Detroit Tigers: 82-62, 1st Place (4.5 ahead of Cleveland). 

It’s never a good sign when one of the top highlights of the game is an ejection. But in the first inning Miguel Cabrera was tossed for the second time this season in the middle of an at bat, and like last time was just talking to the umpire, not visibly arguing with him. I had assumed that he must have said something bad, but apparently not. At issue was that he kept talking about it after the umpire told him to zip it. Leyland, while he agreed with the call in question, thought the umpire was too quick to toss Miggy, and I agree with him.  Here is Jason Beck’s summary of the ejection and who said what about it.

The real highlight of the game was Victor Martinez going long, and even though it didn’t do much to make the game interesting, it was a good sign–Victor was one of the players in the September doldrums, and we will need Victor hitting when the postseason rolls around. Mr. Doldrum himself, Torii Hunter, gets a rest tonight.

*****

Thinking about next season yet? The 2014 schedule has been released. The Interleague match ups next year are with the NL West, so there will be more time spent out west next year than there was this year.

*****

The Tigers have announced a (late) September addition: lefty Darin Downs will be joining the bullpen.

*****

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Jose Iglesias. Being Rookie Guy himself, Iggy is not baffled by Chicago Rookie Guy pitcher, and contributes a nice play or two on the field.

Tonight’s Too-Early-To-Panic Lineup:

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

I’m working on a way to present this lineup in a slideshow format where you have to click through 9 different pages to see all 9 guys, and your pages stall while the streaming ads are loading, like the cool web sites do. Also, I have a hilarious link to Hollywood’s 25 Funniest Sword Fight Fails.

Detroit Tigers: 82-61, 1st Place (5.5 ahead of Cleveland). 

The Tigers still have a fairly comfortable 5.5 game lead over Cleveland, so things are hardly going badly. Although they may have the race in hand, it is hardly encouraging to watch them hobble down the home stretch (literally and figuratively), and hardly a good harbinger for the postseason.

The playoffs are mostly about pitching. Mostly; one still needs to score some runs (see World Series, 2012). As such let us hope that the Tigers haven’t reverted to their early season boom-or-bust ways. Over their last 10 games they have scored 7-7-10-0-3-1-4-16-3-2 for a remarkable 5.3 runs per game, but because of the high/low spread a much less remarkable 5-5, .500 win/loss record.

September has not been kind to Torii Hunter, Victor Martinez, and Miguel Cabrera:  Here are their BA/OPS numbers for the month so far:

• .207 .448 Victor Martinez
• .154 .507 Miguel Cabrera
• .143 .321 Torii Hunter

Yes, that is a .321 OPS, over which time Hunter has struck out in 10 of his 28 At Bats (36%) with 0 walks. Hunter currently has an 8-game strike out streak going.

This may not be the day to look for runs with Chris Sale on the mound for the White Sox, but it may be a good time to get Victor and Torii going. Career vs. Chris Sale:

• .563 1.276 Victor Martinez (9-for-16)
• .333 1.167 Torii Hunter (4-for-12)

About that pitching: Max takes the mound tonight after losing a pitching duel in Boston, and tries to out-duel Chris Sale for #20.

*****

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Victor Martinez. Which split will prevail, VMart in September or VMart vs. Sale?

Tonight’s Mute-The-Hawk Lineup:

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

82-60, first place, 5.5 games ahead of the Indians (violation of agreement, currently under review).

We need a replacement for the “good game” cliche. Let’s go with well-played loss. Losing 4-3 gives the Royals the series edge at 8-7 and drops Detroit’s record to 15-21 in one-run games.

Duffy didn’t throw enough strikes for the Tigers to hit, and apparently their bats rusted quickly (5 hits overall on the night). When you insist on allowing Royals to reach, you can expect some stress from KC’s smartball attack, which might result in either a gutsy win or a gutsy loss. One oops that Salvador Perez put into the left field stands made it a gutsy loss for Verlander, who didn’t pitch badly at all. Big fail for the Tigers was Torii “No Plate Discipline” Hunter, who crapped out on two big runners-on opportunities, to bookend Fielder’s popout with the bases loaded against Wade Davis. Verlander and the pen kept it close. Put this one down on the hitters, yesterday’s heroes.

In the bottom of the first, Brayan Pena overthrew the throw back to the mound. Fortunately, Ramon Santiago was backing up the play. I was as confused as everyone on the field when baserunner Emilio Bonifacio, who had been on first base, walked back to the KC dugout after sliding into second. Apparently the play was ruled a “caught stealing.” I’ll have to look that one up. Oh, there it is, under “Perez, Salvador.” Really – great job, Brayan.

Speaking of great jobs, the gem was Fielder to Pena to nail Lough at the plate. Perfection. That calls to mind a play from Friday that didn’t get enough recognition, another play at the plate involving another good stop from Fielder but a high throw that a leaping Avila turned into an out. A play like that makes up for a bowl of strikeouts. A small bowl. Which wouldn’t include the terrible swing at ball four from Holland in last night’s game. Very bad at a very bad time, and this from a guy who knows the strike zone. But back to defense last night: Fielder was sharp (everyone was) on a 3-6-1 beauty, and Santiago turned a flashy play at SS worthy of Iglesias, albeit with less fanfare.

Nick Castellanos’s “first MLB hit” will be overturned as an error on 1B Eric Hosmer.

Looking over my stats on the starters from yesterday yielded a few interesting things, in combination with things I already know:

1. There’s a kind of “Pythagorean record” for pitchers you can derive from it.

SANCHEZ should be 14-9, is 13-7

VERLANDER should be 14-12, is 12-10 (not including last night)

FISTER should be 13-9, is 12-7

SCHERZER should be 21-4, is 19-2

PORCELLO should be 15-9, is 11-8

“Should be” is a rather simple take on leaving with a lead or a deficit. But everything is pretty close to actual… except for Porcello. I think I’ve been too hard on Rick. The bullpen has allowed more of his runners to score, I suspect, and both bats and bullpen have let him down at an above-average rate. I hereby declare Porcello to be Best Fifth Starter In The AL Or Portions Thereof.

2. Fister is the king of both lack of run support and squandering what support he gets.

3. The Tigers bullpen sure does give up a lot of runs, and most of them are their own. They were also 14-21 last time I checked, which speaks for itself.

4. The Tigers starters sure don’t leave the game down in the score very often, and give the hitters some credit there.

Which reminds me to present the threatened list:

New York Yankees 7, Detroit 0
Oakland 4, Detroit 3 (12)
Seattle 2, Detroit 0
Los Angeles Angels 8, Detroit 1
Los Angeles Angels 10, Detroit 0
Los Angeles Angels 4, Detroit 3 (13)
Kansas City 8, Detroit 3 (10)
Washington 3. Detroit 1
Cleveland 4, Detroit 3 (10)
Pittsburgh 1, Detroit 0 (11)
Pittsburgh 1, Detroit 0 (11)
Tampa Bay 3, Detroit 0
Kansas City 3, Detroit 2 (10)
Los Angeles Angels 3, Detroit 1 (10)
Tampa Bay 4, Detroit 3 (10)
Tampa Bay 3, Detroit 1
Texas 7, Detroit 1
Kansas City 1, Detroit 0
New York Yankees 4, Detroit 3 (10)
Chicago White Sox 4, Detroit 3 (11)
Kansas City 2, Detroit 1
Kansas City 3, Detroit 0
Cleveland 4, Detroit 0
Boston 2, Detroit 1

Ouch. Look how many times Kansas City is on it.

I don’t have numbers to prove it, but I believe that defense has actually become a strength of the Detroit Tigers, Don’t tell them I said that.

Tuiasosopo’s strikeout rate is beginning to reach the Red Zone, or should we say Avila Zone. Martinez and Infante are outstanding on an outstanding team at avoiding the strikeout.

6 Tigers regulars are above-average in line drive %. Tops is Jackson at 29%. Cabrera, Dirks (very good news), Fielder, Martinez, and Infante are also there. Kelly is even closer to the bottom than he used to be at 18%.

22% of all baserunners present score when Cabrera is at the plate. Tuiasosopo is next at 18%. Well below league average at 10% and less are Santiago, Dirks, and Iglesias.

The unchallenged king of the GIDP is Martinez – 19% of opps. Meanwhile, all the Tigers left fielders are excellent at avoiding it.

Scoring after reaching base is partly a function of who bats behind you, but Jackson’s 48% is still outstanding. Pena looks like he can really chugalug for a catcher, but the numbers tell a different story. 19%.

Only Cabrera, Tuiasosopo, and Fielder hit home runs at above league-average rate. Cabrera is, in fact, the only truly outstanding power supply on the team, giving the lie to the idea of Detroit as a team of bashers. Solid in the gap power/doubles department, though – too bad some of them are hard-pressed to leg out a double.

It’s hard to accumulate a lot of net positive or negative WPA over the course of a season. Cabrera’s 6.5 is astounding. In terms of consistent game-changing hitting, added all up, there’s been Cabrera, Fielder, and Peralta, and essentially no one else (lots of Tigers on the plus side, however). Dirks -2.2 is equally astounding. Boesched? Oh yeah.

Who are the best hitters, at bat by at bat? RE24 might not tell the WHOLE story, but it doesn’t lie. Here’s best to worst (for the season, mind you – the numbers pile up and obscure more recent trends we are well aware of):

Cabrera (off the chart)
Fielder
Peralta
Tuiasosopo
Infante
Hunter
Jackson
Martinez
Kelly
Iglesias (w/Tigers only)
Santiago
Pena
Avila
Dirks

And if all this doesn’t get you fired up for baseball, I give up, and I’ll just step aside and let Doug Fister and Papa G (POPG) Miguel Cabrera (oh man, is he due or what?) take over.

82-59, first place. Magic number 16, should you hanker for one this early. Detroit and Cleveland seem to have reached an accord about staying 6.5 games away from each other. If the Tigers go undefeated the rest of the way, this is a win-win.

Was I saying something about a close game being a good game? Oh, baloney. 16-2 Tigers – any team, any time – now that is a good game. 16 runs without a home run (close call on the Infante 3-run double, though). It’s not as though the Tigers bombed Big Game James or any of the Royals pitchers. They just wouldn’t stop hitting. And the Tigers RISP figure was none shy of obscene, at least if you’re a Royals fan. There have been other games where 26 hits (and 5 walks) might have gone for 5 runs or so, or so you’d have been thinking. Omar Infante, Andy Dirks, and Austin Jackson were the headliners and about half of the offense, but 11 Tigers collected hits and 10 scored runs. The greedy Tigers fan might feel a bit cheated of more by Shields’s clever pickoff of Dirks at 3B with bases loaded and none out, where a big inning unraveled into a zero. But Dirks didn’t hang his head after that, and good for him. Oh, and Anibal Sanchez pitched 7 good innings of 1-run baseball. Luke Putkonen could be the Anti-AlburCokey, at least as a 14-run lead specialist.

Last night’s game wasn’t a laugher the way some laughers are laughers. The Royals didn’t look sorry in lopsided defeat (as the Tigers really hadn’t, either, in their blowout loss to Boston, except for a few of the pitchers). There were quite a few notable defensive plays. KC’s David Lough turned some nice ones in both RF and LF. But the Tigers had the edge here, too. Avila, Fielder, Tuiasosopo, Infante, and Sanchez all put in some nice work. There was that sailing throw by Avila, true. And Danny Worth at 3B managed to make Miguel Cabrera look spry (not to mention his PA). It’s unfair to make a broad judgment based on one game, so allow me to be unfair and say that Worth looks just about done as a ballplayer. I still think that Worth and Quintin Berry should have made the team out of ST. I don’t know if the team would be better now, but it would have been more interesting.

Detroit’s Pythagorean record is back up to +5, and I’m fine with it. Let us savor the blowouts:

Detroit 11, Toronto 1
Detroit 10, Oakland 1
Detroit 10, Atlanta 0
Detroit 17, Houston 2
Detroit 9, Houston 0
Detroit 10, Tampa Bay 1
Detroit 11, Toronto 1
Detroit 10, Philadelphia 0
Detroit 12, Philadelphia 4
Detroit 11, Washington 1
Detroit 11, New York Mets 3
Detroit 16, Kansas City 2

This, and a glance up and down the Tigers OPS+ column, kinda makes you wonder: What are we complaining about? A list of the shutout and near-shutout losses and extra-innings losses could answer that, I suppose.

Nick Castellanos gets his first start in LF tonight, and it is rumored that Torii Hunter is getting a blow (this is a perfectly innocent old expression for “time off,” and in my continuing efforts to emulate Rod Allen, I am trying to overcome my aversion to it). Justin Verlander gets his rematch with Danny Duffy, and I don’t see Duffy getting the better of it this time, not if JV can help it. Also, 1 hit in 6 innings? I don’t think so. Not this time. Now, Danny Salazar of the Indians was very good against Detroit twice. Will Danny Duffy be? I didn’t see that last game. Maybe the Tigers have a problem with the name “Danny.” That would also explain Danny Worth and also Danry Vasquez, whom the Tigers may have traded by mistake thinking his name was “Danny.”

More amazing stats of no particular consequence to follow…

I find various run support measures vague, unsatisfactory, and possibly misleading. Consequently:

ANIBAL SANCHEZ
AVG SCORE WHEN REPLACED: Tigers 4.8, Opponent 2.0
LEFT WITH LEAD: 14/25 = 56%
LEFT TIED: 2/25 = 8%
LEFT BEHIND: 9/25 = 36%

JUSTIN VERLANDER
AVG SCORE WHEN REPLACED: Tigers 4.1, Opponent 2.8
LEFT WITH LEAD: 14/29 = 48%
LEFT TIED: 3/29 = 11%
LEFT BEHIND: 12/29 = 41%

DOUG FISTER
AVG SCORE WHEN REPLACED: Tigers 3.5, Opponent 2.8
LEFT WITH LEAD: 13/28 = 46%
LEFT TIED: 6/28 = 22%
LEFT BEHIND: 9/28 = 32%

MAX SCHERZER
AVG SCORE WHEN REPLACED: Tigers 5.3, Opponent 2.3
LEFT WITH LEAD: 21/28 = 75%
LEFT TIED: 3/28 = 11%
LEFT BEHIND: 4/28 = 14%

RICK PORCELLO
AVG SCORE WHEN REPLACED: Tigers 3.7, Opponent 2.7
LEFT WITH LEAD: 15/26 = 58%
LEFT TIED: 2/26 = 7%
LEFT BEHIND: 9/26 = 35%

From my gleaning of the pitching game logs, it stood out how easily Scherzer could be 25-3 right now.

I think it’s been clear for a while that Miguel Cabrera is not going to catch Chris Davis in HR and gain the Triple Crown. I can’t get excited about any MVP debate, either. Cabrera is having a Triple Crown season nonetheless, and I’d just like to see him put together a quality stretch run and help the team put the division race to bed in no more than 10 games or so. I’m very content to let Davis take his 55 HR and Mike Trout his (eventual, possible) MVP, take them home with them, sit down, and watch the Tigers in the playoffs and the World Series.

Speaking of World Series, it’s nice to see the San Francisco Giants in the cellar and on the brink of elimination. Not a big deal, just nice. Kung Fu Panda, Sergio Romo and his saves… so yesterday.

81-59, first place, 6.5 games ahead of the Indians. Too early to start talking about magic numbers. When GAMES REMAINING/GAMES AHEAD = <2, magic number time begins.

After a couple days off, one of which counted in the standings, the Tigers are back at it with three against the Royals in KC. (By the way, the weekend forecast for KC MO is scorching heat. The good news is that only Sunday is a day game. Fister might pitch well in heat, I don’t know, but I fear for his longevity.) If you’ve followed the Detroit Tigers much this season, you already know the book on Tigers-Royals:

1. Neither team hits much against the other.
2. The Royals are going to steal bases at will.
3. With a little more help from the hitters, the starters could have carried the Tigers to a good 12 wins over KC. 15-4 against the Indians, and – what in the world??
4. The games will be contested and close; these two squads have been playing playoff baseball against each other all season.

The season series stands at 6-7. 43 RS, 43 RA – how ’bout them apples? A review of the last 5, which played like an ALDS:

TIGERS 4 Royals 1 WRAP
Royals 2 TIGERS 1 WRAP
Royals 3 TIGERS 0 WRAP
TIGERS 6 Royals 5 WRAP
TIGERS 6 Royals 3 WRAP

The Royals aren’t out of it. A sweep and they are way in it. Watch out, Tigers. Get your runs early and keep your starters out there for 7. Liable to be trouble otherwise.

Say what you will about the 20-4 drubbing at the hands of the Red Sox, but it’s not an indictment of the whole team. OK, so it’s a mistake to push Porcello when he’s fading. OK, so Alburquerque makes one of those pitches that the batter doesn’t miss a bit of, and now the Tigers won’t get back into this one. So it’s a 10-4 loss, more or less, after half of a tight game. What transpired thereafter, however, is an indictment of some of the more marginal bullpen pieces (shards? crumbs?), Alburquerque included, and also of Jim Leyland. Regardless of the score, I don’t think it’s ever a “waste of a pitcher” to make a serious effort to record outs. I don’t understand leaving someone out there to be hammered, batter after batter. I don’t agree that it would have been ridiculous to bring in Smyly, Veras, Rondon, or even Benoit. Whatever it took. If “getting it over with” was the idea,  getting some outs would have been a good way to go about it. Put the 14 runs allowed over 3 innings on Leyland’s ERA.

Tigers have given up 13 or more runs 3 times on Wednesdays this season. Which hasn’t otherwise been an unusual day of the week for the Tigers.

Seems as though Iglesias will be back in the lineup, the shin splints not being the news they appeared to be. Still a concern, though. There didn’t appear to be a cloud in the Iglesias sky up until now. Visions of 10-15 years of seriously deranged shortstopitude. Miggy? Well, we just don’t seem to know any more, do we? Day to day.

Just as I’d gotten to thinking that maybe Fister was the odd man out rather than Porcello, and even had thoughts of a 6-man rotation in 2014 (dream on – innovation from Leyland? Ha!), I’m disillusioned again. And then it hit me – Porcello belongs in the bullpen!* I really think so. Ah, but he’ll probably insist on a starting role, and he’ll probably be doing that elsewhere in 2014. Too bad, because I think Porcello would excel in the bullpen. He might yet, somewhere, someday. I think he’s reached his ceiling as a starter, however. Usually gassed after 5. Not real promising for a starter. A 24 year old starter.

*Not claiming it’s an original idea.

So where does everyone stand on Jhonny Peralta? Bring him back for the anticipated post-season? I don’t see why not, myself. What’s not to like about that bat on the bench?

More to come on that constant thorn in our side, the Tigers bullpen, but feel free to get started…

TIGERS BULLPEN GIVEN ANY LEAD: 0.92 RPG, 68-8 team W-L 

TIGERS BULLPEN GIVEN A TIE: 1.56 RPG, 6-10 team W-L

TIGERS BULLPEN GIVEN ANY DEFICIT: 2.20 RPG, 6-40 team W-L

5+ RUN LEAD: 0.58 RPG, 29-0

4 RUN LEAD: 1.00 RPG, 14-1

3 RUN LEAD: 0.92 RPG, 12-0

2 RUN LEAD: 1.38 RPG, 5-3

1 RUN LEAD: 1.33 RPG, 8-4

TIE GAME: 1.56 RPG, 6-10

1 RUN BEHIND: 1.46 RPG, 3-10

2 RUNS BEHIND: 2.20 RPG, 2-13

3 RUNS BEHIND: 3.63 RPG, 0-8

4 RUNS BEHIND: 0.25 RPG, 0-4

5+ RUNS BEHIND: 3.17 RPG, 1-5

Ah, numbers. What to make of it all?

The Tigers bullpen has fared pretty well against the Royals. This would be a good time for them and the pitching staff in general to rise to the occasion after a pretty shaky week or so. Anibal’s last loss came against the Royals, and it was a hard-luck affair for him. Maybe the bats can get him some runs this time. Hitting has been none too perky just lately in terms of converting hits into runs. Go Tigers.

81-58, 1st place, when do magic numbers become a thing?

I’m up against the clock today, friends, so just a quick intro to get the discussion going.

You don’t see too many 0-4 nights for Cabrera, makes me wonder if he was really okay. He’s out again today, and now I really wish that he had sat yesterday.

Jason Beck did a whole post on yesterday’s Pena out at the plate; gist of it is that Leyland blindly supports his coaches, even when his coaches admit that they are wrong. We’ve discussed this before. This looks bad from the outside, but it’s part of the reason why players and staff are so unwavering in their admiration for Leyland. And he’s winning, so I’m okay with it.

Today’s Can We Win a Playoff Game Without Miggy* Lineup Is:

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

*Tigers are 10-2 without Miggy this year

81-57, 1st place, by a lot.

No wonder the Boston faithful gave Jose Iglesias a standing O yesterday afternoon. Besides his double, he was the cornerstone in 3 double plays yesterday, the last of which demonstrated his ridiculous athleticism and baseball IQ. First of all, he pretty easily got to a ball well to the right of 2B. He then managed to contort his body and tag a passing runner near 2B with this glove hand, only to pull the ball out of this glove and make an accurate and timely throw to 1B, while moving in the wrong direction, to double up Pedroia.

If you’re John Farrell, how depressing is it to get beat so cleanly by Detroit yesterday, then look at today’s match-up and see Scherzer staring back at you. Mad Max threw 7 innings of 2 run ball versus the Bo Sox back on June 22. A win today would put him alongside the Rocket as the only players to start 20-1, and make him the only one who did it without artificial aid.

As good as Jon Lester is, he gets drilled by Detroit. Current Tigers hitters have combined for a career .413 average and 1.081 OPS in 124 plate appearances, and he has a 5.26 career ERA in six starts against Detroit.

A few notes:

– Did anyone else think that Napoli’s attempted take-out slide on Iglesias was far beyond the context of acceptable? Considering the Infante injury, I’d love to see someone address this on the mound, at the plate, or behind the podium.

– I’m wondering if yesterday’s victory bought Miggy another day off. If we win today, I’d be shocked to see him in the lineup tomorrow with a scheduled off-day on Thursday.

– ALDS starts October 4th. MLB said it first, not me.

– If the Pirates win today, this will guarantee their first .500 season in 21 years.

– Prediction: Miggy hits a bomb today and wins the Triple Crown (at the end of the season).

Today’s Blackline Lineup (yes, those are real stats):

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF (10-19)
3. Cabrera, 3B (10-16)
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH (6-10)
6. Infante, 2B
7. Tuiasosopa, LF
8. Pena, C (6-14)
9. Iglesias, SS

80-57, 1st place, 7.5 games up.

Happy Labor Day Everybody! Hope your weekend has been as enjoyable as mine. We’re BBQing with friends today; they are slated to come over after the Tigers game ends. So there’s about a 50% chance that I’ll be in a really crappy mood when they get here.

Well, the Tigers/Indians series has come to a merciful end for the Indians, with the Tigers eeking out a 15-4 series win. Last night would have been the cream on the brulee, but you can’t win them all. And it sure looked like the Tigers might get a chance to make something happen in the 9th. That’s what good teams do.

Anyway, before we place all the blame on Benoit, the Tigers were 1-7, 0 RBI, with RISP. Is there any team that scores less from 2B than the Tigers? Can someone look that up?

As for JV – after a long first inning which had all of us reaching for the Tums (2 BB, 35 pitches), JV righted the ship and went on to pitch 7 brilliant innings of 4 hit 2 BB ball. In fact, over the final 6 innings he only allowed 4 hits on 81 pitches while striking out 5. He’s still got a long ways to go to reestablish himself as the ace of this staff, but yesterday couldn’t have gone much better for him.

There were a few rumblings regarding Benoit on the old DTW yesterday afternoon, and I’m here to say that I think those criticisms were awash in emotion and passion, but little cause for real concern. Last night was Benoit’s first loss of the season, and he’s still a perfect 17 for 17 in save situations this year. In light of the fleeting nature of the closer position, I’m incredibly pleased with where the Tigers sit.

On to the next series.

The Tigers head to Boston for a 3 game set before a much anticipated off-day on Thursday. Boston is currently 1.5 games ahead of Detroit and the only other team in the AL with 80 wins. This series will play an important role in determining home field advantage for the playoffs.

Fister and Lester matched up back on June 21st in Detroit. It wasn’t pretty for either. Fister was drilled by Boston to the tune of 11 H and 6 ER in 3 1/3; while Lester gave up 5 ER on 9 hits in 5 2/3, but it was enough for the win.

On paper, other than David Ortiz, the Red Sox lineup looks to be pretty ho-hum. But they can all hit a bit and is as a team, the Red Sox have the second best offense in the Majors behind Detroit. In fact, Detroit (.793) and Boston (.784) enjoy handsome team OPS leads over the next highest – Bal at .752.

**********************

A few notes:

– The Tigers are now 3 games under .500 in games that JV starts.

– Has anyone else wondered just exactly what Nelson Cruz was on during his Reggie Jackson performance in the 2011 ALCS?

– Mike Aviles’ pre-swing routine makes me want to bean him from my couch.

– Dotel has been shelved for the season.

Cabrera is out of the lineup again today, and it’s not even clear if he’s avail to pinch hit. Though DD said that he expects Cabrera to return at some point in time this series. Rain in the forecast, but likely not until later today. We should be good for the 1:35 PM start.

Today’s All Out Of Sorts Lineup:

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

Detroit Tigers: 80-56, 1st Place (8.5 ahead of Cleveland). 

Well, this is it, that last Tigers-Indians game of 2013. The Tigers will finish the season series either 16-3 or 15-4 against Cleveland, depending on what Justin Verlander and the B Team can do this afternoon.  As the Indians leave the field toward that visitor’s clubhouse for the last time, I am sure there will be a wistful sigh or two from the Tigers. Then it’s off to Boston, in a match of two of the three contenders for the AL best record.

*****

10-5 looks like a pretty easy win, but the W came only after some late-inning excitement. After cruising with a lead that ranged from 4-1 to 6-3, Santana came up with one on in the 8th and hit a long fly to the wall in Center. Jackson seemed to have it played well and be there in time, but the ball bounced off of his glove, and Jackson bounced off the wall, seemingly hurt. Santana ended up with what was called an inside-the-park HR, which closed the score to 6-5 (is it just me, or did it seem to take Dirks a really long time to realize what was happening and back up Jackson?). Apparently Austin was OK, because he scorched a 2-run triple in the bottom of the 8th, and the Tigers were back to a comfortable lead.

But not before adding a run on another squeeze play–that”s two this season. And it was the same guy, Jose Iglesias. The Indians knew it was coming, and even tried a pitchout in an attempt to catch Jackson leaving early. And in fact the Indians’ Allen threw an unbuntable pitch, as Jackson streaked home. Except, somehow, Iglesias got the bunt down, getting the bat up above his head to do it, making Rod Allen look silly (“that was not a very good bunt”). If you watch the replay, at least one, maybe both feet were off of the ground when he made the bunt–the pitch was that high. Good stuff.

It’s not all good, though. Cabrera is still out, Jackson is out (“I’m just real suspicious that he’s going to be pretty sore,” says Leyland, “so I’m going to give him a blow today”), and we all have our fingers crossed that Justin Verlander is not going to struggle again on the mound. He will be facing the young phenom Danny Salazar, who looked good his first time against Detroit, striking out Cabrera 3 times before eventually getting Miggied.

September Additions:

• Nick Castellanos (will wear #30)
• Danny Worth
• Evan Reed

Phil Coke and Hernan Perez had been recalled to the team on Saturday, replacing Jeremy Bonderman and Luke Putkonen.  Word is that Putkonen will re-join the team on Monday, and Bonderman on Tuesday.

Octavio Dotel was a planned addition, but was taken out of his last rehab appearance with forearm tightness. He will be shut down for 2013. What that means though is that the Tigers get another injury exemption for adding to their playoff-eligible list (the other came when they put Marte on the 60-Day DL).

In other news: the Tigers fired–er, I mean, declined to extend the contract of–Toledo Mud Hens manager Phil Nevin. Dave Dombrowski said: “He’s worked hard. He’s a good man, been part of us for a while. Sometimes you just need to change the voice.”

*****

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Jose Iglesias / Omar Infante. I’m going for a 2-fer here. I’m predicting the I-Team bails out Justin Verlander with a key DP or two, and sparks the lineup (Jose will take the first half of the lineup, Omar the 2nd). The pair hit a solid .321 combined for the month of August. I was going to go with Brayan Pena if he had been in the lineup. BP closed out August with a mere 25-for-63 (.397).

Tonight’s Small-Ball Lineup:

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

Detroit Tigers: 79-56, 1st Place (7.5 ahead of Cleveland). 

Really, it is the most remarkable thing: Cleveland just cannot beat Detroit. After cruising to a rain-shortened victory last night, Detroit improved to 14-3 against their division rivals. There is nothing like that at the top of any other division in baseball; I don’t know when the last time there has been.

• CLE 68 – 49 .581 —
• DET 65 – 53 .551 3 1/2

That’s what the standings would look like, if you take the head-to-head match ups out.

Of course, it is a rule of thumb that you have to beat the teams in your own division if you want to get anywhere. But even so…

DET vs Central (without CLE):

• CHW 8 – 5
• KCR 6 – 7
• MIN 9 -7

Total: 23  – 19  .548

CLE vs Central (without DET): 

• CHW 11 – 2
• KCR 8 – 5
• MIN 9 – 6

Total: 28 – 13 .718

Cleveland is actually taking care of its own division better than Detroit…except for Detroit.

As strange as it all is, I say let’s enjoy it, and let’s hope it continues tonight.

*****

At least Cleveland won’t have to deal with Miguel Cabrera tonight. The official, and consistent, word from the medical arm of the Tigers word-makers is that Cabrera’s injuries are of the sort whereby he won’t make them any worse by playing. From where I sit, that attempt to stretch a double into a double Thursday was painful. His at bat yesterday: painful. Well, something is getting worse, and even if playing doesn’t make it a worse worse, it certainly doesn’t make it better. Enjoy the night off, Mr. C., you have earned it.

*****

The Tigers have recalled Phil Coke, making him eligible for the postseason roster [eruption of dancing in the streets]. They also recalled Hernan Perez, which was probably necessary if Cabrera is going to be on the shelf for a while. To make room, Bonderman was sent to Toledo, and Poor Ol’ Putty (Luke Putkonen) was sent hurtling down to Lakeland.

Which reminds me of another little move that went without comment. Thursday, after a rather rough outing on Wednesday, Jose Alvarez was sent down to Toledo and replaced by Luke Putkonen. As luck would have it, Putkonen was quite useful on Thursday: Max Scherzer just didn’t have it, and the Tiger looked like they were on their way to a blowout sweep. As we all know, instead they staged a thrilling comeback which culminated in the Torii Hunter walk off home run. The guy who was overlooked and under-appreciated in all of this was Luke Putkonen, who came in and pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Max to stop the bleeding.

*****

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Victor Martinez. Victor justified his POPG last night, so why dismount a hot horse midstream? Besides he is 9-for-18 lifetime against Kazmir.

Tonight’s Very Different Lineup:

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

Detroit Tigers: 78-56, 1st Place (6.5 ahead of Cleveland). 

The last time I did a post, the Tigers were 5.5 games ahead of Cleveland. After going 4-4 in the meantime, they have somehow increased their lead to 6.5 games.

The Tigers of course, as we know–and if you don’t know, well then, good for your blood pressure–came within 1 strike of suffering an historic 4-game sweep at home. The last time that happened: 2004, when the starting pitchers were the esteemed rotation of Maroth, Knotts, Robertson, and Johnson. Omar Infante was there (5-for-9 in the series), as was Torii Hunter, on the Twins (5-for-16). Yes, those were different times: total attendance for that 4-game series: < 90,000.

But the sweep was not to be: the Twins pitcher decided to grant ball four to both Jackson and Fielder (props to Loon for that one, although you missed the “Grant” angle…just saying), with 2 outs and 2 strikes Victor “Mr. August” Martinez lined a single to center, which brought Torii Hunter to the plate with the potential winning run. The potential became the actual, as Hunter, swinging for the fences, actually cleared the fence (how often does that happen?). Torii’s old teammate from the last Tiger home sweep (Balfour was on the Twins in 2004…maybe Torii still knew him well?) F-Bombed his way off the mound, and the Tigers somehow got out of that series with the A’s on an upbeat note. Phew.

*****

The Tiger starters, somehow–all four of them–were ridiculously bad that series. It’s not that even the best pitchers don’t have bad outings; they do. And Max himself has been saved by a couple less than stellar outing by ridiculous run support. But bad outings by all four starters, on the best starting rotation in baseball, in the same series? How does that happen? Is that one of those (cringe) “that’s baseball” things?

Or is is something else? Leyland has been very good about pulling all of the starters this season as soon as is reasonable (well, less with Verlander); yet they have thrown a lot of pitches. Is it late-season fatigue? I heard murmurs that maybe the Tiger pitches were tipping pitches (Verlander has had this problem in the past). But all four of them? That doesn’t make sense. Were the A’s stealing signs? Doubtful (if all the big bombs came with a runner on 2nd, that theory would make more sense). It may have just been that the A’s–not a great offensive team, but a very disciplined one–were just well-prepared. They have that video stuff nowadays. They certainly seemed to know what pitches were coming. Or it could just be that the Tigers ran into a team with a whole lineup that was hot at the same time…it happens.

At any rate, going into this key Cleveland series, the Tigers are somehow on an upbeat note. Complete absolution, as Tom in Lakeland says.

*****

Yes, of course Cabrera is in the lineup tonight. As if. Word on the street is that Tuiasosopo has been working out at 3B.

*****

Jose Iglesias still has the reigning Web Gem. But is that play as good as the one Victor Martinez made back in June?. Yeah, that’s a repeat comment. But still true!

*****

Cleveland has just picked up Jason Kubel (.220, .612….278, .786 career vs. Detroit), to replace Ryan Raburn (DL, achilles). But can he pitch?

*****

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Victor Martinez

The first two months of the season, Victor was the biggest problem in the lineup, according to me. He was though, really. Leyland and crew obviously had faith he would come around. They could not have been more right. After a first half hitting .258 (.693 OPS), Victor has put up these numbers in BA and OPS:

• JUL:  .390 / 1.010
• AUG:  .383 / .917

Victor is easily the 2nd-best bat on the team right now, there is no competition.

Tonight’s Lineup:

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

77-56, 1st place, 5.5 games ahead of the Indians.

So this is what it’s like to be an Astros fan. Oh, right. The above. Strike that remark. But losing 14-4 will correct your Pythagorean record in a hurry.

The pitching has gotten a bit soggy lately, eh? The A’s are also swinging the bats very, very well. The Tigers have run into them at the wrong time. Seems to happen with some frequency vs. the AL West. And I’ve got a Mariners series coming up. Eek.

No sweeping conclusions based on three games, now. The team that wins 12 in a row can lose 3 in a row. Even at Cabrerica. It’s the same team.

The good: Hunter and Martinez were impressive. Jose Iglesias is just something else at SS.

The bad: Well, there’s the pitching. And also the pitching. How ’bout the pitching? Did I mention that already?

The at bats by Cabrera and Fielder in the 5th were disgraceful, beneath contempt. I like to think that the reason these two took a seat early is less because of the score and more because Jim Leyland saw what I saw better than I did. Cabrera gets moody and gives away at bats. It happens. I’m more surprised by Fielder. The funny thing about it is this: I was still stewing about those at bats when the 7th inning started (and I was watching the game without audio on purpose, so I had no warning), thinking about how I would have sat those two bums immediately and replaced them with Kelly at 3B and Tuiasosopo at 1B, when who should appear on my screen but… Aha! Sweet justice, I thought.

Coco Crisp isn’t the first opposing CF we’ve seen this season who makes Austin Jackson look ordinary, but I don’t think I’ve seen Jackson have a game like this in center field before. Misplayed an out into a single… an out into a double… and lazied a single into a double. On top of an 0 for 5. Huh. Onward, don’t look back.

Doug Fister gives up a lot of hits. Have you noticed that?

Bartolo Colon is indeed back from the DL to plague the Tigers. Although Colon can be a brute (get it?), I fully expect Max Scherzer and 20-1 euphoria to push this three-game funk out of our minds and send us up against Cleveland full of renewed optimism. This is, after all, the same team that won 12 in a row. Except for Coke. Could that be the problem? Maybe clubhouse chemistry is in a shambles without kooky Phil to stir things up. Oh well. He’ll be back soon.