It’s always nice when the Tigers sweep, especially since they haven’t done it in a while, but it’s also hard to get excited when your favorite player exits the game in the fourth inning with an injury. I got home from work and immediately realized something was up, cuz Rabelo was behind the plate. Apparently Pudge had a hamstring spasm that wasn’t letting up and Rabelo had to come into the game. This happened long before I got home, and it wasn’t exactly the news I wanted to come home to, especially since I got stuck with a pharmacist who normally doesn’t work at our store and two techs who are newer than I am (so I was suddenly the one thrust into the “all-knowing one” spotlight, and I quickly learned that even though I’ve been there a year, I’m still in over my head). I haven’t heard anything further than “hamstring spasm,” but I hope it’s something that can straighten itself out in the next day or so (Thank God today’s an off day). As the above picture clearly shows, he was able to walk off the field (not sure how well, cuz I didn’t see it, but it doesn’t look like he was being helped), so that’s reassuring, at least. However, Pudge has the reputation of being the type of player that you literally have to drag out of the game, so he must’ve been in some kind of pain. Also, Guillen left the last Mets game with a hamstring spasm, and he ended up missing the entire series against the Brewers (with an off-day mixed in), and Guillen’s a shortstop. I would imagine something like that would be worse for Pudge, cuz he spends half the game in a crouch. Hamstring injuries are actually one thing I have a little bit of experience with. I’ve never suffered from “hamstring spasms,” but I did strain my right hamstring while fencing about six months ago. I could walk okay by the next morning, but for two or three days, I couldn’t climb stairs, let alone crouch. Anytime I tried to bear weight on my right leg with the knee bent, it would just give way in pain (and this became rather embarrassing, cuz anytime someone with the last name beginning with A-D came to the pharmacy to pick up their prescription, I had to ask one of the other techs to climb the stool to get to it). It was about two weeks before the pain went away entirely, and longer still before I could fence again (even after the pain was gone, I would still feel a little stiffness in my leg whenever I tried to lunge). However, I am nowhere near as in shape as guys like Carlos Guillen and Pudge Rodriguez are, so my experiences probably do not mirror theirs in any way, shape, or form. Bottom line, though: I will probably get more excited about this win, in retrospect, whenever Pudge returns to the lineup and looks healthy.

Usually if the Tigers win and I was at work, I will try to look back at the game to pick up my talking points, but I just can’t bring myself to do it this time. It was the bottom of the seventh when I got home, so the Tigers were all done scoring their runs (it always seems that once I get home, the offense shuts down), and I spent most of the rest of the game waiting for word on Pudge so I didn’t exactly focus as much as I normally do. From what I can piece together, Bonderman was cruising along until the fourth inning. That’s when Pudge got taken out, and things went kinda downhill. I have no idea if those two events are at all connected. They’re probably not, at least on a mechanical level, but they certainly could be on an emotional level. Losing your catcher all of a sudden has got to rattle you a little. Either way, it is rather strange that two pitches after Pudge left, Bonderman wild-pitched in a run. However, he still pitched well enough to get the win, and that’s the important part. The bullpen wasn’t exactly stellar, but they didn’t exactly suck, either. I didn’t see Jason Grilli, so I can’t comment on him. Tim Byrdak (who all of a sudden kinda looks like Jason Grilli) gave up a run, but he didn’t look that bad. Rodney didn’t give up a run, but he loaded the bases and his control was extremely erratic. Rabelo was having an awful time with him, and ended up with a passed ball for his troubles when Rodney threw him the wrong pitch. However, Todd Jones got the Nats 1-2-3 in the ninth on eight pitches. There’s always a bright spot. As far as offense goes, Carlos Guillen homered and Magglio’s batting average is up to a whopping .383. Even though Pudge only ended up with two at-bats, I looked at the results for them on Gameday and I’m starting to be just a little concerned that he’s going “pull-happy” again (as the FSN guys call it), and that doesn’t do good things for the batting average. However, I’m gonna wait a while before I make any more judgments beyond that. Whenever he returns, that is. Craig Monroe broke out of his struggles a little bit with two hits and an RBI. Apparently the most impressive at-bat of the night belonged to Omar Infante, who fouled off, like, twelve pitches (in an at-bat that lasted about eight minutes) before finally singling in a run. By the way, from what I see in the box score, it looks like Washington used just about everyone in their bullpen.

Well, it seems that we must bid adios to Wilfredo Ledezma. He’s been traded to Atlanta in exchange for lefty Macay McBride. Apparently, McBride’s stats are comparable to Ledezma, but McBride still has options, whereas Ledezma does not, so the Tigers can send him down to the minors if they need to (and there ends my knowledge of what “options” are). Also, Jim Leyland has hinted that there are several more roster changes to come. Here’s what we know so far: Kenny Rogers is pitching tomorrow night, followed by Justin Verlander on Saturday, and Andrew Miller on Sunday. Leyland will start either Mike Maroth or Chad Durbin on Monday, but he hasn’t decided just who, yet (well, the official website's preview of tomorrow night's game says Mike Maroth, but I'm not sure if that's an official announcement or if that was listed simply because it would be his turn in the current rotation). That’s not even mentioning the bullpen. Obviously, the Tigers have too many pitchers and too few spots, and things’ll get even tighter once Zach Miner and Nate Robertson are ready to come off the DL. Meanwhile, the rumors of trading Mike Maroth are growing ever louder, to the point where a lot of people are assuming that it’s gonna happen. According to Danny Knobler, there are seven pitchers that will definitely stay on the roster: Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bonderman, Todd Jones, Fernando Rodney, Eulogio De La Cruz, Bobby Seay, and Tim Byrdak. Three more (Rogers, Miner, and Robertson) will be activated from the DL in the next few weeks. That leaves Andrew Miller, Mike Maroth, Chad Durbin, Jason Grilli, and Macay McBride, but only two spots on the roster. Miller and McBride can still be sent down to the minors. Maroth, Durbin, and Grilli can’t. Therefore, Knobler is convinced that the Tigers will try to trade Maroth and Grilli, and possibly Durbin (though they probably won’t end up trading all three). I kind of understand the moves with Maroth and Grilli, since this is the last year of Maroth’s contract and Jason Grilli has been inconsistent (though he’s been MUCH better of late), but Durbin’s pitched too well. I really don’t want the Tigers trading him. And they’d better not lay a finger on any of the position players.

The Tigers are off today, but tomorrow night is the big night at last. Yes, Kenny Rogers returns as the Tigers take on the Atlanta Braves, the one team in baseball that I have actively disliked, though it’s not as prominent as it once was (they had a rather smug attitude about them in the mid-90s, which REALLY rubbed me the wrong way). I know I rooted for them when they took on Cleveland, but that’s only cuz Cleveland’s a threat, and now that they’re done with the Indians, I ain’t rooting for them any more. Kenny Rogers’ll have to be at the top of his game, though, cuz Atlanta’s got a good offense and they’re gonna be starting John Smoltz, who belongs in the “I’ve-heard-of-him-therefore-I-assume-he-must-be-good” category. And you’ve no doubt realized by now that I really, really hope Pudge is in this game, if for nothing other than the intangibles. It’s hard for me to reason it on my own without sounding either silly or insulting, so I’ll just quote one of the more reputable fan bloggers: “Nothing against Mike Rabelo, but I’d [just as soon] see the Kenny Rogers-Pudge battery.”

One Year Ago: The sweep did not happen on June 21, 2006, as Detroit lost to the Brewers, 4-3. Nate Robertson had a solid outing, giving up only 3 runs (2 earned) in 6 2/3 innings. Detroit went into the bottom of the seventh with a 3-2 lead (by the way, Nate got his first Major League hit in this game, an RBI single). After giving up a two-out single, Nate was replaced by Joel Zumaya. Unfortunately, Joel gave up a 2-run homer to Rickie Weeks, the Brewers took the lead, and the Tigers weren’t able to catch up. By the way, this game featured one of the screwier-looking batting lineups for the Tigers that I’ve ever seen. Brandon Inge batted leadoff, for one. Marcus Thames was second, and Vance Wilson was third (though I guess that kind of makes sense, because for most of last year Pudge was in the #3 spot anyways).

2006 record: 48-25

2007 record: 42-29

 UPDATE: According to the official website, Pudge says that the hamstring spasm is nothing serious and that he fully expects to play tomorrow night. You sort of have to take that with the proverbial grain of salt, because he always says that, but I still feel better now.

Well, the Tigers are nothing if not resilient. Yesterday, the story wasn’t that the Tigers won on Monday night, but that they “almost” lost. It seems that there are a lot of instances where if the Tigers do something they shouldn’t (be it lose to a last-place team or make a game unnecessarily close), they come back the next night to absolutely pound the opponent (Tampa Bay, Texas, the Mets, and now this series come to mind). Chad Durbin, after having kind of a rough start against Milwaukee, bounced back and had a very nice outing. He only lasted six innings, but he was still good. He only allowed one run, and he didn’t walk anybody. And yes, the bullpen did the job as well. Ledezma looked VERY good in his outing, and De La Cruz continues to impress.

Leyland felt so confident about this game that he even let Ledezma bat in the eighth inning. Nothing came of it, but I took it as a good sign. And how about Sean Casey? He FINALLY hit his first home run of the season. Yay! I really didn’t mind that it took him that long. The Tigers have plenty of guys who can hit for power, so the fact that Sean Casey isn’t a power hitter really doesn’t concern me like it does some people. He’s batting near .300, he’s a left-handed bat in a lineup that’s pretty much dominated by righties, and he’s an excellent first baseman. But I bet he felt really good last night, and why shouldn’t he? That leaves Infante and Rabelo as the only position players without a home run (and I’m pretty sure Infante’ll get one before too long, if he gets enough playing time; Rabelo’s a rookie, so it’s hard to tell with him). Every Tiger who went to the plate last night got a hit except for Craig Monroe and the pitchers (As I’ve said before, there’s always one that goes hitless. It was Pudge on Monday, and last night it was Craig. What can you do?). Even Neifi Perez hit a double. Rabelo needed his very last at-bat to get his, and it was an RBI double. And Marcus Thames only had one at-bat, but he certainly made it count, hitting an absolutely MONSTER home run off the first pitch into the upper deck. By the way, every position player showed up in this game except Pudge and Omar Infante (but my guess is that we’ll see both of them tonight; Pudge for sure).

When Marcus Thames was at bat last night, they tried to show footage of him hitting his upper-deck home run the previous night, but someone screwed it up, so instead we saw Carlos Guillen’s home run, followed by Marcus Thames’s trot around the bases. As one of the commentators said, “Carlos started the at-bat and Marcus finished it.” However, Marcus then hit another home run, so their focus went back to that (although the analyst was looking at a monitor and he thought that it was footage from the home run he hit on Monday, cuz it went almost to the same area). Also, FSN continues its trend of gratuitous shots of Pudge in the dugout when he’s not playing. He didn’t really do anything interesting this time, though (except for not being able to keep a straight face when everyone was trying to give Sean Casey the silent treatment). Mostly he just spent the game leaning against the railing (apparently it was his daughter’s birthday yesterday, according to the FSN guys). I also noticed that Jason Grilli was hanging around the dugout. Shouldn’t he be in the bullpen? Todd Jones has said that the Washington bullpen is one of the worst places to watch the game, cuz there’s a line of padding right at eye level, so you either have to slouch (and risk a sore back) or sit up really straight. Maybe Grilli didn’t want to do that.  

Tonight, the Tigers attempt to sweep the Nationals, and with Jeremy Bonderman starting, they have a reasonable chance of doing it. You never know, though. Bonderman always has that bad first inning, plus he hasn’t been quite as sharp his last couple times out. Mike Bacsik makes the start for the Nationals. Sweeping an away series is one of the hardest things to do in baseball, but, at the risk of sounding greedy, it would be nice if they could, especially since their next opponent is Atlanta. Leyland said last night that he’s giving Polanco and Sheffield the night off, so that probably means that Craig Monroe and Omar Infante will play. Pudge’ll be back, too.

One Year Ago: On June 20, 2006, the Tigers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 10-1. Zach Miner pitched a complete game, and didn’t allow a run until the bottom of the ninth with two outs. Rick Helling (the Brewers’ starting pitcher) began the game by striking out the side on nine pitches. Then Magglio would lead off the top of the second with a home run, and it was all Tigers from there. Magglio would hit another home run in his next at-bat, and he would later be joined by Craig Monroe and Pudge in going deep. Even Zach Miner hit a double.

2006 record: 48-24

2007 record: 41-29

Yeesh. That one was obviously just a little too close. Before the game even began, I had a feeling similar to the one I had before that 12-11 game in Cleveland, but not as gloomy, so I didn’t leave the room this time. The Nationals may be in last place in the NL East, and they may have the second-worst offense in the National League, but they did just come off a successful road trip, in which they swept Baltimore and took two out of three from Minnesota (at the Metrodome, mind you), so that should have sent up little warning flags right there. It’s like how in the American League, if you let your guard down against Kansas City, they CAN beat you (Hell, with the way Chicago’s been playing lately, KC may actually pass them in the standings). That said, Washington is a team that the Tigers need to beat in order to have any hope of being taken seriously. Anyways, there were two problem spots for the Tigers: the bottom of the sixth and the bottom of the ninth. Mike Maroth was absolutely in cruise control up until the sixth. He only gave up one run until that point. Then all of a sudden, every National who came to the plate figured out how to hit him (granted, the error by Guillen didn’t help matters). Bobby Seay and later Jason Grilli had to come to the rescue. Grilli went on to pitch a nice seventh inning. He’s been looking a lot better recently, especially since his good outings have outnumbered his bad ones of late. The eighth inning marked the Major League debut of Eulogio De La Cruz, who was just called up from Toledo (Yorman Bazardo has been sent back down to Toledo in the meantime). He allowed a single, and he had a wild pitch, but was impressive otherwise. And he has a 98-MPH fastball. It’s too early to speculate about anything, though. He’s gotta pitch some more innings before you can really tell if he’s gonna pan out. And then Todd Jones…um…yeah. I know there’s a group of Tigers fans that don’t like Jonesy cuz he doesn’t come out and strike out the side for a 1-2-3 ninth inning. I will admit that he usually does make things interesting, but normally he gets the job done. He just made things a little TOO interesting this time (I wonder…when the Tigers had their near-rallies against the Angels, the Brewers, and the Phillies, if those teams’ fans did half as much bitching about THEIR bullpen after those games). Jonesy may have used up all his margin for error, but he got the three outs that he needed, and even Jim Leyland didn’t seem too upset about it. Bottom line: The Tigers won, and that’s all that’s gonna matter later on down the road.

For the second time on this road trip, the offensive onslaught began with the pitcher. However, unlike Jeremy Bonderman (who had a measly infield single), Mike Maroth hit a very solid double to the center field wall. The Tigers went on to really hit around in that inning. There were two home runs during the game, both of which reached the upper deck (and this is not a small ballpark), compliments of Carlos Guillen and Marcus Thames. All in all, every Tiger who started got at least one hit except for Pudge and Brandon Inge, and even Brandon had an RBI on a sac fly. It can’t really be good for the ego if you go hitless on the night that your pitcher hits a double. There always seems to be that one person who doesn’t do anything productive at the plate, right? I love Pudge, but honestly, he really didn’t do much to justify being in that game (as far as I can see; I can’t say it with any certainly, though, cuz as I’ve said before, it’s really difficult to gauge the contribution level of the catcher from a defensive standpoint). Judging by some of the swings he took, it seemed to me like he was trying to do too much, and obviously, it didn’t work (and it usually doesn’t when you try to do too much; I don’t care who you are). Besides, he just hit a home run in Philly, so it’s not like he’s overdue for one. If anyone’s overdue for one, it’s Magglio. He hasn’t hit one since they were in Cleveland, and that was almost three weeks ago. But that’s not an invitation for him to start trying to hit one, cuz that never works. I suppose Sean Casey is overdue for one as well, but he doesn’t hit for power, so I’m really not concerned about it.

Well, Justin Verlander has been named the AL Player of the Week. I suppose throwing a no-hitter merits that. Yay! Also, they announced the updates results so far for the All-Star game voting. Pudge and Polanco still lead their respective positions, but they’re by no means a lock so you gotta keep voting. Magglio is now fourth among outfielders. He just needs to jump one more place, and he’s in (he’ll need to pass Ichiro to do it, though). Perhaps the news that surprised me most was that Carlos Guillen is currently second in the shortstop race (although Derek Jeter is currently leading him by a HUGE margin, so there’s really very little chance of him catching up). Also, Sean Casey is fourth among first basemen and Brandon Inge is third among third basemen, but David Ortiz and A-Rod pretty much have those positions locked up. So it looks like the best chances for Tigers starters lie with Pudge, Polanco, and perhaps Maggs. Keep voting!

Tonight, it’s Game 2 against the Nationals. Chad Durbin makes the start for the Tigers, and hopefully he can make this an easier win than it was last night. This may be his final start, because it’s now official: Kenny Rogers will return on Friday. The Tigers still haven’t announced who will be taken out of the rotation, but my guess is that it’ll either be Durbin or Miller (I know I speculated about Maroth yesterday, but I honestly don’t think they’d take him out). Meanwhile, the Nationals will send Jason Simontacchi to the mound. I really don’t know much about him, but his ERA is comparable to Durbin’s, so it’s hard to tell. Pudge will not play this game, but it really doesn’t matter, cuz I’ll be at work for most of it anyways.

One Year Ago: On June 19, 2006, the Tigers beat the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park 3-1. Jeremy Bonderman had a hell of a game. For the second game in a row, he struck out twelve. He only gave up one run (a homer to Prince Fielder), but it looked as though he was headed for a loss, cuz Doug Davis shutout the Tigers for most of the game, striking out nine. He was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the seventh, and going into the top of the eighth, the Tigers saw their chance. Brandon Inge started things off with a bunt single, then made it to second on a throwing error by the pitcher. Alexis Gomez tried for a sacrifice bunt, but yet another throwing error (this time, the third baseman) allowed Inge to score. Polanco drew a walk, and Milwaukee lifted Matt Wise for Jose Capellan, who struck out Pudge but gave up a double to Maggs, which scored two runs, and the Tigers hung on for the win. Since I’ve always gotta find the “unbelievable coincidence,” I’ll go with this: In this game, Pudge went hitless, and he grounded into a double play. Hey, it’s a stretch, but I didn’t have much to work with.

2006 record: 47-24

2007 record: 40-29

Well, it wasn’t a no-hitter, but I really wasn’t expecting it to be, and Justin Verlander still did a nice job. The velocity on his fastball seemed to be a little low (though he was still able to get it to 100 when he needed to), and his breaking ball was a bit off in the early innings, but he pitched well. Despite a strong outing, he seemed poised to take a loss until the offense was able to rally for him in the seventh, and then it was up to the bullpen to give him the win, and they did just that. They didn’t have any 1-2-3 innings, but they got the job done in the end. Even Rodney would’ve made it out of the eighth inning unscathed had it not been for Carlos Guillen (a ground ball that would’ve ended the inning rolled between his legs and a run scored; they initially ruled it an error but changed it to a single later on; I’m sure Rodney didn’t appreciate that, cuz that charged him with an earned run). However, Rodney threw 39 pitches so he’ll probably be unavailable tonight.

Yesterday I talked about how in the last couple of losses, the Tigers have gotten rallies started that fall just short, and I predicted that they were overdue for a rally to actually break through. It finally happened. For most of the day, it looked as though the Tigers were once again gonna fall victim to the dreaded Reyes Effect, but Brandon Inge and some aggressive National League-style managing by Jim Leyland changed all that in the seventh inning. Prior to that, Adam Eaton had only given up four singles (two to Granderson, one to Pudge, and one to Maggs) and one run. Brandon Inge finally hit a double off him, and that seemed to open the door for the rally. Pinch-hit singles from Guillen and Sheffield scored Inge to make the score 3-2. Infante (pinch-hitting for Granderson) moved the runners up on a ground ball, and Polanco was walked intentionally. But how ‘bout Craig Monroe? He’s been in an absolute slump for the past week, but with the bases loaded and two outs, he hit the 2-RBI single that the Tigers needed to take the lead. Magglio then got the Tigers some insurance runs by hitting a 2-RBI double (and this time, it was indeed a double; in the first inning, he hit a single that he tried to turn into a double and failed miserably). I was really surprised to see Pudge in the lineup, but according to the commentators, he talked Jim Leyland into letting him play. He put it to good use, too, by scoring a run in the eighth (and by getting Rodney through the eighth inning, which is no easy task anymore). This game featured the appearance of every position player at one point or another except for Mike Rabelo (who was the one person that I was sure would play), and they even had Mike Maroth pinch-hitting for Fernando Rodney in the ninth. Speaking of pitchers batting, I kind of wondered yesterday if Justin Verlander would still find the pitcher-at-bat situation funny once he had to do it, and apparently he does, cuz he had this big smile whenever he was in the batter’s box. And you know, he looks fairly comfortable with the bat (which is a BIG contrast to Jeremy Bonderman and Andrew Miller). If he gets enough at-bats this season, I have a feeling that he’ll get a hit pretty soon. Oddly enough, in this homer-friendly park, nobody hit a home run yesterday.

I started out watching this game at home. We were supposed to go to my grandparents’ house for Father’s Day/my grandma’s birthday. We left after the top of the seventh, and we stopped at KFC on the way to get dinner. That took forever, cuz nobody working there seemed to have a clue what was going on. We had to have been there for at least half an hour. I was sure the game would be over by then, but when we got to my grandparents’ house, it was only the bottom of the eighth. I figured something had to have happened, and then my grandpa asked, “Did you see that Philadelphia had three players thrown out?” It turns out that the Phillies lost their catcher, their manager, and their third base coach in an argument over a checked swing. I went back and looked at it, and Carlos Ruiz (the catcher) must’ve said the wrong thing, cuz he got ejected in a hurry, and it just went downhill from there. My grandpa also had to discuss the fact that Magglio nearly misplayed a fly ball in the seventh inning (Maggs did make a rather nifty-looking catch because of it, though). Speaking of Maggs, during the montage of shots at the end of the game, there was a shot of him throwing something and then reacting with this “oops” expression on his face, like whatever it was he threw hit somebody. I’m not quite sure what happened there. I think it was after he had been tagged out in the first inning, cuz he was on the infield, but it just looked kinda funny.

Tonight, the Tigers continue their National League road trip by going to Washington. Mike Maroth will start for the Tigers. He had a good outing against the Brewers last time, but ended up with a no-decision. Plus, with the return of Kenny Rogers imminent, he, Chad Durbin, and Andrew Miller will all be pitching to stay in the rotation. The Nationals send Matt Chico to the mound. He’s apparently been doing better recently, but I don’t know much about him, so I can’t really comment. The Tigers are probably relieved to FINALLY be facing a last-place club, but they still can’t let their guard down, especially since the Nationals are playing much better than they were in April. Former Tiger Dmitri Young plays for the Nationals, and apparently he still bears a grudge against Detroit (I’m not all sure what happened, so I can’t elaborate). He’ll be the latest in a string of dangerous power-hitting first basemen that the Tigers have gone up against (Prince Fielder, Ryan Howard, etc). I thought that since Pudge did not have the day off yesterday, he would be off tonight, but apparently Leyland is giving him tomorrow night off instead (not sure of the reason, though it may be because Chico is a lefty). That’s fine with me, especially since I work tomorrow night, but not tonight.

One Year Ago: On June 18, 2006, the Tigers completed their sweep of the Chicago Cubs, beating them 12-3 in spectacular fashion. They hit EIGHT home runs, tying a franchise record. Chris Shelton and Brandon Inge each hit two, and the others were hit by Curtis Granderson, Carlos Guillen, Marcus Thames, and Vance Wilson. Hell, even Kenny Rogers hit a double, plus he got his 200^th career win. I looked at the streaming video that the official website had of the eight home runs, and it was footage from WGN (which carries the Cubs games). The commentators seemed especially concerned about Vance Wilson’s homer (“That’s a home run for Vance Wilson, a backup catcher”), as if backup catchers were not allowed to hit home runs. At one point, one of the commentators asked, “I’m confused. Is this batting practice or are we actually playing a game here?” That made me laugh.

2006 record: 46-24

2007 record: 39-29

I was at work for most of the game, but there’s really not a whole lot for me to talk about anyways. It’s not like I have a whole lot to work with. The analyst on FSN was being rather critical of the bullpen, and I suppose some of that criticism is justified (though, from what I can tell, it was that third out that the bullpen was having trouble with), but the Tigers failed to make up for the deficit given up by Andrew Miller, so it’s not like the bullpen lost the game. I did not see Andrew Miller pitch, so I can’t comment a whole lot on him. He gave up four runs (Only three were unearned, but when that fourth guy reached first base on an error by the pitcher, is it really unearned?), and he hit two with the pitch, so on paper it looks like he didn’t have his best stuff last night. However, the official website says it was a solid outing, so I’m not sure what to conclude. By the way, this weekend marks the first (and probably only) time that I have been rooting for the Atlanta Braves, and so far it’s working, cuz they have won their first two games against Cleveland (at the Jake, mind you).

Andrew Miller gave up four runs in his last start as well, but he got a lot of run support then, and he didn’t get it this time. Curtis Granderson and Carlos Guillen both homered early, but other than that, they couldn’t get anything going against Jamie Moyer. Not even Pudge, who had a .365 average against Moyer spanning 65 at-bats. I’m not sure I’d call it the Reyes Effect, even though I’m not familiar with Moyer, cuz he has been described as a veteran (although I will say that perhaps it is the Reyes Effect as far as Pudge is concerned, considering his career numbers). For the second loss in a row, the Tigers tried to start a rally in the ninth inning, but fell short, which means that one of these days, it’s gonna happen. Some of the online fans were pissed at Gene Lamont for not sending Polanco home on the single by Maggs, but all that would’ve done is make it a 6-4 game (and then the loss would be on the bullpen), and all other things being equal, Guillen would still have struck out and Pudge would still have grounded out (damn). Just out of curiosity, I went back and looked at one of Andrew Miller’s at-bats, and I did not realize just how lanky he is until I saw him in that batter’s box.

Today is the rubber match between these two teams. The Tigers’ll be sending out the man of the hour, Justin Verlander. I highly doubt he’ll throw another no-hitter (because A) they’re extremely difficult anyways, B) he was throwing 102 in the ninth inning last time, so he’s still gotta be just a little drained, and C) we’re likely to see the “day-game-after-night-game” lineup; I’ll leave it at that), but I still love watching him. The other thing about Justin is that he has been laughing his head off over the past two days whenever the Tigers’ pitcher was at bat (or, in Jeremy Bonderman’s case, when he was running the bases). This time, it’ll be his turn, and I wonder if he’ll still find it funny. Apparently, he is also looking for his first big league hit. The starter for the Phillies is Adam Eaton. He has an ERA of over five, but you can’t always tell by that. The game is supposed to be on FOX 2. I’ve looked up listings on TV Guide, and my FOX station supposedly will be carrying it this time. One can only hope.

One Year Ago: On June 17, 2006, the Tigers beat the Cubs at Wrigley Field 9-3. Justin Verlander allowed nine hits in just 5 2/3 innings, but gave up only one run, so he pitched himself out of quite a few jams. Carlos Guillen hit a two-run homer (what a coincidence), and he, Maggs, and Polanco all finished the day with three RBIs. The game also featured the first Major League at-bats for both Justin Verlander and Fernando Rodney. Justin ended up at the plate only twice, but he managed to advance the runner both times (once on a fly ball, the other with a sacrifice bunt). I’ve heard that Rodney is highly amusing when he’s at bat, but with his struggles this year, it’s pretty unlikely that I’ll see him. By the way, this game also featured a brief appearance by future Tiger Neifi Perez (who played for the Cubs at the time). He pinch-hit for the Chicago pitcher in the ninth, and grounded out. One strange thing that I’ve noticed in that in both this game and the one before it, Vance Wilson pinch-hit for Pudge in the ninth inning. I’m really not sure why, especially since we’ve yet to see Rabelo in this current series (though it’s highly likely that he’ll start today).

2006 record: 45-24

I’m gonna start things off by saying that I had a feeling National League-style box scores were gonna be even more confusing than American League ones, and I was right. Luckily, I was able to actually see this game so I only need to use the box score to remind me of plays, not inform me for the first time. You know it’s a strange game when the team that hits five home runs ends up losing (and the winning team only hit one, but that’s for later). It reminds me a lot of that game that the Tigers won against the Angels back in April. Jeremy Bonderman wasn’t at his best. He didn’t exactly suck, but he gave up five earned runs. In my last post, I said that Tim Byrdak was overdue for a bad outing, and I guess this was it. He gave up a home run for the first time this year, plus another run. However, he didn’t fall apart completely or anything. Rodney has slipped a little bit. He actually looked fairly good his last time out (even though he gave up the game-winning home run), but this time he was definitely having trouble commanding the fastball, even though the only run he gave up actually belonged to Byrdak. Bobby Seay was okay, but couldn’t get the final out of the ninth inning, so they had to bring in Jonesy, who walked the first batter he faced but came back to strike the next guy out. What’s kind of frustrating is not that the bullpen has been bad all the time. They haven’t been. From the last two games in Cleveland up until the Brewers came to Detroit, they were rather decent. The frustrating part is that they’ve been kind of inconsistent. Plus, it seems that the guys have somehow synchronized all their bad outings together. Then again, the Phillies have a good offense, so this also might be one of those intangibles (after all, they were able to get to Bonderman a little bit). Oh well, we’ll see what happens once Kenny Rogers returns.

Say what you want about the pitching, but there certainly wasn’t anything wrong with the Tigers offense last night. Pudge led the way with five RBIs, all of which came with two outs. That included a three-run homer and a bases-loaded single. All in all, he finished a triple shy of the cycle, and his batting average has reached .300 exactly. Sean Casey had three RBIs and came painfully close to hitting his first home run of the season (it bounced off the top of the railing). And, wouldn’t you know it, Jeremy Bonderman got his first Major League hit, an infield single. Of course, watching him run the bases was absolutely hilarious, but the most amusing part is that he ended up starting a rally. The Tigers scored five runs in that inning (on Gary Sheffield’s sac fly, Magglio’s double, and Pudge’s 3-run shot).

By the way, I kind of had to laugh after Todd Jones got the final out of the game, because Pudge just looked exhausted after that. I guess these boys have gotten used to shorter games over the past week or so. It’s been a while since they’ve gotten into a slugfest. Also, I realize that all of today’s photos are either of Pudge or Casey (or both), but I didn’t have much of a selection. In other news, Kenny Rogers had his second rehab start last night. He struggled a bit in the first inning, giving up three runs (although only one was an earned run), but settled in and was solid after that. Now we wait and see if he will indeed be ready to come back.

Tonight, it’s Game 2 in this series against Philadelphia. Andrew Miller takes the mound for the Tigers. He’ll be opposed by Jamie Moyer, who made his first big league start a month after Miller’s first birthday. Miller gets to oppose a lot of veterans, doesn’t he? Miller will have to bat for the first time since high school, which kind of confuses me, cuz Miller was drafted out of college. So…they have designated hitters in college baseball? At any rate, he says he was never very good with the bat, so it’s a safe bet we won’t see any infield singles out of him. Meanwhile, I’m not sure about the lineup (obviously), but I know the original plan against lefties was to start Craig Monroe in center field instead of Curtis Granderson, and have Gary Sheffield in left. I’m not sure who will be batting leadoff in this situation. It has been Omar Infante, but he’s probably not gonna be starting. Prior to that, it was Pudge, but he’s kind of been on a roll in the 6-spot, so I don’t know. I’ll be at work during this game, and it’s on FSN Plus, which presents its own problems.

One Year Ago: On June 16, 2006, the Tigers began a National League road trip very well by beating the Chicago Cubs 5-3. Curtis Granderson reached base four times, and Marcus Thames homered. One remarkable thing about this game was the fact that there were a whole slew of Tigers fans. So many, in fact, that their cheers drowned out the home team fans.

2006 record: 44-24

2007 record: 38-28

As I kind of expected, I had no way of watching this game (damn you, channel 36) and so I had to settle for listening to it on the radio in the garage while “helping” my mom clean it. As a result, this Total Amateur Analysis may not be the most thorough (especially since I couldn’t hear the game whenever my mom decided to talk to me), but I’ll do the best I can. Anyways, it obviously wasn’t Chad Durbin’s day. I’m not gonna read anything deeper into that like I would’ve at the beginning of the season, cuz he’s been very effective for the most part, but it still wasn’t his day. Surprisingly, he really limited the damage. It could’ve been a lot worse, since he gave up nine hits in only 3 2/3 innings, and apparently they were hitting the ball hard off him. Ledezma wasn’t awful, but he wasn’t great either. He did give up three earned runs, but two of them were kind of the “freak-of-nature” variety. One was on a balk (Which I still have trouble identifying, but apparently he dropped the ball while standing on the mound?), and the other was on a wild pitch that apparently took a funny hop in the dirt, bounced off Rabelo’s chest guard, and rolled to the backstop. I don’t think that’s necessarily Ledezma’s fault, and it’s not really Rabelo’s fault either. Tim Byrdak continues to be stellar (which means that, as per Murphy’s Law, he’s bound to have a bad outing really soon; every pitcher does). Jason Grilli had a bad outing that wasn’t quite as bad as his outing against the Mets. It seems that whenever Grilli does something like give up a home run, his confidence is shattered and his effectiveness goes way down. That kind of proved to be the case yesterday. It’d be all too easy to bitch-slap him since he did give up the winning run, but I’ve got someone else in mind, and I’ll get to him later. Bobby Seay only faced one batter, but took care of him. Todd Jones came out for some work in the ninth inning (geez, they haven’t needed the services of Jonesy since last Saturday) and got the Brewers 1-2-3. 

It turns out there’s a reason why Ben Sheets is supposedly considered to be Milwaukee’s best pitcher. He handcuffed the Tigers for a while, but they got to him eventually. Or at least, they got his pitch count up (Damn, Lloyd McClendon has worked wonders) and were able to eventually score three runs on him.  And you’ve got to hand it to the Tigers cuz they very nearly got to one of the best closers in the National League. And poor Curtis Granderson had his hitting streak snapped. By the way, the bitch-slap goes to Craig Monroe for striking out FIVE TIMES yesterday, including once during the rally effort in the bottom of the ninth. Anyways, here’s where things get kinda weird. I didn’t take a real close look at the blogs, but in the “Last 5 Comments” area on one of them, I thought sure they’d be tearing into the bullpen, or at least Jason Grilli. Much to my surprise, they were instead criticizing Jim Leyland’s offensive maneuvers. Specifically, they wanted him to bring in Polanco and Pudge to pinch-hit. At the time, I agreed with them as far as Polanco was concerned. Neifi Perez struck out in the eighth inning after Rabelo had walked (and I could be wrong, but I believe that that is Rabelo’s first big league base-on-balls), and I was slightly mystified as to why Polanco didn’t pinch-hit. I found out later that Polanco is sick with the flu. He was available to pinch-hit, but Leyland didn’t want him out in the field (meaning that had he replaced Neifi Perez in the bottom of the eighth, he would’ve had to play second base in the ninth). I kind of understand that, but I still sort of wish he had brought in Polanco. Leyland said that if it had gotten to Neifi’s spot in the batting order during the ninth inning rally attempt, he would’ve brought in Polanco then. As for Pudge, I don’t know. I’m not sure if it would’ve made much difference. It could have, but I don’t know. I can understand why Leyland left Rabelo in. First of all, Rabelo has been doing pretty well at the plate recently, so it wasn’t like he would’ve been a guaranteed out. Second, Leyland may have been trying to play the odds a little bit. I don’t know Pudge’s numbers against Cordero (if there even are any), but Cordero is right-handed, Pudge is right-handed, and Rabelo’s a switch hitter. At any rate, Rabelo ended up having a very Pudge-like at-bat cuz he fouled off a whole bunch of good pitches (something that Pudge does a lot), at least until he swung at one he couldn’t get to and struck out (which is also quite conceivable for Pudge, but I’m gonna leave it out of the comparison because that’s a cheap shot where there doesn’t need to be one). Oddly enough, I read on the official website that Leyland would’ve brought Pudge in had Sean Casey reached first base (Casey grounded out, advancing Maggs to third, and that’s where Maggs would stay). I’m not quite sure how that makes a difference, but then again, this is the Total Amateur Analysis. Rabelo may have been the final out of the game, but I think the turning point came far earlier, and now I’ll finally get down to the title of this post (by the way, that title is my way of giving credit where credit is due, nothing more). Bill Hall has been a thorn in Detroit’s side for this entire series. In the first two games, no one could get him out, not even Justin Verlander. He hit the game-winning home run in Game 2. The Tiger pitchers FINALLY had some success against him yesterday, cuz he was only 1 for 4 (with a walk mixed in), but this time he came back to haunt them on defense. In the seventh inning, with two on and nobody out, Magglio Ordoñez hit a line drive to the gap in right center. It was a sure double, until…Bill Hall hustled over and made a highlight-reel-caliber diving catch. That was huge, because the double that he robbed Maggs of would’ve scored Infante and Sheffield, which would’ve tied the game at that point, and who knows what would’ve happened after that point (Well, I’m pretty sure that Craig Monroe would still have struck out, but other than that…). At any rate, I’ll bet the Tigers are glad that they won’t have to see Bill Hall again.

By the way, Vance Wilson had Tommy John surgery a couple days ago, so he will indeed be out for the rest of this season and the beginning of next. Apparently, Mike Rabelo has been renting a room from Joel Zumaya and hasn’t unpacked most of his stuff. He might want to think about getting an apartment now, at the very least. And it turns out that this whole time, he hasn’t had his own bats. He’s been using Neifi Perez’s bats, at least from the time he had his first multi-hit game, and he intends to keep using Neifi’s bats until he cools off, even though he now has his own bats that are made to the same specifications. One wonders how Neifi feels about this. Meanwhile, Kenny Rogers will make his second rehab start tonight in West Michigan. He’s expected to make about seventy pitches.

Tonight, the Tigers begin a nine-game road trip into the strange and foreign world of the National League, where there’s no such thing as a designated hitter and they make the pitcher bat. First stop: Philadelphia. I don’t pay attention to the National League at all, but from what I hear, the Phillies have been on a roll recently. Jeremy Bonderman will be taking on Jon Lieber. Both of them have similar ERAs, so are we in for another pitching duel, provided Bonderman can overcome his first inning difficulties? According to an article on the official website, Bonderman will also be looking for his first Major-League hit. That kind of confuses me. I know that pitchers, by far, are the worst hitters, especially in the American League cuz the only time they bat are during nine Interleague games (and for a starting pitcher, it means you’re probably only gonna bat in two, maybe three games). But during the World Series, they posted the batting average of everyone who came to the plate, and I swear that all the Tigers pitchers had batting averages (nothing impressive; they were, like, .067 or .090 or something, but not .000), and that would’ve included Bonderman (who pitched Game 4, I do believe; Robertson and Verlander pitched the other two games in St. Louis). So if Bonderman has never gotten a hit, where did that average come from? At any rate, the official website warned us yesterday that Polanco will probably sit out tonight’s game cuz he’s still sick. With that in mind, I’m really hoping that Carlos Guillen is healthy enough to play, cuz you really don’t want to have both Neifi Perez AND Jeremy Bonderman in the batting order. Also, the official website’s preview is kind of hinting that Craig Monroe may sit out and Gary Sheffield will play left field. By the way, the Phillies recently signed Jose Mesa, formerly of the Tigers. Let's hope he's just as ineffective for them as he was for Detroit.

One Year Ago: On June 15, 2006, the Tigers wrapped up their homestand with a 6-2 win over Tampa Bay. The only Tiger batters to go hitless were Curtis Granderson (what a coincidence) and Omar Infante. Vance Wilson and Brandon Inge had two RBIs apiece, and Guillen and Polanco rounded out the RBIs with one each. Zach Miner got the win for the Tigers, and the game also featured solid outings from Ledezma and Rodney.

2006 record: 43-24

2007 record: 37-28

EDIT: By the way, I saw something interesting on one of the blogs of "fans who probably know more than I do." After Wednesday's game, I wrote that even though Rodney gave up the game-winning home run to Bill Hall, he didn't really pitch that badly. It turns out that at least two of the more "knowledgable" fans are on the same page as me. They said pretty much the same thing I did. Also, I've gotten word that Craig Monroe will indeed be out of the lineup tonight.

Yeah, it sucks to lose the game in the eighth inning, but as much as I know the fan bloggers’ll be bitching about Rodney, I really can’t get that upset about it. Maybe I’m still in the euphoric haze of the no-hitter (that’ll last a while, even though it’s already faded from the sports headlines cuz A-Rod hit another home run). Maybe it’s cuz I didn’t see a whole lot of the game (from about the bottom of the seventh onwards). Or maybe it’s cuz the Tigers have been on such a spree lately that this just seems to be a minor setback (unlike the Cleveland homestand/Tampa Bay/beginning of Cleveland road trip). I don’t know. But I will tell you this: It’s a whole lot better than that dark place we were all sliding into about two weeks ago. Anyways, like I said, I didn’t see Maroth pitch at all, but the score suggests that he did well. He did give up nine hits, but only one earned run. He got helped out by a couple of double plays, but he seems to be the sort of pitcher that induces a lot of double plays, so this doesn’t surprise me. A pickoff, Curtis Granderson, and Pudge also contributed to the more interesting outs. The bullpen only made an appearance in two innings, and only two pitchers from the bullpen took the mound. As a collective, the bullpen was half-and-half, as the box score suggests. I’m not a big fan of judging the bullpen as a whole, especially recently. In their last several appearances, it always seems to be only one pitcher that struggles (be it Jones, Grilli, Ledezma, etc), but the rest of the bullpen usually looks fairly solid. But, it is what it is. Anyways, I have to bitch-slap Rodney for giving up the winning home run to Bill Hall, BUT…prior to that (and after that, for that matter), he looked better than he did in his last few outings. He actually located his fastball fairly consistently, especially in some of the early pitches to Hall, plus he threw a couple pitches that barely missed the plate. He did give up a hit to Prince Fielder, but it wasn't a on a bad pitch. Fielder was just strong enough to muscle it into the outfield. Unfortunately, Rodney has not been able to get away with a bad pitch since coming off the DL. He always gets burned. This time, Pudge called for a two-seam fastball outside and instead, the fastball trailed back over the heart of the plate, and Bill Hall punished him for it. It’s that simple. On the bright side, Jason Grilli (who had a disastrous outing on Sunday) looked very sharp in his 1-2-3 ninth inning.

Apparently, pretty much everything I said in my “preview” paragraph last time is meaningless, because I think the only things I got right were that Guillen wouldn’t play and that Mike Maroth would not pitch a no-hitter. However, I learned yesterday that Maroth DOES have a one-hitter on his resume, so you never know. That means the Tigers (which suffered from bad pitching for years) now have a pitching staff that includes a one-hitter, a no-hitter, and a perfect game (and all three of them had the same catcher, which is just weird). Maroth’s one-hitter came in 2004 at Comerica against the Yankees, and luckily the one hit he gave up came in the fourth inning, so it wasn’t heartbreak material like Curt Schilling’s one-hitter was last week. Here’s a textbook case of irony, though: That one hit that Maroth gave up was a double off the bat of none other than his future teammate, Gary Sheffield. Maroth also struck out Sheffield to end the game.

Last night it was our offense that got handcuffed, albeit slightly (the boys still managed ten hits). I think part of it was some old-fashioned bad luck, and not in the “Angels defense” sort of way (though I did see one play where the Brewers’ third baseman might have robbed Pudge of a single and turned it into a fielder’s choice, but I honestly don’t think Pudge hit the ball hard enough for it to have gotten through). From what I hear, right before the game started, Chris Capuano (the scheduled starter for the Brewers) came up with a groin injury and was replaced by Carlos Villanueva. That had to be a bit of a handicap for the Tigers, cuz they had spent all day preparing for Capuano, and the ended up with a guy who had a completely different style (not to mention the fact that Capuano is a lefty, while Villanueva is a righty), and, not-too-surprisingly, most of the Tigers didn’t have much success in their first at-bats. They started to get some hits on the either the bullpen or on Villanueva late (to the point where Marcus Thames, Sean Casey, and Neifi Perez were the only ones to go hitless, though to be fair, Neifi had a sacrifice bunt and both Thames and Casey only had two at-bats apiece), but I did not see most of this, so I couldn’t tell you who hit who when (well, I could look it up, but it’s not worth the effort), but by then it was a little too late to get much of anything started (It also didn’t help matters that both Neifi Perez and Craig Monroe bounced into double plays). By the way, and far be it from me to question Jim Leyland, but I’m kind of surprised that he didn’t pinch-hit Omar Infante for Neifi Perez in the bottom of the ninth. I know Neifi’s been stellar at shortstop over the past few games, but when you’re in the bottom of the ninth down by a run, don’t you want someone with a better batting average? Plus, Infante can be a decent shortstop as well. Was he not available for some reason? Oh well, maybe he had really crappy numbers against Cordero or something. I think this is one of those games where you really miss Guillen. Random note: Pudge only drew two walks in the first two months of the season. All of a sudden, he’s walked twice in less than a week. What the hell?

Today is a day-game rubber match. Chad Durbin will start for the Tigers. He was outstanding in his last start and unfortunately didn’t have much to show for it, cuz Jorge Sosa and the Mets defense were just a little bit better. Durbin’s come a long way from that guy I was bitch-slapping around in early April. I no longer dread his starts (that’s Nate Robertson’s territory now). He’s been able to handle some pretty good offenses, and he’ll have to handle another one. It’d be nice if he could manage to get Bill Hall out at least once, cuz so far, no one’s been able to. The Brewers will (probably) be sending Ben Sheets to the mound for them. He’s supposedly one of their aces, and he’s got good numbers. I haven’t heard whether Guillen will be back or not, but all I can say is, the sooner the better, because Magglio needs the protection that Guillen provides in that #5 slot. However, I’m gonna assume that Guillen is still out. With Guillen out of the lineup, Maggs gets pitched around an awful lot cuz they haven’t really been able to find anyone to fill that slot. Leyland’s tried using Marcus Thames, Craig Monroe, and Sean Casey, and none of them worked very well except maybe Marcus Thames (but he’s not an everyday player). I suppose you could make an argument for Pudge, especially since he’s been swinging the bat pretty well recently, but I think Leyland’s pretty adamant about keeping him in the 6-slot. Plus, he’s not quite as consistent as Guillen is on most nights. It’d be kind of a moot point for this game anyways, cuz odds are that Pudge won’t play (day game after a night game) and Rabelo never bats that high up anyways (though he’s been really good at the plate recently). Speaking of which, I heard not only will Vance Wilson miss the rest of this season, he’ll probably miss the first half of next season as well. It’s a good thing that Rabelo’s done a decent job for the Tigers. He ain’t Pudge, but no one’s expecting him to be Pudge, and no one’s asking him to be Pudge. Anyways (damn these Thursday posts; I always get sidelined into a discussion about backup catchers), I’m not sure how likely I am to see this game, even though I don’t go to work until 5:00. First of all, there’s this ongoing “digging my own grave” project in the backyard. Second, the game will not be on FSN as originally scheduled (it got bumped for, of all things, the “High School Baseball All-Star Game”). Instead, it will be on Detroit’s FOX station. According to the online listings for TV Guide, my FOX station in Toledo will be showing Divorce Court, Judge Alex, and Judge Mathis at that time, so short of finding a really powerful antenna, my chances of seeing this game are slim (but FSN will condense the highlights of the game into a 30-minute thing that they will air three times tonight). I’ll use the radio if I have to, but I still don’t care for the radio as much because: A) Despite some rather detailed description from the commentators, I still can’t picture what’s going on really well, and B) For some reason, my house refuses to pick up any of the stations that carry Tigers games, not even the Toledo station. If I want to listen to the game, I have to go outside.

One Year Ago: June 14, 2006 wasn’t so great for the Tigers either, as they suffered a 5-1 loss to the Devil Rays. Jeremy Bonderman only gave up one run and struck out a season-high 12 batters (hmmm…), but the offense just couldn’t get anything going. As a matter of fact, Tampa starter Mark Hendrickson was sitting on a one-hitter until the bottom of the ninth (he had given up a single to Curtis Granderson in the first, and that was it), when Pudge started things off with an infield single. Maggs then flied out, but Guillen reached first on a fielding error by the Tampa third baseman. Hendrickson then struck out Monroe, but Marcus Thames hit a single that scored Pudge and tied the game. However, with two outs in the top of the twelfth, the Rays put up a 4-spot on Todd Jones, and the Tigers were unable to answer. This would be Jonesy’s third blown save in his last five appearances. It also made the Tigers’ record a palindrome.

2006 record: 42-24

2007 record: 37-27

Dude, I don’t know where to start. Throughout this season, I have talked time and time again about how much I love watching Justin Verlander work. Last night was unbelievable. He was totally on another level. I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned it here, but I have a tendency to kind of treat these games as if they’re fictional (like the players are all characters or something). Last night’s game was one of the few that truly played out like a movie. The beginning of the game looked like it was gonna be another pitching duel (truth be told, Jeff Suppan really didn’t pitch that badly). The thought of a no-hitter started creeping into my head around the sixth inning or so, but I kept trying to push it aside. After all, there had already been one no-hitter this season. Shame on me for being so cynical. I know this sounds silly, but the atmosphere at Comerica Park just seemed electric (at least on TV). Even Jim Leyland got a little choked up. For one night, the talk of bullpen struggles and injuries and all that didn’t matter. Justin was simply amazing. He had command of all his pitches, and he was still throwing fastballs at 102 MPH in the ninth inning. He got some really impressive help from his defense (more on that later), but he also struck out a career-high 12 batters (though, for some reason, he didn’t seem to want to face Bill Hall, walking him three times). It was enough that ESPN (which normally pays absolutely no attention to the Tigers, much like the rest of the media) devoted about two hours to covering this, and it overshadowed the NBA finals as the top story on Sportscenter. Not too shabby. The headlines said “Magic in Motown” and they’re absolutely right.

Justin Verlander was absolutely the star and hero of the game last night, but I’m gonna take a moment to briefly run through the contributions of the supporting cast, so to speak. Curtis Granderson: He made a nice catch on a fly ball early in the game, plus he hit his thirteenth triple of the season. Placido Polanco: That double play. Gary Sheffield: Obviously he couldn’t contribute to the defense, but he did hit a double. Magglio Ordoñez: That sliding catch, plus he made the final catch to seal the no-no. Sean Casey: He made a few nice plays at first base, plus there was that double play. Pudge Rodriguez: Pudge went hitless last night (so did Polanco and Maggs, so he’s in good company), but for once, I don’t give a damn about that (and apparently, neither does he). He called a freakin’ no-hitter, for godsakes (the second of his career; he also called Kenny Rogers’s perfect game in 1994). Craig Monroe: It must’ve gotten lonely out in left field, cuz he had no fly balls come his way (hell, only three balls left the infield), but he’s continuing to come out of his mini-slump, hitting a double. He’s also starting to imitate Gary Sheffield in the batter’s box. Brandon Inge: He made a nice play at third early on, plus he hit the game-winning home run (something that got lost in all the coverage was that Brandon has hit home runs in back-to-back games). Neifi Perez: Oooh, that double play…

I’m gonna wrap things up with a few odds and ends. First of all, the seagulls were still hanging around. Apparently they’re after a bunch of moths that hatched and were attracted to the lights at Comerica. I had to laugh because during Justin Verlander’s first postgame interview, you could see one seagull scurrying back and forth in the background. The experts are saying that the moth population at Comerica is decreasing, and so the birds will be leaving soon. I’m gonna guess that a few of the more superstitious players might be a little sad to see them go. Speaking of superstitious, the FSN commentators didn’t so much as utter the phrase “no-hitter” until Magglio made the final catch. By that point, the play-by-play guy’s voice had gotten all high-pitched and weird-sounding (they had a voiceover from the radio commentator on ESPN, and I actually think he had a better delivery). I also kind of had to laugh at the above photo, or rather, the action during which the above photo was taken. I was almost afraid that Justin was gonna be crushed; he was hugging him so hard. I’m not sure who was more excited at that point, Verlander or Pudge. Also, Justin’s girlfriend was at the game last night (What, you thought someone as awesome as Justin Verlander would be single?). Maybe this was his way of trying to impress her…

Believe it or not, the Tigers have two more games against Milwaukee. Tonight, it’ll be Mike Maroth against Chris Capuano. It’s highly unlikely that Maroth’ll pitch a no-hitter, but he’s capable of turning in a nice job nonetheless. He’ll have to work for it, though, because despite what we saw last night, the Brewers DO have a potent offense, or so I hear. Plus, Maroth doesn’t get nearly as much run support at Comerica as he does on the road. In fact, he has yet to get a win at home. Carlos Guillen’ll likely still be out of the lineup. I’m not sure if Leyland’ll replace him with Omar Infante (better batting average) or Neifi Perez (Gold Glove winner who was crucial to the no-no last night). Pudge may also be out, cuz he took a foul tip to the back of his leg, and I’m guessing that left a nice bruise (it also took him longer than normal to recover from it). However, Capuano is left-handed, and they've yet to face a lefty without Pudge (though I'm sure they will at some point). I’ll be at work, so I’m only gonna be able to catch the late innings (maybe). It’s supposed to get above ninety degrees around here today, but I’m not sure how that’ll affect the game.

One Year Ago: Well, it wasn’t a no-hitter, but it was still a nice outing for Kenny Rogers on June 13, 2006. Rogers allowed only one run on four hits (while striking out nine) in a 7-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. Meanwhile, the Tigers scored seven runs on 11 hits. Every Tiger who went to bat got a hit except Ramon Santiago and Maggs (who drew two walks and scored a run). Carlos Guillen had the biggest night with a two-run double.

2006 record: 42-23

2007 record: 37-26

Nothing really new to say. I just wanted to post the “One Year Ago” feature and congratulate Seattle for beating Cleveland last night. Now the Tigers are only one game behind. I’ll be at work tonight, so I’ll only probably be able to watch the seventh inning onwards, unless there’s an offense onslaught by one or both teams (if that’s the case, I’m obviously hoping the “one team” is the Tigers).

One Year Ago: On June 12, 2006, the Tigers opened up their homestand by beating the Tampa Rays 4-3 in extra innings. The Tigers trailed 3-1 going into the bottom of the ninth (one weird occurrence was that in the top of the ninth, the outfield lights suddenly went dim; I guess this can fit in with the birds over the weekend as another strange occurrence). Then in the bottom of the ninth, Carlos Guillen (pinch-hitting for Craig Monroe, who had returned as the DH after missing several games with a sprained ankle) drew a walk and Brandon Inge singled. Then Curtis Granderson singled in Guillen, and Polanco singled in Inge to tie the game. The game remained tied until the bottom of the thirteenth, when Brandon Inge reached second on a throwing error by Julio Lugo. Once again, Granderson hit a single and scored Inge to win the game.

2006 record: 41-23

2007 record: 36-26