up:

Rick Porcello. Porcello is now 7-1 with a 2.91 ERA and an impressive 1.03 WHIP. He made one mistake pitch to Bogaerts, and got in one jam (that he calmly got out of with a ground ball), but otherwise it was smooth sailing. He even made it through 8 innings, which is what I get for being a wise guy and calling him 6-inning Rick.

Doubles. Kinsler, Hunter, Cabrera, Martinez, Jackson, Avila, and Davis. No manufacturing runs last night.

The bullpen. That makes 5 straight games without a run–and Phil Coke pitched.

Rajai Davis. Davis kept daring Mujica to pick him off at 2nd, refusing to shorten his lead after one pickoff attempt, then two, then three. The fourth went into center, Davis went to 3rd, and came home on a sac fly. That was fun to watch.

Thumbs Down:

Andrew Romine, or Golden Sombreromine as we can now call him. Right-handed, left-handed, it didn’t matter, he didn’t look like he would have hit anything in 10 at bats. And he booted one in the field.

The Tigers continue their East Coast road trip with a 3-game sweep of Baltimore under their belts, and an 8-game road win streak, their longest since 1984 (good luck catching that one: 17).

Going into Fenway comes with its perks, and the Tigers will be showing on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, which is a treat for those of us who normally watch the games via laptop. On the downside, the series is being inevitably plugged as a rematch of that ALCS some of us would like to forget, and the promos all feature that Ortiz blast that makes us feel whatever the opposite of warm and fuzzy is.

Here is the series schedule; Anibal Sanchez is scheduled to make his comeback on Sunday night.

Tigers (24-12) at Red Sox (20-20)

Friday        May 16    7:10     Max Scherzer vs John Lester (L)

Saturday    May 17    7:10     Rick Porcello vs John Lackey

Sunday      May 18    8:00     Anibal Sanchez vs Jake Peavy

Boston, at .500, might not look like quite the same team that handled Detroit in the ALCS (although it is worth noting that Boston was only 23-17 at this point last season).  The Red Sox are also only 10-11 at Fenway, and 3-3 against the AL Central, having just lost 2-of-3 to the Twins. One difference so far for Boston has been less offense. Last year’s league leader in team OPS (.795) is currently 7th at .721. Perhaps they are missing Jacoby Ellsbury more than anticipated.

Tonight Max Scherzer (5-1, 2.04) takes on lefty Jon Lester (4-4, 2.75).  Before the Tigers get too excited about getting a rare shot against a lefty, they might want to check out Lester’s 2014 splits: right hand batters are only hitting him for .220 this season (.617 OPS).

One guy who is probably looking forward to facing Lester is Miguel Cabrera, who is hitting over .500 against him (10-for-19). On the other side, Boston’s big man is certainly not phased by Max: 7-for-15, with 3 HRs. This game may hinge on the battle of the big men.

Game time weather forecast: 64 with 30% chance of rain. At the moment (4:15) rain is 100% likely at the park.

In other news, Putty Time is on hold. Luke Putkonen’s rehab assignment has been halted, and he and his elbow are off to see Dr. James Andrews. Could Putkonen by joining this season’s Tommy Johnapalooza?

Tonight’s Green Monster-Bashing Lineup:

1. Davis, LF
2. Kinsler, 2B
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Martinez, DH
5. Hunter, RF
6. Jackson, CF
7. Avila, C
8. Castellanos, 3B
9. Worth, SS

Postgame

OK, so there wasn’t much bashing going on last night. When Torii Hunter drove in a run with a clutch 2-out single in the first, it looked like the game was off to a good start, but in fact the scoring was all done for the day. Max was great (as was Lester), the bullpen held–again–and here we are with a 4-game winning streak and a 6 1/2 game lead.

Thumbs Up

• Torii Hunter, for the 2-out single that turned out to be the game-winner
• The Tiger Bullpen (Reed, Krol, Chamberlain, Nathan). The bullpen is still yet to give up its first run on this road trip.
• Max Scherzer. He struck them out when he needed to (7), and got the double play when he needed to. Ausmus after the game “This might have been the best his stuff has been all year, really.”
• The Tiger infield. Three double plays killed Red Sox rallies.

Thumbs Down

• The weather. Max struck out the side in the bottom of the 3rd, and looked unhittable. Then the rain started, and it looked like some of that Fenway bad luck. Luckily it only lasted 45 minutes, and didn’t seem to throw Scherzer off his game.
• Evan Reed. It might seem picky when the bullpen is doing so well, but starting an appearance with a balk and a hit batter is not what we were looking for. I could throw in Alex Avila and the strike zone, which drew some comments, but two thumbs down is enough–the Tigers won!

Early day game, Verlander vs. Gausman, highly recommended. Don’t bring brooms; 9 bats will do.  Enjoy it while it lasts… all season.

We seem to be coming to life here lately. A little more chatter, a few more voices. I like it. You know, if you guys ever look at the, um, “stuff” I write and think to yourselves, “I could do that,” well, you’re right. I’m not sayin’. I’m just sayin’. For instance:

Only Tiger Fan in Mississippi May 13, 2014 at 3:45 pm

A good stint in the show for Ray that will motivate him even more while he is in Toledo fine tuning his game to become genuine and tested starter. Small but important steps first.

BTW, I am getting excited about this coming weekend series with the Red Sox. Looks like Little Ricky gets the start for the Sunday ESPN game. Another chance for him to make a statement to the national audience. I also look forward to seeing V-Mart bounce a couple off the left center field wall and Davis running on A.J.

Vince in MN May 13, 2014 at 4:00 pm [edit]

Duane Below pitched a nice game yesterday as Toledo swept 4 from Rochester (the starting pitching was good in all 4 games). It looks like his control has come back, and if all continues to go well maybe he makes the most sense as LH relief help when Coke is replaced. Unfortunately, he isn’t on the 40-man, so a promotion would likely ONLY come in the event of a DFA for Coke, although there are a couple of position players they could consider removing. In fact, none of our minor league relievers who are on the 40-man are doing particularly well, so it looks like whatever fixes are in the works (other than waiting for Hanrahan and Putkonen to heal) for the Tigers current bullpen woes, some kind of roster jiggling is will be needed.

StorminNorman$ May 13, 2014 at 1:21 pm [edit]

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/47186/tigers-show-why-theyre-the-best-team

some interesting stats cited on Porcello, Cabrera & VMart

Drew Smyly and the Tigers (22-12, 1st place) aim to clinch the series against Ubaldo Jimenez and the Orioles (20-16, 1st place). 

Some of us are old enough to actually remember a time before divisions. Leagues was leagues. I was around, but by the time I was a more fully aware young baseball fanatic, there was East and West. I would see the final standings of the recent past in the sports sections of these big “year in the news” almanac-like volumes (more about words and pictures than the old World Almanacs) and find coolness in the novelty of how it appeared to the eye. Of course, there were divisions back then in the sense that the expressions “first division” and “second division”  had arisen to describe the obvious. But consider how much more first place – the pennant! – meant then. (And the cellar was really, truly the cellar back then.) Finishing first was finishing on top of 9 other teams (and being rightfully rewarded for it). Right now, the Tigers are on top of 14 other teams. If this keeps up, I think I’m going to start posting “old style” AL standings. I really wouldn’t mind if baseball dispensed with divisions for purposes of standings. There are other ways to use divisions in the background for purposes of scheduling. I’m partial to the idea of “scheduling divisions” that actually change every year based on the results of the previous season. But that’s a story for another day, if ever. For now, we have East, West, and Central, along with closers and their precious saves, interleague play, the DH, and a few dozen other things you might look forward to dispensing with yourself. 

Today’s guess at the lineup is that it will be mostly the A team but not entirely. Worth at SS, Kelly in there somewhere, Holaday spelling Avila? Surprise us, Brad. Go Tigers. 

Detroit (21-12, 1st place) is in Baltimore (20-15, 1st place) for three as the Tigers begin a season long 9-game trip that will even up the home/road games. Coming off of a disappointing conclusion in the series loss to Minnesota and with the 8-game winning streak a distant memory after dropping 3 of 4, and with much tougher teams to face than the Astros and Twins, you might fairly conclude that this road trip… is just another 9 games where we expect Detroit to win at least 6. 

These East Coast game times are going to make it impossible for me to sneak in the lineups in time for the games. I don’t anticipate any surprises for Monday night. The current “A team,” I suppose, with Castellanos back at 3B. 

Rick Porcello vs. Bud Norris. Orioles C Matt Wieters is on the DL. Porcello’s fine season began in fine fashion against the Orioles and Norris back in April. Be warned that this W, well in hand by the 9th inning, nearly fell to a bullpen disaster.

Happy Mother’s Day Moms of DTW, and DTW Moms!

Nice win yesterday, another “complete game”. Starting to get spoiled by these.

Miggy had a troubling R3L2O strand in the 1st yesterday. For the year, he’s 2/12 in that situation with a .432 OPS. For his career, he’s got a 1.046 OPS in the same situation. He does have 2 sacrifices, but his 31% score rate this season is well below his career average of 55%. Also concerning – his HR% this year is 2.9%, well below his career average of 5.1%; and his BB rate is 5.9%, versus a career 11.1%. His K rate is about the same, 18.4% versus a career 16.9%. The good news is that his LD rate and XBH% are very near career averages, and he’s on pace for a normal number of RBI. My unofficial and officially uninformed diagnosis – just a bad slump.

Rookie Phenom Robbie Ray (admitted overstatement)) gets the ball today for the rubber match v. the Twins. If he gives us a few more outings like the last one, then we’ll call it as we see it. But for now, I’m enjoying the minor league pitching depth. Another nod to DD.

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Martinez, DH
5. Kelly, 3B
6. Jackson, CF
7. Avila, C
8. Romine, SS
9. Davis, LF

 POSTGAME:

Awful loss. It starts with the HBP and the BB by Chamberlain. Even if Davis doesn’t make that error, are we confident that Joba gets out of the inning? Late inning guys have got to pound the strike zone (which is why Albuquerque isn’t an 8th inning candidate). Hanrahan is going to be given the 8th inning with a big bow on it in another 5 weeks.

You really can’t lose division series at home to the Twins. Frustrating.

It’s a long season though, we’ll get ’em tomorrow.

Make sure you call your mom.

Quick turnaround today with a couple of Mother’s Day Weekend afternoon games. Hopefully the weather is as beautiful where you are it is here in Dallas today.

Hughes now owns nearly 20% of the opposing victories versus the Tigers this year, and last night was Verlander’s first loss agains the Twins since April of 2010. I was so much younger then.

That’s the second straight start where Verlander has allowed crooked numbers in the 7th after 6 shutout innings.

The Tigers will honor Leyland in a pregame ceremony today. Check out JV’s tweet – https://twitter.com/justinverlander/status/465140994879799296. The Tigers have been one of the top franchises in all of basball for nearly a decade now, and Leyland was a big part of that. I believe that he instilled a expectation of winning. Thanks Jim.

AL K and ERA leader Mad Max rights the ship today.

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Martinez, DH
5. Jackson, CF
6. Kelly, LF
7. Castellanos, 2B
8. Avila, C
9. Romine, SS

Well, the Tigers haven’t won since before the NFL draft. This is troubling.

Quick standings update.

Det 20-10    —

Chi  18-18     5

KC   16-18     6

Cle  16-19    6.5

Min 15-18   6.5

Not a whole lot to complain about coming off of an 8 game win streak, though Cabrera still looks off. He’ll get fooled now and then, everyone does, but I can’t help but wonder if he’s taking ABs off. Fielder went through the same thing for 1/2 of 2012 and all of 2013.

Sorry for the short post, but I always seem to be up on my birthday. We started drinking at work…and now I need to get to dinner. But more tomorrow.

Normal RH lineup v. Phil Hughes. Whom the Tigers have hit in the past – 6-6, 4.34 ERA (11 starts)

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 1B (15-31 lifetime v. Hughes, 5 HR
4. Martinez, DH
5. Jackson, CF
6. Castellenos, 3B
7. Avila, C
8. Romine, SS
9. Davis, LF

Postgame:

I was only following along via the greatest app known to mankind, but it looks like Phil Hughes showed what the Yankees Twins thought he was all along tonight. Sometimes you just gotta give credit where credit is due. Tigers made it interesting late, but it wasn’t enough. 1-9 RISP will do it for you.

Interesting stat of the night – Verlander’s 1.29 WHIP tonight lowered his season WHIP. 1.29 is good, but not what we expect from an ace. The dozier 5 pitch walk in the 7th, with 3 of those being buried in the dirt, killed JV. Yes, Brian Dozier, he of a career .239/.695 OPS. You wouldn’t think that Verlander really needs to fool him with 2 out in the 7th. The last two pitches of the AB were off-speed pitches. I don’t get it. But I’m not complaining (too much).

The NFL draft has been our kryptonite in 2014.

20-9. That sure looks nice in print, doesn’t it? A lot better than, say, 21-10.  Either way, the Tigers remain the last team in baseball with single-digit losses, and try to keep that going when they finish off their 4-game Houston series this afternoon in Detroit. (There are also no teams with 10 losses. Or 11. Or 12). Sweeping any team in a 4-game series is no easy task, whether that team is the 2014 Houston Astros or 2003 Tigers or whomever. Enjoy it now, though, it’s only a matter of time before everyone starts proclaiming the Tigers as the Best Team in Baseball, to be followed by a losing streak, because That’s Baseball.

Detroit also leads the American League in hitting, with a .285 team batting average, and a .772 team OPS. It’s still early to proclaim them a great offense, but it’s worth pointing out that they have put up those numbers without much help from Miguel Cabrera, who has a lower OPS than Victor Martinez, Torii Hunter, Austin Jackson, and Rajai Davis (yep). Anyone miss Prince Fielder yet? The Tigers don’t seem to.

I was being tongue-in-cheek of course with the Don Kelly player of the game prediction last night, but he did go 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base, and raised his average to .333 in the process. Today I’m all about Rajai Davis. He is moved up to the leadoff spot, where he tends to cause havoc. He stole his 12th base last night, which is the most for any Tiger since Quintin Berry stole 21 in 2012.  Why not Cabrera, you ask? Miguel Cabrera is beginning to be Miguel Cabrera. He hit another home run last night, and is facing a lefty today. Sadly, he is at DH today, where he has been a ho-hum .245 (.719 OPS) hitter for his career.

Looking for another reason to be encouraged today? Today’s pitcher, Drew Smyly, so far has thrown 42% breaking pitches. Since last season, the Astros have hit .185 against left-handed breaking balls, .129 this season (stats courtesy of ESPN).

Today’s Mountain Drew Lineup:

1. Davis, LF
2. Kinsler, 2B
3. Cabrera, DH
4. V. Martinez, 1B
5. J. Martinez, RF
6. Jackson, CF
7. Castellanos, 3B
8. Holaday, C
9. Worth, SS

Well Robbie Ray’s debut was a roaring success, with Tigers knocking Astro pitching all over the place to back him up, and the Tigers now have a 7-game win streak, and at 19-9 the best record in baseball. What a great start, right? Now to match the start of the 1984 team, they only have to win…17 more in a row (that puts 1984 in perspective!)

Rick Porcello tries to build on his great start last out, and a solid 4-1, 3.66 2014 campaign. They will face Brad Peacock, who is struggling a bit (0-2, 5.26). Peacock’s biggest problem is his control (7.01 walks per 9 innings, worst in baseball), but we know those kinds of pitchers sometimes skate by against the aggressive Detroit lineup.

I’ll go with Don Kelly as the player of the game, since he’ll have to be if they pitch around Cabrera and Martinez.

Tonight’s Donkey-For-The-Win Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V. Martinez, DH
5. Kelly, CF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Avila, C
8. Romine, SS
9. Davis, LF

Don Kelly gets a start, and bats 5th (naturally). What’s the over/under on intentional walks for Victor Martinez?