On paper, it looks like Max Scherzer kept up the trend of dominant starting pitching, allowing only 2 runs in 7 innings.

In reality, three spectacular defensive plays with runners on base kept the game within reach. Ian Kinsler made two fine plays dashing to his left, fielding the ball into right field, spinning, and making a strong throw, once to second to start a double play, and once to first. Then, Ezequiel Carrera, in his first start in the bigs, made a bid for play of the year on a diving catch sprinting to his right in deep centerfield. The play was phenomenal for a number of reasons – his read on the ball, the distance covered, and most importantly, the game situation. The bases were juiced with none out. Carrera’s snag allowed Max to limit the damage to a single run that inning.

For the game, Scherzer allowed 9 hits, 3 walks, and struck out only 4 in 7 innings. But Scherzer made enough pitches to give his defense a chance, which is what good pitchers do.

Avila had a really bad K with the bases loaded and one out. And then Robertson made him look silly in the 9th, but Robertson does that to a lot of people.

The Tigers are now 8-10 since the break.

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And so begins the David Price era. In case you’ve been without internet for the past seven years, David Price is good. Like really good. He’s been an All-Star 4 times, won the Cy Young in 2012, and finished second in 2010. For his career he’s 82-47 with a 3.18 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 10 K/9, and 8.22 K/BB. He hasn’t posted an ERA above 3.50 since 2009. His .636 career winning percentage ranks him 9th among active leaders with at least 100 decisions, just behind Max Scherzer, and right ahead of Justin Verlander.

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– The Tigers sign 2012 and 2013 AL Rolaids Relief winner (is that still a thing) Jim Johnson to a minor league contract.

– Here’s what David Price will do for you. Tigers are #2 in the latest USA Today MLB power rankings.

– John Sterling’s idiosyncrasies drive me nuts, but he’s about as complimentary of the other teams as it comes. Suzyn Waldman knows her stuff too.

– Avila is…a good game manager. Let’s all understand that.

Game preview here.

No love for Carrerra as Davis gets the start.

1. Rajai Davis, CF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. Torii Hunter RF
6. J.D. Martinez, LF
7. Nick Castellanos, 3B
8. Alex Avila, C
9. Andrew Romine, SS

On April 29, Justin Verlander pitched 7 innings of 3 run ball, and started a run of 7 quality starts in 8 games, during an 8 game Tiger winning streak. “Quality Start” is not descriptive enough, as the Tigers’ staff allowed 3 runs or less in 6 of those 8 games.

On May 12, Porcello turned in a 6 inning, 5 hit, 1 ER performance which launched a 6 game winning streak which saw the staff allow a total of 10 ER, and 5 of those were in a single Verlander victory over Baltimore. Five of the 6 starts were quality.

Here are the starting pitching lines over the last three games:

8 IP, 8 H 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

8 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K

7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 12 K

That’s a .74 WHIP and 13.5/1 K/BB. Yes, it was Colorado without three of their top offensive players, but you still gotta make the pitches. I’m pumped to see what Max brings tonight knowing that Price debuts tomorrow.

(Interesting to note that the Tigers have also had two winning streaks of 5 or more when they did not get too many quality starts)

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Tigers in New York to take on Jeter and the Yankees. If you haven’t yet seen the Nike Derek Jeter tribute video, you’re missing out. Some kid is starting in centerfield for the Tigers.

1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
2. Ezequiel Carrera, CF
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. Torii Hunter, RF
6. J.D. Martinez, LF
7. Don Kelly, 3B
8. Alex Avila, C
9. Eugenio Suarez, SS

This series sure did turn quickly.

Baseball-Reference Game Preview.

Prediction: if the Tigers don’t score more than 1 run, they will not win.

Avila and Hunter with the day off vs. the lefty Santiago.

Go get us a win, Jud.

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, DH
4. Victor Martinez, 1B
5. J.D. Martinez, RF
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. Eugenio Suarez, SS
8. Bryan Holaday, C
9. Rajai Davis, LF

Tonight’s game is the kind that you imagine used to make Justin Verlander salivate with anticipation. Road game against a potential playoff foe, opposed by a hittable rookie out of Eastern Michigan.

Unfortunately, the way things have gone this year, I think we’re all hoping JV is concentrating on his arm angle, or release point, or landing point, or some other what we thought was a habit, so that he can get through the first unscathed.

Matt Shoemaker started the year in the pen, but has had great success as a starter for the Angels, posting a 6-2 record. His ERA as  starter is 4.37, but it looks like that is a result of some bad luck, as his FIP is 3.82 (for the year) and his WHIP is 1.30. He strikes out 9.3/9 and has a 4.80 K/W ratio this year. He gives up a lot of hits, doesn’t walk many, and likely won’t pitch deep into the game.

Baseball-Reference Game Preview.

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Quick shout out to Austin Jackson. Lost in the time difference on Friday night was an outstanding play to rob Kole Calhoun of extra bases. Moreover, since Jackson was inserted into the leadoff spot for good, he is hitting .348 with a .935 OPS and a 5.05 RE24.

In other news – the Hall of Fame changed the player eligibility timeline from 15 to 10 yeas, which shortens the lifespan of the Bonds, Clemens, Sosa and McGwire ballots. Alan Trammell will get two more shots at it before turning over his fate to the Veterans committee.

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LAA lineup note – Josh Hamilton out tonight with a sore knee.

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. J.D. Martinez, LF
6. Torii Hunter, RF
7. Nick Castellanos, 3B
8. Alex Avila, C
9. Eugenio Suarez, SS

Outstanding win last night. It felt great to get the opener on the road in Anaheim.

Like many of you not named Jud, I did not stay up for the entire game. I fell asleep with the Tigers up 6-3, but the Angels threatening with a 1st and 3rd no out situation in the bottom of the 8th. Remember that, 1st and 3rd, nobody out.

Around 1 am I was woken up by one of my freeloaders (my wife calls them “children”) screaming in her sleep. Perhaps she was still distraught over her “french fries being too crunchy” at dinner, or because the dog “touched her side.” Anyways, I was a little anxious to check the final, and, based on the state of things when I last checked, I prepared myself for a rare Joba bad outing, and a typical Nathan one.

Lo and behold, a 6-4 win, demonstrating another reason why we all love baseball. Merely 19 pitches after I left them, Joba and Nathan had shut the door allowing only one run in the process. Sac fly, double play, K, K, K. That was some postseason baseball.

A win tonight would really make for a swell weekend.

Baseball-Reference Game Preview here.

Headed to dinner with the fam, please post the lineups, friends.

56-42, 1st place, 6.5 games up.

The Tigers fly into Anaheim to take on the white hot LAAoA. If you haven’t been paying attention, the Angels are twenty games over .500, and have moved up to the #2 spot in the AL power rankings. Since starting the season 13-13, the Angels are 47 and 27, and are 13-5 this month. The Angels are 35-18 (.660) at home. The Tigers are the AL’s best road team at 30-13 (.638), but are 2-10 in their last 12 vs. the Angels.

Baseball Reference game preview.

Game 1 tonight, 10:05 PM ET – Max Scherzer v. Garrett Richards

Game 2 tomorrow, 10:05 PM ET – Drew Smyly v. Tyler Skaggs (L)

Game 3 Saturday, 9:05 PM ET – Justin Verlander v. Matt Shoemaker

Game 4 Sunday, 3:35 PM ET – Rick Porcello v. Hector Santiago (L)

J.D. Martinez has shaken the minor injury for the back to the AL lineup:

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. J.D. Martinez, LF
6. Torii Hunter, RF
7. Nick Castellanos, 3B
8. Alex Avila, C
9. Eugenio Suarez, SS

53-37, 1st place, season high 16 games over, season high 7 1/2 games up.

Baseball-Reference preview here.

Justin Verlander v. Bruce Chen this afternoon, 2:10PM EST start.

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. Torii Hunter, RF
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. Alex Avila, C
8. Eugenio Suarez, SS
9. Rajai Davis, LF

52-37, 1st place, 6.5 games up.

Jayson Stark posted his first half award winners today over on ESPN (you need Insider) and I thought there were several interesting items from a Tigers perspective.

1) VMart and Ian Kinsler were both mentioned in the AL MVP after-Trout-thoughts. Kinsler having a good year, but the more I thought about it, he’s having a great year. He’s projecting to a .792 OPS, 104 runs, 41 2B and 19 SB on top of solid defense. He legitimately is a top 10 MVP candidate.

2) Chris Davis is a candidate for AL Least Valuable Player. Success is a cruel mistress.

3) The pitching in the AL has been dynamite this year. Scherzer isn’t even a top 5 consideration, behind the likes of Tanaka, Sale, Price, Kazmir…Scott Kazmir? Mistresses can reappear, I guess.

4) Sergio Romo is a candidate for Cy Yuk. Just the thought of him during the ’12 WS makes me want to crawl into the fetal position.

5) The AL is loaded with “rookies” this year as Abreu will likely run away with the ROY award, despite stiff competition from Masashiro Tanaka and George Springer. But get one level past them and I think that Suarez and Castellanos would both merit consideration. After Iglesias went down and we raided the basement of other teams for SS, I feared a revolving door at the position all season. But Suarez become a dependable everyday player. What more could we ask for.

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Tonight’s game won’t be easy as Porcello takes on James Shields. Game preview here.

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