Tonight the Tigers look to stop a two-game home losing streak, after a memorable pitching collapse left them buried in yesterday’s game.  After a Bad Penny beginning,  which featured a heated shouting match between Penny and catcher Victor Martinez, (Penny says it was no big deal, just about the timing of  the signs) the Tigers came back to pull within one run of the Angels.

Enter David Purcey.  For the 3rd appearance in a row, he was completely unable to throw strikes, and was finally pulled mid-batter with a 2-0 count and the bases loaded.  Phil Coke was called on to save the Tigers from this dire situation, but…not so much.

Although Purcey couldn’t find the strike zone,  he at least won today’s Captain Obvious award.  After the game Purcey said “I didn’t come in and do my job. I just didn’t get it done.”

The only pitcher who was any good yesterday was Chance Ruffin.  After the game  the Tigers sent Chance Ruffin back to Toledo, and recalled Daniel Schlereth.  Nice job Chance; now get out of here (I do get the tactical reasons for the move:  Chance probably wouldn’t be available the rest of the series anyway;  they want a left-hander since Purcey won’t be available;  they can’t send Purcey to the minors because he is out of options).

As far as any big changes, since the trade deadline is two days away:  the Tigers are said to be still interested in Kuroda,  but Kuroda is said to be very restrictive about which teams he would waive his no-trade clause for, and would be unlikely to approve a trade to Detroit or Cleveland.

The Tigers are rumored to be inquiring about Ubaldo Jimenez, but supposedly the Rockies would want Jacob Turner and Rick Porcello. Good luck with that one.

The very latest rumor has the Tigers–and the Indians–pursuing a deal with the Nationals for Jason Marquis. The number of rumors involving both clubs adds an extra element of intrigue to things: either team can simultaneously pick up some help, and prevent its rival from doing so.

Porcello will take the mound tonight against the Angels.  Or he will pace the dugout while the tarp lies over the mound–rain is in the forecast.  Porcello has won 4 consecutive starts,  with a combined ERA of 3.33.  And the cooler temperatures might help his sinker.  On the other hand, his career ERA vs the Angels is a hefty 7.40.

The Tigers will be facing dreaded Rookie Pitcher Guy, this one named Tyler Chatwood (6-6, 3.64).  He has had some command issues, so maybe he’ll get all Purcey tonight.

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Daniel Schlereth

Schlereth will likely see action in tonight’s game, with lefties Purcey and Coke both used yesterday, and Alburquerque still day-to-day with elbow inflammation.  He was sent down to Toledo in the first place because he was having trouble finding the strike zone.  We can’t afford for him to pull a Purcey.

Today’s Switchy Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Andy Dirks RF
3. Brennan Boesch LF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez DH
6. Carlos Guillen 2B
7. Alex Avila C
8. Wilson Betemit 3B
9. Ramon Santiago SS

The Tigers couldn’t manage anything against Cy Danks, and now they get to turnaround and start a 4-game series with the Angels against Joel Pineiro, who held Detroit to 1 run on 5 hits on the 4th of July.  The Angels have an AL best team ERA (3.28), and 1.61 over their last 7 games, including last night’s no-hitter against the Indians.

Despite last night’s lack of offense, the Tigers as a team have been hitting well–over their last 9 games Detroit is hitting .291.

Since it’s a day game, the Tigers send out Brad Penny.  Penny has somehow managed to end up with 14 of his 21 starts during the day.

In other news, Detroit still seems to be a player in the Hiroki Kuroda rumors as the trade deadline approaches.  (Kuroda pitched 6 innings of 1-run baseball against Colorado yesterday).  Danny Knobler of CBS Sports reports that the Dodgers have scouts watching the Tigers A-ball team

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Don Kelly

The Donkey was profiled in the New York Times of all places.

Today’s Rain-Repelling Lineup:

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

Loved that win yesterday.  JV fought through 2 bombs to keep the Tigers in it, and Betemit came through with a clutch 2 out RBI to win the ball game.  The way JV was gearing up in the 8th, I think he could have gone 9, but giving the ball to Valverde was the right move.  Bravo Jimmy. More JL props for leaving JV in there in the 8th after the 1 out walk with Konerko coming up.

I’d also like to point out that Jackson took the first pitch in all 5 ABs last night, and only swung and missed twice.  That K in the 9th sure looked like a walk to me.

Tigers look to payback the White Sox by taking the rubber game, and the series in Chicago.  I’m setting this to auto-post, so if there’s no lineup posted here, someone please fill it in for us.

My fantasy Tigers lineup against a righty:

1. Guillen, 2B.  He’s second on the team in OBP.  Moving him up in the lineup would mean an additional base runner every two games for Cabrera.

2. Maggs, RF.  He’s hitting .321 with a .386 OPS over the past month, and though his power is gone, he can go the other way and make contact when he needs to.  I realize that Peralta would be a tremendous fit here (or anywhere for that matter) but let’s not ruin a good thing.

3. Brennan Boesch, LF.   I really debated putting Martinez here, but I think that Boesch is still spooked by that Tampa series last year where Cabrera was walked in three straight games to load the bases for Boesch, and Boesch struck out or meekly grounded out in each at bat.

4. Cabrera, 1B.  Tough call here, but Cabrera gets the nod over Brutus from Baseball Stars.

5. Martinez, DH.  I get the impression that he gets much more respect protecting Cabrera than Boesch would (for now, anyway), and he’s got a .902 OPS with RISP.

6. Peralta, SS.  Speaking of RISP, dude is mashing to the tune of .337/.400/.526 with RISP. Where would we be this year without Jhonny Peralta?  Not in first place, that’s for sure.

7. Avila, C.  I don’t think that Avila is going to hit this half like he did in the first half, but he’ll still be an above average Catcher.

8. Betemit, 3B.  Best we can do.

9. Jackson, CF.  He’s an excellent defensive outfielder and one day he’ll learn how to take a pitch. That’s just not gonna happen this year.

JV versus Peavy tonight.  Peavy’s numbers have been sub-par all year, and even worse as of late.  His peripherals are not all that bad, posting a 1.26 WHIP and decent 7 K/9 against a 2.08 BB/9 for the year.  He’s 0-3 with a 7.16 ERA and 1.71 WHIP over his last three starts.

JV is actually better on the road than at home, going 6-2 with a 1.98 ERA over 10 road starts this year.  He’s in the top 3 in the AL in wins, Ks, ERA, BAA, and H/9.

Historically the Tigers do not hit Peavy, and Cabrera is a meager 2-23 against him for his career. I don’t think that lasts past tonight.

Tonight’s JL doesn’t care what I think lineup:

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

Tigers head to the Windy city after benefiting from a friendly series with the Twins.  They find themselves a season high 2 games up in the central, and with an opportunity to do more damage to a division foe.

Heavy dose of trade rumors to discuss, the most interesting being a report that the Marlins are interested in Brandon Inge.  The return could be closer Leo Nunez.  With Al Al’s emergence and Benoit hitting stride, a closer really doesn’t make sense.  Inge has a no trade clause and is a 10 & 5 guy to boot, so we may be stuck with him regardless of any interest.

Continuing, the Tigers are thought to be aggressively pursuing Kuroda (thumbs up), Guthrie (pass), Harang (prob gonna stay in SD) and Vargas or Fister (…interesting), talking about Volquez (yes, if we can keep Turner) and Marquis (meh), and still asking about Ubaldo Jimenez. Would you part with Jacob Turner for Jimenez?  I would.

Tigers are also reportedly talking to Baltimore about Kenji Uehara, but I just don’t get that one.

Duane Below makes his second career start tonight.  He was good enough against Oakland last week but suffered a bit of bad luck as an error led to two unearned runs and he left in the 5th after giving up 5 hits and walking 1 while striking out 2.

Tigers called up 2010 draft pick and fellow Longhorn Chance Ruffin today, sending Lester Oliveros oli way down to Toledo.  Ruffin is a hard throwing former college closer who struck out 11.5/9 in stints at Erie and Toledo.  His boss dad knows a little something about pitching in the bigs.

What’s it going to take to put Boesch into the 3 hole and slide Maggs into the 2 hole?  Seems like a better fit considering their contact/power splits as well as the R/L/R/S we could pencil in every night.

Tonight’s Uh-Oh Jimmy is Screwing with Avila in the Lineup Now, Lineup is:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Boesch, LF
3. Maggs, RF
4. Cabrera, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Peralta, SS
7. Guillen, 2B
8. Raburn, 3B
9. Avila, C (pick to click)

Well, you can’t win them all.  You can, conceivably, win three of four.

The Tigers finish out their four-game series at Minnesota today, then head off to Chicago for three.

Rick Porcello looks to continue his string of solid starts:  he has given up 3 runs in each of his last 3 starts.  Porcello faces Francisco Liriano, who has done even better of late.  He has given up 2 total earned runs in his last 2 starts, including a 2-1 victory over Cleveland last out.  On the other hand, in his last 5 tries against Detroit he is 0-4 with a 8.27 ERA.

Tiger starters are on a bit of a roll:  over the last 12 games they have combined for a 2.96 ERA.  You can never have too much starting pitching though, and with one week left before the trade deadline, the Tigers are rumored to be among the most likely to land the Dodgers’ Kuroda. Among other top contenders for Kuroda:  Cleveland.

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Wilson Betemit

So far, Betemit has hardly made anybody forget Inge.  In fact, he has been quite Inge-like, with a .222 OBP and 5 strikeouts in 9 plate appearances since joining the team.  Not to mention Friday’s 9th-inning clown event.  Wil-Bet needs to pick it up.

Today’s Right-Field-Burn Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Brennan Boesch LF
3. Magglio Ordonez DH
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez C
6. Jhonny Peralta SS
7. Ryan Raburn RF
8. Wilson Betemit 3B
9. Ramon Santiago 2B

Make that 11 straight against the Twins, and 21-10 against Central opponents.  The 11 straight also happens to tie the longest current streak any one team has against any other team, for what that’s worth (the Yankees have 11 straight vs the A’s).  And perhaps more importantly, the Tigers now have a winning 2nd-half record, and a 1.5 game division lead.

The Twins have always been a nemesis;  suddenly Minnesota is more like a friend with benefits.

Let’s go for 12.  Tonight Brad Penny takes on Scott Baker, friend of Magglio Ordonez (.469).

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Jhonny Peralta

Can you imagine where the Tigers would be with Adam Everett at SS instead of Peralta? Guess his batting average against AL Central opponents…sorry, my friend, not even close.  Try .429 for the H-Factor.

Today’s Leftist Lineup:

1. Andy Dirks CF
2. Brennan Boesch 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. Don Kelly 3B

Whatever spell the Twins had cast over the Tigers in recent years seems to have been broken.  Last night’s 6-2 victory over Minnesota–with old nemesis Carl Pavano on the mound–was the 10th straight for Detroit in the rivalry, and also brings their record against Central Division rivals to a division best 20-10.

Justin Verlander did what Verlander does, showing that his previous rough outing was just one of those things, and for now the 2nd-half-collapse-panic can be shelved. Verlander struck out 9 in 8 innings, and walked nobody.  In fact this is the 3rd time in the past 5 games a Tiger starter gave up no walks.  Is this a Jeff Jones thing?

Tonight’s matchup features Max Scherzer of the improbable won-loss record (10-5, 4.53) vs Brian Duensing (7-7, 4.14), who has won his last 3 starts.

Newest Tiger Wilson Betemit tries to follow up on a record-setting debut which saw him shatter the Detroit baseball-skipping record with his 11-hop throw in the 9th.  Victor Martinez, meanwhile, will try not to continue his GIDP hot streak–Martinez has grounded into 5 double plays already since the All-Star break.

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Alex Avila

Avila is the subject of a nice profile piece on the ESPN site.

Today’s Raburn’s Batting Where? Lineup:

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