57-45, 1st place, 3 games up on Cleveland.

Hernan Perez walks, Ramon Santiago doubles, Alex Avila clears the bases – against Cole Hamels. Doug Fister baffles ’em. That, my friends, is a good win, of a type that will be called for with Mr. Universe out and the other Big Bopper not bopping. Recovery from early stumbling is even more encouraging. That strikeout-CS double play that deflated us was, as Coleman suggests, bad play-calling. If you don’t have the guys on base (not to mention at the plate) who can execute, don’t call it. Either that or go for broke and call for the double steal and look stupid but bold. The mishmash that actually happened was just plain ugly… and unnecessary… and potentially game-costing.

The Tigers may or may not be catching a break by not having to face Cliff Lee tonight, who was evidently “scratched,” which makes me think that the Phillies must be a bunch of big babies if merely being scratched forces you to miss a game. Sensitive skin, I guess. I seem to recall the Tigers having Lee’s number in other times, and current Tigers have hit him well, though one of them is the presumably MIA Miguel Cabrera.

Earlier in the season, I though Joaquin Benoit’s numbers were overstating his case. I didn’t think he was pitching that well – maybe it was just frustration over how he never seemed to have the clean inning I demanded. I thought he was drifting toward the Land Of Valverde, I really did. But in fact, he’s been a consistent standout contributor. I guess those numbers aren’t lying. So, my apologies to Joaquin, with the hope that this isn’t an invitation to slump badly down the stretch.

I noticed how dumb it looked for me to seemingly suggest that Miggy’s hip flexor per se was something to discuss – what do we know about hip flexors? I wondered if the same jokes about trading for some spare hip flexors (Ryan Braun won’t be needing his for a while) occurred to anyone else. Anyway, the real issue is of course Cabrera’s health and presence in the lineup. It’s smart for him to get some time off now, but the issue will probably be with us for the rest of the season – it was there for weeks (possibly many weeks) before he finally had to come out.

The Omar Infante situation has certainly become more acute than we suspected it would be. I miss the glove more than the bat, which is saying something about the glove, because Infante’s absence in the #9 spot is already a glaring weakness. It’s nice to get a look at Perez, but not at this cost.

So, does Bonderman really have a shot at a bullpen tryout? Wonder what the Jurjjens plan is. Long-term reclamation project? Insurance? Shot in the arm for Toledo?

How do we feel about the bullpen now? Me, I’m feeling some confidence that Rondon is in the process of arrival. Not so much confidence in the other 4/7 of the pen. Downs will be back soon, and we’ll see what he can do. I confess to lack of interest in trade rumors involving relievers. I keep hoping that the talent the Tigers already have will finally get it together, piece by piece.

I’ll leave the heavy-duty (and interesting) Verlander analysis to Kevin, but I will mention my thought that if Justin persists in statements about “working on things,” it invites the retort that perhaps he could work on getting guys out one of these starts. That would make a good project. JV has become alarmingly hittable. That’s the rub. The idea that he might start needing to be more crafty rather than relying upon blowing guys away never bothered me – that happens to all good pitchers.

It was predictable that, as we clamored for Matt Tuiasosopo to get more playing time, there would come a time when he did and didn’t do quite as well as perhaps we thought he should. He still looks like a good hitter to me, however. This guy came into the season with a sub-.200 career average. Hard to believe when you watch him at the plate. If someone can turn things around like that, there might still be hope for Avila.

I entertain thoughts of a new direction at C for the Tigers in 2014, but Salvador Perez’s don’t grow on trees. My “hope” for Avila, however, is for next season. I see nothing to indicate the possibility of any breakthrough this season. If there’s a blind squirrel at the plate on this Tigers team, it’s Alex Avila. Please – more starts for Brayan Pena. It’s no compromise defensively, and though Pena might make you think he’s a loose cannon, a hacker, as a hitter, he’s actually more skilled than Avila. The one thing I’ll give the edge to Avila on is eye for the strike zone. Which, unfortunately, is not helping Alex a great deal this season. Seeing it is good. Hitting it is better.

Last 30 (individual) games:

Torii Hunter (hope he’s in the lineup!), team record, HR, RBI, OPS, RE24: 16-14, 7, 22, .936, 9.48.

Victor Martinez (hope he’s at 1B!): 17-13, 4, 22, .929, 8.40.

How good is the above? Miguel Cabrera: 15-15, 13, 27, 1.233, 16.02.

You might say that the Tigers have spent some of June and all of July armed with 2.5 Miggys. A massive improvelence! If you want to be a little more pessimistic about it, look at the team record. Your Honor, I would like to call Prince Fielder and Justin Verlander to the stand.

12 games over .500 is a dizzying height for the Detroit Tigers, in case you didn’t know. It took them until September 29 last season to reach this plateau. Before the season, I called for a 99-63 finish. Reaching that would now require a 42-18 run. Is that possible? With Cabrera out a few more games and maybe a lot more games? With Prince Fielder being Delmon Young? (It would be nice if Fielder turned to Young in October… haven’t forgotten your horrid postseason, Prince, sorry.) With two more weeks – at least – absent Infante-solidity at 2B? With Verlander not merely mortal, but actually struggling? OK, I’ll settle for a more modest 93-69 (while reserving the right to claim credit for the original prediction). 36-24 is way doable. Yes, even with all the above reservations.

Let’s not get overconfident and say that 14-1 Max against the Phillies is going to be like shooting fish in a barrel. Let’s instead rejoice in the fact that Scherzer vs. ANY TEAM can be like shooting fish in a barrel, as good as he’s been and can be. We have the choice of bracing ourselves for a bit of a letdown (aided by the ever-dreaded and ever-possible clown show) or clamoring for the slaughter.

I clamor for the slaughter.

56-45, 1st place, 3 games up on Cleveland.

Well, it was almost euphoria. Maybe you have to live in the Chicago area to relate, but sweeping the White Sox 4 straight in Chicago would have been the equivalent of a World Series championship to me (no matter how the White Sox – or the Tigers for that matter – happen to be doing this season). OK, almost. Hard to believe that JV and Dirks would be the goats keeping such a prize from us, but hey, let’s count our blessings. Heck of a good series, most of it minus Miggy. Bravo, Tigers.

Philadelphia at Detroit. Wow. How often do you get to say that? Philadelphia Athletics? No, Phillies. Hmmm. If the information I have is correct, these two teams have only played each other 12 times. Ever. Last in 2007. Series tied at 6. This weekend’s featured ex-Tiger (there’s always at least one) is “natural RF” (according to the Phillies GM) Delmon Young, who is having a Delmon Young-like season overall and is on a bit of a tear, batting .340 (.809 OPS) over the past month or so.

There’s certainly plenty to discuss. Cabrera’s hip flexor, Omar’s slow recovery, JV’s struggles, Bonderman, Jurjjens (will the Tigers sign Brandon Inge to a minor league deal next? I wouldn’t bet against it), red-hot Victor Martinez and Torii Hunter, the bullpen again though less than before, the bench (a very good bench in my view – wish Lee Panas would write a feature offering comparative analysis here) … the list goes on and on. I’ll get to it. Maybe. Feel free to start without me. Meanwhile, I thought I’d update you on standings in the Game Poster League:

Coleman 21-14
Smoking Loon 17-14
Kevin in Dallas 18-17

I’m counting on this series to position me for the stretch run. (Of course, I’m hoping we all tie at around 33-21.) The good news is that Justin Verlander won’t be pitching. Fister-Scherzer-Porcello. Sounds good to me.

51-42, 1st place, 1.5 games ahead of Cleveland.

OK, that didn’t go so well. I look at it as Scherzer losing 4-1, let down considerably by his teammates. (Is Alburquerque even worth mentioning? No.) The bright spots would seem to be Phil Coke (the inevitable response to being singled out for criticism in a game post – guess we need to keep it up, guys) and an RBI from Hernan Perez. Not much to write home about, as they say. Still a good chance for a series win, especially with Justin the (Ahem) Infallible on the mound.

So where were we at this time (Game 93) last year? It was after the break, and the Tigers were 49-44 (2nd place, 1.5 back of the Wrong Sox) and in the midst of the incredible 13-2 run that put them back on the map. Max Scherzer had just gone to 9-5 (with 4.61 ERA) by shutting down the Angels as Detroit took the home series 3-1 despite one 13-0 drubbing. Quintin Berry was doing an admirable job of filling in for Andy Dirks, as he had doing the same for Austin Jackson. Who could have known Miguel Cabrera was headed for a Triple Crown with such paltry (ha ha) stats as .326, 21 HR, 76 RBI? DH Delmon Young was sitting at .270, 10 HR, 40 RBI, and Alex Avila at .245, 6 HR, 27 RBI, and both were undoubtedly being groused about (who knew?). 2B was being (under)manned by Ramon Santiago and Danny Worth; ironically, at this time there was also no Omar Infante but soon would be.

Does it not strain belief that the 2013 Tigers are only 2 games up on the 2012 Tigers? With the best starting rotation in the AL?? With Torii Hunter in place of Brennan Boesch? With Miguel Greenberg and Hank Cabrera both in the lineup in one person? With Victor Martinez in place of Delmon Young? I can think of only one solution:

Bring Valverde back. One thing I can tell you: He’s done it before, and he’s not afraid.

Mwah ha ha ha ha.

Today’s “Here There Be Tygers” lineup:

CF Jackson
RF Hunter
3B Cabrera
1B Fielder
DH Martinez
SS Peralta
LF Tuiasosopo
C Avila
2B Perez

51-41, 1st place, 2.5 games ahead of Cleveland.

Very good win last night. Only a couple things marred the enjoyment: 1. Will someone please explain why Miggy didn’t catch the foul ball that dropped 10 feet away from him, and am I making too big a deal out of it? 2. What Ortiz did to the Tigers in relief of Grimm would have been less amusing without a 7-2 lead.

Torii Hunter, aptly described by M. Impemba as the wily veteran, constantly amuses us with Wily Veteran Things, most recently two clever, heads-up slides that avoided outs and scored a run. I was high on Hunter to begin with, and he started the year at a torriid pace, but his stock dropped with me after that. I was seeing “solid” numbers that weren’t really translating into W’s. Obviously, he’s been back on track for a while now. I’m acknowledging it.

Bruce Rondon just pitched 4/3 innings like the phenom he was supposed to be. Coleman voiced what many of us were thinking – we might have just witnessed the start of something big. The Tigers Volunteer Fire Department might be about to upgrade from a couple of fire extinguishers and a bunch of leaky buckets to a by golly fire truck.

Prince Fielder legging out that IF single last night is but one of many reasons you can’t get too down on the guy for an extended slump. If the dude in the following paragraph could get down to 1B like that, I would have held my tongue about sitting him. Actually, the way he can play 1B, maybe I should have. He can’t help being a DH and having limited opportunities.

Now that Victor Martinez is starting to silence us critics, we turn our attention to a few other things set to low heat on the debate stove.

Left field. Andy Dirks is a plus defender in LF and can play all over the OF. He was a good hitter with a model swing as recently as early in the season. I like him, don’t really get what’s going on with him at the plate. On the other hand, I was enthralled by Matt Tuiasosopo from the beginning, even before he started to hit in ST. I liked his demeanor and his hustle. He also reminded me of Freddie Mercury, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Not only can Tui hit, but even more impressively, he’s been able to do what he does off the bench, and consistently, and even upon returning from a DL stint. I consider that mighty impressive. Tuiasosopo is average in LF, with a good arm. On the bases, well, he’s certainly not Dirks’s equal. Overall, logically, statistically, it looks like LF should be a timeshare unaffected by silly platoon crap that doesn’t apply. Right? Well, you know how things work in LeylandWorld. It’s hard to win a job, and it’s hard to lose a job, and a position that doesn’t get settled by a trade or free agent signing tends to remain unsettled. Clearly, LF isn’t going to be handed to Tuiasosopo any time soon, and who’s to say that it should be? But man, can that guy hit, and here’s the thing: Aside from Cabrera, Detroit simply doesn’t have that kind of power from the right side (or aside from Fielder, anywhere else). So why the fascination with any LHB LF (without similar power) for “balance”? Does AJax need a lefty for balance? Incidentally, when was the last time there was a fixture in LF for the Tigers? Certainly not during the Leyland Years. The muddle may continue through 2014 or 2015 or…

Ramon Santiago. Why? Hernan Perez, make yourself at home. Oh wait – that’s in my world.

Phil Coke. I like the guy. Don’t really want to see him pitch any more, at least not for the Tigers. Could he maybe become assistant to the bench coach, or something? He’s a very entertaining figure, don’t want to throw away all the talent. Where’s Jose Ortega? Is Evan Reed gone yet?

Tonight it’s Max Scherzer on the hilly mound toeing the rubbery slab, and how can you not have a good feeling about that? Is it jinxing it to say 14-0? I don’t think so. It’s what we’re all thinking. The Rangers missed Scherzer last time around, and this only adds to my good feeling. The last time out against Holland was a loss, a wild one, but he was hammered. It was Miguel’s 3-HR game, and Matt Tuiasosopo drew 4 walks (which I suspect is nearly as rare as a 3-HR game). I like Tigers chances. Kevin aptly points out the importance of perspective in that Rangers fans have “fear of Tigers” much as we suffer from “fear of Rangers.” Let’s continue to shift the balance of fear in a southwesterly direction. Max!!!!

National game tonight, which means radio for us TV-less MLB.tv folk.

Tonight’s “Hammer Time, Der Kommisar Scherzer’s In Town” lineup (stolen from Vince below, who beat me to “stealing” it from Jason Beck by 18 minutes):

1. Austin Jackson, cf
2. Torii Hunter, rf
3. Miguel Cabrera, 3b
4. Prince Fielder, 1b
5. Victor Martinez, dh
6. Jhonny Peralta, ss
7. Matt Tuiasosopo, lf
8. Brayan Pena, c
9. Hernan Perez, 2b

50-41, 1st place, 2.5 ahead of Cleveland.

Onward and upward after a series against the White Sox that was, shall we say, insulting. Now come the Texas Rangers, a formidable opponent that matches up favorably (in their favor, that is) against the Tigers just about any way you look at it. The optimist’s view would be that this is one of those rise to the occasion opportunities.

Ah, the bullpen. When will that third trustworthy arm emerge?

But wait, there’s good news to cheer about. Miguel Cabrera. Max Scherzer. Matt Tuiasosopo. Victor Martinez. Torii Hunter. Yes, the Detroit Tigers are a good team. As frustrating as it can be when the offense is in a funk, or the starting pitching gets a bit soft, or when a bit of defensive or baserunning clown show darkens our view of a team rather average in these respects, the Tigers are a good team. The only thing standing between them and October baseball, aside from catastrophic injuries, is 71 more games with that bullpen. If you think Sanchez was left in too long, all that amounts to is saying that you wish Alburquerque or Coke or Putkonen or (had he been available) Downs would have given up the slam instead. That’s one way of encapsulating the bullpen situation. Another is: Evan Reed. Evan Reed?

Big series ahead. Let’s start it off right. Time for Doug Fister to shake off those first-inning blues and for Justin Grimm to be brought down to earth at Comerica.

Lineup to come, unless the ever-adroit Coleman or new challenger Vince beat me to it.

Tonight’s Bacon Hat lineup:

CF Jackson
RF Hunter
3B Cabrera
1B Fielder
DH Martinez
SS Peralta
LF Dirks
C Avila
2B Santiago

45-38, 1st place again, 0.5 ahead of Cleveland.

Happy 4th of July, everyone. Let us pause to appreciate the value of civil society and all that it took to get here. Let us pause to admire America the Beautiful. Let us pause to consider the possibility of America the More Beautiful.

Max Scherzer is 13-0. Wow. Question: Would we as easily recognize how out of this world consistent and consistently good he has been if he was, say, 9-4 right now? Probably not. It’s one thing to recognize how overrated a stat the W-L of a starter is, and another thing entirely to overthrow how programmed we are to ooh and aah about it. Let me throw something out there: 31-6. If you know what that is, and I’m sure you do, it proves my point. These things end up tattooed on our brains. Recognize 24-5? I’m sure there are others you could pull out of your hat with ease. Do you know Denny McLain’s 1968 WHIP, SO/BB, or FIP off the top of your head? Me, either.

Justin Verlander v. Esmil Rogers tonight. On the face of it, this is a mismatch, but Rogers has been pitching well of late, while Verlander… hasn’t been pitching like Verlander for a while now, notwithstanding all the excuses made for it.

No Miguel Cabrera in the lineup tonight. His back needs the rest. Is it really a turf thing? Don’t know. Being an alarmist, I worry about the possibility of a nagging injury that Miggy will insist on playing through that will drag him down to greater and lesser degrees for the rest of the season. The Tigers can absolutely not afford that. Their lineup has consisted of The Big Two, The Little Five, and the Flat Tire Two. Let there be no doubt that Cabrera and Fielder have carried the offense on their considerable shoulders through 83 games, and Miggy has been the consistent one.

No Omar Infante tonight, either, following his left shin contusion from last night’s game. If that’s all it is, he shouldn’t be out long, and I speak from personal experience on this one. I’m not sold on the “dirtiness” of the Colby Rasmus takeout slide, myself.

It’s nice to see Alex Avila and Victor Martinez having good games. Two months of consistently good performance and I’ll be sold on it, and not until. Half the season is in the books, and these guys are way in the red.

It’s nice that Jim Leyland thinks the bullpen situation is shaping up nicely. To me, the bullpen is still Smyly, Benoit, and Next Please. So much to-do about Which Inning and How Often. What an unnecessary diversion the Valverde Experiment has revealed itself to be, eh? The true cost of all that was using a spot on the staff that would have been better devoted to What’s Working Now and Next Please. Oh, well.

I’m pretty sure that this is the time of year when the Tigers catch fire and start to run away with the division. That’s the script I got, anyway. It all starts with a remarkably successful road trip on the heels of a disappointing home stand.

Jim hasn’t called me back about the lineup yet, so I’ll take a stab at it myself and correct it later. Feel free to join me in the guessing contest.

Tonight’s Independence Day lineup guess:

CF Jackson
LF Dirks
RF Hunter
1B Fielder
DH Martinez
SS Peralta
C Avila
3B Kelly
2B Santiago

44-38, 2nd place, 0.5 GB Cleveland.

Triple-A Tigers All-Stars.

Miggy?

Leyland likes it.

Max’s milestones.

Tonight’s lineup:

CF Jackson
RF Hunter
3B Cabrera
1B Fielder
DH Martinez
SS Peralta
LF Dirks
2B Infante
C Avila

43-38, 2nd place, 0.5 GB Cleveland.

Porcello suspended and Sanchez returning.

Lee Panas checks out the D of C’s in the D.

Long-awaited return of the heavy lumber will save our city.

Long-awaited return of the heavy lumber will save our city, this time without the sarcasm.

Tonight’s lineup:

CF Jackson
RF Hunter
3B Cabrera
1B Fielder
DH Martinez
SS Peralta
LF Dirks
2B Infante
C Avila

43-37, 1st place tie with Cleveland.

The Detroit Tigers first went to 6 games over .500 on May 3 with a dramatic win over the Houston Astros. And here we are at 6 games over .500 again. Hmmm. Quite a few teams would be happy to say that. Hmmm. Tigers. Aren’t they that team with Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder and Justin Verlander? Hmmm.

A Monday day game seems a bit odd, but that’s what they’re doing in Toronto today. For that reason I won’t be able to post the starting lineup. Sorry.

41-32, 1st place, 3 games up on Cleveland, winning streak at 1. Now it’s time for Justin Verlander (vs. Doubront) and the most satisfying series win of the season. Some bench guys are going to get starts today. Count on it, and don’t complain about it. The bench has been good. Tub is Love, and Bench is Good. Considering Miggy’s stats in JV starts, it might be a good time to give him a day off. But I wouldn’t count on it, and that I would complain about.

If we update this:

OFFENSIVE WPA/RE24 HEROES (bold = win) + OPPONENT

GAME 68 JACKSON (BAL) 
GAME 69 JACKSON
GAME 70 TUIASOSOPO
GAME 71 PERALTA (BOS) 
GAME 72 CABRERA

And then update this:

OFFENSIVE WPA/RE24 TURDS (bold = loss) + OPPONENT

GAME 68 PENA (BAL)
GAME 69 CABRERA 
GAME 70 JACKSON 
GAME 71 CABRERA, MARTINEZ (BOS)
GAME 72 FIELDER 

And then tote up all the “best in wins” and “worst in losses,” we might come up with something like this:

OFFENSIVE W-L

TUIASOSOPO 4-0
KELLY 3-0
SANTIAGO 1-0
CABRERA 13-3
JACKSON 4-2
PERALTA 3-2
FIELDER 9-7
AVILA 3-3
PENA 0-0
DIRKS 3-5
MARTINEZ 4-8
HUNTER 1-2
GARCIA 1-2
INFANTE 2-5

If we instead looked at “best in losses” and “worst in wins,” we’d get a look into where team results mask the individual contribution:

THE CONTRARIANS W-L

FISTER 1-0
CABRERA 10-3
TUIASOSOPO 4-2
KELLY 2-1
FIELDER 9-5
PERALTA 3-3
PENA 3-3
JACKSON 2-3
INFANTE 2-4
HUNTER 3-7
AVILA 2-5
GARCIA 1-3
SANTIAGO 0-1
DIRKS 0-6
MARTINEZ 0-6

Much of all that won’t surprise you, but some of it should. For instance: Infante, Hunter, Garcia… all overrated offensively.

If JV is ordinary today, let us hope for more of the extraordinary from the Comerica Strong bats.

POST-GAME: Tigers 7, Red Sox 5. Wow, what a game. Dramatic, start to finish. Couple things: A. 1B Victor Martinez made the defensive play of the year on Jacoby Ellsbury in the 6th, knocking down a ball scorched down the 1B line, getting back on his feet and to the ball quick as a cat, and then scooping the ball from the ground to 1B and into Smyly’s glove without looking, facing away from the play. SENSATIONAL. B. The Tigers sure caught a break in the 8th on RF Daniel Nava’s catch-and-drop that was called an error, huh? But here’s the thing. To the unaided human eye farther away than 10 feet from Nava, that was an error. Not only did Nava not get back on Garcia’s flyball well enough to make a normal catch, but he was pulling the ball out of his glove (and dropping it) before he’d even established that he’d made the catch. 2B ump Mike DiMuro may have blown the call, in retrospect, but what made this possible is that Nava blew the play.

The Tigers kept giving Verlander the lead, and he kept giving it back. Both Felix Doubront and Verlander struggled with their command on this steamy day and took only 5 innings – as long as either lasted – to go over 100 pitches. After that, it was a battle of the bullpens. The centerpiece of Detroit’s 2-run 1st was Cabrera’s blast to dead center (HR everywhere else, ground rule double at Comerica). CF Ellsbury prevented further damage by robbing Peralta of a RCF gap double with a great catch. 7 Red Sox hitters came to the plate in the two-run Boston 2nd that set the always-in-trouble tone for Verlander’s outing. The Tigers 2nd was a gutsy one. After Infante’s CS/pickoff left the bases empty, 2 outs, Holaday and Jackson came though, and Holaday came in to score on C Ryan Lavarnway’s lazy PB. 3-2 Tigers. The Red Sox 3rd was on the defense. How Peralta and Infante weren’t charged with throwing errors I have no idea, but their clown show helped make it 3-3. With help from Verlander’s strike three called a ball on Mike Napoli. In the 4th, another bluff from crafty Hunter prevented Lavarnway from scoring from 1B on the Ellsbury double, which was big until the next AB, when he scored for a 4-3 Boston lead anyway. In the Tigers 4th, with the bases loaded, RF Victorino bounced off the RF corner wall while making a great catch on Hunter’s deep (just foul) flyball. The post-5th battle of the bullpens was close and tense for a while. Smyly was in a spot of trouble in the 7th, two on and none out. Napoli flied out to Garcia, and Dustin Pedroia had the nerve to tag from 2B. Garcia had him nailed on a perfect throw to 3B, but Cabrera never had it and lost it on the tag, yet another uncharged Tigers error. But Smyly pitched out of the jam. It all started to fall apart for the Red Sox in the 7th. Strange play there. Jackson on 1B, Hunter hits a soft liner that 2B Pedroia drops. Pedroia picks up the ball and runs toward 1B, Jackson retreats to 1B, Pedroia throws to Napoli who tags Jackson at the bag, shortly followed (or preceded?) by Hunter crossing 1B. It ends with Hunter out, Jackson still at 1B. Evidently, Pedroia should have gone to 2B, lost the force there by failing to. Or maybe it was Napoli not tagging Jackson before Hunter got to 1B. I don’t know. Anyway, Tigers load the bases but only tie the game at 4-4 by virtue of an Andrew Miller HBP on Peralta. Remember the great catch by Victorino? He hurt his back. That’s why Nava comes in and strikes out with Ellsbury on 2B against Benoit to end the Red Sox 8th, and that’s why Nava was in RF to make the (official) two-base error that began the Tigers winning 8th. Karma! After Red Sox manager John Farrell was ejected arguing the Nava call, his bullpen collapsed. Miller, Wilson, Breslow. Hunter knocked in the go-ahead run with a sac fly, and Fielder came through with a based-loaded single to make it 7-4. The Benoit 9th was not relaxing, but it ended. He struck out Ortiz. He allowed a run. Hunter ended the game in style with a tumbling catch of Stephen Drew’s liner to RCF. Lost in all the excitement: A truly horrid day from Martinez at the plate. Back at it already.

ALL-STAR TEAM

C Holaday
1B Napoli
2B Pedroia
SS Drew
3B Cabrera
LF Garcia
CF Jackson
RF Hunter
DH Fielder

P Smyly

RULE 5 DRAFT PICK: Jacoby Ellsbury

DFA: Daniel Nava

40-32, 1st place, 3 games ahead of Cleveland, losing streak at 1. Phooey on the Red Sox and their silly beards.

The good great news is that Jose Valverde has been DFA. The talk of repairing him down yonder is just to soften the blow. No freaking way he pitches in a Tigers uniform again, ever. Al-Al is back, and that might be good news, not sure. Thus concludes the good news portion of our broadcast. AJax, out yesterday with “soreness,” has become A-Glass. With Tui on the DL and the well-known “durability” of Andy Dirks, I don’t think Avisail Garcia will be spending much more time in Toledo this season, but he is playing as though he might wish to.

Max Scherzer gets the call tonight. Will he answer it or be the next domino to fall? Beware the Unknown Struggling Rookie looming in the headlights dead ahead. We have learned to fear things like “11.74 ERA” by now.

The Detroit Tigers have played .500 baseball since May 8. The Detroit Tigers have played .500 baseball since May 8. Oh, did I repeat myself?

And now, the flip side of yesterday’s “offensive hero” list:

OFFENSIVE WPA/RE24 TURDS (thru 67 games, bold = loss) + OPPONENT

GAME 1 AVILA (MIN)
GAME 2 FIELDER 
GAME 3 FIELDER 
GAME 4 PERALTA (NYY)
GAME 5 MARTINEZ, SANTIAGO
GAME 6 INFANTE, MARTINEZ 
GAME 7 PERALTA (TOR)
GAME 8 AVILA 
GAME 9 DIRKS
GAME 10 MARTINEZ (OAK) 
GAME 11 JACKSON, MARTINEZ
GAME 12 INFANTE
GAME 13 AVILA (SEA)
GAME 14 INFANTE 
GAME 15 AVILA
GAME 16 FIELDER (LAA) 
GAME 17 JACKSON, INFANTE 
GAME 18 MARTINEZ 
GAME 19 JACKSON (KCR)
GAME 20 MARTINEZ 
GAME 21 PERALTA. PENA (ATL)
GAME 22 FIELDER
GAME 23 FIELDER
GAME 24 INFANTE (MIN)
GAME 25 DIRKS
GAME 26 MARTINEZ 
GAME 27 PENA (HOU)
GAME 28 HUNTER
GAME 29 FIELDER, JACKSON
GAME 30 CABRERA
GAME 31 AVILA (WSN) 
GAME 32 HUNTER 
GAME 33 HUNTER (CLE)
GAME 34 CABRERA, JACKSON 
GAME 35 MARTINEZ 
GAME 36 CABRERA (HOU)
GAME 37 HUNTER, GARCIA
GAME 38 CABRERA, FIELDER 
GAME 39 HUNTER (TEX) 
GAME 40 KELLY, HUNTER
GAME 41 INFANTE 
GAME 42 DIRKS, MARTINEZ 
GAME 43 TUIASOSOPO (CLE)
GAME 44 INFANTE, MARTINEZ
GAME 45 DIRKS, PENA (MIN)
GAME 46 MARTINEZ
GAME 47 GARCIA, DIRKS 
GAME 48 DIRKS
GAME 49 GARCIA (PIT)
GAME 50 DIRKS 
GAME 51 PERALTA, INFANTE 
GAME 52 DIRKS 
GAME 53 PERALTA (BAL) 
GAME 54 DIRKS, AVILA
GAME 55 AVILA 
GAME 56 MARTINEZ, HUNTER (TBR)
GAME 57 FIELDER, GARCIA 
GAME 58 DIRKS
GAME 59 FIELDER (CLE)
GAME 60 MARTINEZ, GARCIA
GAME 61 INFANTE, AVILA
GAME 62 INFANTE, FIELDER (KCR) 
GAME 63 HUNTER
GAME 64 MARTINEZ 
GAME 65 HUNTER, TUIASOSOPO (MIN)
GAME 66 DIRKS 
GAME 67 FIELDER

I wouldn’t make too much of a certain name coming up 14 times. I’m sure Gary Martinez, I mean Victor Sheffield, I mean Victor Martinez has just been a bit rusty and will soon get going, as we all wish he would, though perhaps in different ways. Maybe we can blame Brennan “11” Dirks instead.

Shut them down, Max! Please.

POST-GAME: Tigers 10, Red Sox 3. Now THAT’S what I’m talkin’ about. The historic Max Scherzer (first Tigers starter ever to start the season 11-0, first in 16 years in MLB) gave up a couple quick runs in the 1st, including a David Ortiz bomb, but thereafter was dominant, not in a highlight reel kind of way, but in the best and most frustrating way to the opponent (or their fans – we’ve been there, eh?) – effective and effectively untouchable. The Tigers came out strong right away against rookie Allen Webster, fill-in for injured Clay Buchholz, and loaded the bases for Fielder. Who struck out. Leaving this up to Martinez was not what we had in mind, But leave it to Victor to have a sensational game after a 7 for 45. He took a Webster pitch to the railing in RF. GRAND SLAM. Given the lead, Max cruised. Webster wasn’t so bad through 4.1, striking out 5 (he even struck out the side in that damaging 1st), but when he came out, the Tigers piled on against long man Franklin Morales, who left the game (injured?) after Infante’s HR with new OBP sensation V-Mart aboard made it 9-2 in the 7th. Alburquerque came in for the 8th and worked himself into and out of a jam, and Putkonen pitched a somewhat rocky 9th that would have been easier (and possibly scorelesser) without Jhonny Solid’s uncharacteristically poor relay throw on a would-be GIDP off the bat of Mike Carp. I like 10-2 better than 10-3, but I’ll take either. The Tigers hitting was Comerica Hot, with 11 of the 15 hits off the bats of Jackson, Hunter, and – gak – Martinez (5 RBI, after all those mean things we said about him) and Dirks! The 5 walks didn’t hurt, either. Jackson was the defensive equivalent of Country Strong (Nationwide?) in CF. New nemesis Jose Iglesias was de-nemesized when his extension of single to double resulted in a tumble over the bag and a Hunter-to-Peralta putout that reduced a possible-stress inning for Scherzer to dust. Fielder had a bad day, missing out on two prime opportunities to turn this into a blowout of Astro-Proportion. The running joke of the series is RF Shane Victorino now twice throwing to 1B on Cabrera singles (it’s going to work eventually if Miggy isn’t careful), and Hunter and Ortiz played off this joke later in the game when Ortiz singled.

ALL-STAR TEAM

C Pena
1B Carp
2B Infante
SS Drew
3B Cabrera
LF Dirks
CF Jackson (oh, he’s bad… he’s Nationwide)
RF Hunter
DH Martinez
P Scherzer

RULE 5 DRAFT PICK: David Ortiz

DFA: Franklin Morales

40-31, 1st place, 4 games ahead of Cleveland, winning streak at 1.

Matt Tuiasosopo was supposed to start in LF yesterday, but was held out because of “intercostal” something or other. Is that a religious injury of some kind? I’m not sure what this means for the upcoming games, but I don’t like it. Meanwhile, Avisail Garcia was “sent down” to Toledo to make room for Jose Alvarez. I’m not sure if he actually goes to Toledo physically or not. Could be that they just “send down” Alvarez and “bring up” Garcia again now, and repeat the whole silly process for the next Alvarez start. Maybe they’re both staying in a Detroit hotel room with a “Toledo” sign on the door.

The starters have been a bit wobbly lately. 10 strikeouts notwithstanding, even Scherzer’s last outing was wobbly. Time for Judge Doug Fister to restore some order in the courtroom here.

WPA and RE24 have some limitations. Defense counts for nothing, and I don’t see them being analogously applicable to pitching as with some other stats (BAA, for instance). However, they are magically delicious when it comes to a game by game analysis of offensive impact and productive at bats. If you note nothing else from the list below, please note that every position player is on it, starter to bench. It is not opinion but fact that Don Kelly was the unquestionable offensive star of Game 27 against the Astros, as unlikely as it may seem that Kelly would ever be such, and you may look up the box score and full play-by-play if you doubt it. Of course, some names will be harder to miss than others. Looks like a couple of guys are earning those big paychecks. Behold the magical deliciousness:

OFFENSIVE WPA/RE24 HEROES (thru 67 games, bold = win) + OPPONENT

GAME 1 FIELDER (MIN)

GAME 2 CABRERA

GAME 3 JACKSON

GAME 4 FIELDER (NYY)

GAME 5  CABRERA

GAME 6 TUIASOSOPO

GAME 7 CABRERA (TOR)

GAME 8 PERALTA

GAME 9 AVILA. FIELDER

GAME 10 FIELDER (OAK)

GAME 11 FIELDER

GAME 12 JACKSON

GAME 13 CABRERA (SEA)

GAME 14 TUIASOSOPO

GAME 15 FIELDER

GAME 16 CABRERA (LAA)

GAME 17 FIELDER, CABRERA

GAME 18 FIELDER

GAME 19 INFANTE (KCR)

GAME 20 INFANTE, HUNTER

GAME 21 MARTINEZ, TUIASOSOPO (ATL)

GAME 22 INFANTE

GAME 23 JACKSON, CABRERA

GAME 24 FIELDER. DIRKS (MIN)

GAME 25 CABRERA, FIELDER

GAME 26 CABRERA

GAME 27 KELLY (HOU)

GAME 28 AVILA

GAME 29 CABRERA

GAME 30 FIELDER, DIRKS

GAME 31 PERALTA, FIELDER (WSN)

GAME 32 TUIASOSOPO

GAME 33 AVILA, CABRERA (CLE)

GAME 34 INFANTE, PERALTA

GAME 35 PENA

GAME 36 DIRKS (HOU)

GAME 37 SANTIAGO, MARTINEZ

GAME 38 TUIASOSOPO, GARCIA

GAME 39 KELLY, CABRERA (TEX)

GAME 40 CABRERA

GAME 41 HUNTER

GAME 42 FIELDER, CABRERA

GAME 43 CABRERA, DIRKS (CLE)

GAME 44 CABRERA

GAME 45 CABRERA (MIN)

GAME 46 CABRERA, DIRKS

GAME 47 PENA, HUNTER

GAME 48 GARCIA

GAME 49 MARTINEZ, PERALTA (PIT)

GAME 50 AVILA

GAME 51 CABRERA, KELLY

GAME 52 FISTER (yes, batting)

GAME 53 CABRERA (BAL)

GAME 54 PERALTA, TUIASOSOPO

GAME 55 FIELDER

GAME 56 FIELDER, TUIASOSOPO (TBR)

GAME 57 AVILA

GAME 58 MARTINEZ

GAME 59 HUNTER (CLE)

GAME 60 FIELDER 

GAME 61 KELLY

GAME 62 CABRERA (KCR)

GAME 63 CABRERA, KELLY

GAME 64 PENA, FIELDER

GAME 65 FIELDER (MIN)

GAME 66 FIELDER

GAME 67 JACKSON, HUNTER

 

POST-GAME: Red Sox 10, Tigers 6. As the score might indicate… we will have nothing to say about missed opportunities and Fielder going 0 for 5 with 13 double plays. This one’s on the pitching. Fister was fooling no one. Not terrible, but bad enough to be gone in the 4th, by which time it was 6-0 Boston. Balls just kept finding holes through the infield. This will happen to groundball pitchers, especially on this team. Jon Lester was not sharp, either, though the Tigers kept finding ways to beat themselves against him. The drama in this one boiled down to two innings. Tigers 5th: Down 6-1 and seemingly on the road to hopelessness, Dirks homered to Belle Tire, and Cabrera took a Lester change-up deep for 3 runs, and suddenly it was a ballgame again, 6-5 Red Sox. Red Sox 8th: With the Tigers down 7-5, men on 2nd and 3rd after Phil “I Told You So” Coke was brought in for a second inning against all reason, new arrival Alburquerque came in and actually pitched well. And yet 2 more Boston runs scored, first on a close play at the plate (I think Saltalamacchia was safe) that drawn-in Peralta and Pena weren’t quite equal to, and then on a mere squib of a WP and another play at the plate that Al-Al and Pena weren’t quite equal to. There were good defensive plays. In the 3rd, Miggy charged – see what can happen when you CHARGE a tapper, Miguel? – and made a great barehand and throw to nail Pedroia at 1B (though a run scored from 3B). In the 5th, Hunter’s bullet throw from RF doubled off Mike Napoli at 1B (yet another close play). There was bad, as in Garcia, formerly known as “CF Of The Future,” muffing an altogether routine single in the 9th and allowing a run to score from 1B in the process. All in all, though, it was a game where the Tigers were a day late and a dollar short on defense. Downs got a big DP in relief of Fister and an impressive 3-pitch K on Ellsbury, and was OK in his long relief, despite giving up what seemed at the time a crucial run. Coke had a nice 7th and should have said goodbye thereafter. Evan “White Flag” Reed (good call, Coleman) pitched the 9th and had your average white flag inning, again demonstrating the Tigers surplus of eminently hittable pitchers with “great stuff.” Shane Victorino was a one-man wrecking crew, reaching 5 times with 5 RBI. Cabrera deserved a better outcome on a fine 4 for 4 evening himself.

ALL-STAR TEAM

C Pena
1B Napoli
2B Pedroia
SS Drew
3B Cabrera
LF Dirks
CF Ellsbury
RF Victorino
DH Ortiz
P Breslow

RULE 5 DRAFT PICK: Jose Iglesias

DFA: Avisail Garcia