I actually followed this game through three different sources. The first couple innings or so I was at school, so I had to use Gameday. I missed the middle innings because of class (during which our professor was twenty minutes late). I listened to the game on the radio as I drove home, and I was able to catch the last couple innings on TV. The Tigers had a 1-0 lead when I went to class, so when I got to my car and turned on the radio after class, I was extremely happy to hear that the score was 5-1 Detroit (they added their sixth run while I was driving home).  Anyways, Jeremy Bonderman FINALLY got out of the first inning unscathed and he didn’t have a meltdown in the later innings either. He didn’t have that many strikeouts, but he was effective, and efficient. Plus, he spared the ‘pen. I’m not gonna come out and say Bonderman’s back just yet, cuz he made that really good start in Cleveland a couple weeks ago, only to follow it up with two miserable outings in a row against the Yankees. We’ll see what he does next Tuesday. Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya each had themselves a scoreless inning, so the bullpen continues to do good work. And the defense was tremendous, especially the infielders. Carlos Guillen ain’t half-bad at that first base position, but I have no idea how Jeremy Bonderman didn’t get spiked when he kind of fell on first bag to get the out.

And speaking of “finally,” the Tigers FINALLY got the big hit. A couple, as a matter of fact. You know, there have been a bunch of times this year where the Tigers put up a big inning by starting off with a solo home run and ending with a 2-or-3-run shot. That’s how the game went today. At first it looked like it was gonna be more of the same. They loaded the bases with one out in the second, but the only run scored on a sac fly. However, Curtis Granderson got the offense rolling with a solo home run in the fifth. A couple of doubles later, Maggs hit a two-run homer off the foul pole. And it’s kind of funny that after I complained about how weak the lineup looked, Timo Perez hit an RBI double, and Maybin and Santiago chipped in with some hits as well. Rabelo seems to kind of be in a slump right now. He’s been striking out a lot in his last couple games, and they’ve been some uncomfortable-looking swings and misses as well. Speaking of slumps, is it now safe to say that Polanco has busted out of his?

Before the game, they had a story about how fans are mixing up Raburn and Rabelo. The FSN guys neglected to mention that they are also guilty of this. Many times, as a matter of fact. I have no idea how you do it that much. I mean, yeah, their last names are similar, but they play dramatically different positions (Raburn’s a utility guy, Rabelo’s a catcher). Oddly enough, they’re both from the Tampa area.

Well, tonight the Tigers are back on the west coast to take on Oakland. Virgil Vasquez has been called up from Toledo to start for the Tigers. He’s made two starts for Detroit already this year. The first start was an absolute disaster (although you sometimes can’t judge a pitcher on one start like that; Verlander was roughed up in his Major League debut back in 2005, and we all know how well he can pitch). His second start was a lot better, although the Tigers did not win that game. Oddly enough, he’ll be pitching to one of his former teammates on the Mud Hens (Jack Hannahan, who was traded to Oakland a couple weeks ago). He’ll be opposed by Joe Blanton. The Tigers have seen Blanton a couple times already. The first time, they didn’t score a ton of runs against him, but they got enough to win. The second time, they scored a bunch of runs off him, and still didn’t win. It’d be nice if the offense could turn in a performance like they did the second time. And if Vasquez can pitch like he did in Chicago. Or better. A word of caution, though: Strange things happen on the west coast…

One Year Ago: On August 31, 2006, the Tigers lost to the Yankees 6-4. Magglio, Marcus Thames, and Omar Infante all homered, but it wasn’t enough. Jeremy Bonderman gave up four runs in 5 1/3 innings, and the Yankees also scored two against Jamie Walker. Also, Jim Leyland was ejected in the seventh inning.

2006 record: 83-51

2007 record: 72-62

Okay, I don’t really have an introduction this time (other than to complain that Windows 2000 on my PC is not working, so I have to use my laptop), so let’s get to it. Andrew Miller was out of the game long before I got home from work, but obviously he was just not good (well, I did see a bit of his outing from those recaps they kept showing during the game). The offspeed stuff wasn’t working, and the only way he could throw a strike was to leave the fastball right over the heart of the plate, which is obviously very hittable. I don’t know. Maybe it’s too soon to have him as a starter in the middle of a pennant race. He got two outs, although technically he only the one out. The second out came via Pudge picking off Alex Gordon. Meanwhile, you do have to be happy about one element of this game, and that was the bullpen. They were spectacular.

As much as it sucked for the starter to give up five runs before recording an out, I figured the Tigers would at least be able to chip away and make it close, if not take the lead, as long as the bullpen held the Royals down. The bullpen did just that, but the Tigers never scored any runs. They had seven hits, but six of those belonged to the same three guys (Polanco, Casey, and Perez), so that doesn’t make for a very effective rally. There was a little bit of bad luck involved, as there were a few instances where guys hit the ball hard, but right at someone. That happened to Pudge in his first couple at-bats, and it happened to Polanco late in the game when he was batting with the bases loaded and two outs. Brandon Inge was a big culprit in stranding runners, as was Guillen, who struck out three times. Perhaps the biggest indication as to what kind of night it was is that Granderson hit into a double play, his first of the year (and he was the last Major Leaguer to do so). Random note: In his final at-bat of the night, Guillen wasn’t wearing any batting gloves. What’s up with that?

With their margin for error dwindling, the Tigers really should try to salvage something out of this series. Jeremy Bonderman will start today, and he’s one guy that Detroit really needs to get turned around. It’d be nice if he could turn in the same performance that he did in Cleveland a couple weeks ago, especially since the bullpen has got to be really burned out by now. It’d also be nice if the Tigers could generate some offense with runners in scoring position. I’m not sure who the DH’ll be, but I do know that Rabelo will be catching. Leyland himself said so. I figured as much, but I think Pudge needs the break anyways. He looked exhausted while he was catching Bobby Seay last night (and I said as much BEFORE the passed ball). I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that drained-looking. His body language was just not good (and neither were his last couple at-bats). Of course, from the little bit I saw of the first inning, he got quite a workout trying to catch Andrew Miller, so that may explain things a bit (he nearly got knocked over by a couple pitches).

By the way, I can’t get the page that’s got last year’s box scores to load on this computer, so “One Year Ago” will have to wait. I do know that the Tigers won game 2 of the doubleheader thanks to a home run from Craig Monroe. That’s all I can tell you.

UPDATE: Okay, there have been a ton of things going on all day. First off, the Tigers acquired RHP Chris Lambert from the Cardinals to complete the deal they made when they traded Mike Maroth. Lambert has been with the Cardinals' minor league system for a couple years, and all I gotta say is that this year his ERA kinda sucked, but I gotta figure that Dave Dombrowski has to know what he's doing. Also, the Tigers got LHP Clay Rapada from the Cubs to complete the Craig Monroe deal. Rapada has been assigned to Toledo and could join the Tigers whenever the Mud Hens are done with the playoffs. Also, it looks as though Andrew Miller has pitched himself out of the big club, for now at least. They've sent him down to Lakeland, although that's just a procedural move cuz Lakeland's season ends this weekend. Miller will probably be back in September, but will pitch out of the bullpen, and he could still be in the starting rotation in 2008. Meanwhile, the short outings of both Robertson and Miller has burned out the bullpen so much that Leyland has been forced to move Chad Durbin back into the 'pen. Virgil Vasquez will start tomorrow for the Tigers against Oakland, and will remain in the rotation for now. The Tigers have an off-day on Monday, so Jeremy Bonderman will be able to start Tuesday on normal rest, and there's a chance that Kenny Rogers will be able to come off the DL next week. It all depends on how his simulated game goes tomorrow. Also, the Tigers announced that they will be calling up Jose Capellan, Yorman Bazardo, Mike Hessman, and Omar Infante once September arrives. Finally, does anyone else find today's lineup to be somewhat on the anemic side? I don't mind Rabelo, but Timo Perez is the DH and is batting third, and the lineup also has Cameron Maybin (who may be a hot prospect but hasn't done a whole lot at the plate) and Ramon Santiago. Brandon Inge is batting seventh.

It’s official: Nate Robertson is cursed. That is the only explanation I can come up with for why we lost last night. I missed the beginning of the game, but obviously Nate wasn’t real sharp. I guess he burned himself out in that game against Cleveland or something. But still. Perhaps he was left in too long. I don’t know. Meanwhile, the bullpen continues to be tremendous (And you know now that I’ve typed that, they’ll have it handed to them tonight, right?). The much-maligned Jason Grilli went 3 2/3 innings-and was perfect. He went about three innings his last time out as well, if I remember correctly. Are they stretching him out for any particular reason? The FSN guys thought maybe they’re thinking of trying him out as a starter. Speculation of that sort is way out of my league, but I can’t really imagine who they would start him for. Recent outings aside, the Tigers’ starting rotation is pretty solid. The only other thing I can think of is that they’re stretching him out into a starter in order to make some sort of trade, but even that seems far-fetched at this point in the season (unless it ties into that whole “looking for another big bat because Sheffield’s on the DL” business).

Nate may have had issues, but not as many as the offense. Can someone please tell me how you can have 16 hits but only three runs? Brandon Inge was the only Tiger never to reach base, and the only starter to not get a hit. It seemed that whenever there were men on second or third base, the Tigers would either pop up or strike out (actually, this wasn’t one of those games where there were an insane amount of strikeouts; there were only six, which is pretty low for this team). It didn’t seem to matter who was batting. Even Polanco hit into an inning-ending double play late in the game, and he had three hits (Is it safe to say that he’s busted out of his slump yet?). Magglio had four hits but apparently he never came up with runners in scoring position (then again, in keeping with last night’s theme, he probably would’ve struck out or something if he had). There were many culprits, but I will make a request: Please don’t have Timo Perez batting third again. I don’t like doing whatever the baseball equivalent of “armchair quarterbacking” is (armchair managing?), because it gets into that 20/20 hindsight thing, but Marcus Thames really should’ve been brought in to pinch-hit somewhere in those middle innings. Perez did hit a double, but it was in the ninth inning and he was leading off. And you know, when Ramon Santiago was first called up, all I kept hearing was that he was a terrific shortstop, but he couldn’t be counted on to contribute any offense, and yet he had three hits last night. Here’s another thing that’s somewhat unusual: Pudge never struck out last night. Yeah, he grounded out to short with the bases loaded and two outs, but hey, join the club. He also made his first sacrifice bunt of the year. It wasn’t a particularly great bunt, but it got the job done, and that’s the important part (not that anyone was able to get the runners home, mind you). He also hit a double, but unfortunately there were two outs and no one on base at the time cuz Guillen had hit into a double play.

There are a couple things I actually wanted to say yesterday about that game against the Yankees but forgot to. Number one was that they screwed up Sean Casey’s namekey in his first at-bat and identified him as the catcher (all the other information was correct; they just had the wrong position, though I’m not sure how you would do that with Casey; he’ll either be the first baseman or the DH). The other thing is that when Polanco hit his home run, there was a shot of a bunch of appliances and a thing that said “4-Piece Kitchen Set $1699” on the screen, but the sound from the game. Someone obviously wasn’t paying attention.  

Okay, hopefully the Tigers’ll get the big hit early tonight. Andrew Miller will start, and obviously he needs to be better than he was against the Yankees. It’d be nice if he could last longer than the fifth inning as well. I think this’ll be the first time he’s faced the Royals as a starter (he has pitched against them before, but it was out of the bullpen last year). Zach Greinke will start for Kansas City. He began the season in the starting rotation. The Tigers faced him twice in that timespan. The first time was in early April and he didn’t even last the first inning (Pudge hit a grand slam off him, as a matter of fact). The second game was in early May (in fact, it was the day after Joel Zumaya was injured). I didn’t see that game because channel 36 decided to air a NASCAR race instead, but I know that Greinke didn’t fare much better in that outing either. He lasted longer, but he gave up more runs. The Royals moved him to the bullpen shortly thereafter. The Tigers briefly saw him as a reliever last month and didn’t manage a whole lot against him. Now he’s back in the starting rotation and apparently pitching very well (he did hold Cleveland scoreless in his last start), and he does have very good career numbers against Detroit, so you have to figure that’s gonna show up eventually. However, they are still trying to stretch him back out into a starter, so he’ll be on a strict pitch count and if the Tigers can manage to get it up quickly, he won’t last very long. It’s really hard to tell at this point. Given the fact that the Tigers just can’t catch a break, you could argue for just about anything. Hell, even the previews are practically handing this one to the Royals. The official website’s preview has Pudge as the “Player to Watch,” cuz apparently he’s the only Tiger with good numbers against Greinke (8-for-16 including that grand slam). However, Leyland has said he may give Pudge the night off tonight, which is kind of weird since he didn’t play all that much over the weekend, unless Leyland really prefers having the Bonderman/Pudge battery versus the Bonderman/Rabelo battery tomorrow for some reason. I suppose there’s always the option of having him DH, though I’m not too keen on that (and apparently Pudge normally isn’t, either). At any rate, yesterday I requested for the Tigers’ offense to be charged like they were against the Yankees. Well, they were charged, but not very productive, so today I’ll request that they be charged AND productive.

One Year Ago: The August 29, 2006 game against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium was rained out and actually played the following day as part of a day-night doubleheader, but since I don’t wanna cover two games at once, I’ll discuss Game 1 of the August 30^th doubleheader today. Anyways, Nate Robertson had an outing similar to his one against Cleveland last week. He went seven strong innings, striking out seven, and gave up just two runs. However, Chien-Ming Wang was just a bit better. He only gave up four hits and shut the Tigers out en route to a 2-0 Yankees victory. Perhaps the more noteworthy part of this game is that it featured the Major League debut of Andrew Miller, who pitched a scoreless eighth inning in which he hit a batter but didn’t walk anyone or give up any hits.

2006 record: 82-50

2007 record: 71-61

UPDATE: Okay, I got my wish. Pudge is in the lineup tonight. Now PLEASE come through for me...

Forgive me for the late post. I didn’t have time to do it this morning, so I’ve been forced to do it at school. I discovered today that my preferred computer lab on campus is no longer an open lab, and since my second choice computer lab is closed all day for software upgrades, I’m stuck writing it in the student union lab, which I really don’t like (mostly because despite the fact that there are about a hundred computers in here, nearly all are occupied at any given moment, and I usually end up next to the person who either won’t hang up their cell phone or has their iPod up so loud it’s a wonder their ears aren’t bleeding), but here I am nonetheless (and by the way, I can see someone on the other side of the room playing virtual pool online, and the person next to her is watching an episode of The Sopranos). Anyways, I know it’s a bit premature to view this as a momentum shift (cuz we’ve been down that road before, after all), but damn, that felt good, especially when it comes one day after losing both Jurrjens and Sheffield to the DL. For one night at least, everyone else REALLY stepped up, and all the elements were working. I haven’t enjoyed watching Justin Verlander that much in a really long time. His fastball reached 98, he was getting ahead in counts, his offspeed pitches were working, and he was just plain outstanding all night. It’s impressive to start with, but when you give up only three hits (all singles) to a team like the Yankees, that is downright awesome, and A-Rod was the only one with a solid single. The other two were basically ground balls that found a hole. And how ‘bout the bullpen in this series? They’ve been outstanding as well, especially when you consider just how much they’ve had to pitch in the first three games of the series. Zach Miner was very good tonight as well. Perfect, as a matter of fact.

Meanwhile, the offense absolutely killed Mike Mussina last night (and they did a pretty good number on Sean Henn as well), and everyone chipped in, so this may be a long one (especially since every Tiger in this game reached base at one point or another). Curtis Granderson continues to come out of his slump with a double, two singles, two RBIs, and a stolen base. However, seeing him in left field near the end of the game just seemed wrong for some reason (and when the media asked Jim Leyland about it, Leyland got all pissed off). One thing that’s kind of strange is that on a night when the Tigers scored 16 runs, only one was a home run, and it was a solo shot by Polanco, of all people. He’d been struggling as well, but not last night. He had three hits as well (a homer and two singles). Marcus Thames had a single and an RBI. Magglio, oddly enough, actually had a pretty quiet night. He was the last starter to get a hit, but he did have a couple walks and he scored a run. Carlos Guillen hit a sac fly to center that would’ve been a grand slam in any other ballpark. Melky Cabrera made an outstanding play to rob Guillen of at least a double, and at the time it looked as though that could’ve been a game-saving catch for the Yankees, but as it turned out, it didn’t really matter. Guillen later hit a ground-rule double (his 200^th career double, I believe) as well as a single, walked once, and he scored a run. And just as I had requested, Pudge came through for me with two hits and an RBI (unfortunately, his batting average STILL went down cuz he had six at-bats). I’m far from an expert on this, but he just looked better at the plate last night, even when he didn’t get a hit. He was a bit more patient and for the most part, he didn’t swing at bad pitches (yeah, one of his strikeouts involved a pitch that was almost at his eyes, but it WAS a checked swing and Guillen had done the same thing earlier anyways). Everything came in twos for Pudge: two hits, two strikeouts, and two groundouts (and two runs scored, but only one RBI). And for the first time in his last five games, he FINALLY didn’t do anything to frustrate me (i.e. being the last out, the high socks, or getting ejected). By the way, all four balls that he put in play went up the middle. I’m not quite sure what that’s about, but the two singles he got looked like they were hit pretty well (at least the first one, in which he nearly took out Mussina), so I’m not complaining. And as much as I’ve been joking that walking Pudge is the most unlikely event in baseball, in the back of my mind, I knew there was at least one thing that was even more unlikely: Sean Casey hitting a triple. Well…he did that last night, so there you go. It was his first triple since 2004. Plus, earlier in the game he had scored from first base, so he had to have been absolutely wiped after that (but it’s still hilarious to watch him run that far). Casey also had a single to go with his triple. Ryan Raburn had two hits, a walk, 3 RBIs (one due to being walked with the bases loaded) and three runs scored. And everyone knows about the offensive struggles of Brandon Inge, but he probably had the biggest night of anyone. He had four RBIs and three doubles, two of which just missed being home runs (one just missed being a grand slam). Cameron Maybin finally managed a hit off someone not named Roger Clemens, an RBI double. Ramon Santiago was the only Tiger to not get a hit, but he was on base a couple times (he was walked once and he was hit by a pitch) and scored two runs. Actually, looking at this box score, the only ones to not score a run were the guys in the three-slot, and Magglio and the seven-slot were the only ones who did not have an RBI. Then again, when you score 16 runs, that’s gonna happen.

The Tigers hit the road tonight, and they’re FINALLY playing a team that’s not New York or Cleveland. Kansas City, to be exact. The Tigers have had a tremendous amount of success at Kaufman Stadium over the last couple years, but the Royals aren’t exactly being the pushover team they’re expected to be (plus, one could argue they’re the ones who started this long funk that the Tigers are mired in). In fact, Kansas City isn’t even in last place in the Central Division (which means they’re actually ahead of Chicago). You know, somewhere in the Tigers clubhouse last night, Nate Robertson was watching this game with perhaps just a little bit of depression, frustration, and envy. He was absolutely outstanding in his last start and wasn’t rewarded for it. I hope the Tigers saved some runs for him when he makes his start tonight. Brian Bannister starts for the Royals. He beat Nate Robertson a few weeks ago in a game where Nate wasn’t so outstanding, but the Tigers weren’t able to muster a whole lot against Bannister either. He has been pitching very well in his last several starts as well. Hopefully, the Tigers' offense’ll be just as charged as it was last night.

I’ll admit, even I had my doubts about this game once both halves of the starting battery were gone before the fifth inning, but somehow, someway they were able to do it. Jair Jurrjens seemed to be doing very well up until that Jason Giambi homer, but he left the game while I was still at work. The Tigers just can’t catch a break, can they? Jurrjens is now on the DL. It’s just shoulder inflammation, but it still really sucks cuz he was pitching so well. Zach Miner has been called back up to take his place on the roster, but they haven’t decided who will start on Friday (the two names most frequently mentioned in the speculation are Chad Durbin and Virgil Vasquez). Anyways, Chad Durbin gave up the three-run homer to Robinson Cano, but at least it was an impressive one, and he pitched well otherwise. However, the rest of the bullpen was great. They may have given up a few hits, but to keep the Yankees from scoring for that long a stretch is damn good. You know, I didn't realize until yesterday that I really missed watching Joel Zumaya get all pumped up after striking someone out (even more impressive when it's A-Rod). And when the pitchers ran into trouble, the defense was tremendous. Magglio made a nice running catch on a ball that was headed for the gap. Brandon Inge robbed Melky Cabrera of a hit, and Carlos Guillen turned in two great plays in the ninth (teaming up with Todd Jones on the first one, while the second was a nicely-done double play to win the game).

Another amazing thing about this win is that when all was said and done, the Tigers only had four hits and still won. Granted, it helps when three of those hits are home runs. With all the triples that he’s hitting this year, I had a feeling that Curtis Granderson would get an inside-the-park home run one of these days. That would’ve been really cool to watch if you were at Comerica Park. Polanco had the only hit that wasn’t a home run. His single in the first broke an 0-for-9 skid. The FSN guys speculated that Polanco’s recent struggles with the bat may have something to do with that thumb injury he suffered a couple weeks ago during that series with the Athletics. I’m thinking they may be right, cuz he’s only had about three or four hits since then, and he hasn’t had a multiple-hit game, which was becoming his specialty, in that span either. Marcus Thames and Carlos Guillen each hit a two-run shot, which turned to be the difference in the game, and the one Marcus hit in the third inning turned out to be the final hit of the day for the Tigers. Apparently, the Reyes Effect arrived just a little too late to help out Phil Hughes, I guess. The bottom third of the order didn’t do much of anything (And has Cameron Maybin managed to do anything off of any pitcher other than Roger Clemens?), and all the six-slot did was strike out, regardless of who was in it. I got home just before Pudge was ejected, so I didn’t get to see a whole lot of him (not that I wanted to see him strike out, but who knows what he would’ve done later on). What’s odd is that he didn’t get nearly as animated as I’ve seen him get, either before or after the ejection, and yet he was still thrown out (though I guess he did have a valid complaint; meanwhile, I’m surprised Chad Durbin didn’t get tossed as well). This is certainly one testy group of umpires. Jorge Posada got thrown out of Friday night’s game, the home plate umpire in Saturday’s game looked like he was aching for a reason to toss Jeremy Bonderman and/or Jim Leyland, and Pudge got ejected yesterday. And I know it’s probably coincidence, but I find it kind of strange that the offense went stone cold right after Pudge was thrown out. Meanwhile, Mike Rabelo had probably two of the most uncomfortable-looking at-bats I have ever seen. He just seemed out of it the entire time he was in the batter’s box, and his swings and misses looked almost like they were in slow motion. I can’t really explain it that well. Also, Rabelo had the high socks yesterday, which is a different look for him (not a particularly great look, but I’ve seen worse, so I’m not gonna complain). And after being hot for most of this homestand, Magglio went hitless.

With their win yesterday, the worst the Tigers’ll get out of this series is a split, but it’d be nice to get a series win (and maybe start a winning streak). It’ll be a challenge against a team like the Yankees, though. Justin Verlander takes the mound tonight for the Tigers. He got pretty beat up by Cleveland in his last start, so it’d be nice for him to bounce back. He did pitch pretty well the first time he faced the Yankees this season, especially when you consider that he had the flu at the time, but he still had trouble commanding his fastball. Apparently he’s been watching the old footage of his no-hitter to see if there’s anything that he’s doing different mechanically, and he says he’s picked up on a couple things, so let’s hope they work. It’ll be really important for him to pitch deep into the game and spare the bullpen after all they had to do yesterday. It’s another rematch, because Mike Mussina will start for the Yankees. The Tigers beat him up pretty well when they were at Yankee Stadium, but not nearly as much as the Angels did in his last start. I know it’s mean of me, but I can only hope his struggles continue for one more start. Meanwhile, I’m hoping Pudge actually stays around for the entire game this time, and it’d be nice if he got a couple hits, because even though I don’t think he’s scuffling as badly as some believe (though I may be forced to reverse that sentiment if he goes hitless tonight), my perception is not the one that matters. And since I’ve been wrong every time I’ve speculated on who the DH will be, I’m not gonna even try to guess.

One Year Ago: On August 27, 2006, the Tigers avoided the sweep by beating the Indians 7-1. Tigers pitching combined to allow only five hits, all singles. Kenny Rogers gave up an RBI single to Victor Martinez to score a run in the first, but that’s all the Indians would score. This halted a four-game losing streak for the Tigers. In fact, they hadn’t won since Kenny’s previous start, and in that period, the starters got really roughed up (Miner, Robertson, Bonderman, and Verlander combined to give up 28 runs on 30 hits in just 19 innings during that span), much like the problems plaguing them recently this year, and none of them turned in quality starts. After the first inning, Kenny allowed just one more hit, and only three balls that were put in play left the infield. Meanwhile, all the Tigers’ runs except one came via the home run (Craig Monroe had a sac fly). Granderson and Guillen both hit solo shots, while Thames and Pudge each hit a 2-run homer. You know, I might have enjoyed seeing this game. In fact, come to think of it, I may have seen this game. I know I saw a game that the Tigers played against the Indians at Jacobs Field in which Kenny Rogers was the starting pitcher, and I’m just about positive it was a day game (which this was) cuz I don’t think I watched any night games last year. And I know I watched at least one game while Polanco was on the DL (and I also remember some footage of Polanco during batting practice wearing a long curly wig to make fun of Magglio, I guess). Also, I remember watching a game in which the Tigers scored seven runs. The last thing that makes me believe I saw this game is the lineup and the fact that this was around the time last year when I started to figure out who everyone was, and I specifically remember Marcus Thames being the DH, which he was in this game. I know I saw a game that had Pudge in it, cuz even though I didn’t know who he was at the time, I remember hearing the name an awful lot (and since I pretty much only watched the day games, and he doesn’t often play in day games, this makes sense; this might also explain why it took me longer to figure out who Pudge was versus some of the others like Granderson and Magglio). That said, I wish I could remember Pudge’s home run. Just because. I know I saw it, because I remember the “7” coming up on the Detroit score, but I don’t remember the home run (although I looked at the little video highlight of it that they have online, and the shot of the ball going into the seats looks increasingly familiar; ironically, it was caught by a Pudge fan). I also don’t remember Joel Zumaya at all (in fact, I’m pretty sure the only time I saw Zumaya at all last year was the one appearance he made in the World Series), but he pitched in this game. I must’ve been out of the room or something. I do kinda remember hearing Todd Jones’s name before the postseason, though.

2006 record: 82-49

2007 record: 70-60

UPDATE: The Tigers REALLY can't catch a break this season. Now Sheffield's on the DL. Anyways, without Sheff, Marcus Thames will take up the 3-spot once again, and he'll start in left field. Maggs is your DH tonight, and Ryan Raburn will man right field. Other than that, everyone else is where you'd expect them to be.

That same pattern is back once again in a Bonderman start, although this time the “Tigers offense squandering a good scoring opportunity” element really wasn’t there. It didn’t stop Bonderman from imploding in the sixth inning, though. At any rate, even during the middle innings, when he was doing okay, something still didn’t feel right, and once it was pointed out, I think I know what it was: He didn’t strike anybody out. Bonderman’s a high-strikeout pitcher, so that’s definitely odd. I’m not sure what that means, but apparently it’s the first time since 2003 that Bonderman never struck anyone out. For that matter, neither did anyone else who pitched last night for the Tigers. Tim Byrdak made a brief appearance and did a nice job. Jason Grilli wasn’t exactly a model of efficiency, but he didn’t give up any runs, so I can’t complain. There is a bit of good news, though: The official scorekeeper changed his ruling of Friday night’s error that supposedly brought an end to Polanco’s streak. He took the error away from Polanco and gave it to Marcus Thames instead. Therefore, Polanco’s errorless streak is still alive, so yay for him.

However, as one streak is given new life, another has died. The extra-base hit streak ended at 89 games last night, cuz all the Tigers managed against Wang were five singles. That’s what I mean by the “Tigers offense squandering a good scoring opportunity” element being missing from the typical Bonderman-start pattern, cuz really, the Tigers didn’t have a whole lot of opportunities. Those five singles were scattered in different innings. It’s not like the last time they faced Wang, when they had ten hits, numerous opportunities, and about fourteen strikeouts. This time there were only six strikeouts (not bad considering the aggressive hitters on this team), and the only times runners got into scoring position were via the stolen base. Brandon Inge broke out of it a little bit with two singles, a stolen base, and eventually a run scored on a passed ball and a wild pitch. Curtis Granderson, meanwhile, went cold again, and Polanco’s bat remains cold. He did have a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored, but in all his other at-bats, he hit a bouncer right back to the mound (including a GIDP). Rabelo just had a bad night all around. He went hitless and he just couldn’t seem to throw anyone out (the Yankees had four stolen bases in this game), although I think that was more Bonderman’s fault than Rabelo’s. However, unfortunately stolen bases are always charged against the catcher regardless of circumstances, and this game couldn’t have done anything good to Rabelo’s caught stealing percentages.

A couple of other random things: First, during that long rain delay on Friday, they obviously showed a bunch of filler programs that included a couple Spotlight episodes, one of which was the episode on Dave Dombrowski. I wasn’t particularly paying attention to it, but I had the TV on, and at one point I looked up to see what I thought was Nate Robertson pitching to Mike Rabelo. I happened to notice that Nate had the high socks, which I’ve never seen him wear, but I haven’t seen every game that Nate has pitched this season, obviously. However, I quickly realized that it was actually footage from that disastrous 2003 season, and it was Brandon Inge behind the plate. I never saw any games from back when Brandon was the catcher, so it was kinda strange (by the way, the reason I initially thought it was Rabelo was because Brandon’s catcher’s mask looked like his). Meanwhile, I found something else that doesn’t look good on Pudge, and I really, really wish I had never seen that picture. Still, it’s less creepy than the Simpsonized Magglio. Speaking of Pudge, as would be expected, once Rabelo did something of note in the game, the FSN guys mentioned that Rabelo was “getting the start for Pudge,” which was followed by a shot of Pudge sitting in the dugout, chewing on his fingernails. But the shot would not end. It just lingered for way too long. Even I felt a bit awkward (by the way, apparently he spent most of the game chewing on his fingernails, cuz we had another shot of him doing that near the end of the game). Also, Friday night’s game end time (3:30 AM) set an American League record.

Today’s an afternoon affair featuring a matchup of two top prospects. Jair Jurrjens finally faces a team that is not Cleveland. He pitched incredibly well last time out, but I’m still nervous about this start. He is facing the Yankees, after all. Phil Hughes is the rookie starter for New York, which means that the Tigers must be on guard against the Reyes Effect (because remember, the Reyes Effect covers “unknown” pitchers as well as “so-so/unremarkable” ones, and Hughes’s rookie status classifies him as “unknown”). Funny enough, Hughes is actually younger than Jurrjens. Pudge will probably be back in the lineup, and just for the hell of it, I’ll say Polanco’ll DH and Ryan Raburn will start at second.

One Year Ago: On August 26, 2006, the Tigers lost to the Cleveland Indians 8-5. The offense had a pretty good outing against Jake Westbrook, capped off by a solo home run by Craig Monroe in the first and a two-run single by Magglio in the fifth. They went into the bottom of the frame leading 5-2, but that’s where things fell apart, as the Indians knocked Justin Verlander around for six runs in the bottom of the fifth, and even though the bullpen didn’t allow any more runs, the offense never caught up.

2006 record: 81-49

2007 record: 69-60

Did I watch that whole thing? You bet, and now I’m paying the price for it, cuz I had to get up at 7 AM to go to work. At any rate, this win deserves more than the time I have to (briefly) share my thoughts. Andrew Miller obviously struggled, but luckily, the bullpen really came through (although there can’t be too many fresh arms for tonight’s game). There were some sad moments: Polanco’s errorless streak has ended. The (rare) defensive miscue was balanced out later in the inning by a caught stealing.

What’s weird is that despite the fact that the Tigers had eleven hits, a lot of guys went hitless (of course, when eight of those hits belong to two hitters, that’s gonna happen), but every Tiger reached base except for Marcus Thames. Roger Clemens was definitely struggling with his control, and nothing makes that more evident than the fact that he accomplished something that is virtually impossible: He walked Pudge (when that happened, one of the commenters online merely posted a bunch of exclamation points). Actually, Pudge had two walks, although the last one was intentional. He also FINALLY got his first stolen base of the season, scored a run, and threw out a runner at third base in the first inning. Other than that…things were a little downhill for Pudge, and if I were the superstitious type…well…I think you know what I’d point to. For whatever reason, he adopted the high-socks look mid-game. What the hell was that about? Make it stop (He wasn’t the only catcher with an unflattering look though; Mike Rabelo had a big wad of gum stuck to his hat). The scary moment in the game came when he banged his hand against Derek Jeter’s bat while throwing down to second. He stayed in the game, but sometimes things take a few hours to get really ugly. His throwing ability wasn’t really tested, nor was his ability to swing the bat (cuz in his only at-bat after he hurt his hand, he got walked intentionally). But enough about Pudge. Yesterday, I commented on how Curtis Granderson was in a big slump. Well, he busted out at least for one game in a big way, with four hits, including two triples. Maggs also had four hits including a home run and that weird bloop single that kept the 11^th going for Carlos Guillen, who, of course, had the big hit of the night. I have no idea how he hit that ball THAT well, cuz it looked to me like it was around his ankles, but that was really cool. Not my favorite “bonus baseball” game of the year (I think you could guess which one that was), but hey, in the end I don’t care which Tiger puts up the big hit as long as somebody does.

There’s no rest for the weary, as yes, there is another game tonight. It’s a rematch of last Sunday’s game between Jeremy Bonderman and Chien-Ming Wang. Please win this time guys. Jeremy certainly could use one. I have no idea what this lineup will look like, cuz I’d imagine there are quite a few guys that are running on fumes about now. At the very least, I’d expect Pudge to sit this one out, and hopefully not because of the hand. It’s just that he caught eleven innings of a four-and-a-half-hour game after a four-hour rain delay, so the time span would be similar to a “day game after a night game.” Also, Mike Rabelo is the “Player to Watch” in the official preview (cuz he’s 3-for-3 against Wang). As for the DH spot, I’ll make a wild guess and say either Polanco or Guillen.

One Year Ago: On August 25, 2006, the Tigers began their road trip by losing to the Cleveland Indians 4-2. The Tigers put up two runs in the top of the second thanks to RBI singles by Omar Infante and Brandon Inge, but failed to score the rest of the game, while Jeremy Bonderman gave up one in the second and three in the fourth. He recovered from those bad innings to pitch into the seventh, but there was already too much damage, apparently.

2006 record: 81-48

2007 record: 69-59

UPDATE: Danny Knobler has posted tonight's lineups. As I predicted, Rabelo is starting, plus he's batting sixth (hmmm). Now I can only pray it's because of last night's game lasting until 3:30 in the morning and not because of an injury to Pudge (Knobler didn't specify). Casey will DH, while Marcus Thames starts in left and bats third. That puts Guillen at first and Santiago at short (which may explain why Rabelo is batting sixth). Everyone else is where you'd expect them to be.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Jason Beck brings me good news. It is because of the length of last night's game. Pudge says his hand is fine.

Have I mentioned that I HATE pitching duels? I didn’t even see this one on TV, but even Gameday was stressing me out. Basically, this game was the exact opposite of Wednesday, with the exception of the outcome. Wednesday, we had offense, but no pitching. Yesterday, we had pitching, but no offense. And another outstanding performance by Nate Robertson goes to waste, although this had to have been one of the more painful ones, cuz honestly, this had to have been his best outing of the year. At least, that’s the impression I got from Gameday. He was almost always ahead in the count, and he didn’t walk a single batter. Zumaya…not so much, although I do find it interesting how the commenters online treat him differently. When Jason Grilli gives up three runs, all their wrath descends on Grilli. However, if Zumaya gives up three runs, it’s Leyland who draws their ire. As for me, I can’t give you any insight, although the fact that it was an infield single (with two outs) that started the scoring and opened the floodgates for more is kind of a tough break.

I’m a little torn as to what to say about the offense. For the most part, it looked to me like they just couldn’t get anything against Jake Westbrook. He only gave up five hits, all singles, and for the most part, they all came in different innings. Leyland tried the whole “manufacture runs” strategy (sacrifice bunts, and Magglio even stole a base), but nothing ever came of it. Yet, at the same time, they DID have nine hits, and they had a couple of opportunities late but didn’t cash in. Their best chance probably came in the bottom of the ninth, when Rabelo singled with one out and Brandon Inge walked. However, Ramon Santiago hit for himself and merely made an out, and then a lefty was brought in to face Curtis Granderson, with predictable results, and Pudge (who had been brought in to pinch-run for Rabelo) was left standing on second base. Perhaps bringing in Raburn to pinch-hit for either Santiago or Granderson would’ve been the better move, but what do I know? In the end, perhaps I’m just grateful that Magglio kept the extra-base hit streak alive, and Marcus Thames prevented the shutout. Meanwhile…Pudge, you’re killin’ me, man! I know everyone’s gonna be the final out of a game at one point or another, but I absolutely hate it when it’s Pudge, which is to be expected, I suppose, and after last night’s game, there were several people online calling for his head (not as many as Brandon Inge, but I’d say Pudge was second; now that Craig Monroe is gone, it seems that most people have moved onto either Inge or Pudge as their scapegoat, with the odd Casey-hater mixed in for good measure). However, based from what I saw on Gameday, he seemed to have a better approach this time. He took a couple of balls, and he didn’t swing at anything out of the strike zone. I mean, he ended up flying out to center field, but you can’t be more critical towards him for that than you would towards anybody else (and by the way, I saw a Pudge fan while I was at school today, so there’s still plenty of us out there who love him; don’t listen to those cynics on the weblogs). At any rate, the offense certainly hurts without a healthy Sheffield in the lineup, but there are other problems too. Granderson is now 5 for his last 40, and even Polanco’s in a bit of a mini-slump (3 for his last 20). The struggles of Brandon Inge have been well-documented by now, but here’s something interesting: He has not struck out in his last two games. He hasn’t gotten a hit in his last two games, either, but he has been putting the ball in play.

Perhaps it’s just as well that I missed this game, and not just for the obvious reasons. Yesterday was probably the worst-sounding promotion I’ve ever heard of: the first however many fans received a Magglio Ordoñez cap complete with hair. Um…that’s wrong on so many levels. Also, Craig Monroe has been traded to the Cubs in exchange for that ubiquitous “player to be named later.” I’m kind of surprised that the Cubs picked him up. I expected it to be a non-contending team, but the Cubs are in a pennant race of their own. At any rate, I wish him well. Just not at the expense of the Tigers, of course. In other news, this article was on Yahoo yesterday, and I found it rather interesting, although it’s kind of a strange time of the season to be writing it (had more of an opening-day vibe, if you ask me). It’s a pretty positive article, although Pudge was a little snubbed in it. Everyone else got nice long paragraphs while he got a mere four sentences, only one of which was complimentary (though the blurb about Brandon Inge wasn’t that much more flattering). Finally, everyone’s still talking about that 30-3 win that Texas put up against Baltimore. I watched part of the game online, and the poor Baltimore TV guys just didn’t know what to say by the end of it. Apparently, the runs broke a franchise record for Texas (duh). The previous record came in a 26-7 win over Baltimore (once again; wow, Baltimore just gives it up to Texas, apparently) in 1996. Out of curiosity, I found the old box score, and the score was actually pretty close for most of the game, until the Rangers put up a 16-run eighth (holy crap). I kinda browsed the play-by-play, and Texas batted around twice in that inning (and there seemed to be a bunch of walks with the bases loaded). And yes, Pudge did play in that game (What, you thought I wasn’t gonna mention him?). He had an RBI triple in his first at-bat, flied out in his second at-bat, and then the next time he was due up he got lifted for a pinch-hitter (Texas’s backup catcher, whose name I don’t recognize). I don’t quite understand that move. Maybe if the Rangers had already blown it open, but the score was tied at that point, so…I’m confused. However, I shall not delve deeper into it, because I actually do have better things to do than contemplate moves in a game that was played over ten years ago.

Since you’re all probably tired of the Indians right about now, how ‘bout having the Yankees come to town for a four-game set? Andrew Miller will come off the disabled list to start against Roger Clemens (so once again, he goes up against a big-time veteran). As I said a couple days ago, I watched Andrew Miller’s last rehab start with the Mud Hens on TV, and he looked VERY good. If he can turn in that kind of performance tonight, things’ll be golden on the pitching end of things. Meanwhile, Roger Clemens got very lucky in his last start against the Tigers, cuz he gave up ten hits, but never the clutch hit. Cameron Maybin may very well start tonight, cuz he homered off of Clemens last time. Meanwhile, Jim Leyland has said he’s gonna do that musical-chairs thing with the DH slot, so who will be the DH tonight is anyone’s guess. I’ll be at work 4-9, but I’ll try my best to follow the game.

One Year Ago: On August 24, 2006, neither the pitching nor the offense was working as the Tigers lost to the White Sox 10-0. Nate Robertson was banged up for all ten runs in 6 2/3 innings (and the only reason he stayed out so long was because the bullpen was taxed). Meanwhile, Curtis Granderson snapped an 0-for-21 slump by getting two hits, but the Tigers couldn’t get anything going against Jon Garland, who pitched a complete-game shutout. He only allowed six hits, all singles. Sean Casey had a rough night in particular. He hit a line drive right at Joe Crede, and it looked as though he caught it. The umpire and Crede certainly thought so, as did Casey, who started walking back to the dugout. However, the ball had sailed just over Crede’s glove and into left field, but by the time Casey realized it, Pablo Ozuna had gotten to it and was able to make the out before Casey could reach first base.

2006 record: 81-47

2007 record: 68-59

Yeah, I gave up on trying to find ‘80s slang. Everything was either too common or way too cheesy. The Tigers probably don’t want any more of these theme nights, cuz they’ve lost on Motown Night, Country Music Night, ‘70s Night, and now ‘80s Night. Thankfully, there was nary a Photoshopped picture to be found (at least, not during the part I saw on TV), although there were a couple people with questionable hairstyles, as well as a fat guy behind the Indians’ dugout wearing a Bobby Seay jersey and a kilt (which isn’t exactly ‘80s, but I digress). Anyways, believe it or not, I somehow managed to not see any of the runs scored by the Indians, even though I got home during the bottom of the sixth inning (it seemed that they would score runs every time I walked out of the room, though). Therefore, I’m probably gonna miss the mark a little bit in this particular Total Amateur Analysis, but that’s not gonna stop me. I did try to follow the game on Yahoo while I was at work, but obviously that’s not as good as actually seeing it. Ironically, one night after a pitching duel to the extreme, it becomes an out-and-out slugfest. Obviously Verlander struggled, but in a very un-Verlander like way. Usually when Justin struggles, he ends up walking people and then gives up a home run or an extra-base hit of some sort, or he continuously gets behind in the count. Last night, he only walked one batter and he was ahead in the count most of the night. He just couldn’t seem to put anyone away. And those four singles in a row with two outs in the fourth had to hurt. It seems that the only two teams this season that can really get to Verlander are Minnesota and Cleveland. Obviously, he's had losses against other teams, but the Twins and the Indians are the only two that have really beat up on him. The bullpen had kind of the same problem as Verlander (and apparently that whole Bonderman pattern that I explained a couple days ago may not be limited to Bonderman, cuz the bullpen was able to hold it until after Guillen struck out in the seventh, then they gave up a bunch of runs). The only one to unintentionally walk someone was Zach Miner. Meanwhile, apparently it just wasn’t a good night for intentional walks, cuz they just never worked according to plan for Detroit. And like I said, I didn’t see any of the Cleveland runs, so I don’t know how much that error by Curtis Granderson played into things. I suppose I’ve gotta be more critical of the bullpen this time, though, cuz for once the offense DID make up for the deficit set down by the starter…

If there is something positive to be taken from this, it’s that even without Gary Sheffield, the Tigers offense is capable of putting up some big numbers, and that they’re as tenacious as ever, with three near-rallies late. The sixth inning rally was downright sweet (by the way, Maggs is now tied with Sheffield for the team lead in home runs). Even though it came up short, it felt good at the time, so I’ll leave it at that. The other two near-rallies didn’t feel as good, and I’ll tackle the one that I least want to talk about first: the bottom of the ninth. I find it kind of interesting that all I’ve heard about Ramon Santiago since he was called up in that he’s a great defender, but he’s a black hole in the batting lineup, and yet, in his first at-bat this year with the Tigers, he gets a base hit. Santiago aside, at the very least, it was nice for the Tigers to at least make it a close game, and a proper slugfest at that. However, I think the way the lineup played out kind of doomed them. Each member of the Tigers lineup has different strengths and weaknesses, but they do compliment one another (i.e. a consistent singles hitter compliments a power hitter who strikes out a lot). That said, there are times when you just don’t want certain guys in certain situations. If you have a runner at third with one out, you probably wouldn’t want Brandon Inge as your first choice of batter, simply because he strikes out a lot, whereas someone like Polanco or Casey is more likely to put the ball in play and allow that run to score. Another example: If you’re in dire need of a home run, it doesn’t do you a whole lotta good to have Sean Casey in the batter’s box (this is where you might prefer Brandon Inge…although I think Magglio would be your first choice; he’d be mine). In a three-run game in the bottom of the ninth with two on and two out, it’s a tall order when the tying run is someone who does not walk. As much as I love Pudge, I pretty much knew what the outcome was gonna be once the count reached 3-1 (and he did indeed foul off what likely would’ve been ball 4, although the fact that he had struck out looking his last time up probably didn’t help matters). I’ve observed recently that Pudge tends to be a better hitter when there are already guys on base (hence, the perception that he is struggling may be, in part, due to the fact that he hasn’t been in that situation very often recently), but he’s not gonna come through every time. Even Magglio doesn’t come through every time. I’m obviously no expert on this (far from it, in fact), but it didn’t look to me like he was trying to do too much. It looked as though he was trying to get that base hit to right field (and I’ve looked up the stats coming into last night’s game, and though it seems like Pudge strikes out a lot, he only has slightly more strikeouts than Maggs or Guillen). At any rate, even if he had walked, it’s tough to tell what Marcus Thames would’ve done. We’d all like to think that he’d’ve hit a walk-off grand slam (now THAT would’ve been sweet), but he could just as easily have struck out himself (with Marcus, it seems that every time he comes to bat, he either hits a home run or he strikes out; there’s no in-between). However, I think the point at which the Tigers’ fate was sealed was the seventh-inning near-rally, in which the tying runs were at first and third and Guillen struck out (and he also swung at ball 4, so it ain’t just Pudge). Had the Tigers taken the lead then (or at least tied things up), we would have seen Rodney or Zumaya in the eighth, and things may very well have gone a whole lot differently from then on. As far as individual performances go, Cameron Maybin still looks overwhelmed (not to mention he still looks somewhat uncomfortable in left field), but he did hit two doubles. The only Tigers to go hitless were Granderson and Inge, both of whom are continuing to struggle (though Granderson drew a walk and Inge never struck out, which is something, I suppose).

Here’s a brief mention from the “It-Could-Be-Worse” category: In Game 1 of their doubleheader yesterday, Texas beat Baltimore 30-3. Holy crap. When I first saw that score on the ticker at the bottom of the screen during the game, my first thought was that it had to be a typo of some sort. I made my dad look up the score online. Just out of curiosity, I went to an Orioles blog to see how their comments stack up to the Tigers fans when they lose, and I’ll say that it seems Orioles fans shoot more venom at their starters, while Tigers fans point their ire at the bullpen. However, the wrath of the Baltimore fans is tempered somewhat by the fact that the Orioles are not a contending team, whereas the Tigers are. At any rate, apparently Texas scored the most runs in this game since, like, 1897 or something like that. Geez.

Today it’s the final game in this series. Nate Robertson takes the mound for the Tigers. He’s been pitching well recently, for the most part. His problem is that he doesn’t get any run support (I may as well start to copy and paste that line). Jake Westbrook starts for the Indians. The Tigers had a good amount of success against him earlier this year, but apparently he’s been pitching a lot better of late. It’ll be interesting to see how Leyland handles this DH situation with Sheffield out for the time being. One would think he’d have Marcus Thames DH for the most part, with maybe a couple stints for Magglio with Thames starting in right. However, last time Sheffield was out Leyland did kind of this musical chairs thing with the DH role, but Thames was out during that time period as well, so it’s anyone’s guess. I’m gonna be at school during the game, so I’ll try to follow it online, but I have a class at 3:00, so unless it’s a repeat of Tuesday night’s pitching duel, I’m gonna miss the end. Meanwhile, let’s hope the offensive outburst from the Indians last night was just an aberration. And that the offensive outburst from the Tigers was not…  

One Year Ago: On August 23, 2006, the Tigers lost to the Chicago White Sox 7-5. Zach Miner gave up six runs in only 1 1/3 innings, and the Tigers were unable to make up for the deficit. They got as close as one run, but a Joe Crede homer in the seventh gave the Sox an insurance run. Dmitri Young hit a two-run homer, and Casey and Pudge both had RBI hits in the loss.

2006 record: 81-46

2007 record: 68-58

Geez, was that a pitching duel or what? I’ll admit, at the top of the sixth inning I had visions of no-hitters dancing in my head (blame Justin Verlander for that one), but Jhonny Peralta brought those to a grinding halt. Needless to say, Jair Jurrjens was otherwise downright awesome. It would’ve been pretty cool if he could’ve stayed out for the complete game and really try for the one-hitter, but I guess the Tigers didn’t provide quite enough offensive support for Leyland to feel comfortable with that. At any rate, the bullpen was perfect, and of course the big story is Zumaya’s official return. He only faced one batter, but Comerica Park was certainly rocking when he came out. At least, that’s what it looked like. Rodney and Jones were also stellar.

For as dominant as Detroit’s pitching was, Fausto Carmona was even better than he was last week. He had a perfect game going into the fifth, when Magglio and Guillen thankfully broke that up with back-to-back home runs. Even so, the Tigers only got three hits (the other one being a double by Curtis Granderson). I don’t think this is the appropriate game to speculate about who is struggling and who isn’t, because so many of the Tigers went hitless, though I did find it somewhat strange that Gary Sheffield struck out twice (the other strikeout victims were Marcus Thames and Ryan Raburn). Plus, I did not see a whole lot of this game (I was at work until about 8:30, and the game went so quickly that it was nearly over by the time I got home; I followed most of it on the Internet while I was at work). Of course, with the three hits belonging to Maggs, Guillen, and Granderson, it means that Pudge’s hitting streak ends at six games, but he called a great game for Jurrjens (and you don’t have to take my word for it; Leyland gave him a whole lotta props himself), so I don’t mind so much. Plus, he didn’t strike out at all (yeah, he got a little pull-happy, but Carmona gets a lot of ground balls so it’s tough to tell if there is actually anything to imply from that; I’m gonna wait). Polanco didn’t do a whole lot, either, but it was nice to see him back nonetheless.

Far be it from me to be the negative one, but every win recently has been labeled a “turning point” only to be followed by a couple of losses. The Tigers still have a job to do tonight. The Tigers’ll have Justin Verlander starting for them, and he’s certainly more than capable of turning in the kind of pitching performance we saw last night. He looked better in his last start against the Yankees, but there’s still room for improvement. Meanwhile, it’d be nice if the Tigers could give him a little more offense than they did for Jurrjens. That’ll be a tall order, because Paul Byrd is pitching for the Indians, and he’s been pretty dominant against Detroit in his career. Plus, Magglio and Sheffield have downright horrible career numbers against Byrd, but Guillen bats .407 lifetime against him, and Pudge has gotten quite a few hits against him this season as well.

One Year Ago: On August 22, 2006, the Tigers assured themselves of their first winning season since 1993 by defeating the White Sox 4-0. Kenny Rogers and Fernando Rodney combined to shut out Chicago and limited them to just five hits and two walks. Marcus Thames had a 3-RBI day that included a triple and a home run.

2006 season: 81-45

2007 season: 68-57

EDIT: I had forgotten this when I wrote my post this morning, but I thought I'd mention that tonight is '80s Night at Comerica Park. Once again, I don't know what all that entails, but I do have a request: Please, please, PLEASE no more Photoshopped pictures. As for me, I can try to title my next post in '80s slang, but it's actually more of a challenge that one might think, cuz I don't wanna go the valley-girl route, and a lot of '80s slang is still commonly in use. I'll figure something out.

UPDATE: Gary Sheffield's shoulder problems have apparently gotten worse, so he's out of the lineup for at least the rest of the homestand. Sean Casey will bat third tonight, and Marcus Thames will DH and bat seventh. Maybin gets the start in left, and the usual suspects round out the rest of the lineup.