The Tigers are now, just now, 2 games up in the Central Division, which reduces their magic number to 6.

Let us begin the Magnificent Seven!

There are still 7 games left, and all of them are at home, which is a pretty serendipitous way to end the season. Although, there is the skeptical version–the Tigers are slightly better on the road (45-36) than at home (41-33). No matter, they get to finish with the floundering White Sox and Twins. Oh, well, actually, they are under .500 against the Whitetwins. Nevermind, it’s Septober, as Torii would say.

*****

There has been a lot of talk about Sanchez returning, and returning to the bullpen. Yesterday Ron Darling made what I thought was a very important point: Sanchez, apparently, has a very elaborate pre-start ritual, a 2-hour ritual that includes everything from long-toss to jacuzzi. Is this someone likely to adjust to bullpen work?

*****

Sometimes statistics are surprising:

Tigers OBP leaders:

1. .403 V. Martinez (.001 behind Bautista for AL lead)
2. .375 Miguel Cabrera
3. .363 JD Martinez
4. .333 Don Kelly

JD Martinez, in the words of one of our esteemed posters, has been a gift from the baseball gods. But also: Don Kelly?

Tonight’s 6-More-To-Go Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V Martinez, DH
5. JD Martinez, LF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Avila, C
8. Romine, SS
9. Carrera, CF

The lineup was released at the last minute tonight; apparently Avila was waiting on clearance from whatever MLB people are in charge of clearing concussion cases. I have mixed feelings about Avila in the lineup–in some ways it might be best to shut him down for at least the rest of the regular season, but it also might be worthwhile to try him out and see if he can go. What do you think. Also, not a fan of Carrera in CF.

Alex Avila tightened the screws and launched one, and the Tigers are again in first place today. If the playoffs began today, KC and Oakland would be playing the wild card game, and Detroit would be going to Baltimore.

Justin Verlander gets another chance to contribute to the rotation, as the Tigers have the brooms in hand.

Even though it is the dreaded Sunday day game after a night game, Ausmus can smell the straw bristles and is going with the same lineup as last night.

The Tigers and Indians will be hiding out on TBS for those few who won’t be watching football at 1:00.

Today’s Hey-It’s-Still-Baseball-Season Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, DH
4. V Martinez, 1B
5. JD Martinez, LF
6. Avila, C
7. Castellanos, 3B
8. Romine, SS
9. Davis, CF

Ah, back in first again, it feels nice. Kyle Lobstein will try to keep it that way. So far the Tigers have won all 3 of The Lobster’s starts, although Lobstein only got 1 W out of the deal (the other 2 were poached by Phil Coke after the bullpen blew the lead). Lobstein has been more than one could ask for for a fill-in starter, with a 2.78 ERA and a 1.191 WHIP.

(Speaking of which, Anibal Sanchez is long-tossing today, with a mound session scheduled for Monday).

Salazar takes the mound for the Indians. JD Martinez will try to avenge himself for the golden sombrero Salazar crowned him with on September 3rd.

Today’s First-Place Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V Martinez, DH
5. J Martinez, LF
6. Avila, C
7. Castellanos, 3B
8. Romine, SS
9. Davis, CF

The Tigers welcome Cleveland for a three-game set, and hope to pick up where the left off in Cleveland last week when they took 3-of-4 from the Indians. Detroit is in a virtual tie for first with the Royals right now; the Royals still have 2-runs to make up in the bottom of the 10th of the game to be resumed on the 22nd, which will give Cleveland one last chance to hurt Detroit this season.

If the playoff were held today, the Tigers would be playing Oakland in the one-game wild card game, with the winner going to LA to play the Angels. Here is the MLB playoff schedule.

Tonight the Tigers give the ball to David Price, who won a 12-1 Labor Day laugher against the Tribe on the 1st. Price has had a little bit of an on-again, off-again stint in Detroit so far this season, which bodes well for tonight’s game.

Detroit goes up against the suddenly stubborn Carlos Carrasco. Since August 10 Carrasco is 4-0 with a 0.70 ERA, the lowest in baseball over that time frame. Detroit did hit Carrasco on September 2–they got 10 hits–but only scored 1 run, thanks to Carrasco’s annoying ability to ring up a strike out every time the Tigers got a runner on 3rd and less than 2 out. Stay awake when Torii’s at the plate: Hunter against Carrasco is a career 6-for-15 (.400), with a double, a triple and 2 home runs.

Tonight’s R3L2O-Redemption Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, DH
4. V Martinez, 1B
5. JD Martinez, LF
6. Avila, C
7. Castellanos, 3B
8. Suarez, SS
9. Davis, CF

Unlike the previous game, last night’s game was not a story of blown chances; it was a game of no chances. The pitcher previously known as Justin Verlander (currently known as Worst Contract In Baseball) had a sub-Kyle outing, and the Tiger bats took the day off to golf.

Tonight the Tigers still have a chance to take the series, with Max “Hoping To Get the Worst Contract in Baseball” Scherzer on the mound against Trevor “Hope the Bats Don’t Wake Up or I’m Toast” Bauer.

Maybe it’s too early to peg this as a “let’s see what they’re made of” game, but…let’s see. And what’s with the Cleveland fans? They are still in a pennant race, and less than 10K last night?

Tyler Collins gets a rookie start tonight, and Hernan joins him at short.

Tonight’s Collins-All-Cars Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Collins, RF
3. Cabrera, DH
4. V Martinez, 1B
5. JD Martinez, LF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Holaday, C
8. Perez, SS
9. Davis, CF

Got to go with JD Martinez for the post picture today. The Verlander picture search was turning up some odd stuff, plus Martinez is the man of the hour right now. His rocket into the centerfield forest not only won the game, but it completely turned around what was looking like a real candidate for “this is when the season was lost,” a game with more consecutive failed Runner at 3rd with Less Than Two Out situations than any this season.

JD is an interesting character. He started out like gangbusters, went a bit cold, and then, just when everyone started muttering “Chris Shelton” and “Brennan Bosch,” started coming back at just the right time.

Martinez does swing at everything: during the Monday telecast they pointed out that his 56% swing at rate is the highest in MLB. And as frustrating as it is to watch him flailing at the outside sliders and chin high fastballs, he obviously hits a lot of them. This hasn’t always been the case: his Strikes Looking percentage has plummeted to 16.8% this season, after averaging about 25% in Houston. The aggressive approach has served him well.

And here’s another thing to like: after the game, Martinez had this to say. “I’ve never been on a team that had a chance to go to the playoffs (in pro ball), and I’m more excited about that than anything. I want to make the playoffs so bad.” How can you not like hearing that?

Just for fun, here is the rundown on blown opportunities:

• 2nd inning. Bases loaded, 0 out: Suarez struck out swinging. Davis struck out swinging. Kinsler grounded out to 3rd.
• 4th inning. Runners on 2nd and 3rd, 1 out: Kinsler struck out swinging, Hunter struck out swinging.
• 5th inning . Runners on 1st and 4rd, 0 out: J Martinez struck out looking, Castellanos struck out looking, Avila struck out looking.
• 6th inning. Runners on 1st and 3rd, 1 out: Hunter ground into double play.

That’s 5 strikeouts with a runner on 3rd, less than 2 out, and 1 double play. I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that this game could have easily ended up as the blown opportunity of the season.

To put that in perspective, as of the end of the 8th they had managed 1 run on 14 hits, which, if it had held, would have been the 14th time a team had only scored 1 run with that many hits since the invention of baseball statistics.

Special tip of the cap to The Lobster, who for the 2nd time pitched well enough to win, but got his W vampired by Phil Coke.

Tonight Justin Verlander takes the mound, and hopefully will bear down and show his stuff.

Alex Avila is out with a concussion, or concussion-like symptoms, or something (no official word). No need for DL with a 3rd catcher on staff.

Today’s One-More-Takes-The-Series Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, DH
4. V Martinez, 1B
5. J Martinez, LF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Suarez, SS
8. Holaday, C
9. Davis, CF

Brad Ausmus is, no doubt, good at some things. Others, not so much. One of those others is nicknames: he referred to today’s starting pitcher as “The Lobber.” OK, I’m sorry, very bad nickname for a pitcher. I’m going with “Lobster.” You know I’m right.

At any rate, if the Tigers hit like they did last night, it won’t matter much who is pitching. If they don’t, it probably won’t matter much who is pitching.  Anyway, K-Lob is a pitch-to-contact type, and has Bozo’s Big Top behind him in the field (statistically speaking). So we’ll see.

Tonight’s Cabrera World Domination Tour Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, DH
4. V Martinez, 1B
5. JD Martinez, LF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Avila, C
8. Suarez, SS
9. Davis, CF

Look for a healthy dose of bench substitutions tonight. Just a feeling.

Well here we go, it’s September Baseball, we’ve got the useful or not-so-useful bits up from Toledo, got the guys all inspired (or not so much?) after a talking to by Mr. Ausmus, and we’ve got a whole lot of AL Central between here and October.

Cleveland has been the hot team in the Central of late, slowing down the previously hot Royals–almost, kind of, sweeping them (1/2 inning to go), and pulling to within 3.5 games of the division lead. Didn’t we see this movie last year?

David Price takes the reins this afternoon. We all remember what he did last time out, but also what he did the time before that. He’ll have his work cut out against Cy Kluber.

Despite speculation to the contrary, Cabrera is in the lineup–“resting” at DH. (Insert standard complaint).

Just to summarize the call-ups:

• James McCann C
• Steven Moya (L) RF
• Tyler Collins (L) LF
• Hernan Perez SS
• Kyle Lobstein (L) P
• Kyle Ryan (L) P
• Robby Ray (L) P

Ausmus announced that Lobstein is the 5th starter right now, and will start tomorrow’s game.

Today’s Laboring Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, DH
4. V Martinez, 1B
5. JD Martinez, LF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Avila, C
8. Suarez, SS
9. Carrera, CF

Torii had said last week that he felt there was a lack of energy on the team, but that last night was different: “We had to go out there and come with a little more fight,” Torii Hunter said. “We lost the last two and we lost big. Those guys are taking first and third, stealing bases. So today, we played a little harder, and I could see it.”

So instead of facing a disastrous 4-game sweep, today the Tigers look for a split to the series, thanks in large part to some clutch hitting by The Rooks, Castellanos and Suarez. Verlander was not great, but he was good enough to keep Detroit in the game. He had good velocity on his fastball right up until the time that he was pulled–at just the right time, for once, much to his great displeasure.

Miguel Cabrera had a rough day, grounding into two rally-killing double plays. When he finally did roll a single up the middle and was lifted for a pinch-runner, he noticeably limped heading back to the clubhouse. Yes, it’s time for that old theme again: don’t play Cabrera at DH. Here’s the tally up until before yesterday’s game:

.200 BA .327 SLG .582 OPS

That’s Don Kelly territory there. It’s a pretty small sample size, and the situational aspect should also be taken into account: Ausmus puts Cabrera at DH on days when he is sore, or for a day game after a night game, or the 2nd game of a double-header, etc. In other words, precisely when he is least likely to be at his best. But that’s my whole point. Why not give him an actual game off instead of the DH thing? It would be better for him, and we can probably cover the .582 OPS we’d be missing.

And there is today’s lineup, so it looks like Cabrera needs a day off anyway.

Today’s Let’s-Get-This-Split-Then-Split Lineup:

1. Davis, CF
2. Kinsler, 2B
3. Hunter, RF
4. V Martinez, DH
5. J Martinez, LF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Avila, C
8. Suarez, SS
9. Kelly, 1B

Well, we got to see most of the Mud Hen pitching staff that first game, so that saves a drive to Toledo. Lobstein wasn’t bad, really: 3 runs over 5 2/3 innings. Not that it mattered by that point.

Tonight, Justin Verlander returns after missing a start with a not-damaged shoulder. It will be interesting to see if they’ve got him on a short pitch count. On the one hand, that would make sense after missing a start with a sore shoulder; on the other hand, you have the bullpen.

Tonight’s Saving-Romine-For-The-Bullpen Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, DH
4. V Martinez, 1B
5. J Martinez, LF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Holaday, C
8. Suarez, SS
9. Davis, CF

Well, that may have been the low point of the season.

Today, we get to see what the Tigers are made of. We may not want to know the answer to that one, but it will come regardless.

The Tigers play two today, sending young Buck Farmer out for the opener to try to slow down Adrian Peterson and the Twins.

Detroit returns Robby “Don’t Look At How Fister Did Last Night” Ray and Ian “What He Said” Krol to Toledo, and bring up Buck Farmer (under double-header rules), Patrick McCoy, and Kyle “Might As Well Try Me” Lobstein.

Oh, and tip of the cap to Drew Smyly, with a 2-hit complete game shutout of the Blue Jays.

Today’s One-Of-Them-May-Pitch Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Carrera, CF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V Martinez, DH
5. JD Martinez, LF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Kelly, RF
8. Avila, C
9. Romine, SS

It’s hard to find words to describe last night’s game: not David Price’s gem, not the scoreless wonders on offense. Perhaps I should just run the latest teaser from the cult classic Unlawfully Married. Although if I did have words, I’d have “bravo” for Price, and a couple others for Rajai Davis for the failed bunt followed by the GIDP with runners on 1st or 2nd, and for J.D. Martinez, for generally flailing and specifically waving at ball 4 with 2 runners on.

By losing a complete game start with no earned runs and only one hit, David Price joined a short list. By doing all that without giving up a walk, Price joined a list of one.

One would think that we could score some runs this weekend in Minnesota, but one never knows, does one?

As you may have heard by now, the Boston Red Sox are signing Cuban phenom Rusney Castillo beating out the Tigers and maybe one or two other teams. So that’s off the table. The table’s been a bit bare lately.

Series Overview:

Fri   8/22 8:10   Robby Ray (1-3. 5.33) vs Tommy Milone (L) (6-4, 3.99)

Sat  8/23 12:10 Buck Farmer (0-0, 7.20) vs Yohan Pino (1-5, 5.37)

Sat  8/23 7:10   Justin Verlander (10-11, 4.76) vs Trevor May (0-2, 9.00)

Sun 8/24 2:10   Max Scherzer (14-4, 3.07) vs Kyle Gibson (11-9, 4.13)

Four games, each at a different time. How often does that happen?

Tonight’s How-About-A-Run-Or Two? Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V Martinez, DH
5. J Martinez, LF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Suarez, SS
8. Holaday, C
9. Davis, CF