That’s four in a row for the guys with the D on their hats (I’ll take a moment to think how easily it could have been 7, if a couple of plays in Chicago had gone differently. OK, now I can move on). They didn’t gain any ground on Cleveland, because, hey, Oakland A’s, but they didn’t lose any either. And since this series and the last were against Wild Card contenders, they have moved up in the Wild Card standings (currently a half game behind Houston, and 2 out of a spot). I’m with Craig Monroe on that though, the heck with the Wild Card, these guys can win the division, as long as they can get over the idea that they can’t beat Cleveland–7 head-to-head left at the end of the season.

Jason Beck raises the possibility that Tyler Collins might stick around even after JD Martinez makes it back; the Tigers have been carrying an extra reliever for 2 months, and that doesn’t seem as necessary now—when Lowe and Molleken made an appearance last night it was kind of an “oh yeah, I forgot we had those guys” moment. I like the idea, especially since Maybin seems pretty fragile. With Romine as the best backup infielder and Collins as the best back up outfielder, what would the point of Aviles be?

Today’s good news: Justin Verlander is on the mound. In the month of July he is 3-0 with and ERA of 1.60 (4th best in the AL), and a WHIP of  0.950 (tied with Michael Fulmer for 4th best in the AL). His 37 strikeouts are 3rd best in the AL. If the season had started in July Verlander would be on the top of the list of Cy Young candidates.

Today’s Let’s Keep Streaking Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Maybin, CF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V Martinez, DH
5. Castellanos, 3B
6. Upton, LF
7. Collins, RF
8. McCann, C
9. Iglesias, SS

Continue reading Game 2016.103: Astros at Tigers →

The last game of this oh-so-entertaining series gives Anibal Sanchez a chance to convince us that his last outing was not a mirage, against the tough Jose Quintana. Whenever yesterday’s game finishes. The Tigers should definitely have an advantage when it comes bullpen time.

Yesterday’s game featured another big hole in the middle of the batting order (but hey, that one’s not over yet!). Today they get another good chance: Cabrera is hitting over .370 against Quintana, and Victor (who may have been the only guy in the park sad not to see Sale) is hitting .424 against him.

Today’s Let’s Play Two! Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Iglesias, SS
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V Martinez, DH
5. Castellanos, 3B
6. Upton, LF
7. Aviles, RF
8. McCann, C
9. Romine, CF

The Tigers take the first two of four, and now go for the creosote game of the four-game series.

As frustrating as this season has been as a Tiger fan, how would you like to be a White Sox fan? In the offseason the team added a bona fide home run crown threat in Todd Frazier (he is currently 2nd in the majors with 28), and added Mat Latos and James Shields to a rotation that already included Jose Quintana and bona fide Cy Young contender Chris Sale, who takes the mound tonight (currently 14-3 with a 3.18 ERA and 1.01 WHIP). Then in the first 30 or so games they run out to a 6 game lead on the division. Then…it all fell apart. They lost 11 of their last 14 in May, and haven’t recovered.

They seem to be hexed in this series as well: Mike Pelfrey somehow managed to crawl through 5 1/3 with only 1 run, despite giving up 8 hits and a walk. The Tigers had to hit the bullpen early, but the rain bailed them out and gave Pelfrey the W. Then last night, after being the first team to really hit Fulmer and taking a 5-4 lead, Cabrera came out of a month long slump and the Tigers pulled out a 2nd one. Now the word “sell” can be heard murmured in Chicago, even in conjunction with the word “Sale.”

As for the Tigers, If Victor Martinez can break his slump also, the team will have a rather formidable 1-5 in the lineup. Victor and his binoculars are a ridiculous 18-for-36 lifetime with a 1.453 OPS against Sale. If I were a White Sox fan I would have a bad feeling where this is going.

UPDATE: The Sox snakebite continues (or, perhaps, something else is up). Sale scratched for Albers, with “flu-like symptoms.” throwback uniform rage.

Today’s Miggy’s Back Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Maybin, CF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V Martinez, DH
5. Castellanos, 3B
6. Upton, LF
7. Aviles, RF
8. Saltalamacchia, C
9. Iglesias, SS

Rain, rain, go away. But we like that thing you did yesterday.

Tonight we get Fulmer, the serious Rookie of the Year candidate, and best Tiger rookie pitcher since Mark Fidrych, unless I’m forgetting somebody. The two couldn’t be more different though; Fulmer doesn’t even have a nickname yet. I was trying to find a new picture of Fulmer for the game post, something more exciting, and…there’s not much there. He doesn’t even show up in the top results in Google image search for “Mike Fulmer.” He only has two expressions, and he’s saving the second one for later. Still, where would the Tigers be without him this season?

If you believe in WARcraft, here are the most valuable Tigers this season:

• 4.1 Ian Kinsler
• 3.6 Michael Fulmer
• 2.7 Justin Verlander

Today’s Glass Half Fulmer Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Maybin, CF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V Martinez, DH
5. Castellanos, 3B
6. Upton, LF
7. Collins, RF
8. Saltalamacchia, C
9. Iglesias, SS

Collins is back.

The less said about yesterday’s game, the better.

That’s not true. Verlander was incredible; he has re-established himself as the ace of the staff, with better stuff than we have seen from him in 3 years. The scene on the mound where Brad went out and Justin held his ground was priceless. Verlander said that as soon as Brad walked out to the mound without signaling he knew he was going to be able to hold the mound. This is good stuff we are seeing from JV this season; let’s appreciate it.

Tonight we get Pelfrey.

Tonight’s Not Entirely Serious Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Maybin, CF
3. Don Kelly, 1B
4. Don Kelly, DH
5. Castellanos, 3B
6. Upton, LF
7. Saltalamacchia, C
8. Aviles, RF
9. Iglesias, SS

We got Pelfreyed yesterday; just one of those games.

Ace-in-Waiting Mike Fulmer takes the mound in the rubber game of the series, facing the Human Suspension. Justin Upton returns, which earns Meandering Moya a trip back to Toledo, and is my pick for first player plunked by a Ventura pitch.

Today’s Ventura Highway Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Maybin, CF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V Martinez, DH
5. Castellanos, 3B
6. Upton, LF
7. Collins, RF
8. Saltalamacchia, C
9. Iglesias, SS

The home field magic continues, and the Tigers started the second half (which is much less than half, if you must quibble) on a strong note, as Justin Verlander threw 7 strong, with only 4 hits and 2 walks against 10 strikeouts. There was a time a few years ago where there was an ongoing discussion here about whether or not Verlander was an “ace” (whatever that means); 2013-2014 saw him with ERA/WHIP numbers of 3.36 / 1.315 and 4.54 / 1.398 (that 3.36 is pretty lucky with a 1.315 WHIP), and guys like Max Scherzer and even Anibal Sanchez (!) looked better. But here we are now with Justin Verlander looking once again like the ace of the staff.

He could have easily had a shutout, If Moya were an actual, you know, outfielder. He really does look awful out there. JD Martinez can’t return soon enough. And Moya isn’t really making up for it with his bat any more: since June 30 he is 3-for-26 with 15 strikeouts (eat your heart out, Upton). He is starting to look a little Hessman-ish.

Pelfrey again looks like he gets the short end of the run-support straw: the Tigers have career numbers against Danny Duffy ranging from mediocre to sub-Mendoza. Kinsler, 3-for-20? Cabrera 6-for-24? (and slumping).

Today’s Duff Luck Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Maybin, CF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V Martinez, DH
5. Castellanos, 3B
6. Aviles, RF
7. McCann, C
8. Collins, LF
9. Iglesias, SS

Welcome back from the break everyone. Maybe I’m just becoming increasingly curmudgeonly, but every year I become less and less interested in the All Star game. The Home Run Derby is actually more fun to watch than the game. Maybe that’s just me.

The Tigers will be coming back from the break without Justin Upton, who has been placed on the bereavement list (which means he is out for a minimum of 3 and maximum of 7 games). To replace Upton, the Tigers have called up The Finger, Tyler Collins.

One thing the Tigers have to look forward to in the 2nd half (besides, hopefully, the return of JD Martinez): home games. The Tigers had the league’s most imbalanced home/road ratio in the first half, with only 39 games at home and 50 on the road, leaving them with 43 home games after the break.

Home – Road splits:

• .590  23W 16L Home
• .460  23W 27L Road

If the Tigers continue winning home and road games at the same pace as they did before the break, they would finish with an 86-win season.

Today’s Welcome Back from Break Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Maybin, CF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V Martinez, DH
5. Castellanos, 3B
6. Moya, RF
7. McCann, C
8. Collins, LF
9. Iglesias, SS

Player of the Game prediction: Ian Kinsler, rested and possibly motivated by an All-Star snub, faces Ian Kennedy, who he is 6-for-9 lifetime against.

Well, that went about as well as we expected.

0-11.

Mr. Fulmer, stop this madness!

Today’s One More Chance Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Maybin, CF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Martinez, DH
5. Castellanos, 3B
6. Upton, RF
7. Moya, LF
8. Saltalamacchia, C
9. Iglesias, SS

Injuries are part of baseball, but still…losing two starting pitchers in two days? That’s some pretty bad luck. But hey, there’s Buck Farmer. There’s a funny line in there somewhere about money growing on trees, but it’s not funny at all, not a bit, that in the first week of July the Indians have already won the season series.

Maybe Longball Anibal will beat Four-Hit Shutout Carrasco today. More likely, Michael Fulmer will have a chance to make a Rookie of the Year statement tomorrow.  Or maybe tonight can be one of those “that’s baseball” nights. Maybe the intense Game Post photo will help.

Still, the supposed big bats in the lineup haven’t been able to plate a run against the Indians. But no worry, Moya and Castellanos came through. So clearly, this is a good time to sit Castellanos for Aviles, because, hey, um…OK, I’ve got nothing here.

UPDATE: Castellanos has “flu-like symptoms,” so that explains that.

Watch out for Yan Gomes, batting 9th: career 7-for-16 against Longball with 2 HR.

Today’s Just Win One Already Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Maybin, CF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V Martinez, DH
5. Upton, LF
6. Moya, RF
7. Aviles, 3B
8. McCann, C
9. Iglesias, SS

The Tigers swept Tampa Bay, pulled into 2nd place in the Central, and now get another crack at the division-leading Indians.

Here are the schedule times and starters:

• Mon  7:10    Daniel Norris (1-0, 4.09) vs. Danny Salazar (10-3, 2.22)
• Tue   7:10   Jordan Zimmermann (9-4, 3.95) vs. Carlos Carrasco (4-2, 2.56)
• Wed 12:10  Michael Fulmer (8-2, 2.17) vs. Josh Tomlin (9-1, 3.21)

UPDATE: Zimmermanm to the DL with neck strain. Sanchez to start in his place. Molleken to be called up. The Cleveland Curse continues.

Why Cleveland will win this series:

Well, they are Cleveland. As in 9-0 vs. the Tigers Cleveland

They are IN Cleveland. They are 23-12 at home, where they hit especially well. Their batting average at home is a ridiculous .291 (.830 OPS), vs. .234 (.691 OPS) on the road.

Their starting pitching. Their worst pitcher this series is 9-1 with a .3.21 ERA, but that doesn’t take into account how they have owned Detroit so far this year. Their team ERA vs. Detroit is 2.00, with a 0.877 WHIP. It’s worth noting Salazar is the one guy they did hit this year, putting up 3 runs in 5 2/3.

Why Detroit will win this series:

The Tigers are coming off of a 4 game sweep where they won two games with late come backs, won one in a blowout, and generally pitched, hit and even ran the bases well. The Indians are coming in off of two games where they got completely buried following a 19-inning marathon victory. Still, momentum is only as good as the next day’s starter, as the saying goes.
Bullpens. The Tiger bullpen has been getting increasingly solid, and the Indians has been slammed and overworked. Check out these numbers:

81  60  175 Cleveland
35  18   31  Detroit

These are how many pitches each bullpen has thrown over the last 3 games, from this useful site (I don’t really like how they gave Bauer 83 pitches for Friday; McAllister is the bullpen guy who pitched 31 replacing Bauer as a starter. Still the difference is huge). The Tigers either have to jump on the starters early, or work up the pitch counts; either way, getting into the bullpen as early as possible will be key.

Key for the Series:

In addition to seeing as much bullpen as possible, Ian and Miggy need to show up this series. In the 9 games so far, Kinsler is hitting .162 (.427 OPS), and Miggy is hitting .172 (.437 OPS). Those are NL pitcher stat lines.

Today’s Stop That Damn Drumming Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Maybin, CF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V Martinez, DH
5. Castellanos, 3B
6. Upton, LF
7. Moya, RF
8. McCann, C
9. Iglesias, SS