PREGAME: It’s sports heaven in Detroit today with the Pistons in the Conference Finals and the Wings in the Stanley Cup finals, and the Tigers trying to not be eliminated from future finals consideration.

It will be Boof Bonser and Nate Robertson tonight.

The Tigers scored 6 off of Bonser in their last game against him. Yet the Tigers are scoreless against him in the last 5 innings.

Nate is Nate and will somehow give up 4 runs in 5 to 7 innings of work. At least the offense knows exactly how many they need to score.

MIN @ DET, Saturday, May 24, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME: The Tigers did their part on sports day in Detroit. They plated 19 runs for the second time this season (the highest total by teams not from Detroit is 16 this year). We’ll get to the game in a second, but things are starting to look a little more normal. The Tigers are down to only 1 starter with an ERA above 6 and Gary Sheffield finally moved ahead of Ramon Santiago in RBI (who had Memorial Day weekend in the pool?).

Nate got himself a quality start. I was pretty sure that one of the inherited runners he left for Aquilino Lopez in the 7th would score, but Lopez finished the game with 2.2 scoreless innings.

And then there was the offense. Magglio Ordonez was the clear headliner with 2 RBI in each of his first 3 at-bats. Polanco had 4 hits. Sheffield had a couple hits. Heck, everyone had fun.

Louisville 0 Toledo 6
Mike Hessman ended his sabbatical with a 3 for 4 night including homer number 19. Brent Clevlen had 2 hits including ahomer and Timo Perez homered as well. Virgil Vasquez scattered 8 hits over 7 innings and Francis Beltran pitched 2 no hit innings to complete the shut out.

Erie 0 Akron4
Erie was held to 3 hits making Danny Worth who doubled and walked the offensive star. Wilkin Ramirez singled and walked, as did Jeff Frazier. Jon Connolly allowed 4 runs in 7.2 innings on 8 hits, a walk, and 4 K’s.

Lakeland 3 Jupiter 2
Brennan Boesch went 2 for 4. Duane Below fanned 7 in 5 innings of work limited Jupiter to 1 run.

Dayton 2 West Michigan 3
Casper Wells was 2 for 4 with a double. Chris Carlson homered and walked. Roger Tomas was 3 for 3 with a walk. Lauren Gagnier allowed 2 unearned runs in 6.1 innings while walking 3 and fanning 7.

PREGAME: Remember the last time the Tigers swept a series? They were in New York and went to play the Twins and then got swept themselves. Let’s not do that again.

Did you know the Twins have played 28 of their games in the confines of the dome and are 16-12 there? But when they head on the road they are 7-12? Let’s hope that trend continues as Armando Galaragga takes his turn in the rotation.

For the Twins it will be Kevin Slowey who is making his 5th start of the season. He hasn’t made it through the sixth inning yet, but posts a 16:3 K:BB ratio over 19.1 innings. His achilles heel has been the long ball with 6 surrendered all ready. Last year he averaged over 2 allowed per game as well.

MIN @ DET, Friday, May 23, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

IN GAME: I think Leyland had a beef. Those were called strikes in that Guillen at-bat:

POSTGAME: Well, it got interesting there for a while. I missed the first 3 innings while at my son’s game so I didn’t see Galarraga walking everybody, but it sounded similar to his last start against the D-backs but the Twins added hits as well.

The Tigers couldn’t get to Slowey and couldn’t take advantage of his tendency to hit homers, but the offense still managed to put runners on base in most innings. And they did double his walk total for the season (and should have more than doubled it – see above graphic) so they did exhibit some patience.

An inspired rally in the 7th cut it to one, and could have tied it save for the comical play involving Marcus Thames running all over the field. Unfortunately the bullpen imploded under the eye of Lloyd McClendon who took over when Jim Leyland was ejected. McClendon let Willis throw 28 pitches and Bobby Seay 38 which would seem to indicate that both would be unavailable tonight.

Willis struggled with his control walking 2 (1 intentional) and throwing 15 balls versus 13 strikes.

POSTGAME: I don’t want to knock a sweep, a pounding, a 3 game win streak. But I’m far from giddy. After winning the last 3 the Tigers are still 7 games under .500, and even with the Twins, Indians, and Royals losing at the same time they’re still 3 games out of 2nd. But that’s the hole they have dug.

Plus I’ve been really encouraged before, like when they swept the Yankees to move within 1 game of .500 only to go in the tank again. I guess I need another 10 games at least of good play, not necessarily wins mind you, but good play to start to get that shiny-happy feeling again.

Still, it’s unreasonable to expect them to win anymore than they did over the last 3 games so I can’t help but be happy with the sweep. Yes, the Mariners are playing really bad baseball. And the Tigers got the good fortune to miss Felix Hernandez and Erik Bedard. And the Tigers bullpen had issues in the one game. But the Tigers still doubled up the Mariners in this series. It’s not like they were squeaking out wins. They beat the Mariners to a pulp, or in Rod-ism form, like they stole something.

Slumping players seemed to bounce back a little and Bonder-lander put together a couple decent starts.

Good sweep. Now let’s see it again.

Comment of the day: Courtesy of T. Smith – This is like the Detroit Tigers playing the Detroit Tigers.

On a related note, check out the game thread at USS Mariner. We’ve all been witness to some bad baseball as Tigers fans this year so we can feel their pain. But at least the commentors are creative in their frustrations.

POSTGAME: I missed most of this one. Acutally, I missed all of the Tigers scoring, but say the near implosions by Kenny Rogers.

But looking at the box score (and the parts of the game I saw):
offense=good
bullpen=good
rogers=not so good

All the starters got hits, but it was Marcus Thames and his granny, and Brandon Inge and his double and triple that drove home 6 of the 9 runs.

Zach Miner allowed 1 baserunner in 2.2 innings to pick up a rough night from Rogers.

That’s all I have tonight. Back to back wins are too rare, but still appreciated.

Tigers 9, Mariners 4

PREGAME: Well, it’s already been an interesting night at the ballpark. As for the game itself it will pit Justin Verlander against Carlos Silva.

Silva has a 4.17 ERA. In typical Silva fashion he’s allowing his share of hits, and not striking out many, but walking even fewer.

The Tigers will have the following lineup:

1. Granderson
2. Polanco
3. Sheffield
4. Ordonez
5. Cabrera
6. Guillen
7. Joyce
8. Renteria
9. Rodriguez

SEA @ DET, Tuesday, May 20, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME: It’s never easy is it? Tonight a solid outing by the ace and an outburst by the offense was nearly undermined by the mostly trustworthy arms of Aquilino Lopez and Clay Rapada getting roughed up. And the outfield made 3 errors. And the errors came from the defensive outfielders Raburn-Granderson-Joyce.

But how ’bout that offense. The slumping Edgar Renteria was a double short of the cycle including a bases loaded triple. And the slumping Curtis Granderson singled, doubled, and homered. And the slumping Carlos Guillen hit a bomb to straight away centerfield.

So it’s a win amidst the turmoil. Now heaven help me if they get shut out tomorrow or Rogers biffs.

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POSTGAME: For those wondering, no we won’t be doing every game in reverse-text until they lose again. This was a one time slump busting move. Though I do expect the Tigers socks to remain high for the time being.

The Tigers seemed to have rubbed off some on the D-backs. It was Arizona biffing a bunt and then Orlando Hudson having the brain fart and not running to first while the Pudge Rodrgiuez made the heads up play to turn 2. It was Connor Jackson letting a routine dribbler extend an inning leading to the Tigers first runs. It was Arizona pitching walking 6 batters. It was Arizona hitters failing to deliver with runners in scoring position and hitting into double plays.

Okay, the Tigers still did most of that stuff too. They walked 6. Ryan Raburn dropped a double play throw. It appeared there was another pop-out that went uncalled. The Tigers still struggled with RISP. But a win is a win. And there was stuff to be encouraged about. Miguel Cabrera continued to hit the ball hard. Curtis Granderson managed a couple hits. And Matt Joyce looks completely unfazed despite hitting 4 homers in 10 games.

Armando Galarraga could probably be described as effectively wild last night. He wasn’t particularly sharp in issuing 5 walks, but he did only allow 1 hit. It was the 4th quality start in the last 5 games for Tigers starters who appear to be turning things around as a group.

PREGAME: Frequently fans will complain when their struggling team has to go take on the best team in the league. I say bring on the Diamondbacks. It’s not like Arizona is going to “cool-off” Detroit. Might as well play them now because it doesn’t actually matter who the Tigers play given their recent production.

The 0-4 skid is awful. Maybe it’s a case of booty tightness that can only be remedied by a visit from Jason Giambi’s thong supplier. (I’ve been waiting all afternoon to write that)

As for the match-up, it will be Dan Haren for the Diamondbacks and Jeremy Bonderman for the Tigers. We’ll see if Bonderman will be more willing to come inside, or if he’s staying away because he’s lost 2.5 mph on his fastball.

As for Haren, he’s been awesome per usual fanning 4 for every guy he walks and only allowing 4 homers in 50.1 innings this year. And at home opponents have mustered only a .518 OPS though Haren has benefited from an unsustainable .227 batting average on balls in play.

The first pitch is pretty important in general, but the numbers are remarkable for Haren. Batters who see a first pitch ball post a 854 OPS but those who see a first pitch strike manage only a .327. The Tigers have been fairly passive on first pitch strikes this year and it will be interesting to see if they deviate in their game plan to be more aggressive.

DET @ ARI, Friday, May 16, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 9:40

POSTGAME: How do they lose thee? Let me count the ways…

Once again it was another game that flat out blew, and it’s not like the Diamondbacks played well. What team successfully sacrifice bunted leading to one of those manufactured runs? The Tigers. What team failed to properly execute a sac bunt leading to an out at third? The Diamondbacks.

What team made a big baserunning gaffe on a missed bunt attempt? The Diamondbacks.

I don’t want to hear how they did it the right way. The Diamondbacks won because the Tigers once again completely broke down in the field. A lazy effort on a foul pop up by Miguel Cabrera wasn’t costly, but Carlos Guillen and Edgar Renteria failing to call for a foul pop ended up costing Bonderman big. And to cap it off Guillen bounced a routine throw to first which plated the losing run.

It was a punch in the gut killing a team that had otherwise played a decent game. Miguel Cabrera hit a 2 run homer which was the first homer the Tigers hit with someone on base since May 1st and the first homer by a right hander since May 2nd.

Jeremy Bonderman was awesome and deserved a better fate than 3 runs in 6 innings. He was pitching to both sides of the strike zone and mixing his pitching well. Yet he has a very generic no decision quality start to show for it.

This season and this game somehow simultaneously blows and sucks.

PREGAME: Kenny rogers hopes to not be the latest pitcher to receive no run support and Gil Meche will look to extend the Tigers 16 inning scoreless streak. I wish I had something more encouraging to say.

DET @ KCR, Thursday, May 15, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 2:10

POSTGAME: Umm. Again, not a lot to say. I listened to most of this game and it sounded by Dan and Jim’s call that some bad pitching was compounded by some bad luck. Once again stuff happened to the Tigers instead of the Tigers happening to another team. They managed some extra base hits later in the game, but when given a chance to actually climb back in they failed.

Kenny Rogers walked in a run which was the 8th time a Tigers pitcher has done that this year. Last year it happened a total of 9 times. What’s disappointing is that looking at the strike zone (the graphic below is Granderson leading off the game, those strikes were all called), in this game it should have played to Kenny’s strengths. Strikes were being called outside off the plate, but Rogers couldn’t take advantage.

I’m just speechless.

PREGAME: Justin Verlander against Luke Hochevar

DET @ KCR, Wednesday, May 14, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 8:10

POSTGAME: I have nothing to say. I’m so pissed off and discouraged by this team. Justin Verlander pitched okay against a poor hitting team. I guess that’s something.

PREGAME: Two days without baseball seems like an eternity. It’s why the All Star break is so painful. Fortunately the Tigers return to action tonight. Unfortunately it will be against Zach Grienke.

Grienke went 7 innings on 99 pitches the last time he faced the Tigers, limiting them to 1 run on 6 hits. He’s thrown a quality start in every outing, save for one when he only made it through 5 innings. In his last two starts he’s fanned 17 and walked 2.

The Tigers will send out Nate Robertson. Robertson has kept the team in most games, lasting 5 to 7 innings and allowing 4 runs with remarkable consistency. But while he’s kept them in games, with those stats, it doesn’t make for a good ERA (6.64) despite a 3:1 K:BB ratio.

Matt Joyce DH’s again.

1. Granderson, CF
2. Polanco, 2B
3. Guillen, 3B
4. Ordonez, RF
5. Cabrera, 1B
6. Sheffield, LF
7. Joyce, DH
8. Renteria, SS
9. Rodriguez, C

DET @ KCR, Tuesday, May 13, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 8:10

POSTGAME: Another punch in the gut.

I didn’t like Nate Robertson being removed from the game. Robertson had been in a ton of trouble throughout the course of the game, but aside from the Jose Guillen double he wasn’t being hit hard. He had gone through 7 innings on 82 pitches and he was attacking the strike zone and was helped out by an aggressive Royals offense.

But Leyland taking him out isn’t the reason the Tigers lost. It was a bad move especially considering it was done to avoid Robertson pitching to Mark Grudze… who is 8 for 9 in his career against Robertson but who had yet to hit the ball hard in any of his 3 hits that night. It was also the polar opposite of what Leyland has done on several occasions this year where he would leave a floundering and out of gas Justin Verlander in to try and “get him a win.”

The inability of the offense to generate extra base hits, or cash in on scoring chances are reasons the team lost. Edgar Renteria trying to make an inning ending play and failing is a reason they lost. Bringing in Cruceta who got two quick outs and got to two strikes on Jose Guillen before allowing a double wasn’t the problem.

I’m not defending the decision, but it’s not why they lost. Robertson allowed multiple baserunners in 4 innings and didn’t have a 1-2-3 inning all night. The same thing that happened to Cruceta could have happened to Robertson.

But reasons and blame aside, enough is enough already.