PREGAME: Kenny Rogers gets another crack at the Indians after being knocked out in the first inning 2 starts ago. His one start since then wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t good. Rogers allowed 5 runs in 5 innings and walked 4. Of course the start looked worse due in large part to Dmitri Young’s error prone game and the Tigers whiffing against Casey Fossum.

Paul Byrd hasn’t done too well himself. The Tigers got him for 7 runs in 3 innings that same night Rogers got rocked, and he allowed 6 runs in 4 innings agaisnt the Red Sox in his subsequent start.

Game time 7:05pm

POSTGAME“: Another early deficit, another dramatic late inning homer in front of a raucous sell out crowd. But first things first – thank you Kenny Rogers. The first inning looked bad, but he settled down and gave the team 7 innings on a day when the bullpen was short. He also ensured that Wil Ledezma will have some back-up in case he falters in his Sunday start.

As for the late inning dramatics, the Tigers went down to their last out after a lead off bunt by Brandon Inge, a failed sacrifice by Curtis Granderson, and a force out by Placido Polanco. And then Pudge took the first pitch into just about the same spot as Monroe’s homer the night before. What was fun both nights was watching Pudge jumping around like a little leaguer as he circled the bases.

In the end, the Tigers notch another over their AL Central foes.

PREGAME After a 4 game sabbatical against the Devil Rays, the Tigers return to AL Central competition. They’ll be facing the Cleveland Indians tonight and the Tigers currently lead the season series 9-4.

Jeremy Bonderman will be starting for the Tigers tonight. Bonderman is of course coming off the Sunday heart breaker at the Metrodome. The last time he faced the Indians he was shaky with his control early on, but powered by a big offensive first inning picked up the win.

Cliff Lee will take the mound for the Indians. He gave up 6 runs in 4 innings to the Tigers the last time they met, but only one of those was earned.

Game Time 7:05pm

POSTGAME: I missed the 2nd thru 6th innings of tonight’s game. Fortunately I saw the ending. Craig Monroe is raking to say the least. And he certainly has developed a flair for the dramatic. Given how that inning was going, I thought it just wasn’t going to be the Tigers night. What with Magg’s double being swallowed up by Choo on a diving play, Carlos Guillen putting one just outside the right field foul pole, and Monroe putting one just outside the left field foul pole. But Craig really did “straighten one out.”

Much props to Sean Casey finding the gap and knocking home two runs and Todd Jones with an uneventful ninth including a strikeout of Travis Hafner.

Roman Colon kept the game close enough after coming on in relief of Jeremy Bonderman.

And speaking of Bonderman maybe someone who saw the whole game can chime in. I missed most of his innings, but I wonder if it was either physical fatigue after a longish outing pitch count wise, or mental anguish after the Minnesota 8th inning, or he just didn’t have his stuff.

But 2005 minimally will go down as the most successful Tiger season since 2000.

PREGAME: The last game of the road trip is here. The last of 7 straight dome games is here. It’s time for the Tigers to come home.

Nate Robertson will take the mound for the Tigers. Jason Seo, who has given up 18 runs in his last 3 starts, will pitch for the Devil Rays.

The next Tigers win will mark their most successful season since 2000 when they went 79-83.

Game Time 7:15

POSTGAME: Nate Robertson turned in the best pitching performance of the series, but has nothing to show for it. The Tigers bats were stymied by Jason Seo, save for a Craig Monroe opposite field shot. But the Tigers put up a good fight on a game that would easy to concede coming at the end of a long road trip. The Tigers set up the drama the way it had been occuring all season, but new Tiger Sean Casey couldn’t come through. Or as Lee said – There was no joy in Mudville.

PREGAME: The Tigers need one more win to assure themselves of a winning road trip. Ideally they get that win tonight, and then a bonus one tomorrow.

Nate Robertson Zach Miner will be pitching for the Tigers. He faced Tampa at Comerica Park and allowed only 2 unearned runs over 7 innings.

He’ll be opposed by Tim Corcoran. Corcoran has a pretty good ERA at 3.57 due in part to his ability to limit the long ball. He’s surrendered one homer in 35 1/3 innings. But he also walks as many as he strikes out, and in July actually walked 15 against 8 strikeouts.

Dmitri Young will be playing DH and batting 3rd as Pudge gets another night off, I’m guessing due to his thumb.

Game Time 7:15pm

POSTGAME: I was all set to complain about pinch hitting for Curtis Granderson, and then the game turns into a blow out over the last 2 innings. While I still don’t agree with taking out Granderson, it does show the faith that Jim Leyland already has in Brent Clevlen as a capable defender.

Zach Miner kept the Tigers in the game until they could break through the dominance that is Tim Corcoran.

And my last comment actually reaches back to Carlos Guillen’s cycle. He has received some flack for going for the double because he was motivated by personal goals. Carlos Guillen is the most aggressive runner on the team. He ran hard out of the box and was rewarded for it. Last night, moments after being hit on the shin, he stole 2nd base when you could tell it was painful for him to slide. Yes he may not have gone for 2nd without the cycle as motivation, but dont’ knock him for hustle. I’d have a much bigger problem if he didn’t advance an extra base just so he could get a cycle.

toledo 5, Indianapolis 2
Chris Shelton doubled in 4 at-bats. Dustin Mohr tripled, doubled, and singled. Jack Hannahan and Alexis Gomez each had multi-hit games. Colby Lewis went 7 innings and allowed 2 runs on 5 hits with 7 K’s.

Erie 4, Portland 2
Virgil Vasquez came up one out short of a complete game. he allowed only 4 hits and fanned 9. Kody Kirkland picked up 2 hits.

Sarasota 10, Lakeland 4
Clete Thomas, Juan Francia, and Brent Dlugach all had 2 hits. Eddie Bonine started and allowed 7 runs, 3 earned, in 5 1/3 innings with 6 strike outs.

West Michigan 7, South Bend 6
Matt Joyce had 3 hits and a walk. Cameron Maybin doubled and singled. Mike Hollimon tripled and walked.

Brooklyn 9, Oneonta 1
Ryan Strieby went 2 for 4 and pushed his average over .300. Lauren Gagnier pitched 3 scoreless innings of relief.

GCL Yankees 2, GCL Tigers 1
Mike Bertram picked up one of the two Tigers hits, and it was a homer. Alfredo Figaro allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks over 5 innings.

PREGAME: The Tigers will turn to Justin Verlander to try and nip a 2 game losing streak in the bud. Verlander was awesome in July with a sub 2.00 ERA. He’ll be opposed by J.P. Howell who is seeing his first big league action this season.

Howell pitched with the Royals last year and walked 4.9 batters per 9 innings while striking out 6. Let’s just hope the Tigers hitters don’t make him look as comfortable as Casey Fossum did last night.

Speaking of Tigers hitters, Sean Casey will make his debut and bat 7th. I asked JD Arney from the Red Reporter about Casey from a fan’s perspective. JD said:

He grounds out to second base more than any other player I’ve seen in my life. Expect lots of double plays.

Otherwise he’s got a pretty decent bat, gets on base a good bit, should hit over .300 without a lot of power. Defense is average to below average, and he’s really slow. But not a bad player to have around, I think he’ll help you guys out a lot.

Also of note, Brent Clevlen will make the start in centerfield and bat 9th.

Game Time 7:15pm

POSTGAME Well that was certainly more fun. Justin Verlander did his job, while not being his sharpest. But the offense which looked so miserable last night is what really played the role of stopper. There were so many neat stories tonight:

• Brent Clevlen picks up his first and second career homers and adds a single.
• Carlos Guillen hits for the cycle with flat out hustle on the double.
• Sean Casey gets an RBI chance his first time up and takes advantage after a lengthy at-bat with a single. He later hit his first AL homer.

Marcus Thames seems to be emerging from his slump with some solid at-bats for 3 games in a row and Craig Monroe continued to pepper the left field corner.

Really, the only disapopinting performance was a rare clunker from Jamie Walker.

And with the win, the Tigers match last year’s win total.

PREGAME Kenny Rogers against Casey Fossum. Game Time 7:15

POSTGAME: Well if this is what happens when I skimp on the pregame portion, I’ll write War and Peace each game.

This one was simply ugly. Rogers was hurt by two, two run homers. Ledezma pitched okay in relief, but 2 more runs crossed the plate.

My real issues are with Dmitri Young and the offense.

Young was an embarrassment tonight. He flat out dropped 3 throws and looked horrible at the plate for the bulk of the night.

And the offense with 10 strikeouts against Casey Fossum!

I have nothing nice to say tonight. This game looked way too much like the 8th inning last night. I take it back, Brent Clevlen picked up his 2nd assist on an awesome throw to second. Here’s hoping that Justin Verlander can play the role of stopper and the bats come out angry tomorrow.

PREGAME: With a win today the Tigers would match last year’s win total, and a quick check of the calendar tells me it’s still July. Of course I’m not going to count the chickens in the pre-hatch phase of the post, especially with Johan Santana pitching for the Twins.

With the series in hand, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Jim Leyland employ the Sunday lineup and give Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez the day off. With the Tigers playing 7 straight days on turf it might not be a bad idea. Pudge may still be out, and there was talk of Brent Clevlen starting in centerfield today. (Like that isn’t a tall order – welcome to the bigs).

So runs may be at a premium, but that is pretty much what Jeremy Bonderman has been accustomed to this year. Bonderman looks to make things just as difficult on the Twins, and with a 2.67 ERA and 74 strikeouts in his last 10 starts he certainly seems up to the task.

POSTGAME: I think this one definitely falls under the category of: ERGH. That is about as beatable as Johan Santana gets, and about as dominant as Jeremy Bonderman gets. The only thing I question is leaving Bonderman out there to face Cuddyer, actually the entire walk Joe Mauer to get to Cuddyer. Jamie Walker was warm and available. I know Bonderman wasn’t getting hit hard, and he was still throwing 95, and even the pitch that Cuddyer hit wasn’t a bad pitch. But there is probably a limit to the frustration one pitcher should face in an inning, and he threw a ton of pitches.

In the end the inning was reminiscent of the 8th inning melt down in Pittsburgh. Just plain ugly.

Offensively I couldn’t be happier. The Tigers made Santana work and repeatedly hit balls hard. Yes they left 13 men on base, but I look at situations like the 4th inning where the Tigers had runners on 2nd and 3rd and after a Clevlen K, Polanco and Thames both hit line drives that were caught. It happens – just like the 8th inning happened.

And yes, Brent Clevlen. That was quite a debut for a move I was questioning. He doubled and walked off of Santana, it will only get easier from here on out. And as for the outfield assist, it was a perfectly executed play. Clevlen made a strong accurate throw and Wilson blocked the plate. But I think the Tigers caught a break because Castillo appeared to have scored.

Two last thoughts on the series. First, I love the old school helmets that both Mauer and Redmond wear when catching. And secondly, could someone please ask Tim McClelland to make a strike call before the ball has been returned to the pitcher?
Game Time 2:10

PREGAME: Brad Radke has owned the Tigers for as long as he’s been in the league. But a lot of those Tiger teams just weren’t very good. That isn’t the case this year. The Tigers have beat Radke the two times they’ve faced him this year. In fact Pudge Rodriguez has the highest batting average against Radke of any player with 50 or more at-bats and he’s knocked him for 8 homers. Unfortunately Pudge won’t be playing tonight as he recovers from a bruised thumb.

Fortunately the player with the second highest batting average against Radke will be manning the clean-up position. Magglio has managed a .406 career mark against Radke. Other Tigers with success off of Radke, though in a smaller number of at-bats, are Craig Monroe, Carlos Guillen, and Dmitri Young. Young will be playing first base in place of Chris Shelton.

Taking the ball for the Tigers will be Nate Robertson. Robertson has faced the Twins twice this year and has allowed 3 runs in 12 innings. An interesting match-up will be Robertson and Joe Mauer. Mauer has been hitting the entire league this year, what with him having the best batting average and all, but the left hander has struggled with Robertson in his limited opportunities going 1 for 12.

If you’re looking for the Twins perspective, head over to Stick and Ball Guy. Here is the link for their Game Post. I read through last night’s and was impressed with the knowledge and reasonable-ness (word?) of the commentors.

Game Time 7:10

POSTGAME: Once again a big early lead ends up getting interesting. True, much of the big early lead was built on ground balls that missed everyone, but they weren’t all fluky hits. (Okay, Inge probably had the luckiest 3 hit night of his career) Granderson’s and Young’s homers were both legit of course, and the the Tigers had 3 other balls driven to the wall.

I know there was probably some nervousness about Jones, but he actually did nothing wrong last night. the offense against him came from bunts, bloops, and dribblers.

This was the first time I’ve seen Pat Neshek, and I’m still confused.

Fortunately the Tigers are going into a Santana match-up with the series already in hand.

PREGAME: For the first time in a long time, a series has me nervous. As everybody knows, the Twins are ridiculously hot. They are winners of 34 of their last 42. They just swept the White Sox in Chicago. The Tigers will be facing 2 of the top pitchers in the American League. The Twins are 37-11 at the dome. Since June 8th their offense has been plugging along at a 305/370/468 clip. This ain’t gonna be easy.

But the Tigers aren’t too shabby themselves and still have an 8.5 game lead. The Tigers will be sending out Zach Miner, who has been hammered in his last 2 starts. The Tigers offense, which has been pretty darn solid since the All Star break (304/350/442), will try to scratch out some runs against Francisco Liriano. Liriano of course is striking out everybody and has allowed like no runs per game. But the Tigers did have some success against Liriano when he was relieving. Curtis Granderson, Magglio Ordonez, and Brandon Inge are all 3 for 7 with home runs.

Bloggers are previewing this series like crazy. For even more info check out Mack Avenue Tigers, Sweaty Men Endeavors, and Baseball by Paul. Finally, my buddy Seth chronicles the roster moves and players that have brought the Twins to where they are.

POSTGAME: I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect to win this game. I mean no disrespect to Zach Miner, but he isn’t Francisco Liriano. Liriano was all that was advertised, but the Tigers did manage to raise his ERA. In the end the Tigers won a game the Metrodome way with a couple turf singles setting up Monroe’s game winner.

I thought that the Tigers were doing a poor job working the count against Liriano, at least until he left the game. Detroit hitters made Joe Nathan and Juan Rincon work for everything. In fact, there patience against Nathan in the 9th inning forced 25 pitches and probably prevented Nathan from coming out for the 10th. My perception of impatience against Liriano was probably more of a testament to how well he pitched.

Zach Miner was a tad shaky in the early innings, but he became quite effective. His last 2 outings were brutal, but if you look at his contribution in whole (even including those outings) I think you have to be thrilled with what he has done as a rotation fill-in. With the off day, Verlander’s long outing, Miner’s return to form, and Craig Monroe tweaking his leg, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Colby Lewis returned to Toledo for a position player.

Miner was helped by his defense that kept the Twins out of scoring position. Craig Monroe cut down Luis Castillo stretching a single to a double and Brandon Inge made a nifty heads up play gunning down the lead runner on a sacrifice bunt.

And of course I’d be remiss without mentioning the bullpen. Jamie Walker, Fernando Rodney, and Todd Jones were nearly perfect.

PREGAME: After much bullpen usage the last 2 days, it would be really helpful if Justin Verlander could pitch deep into this game. Verlander will be opposed by C.C. Sabathia.

This is a pretty big game for the Tigers. I’d feel a lot better if they could take this series before heading into a very difficult match-up with the Twins in the Metrodome.

The good news is that if you can escape some place with a TV for lunch today, you can catch part of the game. It is a 12:05 start and will be aired (are things aired on cable?) on ESPN.

POSTGAME: Justin Verlander provided just what the team needed, a shut down type effort that saved the bullpen. With an off day tomorrow, and the addition of Colby Lewis the pitching staff should be fully rested heading into the Twins series.

Craig Monroe continues to rake with 3 more hits. His batting average is up to .260 (but his OBP remains .290).

The biggest at-bat of the game had to be Marcus Thames 11 pitch walk to lead off the 6th inning. He had fallen behind 0-2 and battled back to set the stage for Magglio Ordonez’s 2 run double.

PREGAME: The Tigers will try and clinch a series win, and hopefully do it in under 4 hours.

Tigers starter Kenny Rogers will be facing the Indians for the 4th time. The first two efforts were great, the last one was a 9-0 shutout for the bad guys.

He’ll be opposed by Paul Byrd. Byrd has seemed hittable, except for when he faces the Tigers. In two starts the Tigers have mustered only 4 runs, with only 2 being earned.

A couple of lineup notes: Marcus Thames will sit out again today with Dmitri taking DH duties and Craig Monroe manning left. I’d expect Curtis Granderson to get the day off tomorrow so Thames should return. Also, Placido Polanco returns to the lineup. For the Indians Victor Martinez will be playing first base.

POSTGAME: Well, the offense made a game out of a miserable outing by Kenny Rogers. Roman Colon and Wil Ledezma combined for 4 1/3 shaky yet effective innings of relief. While the Tigers pitchers have struggled the last 2 nights, part of the credit has to go to the Indians. Tribe hitters have made Tiger pitchers throw strikes. The result is a lot of full counts and hitters counts, and shortened outings.

The game saw Curtis Granderson pick up his first error. While this one was pretty cheap, Curtis did misplay a ball against the A’s without being charged with the error. Things even out.

And then there were the rally killers. Polanco, Pudge, and Ordonez combined to go 0 for 13 and negated a 4 for 5 night from Curtis Granderson.