First place on the line and Justin Verlander on the mound, it doesn’t get much better than that.

Although last night will be tough to top:  tense, tight game, close plays on the bases, the rare night when the calls were going Detroit’s way, and a dramatic walk-off triple (the first career walk-off hit for Ramon Santiago).

The triple was aided by B.J. Upton, who was playing Santiago shallow and shading toward left.  In fact Rod Allen commented more than once during the game that Upton was playing a very shallow CF for Comerica, and that came back to bite Upton.  There certainly was no reason to play shallow with Martinez on first;  even a double wouldn’t have scored the run. One wonders if Maddon were on the bench, if Upton would have been repositioned.  Was Maddon’s ejection the hidden key play of the game?

Not that you can blame Maddon for being upset.  Ruggiano, the runner called out at the plate, even took it to another level, hinting that he’s just going to do a Posey on catchers from now on. “If they’re going to give catchers the benefit of the doubt on those plays, then I feel like that narrows down our options to a collision at home every time,” Ruggiano said.

Tonight not only brings us the battle of first-place teams, but also the battle of the Justins, Verlander vs Masterson. Verlander is in top form, 5-0 with a 2.14 ERA his last seven starts. And he says he isn’t really pitching his best right now.  I can’t wait to see what that is.  The key for our Justin is to get past Michael Brantley, who is .538 for his career vs Verlander.

The other Justin did well in his start against Detroit earlier in the year, and is pitching well in general, but falling victim to the team slump–he held the Twins to 2 runs in 8 innings his last start, but got the loss.

In unrelated news, Ryan Raburn needs a few more ABs to statistically qualify for the league leader lists.  Which is a shame, because he just edged Chone Figgins for the lowest On-Base Percentage in the American League (.235).

In other news, Brandon Inge was seen taking batting practice today.

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Don Kelly

See above.

Today’s Lucky Lefty Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Don Kelly 3B
3. Brennan Boesch RF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez DH
6. Andy Dirks LF
7. Alex Avila C
8. Ramon Santiago SS
9. Ryan Raburn 2B

Well, after a forgettable performance to close the Seattle series, we are still sort of tied for first with Cleveland.  As it so happens, there are only two American League games scheduled for today, the Cleveland and Detroit games, so all eyes will be upon the Tigers.

Just kidding–Cleveland plays the Yankees, and Derek Jeter might get a hit or something.

The big news is that after a month away, Magglio Ordonez has returned from the Toledo mud, and will be stepping into that 6th spot in the lineup reserved for right fielders. Ordonez hit a home run in his last start for the Mudhens Saturday, so hopefully this portends a return of at least a bit of his customary power.

According to the official Tiger twitter, Magglio wants to walk up to the plate to a Motown song, but is looking for suggestions. Detroit Tigers (official_tigers) on Twitter. Anything but Tears of a Clown!

And guess who the roster sacrifice for Magglio was.  Enrique Gonzalez! We currently have a bullpen with no Enrique, and no Brad Thomas.  It’s a nice feeling.

Phil Coke takes the mound tonight as Detroit tries to complete a delayed sweep of the last Rays series.  The Rays counter with Relatively Unknown Guy (Alex Cobb), who historically tends to give the Tigers problems.

Oh, and just for fun, how about a 104-yr old Tiger fan

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Magglio Ordonez

He’s back.  Is he Magglio? Singglio? Mendozlio?

Today’s Surgically Repaired Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Don Kelly 3B
3. Brennan Boesch LF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez DH
6. Maggio Ordonez RF
7. Jhonny Peralta SS
8. Alex Avila DH
9. Ryan Raburn 2B

Well they did it!  The Tigers battered the tough Michael Pineda, and in doing so gained a first-place tie with Cleveland.  Time to break out one of the bottles of ’68 Stroh’s that I save for such occasions.

Except…hmm, now that I look at it, the Tigers are tied as in they are 0 games behind, but if you calculate the winning percentage, Cleveland still has a slight edge.  So back in the cellar with the Stroh’s.

It’s not too soon to celebrate the return of Mad Max Scherzer, who pitched like we know he can.  Jim Leyland is a seer, he saw what he saw even when he didn’t see it.  As Rod Allen would say, I see you, Skipper.

This afternoon Detroit has the daunting task of facing Felix Hernandez, who the Tigers last beat in 2006.  Then again, Pineda can daunt too, and look how that worked out.  Rick Porcello has quietly strung together some very good performances himself, allowing only 3 runs in his last 12 2/3 innings.  One guy that does hit Porcello well:  Ichiro, who is .417 lifetime against Kid Rick.

Word is that Magglio is back in Detroit, and will probably officially rejoin the team on Monday, when the Tigers play a one-game makeup series with the Rays.  Leyland has said a reliever will be sent down to make room for him, though he didn’t specify which one.  One would think it will be Wilk, but one can always hope it is Enrique.

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Brennan Boesch

Boesch has hit .439 so far for the month of June

Today’s No-Burn Again Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Don Kelly 3B
3. Brennan Boesch LF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez C
6. Andy Dirks RF
7. Jhonny Peralta SS
8. Alex Avila DH
9. Ramon Santiago 2B

Well, Brad Penny was a Good Enough Penny;  unfortunately the Tigers ran into Cy Bedard and couldn’t muster any offense.  Jim Leyland said “Tonight felt like one of those games that you just aren’t supposed to win.”  OK, to me it felt like the opposite, but hey, that’s just me.

At least Cleveland lost.  And so did the surging White Sox, beaten by the A’s, who were led by their new phenom Scott Sizemore (3-4, 3 RBI).  And hey, look at that, Cleveland already lost again today.  A share of first is for the taking.

Today’s trivia answer (question below): Chone Figgins, Alcides Escobar, and Mark Ellis.

Tonight Max Scherzer tries to get back on track–he has a 12.51 ERA his last 3 outings.  If he can’t get back on track against the light-hitting Mariners, we may have a problem.  But not to worry.  Jim Leyland studied video of Max and saw…something: “I didn’t know what I was going to see, but I know what I saw. I saw something else, then I saw what I was looking for.”

On the other side of the mound, the Tigers won’t have an easy time getting their bats going again against Michael Pineda. He has a 1.64 ERA in his last 5 starts, and is looking more and more like an All-Star pitcher all of the time.

Today’s trivia question:  Name all of the AL hitters with a lower OPS than Ryan Raburn.

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Casper Wells

Yesterday I named Ryan Raburn player of the Pre-game.  He responded by striking out, then striking out, then striking out, then being lifted for a pinch-hitter.  So today it seemed prudent to name a player not in the actual lineup.

Today’s No-Burn Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Don Kelly 3B
3. Brennan Boesch LF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez DH
6. Andy Dirks RF
7. Jhonny Peralta SS
8. Alex Avila C
9. Ramon Santiago 2B

There’s not much to say about Justin Verlander that hasn’t been said;  he just keeps turning in one excellent performance after another.  OK, maybe one thing:  he must lead AL pitchers in weird plays.  The weirdest is still the strange hop-jump-chuck-the-ball-at-the-batter thing he did, which was so confusing it even started a thread on umpire.org. Tonight’s entry:  the only run of the game scored on a strikeout that skipped off of the top of Avila’s glove, which Avila fumbled while trying to get to Verlander covering home.

The Tigers are no 8-2 over the last 10 games, which makes them the hottest team in baseball in that period, and leaves them one thin game behind the sinking Indians.  Oh, and the second-hottest teams in baseball, at 7-3?  The Twins and White Sox.  You knew it was inevitable.

The bad news is, the Tigers did their very best to squander their scoring opportunities, but were bailed out courtesy of Mr. Avila and Mr. Boesch.  After Avila’s first triple, the Tigers had a runner at 3rd with nobody out:  Raburn and Jackson both failed to get him home.  After his next triple, with a runner at 3rd with nobody out, Raburn and Jackson both failed to get him home.  At this rate the R3L2O Police will be setting up checkpoints outside of Comerica for tonight’s game.

So which has happened most recently, a catcher hitting back-to-back triples, or back-to-back R3L2O fails, back-to-back?  This question is bound to give someone hours of amusement.

Tonight the Tigers will be up against Erik Bedard, who only allowed 1 run to Detroit in April en route to a 10-1 Seattle win.  But as we pointed out yesterday, that was then, this is now.  Brad Penny goes for the Tigers.  The Bad Penny threw 100 pitches and gave up 3 runs in 5 innings in his last start, but got the win.  I guess that actually makes him Good Enough Penny, which works for me.

Fun stat:  this is the second time this season that Justin Verlander and Jose Valverde have exactly the same ERA (2.89). The first time was…well, you know.  Can’t sneak a trick question by this crowd.

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Ryan Raburn

I recently said some fairly nice things about Mr. Raburn.  He proceeded to pop up in the infield with Avila on 3rd and nobody out, then strike out with Avila on 3rd and nobody out, then, with Avila on 1st and nobody out, grounded into a double-play.  Then he was pulled for a defensive replacement. Alex Avila was seen in the dugout begging to bat AFTER Raburn for today’s game.

Today’s Alex-Gets-His-Wish Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Casper Wells RF
3. Brennan Boesch LF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez DH
6. Jhonny Peralta SS
7. Ryan Raburn 2B
8. Alex Avila C
9. Danny Worth 3B

Well, that was forgettable.  Still, the Tigers came away with their 2nd consecutive road series win, and that against a first-place team, so things are looking good (in fact for the season the Tigers are just one notch under .500 in road games).

Don Kelly provided a brief highlight with a rare home-run, only to undo it with a spectacular 2-run error.  Guess he didn’t hang out later to watch the ESPN highlights after all.

But enough of that. Tonight brings the two words we love to hear:  Justin Verlander.

Now yes, the last time the Mariners came to town the Tigers were the victims of a lopsided sweep.  And the Tigers even lost Verlander’s start 10-1 (it should be added that the bullpen gave up 6 of those runs in the 9th, on the day the term “blowpen” was coined).  But that was then, and this is now.  I mean, just look at the picture above.  See the concentration.

The Mariners send out Doug Fister, whose 3-6 record doesn’t do him justice (3.29 ERA).

In other news, the Tigers drafted Gene Lamont’s granddaughter’s boyfriend in the 740th round of the MLB draft.

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Jhonny Peralta

He will like being back at Comerica, where he is hitting .337 (.985 OPS)

Today’s Return-of-the-Burn Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Don Kelly 3B
3. Brennan Boesch RF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez C
6. Andy Dirks LF
7. Jhonny Peralta SS
8. Alex Avila DH
9. Ryan Raburn 2B

More hits than Lady Gaga.  More hits than, um, some fighter in some fight [look this up later].  More hits than…oh, nevermind.

The Tigers had 20 hits yesterday.  That is more hits than Magglio Ordonez has this season. They have 38 hits already in the first 2 games of the series.  That is more hits than Brandon Inge has this season.

And this isn’t against just anybody:  Texas had only given up 40 hits in their last two series combined (7 games);  Harrison, who gave up the bulk of the 20 hits, hadn’t given up a run in 16 innings.  This is not to say the Tigers are hitting good of course; they are hitting well.

So the Tigers head into tonight with a chance to convincingly sweep a first-place team on the road (on the other hand:  see today’s pitching matchup).

Even Raburn is hitting.  And, dare I say, Raburn is a big part of the recent Tiger surge.  Here is the thing:  as much as Raburn’s slump has been driving us crazy, how do you think it feels to the rest of the team, not to mention Raburn himself?  How do you think it must feel feeling like you have a lineup of 8 hitters and 1 black K? So when Raburn hit his grand slam against the White Sox, the smiles all around were mostly about the 4 runs, but also, I think, a huge weight was lifted from Raburn and the rest of the team.

In fact, Raburn has a 7-game hitting streak going.  The Tigers are 6-1 in that time.  Even a minimally contributing Raburn is going to make a huge difference to the team; at any rate, at least for the moment, he has rekindled the idea that when he is at bat maybe, just maybe, he will do something.

Phil Coke returns to the lineup and the mound tonight.  He faces the 6-0 Alexi Ogando (2.20), so he has his work cut out for him.  Or, in the charming words of Ol’ Smokey, “he is pitching in the heat against a guy who is 6-0…so, good luck, Coke.”

With Freakyfoot Phil back, Omir Santos goes back to the mud (thanks for the visit, hope you didn’t unpack).  I had assumed the move would be to send Wilk back now, and Santos back when Ordonez returns (latest intelligence says Monday at the earliest).  But Scherzer’s troubles meant Furbish was used up Monday, and Purcey was used Tuesday, so there is a lefty deficit in the bullpen.  I’m guessing this is plan B, and Wilk is the lefty-du-jour for tonight’s game, and will be swapped for Ordonez.

There is still the question of who goes when Inge returns, but it seems unlikely he will really be back anytime soon.

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Brennan Boesch

Keep the Boesch baesching going!

Today’s Lucky Lefty Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Don Kelly 3B
3. Brennan Boesch RF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez C
6. Andy Dirks LF
7. Jhonny Peralta SS
8. Alex Avila DH
9. Ramon Santiago 2B

14:  Home runs by Detroit so far in June (leads the majors)

13:  Number of runs scored by Detroit yesterday against the Rangers

10:  Number of runs given up by the Rangers over their previous 6 games

0:  Number of games won by Cleveland, at home, against the Rangers

1: Number of games won so far by Detroit, on the road, against the Rangers.

1.5:  Number of games Detroit needs to make up to take over the Central Division lead

Sure, only so much can be made of one game, so let’s see what happens the next two.  But just maybe this series could be a good indicator of how we stack up right now against Cleveland.

Tonight Rick Porcello will have the task of keeping the Rangers to a manageable run total.  Unlike Scherzer, Porcello is coming off a good start, a 4-2 win over Minnesota.  Matt Harrison has been doing even better for the Rangers–it has been over 14 innings since he has allowed a run at all.  Time to find out if all the offense last night was a fluke.

Oh, and in the draft the Tigers have taken Colin Kaline, grandson of Al.

And Magglio is still with Toledo.

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Miguel Cabrera

After watching Boesch baesch the ball yesterday, Miguel says today it’s the right-handers’ turn.

Today’s Ghost’s-Last-Stand? Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Casper Wells LF
3. Brennan Boesch RF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez DH
6. Jhonny Peralta SS
7. Alex Avila C
8. Ryan Raburn 2B
9. Danny Worth 3B

92.5%

That’s the current number for the Rangers on the ESPN poll of who will win tonight’s game.

The Rangers are one of the hottest teams in baseball right now, having won 11 of their last 14.  They just completed a 4-game sweep of Cleveland (thank you very much).  We all know the Rangers can score runs, but what was really impressive against Cleveland was the pitching:  Texas held the Indians to 6 runs total over the 4 games.

Max Scherzer will have his work cut out for him against the Rangers in hitter-friendly Arlington, especially coming off two consecutive shaky starts.  Colby Lewis looks to continue the Ranger streak of good pitching, himself coming back from 8 innings of 4-hit shutout pitching against the Rays.

So the Tigers have their work cut out for them tonight.  But 92.5%? C’mon.

In other news, Purcey returns from paternitizing, and Andy Oliver has been sent back to the mud.  Scott Sizemore has been called up to the Oakland A’s, as a 3rd-baseman.  And still no Magglio.

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Andy Dirks

Texas hitters will keep Andy busy in the outfield;  Dirks had 2 2-strike hits in yesterday’s game, which should be a confidence-builder.

Today’s Return-of-the-H-Factor Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Don Kelly 3B
3. Brennan Boesch RF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez DH
6. Andy Dirks LF
7. Jhonny Peralta SS
8. Alex Avila C
9. Ryan Raburn 2B

Today is the rubber game of the 3-game series with the White Sox, after which Detroit bounces off to Texas to take on the Indian-destroying Rangers, who will be already underway in Cleveland by game time.  If all goes well Detroit could be 2 1/2 games out of first when today’s game ends.

So, yes, the losing streak was only one game this time.  Because:  Justin Verlander. And: Miguel Cabrera.

After the game, the Tigers took advantage of a little-known change in MLB rules and called up Adam Wilk to replace David Purcey, who was placed on paternity leave (twins!).  Normally, a player has to spend at least 10 days in the minors once he has been sent down, which means Wilk would have been unavailable (which means the lefty would likely have been…Brad Thomas.  Eek!).  But last season in a fit of family-friendliness, MLB added a specific exception to the 10-day rule for players called up to replace a player on paternity leave. Who knew?

And Phil Coke is back, and scheduled to pitch Wednesday, which means that Oliver is to be a hen-in-the-mud, although it is not official yet.

And Magglio may join the team in Texas, so hopefully Omir Santos didn’t unpack all of his bags.

Today Bad Brad Penny aims to revert back to Good Penny, or at least Brutus.  The Tigers draw the always tough Jake Peavy.  Especially against Miguel Cabrera, who does worse against Peavy than against any other starting pitcher he has faced on a regular basis, 2-for-22 (.091). Brad Penny has as many hits against Peavy.

This will be the first time that 2 pitchers with 5-letter names starting with P faced each other since April 11, 2008.

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game: Brennan Boesch

One of the lefties will need to step up today for the Tigers.  A Boesch baesch would be just the thing.

Today’s No-H Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Don Kelly 3B
3. Brennan Boesch RF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez C
6. Andy Dirks LF
7. Alex Avila DH
8. Ryan Raburn 2B
9. Ramon Santiago SS

Well, so a bunch of streaks ended yesterday:  the Tiger winning streak, the Tiger winning streak against the White Sox, Charlie Furbush’s career scoreless streak, and Adam Dunn’s 0-for-40 against LHP.

The way the Tigers’ season has gone, one could expect a losing streak to follow.  Not so fast!  Tonight we get Justin Verlander, who not only is Justin Verlander, but has been particularly tough against the White Sox, going 6-0, 2.03 in his last 6 outings against them.  The only White Sox hitter who has hit Verlander consistenly has been AJ Pierzynski (.327).

Verlander will be matched by his former teammate and no-hit buddy, Edwin Jackson, who has struggled since his no-hitter last season (a combined 9-11, 4.44).

Also on the bright side:  Cleveland has to play Texas again tonight.

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Jhonny Peralta

Peralta’s .920 OPS leads all MLB Shortstops.  In the All-Star balloting he trails Derek Jeter (.654) by about a million votes, which is inevitable.  He also trails Asdrubal Cabrera (.898), Elvis Andrus (.668), Yunel Escobar (.831) and Erick Aybar (.793), among others (they only have the top 5 vote-getters listed).  We need some love for the H-Factor.

Today’s He-Bats-9th-Because-There’s-No-10th Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Don Kelly 3B
3. Brennan Boesch RF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez DH
6. Andy Dirks LF
7. Jhonny Peralta SS
8. Alex Avila C
9. Ryan Raburn 2B

Well, they did it:  the Tigers finished off the 3-game home series against the Twins with a sweep, which makes them 5-0 against the Twins this season.  Hopefully the home series was good for cash flow–the Tigers appear to be one of 9 MLB teams that have unacceptable debt loads.

The last time the Tigers and White Sox met, the Tigers swept the 3-game series, and held Chicago to a total of 3 runs for the entire series.  So, yes, the Tigers are a combined 8-0 vs the Twins and White Sox so far in 2011.  Add to that the last 6 games between the teams in 2010 that Detroit won, and Detroit tonight has a chance to win their 10th straight vs the White Sox, something they last accomplished in 1923.

The White Sox come into this game though with a lot of momentum, fresh from a 3-game sweep of the previously hot Red Sox, scoring 24 runs over 3 games.  So which White Sox will we see this series, the 3-run version or the 24-run version?

Attempting to make it the former will be Andy Oliver, making his 2nd start in place of Phil Coke. Chicago counters with lefty Mark Buehrle, who struggled in his Apr 22 start vs Detroit, and gave up 6 runs in 5 2/3 innings, including a 2-run HR to Ryan Raburn.

Rain is in the forecast, so stay tuned.

Oh, and the Free Press has officially jinxed Al Alburquerque, comparing him to Joel Zumaya.

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Danny Worth

With Brandon Inge on the 15-day DL with mono, Danny has a chance to prove his worth at 3B. (Curiously, the Tigers called up C Omir Santos to take Inge’s spot).

Today’s Everyday Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Casper Wells RF
3. Brennan Boesch LF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez DH
6. Jhonny Peralta SS
7. Ryan Raburn 2B
8. Alex Avila C
9. Danny Worth 3B