Well, this series didn’t exactly start well last night, although it did have its interesting moments.  Delmon Young swapped jerseys, and began his Tiger career with a HR off of his previous team (the last time someone did that was Dave Martinez in 2000.  Aren’t we lucky there are people who look these kind of things up?).  In related news, Lester Oliveros was already named as the player-to-be-named-later today.  Hardly qualifies as later.  The circumstances of Young’s team-switching were actually a bit humorous.

Jim Thome hit HR #599, then #600 off of Dan Schlereth, and got a nice ovation from the classy Comerica crowd. It figures he would reach the milestone against the Tigers. As Chris said, congratulations–now retire already.

And Raburn was…well Raburn.  He hit a home run, but also made an error that led to 2 unearned runs, and had another clownish play where he ended up sitting on 2B instead of turning a DP.

At any rate, no use dwelling on that, it’s Verlander night.  The Tiger rotation has again begun to devolve into Verlander and a bunch of Other Guys;  despite his great season, the Tigers are only 11th in the AL in team ERA.  In fact, I decided to take a look at how the Tigers compare to other teams with their 2nd best starter:

• LAA 2.96 Dan Haren
• NYY 3.16 Freddy Garcia
• TBR 3.22 Jeremy Hellickson
• TEX 3.28 CJ Wilson
• BOS 3.32 John Lester
• SEA 3.45 Erick Bedard
• OAK 3.62 Brandon McCarthy
• CHW 3.67 Phll Humber
• CLE 3.97 Josh Tomlin
• TOR 4.11 Jesse Litch
• KCR 4.15 Bruce Chen
• MIN 4.36 Nick Blackburn
• DET 4.37 Max Scherzer
• BAL 4.66 Zach Britton

So after Verlander, the Tiger rotation starts off in the realm of Baltimore and Minnesota, and goes down from there (the Tigers can’t compete with the worst 4 and 5 guys though–there are a few truly awful ones out there).

Verlander draws Minnesota’s 2nd best starter Nick Blackburn (7-9, 4.36).

Player of the Pre-game:  Justin Verlander

Watching last night’s infield play from the dugout, Verlander says, “Really?”

Tonight Raburn and Betemit are out, Santiago and Kelly in.

Today’s Boesch-is-Baeck Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Brennan Boesch RF
3. Delmon Young LF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez DH
6. Alex Avila C
7. Jhonny Peralta SS
8. Don Kelly 3B
9. Ramon Santiago 2B

Detroit failed to get the series sweep last night in Baltimore, but the Tigers are still 8 games over .500 (64-56)–even though they have only scored 533 runs while giving up 547.  Their Pythagorean win loss record (which uses runs scored and given up to calculate expected record) is 59-61, which means the Tigers should be in 3rd place, a game behind the White Sox.  (Although, actually, somehow every team in the Central should have a worse record than it does).

One way to look at those numbers is to say the Tigers have just plain been lucky–and consequently, can’t be expected to continue winning at the same rate all season.

On the other hand, Detroit has been doing two things that winning teams do–they have been defeating their division opponents, and they have been winning the close games:  the Tigers are 19-13 in 1-run games, and 26-16 against Central Division opponents.

Tonight Detroit comes home to start a 3-game series against Minnesota, who has lately been a favorite Central opponent:  Detroit has won 12 of the last 13 games between the two rivals, and has averaged 6.3 runs per game against them this season.

Tonight’s starter, Francisco Liriano, has seen his share of the damage, managing less than 6 total innings for his two starts, while giving up 8 runs.

Tiger starter Rick Porcello looks to get back on track after getting knocked for 8 runs by Cleveland his last start.

**breaking news, Delmon Young will be darting across the field to exchange jerseys: The Tigers have acquired Young from the Twins for Cole Nelson and a player to be named later. And he steps right into the starting lineup!

Player of the Pre-game:  Victor Martinez

V-Mart has been one of the hotter Tiger bats over the last 2 weeks (.366), and his career average against Liriano is a nice fat .476.

Today’s Look Who’s 3rd Lineup:

Austin Jackson CF
Ryan Raburn 2B
Delmon Young LF
Miguel Cabrera 1B
Victor Martinez DH
Jhonny Peralta SS
Magglio Ordonez RF
Alex Avila C
Wilson Betamit 3B

Six consecutive two out hits last night, including Cabrera’s first HR since July 28th, turned the tables on Cy Guthrie and got the boys to a season high 9 games over .500.  Weather permitting (there is a 100% chance of rain in Baltimore today), the Tigers will look to go 10 games over .500.

Kudos to the pitching staff…despite severe troubles at the plate, the Tigers are 8-4 over their last 12, though only scoring 3.5 runs per game.  I did not know that it was this bad.  The Tigers look for their first win in over two weeks by more than a run.

Neat article in today’s Freep about Inge’s time at Toledo.  Though I don’t think the article will help him to hit a big league fastball.

Guillen to the DL.  Not necessarily a bad thing.  He’s not helping any in the lineup.  Rhymes up, Santiago to start today.

As Peralta, Avila and Betemit mash the ball today, just remind yourself, “Austin Jackson and his 85 OPS+ will get one additional potentially crucial AB in the 8th or 9th that these .300 hitters will not get.”

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Andy Dirks, LF
3. Magglio Ordonez, RF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Jhonny Peralta, SS
7. Ryan Raburn, 3B
8. Alex Avila, C
9. Ramon Santiago, 2B

The Tigers managed only 5 runs despite 19 base runners in 42 PAs, and a respectable 4-12 RISP.  Benoit to Valverde has been nails as of late.

Mad Max goes for win number 12 (didn’t he have 8 wins in April or something) tonight against Jeremy Guthrie.

Perhaps the most important event yesterday happened before the game, when AlAl was beaned by an line drive during BP.  He spent the night in the hospital and his been placed on the 7 day concussion list.  He was released today, but no word on a return date.  Boesch is still day-to-day.

JLs let’s make sure our poorest hitters get the most ABs don’t argue with me we’re in first place lineup is:

1. Jackson CF
2. Dirks LF
3. Ordonez RF
4. Cabrera 1B
5. Martinez DH
6. Peralta SS
7. Avila C
8. Raburn 2B
9. Betemit 3B

Tigers look to get to .500 on the road.

Last July 16 the Tigers, in a virtual tie for first with Minnesota, came out of the all-star break on a 3-day trip to Cleveland, were swept, and never came near first again.  And Detroit hasn’t won at Cleveland since.

During this Cleveland trip Detroit has seen its Central lead slip from 4 to 2, with one more game left at Progressive field.  Could this be a deja-vu sweep, and if so can the Tigers recover?

One doesn’t have to go far for a bit of optimism.  Because…Justin Verlander.  (Of course last year’s series featured a Verlander start also–he gave up 3 in the 1st inning and lost.  But that wasn’t 2011 Verlander).  Feeling pessimistic? Verlander’s career record in Cleveland:  4-8, 6.31.  An interesting matchup will be Verlander vs rookie 2B Jason Kipnis, who has never faced him.  Kipnis went 5-5 last night and is hitting .364 over his last 10 games.  Tiger fans gaze out to 2nd with a sigh of envy…

Facing Verlander will be Fausto Carmona, perhaps best known to Detroit fans as the guy who played a knuckle tune on Gary Sheffield’s head.  Carmona is having a lackluster 5-11, 5.19 season.

Boesch will sit out the game with a sore thumb (no indication how much more time he will miss if any), which means we get to play Raburn Roulette in LF.

ESPN covers the Tigers today in its daily look at playoff contenders. Terry Foster says the Tigers will win the division–if Leyland changes the batting order. (Still, he can’t resist leaving Jackson in the leadoff spot).

Player of the Pre-game:  Austin Jackson

He has already struck out 39 times this season leading off, nobody else comes close (27 is next highest).  Add to that an OBP of a meager .267, and it may be time to try moving him elsewhere in the lineup.

Today’s Special K Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Ryan Raburn LF
3. Magglio Ordonez RF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez DH
6. Jhonny Peralta SS
7. Carlos Guillen 2B
8. Alex Avila C
9. Wilson Betemit 3B

What a game, and what a way to lose a game, with a walk-off HBP.

Although losing tough ones at Progressive field has become something of a habit:  the Tigers have lost 12 straight there, and all 4 this season–and all of them Cleveland has won it its final at bat.

I blame the rain.  For the 2nd time in a row, the Tiger bats went dead following a rain delay.  In fact the Tigers have only scored 1 run in their last 14 post-rain-delay innings.

As frustrating as the loss was, there were some things to cheer about:  the Tigers played good defense almost the whole game, with standout plays by Brennan Boesch and Miguel Cabrera (the 14th inning play by Guillen, not so much).  But mostly, it was the much-maligned bullpen, which came up huge.  For 11 innings, from the 2nd to the 13th, Below, Schlereth, Coke, Alburquerque, and Benoit combined for 11 innings, giving up only 2 hits, with 3 walks and 12 strikeouts.

That’s the 2nd sparkling appearance in a row for Below.  If he turns out to be a revelation the same way that Alburquerque has, the Tigers could end up with an impressive bullpen.

The bad news is that there isn’t much relief left for tonight, so Rick Porcello will take the mound and attempt to bring it all the way to Valverde.  Porcello is on a hot streak right now: he is 5-0, 3.26 over his last 6 starts, and has the confidence of the team behind him. “Every time he goes out there now, we really feel we’re going to win,” says Brennan Boesch.  Perhaps most impressive lately has been his control–he has only walked 2 in his last 26 innings pitched.  This should help him work late into the game.

We didn’t get to see much of our trade-deadline catch Doug Fister last night.  Tonight Cleveland brings out its deadline darling, Ubaldo Jimenez.  He had a rough go of it in his first outing for Cleveland, giving up 5 runs to Texas, and more importantly, only lasting 5 innings (Cleveland’s bullpen is in as bad a shape as ours tonight).

In other news:  He’ll be back…Brandon Inge says the Tigers assured him he would be back with the team on Sept 1.

Player of the Pre-game:  Alex Avila

Avila caught all 14 innings last night.  With Martinez still having a sore knee, He’ll strap on the gear again tonight.

Today’s Iron-man-Avila Lineup:

1. Andy Dirks CF
2. Brennan Boesch LF
3. Magglio Ordonez RF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez DH
6. Ryan Raburn 2B
7. Alex Avila C
8. Wilson Betemit 3B
9. Ramon Santiago SS

The manager has been extended, the GM has been extended,  and with a 3-game series against Cleveland beginning tonight,  there is an opportunity for the division lead to be extended.

The Tigers took advantage of their last off-day of the month to announce that the contract of manager Jim Leyland has been extended through 2012, and President/CEO/GM Dave Dombrowski through 2015.  Dombrowski said that more than a 1-year deal for Leyland was never discussed, and was never requested by Leyland.

Dombrowski also stressed that the rest of the front office was extended–Al Avila (asst GM), Scott Reid (top scout), John Westhoff (attorney, contract negotiations), and David Chadd (amateur scout), and said getting the deal done now was important because this is the time of year other teams start asking around about personnel, and you risk someone jumping to another organization.

Reaction to the extensions in the media has been mixed–Drew Sharp likes the idea, Terry Foster doesn’t–as I’m sure it will be here.

As if on cue, the newly-extended Tigers front office followed up today by announcing they have signed their first 2011 draft pick, catcher James McCann from Arkansas.

In tonight’s first of three (and first of 12 remaining this season) against the Indians, Detroit’s trade-deadline catch Doug Fister takes the mound for the 2nd time as a Tiger. His first outing was a solid 3-runs in 7 innings against the tough Texas offense, which means he’s already done more for the team than the 2009 deadline darling, Jarrod Washburn.  Fister draws a tough match-up in Justin Masterson (9-7, 2.63), who faced Fister in Seattle April 9 and came out on top 2-1.

Player of the Pre-game: Carlos Guillen and Alex Avila (tie).

Right now the hottest bat on the team belongs to Alex Avila, who has on On-Base Percentage of .441 over the last 2 weeks.  The coldest bat belongs to Carlos Guillen (.154 OBP).  Guillen bats in front of Avila.  Whether or not Guillen manages to get on base could have a big effect on the outcome of the game.

Today’s Return-of-V-Mart Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Brennan Boesch LF
3. Andy Dirks RF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez DH
6. Jhonny Peralta SS
7. Carlos Guillen 2B
8. Alex Avila C
9. Don Kelly 3B