Detroit Tigers: 31-25, 1st Place (2 ahead of Cleveland).

Despite leaving all of 12 runners on base (including failing to score with bases loaded and nobody out), the Tigers offense was in Feast mode against the previously 8-0 Matt Moore, knocking him out after 2 innings on their way to a 10-1 victory. Anibal was again in Ace mode, although he didn’t need it with all the run support. Not that that mattered to Sanchez:  “No matter how many runs we score … I don’t want to allow any runs,” Sanchez said. “If we make a lot of runs, the other team can do it, too, so we have to keep the same game.”

But runs they did score, and the Tigers have now scored 10+ runs a league-leading 8 times (and have given up 10+ only 3).  Perhaps that is why oddsmakers have the Tigers down as favorites to win the World Series. If only they could do something about those 1-run games (6-9).

*****

Of course the big news in baseball, and for the Tigers, is the brewing story reported by ESPN’s Outside the Lines that as many as 20 MLB players are facing suspensions of up to 100 games for performance-enhancing drug use, including Detroit’s own Jhonny Peralta (the leaked names are listed here).

Peralta’s name originally surfaced in connection with Biogenesis–whose Director Tony Bosch’s cooperation with MLB has set the current scandal in motio–in February. At the time Peralta released this statement: “I have never used performance-enhancing drugs. Period,” Peralta said in a statement released by his attorney, Barry Ross. “Anybody who says otherwise is lying.” Peralta has given a “no comment” in response the the current story.

As well as the scope and solidity of the investigation (the alleged drug provider providing names), the unique aspect here is the rumored threat of the 100-game, 2nd Offense suspension for those involved, using a strange argument that lying about not using performance-enhancing drugs constitutes another PED offense. I suspect that the 100-game suspension threat is being used as a bargaining chip for encouraging cooperation with the investigation (in return for “reduced” penalties).

At any rate, I suspect this will be a long process: there will be insinuations, more leaks, investigators assigned, depositions, suspensions, appeals, testimony, lawsuits, who knows what. There is a good summary of various legal angles the players could take here, just for starters.

*****

So what does this mean for the Tigers and Peralta? Even if Peralta is found guilty by MLB, I have a hard time imagining he would get the 100-game version suspension, and have a hard time imagining the process working itself out by the end of the season. What is certain is that the scandal will create an unending distraction, which at the very least will include a lot of media attention, and may include Peralta having to meet with investigators or even testify. In addition to having his name on The List, I think it would be naive to not think that there will be assumptions made about Peralta’s turnaround this season, playing almost 200 OPS points higher this season than last, and more than 100 points above his career average. Whether or not Peralta can keep his focus amidst these distractions will be a big story this season.

Either way, I agree with Jason Beck about one of the big issues the story raises–the Tigers don’t have a Plan B at shortstop, either on the team on in the minors.

****

Speaking of legal matters, as the Tigers prepare for their upcoming three-game series with Cleveland, Indians closer Chris Perez has narcotics agents investigating a delivery to his home.

*****

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Jhonny Peralta. Jhonny tries to keep his focus on the field, and keep up the hitting.

Today’s Lookin’ to Feast Lineup:

1. Dirks, LF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, DH
5. Martinez, 1B
6. Peralta, SS
7. Avila, C
8. Infante, 2B
9. Garcia, CF

Detroit Tigers: 30-25, 1st Place (1 ahead of Cleveland).

It’s a big week in the D: Detroit take on the tough Tampa Bay Rays (who, while in 4th place, have a better record than the Tigers), then have a 3-game set with the Cleveland Indians.

The Tigers just got back from a 1-4 road trip, in which they scored 20 runs (decent, right, that’s 4 per game), but in which they also had 8 runs in one inning, and 12 in the other 46 (oh…not so good). This may explain why they have a skewed Pythagorean win number (as Stormin’ Norman pointed out, and as we pointed out here after Game 48).

At any rate, the Tigers have trouble “manufacturing” runs, which is not news to the DTW readers–Alex Avila’s bunt DP probably generated as much comment as anything so far this season.  The team is beginning to show its 2012 Feast-Or-Famine form, where they alternate blow-outs with no-show-outs, punctuated by inning 7-9 narcolepsy.

The Tigers are batting a combined .216 through innings 7-9 this year, with a paltry .616 OPS, which is better than all of one team in the AL. The good news is that that one team is the Indians, but this does not exactly bode well for a playoff run. ( A classic example was Sunday’s game against the Orioles: O’Day got through the 8th inning with 4 pitches–and gave up a hit! the whole thing took less than 5 minutes).

*****

In other news Quintin Berry was claimed by the Royals. I predict he will steal 20 bases against Detroit in his brief time with Kansas City.

*****

Then there is the “Sponsored Headlines” section of the ESPN previews. I mean, what’s up with that? “Kristen Stewart Leaves Little to the Imagination?” Or “21 Facts About Dogs That Will Make You Blow Your Mind?” I mean, seriously.

*****

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Anibal Sanchez. With Moore on the mound for TB and the Tiger bats in full Feast-Or-Famine mode, Anibal has small margin for error.

Today’s Home Cookin’ Lineup:

1. Infante, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, DH
5. Martinez, 1B
6. Peralta, SS
7. Tuiasosopo, LF
8. Pena, C
9. Garcia, CF

Detroit Tigers: 27-20, 1st Place (.5 ahead of Cleveland).

The Tiger winning streak ended at four last night as the Twins got to Doug Fister for three runs early, and then quieted the Tiger bats for the 3-2 victory.  The big blow was a home run by none other than Joe Mauer, who came to the plate greeted with boos from the Tiger fans for his dastardly spoiling of a perfectly good no-hitter the night before.

Then of course his next at bat brought more booing, and according to Jason Beck Mauer said that Pena told him “they shouldn’t boo you. You got a homer after they booed you.” Well he responded with another hit, which led to more booing, and a Pena response of “No. Stop, stop, stop!”

Speaking of Pena, he did his part with the bat last night, with a 3-for-4 game that raised his average to .328.  Whether his success at the plate lasts or not remains to be seen, but he will be getting a lot more at bats, as Leyland tries an alternating catching mix. “I’m trying to have a little bit of one [day] on, one [day] off just to see if we can get him [Avila] going a little bit.” Avila will be in today with the Sunday Lineup.

*****

Max The Undefeated (6-0) will take the mound looking for the Tiger series win. Max beat the Twins in April, holding them to 3 runs in 7 plus innings, with 10 Ks. And, more importantly, Mauer was 0-for-3 against him.  Scherzer has the 2nd-best run support in the majors at 8.23 per 9 innings, so I am expecting Avila, Kelly, and Santiago to pound the ball today.

Wilkin Ramirez seems to be OK after a frightening collision in the outfield yesterday, but he is out of today’s lineup with a sore jaw.

*****

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Hmm, well it was going to be Jhonny Peralta, after his nice day at the plate yesterday (not to mention turning a nice double play). So let’s try Victor Martinez, who takes a try at first. Maybe playing in the field will “get him going.”

Today’s Sunday Special Lineup:

1. Dirks, LF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, DH
5. Martinez, 1B
6. Avila, C
7. Infante, 2B
8. Kelly, CF
9. Santiago, SS

Detroit Tigers: 27-19, 1st Place (.5 ahead of Cleveland). Win streak: 4

“When you pitch a one hitter and the one hit you give up is to a guy with three batting titles, that’s one hell of a performance.” -Jim Leyland

The Tigers re-took first place in style last night. Just 4 weeks after he set a Tiger record with 17 strikeouts against Atlanta,  Anibal Sanchez flirted with his 2nd-career no-hitter with a masterful 1-hit, 130-pitch complete game shutout of the Twins.

Well “flirting” may be too mild–it was an all out seduction, and he almost had the thing, until the one guy in the Minnesota lineup most likely to break up a no-hitter came up, and Mauer ended the drama with a solid single up the middle. With his pitch count over 120 and the no-hitter gone, Sanchez smacked his glove at what might have been, stepped back on the mound, and struck out the rest of the side.

Sanchez, Leyland, and some of the Tigers give their reactions to Sanchez’ performance.

*****

After last night’s game, and with Anibal’s 17-K performance still in memory, I began hearing a little chatter about how Sanchez is the real “Ace” of the staff. Wasn’t it just a few days ago that Scherzer was the one that was maybe the real Ace now? (And at times in the past one could even hear that said about Doug Fister). I’m not sure how useful the concept of a staff Ace is; I suppose it does matter when it comes to naming the Opening Day starting pitcher, and when setting up a playoff rotation, otherwise I am not sure. At any rate, I am sure of this: when you have a starting rotation such that you have guys who can compete with Justin Verlander for the title of Staff Ace, your pitching is going to take you a long way

*****

Last night was a special performance. Today the Tigers celebrate a special team, the 1968 Tigers.  on the 45th Anniversary of their World Series Championship team.

*****

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Andy Dirks. Dirks continues leadoff duties. Andy is on a 7-for-17 streak, and is 3-for-7 with a HR off of The Pajama Man

Today’s Lineup:

1. Dirks, LF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Peralta, SS
7. Pena, C
8. Infante, 2B
9. Kelly, CF

Detroit Tigers: 26-19, 2nd Place (.5 behind Cleveland)

At this particular moment in time the best hitter in baseball walks the earth in a Tiger uniform with a big number 24 on the back.

Once again, for the 6th time in the past 4 games, Miguel Cabrera cleared the fence and led the Tigers to a 4th consecutive victory (well, that was the 3rd–tonight is the 4th), a come from behind 7-6 victory over the Minnesota Twins.  The impressive thing about the recent Cabrera home run barrage is that they have been mostly to center, on pitches that have been spread around the strike zone.

For an impressive graphic depiction of how well Miguel Cabrera covers the plate with power, take a look at this fascinating piece on Fangraphs, where Drew Sheppard takes 6 Cabrera home runs and combines them into one composite gif. You will not watch it only once.

*****

Of course Cabrera didn’t win the game single-handedly. For the fourth consecutive game, Prince Fielder knocked in a run following a Cabrera walk. He may have popped up in every other at bat in the game, but if Fielder continues to hit consistently following Cabrera walks, things will work out very well indeed.

The bottom of the order continued to contribute (I’ll throw temporary leadoff man Omar Infante in that group); in fact the Tiger 7-9 hitters are now 3rd best in the AL with a .718 OPS, and 2nd with a .268 BA. Really the only weak spot in the lineup right now is the 5th spot, and if Martinez regains his form this team will plate a lot of runs.

The icing on the cake for last night’s game was the quick and efficient job by Jose Valverde to close the game out. This was by far the best outing by Papa Grande v. 2.0; he had both velocity and location–Pena barely moved his glove. This is the first time this season I felt like this Valverde thing might actually have a chance of working.

*****

Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Omar Infante. Infante just keeps hitting. His 3-for-5 night last night brought his average up to .323, and his Comerica average up to a ridiculous .429. Cabrera, eat your heart out (a mere .402). A couple times on base in front of Cabrera will put the pressure on the Twins.

Today’s First-Time-For-This-One Lineup:

1. Dirks, LF
2. Infante, 2B
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Peralta, SS
7. Avila, C
8. Kelly, CF
9. Garcia, RF

Detroit Tigers: 25-19, 2nd Place (.5 behind Cleveland)

After a brief, but lengthy (the two games took 8 hours and saw almost 800 pitches) two-game sweep of the Central-leading Indians, the Tigers return to Detroit for four with the Twins, followed by a 2-and-2 series with the surprising (and Penguins-Jersey-Wearing) Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Twins have been struggling, to put it mildly. The Twins have lost 8 in a row, during which their starters have an ERA of 8.41 and have lasted into the 5th inning only twice.

As if things weren’t bad enough, the Twins lost 3rd Baseman Trevor Plouffe for the series to a concussion suffered while breaking up a double play.

Once again, weather should be an issue.

*****

Series Summary:

• THU 5/23 7:08  Rick Porcello vs Scott Diamond
• FRI 5/24 7:08 Anibal Sanchez vs Samuel Deduno
• SAT 5/25 4:08 Doug Fister vs Kevin Correia
• SUN 5/26 1:08 Max Scherzer vs Mike Pelfrey

*****

Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Miguel Cabrera. OK, that was easy. No home run he hits all season will be as amusing as the one he hit last night off of Hill. Well, and Bourn also. I happened to be listening to the Cleveland feed, and the announcers were saying they had never seen anything like that happen before, and could only think of Canseco’s header as a comparison. Hey guys! Look in Right Field! There is a Mr. Raburn there who has seen one even stranger.

Today’s Tui-Avi-Torii Lineup:

1. Infante, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Peralta, SS
7. Tuiasosopo, LF
8. Pena, C
9. Garcia, CF

Avisail gets another opportunity, as the return of Austin Jackson looms, and Brayan Pena gets back-to-back starts.

Detroit Tigers: 22-15, 1st Place (1.5 ahead of Cleveland)

Well, as I promised, here comes more about where the Tigers are after two “innings” of the 2013 season, or 2/9 of the season if you prefer.  It may be a bit unwieldy for a game post; perhaps you may wish to save it for a rainy evening in front of the fireplace with a glass of port (or is it brandy?) and your Alsatian (or is it an Irish Wolfhound?) by your side.

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Pitching

In a nutshell:  so far the starting pitching has been very good, the relief pitching not so much, and the overall pitching better than last season. Surprisingly though, the number show that the relief pitching has been better than last year (I’ll pause to let that sink in). And don’t bother trying to hit a home run against Detroit.

• 2013 Runs per game: 3.81 (3rd)
• 2012 Runs per game: 4.14 (5th)

• 2013 ERA: 3.42 (1st)
• 2012 ERA: 3.75 (3rd).

The Tigers have been incredibly consistent with about .4 unearned runs per game. The defensive efficiency this season (the percentage of balls in play converted to outs) is .678. Last season it was .678.

• 2013 WHIP (Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched: 1.204 (3rd)
• 2012 WHIP (Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched: 1.291 (8th)

• 2013 HR/9 Innings: 0.5 (1st)
• 2012 HR/9 Innings: 0.9 (1st)

I included this because it is something you rarely hear mentioned, but the Tigers have a long run of being difficult to take out of the park.  (Some of that, of course, is due to playing in park that is a bit home run unfriendly).

Splits by Starter/Reliever:

• 2013 Starter ERA: 3.24 (1st)  2013 Reliever ERA: 3.76 (10th)
• 2012 Starter ERA: 3.76 (2nd) 2012 Reliever ERA: 3.79 (10th)

• 2013 Starter WHIP: 1.171 (3rd)  2013 Reliever WHIP: 1.273 (9th)
• 2012 Starter WHIP: 1.280 (6th)  2012 Reliever WHIP: 1.315 (12th)

So yes, the reliever WHIP (which is a better measure for relievers than ERA) has dropped a little from last season. And when you look at the Walks part of the WHIP, you see the Tigers have given up the 4th most (they were 9th last season). When you add in that Tiger relievers lead the league in reliever strikeouts (they were 11th last season), you realize that the “H” part of the WHIP is not a problem. They are not getting hit, they are just walking too many. Either way, as a group they are performing a bit better than last season.

*****

Hitting

In a nutshell: the Tigers overall rate at or near the top in most hitting categories, notably in On Base Percentage. So far the big weakness in the lineup–just like last season–is at the DH spot.

• 2013 Runs per Game: 5.42 (1st)
• 2012 Runs per Game: 4.48 (6th)

If anything, these numbers just make me feel like last year’s team was a bit underperforming–with a Triple Crown winner in the lineup, they only managed 6th in runs per game?

• 2013 OPS: .784 (3rd)
• 2012 OPS: .757 (4th)

The interesting part of the OPS numbers is looking at which component the Tigers excel in:

• 2013 On Base Percentage: .350 (1st)
• 2012 On Base Percentage: .335 (2nd)

If you were to listen to the common chatter you would come away with a picture of the Tigers as an aggressive, free-swinging team that strikes out a lot, and never works pitchers for walks. But the numbers say:

• 2013 Walks: 3rd most
• 2012 Walks: 4th most

• 2013 Strikeouts: 4th fewest
• 2012 Strikeouts: 4th fewest

This is not to say they are not aggressive. When they aren’t walking they appear to be swinging away: their Pitches Per Plate Appearance has been among the lowest in the league (I’m not sure how that works with all the walks). Notably, it has gotten higher this season:

• 2013 PPA: 3.86 (9th)
• 2012 PPA: 3.75 (13th)

Some of that is due to Victor Martinez, who is seeing a career high, and team-leading 4.13 PPA. Hmm, perhaps Victor should start hacking away. At any rate the Tiger DH this year has an even worse OPS than last season:

• 2013 DH OPS: .635 (12th) (Martinez .593)
• 2012 DH OPS: .687 (12th)

Oh, and one last thing. Where have all the double-play balls gone?:

• 2013 GIDP: 28 (10th)
• 2012 GIDP: 156 (1st)

*****

Well, all that aside, this afternoon the Tigers go for the sweep of the 7-game season series with the Houston Astros. Max Scherzer will take the broom to the mound for Detroit, while the Astros will try to confuse the Tigers with a Houston pitcher named Dallas.

*****

Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Omar Infante responded to yesterday’s POPG nod with a 2-3 night. I know a good thing when I stumble upon it. It’s Omar leading off today as Player of the Pre-Game, he of the ridiculous and league-leading .426 home field batting average.

Today’s Tui-Avi-Torii Lineup:

1. Infante, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Peralta, SS
7. Tuiasosopo, LF
8. Pena, C
9. Garcia, CF

Detroit Tigers: 21-15, 1st Place (.5 ahead of Cleveland)

Last night was not only the 5th consecutive game that the Tigers have won from the Houston Astros, but it was the 36th game of the season, which means it was the end of the 2nd inning, to revive a Billfer tradition, which was inspired by Bill Hoff.  If you divide up a 162-game season you get 9 18-game segments, which means each 18 games is something of a metaphorical inning in the season-long game.

Let’s look at how the Tigers have done so far this season, as compared to last:

2012:

• 1st Inning:  10-8
• 2nd Inning: 8-10
• Innings 1-2: 18-18

2013:

• 1st Inning: 9-9
• 2nd Inning: 12-6
• Innings 1-2: 21-15

An optimist would see an improvement over the early part of last season’s division winning pace. A more skeptical sort might point out that almost a third of the “2nd inning” has been against the Houston Astros.

At any rate, the Tigers should be doing even better than they have, even with the team the way it is: the Tigers’ Pythagorean record at the moment is 24-12 (courtesy of baseballreference.com), which is a fairly large deviation from their actual 21-15 record. (The Pythagorean formula, developed by Bill James, attempts to measure what a team’s record should be, based on runs scored and runs given up. A team above or below their Pythagorean line is a team that has been lucky or unlucky…or perhaps unusually well or poorly managed).

More 2nd inning numbers to come in tomorrow’s post.

*****

One way in which the Tigers have been lucky is in their lonely Disabled List. Kevin posted an interesting and informative New York Times link that ranks the MLB teams in order of how much salary is being spent on players on the DL, with a ticker on daily costs for each team. Currently the Yankees are at $429,600.  Make that $429,723. Make that $430,124…

*****

Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Omar Infante. Infante is bumped up into the 7th spot, as Kelly continues to patrol the Jacksonless center field, and Ramon gets the rare start at shortstop. Infante is a perfect 4-for-4 in his career against Astros’ starter Lucas Harrell.

Today’s Hey Ho Let’s Go Lineup:

1. Dirks, LF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Avila, C
7. Infante, 2B
8. Kelly, CF
9. Santiago, SS

Detroit Tigers: 20-15, 2nd Place (.5 behind Cleveland)

The Tigers slipped down into 2nd place after losing 2-of-3 to the Cleveland Native Americans, and even though they didn’t win the series there were some things to like about how they played (and things not to like).

The big news for today though, is that the Tigers put center fielder Austin Jackson on the 15-Day DL with a sore hamstring, and called up outfielder Avisail Garcia to take his spot (A-Gar is not in today’s starting lineup).  I am guessing this means we will be seeing a lot of Don Kelly: I doubt Garcia will be playing center (although he has in the minors). Dirks in center and either Tui or A-Gar in left will happen at some point. They also have the option of a Tui-Torii-Avi configuration against lefties.

The bright side of Jackson on the DL, if it can be called that, is that it means that his hamstring was probably a lot worse than we thought, and may be the cause of his precipitous decline at the plate. Let’s hope a fully-recovered Jackson returns from the DL in his early-season form.

*****

It is natural to overemphasize the importance of individual events and individual games; it is part of the nature of a daily blog and game post commenting. Perhaps the most damaging effect of the Cleveland series though is that Cleveland is hot, and they are beginning to believe. The Tigers hardly need that.

The bad outing by Verlander is of less concern; bad days are bound to happen to even the best pitchers. It was bad though: he even walked in a run. Not that he has never done it before–he has. Two times. Yes, in over 1.600 innings pitched he has walked in a total of 3 career runs. (Valverde, by comparison, has 5 in only 596 innings).

Speaking of Valverde: not good. He only has one pitch, and can’t locate it. And the first batter he walks takes 2nd free.

Also not good: Victor Martinez. When he was struggling earlier in the season, he was having good but unlucky at bats. Now the line drive outs and warning track flies are being replaced by pop ups, and even more uncharacteristic, strikeouts (5 in the Cleveland series). It will be interesting to see what, if anything, the team does if he hasn’t improved by June.

There were good things though: an offensive outburst on Friday; a late-inning rally on Saturday; a good outing by Rick Porcello, perhaps even better than his line would indicate; continued production from the bottom-of-the-order, especially the continued hitting of the hot bat of Omar Infante (.421 over the last 7 days); a clutch return appearance by Phil Coke. And perhaps most of all, knowing the Houston Astros are on deck.

The Tigers complete their season series with the Astros, after sweeping the four games in Houston. Houston continues to struggle (10-28), and designated one of the starting rotation from the last road trip (Philip Humber). Tonight they go with their staff ace Bud Norris, who at 4-3, 3.40 has literally won half of their games. Detroit hands the ball to Anibal “No Run Support” Sanchez.

*****

Series Matchups:

• Mon May 13 (7:08 pm):  Anibal Sanchez vs Bud Norris
• Tue May 14 (7:08 pm):  Doug Fister vs Lucas Harrell
• Wed May 15 (1:08 pm):  Max Scherzer vs Dallas Keuchel

*****

Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Prince Fielder. Fielder has struck out 6 times in 20 ABs against Norris, but is the only Tiger to ding him for a home run. Fielder goes 1-4 with 3 Ks and a HR.

Today’s Donkey-Time Lineup:

1. Dirks, LF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Avila, C
7. Peralta, SS
8. Kelly, CF
9. Infante, 2B

Detroit Tigers, 19-12, 1st Place (1.5 ahead of KC).

This afterevening the Tigers make up their rained out game from Tuesday, as they play the plasticine game in the two-game season series against the Washington Nationals.

I predict that the Nationals will strike early, and score maybe three runs in the first.  The play here I think is long, drawn out at bats and long breaks in-between pitches, and hope the rain hits before the 5th inning.

The Tigers only win 34% of their rain-delayed and rain-makeup games, so the odds are stacked against them. (OK, I made that up. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it were true. I haven’t figured out a way to look it up).

Many have touted this series as a World Series preview. I hope not;  I’ve already seen that one, it’s called last year’s World Series.

*****

Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Doug Fister. With the Tiger bats in slumber mode, Fister has a small margin of error. Perhaps he can even help with the bat. And if he is going to continue with his strange HBP proclivity, he might as well use one against Denard Span.

Today’s Makeup Game Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, Rf
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Dirks, LF
6. Peralta, SS
7. Avila, C
8. Infante, 2B
9. Fister, P

Detroit Tigers, 18-11, 1st Place (.5 ahead of KC).

The Tigers have their bags packed, and prepare to leave Houston a bit reluctantly, one imagines, after their party of a game last night and a 3-for-3 start to the series.  After leaving the strangely-named Minute Maid Park (there is not a tiny maid anywhere in sight), the Tigers have a two-game howdy of a series in Washington, and then back to Detroit to play three with Cleveland, and then…more Astros!

One interesting (if trivial) aspect of the new Interleague play schedule: pitchers, of course, have to bat in National League parks since the play is by National League rules there, with no Designated Hitter.  Since there are at most three consecutive games in National League parks under the new scheduling,  theoretically a pitcher could manage to make it through the season without ever having to bat.  Mr. Justin “Hitless” Verlander is off the hook for the Washington series. The next away Interleague games are May 28-29 in Pittsburgh, and Verlander’s schedule should get him out of that one also.

At any rate, Verlander does climb the hill this afternoon for the asphalt game of the series, broom in hand. His counterpart will be Philip Umber, who with an 0-6 start has a shot at the coveted Maroth Award this season.

*****

Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Miguel Cabrera. I was going to say Alex Avila, since he had a 2nd consecutive good day at the plate, which is a bigger deal for the Tigers’ season than a shellacking of the Astros is. But today he rests. Cabrera has 2 home runs in 6 at bats against Umber

Today’s B-Team (Broom-Team?) Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Dirks, LF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Kelly, RF
7. Pena, C
8. Infante, 2B
9. Santiago, SS

Again it didn’t come easy, but the Tigers are right where they wanted to be, taking the first two games of the four-game series with the struggling Astros, thanks partly to contributions by the slumping Alex Avila and by everyone’s favorite bench donkey, Don Kelly (his working a 1-2 count into a walk ahead of Avila’s home run was one of the subtle plays of the game).

Tonight should be where the strikeout-happy Tiger staff meets the strikeout-happy Houston batters, as Max Scherzer takes the mound in the creosote game of the series. Watch for an increased use of curveballs.

I’ll put the over/under at 12 Ks.

The Tigers face Lucas Harrell, who has been a bright spot for Houston this season, winning his last 3 consecutive starts–in fact his last 2 were the only Astro wins in the last 10 games. Harrell is a sinkerballer who has induced a ML-leading 10 DPs over the span of his last four starts. I predict at least one foolish-looking failed hit-and-run attempt. Cue the teeth-gnashing.

*****

Speaking of DPs, Today’s Poll:

Which Tiger is slowest at running from home to first?

• Alex Avila
• Victor Martinez
• Matt Tuiasosopo
• Other

*****

And don’t forget boys and girls, the Toledo Mud Hens will be celebrating Star Wars Weekend (today is May the Fourth Be With You Day, and tomorrow will be Revenge of the Fifth Day) by wearing so-called Chewbacca jerseys.

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Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Austin Jackson. Look for a rested Jackson to make his mark at the plate, in the field, and on the base paths.

Today’s Let’s-Go-For-Three Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Dirks, LF
7. Peralta, SS
8. Avila, C
9. Infante, 2B