It’s the home stretch, and the last home series. 9 left to go. The Twins can stay alive for a wild card with a sweep. The next series, at Texas, could be very big…for Texas. There is a game 162 that will not be played this season.

It would be nice to see JD make it to #40.

Jim Leyland with some nice words about Yogi Berra.

There was a point this season where many of us might have had this three-game home series pencilled in as a huge series. Luckily, it was in pencil.

Today’s Let’s Play Two Lineup:

1. Rajai Davis, CF
2. Tyler Collins, LF
3. Miguel Cabrera, DH
4. JD Martinez, RF
5. Victor Martinez, 1B
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. Alex Avila, C
8. Dixon Machado, SS
9. Andrew Romine, 2B

Update: We will try again tonight, same lineup. Yesterday’s game has been re-scheduled as a double-header on Sunday (an old school double-header, not the day/night variety).

Jason Beck has a bunch of quotes from Brad Ausmus about the premature reports of his demise.

*****

It looked like it was time for this season to quietly fade away, then start something different for next season. It got a little noisier yesterday though, with multiple reports that the decision has already been made to fire Brad Ausmus. He is pre-fired, in other words. Which makes the last few weeks of the season rather awkward.

Chris McCosky (Detroit News) tweeted that the planned firing was leaked by the Illitch camp. It has also been made known in other sources that Illitch was not sold on hiring Ausmus in the first place. There are other explanations for the rumors I suppose, but it sounds like a public owner tantrum.

Poor Al Avila, left scrambling at damage control, says that no decisions have been made, and that “It’s unfortunate this happened the way it happened, Puts us all of us in a very awkward position.”

There may be a game today, a rainy one. Steven Moya gets another look in left. Why not? No word on when Iglesias can return, but nothing wrong with seeing some more Dixon Machado. The Staff Ace takes the soggy mound.

Today’s Lineup:

1. Anthony Gose, CF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. JD Martinez, RF
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. Steven Moya, LF
8. James McCann, C
9. Dixon Machado, SS

OK Alfredo, we’re going to give you a little more sauce every scoreless inning you pitch (yes, I know that’s not Alfredo sauce. Don’t be so pedantic).

I seem to get all the Alfredo Simon starts. I’ll try the lucky pasta picture again. It is likely that tonight Simon will throw a shutout. it is also likely he will give up 6 runs in the first 3 innings. A solid, 3-4 run start? Highly unlikely, which is why that is my prediction.

Hmm. That’s actually making me hungry. The picture, not the anticipation of the game.

Reason to watch: Rajai Davis is hot right now. Also I am appreciating the professionalism that Andrew Romine brings to his backup role.

As mentioned in my comments on yesterdays threads multiple inside sources have yet to deny my rumor that Jim Walewander will be the new Tiger manager. Other unnamed sources are also silent.

Today’s Lineup:

1. Rajai Davis, LF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. JD Martinez, RF
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. James McCann, C
8. Andrew Romine, SS
9. Anthony Gose, CF

Alfredo “Big Pasta” Simon has now earned the “enigmatic” description. Apparently all he does is throw either batting practice, or shutouts.

It is easy to find a reason to watch today: Justin Verlander, who continues to impress. Verlander’s 2nd half numbers now sit at at 2.45 ERA, and a stingy 0.930, numbers which would put him in the Cy Young conversation if he had had a whole season of that.

Another reason to watch: if you have relatives from Cleveland visiting. I don’t think they care any more than I do at this point, but still….

Ian Kinsler gets a day off today. It’s worth appreciating what he has done the 2nd half, continuing to hit even as the boat sinks. He’s currently at .354, .980 OPS for the 2nd half, and now leads the team with a 5.9 WAR.

Today’s Lineup:

1. Anthony Gose, CF
2. Dixon Machado, SS
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. JD Martinez, RF
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. Tyler Collins, LF
8. James McCann, C
9. Andrew Romine, 2B

I’m taking the over tonight. I predict Brantley runs wild. Last 2 starts for Simon: 14 earned runs in 9.1 innings. I want Suarez back!

Gose isn’t happy with his base running: “my mouth has written checks my butt can’t cash.” +2 for Anthony Gose. -2 for anyone who doesn’t know he is doing anything wrong.

Ausmus is getting more and more bold. He says he might sit Victor for a day, maybe, if things get crazy. “If I think he needs a day or two (off), we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” Ausmus wants it to be known he is a bridge-crosser. He will burn that bridge at both ends, and cross it when he comes to it.

Today’s Hey! It’s Football Season! Lineup:

1. Rajai Davis, CF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. JD Martinez, RF
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. Tyler Collins, LF
8. James McCann, C
9. Andrew Romine, SS

Corey Kluber was supposed to pitch tonight, then Cleveland realized oh wait, it’s only the Tigers, so they switched to Josh Tomlin (actually, Kluber has a hamstring strain. That’s the story anyway).

Reason to follow this game: the much-anticipated return of The Lobster, Kyle Lobstein. OK, “much-anticipated” may be a small exaggeration.

A guy named Kyle pitched for a while last night and didn’t do so well, but really, without that final touchdown, they had a chance to win that one. Oh wait, that was the Michigan game.

Jose Iglesias is out for “more than a couple games” with a finger that got bunt-failed, so the Tigers call up Dixon Machado to fill in.

Today’s Lineup:

1. Anthony Gose, CF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. JD Martinez, RF
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. Tyler Collins, LF
8. Bryan Holaday, C
9. Dixon Machado, SS

Well, yesterday’s game was about as ugly as it gets. Edwin Encarnacion had 3 home runs and 9 RBI, which is about a month’s work for Victor Martinez. Which is not to say today couldn’t be just as bad: last outing Aflredo Simon dispelled the mirage he created when he through a 1-hit shutout, and was banged around for 8 runs in 4 innings. The Blue Jays may be having a big plate of pasta this afternoon.

Brad Ausmus said he was “embarrassed” by yesterday’s game, which for him is practically a tirade.  So today Brad will be taking extreme measures: he swaps the Martinezes in the batting order.

Today’s Wait, How Many Outs are There? Lineup:

1. Rajai Davis, LF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. JD Martinez, RF
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. James McCann, C
8. Jose Iglesias, SS
9. Anthony Gose, CF

Today Buck Farmer takes his turn at trying to keep the Blue Jays in the yard. This lineup is truly potent, as opposed to the “potent” Tigers offense that Rod Allen is always talking about. The Tigers have leadoff hitters who can’t get on base and a cleanup hitter who can’t hit in runs, but hey, other than that they are fine.

When David Price made his last start fort the Tigers, the Tigers were 48-52, and the Blue Jays were 50-51. That’s a 1 1/2 game difference. The Tigers decided to sell, the Blue Jays decided to buy, and now Toronto is 12 games better than Detroit.

Today Brad swaps Gose and Davis in the lineup, and decides to prank Buck Farmer by giving JD Martinez the day off.

Today’s Lineup:

1. Anthony Gose, CF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, DH
4. Victor Martinez, 1B
5. Nick Castellanos, 3B
6. Tyler Collins, RF
7. James McCann, C
8. Jose Iglesias, SS
9. Rajai Davis, LF

Matt Boyd returns to Toronto, and takes on his former team, as does Anthony Gose. David Price is there, and not doubt will be renewing acquaintances, but we won’t see him pitching this series.

Justin Verlander’s near no-hitter was a tough act to follow, but crafty veteran Randy Wolf did a pretty good job of it. He has now had two good outings, which is probably as much or more than the team expected to get from him this season. Wolf now has a WHIP of 1.143, which is the 2nd lowest among Tiger starters (Verlander now, by the way, has a lower WHIP for the season than David Price did). Wolf says he isn’t yet ready to concede to age.

If Miguel Cabrera gets 5 plate appearances tonight, he will appear in the official batting average leaders list.

In Minor League notes, current Erie pitcher (and former Binghamton pitcher) Michael Fulmer has been named Eastern League Pitcher of the Year. Some hope for the future.

Today’s Where Did the Runs Go? Lineup:

1. Rajai Davis, LF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, DH
4. Victor Martinez, 1B
5. Julio Martinez, RF
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. James McCann, C
8. Jose Iglesias, SS
9. Anthony Gose, CF