PREGAME: From one 2 game series to another, the Tigers land in Chicago to take on the White Sox. The two teams played a rain-induced 2 game series already this season with each team winning a game in convincing fashion.

Armando Galarraga will be on the mound for Detroit. Galarraga has become very slider-happy and he hasn’t exactly been attacking the strike zone as of late. In his last 3 games he has walked 11 hitters while fanning 13. He has always featured a slider heavy repertoire, but this year he is throwing it 44% of the time, that’s more than he throws his fastball.

It will be Mark Buehrle for the Sox. Buehrle has a 4-0 record already. He’s been  consistent this year, going between 6 and 6.2 innings and allowing 1-3 runs in his last 4 starts.

Granderson returns to the leadoff spot, but Clete sticks at #3 in tonight’s lineup:

1. Granderson, CF
2. Polanco, 2B
3. Thomas, RF
4. Cabrera, 1B
5. Ordonez, DH
6. Laird, C
7. Inge, 3B
8. Raburn, LF
9. Everett, SS

Game Time 8:11

Detroit vs. Chi White Sox – May 6, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

NOGAME: PPD. Same pitchers Thursday night meaning the Tigers miss Jose Contreras

These are the types of games that make me love baseball. It’s much easier to say this after a 9-0 win, but it’s not just the favorable result for the Tigers that I’m talking about*. It’s the disconnect between everything we know about baseball and what happens on a given night.

With a rich statistical history we are able to study the game in such detail. We know so much about how runs are scored and how they are prevented. We can talk about true talent level and the disadvantages of small ball and proper lineup construction. And I believe the majority of it to be true. With so many stats we can make some pretty good educated guesses about what will  happen. And on any given night we can be so wrong.

I was very critical of the lineup that Jim Leyland put together tonight, and I’m not even someone who puts a lot of stock in lineups. The newly recalled Clete Thomas has no business hitting third. I don’t mean to disparage Clete at all, but that is simply not the right spot for someone with his skillset. Even for someone who had 12 hits, 7 of which were for extra bases, and 6 walks in his last 10 games in the minors.

But there was Clete, batting in the spot typically reserved for the team’s best hitter, and it took him 2 at-bats to match Magglio Ordonez’s season total for extra base hits. There was Clete anchoring a lineup that has struggled to score runs of late, even against inferior and/or struggling pitchers, and the offense exploded for a much needed laugher.

Despite tonight’s results I’m still firm in my conviction that this probably isn’t a lineup that will stand up in the long haul. But tonight, it sure did work.

(I’m not moving to seperate posts pre and post game, I just thought this one warranted some more space. *Also as to that unpredictability, I can appreciate Jackson’s start against the Yankees for the utter absurdity of what took place. Still didn’t care for the result though)

• Rick Porcello kept the ball in the park and got him 78% of a shutout. He only allowed 4 hits and if he hadn’t walked a couple in the 7th, he probably would have been out for more as he only needed 87 pitches to record 21 outs. He was helped by the GIDP, but as a ground ball pitcher that’s what happens.
• The Twins fielding was uncharacteristically bad. Joe Crede bobbled a ball in the first in which Polanco should have been cut down at the plate. Delmon Young played a Josh Anderson blooper into a double. Michael Cuddyer got an assist on Clete’s triple. Crede botched another play. The Tigers offense had help for sure.
• Miguel Cabrera is hitting everything hard. His homer was absolutely crushed. Since the off day on Thursday there isn’t much that hasn’t been blistered off his bat.
• Curtis Granderson. Nine homers already. Who knew?
• Brandon Inge hasn’t reached base for 2 straight games and hasn’t looked good at the plate. Is this his first slump of the season?
• A 4-4 homestand isn’t bad, but it would have been nice to be on the winning side of the ledger.

PREGAME: Rick Porcello takes on Nick Blackburn tonight, but that news kind of takes a back seat to the Tigers roster moves and their new lineup.

The roster moves have been covered already, but the lineup? Here you go:

1. Anderson
2. Polanco
3. Thomas
4. Cabrera
5. Granderson
6. Ordonez
7. Inge
8. Laird
9. Santiago

Aside from putting your best (not necessarily fastest) baserunner behind your slowest runner, you are also taking 70 plate appearances over the course of a full season away from Curtis Granderson*. I understand trying to protect Cabrera (and there is even doubt that protection is real) and put Granderson in a position to drive in more runs. BUT…You can protect Cabrera by having guys on in front of him as well. You pop Granderson in at 3rd and you get 35 of those PA’s back.

*I understand that the 70 PA thing may be inflated because we’re part way through the season and who knows how long this lineup sticks. But I do want to highlight the impact of sliding that far down the order.

I have more complaints about this lineup (especially with Porcello on the mound), but that’s enough for now.

Minnesota vs. Detroit – May 5, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

PREGAME: The Minnesota Twins make their first journey to Comerica Park as the Tigers complete the homestand with a 2 game series. The Twins have been outscored by 26 runs this year, but are only a game under .500.

The Twins are one of only 3 AL teams to be slugging below .400, but the return of Joe Mauer should help to boost that number. On the pitching side, the team ERA is an uncharacteristic 5.42, but their FIP ERA is only 4.67, a hair better than the Tigers 4.71. What is normal is that they are once again leading the league in walks allowed.

Tonight it will be Edwin Jackson taking on Francisco Liriano. Jackson pitched 6 shutout innings his last time out, and got a no decision on the night of the infamous 10 run 7th inning.

Liriano brings in a 6.04 ERA, but his peripherals are fairly average. Baseball Tonight took a look at Liriano and noticed he’s throwing fewer sliders, and when he does he gets fewer swings and misses since his surgery.

Batters are hitting .333 and slugging .524 against his fastball while swinging and missing less than 10 percent of the time. While they aren’t hitting the slider well this season, they aren’t swinging-and-missing as much as they did preinjury, when batters missed the pitch almost half the time. Liriano (0-4, 6.04 ERA) takes the mound Monday night against the Detroit Tigers, who swing and miss against sliders 32.9 percent of the time, slightly higher than the league average.

One other note, Matt Treanor was moved to the 60 day DL which frees up a spot on the 40 man roster.

Minnesota vs. Detroit – May 4, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Will someone please get Edwin Jackson some runs. In a near duplication of last Tuesday’s tilt against the Yankees, the Tigers went into the 7th tied in a pitchers duel. They came out of the 7th looking at a substantial deficit.

Jackson was good, probably better than his final line indicates. But  he did struggle in the 7th. After Justin Morneau hit a pretty good pitch for a two strike single, he lost Jason Kubel to a walk after getting ahead with 2 strikes. And it was all down hill from there. Curtis Granderson got a bad read on a shot to the base of the wall in center and the tie was broken.

Brandon Lyon plunked the first guy he faced. And then Miguel Cabrera converted a bunt into an out at the plate on a fine play. Clay Rapada made some good pitches but it restulted in a soft single off of Adam Everett’s glove and a bloop single to left.

Of course the Tigers offense was completely stymied. Miguel Cabrera was half the scoring, and the Tigers looked to be putting a mini-rally together late but it resulted in only one run.

And Carlos Guillen was brutal defensively. He is playing a ridiculously deep left field meaning runners can round third at will on ground balls, and the aforementioned blooper can happen. Yet he isn’t getting to the deep balls either. I don’t know how much has to do with his various ailments or inexperience compounded by a spring in which he spent too big a chunk as the Venezuelan DH. But it isn’t working.

PREGAME: As I start to write up today’s game thread, I realize the team has split the first 2 games of a series quite frequently. Basically every series since their first 2.

Today it will be Justin Verlander who is coming off his best start of the season. We’ll see if the stuff is there again, and it better be because the Indians can beat up Verlander pretty good. He has a 4-10 career mark against Cleveland and they’ve hit him at an 837 OPS clip.

The Indians send out their ace as well, lefty Cliff Lee. Clifton Phifer Lee was shelled in his first 2 starts, but has posted 3 quality starts since then allowing 3 runs in his last 20 innings.

One thing to watch today, Inge has hit Lee to the tune of 400/471/633 in 34 plate appearances. Inge is also riding that consecutive games on base streak. Things look favorable for him today in terms of match-up, but will these be one of those paradoxical baseball things where he gets stymied?

Inge might get an extra shot for his streak as he moves up one spot in the order with Gerald Laird getting the day off.

1. Granderson, CF
2. Polanco, 2B
3. Ordonez, RF
4. Cabrera, 1B
5. Guillen, LF
6. Inge, 3B
7. Raburn, DH
8. Everett, SS
9. Sardhina, C

Cleveland vs. Detroit – May 3, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: Verlander’s fastball was the story of this game. He rode his high 90’s heater to 11 strikeouts, good enough to put him on top of the AL leaderboard. It was simply a matter of overpowering the Indians hitters. It wasn’t fancy, it was just raw heat. He’d mix in a curve or change early in the count, but more often than not it was the fastball that either had Cleveland frozen or waving at air. It was beautiful.

And when Verlander did get in trouble in the 7th inning, with the bases loaded and nobody out, it was more domination. His last 7 fastballs AVERAGED 99.25mph. As Rod Allen would say, that’s some serious cheese. He went to that cheese 79 times today, 55 for strikes and 11 of the swing-and-miss variety (plus 2 foul tips into the glove).

Bobby Seay was a little shaky for the second straight day, but Joel Zumaya came in and induced a bullet right at Adam Everett. Fernando Rodney finished things off with a 1-2-3 9th inning on 12 pitches.

As for the offense, it was Brandon Inge again going deep. Everybody had a hit except for Guillen and Raburn. Guillen hit the ball well in 3 of his at-bats, but right at the right fielder every time.

This one felt good, and in what was a very up and down week finishing the week 3-3 isn’t so bad.