As good as Monday’s game was, the Tigers dribbled through Tuesday’s game like an egregiously under-inflated basketball.  It’s not that the game wasn’t close; The Lobster, despite a shaky start, got through 6 innings with only one run, and the Tigers went into the 7th down only 1-0. In fact Detroit had the winning run at the plate in the bottom of the 9th. But somehow this game felt different, perhaps because of the 4 double plays: seemingly every time a baserunner got on, the next guy took him off, so the game just had one of those this-isn’t-our-day feels. Maybe it was the cold, rainy weather.

Tonight should be less rainy, but even colder (it should be below 40 before the game ends), in other words even more of the same from last night. Of course we get David Price on the mound, but the starting pitching hasn’t been much of a problem this season (ahem, Anibal); lately, somehow, the problem has been scoring runs–in the last 7 games, the Tigers have scored more than 3 runs only once, which has been masked by their 5-2 record over that period.

Tonight is the polymer game of the 4-game series. Expect a lot of ground balls today, it being Earth Day and all.

Tonight’s Same As Last Night Lineup:

1. Anthony Gose, CF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. JD Martinez, RF
6. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
7. Nick Castellanos, 3B
8. Alex Avila, C
9. Jose Iglesias, SS

Pitchers: David Price vs. Adam Warren

Nick Castellanos, who began the season at the plate in pretty aggravating fashion, has quietly begun to put up some good at bats. He is 1-for-2 against Warren, with a triple. I’m looking for the Bottom of the Order Boys to pick up the offense tonight.

In other news, Joe Nathan had to leave his rehab assignment early with a possible elbow injury, which drew a collective shrug from Tiger fans nationwide.

Well I hope you all got to watch last night’s game, which more than lived up to its Monday Night Baseball billing, and all in a brisk 2:20.

With great pitching and great defense on both sides, the game came down to a couple of plays, although Tom Gage found 10 pivotal points in the game.

Alfredo Simon again had a good start, but C.C. Sabathia might have been even better, picking at the boundaries of a generous strike zone, and backed by stellar outfield play and highlight catches by Gardner and Ellsbury, though they were outdone by the great play by Jose Iglesias, which even had Omar Vizquel shaking his head in wonder.

For me the pivotal point in the game wasn’t until the 8th inning. The Tigers had just taken a 2-1 lead, and the Yankees looked like they were going to take cover that run in the top of the 8th, when Didi Gregorius singled with Stephen Drew on 2nd. Rajai Davis, however, was playing an unusually shallow center, and Headley was held at 3rd, even though Davis turned out to bobble the ball. This left runners on 1st and 3rd, and ex-Yankee Joba Chamberlain promptly got a double play ball from Ellsbury, and that was that.

Well, one good win deserves another. Tonight Kyle Lobstein will don the eyeglasses as he takes on righty Nathan Eovaldi (in fact the Tigers won’t face another lefty all week).

Tonight’s Undefeated at Night Lineup:

1. Anthony Gose, CF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. JD Martinez, RF
6. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
7. Nick Castellanos, 3B
8. Alex Avila, C
9. Jose Iglesias, SS

ESPN seems to be quite fascinated by the Amazing Mets of ’15, and not too much interested in the Tigers (although they are on ESPN tonight because: Yankees). The New York Times, however, had a nice piece on the Tigers, and how they’ve managed to have a year-in year-out history of success (four consecutive division titles), with an ever-changing lineup.

By way of illustration, here are the Tigers who played in the 2012 World Series (that’s just a few months over two years ago):

Position players, sorted by number of at bats:

Omar Infante

Jhonny Peralta

Prince Fielder

Delmon Young

Miguel Cabrera

Austin Jackson

Andy Dirks

Quintin Berry

Alex Avila

Gerald Laird

Avisail Garcia

Don Kelly

Ramon Santiago

Danny Worth

Pitchers, sorted by number of innings:

Anibal Sanchez

Max Scherzer

Doug Fister

Justin Verlander

Phil Coke

Al Alburquerque

Joaquin Benoit

Octavio Dotel

Drew Smyly

Rick Porcello

Jose Valverde

That’s five total players from their 40-Man Roster, or 12.5%, in three seasons. So I’ll throw this out there: who can think of another team in any sport with four consecutive division titles with an 87.5% roster turnover?

Today’s Undefeated at Night Lineup:

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

Well all good streaks must come to an end, although this apparently does not apply to the Kansas City Royals, which means the 6 – 1 Tigers are now in 2nd place.

Last night was a rough one for Mr. Castellanos, which is Spanish for “goat.” Last night there was one of those pivotal game moments that Kevin was talking about this weekend: with bases loaded and nobody out, the Tigers looked poised for not only a big inning but potentially a huge inning. Then, in 2 pitches, it was all over–Castellanos obligingly hit the first double-play ball pitch into a double-play, Avila popped up the next pitch, and in a matter of a couple of minutes it was done with only one run to show. A possibly disappointed Sanchez then gave up a few more, and a JD Martinez-fueled 9th inning rally fell short when Nick Castellanos, again, grounded into a double-play.

After the game Brad Ausmus explained that Castellanos is really quite a horrible hitter, kind of a poor man’s Brandon Inge without the glove, but that the team was stuck with him, so there’s not much he can do.

Well, actually, Brad said

“Nick’s a pretty darn good hitter. He took some good swings today, too. I felt Nick had an opportunity [to get a big hit] as well.”

Ausmus had considered the idea of pinch-hitting Martinez with the bases loaded–as some of you suggested he should have done–but decided to save him for later. As frustrating as yesterday’s game was, do you really, at this point in the season, pull your #7 (well, #6 yesterday) hitter, a guy who is supposed to develop into a real threat with the bat, for a pinch-hitter? What does that say to Castellanos? Does the added pressure and show of no-confidence have a long-term effect on him that goes beyond this game? Will the show of confidence help Castellanos weather the little slump he is in? Was the best move for this game possibly not the best move for this season? Isn’t baseball interesting?

Anyway, be kind to Mr. Ausmus, today is his birthday.

The Tigers will try to end their one-game skid tonight, as Shane Greene tries to repeat his very good first performance. The Tigers have yet to win a night game this season–then again, they have yet to play one.

Tonight’s MLB Network-Televised Lineup:

1. Rajai Davis, CF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. JD Martinez, RF
5. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. Alex Avila, C
8. Jose Iglesias, SS
9. Shane Greene, P

The Tigers have historically had trouble with Pirates starter AJ Burnett. The two with the most history against him have underwhelming numbers: Miguel Cabrera (5-for-25) and Ian Kinsler (5-for-26). Maybe Rajai (4-for-9) will provide a spark–and if he does, it should be noted that Burnett has a reputation for being easy to run on.

Make that 6 – 0!

Although that is still only good enough for a tie for first, since those pesky Royals won again. (I think the Royals own that in the sports world now, the “pesky” moniker).

The Cleveland sweep, while satisfying, showed that this season will not be the breeze that a 6 – 0 start would suggest, because: pitching. The Lobster spent much of the game in hot water, and Blaine Hardy joined Ian Krol in the Shaky Lefty club.

But oh, that hitting! As good as Miguel Cabrera has been the last couple of seasons, it’s been a while since he has been fully healthy, and a while since he flat out scared anybody. After two long bombs and a double, Terry Francona finally gave in and walked him with a man on first. Expect to see a lot more of that this season, especially if Victor Martinez has a prolonged slow start (this is still his Spring Training after all).

The Tigers will be without Victor in the lineup as they ride their Vespas down I-76 to Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates in an early season Interlegue game, which almost seems designed to slow down early season momentum. Did I mention I’m not a fan of the way Interleague is done now? At least we won’t have any pennant races decided in an Interleague game, since the Interleague schedule concludes this season with the Astros at the Diamondbacks.

* * * * * * * * * *

It’s too early to get too excited about the hot start (although how would you like to be 0 – 6?), but that didn’t stop Sports Illustrated from jumping all over it. After giving Detroit a rather tepid pre-season prediction (I think we were barely sneaking in with the last wild card spot), we now find that Detroit is already playoff caliber.  And that was only after the Twins sweep. Tap the brakes there, guys.

Today’s Did I Mention I Don’t Like Interleague This Early In The Season Lineup:

1. Anthony Gose, CF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. JD Martinez, RF
5. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. Alex Avila, C
8. Jose Iglesias, SS
9. Anibal Sanchez, P

Well, this is fun!

The Tigers continue their march towards 162-0 by racking up a nearly perfect victory against the Twins. By not allowing a run until the 7th (and an unearned one at that), the Tigers set the AL record for consecutive shutout innings to start a season at 24. And they were a Cespedes get your knees down away from still hanging on to that shutout start.

But no matter, b/c the club played as well as it could have for the opening series of the season, and all is well in DTW-ville.

Guess who is leading the AL in OPS? Take a look up there… I mean, sample size, I know. But we needed a picture.

So the Tigers fly to Cleveland (or flew to Cleveland) for a 3 game set against the Indians. The Indians seem to be the new darlings of the AL under Tito Francona, and have been picked by many to win the Central this year (though so has everyone else except for the Twins).  I don’t think that a series in early April can really be a barometer for the whole season, but expect the Indians to put up a few runs, maybe even in the first game.

Probables (all times Central):

Today – 3:10 PM  – Alfredo Simon v. Zach McAllister

Saturday – 3:05 PM – David Price v. T.J. House

Sunday – 12:10 PM – Kyle Lobstein v. Corey Kluber