PREGAME: Woo hoo. Saturday afternoon baseball on Fox. There was a time when this match-up would have been about the Tigers. Not so much anymore.

Justin Verlander takes the mound for the Tigers. He’s coming off the shortest outing of his career, which actually bodes well for him pitching decent today since he was well below 110 pitches last time out. Plus, he’s fared okay against the Twins this year, going 7 innings in each of the 3 starts against.

But Scott Baker has done prett good against the Tigers as well.

DET @ MIN, Saturday, September 6, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 3:55

POSTGAME: I don’t know if it makes anyone feel better, but the Tigers aren’t alone in their bullpen woes. The Twins bullpen has been killing them for the last week or so and the Tigers took advantage. Oddly enough, the Tigers bullpen did a nice job. Clay Rapada cleaned up Verlander’s mess, Farnsworth had an uneventful inning, and then Fernando Rodney made things interesting.

On Rodney’s outing, he did manage to throw 17 of his 23 pitches for strikes. He did walk Punto, but that was actually a pretty nice at-bat. He allowed a hit on an 0-2 slider, which might be why he doesn’t throw it that often. But blowing away Joe Mauer was damn impressive. That just doesn’t happen. And then the Tigers got some good fortune when Justin Morneau roped a ball, but right at Polanco.

Offensively it was all about Granderson, Ordonez, and Cabrera again. In case anyone hadn’t noticed, Granderson is now 7th in the AL in OPS and this season is probably better than last season, at least from an offensive standpoint.

PREGAME: Hey, it’s a trip to the Metrodome. Whoopee. It’s also a travel day with the team not getting until today because of the RNC sucking up all the hotel rooms.

The good news is that the Tigers send Armando Galarraga to the hill. The bad news is the Twins seem to be his nemesis. Not in a Justin Verlander fears the Indians way, but Galarraga is 0 for 4 in QS against the Twinks (although he was just an out short of one the last time.

The other bad news is that Francisco Liriano is pitching for the Twins. And he’s kinda really good. In his last 4 starts he’s allowed 5 runs total with 19 K’s and 6 walks and only one homer allowed.

DET @ MIN, Friday, September 5, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 8:10

POSTGAME: Galarraga looked eerily like bad Jeremy Bonderman last night. You know the Bondo, where his 2 seam fastball tails way into the right hand batters box. But where the catcher and the pitcher don’t seem to make the adjustment, so the catcher still sets up on the outside corner only to see the ball end up 3 feet off the plate? And so he goes to his slider more, but it’s the only pitch that’s really working, and then he inevitably hangs one? Yeah, thought we saw that script before.

Marcus Thames gets the position player gold star. He dove twice (once successfully), and hammered two homers. I know the Tigers have tipped their cap to the opposing starter way to often this season. But Ervin Santana and Francisco Liriano back to back is pretty daunting. Still, the Tigers seemed to look extra helpless last night.

PREGAME: Theoretically Jon Garland will pitch for the Angels and Zach Miner will pitch for the Tigers. But a storm was kicking up as I was leaving Detroit tonight (and this is a real storm, not the metaphorical cloud that has been hanging over Kwame Kilpatrick). Not sure if they’ll get this one in. If they do play, Mike Hessman starts at third base.

LAA @ DET, Wednesday, September 3, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME: Hey, we got a good one.

As an aside, I want to apologize for the lack of attention to the site. I was out of town this weekend, and went to the game Tuesday, and it’s back to school time, and some more excuses like that. I’m not bailing on the season or anything.

Some bulletized thougts on the game:

• The top of the order appears to be clicking again. Granderson hasn’t really stopped since the end of June, but Polanco, Ordonez, and Cabrera have had some ups and downs. Never prolonged mind you, but enough to hamper the offense nonetheless.
• We’re stuck rooting for things like 3rd place (half game out) and .500 (5 games under), but there are some individual accomplishments to cheer on. One that hasn’t gotten attention is that Granderson could get to a .400 OBP. He’s cracked the top 10 in the AL.
• And did you see Granderson score from first on a double that didn’t even reach the wall? Aweseom.
• Speaking of hop in the step, the team has looked faster the last 2 nights. Polanco, Ordonez, and Renteria all seem to have more giddy-up than they’ve had this year. Don’t know where it’s coming from, or where it was until now.
• Mike Hessman had himself a game, with every other ball hit to him and he vacuumed them all. Oh yeah, and a monster homer too.
• Zach Miner wasn’t awful, but not as good as he’s been either. As for the bullpen, they got the job done-ish. Rodney was shaky for the second game in a row.
• Chris Guccione did not have a good game behind the plate. I’m not saying it hurt one team more than the other, but that strike zone was an absolute joke.
• And speaking of not good games, how many catchable balls is Inge going to have go off his glove. The passed balls, 8 of them now, are simply ridiculous.

PREGAME: The Angels come to town and will send Joe Saunders to the hill. Saunders posts a 3.67 ERA and doesn’t strike out many people. He’s been bludgeoned in a Nate Robertson-esque fashion his last 2 times out, allowing 12 runs in 6.2 innings. The Tigers got to him for 5 runs in 5 innings back in May.

The Tigers send out Chris Lambert who will be making his second start. Lambert had 2 great innings, and one awful one in his debut against Cleveland. It also meant he didn’t make it out of the 3rd inning. Considering Justin Verlander’s 2nd inning exit yesterday, something a little longer would be helpful.

I’m heading down for this one. My personal losing streak was snapped last Friday, so I don’t know what to expect tonight.

LAA @ DET, Tuesday, September 2, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 7:05

PREGAME: It’s Labor Day baseball, courtesy of some rain. The Tigers and Yankees will make up Detroit’s lone rain out of the season this afternoon. It also marks the return of Pudge Rodriguez to Detroit. It’s his first Comerica Park appearance since the trade, here’s hoping he gets a nice ovation.

The Tigers will face Sidney Ponson, one of the pitchers who will throw to Rodriguez (Pettite and Mussina prefer a Molina). The Tigers last faced Ponson in 2007 and lit him up good. He’s not much better now, but that doesn’t necessarily mean a lot given this season.

The Tigers send out Justin Verlander, who isn’t facing the Indians so things might go okay.

NYY @ DET, Monday, September 1, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 1:05

POSTGAME: Justin Verlander continues to flounder in a big way, with what was probably the worst start of his career. Nothing was working, not even hitting the ball at people with the Tigers making a couple errors, and another play that should have been an error in the first 2 innings.

Bobby Seay, not familiar with pitching in the 2nd inning, was just as bad.

Still, the Tigers were down 11-2 and managed to bring the tying run to the plate in the 5th inning so at least the offense didn’t just roll over. Of course facing Sidney Ponson probably helped in that regard.

At least Pudge Rodriguez got a nice ovation. Nice to see.

PREGAME: Gil Meche, who the Tigers haven’t seen since May, will take on Armando Galarraga. Galarraga will try to keep that ERA in the low 3’s and make a run at ROY honors. Meche will try to hold the Tigers down yet again.

KCR @ DET, Saturday, August 31, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 1:05

PREGAME: As college football descends upon us, Kenny Rogers will take on Brandon Duckworth. These two met last weekend, and it kicked off a 4 game losing streak for the Tigers. Rogers didn’t pitch well, the Tigers didn’t field well, and the Tigers couldn’t convert the 11 baserunners they mustered off of Duckworth into more than 3 runs.

KCR @ DET, Saturday, August 30, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 7:05

PREGAME: If you’re looking for a reason to get excited about tonight, it will be the first game in Comerica Park’s history with instant replay. Hey, I never said it was a good reason.

Zach Miner and Kyle Davies face off. Woot.

KCR @ DET, Friday, August 29, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME: Hey, I went to a game and the Tigers won! I got down there early with my daughter and watched the bulk of the Tigers batting practice. I was a little surprised to see Dontrelle Willis shagging balls, but it appears he’ll be activated on September 1st. It’s unclear if he’ll see game action, but given his forearm tightness and the way things have gone this year I’d expect him to pitch.

Something else that was surprising was Andy Van Slyke hitting fungoes to Justin Verlander for a solid 20 minutes. And Verlander could be an outfielder. I’m guessing this was just a way for Verlander to get some leg work in, but it was pretty intense.

One other note from BP, Marcus Thames crushed everything. Everything. And he wasn’t just hitting the ball to left. His last 3 balls were out by the hall of fame names on the brick wall in right center.

As for the game, it was good. Things were very quiet for the Tigers bats early on, as they continued to hit infield or opposite field pop-ups. Until they broke it open, fueled in large part by an error and a Curtis Granderson triple (I love Granderson triples).

Miguel Cabrera left with a pectoral injury, because the Tigers need more injuries. Two notes on this. One, it resulted in Brandon Inge playing third and making two slick plays to start GIDPs. Second, why the hell they can’t inform the fans when a player leaves injured is beyond me. You pay to go to the game, and you have less information than anyone.

PREGAME: Please Tigers. Please show up tonight. Please Verlander, don’t crap out once again against an Indians team missing Hafner, Martinez, and Blake. Please offense, beat the stuffing out of Carmona. Please top of the order, drive in a run, or 12. I can’t take the sucking anymore.

Jeff Larish starts at third tonight and Matt Joyce bats 2nd. Polanco gets the night off and Santiago plays second.

CLE @ DET, Wednesday, August 27, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME: The offense showed up. Seven runs should be enough. The bottom of the order continued to produce, and even Magglio Ordonez broke out of his slump. But the pitching, oh the pitching.

Verlander wasn’t good, again. It wasn’t the 7 hits as much as the leadoff walks and hit by pitches combined with the hits. And the fact he threw 115 pitches in 6 innings (which doesn’t bode well for his next start either).*

*And in case you’re keeping track of such things, Verlander threw 114 pitches in his last start. His average game score in subsequent starts when he throws 110-114 pitches is 45.2. Last night it was 43.

Gary glover was brought in, and promptly allowed a homer after a walk. I wanted bobby Seay at that point. Seay made me look smart when he had a scoreless inning in the 8th, but made me look dumb by allowing a couple hits (who would later come around to score) in the 9th.

PREGAME: I’m watching this one from the friendly confines of my couch, so the Tigers have a chance. On paper, this isn’t a good match-up for the Tigers. Then again on paper the Tigers looked like contenders.

The Indians send out uber pitcher and Cy Young (and maybe MVP) front runner Cliff Lee. Oddly, the Tigers have had some success off of Lee this year and have scored 8 runs in 10 innings, chasing him after 5 innings in both games.

Meanwhile, the Tigers send out Chris Lambert who is making his big league debut. I like watching debuts.

CLE @ DET, Tuesday, August 26, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: So this one played out like it looked on paper. Chris Lambert had a good start, recording 6 outs on 18 pitches. But a bad finish, not escaping the 3rd inning. He was undermined by errors from Ryan Raburn and Marcus Thames meaning 4 of the 6 runs he allowed were unearned. Still he had his own issues.

I can’t kill him for allowing a homer to Jamey Carroll. I’d rather see him throw one down the middle to a guy like Carroll and take his chances. Carroll just got him. But the bigger problem was that Lambert went to his breaking ball wayyy too much. He’d get a head, but then throw 3 straight breaking balls out of the zone before having to throw a fastball down the middle. And by the 3rd inning it almost looked like the Indians knew exactly what was coming. Whether it was a matter of being predictable, or if he was tipping his pitches, it wasn’t good.

Still, there was some stuff to like from Lambert. He looked to have quite a bit of movement on the slider. He just needed to throw it closer to the strike zone to entice the hitters a little more.

I could talk about the offense, but why. For the second consecutive night all the RBI came from the bottom of the lineup. So nice job Brandon, Edgar, and Marcus (3 consecutive 2 hit games for Thames).

As for that interference call on Brandon Inge, as strange as it was, the umpires appear to have gotten it right:

Rule 7.08(b) Comment: A runner who is adjudged to have hindered a fielder who is attempting to make a play on a batted ball is out whether it was intentional or not.

Clearly Inge was trying to avoid the fielder, but even intent doesn’t play into the ruling.

PREGAME: In March when I bought tickets to this game, I thought it would be huge. To teams jockeying for position in the AL Central. And boy was I right. The surging Indians, winners of 14 of their last 20, are only 1.5 games back of the third place Tigers. Sigh.

Anywho, Armando Galarraga looks for another strong performance as he tries to catch Evan Longoria for ROY consideration. This will be the 4th time he’s faced the Indians this season, and each time they’ve gotten to him a little more.

He’ll be opposed by left hander Zach Jackson. Jackson hasn’t allowed a homer in his 15.2 innings this year. With 15.2 innings there isn’t a lot else to say. He’s fanned 6, walked 4, and allowed 20 hits.

CLE @ DET, Monday, August 25, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: Another game I went to, and another loss. The last game I attended and they won was back in June. June people. Against the Cardinals when it rained and stuff and Sheffield had a walk off hit at 1am.

Anyway, it appears that Gary Glover is now officially a part of the bullpen. After an impressive couple of games, he becomes the goat in his home debut.

Galarraga was shaky early, but by all means did enough to keep his team in the game. Except the offense had a hard time keeping themselves in the game. The top and middle of the order was nowhere to be found with the 3 RBI coming from the 7-8-9 hitters.

At least Fernando Rodney looked awesome.

And then there was the cavalcade of bad news.

• Guillen – left with back spasms (again).
• Thames – after back to back multi hit games – leg cramp.
• Cabrera – not reported as an injury, but hobbled after beating out a double play grounder.
• Dontrelle Willis – gone after one inning with forearm tightness.
• Jon Kibler – (yes this is going deep in the organization but it was that kind of day) Hit the DL with shoulder issues. Though expected back in a week, shoulder issues are never a good sign. Kibler has a 1.75 ERA in 154.1 innings with 4 K’s for every walk allowed.