Miggy’s back!

Upton gets a break.

Baseball-Reference game preview here.

1. 2B Ian Kinsler

2. SS Erick Aybar

3. 1B Miguel Cabrera

4. DH Victor Martinez

5. RF J.D. Martinez

6. LF Tyler Collins

7. 3B Casey McGehee

8. C James McCann

9. CF Andrew Romine

Tough loss last night, sometimes the other pitcher is just better.

JV on the mound tonight. Miggy with a biceps injury…things are getting lean. We really need Upton to hit for a bit.

1. 2B Ian Kinsler

2. 3B Casey McGehee

3. DH Victor Martinez

4. RF J.D. Martinez

5. LF Justin Upton

6. C James McCann

7. 1B Jarrod Saltalamacchia

8. SS Dixon Machado

9. CF Tyler Collins

I was at Globe Life Park yesterday for as long as my three year old would let us stay; but it was long enough to watch Fulmer dissect the Rangers bats with surgical precision. There were quite a few hard hit balls (the Beltre single off the wall was spanked), and how that Choo ball stayed in the park while VMart’s found the wall is still beyond me, but let’s take a second to appreciate a real milestone in the kid’s career.

The fact that my brother and I called a handful of strikeout pitches (Odor’s swinging K on a high FB, and then a slider down and in come to mind), strengthens just how amazing the performance was. The Rangers hitters likely knew those K pitches were coming, and still were helpless against them.

Taking 2/3 from a very good Rangers team, with back to back shutouts to boot, is nearly enough to wipe away the pain for a 5 game losing streak.

Hey, it’s mid-August, and we are right in the middle of things. The AL East could swallow up three playoff spots, so let’s keep our eyes set on Cle.

Oh, and people can’t help but do a Kinsler/Fielder comparison down here. Safe to say that the move worked out for us. Pretty cool that Prince ended up with as many career HRs as big-Cecil. Prince’s retirement presser was a real tear-jerker; best of luck to what comes next for him.

Tonight’s game will be on ESPN.

Baseball-Reference game preview here.

1. 2B Ian Kinsler

2. CF Tyler Collins

3. 1B Miguel Cabrera

4. DH Victor Martinez

5. RF J.D. Martinez

6. LF Justin Upton

7. 3B Casey McGehee

8. C James McCann

9. SS Dixon Machado

You knew they would win one at some point on the road trip, but it was still a relief.  Casey McGehee had a career day, the Tigers left a buttload of runners on base (I mean butt in the sense of an old English unit of measurement, 1008 pints if you’re curious), when they weren’t getting picked off or thrown out (they only needed a runner out at 2nd for a cycle).  But Boyd pitched himself a game, and the Tigers now actually have a decent shot at taking the series.

Today’s Glass Half Fulmer Lineup:

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

I predict a big game from the two Macs and the Lettuce.

As we all looked forward with great anticipation to the return of JD Martinez to the lineup, I don’t think any of us expected he would be joining a lineup that looked like this. Dixon Machado is up to fill in for Jose Iglesias; Mike Aviles will take a stab at playing center, because hey, why not.

The less said about the Sanchez start last night the better. McCann had a good game and hit the ball hard every time up, including his 9th HR.

Today’s This is Not What We Had in Mind for the Pennant Chase Lineup:

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

I usually hate off days, but yesterday was a merciful one.

I’m counting on The Only Tiger Fan in Mississippi Currently in Arlington (that might be literally true) to sway the Tigers fortunes (or misfortunes, as it may be).

Again, as others have commented on, the Tigers do seem to have a lot of injuries, which could be a “that’s baseball” kind of thing. I’m not really comfortable with the injuries that start out as day-to-day things then end up as DL things, especially since they end up giving the Tigers a functional 23-man roster at times. Or with the whole coming back from injuries unready to come back from injuries thing.

A lot of baseball left. But less than there was last week.

Also: how about that Prince Fielder trade? I’m expecting Kinsler to come up big in this series; whether his reception is positive or negative, I expect him to feed off of it.

Anibal has had two nice starts. Do we dare wish for a third? He looks so focused in that picture.

Today’s Texas isn’t West Coast so Maybe, Just Maybe, Lineup:

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

McGehee has been doing a fine job filling in for Castellanos. Upton, on the other hand, has been faring less well filling in for…oh, damn, he’s a starter.

Seems like forever since we last won a game. The M’s are now only 1.5 games behind Detroit in the wild card race. Maybin to the DL, and Greene is day to day. Sky is falling.

Not really, still a lot of baseball left.

Streakbuster JV on the mound tonight, but opposite King Felix.

Baseball-Reference game preview here.

1. 2B Ian Kinsler

2. CF Tyler Collins

3. 1B Miguel Cabrera

4. DH Victor Martinez

5. RF J.D. Martinez

6. LF Justin Upton

7. 3B Casey McGehee

8. C James McCann

9. SS Mike Aviles

Norris back from the DL. Maybin not quite ready.

1. 2B Ian Kinsler

2. SS Jose Iglesias

3. 1B Miguel Cabrera

4. DH Victor Martinez

5. RF J.D. Martinez

6. LF Justin Upton

7. 3B Casey McGehee

8. C James McCann

9. CF Andrew Romine

A couple of hot topics from yesterday’s game.

1. Clark completely botched the 3rd out in the eighth, but I don’t see J.D. scoring there if he’s running hard. Sure, we lost an at-bat, but I don’t think it was a guaranteed run.
2. This was the third time this year that F-Rod came out 3 consecutive nights. The first time he was good, the second time he got drilled in the third game (3 hits and 2 BB in 1 IP), last night was no so good. I don’t have a problem with him coming out for the 9th three nights in a row; I do have a problem with him coming out in a non-save situation, though remember that Greene had already been used the previous two nights. You can blame this one on Kyle Ryan. Rondon was a reasonable option as well.

Maybin still out.

Baseball-Reference game preview here.

1. 2B Ian Kinsler

2. CF Tyler Collins

3. 1B Miguel Cabrera

4. DH Victor Martinez

5. RF J.D. Martinez

6. LF Justin Upton

7. 3B Casey McGehee

8. C Jarrod Saltalamacchia

9. SS Jose Iglesias

The good news is the Tigers won again, and have the series against the Mets, and like our astute commenters pointed out, it was a real team victory. The bad news is Castellanos is out for 4-7 weeks, and the pitching mis-match of Sanchez vs. deGrom.

Casey McGehee has been called up to replace Castellanos.

Today’s Kitchen Sink Lineup:

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

Well if you like pitching duels, you could do worse than tonight’s match up, with Justin Verlander taking on Noah Syndergaard, as the Mets make a rare appearance in town. Our old friend Curtis Granderson will be leading the game off, but Yoenis Cespedes is unlikely to make an appearance, with a bad quad. He also has been getting in a lot of golf, to the consternation of the New York press.

The fragile spark plug Cameron Maybin is still day to day with a mild thumb sprain, and Fingers Collins gets a shot at the 2nd spot in the order.

Today’s How Bout A Run or Two For Justin Lineup:

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