77-63, 1 game behind KC. 2.5 games behind WC#1, .5 games ahead of Sea for WC#2.

The Tigers return home for a three game set against the Giants before the giant series vs. KC on Monday. The Tigers ended the Cleveland series in dramatic fashion, putting up 7 in the top of the 11th, to blow out the Indians 11-4, and more importantly, to take 3/4 in Cleveland. For a minute there, it looked as if the series would be an absolute disaster, having led 4-0 early in the game with the reigning Cy Young winner on the mound, and then looking like another Cle late inning come from behind victory. A split after winning the first two would have been devastating.

But then Miguel Cabrera led off the 10th with a double, and Ausmus wisely inserted Oh-E-genio Suarez, forecasting that we would need his bat in the 11th. I’ll admit, then when Dan D announced that Suarez was pinch running for Cabrera, my immediate reaction was to run to my computer to hammer out an angry DTW comment, predicting that Cabrera’s spot would come up again in a key situation in the ensuing innings. Am I right here? Doesn’t it seem like we are 0 for 100 in our last “late inning faster runner guys” replacement attempts? Only to see those guys bumbling around defensively, or worse, failing at the plate when Cabrera or MVP Mart would have been preferred?

But Suarez lined a single to left, then VMart ripped a HR to right, and then some other stuff even happened after that.

So the Tigers ended an 18 game stretch in 17 games, 15 of those on the road, with an 11-7 record. That’s what a playoff team does.

Pitching Matchups for this weekend:

Peavy v Porcello

Bumgarner v Price

Hudson v Lobstein

I gotta admit, I get sweaty palms thinking about Panda Bear and Sergio Romo. Holy cow did we get dominated in that WS.

Baseball Reference Game Preview Here.

1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
2. Torii Hunter, RF
3. Miguel Cabrera, DH
4. Victor Martinez, 1B
5. J.D. Martinez, LF
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. Bryan Holaday, C
8. Eugenio Suarez, SS
9. Rajai Davis, CF

Baseball Reference Game Preview

Rick Porcello vs. Jose Quintana

Last night: Once again a rookie starter making his MLB starting debut comes through for the Tigers after a loss. Last time Lobstein, this time Ryan. Sigh of relief. And speaking of relief… sigh. Not “Cy.” Some job by the hitters in the top of the 9th to help Nathan and all of us breathe easier. Good job by the hitters, period, putting up 5 on the rookie Bassitt like they should have.

CLE-KCR in progress as I write late Saturday. Neither possible outcome entirely favorable for the Tigers, if you think about it. But of course if the Tigers just take care of their business and win, there’s nothing more to worry about, or at least nothing more that’s within their control. The season doesn’t end today and won’t any time soon. If the Detroit Tigers was 7 games up or 7 games out, I’d be pay attentions to the standing. As it is, the standings today will be forgotten by tomorrow.

Joba Chamberlain may or may not be Mr. 8th Inning, but we regret to inform you that over his last 13 appearances (before last night, which won’t help the numbers), he’s been hit for a .930 OPS and has a 6.94 ERA and a WHIP north of 2. 60 batters faced and 27 have reached. Forget Sloppy Joe. We’ve got Sloppy Joba on our hands now. So don’t groan if you see Coke making a run at Mr. 8th Inning Guy status.

Porcello has faced the Sox once in 2014. It was in Chicago and didn’t go so well. Quintana has faced the Tigers twice, and has been hittable but not hittable enough to yield more than 5 runs over 12 IP. I won’t be surprised to see “Cy” Quintana comments popping up in-game as Tigers reach and don’t score, but I’m looking forward to a good game from Porcello and a series win in advance of the showdown in Cleveland to come. Or at least a good game from Porcello (see third paragraph and issues pertaining thereto.)

So the Indians pull it out in 11. I suppose it would be good news if those two would just beat up on each other, play long extra inning games, and split their remaining 4…

Funny: A short while after saying that it’s too late for debate on the Cabrera issue, here I am debating it.

Adam Dunn has left the building. Jose Ortega and Justin Miller have been designated for assignment. If you’ve completely lost track of who is in the Tigers bullpen (I have), here’s my latest info on it (it may have changed by the time you read this):

Alburquerque
Hardy
Coke
Chamberlain
Nathan
Reed
Johnson
McCoy

Sorted in August WHIP order. The top three have managed to post something below 1.74. Woo-hoo.

Baseball Reference Game Preview

Kyle Ryan vs. Chris Bassitt

Ryan for DET and Bassitt for CHW will each be making their MLB debuts tonight.

I don’t have the patience to wait for the lineups, so I’ll throw out some guesses as to the changes. Avila will be back at C, of course. Romine at SS, Carrera in CF, Kelly at 3B, J.D. in RF, maybe? Something like that. Hunter might get rest tonight and Cabrera tomorrow, that’s what I’m thinking. We’ll see.

Baseball Reference Game Preview

Max Scherzer vs. Chris Sale

Huh? What? What are they doing starting so early? More later…

POSTGAME: That One Inning. Seems to be a thing lately. Last night in the 7-1 victory, you had to sympathize with the White Sox for how that 4th inning just fell apart even as you appreciated how the Tigers capitalized to the max. Today, first game of the doubleheader, Chris Sale outpitched Max Scherzer, plain and simple. 11 strikeouts and 0 walks are just numbers when you lose it for That One Inning. Great plays from Torii Hunter and Eugenio Suarez, not much else to get excited about after the first inning.

Just like last year, too late for debate on whether to play or not play Miguel Cabrera. Victor Martinez isn’t so good at 1B nor Miggy at DH; think it through and you’ll find that’s no solution, either.

The Dream Rotation (or what’s left of it) has to keep the lead when they get one.

OK, Game 2 of the doubleheader at 6:10 PM. I’ll make a note of it.

Baseball Reference Game Preview

Justin Verlander vs. Scott Carroll

Detroit closes out August and begins their next to last road trip before a home-heavy September with four against the Sox in Chicago, including a Saturday makeup doubleheader (and so far the doubleheaders haven’t doubled our pleasure). The team has yet to put up a calendar month below .500 – let’s see if they can punctuate this one a little more emphatically. Let’s worry less about the Royals and more about how to correct going 17-19 against those other guys in this supposedly “weak” division.

…Evan Reed returns…. Imminent roster shuffle could leave someone on the 40-man to be DFA, or…  Sanchez might not be back, Tigers seem prepared to roll the dice with rookie fill-ins, but are they really?… Avila continues to be the terrible hitter with the knack for the big hit, thunder he stole from Kelly… Kinsler’s drawing ire with the bat and raves for the glove, team could really use both… #CastellanosInLeft2015… Hunter’s energy is energizing, gotta hand it to him. He’s our Derek Jeter, sort of…. There’s no problem with Miggy, except that there is, but really there isn’t, although there might be. 3 HR in 220 PA is a little unusual, that’s all, even with 400 doubles. He’s been great at 1B, though, no lie… Suarez plays with a lot of swagger, which is annoying when he swaggers something stupid (would someone teach him how to slide, please?), but enjoyable otherwise. He is as good as it gets for any homegrown middle infield talent you’ll ever see under current ownership, so enjoy it… Chambermaid! Brilliant, Stormin.’ Tuck or no tuck? Tuck, tuck! How much do you tip a Chamberlain?… You’ve gotta tip it (the cap) to Phil Coke – he never stopped shrugging. Violently. We all need to eat some crow and acknowledge what he’s done over the past couple months. I always wanted to keep him as bench coach, but now I think I might let him pitch once in a while, too… I wonder if Victor Martinez might get some consideration for MVP if the Tigers went all the way… I don’t know why I find it so hard to forgive J.D. Martinez when he grounds out to 3B. Again. Look at those numbers. Holy cats. Where would we be without him?

Oh, right. The other team, the White Somethings. Well, they’re really struggling of late and not that good, neither of which strikes me as good news (see Twins). We must not allow Jose Abreu to shame us again. Chicago plays better against Detroit, and that’s a natural fact. Recent memory suggests that this holds less true late in the season.

Irrelevant Factor Of The Day: Until the most recent Tampa Bay series, I hadn’t won a series since June and Texas. That’s got to bode well for this series and the stretch. Somehow. Doesn’t it?

Derek Jeter – I’ve enjoyed watching you play for the past twenty years. Best of luck with whatever is next.

Drew Smyly has allowed fewer runs in 5 starts with the Tampa Bay Rays than David Price allowed last night in the 3rd inning.

In no way would I go back and unwind that deal. I loved it then and I love it now. But baseball is a funny game, and there are a lot of intangibles which we can’t see nor measure. For the better part of the last four years, we all took those intangibles for granted, and many of us, including me, even suggested that other teams had better intangibles than us. I blamed the manager. Though it sure did seem that things tended to fall the right way for the Tigers more often than not.

Not I’m starting to rethink whether we were missing much at all.

This team is missing something. Perhaps JV isn’t the same in the clubhouse, or Miggy’s injury means he can’t laugh as much, or the bullpen is on pins and needles and that’s hurting things. But this team hasn’t been right in a month, and I’m not sure how we get there.

Winning is contagious, Royals are showing us that. Is mediocrity the same?

There’s still time, the Royals can’t play .800 ball the rest of the way out. But they’re likely going to play better than .500 ball. Can we be 3 games better than whatever that number is?

Kyle Lobstein makes his first career start this afternoon. I’ll be tuned in all game. Let’s go Tigers.

#DoItForTheRotation

1. Rajai Davis, CF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. J.D. Martinez, RF
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. Don Kelly, LF
8. Alex Avila, C
9. Andrew Romine, SS

71-59, 1.5 games behind, .5 WC games back.

Last night’s win was a real, professional win. 5-2 is a score that seems like an appropriate margin for a good, but not obnoxious, team. If the San Antonio Spurs played baseball, they would win most games 5-2.

Ricky P was phenomenal, again, scattering 9 hits over 8 innings and walking none. He’s only allowed 8 walks in his last 10 starts, and none (NONE!) in his last 3 games, spanning 23 innings. Keep that in mind when a reliever walks the first guy he sees tonight.

If Porcello pitches like this over the final 5 weeks, he may be slotted as the 3rd pitcher in a playoff series, or the 3rd guy to hit in a Tigers foursome caddied by JV. Note, it just hit me that there is a real chance that we don’t get to see this rotation in the playoffs. Who knows if Illitch can afford to keep Scherzer around, or of Max even wants to stay. But what a shame it would be to not give this rotation a shot. I’m going to start a movement. #DoItForTheRotation We’ll see if this picks up more steam than my last movement #StopLettingQuasimodoMakeAirplaneSeats.

The Tigers crowd last night got a little emotional with Joe, chanting “Let’s Go Joe” as he got going in the 9th. Joe heard it, and I’m sure the team loved it. We’re stuck with him, might as well see if we can help him in anyway. The crowd at Comerica is the best.

David Price takes the mount tonight, looking to rebound from a one hit complete game blowout loss.

#DoItForTheRotation

1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
2. Torii Hunter, RF
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. J.D. Martinez, LF
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. Alex Avila, C
8. Eugenio Suarez, SS
9. Rajai Davis, CF

70-59, 2nd place, 1.5 games back, .5 WC games back. Lots of teams to watch these days.

I gotta admit, it’s hard to find the motivation to prepare for this series. The Tigers have been in a three month tailspin, peppered with just enough respites to keep hope alive.

You know, one of the DTW posters (can someone remind me) used to do a nice write-up every 18 games, calling them innings. There are 9 innings in a season (18 games x 9 = 162). The season is in the 8th inning. We’re turning it over to our bullpen, down by a run. Chad Qualls to save the day? As Smoking Loon pointed out, we’re still in it.

Lots of baseball left.

Rick Porcello on the mound tonight.

1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
2. Torii Hunter, RF
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. J.D. Martinez, LF
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. Alex Avila, C
8. Eugenio Suarez, SS
9. Rajai Davis, CF