23-18, 2nd place, 1.5 games behind Cle (who have now won 4 in a row)

Anibal Sanchez did his best Justin Verlander last night, and promptly got booted in the 3rd inning after allowing 11 base runners and 5 ER. The Tigers were never really in the game, and the best offense in baseball was tamed again for the 3rd straight night.

Against an opponent whose number we seemed to have for a while, the Tigers are now 6-12 versus the Rangers since October of 2011. And it feels even worse than that because in those 12 losses, the Rangers have reached double digits against the Tigers 5 times. Think about that – roughly every 3rd game against the Rangers has been a blowout loss. The Rangers are averaging nearly 6.5 runs per game against the Tigers during the time span (116 to 76). I think it’s safe to say that the Rangers have our number these days.

So Doug Fister climbs the hill tonight to take on Derek Holland on Sunday night baseball. Holland is enigmatic, to say the least. The young lefty has been brilliant at times, but he also gets a lot of flack for a seeming lack of concentration on the actual game part of playing baseball. Holland’s success this year (3-2, 2.93 ERA, 1.07 WHIP) can partly be attributed to his low HR rate (just 2 all year – .33/9) which is unsustainable over the long run. But Holland is a hard-throwing lefty with a good sinker and a great slider, and is also issuing a career low 1.79 walks/9. Tonight won’t be easy.

Of Fister’s 8 starts this year, 6 have been quality. He rebounded nicely last week against Houston (remember, it was Houston) after his shortest start since 2011 against Washington the previous time out. Fister has been thumped by the Rangers in the past, to the tune of 14  ER and 19 hits (5 long balls) in 9 innings.

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A few notes.

– This is the first time since 2003 that two Tigers’ starters didn’t make it through the 3rd inning in a series.

– In today’s the apocalypse is upon us note – the Tigers’ uni’s were beat out by the Orioles’. Blasphemy. This has really upset me.

– Prince Fielder is in a slump (I’m sure you knew this). Over his last 10 games he’s 6-36 with 1 HR. Last night’s RBI was his first in 7 games. He’s 0-3 career versus Holland, though lefties are hitting better against Holland than righties (.773 OPS v. .582 for righties).

I don’t feel good about it, but man do we need a win tonight – off-day tomorrow.

Someone please post the lineup later, as I’m headed to a BBQ (game will be on).

23-17, 2nd place, .5 games behind Cle (won earlier today)

Wow, what a game last night. Spectacular effort by Porcello (that’s now 24 Ks in his last 25 IPs – 3.24 ERA and a .96 WHIP…pretty salty), and the bullpen was almost as good. Luckily, I was at a graduation celebration last night and didn’t have to stomach Valverde in the 9th. Kudos to those of you who stuck it out.

Rangers starter Justin Grimm was the AL rookie of the month for April after going 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA and 1.18 WHIP, but it’s been pretty grim since then. In May, he’s 0-3 with a 7.02 ERA. This month his walks are up, the BAA has skyrocketed to .300, and he’s not getting very many groundballs (.88 GO/AO). Note, his BABIP in April was .362, so it looks like he really did simply have a heck of a start, and perhaps now things are starting to even out. Though the Tigers have been known to struggle against unknown struggling rookie guy.

Sanchez will be looking for his 8th straight quality start tonight. Remember when JV had a streak like that? Sanchez is currently 4th in the AL with 66 Ks and 5th with a 2.05 ERA. 

Very hot and a jet stream out to right tonight. Sanchez has allowed 1 HR all season…the Rangers lead the AL in HR. Grimm has been giving up a lot of flyballs.

A win tonight would be huge. I’d love to have a shot at taking the series.

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A few notes:

– The Tigers have 407 hits so far (leads the AL) and 403 pitching Ks (leads all of MLB).

– May 25th will be the 25 year celebration of the ’68 team.

Tonight’s Lineup:

1. Dirks, LF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Peralta, SS
7. Avila, C
8. Infante, 2B
9. Garcia, CF

22-17, 1st place, tied w/Cle.

Yu gotta be kidding me. That was awful. Worst inning of Verlander’s career.

Let’s move on to the next game as soon as possible.

We’ll need little Ricky P to step up tonight or else we’ll be in danger of a very nasty 4 game series. (1-3 always feels like getting swept to me, and 2-2 on the road feels like a win).

The Rangers will throw out rookie Nick Tepesch. Tepesch is 3-3 on the year with a 4.03 ERA and respectable 1.26 WHIP. He strikes out enough (7.10/9) and doesn’t walk a lot (2.36/9), but he doesn’t have great stuff. Here’s a portion of a good scouting report on Tepesch from early April: Tepesch has a four pitch mix of fastball, cutter/slider, curveball and changeup, and while he’s not an overpowering pitcher, he’s got a shot at having a solid major league career because he can throw his pitches for strikes and battle hitters even when he’s not got his best stuff. He’s not the type of high ceiling guy who gets prospectphiles’ pulses racing, but he’s a solid under-the-radar prospect who is likely going to get five or six starts at the major league level to show that he belongs.

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A few notes:

– Leyland may be changing up the bullpen rotation? No way.

– A QS tonight would be 4 in a row for Porcello…he didn’t do that once last year.

I’ve got to get on the road this afternoon, so someone please post the lineup when it’s out.

22-16, 1st place, .5 games up.

The Tigers are 6-1 v. the Astros, outscoring them 55-19. (They could be 7-0 with a margin of 59-19 if Tiger stadium weren’t so big…) They are 16-15 versus everyone else. So how good are the Tigers, really? Well, the numbers, as posted by Coleman yesterday, are pretty darn good. Exceptional to be honest.

But only 1 game above .500 against everyone else? Why could that be?

Here’s a theory (other than the bad bullpen…3-6 in one run games…but we already know that one): their run differential is entirely misleading, because the boys are blowing out teams, and then not winning close games. The Tigers are posting a meager .526 OPS in “Late/Close” games (as defined by MLB.com stats). Contrast that with their .815 OPS when the team is ahead (4th in the majors). Their X W-L is 25-13. So they are either incredibly unlucky, and the wins will start to pile up, or they are over-achieving in meaningless situations. I recognize that I’m only pointing out symptoms and not solving any problems here, but the numbers don’t lie.

Anyway, so I heard there’s a game tonight…

You’re not going to see more excitement about a May matchup than tonight’s Verlander v. Darvish setting. Everyone is talking about it down here (though incredibly – 10,000 seats are still avail; but I can’t open a sports page or turn on sports radio with them talking about it). Many think that these two teams are two of the best in the Majors (you’ll need insider). It’s going to be a heck of a 4 game set.

I’m headed over to the Ballpark in a few hours, hopefully to have a beer with OTFiM.

Yu Darvish has quickly established himself as the Rangers’ ace, and he has become must watch TV around here. First, there was the opening night near perfect game. Then,there was what has to be the most viewed gif in FanGraphs history (it’s pretty cool, check it out). Darvish is striking out hitters at a record-breaking pace of 13.7/9 and sporting a cool .91 WHIP in 8 starts this year (6-1, 2.73 ERA). What makes Yu so unbelievable is that he’ll throw 7-8 different pitches, from virtually the same arm angle and with what looks to be the same arm speed. Don’t be surprised to see an eephus pitch tonight.

Now, JV ain’t no slouch (he got his own cool gif treatment a few weeks back), but he’ll have his work cut out for him against a Rangers team that is tied for a major league best 12 games over .500, has won 7-10, and recently took a series from division rivals Oak at Oak.

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A few notes:

– Al Al (and his 16.32 K/9) down, Evan Reed up. I really have no idea who this guy is, so look for him to enter (which would be his major league debut) in the 7th in an incredibly high pressure situation. Was anyone else shocked to see Leyland call out Albuquerque yesterday? Seems like JL never does that.

– I think we’ll have a new closer within 2 months.

Tonight’s I’ll Be There lineup is brought to you by the Jackson 5:

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

19-11, 1st place, 1.5 games up.

Well, this has been a fun stretch. Your Tigers have now won 9 out of 10 games, outscoring their opponents 74-25 (that’s a pythagorean winning % of 89%, or about 143 – 19). Now, the last 7 games were played against the Astros and Twins, so let’s no be disappointed if they don’t score 5 in the first every game here on out. But the Tigers did what good teams are supposed to do against bad ones.

Though it’s only a two game set, this series against the Nationals will be closely watched around the bigs, as both the Tigers and Nationals were heavy pre-season World Series favorites. No Strasburger v. Verlander matchup, but tonight’s duel could be equally as exciting.

Sanchez has been phenomenal out of the gates this year, posting a 1.06 WHIP and 50 Ks in 39 2/3. That’s right, 50! Even more exciting is the fact that Sanchez has never lost to Washington. That’s not a fluke – in 19 career starts he’s 8-0 with a 1.97 ERA against Washington. Hates to face: Desmond (8-25) and Ramos (5-13). Loves to face Benadina (2-20), Laroche (6-30) and Werth (5-30, but he’s out tonight).

Sanchez will be opposed by hard-throwing right Jordan Zimmermann. Zimmermann has a good fastball that can touch 96-97, and great control. In four of his 6 starts this year he’s walked 1 or less, going at least 7 in each of those games. Zimmerman has been strong this year, posting a 5-1 record with a .75 WHIP and 1.64 ERA. He does have 1 HR hitting this year. Only 3 tigers have seen Zimmermann – and only Infante (3-14) has more than 3 AB.

The Nationals are 0-6 all-time v. the Tigers, the only team they are winless against.

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A few notes:

– Type in “Whitaker” (or something similar) here: http://scouts.baseballhall.org/. Have fun.

– The Tigers staff is currently posting a K/9 of 9.91. That’s a full K higher than the modern record of 8.68/9 established by Mil last year.

– Josh Hamilton is arguably the worst hitter in baseball right now. TSE – care to comment on how wise that $125M was spent by LAA?

– Rick Ankiel is available.

– Good article on ESPN on why today is the golden age of leadoff hitters.

– Ryan Raburn beat out the following players for player of the week: Cabrera, Fielder, Scherzer, Verlander.

– Sparky’s wife, Carol, passed last night. May she rest in peace and thank you for Sparky & Co.

Remember – NL park so VMart on the bench and 1 free out ever 8 batters.

Today’s lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, DH
5. Dirks, LF
6. Peralta, SS
7. Avila, C
8. Infante, 2B
9. Sanchez, P

12-10, 2nd place, 1 game behind KC.

(this image may look familiar)

After laying an egg against one of the weaker teams in baseball right now, the Tigers have responded nicely with two comfortable wins against the hot Braves. Yesterday’s win was brought to you courtesy of the middle infield, as both Infante and Peralta hit twho rhun homers, and Cabrera was Cabrera again. Porcello was okay, but given the shellacking he took last time out, last night’s performance was just fine. Let’s remember that he’s our #5 guy.

The Tigers go for the sweep tonight against Braves lefty Mike Minor. Remember all those horrible stats I brought up on Friday? The Tigers proceeded to pound Maholm for 8 runs in 3 2/3 on 10 hits and 3 walks. Minor had a breakout year in 2012, and 2013 is pointing up. Though his 2012 record was only 11-10, he was much better than that and his 4.12 ERA. He posted a 1.15 WHIP and 7.27 K/9 against 2.91 BB/9. In 2013 he’s posting a .92 WHIP with 21 Ks and only 3 walks in 25 innings.  He’s holding hitters to a .220 BAA, but that’s .050 against lefties (1 hit and 8 Ks in 21 batters) and .268 v righties. Other than Prince, who is crushing lefties to the tune of .400/.500/.760, we’ll have the platoon righties.

A few notes about Sanchez’s gem from Friday:

– He faced 29 batters. He walked 1, gave up 5 hits, and had 6 non Ks. Of those 12 non-K batters, 5 went to 2 strike counts.

– Of the 5 hits he gave, up, 3 went for extra bases.

– 15 of the 17Ks were swinging.

– He struck out the side in the 2nd and 8th, and at least 2 in every other inning except for one. The 4th was the only inning where he struck out less than 2 batters.

Tonight’s Series Sweeping Lineup:

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

11-10, 2nd place, 1 game behind KC.

(traveling today, gonna be quick here, more on AS tomorrow)

Unbelievable. I didn’t get to watch the game live. But I’ve watched the K by K video a handful of times to the point where I shout on #17 just like Sanchez.

A few notes other than the obvious one that Sanchez was historically awesome last night.

– The Tigers pounded a lefty. Demolished him really.

– The Tigers had 5 XBH (4 doubles and a HR) for a .579 slugging.

– Tigers were 6-15 with RISP.

– This warm and fuzzy feeling could go away very quickly in a few hours.

If someone could please post the lineup when it is up I would appreciate it.

10-10, 2nd place, 1.5 games behind KC.

On the heels of an incredibly disappointing 1-5 stretch, the Tigers welcome the best team in baseball thus far, the Atlanta Braves, to the D. The Braves are 15-6 and an incredible 9-4 on the road. Their early season success is entirely attributable to their sparkling pitching. You ready for this?

Team ERA: 2.52 (Tigers: 3.91)

Team WHIP: 1.13 (1.33)

Team BAA: .230 (.252)

BB/9: 2.42 (3.37)

On the other side of the field, their team batting average is only .250 (.269), but the Braves are near the top of the league in slugging at .446, which adds up to a strong .772 team OPS. I found this to be fascinating..unfortunately this led me to an inspection of Tigers’ slugging numbers.

The Tigers have the third best team BA (.269), but the team’s .372 slugging percentage is 23rd in the Majors. The Tigers vaunted offense is in the bottom 5 of the league in HR and 2B. Avila, VMart and Dirks have a combined 5 XBH between them in 185 ABs. Which is six less than Prince Fielder has in 74 ABs. This is very simple. Two of Avila, VMart and Dirks have to get to average production (let’s say a .400 slugging), else we’re going to have a few more stretches like last week. Note, I’m not asking for them to be above-average players. But a .270/.340/.400/.740 slash line is expected. Martinez and Dirks have ISO numbers of .027 and .021, respectively. Avila’s is a respectable .097, but that’s only because his avg. and OBP are so terrible.

Yes, it’s early, and these rankings are largely a result of a historically awful offensive week. But the numbers are painful to look at nonetheless.

Things won’t get any easier this weekend. The Tigers face a nasty lefthander tonight in Paul Maholm. Maholm has been nearly unhittable in 2013, posting a microscopic 1.03 ERA and .87 WHIP while compiling a 3-1 record in 4 starts this year. The Tigers simply can’t hit lefties (.206/.299/.312/.611 – all at the very bottom of the bigs) so make sure you have a few extra cold ones on hand tonight.

I’ve got to head down to Austin this afternoon for a meeting, so someone please post the lineups when they are avail.

9-5, 1st place, 1 game up.

Nice work, friends. Based on this morning’s chatter, there are a lot of tired DTW guys today.

On a night when more Tigers donned a golden sombrero (4) than crossed home plate (2), a Brayan Pena out, his 5th of the night, brought home Don Kelly (pinch running for VMart) in the top of the 14th for what would prove to be the winning run. Though not without some drama…Pena was the difference in the bottom of the 14th as well as the final link in a Hunter –> Fielder –> Pena relay on an Ackley double which even had Gene Lamont questioning why there was a play at the plate. Fielder’s throw was a good bit up the line and Smoak was still smoked. A better throw and Pena could have been in a better position to cushion the Smoak train. Smoak wasn’t even close. He may have made it to the RH batters box. The collision was fierce, but Pena held on.

As a result, your Tigers are on a modest 4 game win streak, have already clinched their 4th straight series win, and can get their first sweep of the season today.

We frequently like to call out the bullpen on here, so let’s give them credit when it’s due. The bullpen followed-up Scherzer’s brilliant 8 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 1 ER and 12 K performance with an equally sparkling 6 IP, 5 H, 3 BB and 7 K combined effort.  (Admittedly, the SEA staff was even better – .79 WHIP; and how about that Wilhelmsen?)

On to today’s game.

Hisashi Iwakuma was signed by the Ms in Jan of 2012 out of the Japan League. He was pretty darn good in his first year in the Majors, posting a 3.02 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 146 innings. He doesn’t throw particularly hard (he can touch mid 90s but generally throws 89-90), but he’s got good control (2.43 BB/9) and a nasty sinker which had an 18% swinging strike rate last year. He was even tougher at home last year – going 7-3 with a 2.40 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. He’s only thrown 3 innings against the Tigers, so no significant match-up data.  The Tigers will have their work cut out for them today.

JV is JV. Lifetime he’s 9-6 vs. the Ms with a 3.41 ERA and 94 Ks in 103 IPs. Kendry Morales may have JV figured out (7-18 for a .389 average), not much else to list here.  Verlander is 49-17 with a 2.84 ERA in 84 day games, which is an active players best .742 winning percentage.

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A few notes:

– Prince Fielder is the only Ms opponent to strike out 4+ times in back-to-back games.

– The 40 Ks last night are the 2nd most in the live ball era (43 between the A’s and Angels in 20 innings in 1971).

– Would you be willing to give up Avisail Garcia for Houston Street? I wouldn’t. I think that the Tigers can find a closer internally.

– I wrote a bit yesterday about the success of the top of the lineup. AJax and Hunter are getting on base at incredible rates, and it stems from their historic contact rates. Note that Hunter’s first walk of the year came on Tuesday. There were two great posts on Fangraphs about this yesterday. Check it out.

– Happy 30th Miguel Cabrera! Could he be chasing Hank Aaron?

Today’s I’m Surprised that JL Isn’t Resting More Regulars Lineup:

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

8-5, 1st place, 1 game up.

Last night’s win had a little bit of everything. To begin, a second consecutive tremendous start by Fister. 4 hits, 1 walk and 2 earned over 7, which was just enough time to give the Tigers an opportunity to make the game un-blowpen-able. The top of the lineup again showed why they are the best in baseball, with #s 1-3 going 7-13 with 6 RBI and 4 runs scored. Add in Fielder and VMart, and 1-5 went 10-22. Fielder had an off game including 4 Ks, but he’s not going to collect multiple hits every night, and this lineup is deep enough that on a night when your cleanup guy goes 0-5 and strands 3, the Tigers still win comfortably.

I was impressed with the major league debut of Yoervis Medina, who was baptized into the league in a very JL manner -bases loaded pressure situation. To which he responded by walking Hunter, and then striking out Cabrera on a nice outside fastball (I thought he got squeezed on the first pitch of the AB as well. He then K’d Fielder to lead off the 9th with a fastball in the same location. Fielder was walking out of the box before the umpire could raise his hand.

In case you didn’t notice this from last night – the Tigers struck out 16 (SIXTEEN) times. 10 out of the last 12 outs were Ks. They were also 2-10 with RISP. 12 base hits and 4 walks will mask a lot of things.

So on to tonight.

The Tigers face the great King Felix, otherwise known as the 2nd biggest contract in the AL AKA the 2nd best pitcher in baseball. That aside, Felix has dominated the Tigers over his career, to the tune of 9-2, and has been unbeatable as of late (if you consider 6 years “as of late”), going 9-0 with a 2.86 ERA covering 10 starts dating back to July of 2007. At Safeco he’s even better – 4-0 with a 2.42 ERA. Despite that, Miggy (.429 in 21 ABs) still hits Felix well. Look for Hunter (.324 career v. Felix covering 68 ABs) to get us going. The Tigers roster only has 2 career HRs off of King Felix – Peralta and VMart each have 1.

Tonight’s Is Something Wrong with Avila? Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Dirks, LF
7. Peralta, SS
8. Pena, C (remember, he’s a switch hitter, so my guess is that Jimmuh wants to give AA a night off)
9. Infante, 2B

Moment of silence for Boston, please. Really cool what the Yankees did earlier tonight.

*******

7-5, 1st place, tied with KC.

The Tigers cruise up to Seattle on a sweet 3 series winning streak perched atop the AL Central. No reason why it shouldn’t be 4, but with Felix Hernandez pitching tomorrow, winning tonight becomes critical with an eye towards taking the series.

With Jeremy Bonderman not quite yet ready to step into the M’s rotation, they had to go out and make a move to get 34 year old righty Aaron Harang. Harang will begin his M’s career tonight by making his 300th career appearance. Harang looks like he had a decent year last year – posting a 3.61 ERA in 180 IPs, but his 1.40 WHIP and 6.56 K/9 demonstrate why the Ms were able to get him for AAA guy Steven Hensley. This will be Harang’s 4th start against the Tigers (0-1 5.63 ERA), but he’s barely faced the current lineup. Fielder has 3 bombs and a .318 average in 44 PAs, Peralta is batting .304 in 23 ABs. Harang has frustrated Cabrera to date – .133 BA in 15 ABs.

In case you forgot after an off day, Porcello pitched late Sunday afternoon (most of us were likely plugged into the Cabrera/Scott showdown in Augusta). Thus no Porcello in the image rotators above. Instead, it’s ice man Doug Fister.

Fister shook off a shaky start in a W over the Yankees with a  masterful 8 IP, 1 ER win over Tor last Thursday. Remember that we plucked Fister from Sea for Casper Wells, Charlie Furbush, Francisco Martinez and Chance Ruffin (PTBNL).  Furbush is the only player on the Mariners active roster. This begs the question – can you name a trade in the past 5 years where DD hasn’t come out on top?

Tonight’s Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, C
6. Peralta, SS
7. Avila, C
8. Infante, 2B
9. Kelly, LF