KANSAS CITY -- In their last game before the All-Star break to finish a stretch of 37 games in 38 days, the Tigers looked like they might cruise to an easy win.
Right-hander Justin Verlander breezed through his first seven innings, allowing zero runs on just four hits. But on a hot afternoon where the heat index hit 113 degrees, even the Tigers' ace buckled a bit in the eighth inning as the Royals banged out two one-out singles and later scored their first run.
So, the four-time All-Star handed the game over to the bullpen, which preserved the lead and helped Verlander notch his 12th win as the Tigers prevailed, 2-1, on Sunday at Kauffman Stadium.
The win, combined with Cleveland's loss to Toronto, moved Detroit one-half game atop the American League Central standings at the break. The Tigers also took three of the four games against the Royals.
"I really just tried not to do too much, I tried to take it easy, leave some in the tank for when I needed it," Verlander said. "I knew it'd be a grind out there, as hot as it was, so I really took my time in between pitches. Just tried to slow things down a little bit and I think that helped."
Verlander (12-4) and Atlanta's Jair Jurrjens are tied for second in the Major Leagues with a dozen wins, one behind Yankees ace CC Sabathia for the overall lead. Verlander also became the first Tigers pitcher to reach 12 wins before the All-Star break since Jack Morris in 1987.
And while Detroit's offense didn't do a whole lot to back Verlander, the right-hander didn't need a whole lot of help, scattering six hits in 7 2/3 innings to go along with nine strikeouts. The one run was unearned.
It was the 13th time in 20 starts this season that Verlander pitched into the eighth inning. Detroit improved to 39-21 when its starter goes at least six innings, and given the intense heat on Sunday, Verlander's start was even more impressive.
The Royals were threatening with Alcides Escobar and Chris Getz at second and third with one out in the eighth, but Verlander got a fly out from Melky Cabrera. Alex Gordon hit a ground ball to third that should have ended the inning, but Brandon Inge's throw was high -- allowing Escobar to score and Gordon to reach safely.
Tigers manager Jim Leyland didn't let it get any further, bringing in Joaquin Benoit, who struck out Billy Butler to end the threat and preserve the one-run lead.
"Other than Verlander, the hero of the game was Joaquin Benoit, when he struck Butler out with two guys on," Leyland said. "That was the biggest out of the game.
"[Butler] got a couple of big RBIs last night. He's a great hitter. I'm not sure exactly what the numbers are, but he's the one guy that's had pretty good success against Verlander. At that point in the game, [Verlander was] tired, I wasn't going to let him face him."
The move worked out, and closer Jose Valverde worked another eventful ninth for his 24th save.
Eric Hosmer hit a leadoff double, but Jeff Francoeur went down swinging for the first out. With Mike Moustakas at the plate, Hosmer took off for third. Catcher Alex Avila's throw to Inge was a little late, but Inge blocked the bag with his foot and tagged Hosmer for a big second out.
"Late in the game like that -- I don't do it all the time. I don't feel like it's, dirty or not, I don't know," Inge said of blocking the bag. "I don't think it's dirty. It's just from catching instincts -- late in the game, I do not want him to get to that base.
"Plus, after flubbing a play earlier in the game, I'm gonna make sure I shut him down right there."
Hosmer thought he was safe, but didn't offer an argument.
"I know I got it in there, my hand was in there," Hosmer said. "But it's a tough call, bang-bang play, that's how it goes."
Moustakas grounded out to short to end the game.
The Tigers got on the board first after Casper Wells doubled to lead off the fourth inning. He eventually scored on a hard ground-ball base hit by Brennan Boesch, his third RBI single in two games.
Detroit added another run in the sixth inning when Wells drew a one-out walk. After stealing second for his first career stolen base, he scored on a Magglio Ordonez single to center.
For most of the game though, the Tigers couldn't figure out Kansas City starter Jeff Francis. The veteran left-hander notched six strikeouts, including two each on Ryan Raburn and Avila. He finished six innings, allowing just two runs on four hits and a walk.
"Francis really pitched good," Leyland said. "That's a pitcher. He tries to take advantage of your aggressiveness, that's what he does, and he does it really well."
Despite a nice first half, Verlander -- who also leads the AL in WHIP and is third in ERA at 2.15 -- knows the Tigers need to keep winning after the break, something they haven't done in recent years.
"Looking back at the first half, it's pretty doggone good. You can't be satisfied with just a good first half though," he said. "We want to win the division, go to the World Series."
Adam Holt is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Fri Jul 15, 2011 11:35 pm
DETROIT -- Over the past month and a half, it appeared no one could get to Justin Verlander.
But all it took was one outing to bring everyone back to reality. Verlander gave up five runs -- four earned -- in six innings as the White Sox picked up a game on the Tigers with an 8-2 win on Friday night at Comerica Park.
"He certainly wasn't at the top of his game, but he wasn't that bad," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "The one inning that they scored, they didn't hit a lot of balls hard. He did make a couple of mistakes with breaking balls over the course of the game. He just wasn't really on top of his game, totally, but certainly wasn't that bad."
Verlander retired the first seven batters, but after Gordon Beckham reached on a single, the gates opened for the White Sox.
Mark Teahen followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Juan Pierre's bunt attempt couldn't be handled by Miguel Cabrera as Pierre reached safely and Chicago took a 1-0 lead. After a flyout, Paul Konerko walked. A single from Adam Dunn scored two more runs and Carlos Quentin added another run on a single before a ground ball to third ended the inning.
"Yeah, we just kind of scraped by a little bit tonight it seemed like," Beckham said. "I know in the inning where we first scored the runs, we kind of battled up there and managed to find some holes."
Every hit in the inning other than the Pierre bunt came on an offspeed pitch from Verlander. Despite that, Verlander felt the White Sox didn't hit anything hard and he could live with the pitches he made.
"I left a changeup up to Dunn," Verlander said. "He hit it sharply in the hole in that four-run inning. Other than that, slider off the plate to Quentin and he hit it off the end of the bat and found a hole. Pierre had a bunt, Beckham got jammed, hit a jam job down the left-field line that fell in.
"That's kind of the way things go in this game. Guys are going to find holes sometimes. Sometimes it's just their night. Obviously, I'm extremely disappointed with the results, but I'm not too disappointed at the way I threw the ball."
It was the first time since Aug. 3, 2009 that an opponent batted around against Verlander. On that day, Verlander gave up five runs in the first inning against the Orioles.
Verlander was done after six innings and 110 pitches, matching his shortest start of the season. He had given up four earned runs combined in his previous seven starts.
"I have had a game [this season] where things found holes, but not in succession up to tonight," Verlander said. "But in my career, I've had that happen numerous times, so it's not like I didn't know how to deal with it. You've just got to step back, and realize that, 'Hey, it's not the end of the world.
"'You made your pitch, they put it in play and it found a hole. Let's try to get the next guy out.'"
Verlander had won his past seven starts against the White Sox, so manager Ozzie Guillen was glad his team was able to get after the pitcher.
"Our offense went after them very well," Guillen said. "I think [Verlander], to me, is the best pitcher in the game right now. We made him throw a lot of pitches and we did not swing at bad pitches.
"I don't think Justin was sharp at all. He struggled from the beginning of the game trying to find the strike zone and we took advantage of that. The way the shadows [were], you couldn't see the ball well and he couldn't find the rhythm."
The Tigers cut the lead in half in the bottom of the fourth when Cabrera hit a two-run home run to left field.
In the top of the fifth, Pierre reached on a fielding error by Ryan Raburn and later scored on a fielder's choice by Quentin to extend the lead to 5-2.
In the sixth inning, Cabrera singled for the 1,500th hit of his career, prompting the crowd at Comerica Park to give him a standing ovation.
"He's a great player, there's no question about that," Leyland said of Cabrera. "Great players get a lot of hits and he's got a lot more to come. So, certainly, he's one of those guys you're thrilled to death to be his manager. This is a star. That doesn't mean you're not thrilled to manage everybody, but that's a nice touch. Like I said, he's got a lot more hits to look forward to."
The White Sox added three runs in the seventh inning against relievers Lester Oliveros and David Purcey.
The Tigers loaded the bases in eighth and ninth innings but could not scratch a run across.
Friday's loss was just Detroit's third in the past 16 games against the White Sox. With 45 of the team's remaining 69 games against American League Central opponents, the Tigers, who fell a game behind the Indians for first place, know those are the most important games.
"We've got a lot of games in the division, so if you're going to win our division, you've got to beat our division," Cabrera said. "We've got to go get it tomorrow. We've got to play better and try to get [a win] tomorrow."
Chris Vannini is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Sat Jul 16, 2011 8:27 pm
DETROIT -- Heading into the All-Star break, the Tigers were one of the top run-scoring teams in the Majors but had one of the highest ERAs.
Two games into the second half, the opposite has happened, as the White Sox defeated the Tigers, 5-0, on Saturday, for their second straight win in the series.
Coming into the day, both starters -- Max Scherzer for Detroit and Edwin Jackson for Chicago -- had ERAs over 4.00. But both pitched very well and stayed in a groove. Only clutch hitting from the White Sox was the difference in who picked up the win and who was saddled with the loss.
"Both starting pitchers were really good," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "Scherzer was terrific and Jackson was very good. We just didn't get anything on the board. We hit a few balls hard, we had a few chances, we got some guys on the bases, but we just couldn't deliver the big hit. Obviously, they got a couple big ones and we didn't."
Scherzer went eight innings and gave up two earned runs on eight hits. Carlos Quentin led off the second inning with a solo home run on a 3-1 fastball to give the White Sox a 1-0 lead.
In the third inning, Juan Pierre hit a one-out single, stole second and advanced to third on a groundout. A 3-2 slider to Paul Konerko with two outs caught too much of the plate and he was able to drive it for a single to score Pierre.
Scherzer allowed four hits in his final five innings of work, matching his longest start of the season. He last went eight innings on May 4 against the Yankees.
"I felt pretty good, considering I had eight days off," Scherzer said. "I was able to find the strike zone, execute pitches. I pitched with all three pitches today. Obviously, I got hurt a couple times with a couple mistakes, really just one. The Quentin one, that happens when it's a 3-1 fastball. Obviously, you don't want to walk him there.
"I left a pitch up against Konerko and he was able to hit it in the hole for another run."
Despite a solid outing from Scherzer, whose ERA was 4.69 heading into Saturday, the Tigers couldn't muster any support for him.
Jackson threw a 101-pitch shutout, scattering nine hits along the way.
The Tigers had their chances, but didn't make Jackson pay, as Detroit went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base.
The Tigers put runners at first and second with one out in the third, but Brennan Boesch struck out and Magglio Ordonez grounded into a forceout.
Carlos Guillen played his first Major League game since Aug. 16 of last season and played well, but grounded out with runners at second and third with two outs in the sixth inning. Guillen finished 1-for-4 and was solid in the field at second base.
"Every time we had guys on base, we'd hit it right at them," Tigers catcher Alex Avila said. "It was one of those things where, on their side, besides the Quentin home run, it was a lot of well-placed base hits, just getting through the right spots. Looking back on the game, there's not much more you can do. We had the guys on base, put good swings on the ball and just hit it right at guys."
Jackson entered Saturday with a 4.30 ERA, but the Tigers were stymied for the second straight game.
"[Jackson] was awesome today," White Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham said. "I looked up in the ninth and he had one out with 88 pitches or something like that. I couldn't believe that. He was really good. He kept them down, a really good hitting team, down the whole game. When you get that, you gotta win."
The White Sox sealed the game in the ninth inning when they scored three more runs off Jose Valverde.
Valverde is 24-for-24 in save opportunities this season, but has struggled in non-save situations, when opponents are hitting .304 off him.
"I think the three runs in the ninth were huge against Valverde," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Valverde, we never do anything against him. Those three runs were the biggest of the game, even when we were up by two."
In his first action of the season, Carlos Guillen said he felt good and Leyland said he looked fine, although he said he wouldn't pass judgment after one game.
"It was good, exciting," Carlos Guillen said. "Unfortunately we lost, but that's part of the season."
The Tigers have now lost two straight games to the White Sox after taking 13 of the previous 15. Chicago is moving back up the American League Central standings.
Justin Verlander has been the only consistent Tigers starter this season, and if the team is going to stay in the race for the division crown, the other starters are going to need to step up. Although the run support wasn't there, better outings from Scherzer, such as Saturday, are encouraging for the Tigers.
"I just want to go out there and pitch my best," Scherzer said. "I want to be a part of this team, help this team win. I feel like if I can pitch deep into games, it helps this team win."
Chris Vannini is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Sun Jul 17, 2011 5:38 pm
DETROIT -- Tigers manager Jim Leyland knows about the rumblings from fans about another second-half collapse.
That's partly why he knew Sunday's 4-3 comeback win over the White Sox was so important. Although he won't buy into the negativity, Leyland said the win was good for the atmosphere. It was also good for the standings, as the win moved the Tigers back into a first-place tie with the Indians in the American League Central.
"Let's face it, everybody's been talking about the second half, and I said I'm talking about the positive," Leyland said. "We're not hiding from that. ... The only way you quiet that down is to do what we did today: go win games. It's a great win for us inside the clubhouse, it's a great win for our fans today, really, because of everything."
The Tigers haven't posted a winning record after the All-Star break since 2000. Last season, the team lost six straight games after the break en route to a 33-43 second-half record.
Adam Dunn led off the inning with a double, Carlos Quentin walked and Alex Rios doubled to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. A sacrifice fly from A.J. Pierzynski scored another run and a single from Gordon Beckham gave the White Sox a 3-0 lead.
"I was terrible in the second inning, but you've just got to go out there and try to locate, focus and go as long as you can," Tigers starter Brad Penny said.
Penny struggled early, but was able to recover for the second straight start. Against the Angels on July 6, Penny gave up three runs in the first inning and didn't allow any more for the rest of his time.
Penny said he stopped throwing his breaking ball after the early struggles. He threw just one curveball after the third inning and focused on his fastball and sinker. After the second inning, Penny scattered just five hits. He left after 6 2/3 innings.
"You know what you have working for you and the catcher knows, so you're going to be on the same page. ... It's nice when [Alex Avila] switches with me without having to talk about it," Penny said. "We did it last game and we did it today."
But for the second straight game, the offense wasn't giving any support to a quality start.
Brennan Boesch hit a solo home run in the fourth inning to cut the deficit to 3-1, but White Sox starter Philip Humber held the Tigers to just four hits in five innings and had tied a career high with seven strikeouts through five.
But the Tigers finally strung together some hits in the sixth. A leadoff double by Andy Dirks was followed by a strikeout by Boesch. Magglio Ordonez earned a walk to put runners and first and second with one out. With Miguel Cabrera at the plate, Leyland sent the runners on a full count. The decision turned out to be crucial, as Cabrera grounded to the shortstop, but there was no double-play attempt.
"You know if he hits a ground ball, it's a double play if you don't send them," Leyland said. "But sometimes you're leery, too, as a manager, [if] he thinks, all of a sudden, he's got to swing because they're running, and maybe he swings out of the strike zone because they're running. That's a tough one, but Miggy's pretty good. A more undisciplined hitter, I probably wouldn't have sent them."
Victor Martinez came up, hitting .357 with runners in scoring position this season, but the Tigers were 0-for-14 in that situation in the series. Martinez hit a ground ball through the right side to score two runs and tie the game.
"You know what? I made a good pitch and he put a good swing on it," Humber said. "It kind of seems how that inning was going. I wouldn't really change anything I did as far as what pitches I threw. I actually thought I threw the ball better the last two innings than I did earlier in the game. Results were totally different."
A bloop single by Jhonny Peralta ended Humber's day, and Carlos Guillen, in his second Major League game after 11 months of rehab, drilled a line drive into right field to score Martinez and give the Tigers a 4-3 lead.
"That's how we play this game," Martinez said. "We go out there and give our best effort and see what happens."
Al Alburquerque, appearing in his second straight game since coming off the disabled list on Saturday, stranded two inherited runners to end the seventh inning. Joaquin Benoit pitched a perfect eighth inning and Jose Valverde picked up his 25th save, despite allowing the leadoff hitter to reach second base.
The 25 straight saves this season for Valverde mark the third-longest streak in a single season in Tigers history.
The Tigers fought back to move into first place and stave off any negativity of the fans -- for now. The biggest key for success in the second half likely will be Tigers starting pitching, which struggled in the first half. On Sunday, Penny gave the Tigers exactly what they needed, and the offense did the rest.
"Those three guys that threw today, that's how good we can be," Penny said of the bullpen. "If you look how Joaquin's throwing now, Alburquerque's back and Valverde. You can make it a seven-inning game, a six-inning game sometimes."
Chris Vannini is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Tue Jul 19, 2011 11:51 pm
DETROIT -- Most Tigers players probably wouldn't have argued Victor Martinez's footwork. He has an iPad with a speaker in the clubhouse at Comerica Park, and he can get a laugh out of his teammates with a few moves.
But nobody expected that out on the field. The Tigers might have expected to dance their way out of another early deficit, scoring seven unanswered runs in an 8-3 win over the A's that included four runs on 822 feet of homers. That first run, however, caught them by surprise, and it still had them talking after the game.
"Well, that was a very acrobatic slide, I guess, to say the least," manager Jim Leyland said.
It had Miguel Cabrera smiling. His 422-foot launch to left field for his 20th home run of the season, by comparison, was humdrum for him.
"He's got a little move," Cabrera said of Martinez. "He's got a salsa move -- salsa, with meringue, with reggaeton, together."
A's catcher Kurt Suzuki wasn't quite smiling about it, but he respected it.
"He stopped and did a little dance and avoided me and that was that," Suzuki said. "He did a good job of avoiding the play."
Martinez was a little quieter about it. He might have been just as excited about Michael Cuddyer's slide home with the winning run for the Twins minutes later, sending the Indians to defeat and moving the Tigers back into a tie atop the American League Central for the second time in three days. Still, he enjoyed it.
"Sometimes," Martinez said, "we need a little thing like that to get a team going."
It wasn't only one run in the Tigers' mid-inning onslaught against former Detroit prospect Guillermo Moscoso, but it was the first run. He was on first base with two outs in the fourth inning when A's first baseman Conor Jackson was caught flat-footed on Carlos Guillen's grounder. Martinez took off as the ball rolled into foul territory, and third-base coach Gene Lamont waved him around to test right fielder David DeJesus.
The throw beat Martinez easily, so easily that he had a split second to think as Suzuki tried to lunge across the plate for the tag.
"I think that's one of those things where you don't practice that, obviously," Martinez said. "I was dead out and just trying to make something happen."
The prevailing thought for him was to step around home plate.
"He's got some great feet," Cabrera said. "He can play soccer."
He had enough of a move that he still hadn't been tagged as he was standing on the other side of the plate.
"I think when I went past home plate, he was still with his glove laid on the plate," Martinez said, "and I was like, 'Wait a minute, I think I've got a chance to [sneak] my hand here.'"
With a one-handed lunge at the plate that left Suzuki waving for a tag, he did. Suzuki didn't have an argument.
"I went to tag him and he stuck his arm under," Suzuki said, "and I was kind of put in a messed-up situation and he slid and touched the plate before I touched him."
Said Tigers starter Rick Porcello: "That was pretty good. It seems like he'd be a pretty good dancer, bouncing around."
Porcello had a less artistic escape of his own in the top of the inning, getting out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam scoreless with a force out at the plate and an inning-ending double play. He couldn't do the same in the fifth, with doubles from Suzuki and Coco Crisp fueling a three-run A's rally. But Cabrera and Carlos Guillen quickly put him back in front -- no footwork, just strength.
Their homers came after Moscoso was a strike away from getting out of the fifth inning with the lead intact, having gotten Cabrera to swing and miss at one fastball and foul off another over the middle of the plate. After Cabrera fouled off two more to stay alive in the count, he didn't miss another mistake pitch.
"In that at-bat, he threw me a good pitch to hit, I think 1-1, but I just missed it," Cabrera said. "I was kind of upset, but I said to myself, 'Focus on this at-bat. Try to make something happen and try to see a ball and do a better job.'"
Cabrera's 600th career extra-base hit pulled Detroit ahead. After Jhonny Peralta's RBI single, Guillen's 400-foot drive over the right-field fence put Detroit comfortably in front. It was Guillen's second home run since last Aug. 14, two days before the knee injury that led to microfracture surgery and an 11-month absence.
"He's giving us a little punch, obviously, and that's nice to see," Leyland said.
Porcello (9-6) took it from there, using another double play to close out with a quality start and his third victory in as many outings. It wasn't always pretty, but it was effective.
"I think we're just using a better mix of off-speed stuff," Porcello said. "I think that's keeping guys off balance."
Martinez's slide, on the other hand, was more off-balance.
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Last edited by TigersForever on Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:12 am; edited 1 time in total
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Wed Jul 20, 2011 11:44 pm
By Chris Vannini / MLB.com | 7/20/2011 10:20 PM ET BOX>
DETROIT -- Making his Major League debut, Britton, Mich. native Duane Below pitched solidly for the Tigers, but struggles from the bullpen allowed the Athletics to come from behind Wednesday for a 7-5 victory.
Below gave up five hits and three runs -- one of them earned -- over five-plus innings.
After retiring the first six batters he faced, he found trouble in the third inning. David DeJesus reached on a fielding error by Carlos Guillen to lead off the inning. A single by Landon Powell put runners on the corners and Coco Crisp singled in a run two batters later. A walk to Cliff Pennington then loaded the bases.
After Josh Willingham struck out, Hideki Matsui barely beat out an infield single off Below's glove to score a run. Conor Jackson finished the inning with a flyout.
The Tigers came right back in the bottom of the frame. Ramon Santiago drove in a run on a groundout after Don Kelly led off with a triple. Austin Jackson hit a single, stole second, moved to third on a Brennan Boesch groundout and scored on a single from Magglio Ordonez as the Tigers tied the game.
The Athletics regained the lead in the sixth when Matsui hit a home run off the right-field foul pole, ending Below's night. It was the 500th in his career between Japan and the United States.
But the Tigers again responded in the bottom of the inning. Back-to-back singles by Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera put two on with no outs, and Victor Martinez drove them both in with a double, giving the Tigers the lead. Detroit proceeded to load the bases with no outs, but could only put one run across, on a sacrifice fly from Kelly as the Tigers extended the lead to 5-3.
With Christmas in July being celebrated at Comerica Park, David Purcey gave the Athletics a gift, walking the bases loaded in the top of the seventh. Joaquin Benoit relieved Purcey and allowed a single to Pennington and a sacrifice fly to Willingham as the Athletics tied the game. A single by Matsui gave Oakland a 6-5 lead. Jackson followed with a base hit to make it 7-5.
Chris Vannini is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
RememberTheBird Toledo Mud Hens (AAA)
Location : Too Far From Copa
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Fri Jul 22, 2011 12:28 am
MINNEAPOLIS -- Typically, a leadoff triple is going to result in a run. For Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander, it's more of an opportunity to show off his stuff.
When right fielder Michael Cuddyer opened the second inning of Thursday's 6-2 Tigers win at Target Field with a triple to the gap in right, the Twins looked like they might put together a rally. Instead, Verlander reached back for something extra to get a pair of strikeouts and a groundout to strand the runner.
"It's not a high point, but it's exciting and a momentum builder for our team," Verlander said. "At that point, it's 0-0, a leadoff triple and most of the time, that guy's going to score. Being able to get out of that inning unscathed kind of turned it around and gave our guys a little shot in the arm."
Verlander pitched brilliantly throughout Thursday's game, bouncing back from his worst outing of the season to pick up his 13th win as the Tigers earned their 10th straight win over Minnesota.
With the victory, the Tigers lead the Indians, who were idle, by a half-game, taking sole possession of first place in the American League Central for the first time since July 10.
"We let one get away last night, there's no question about that," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland, referring to the club's 7-5 loss Wednesday to the A's. "We came here tonight, we had our horse going, he gave us a great effort, we got some big hits and we got a nice win."
Verlander (13-5) went eight innings, giving up just one run on five hits with nine strikeouts. He did not walk a batter, and faced just two over the minimum through five innings.
He was especially impressive against slugger Jim Thome, who has seven career homers off Verlander. Thome struck out all three times he faced Verlander, stranding four runners.
"He kind of goes hand-in-hand with me as a pitcher," Verlander said. "Early in my career, he really had my number. I made a lot of mistakes to him, and he did a lot of damage with those mistakes. It seems like over the years I've been able to cut down those mistakes to less and less and therefore allow less and less damage."
Only once did Verlander allow more than one baserunner in an inning, when the Twins scored a run on three straight two-out singles in the sixth inning.
Three Twins -- Alexi Casilla, Joe Mauer and Cuddyer -- got hits off Verlander. The other six went a combined 0-for-19 against the Tigers ace, who topped out at 99 mph on the night.
"It's tough because he can throw 100 [mph] and then drop of an 80-mph curveball or slider," said Twins center fielder Ben Revere, who went 0-for-4 on the night. "He knows the back door and the front door. He can place it anywhere. He's a big-time All-Star, and I'll say he'll be a future Hall of Famer, too."
At the plate, the Tigers put up more than enough offense to support Verlander, knocking Twins right-hander Carl Pavano out of the game after just six innings. Pavano gave up five runs on nine hits with a walk and two strikeouts.
The fifth and sixth were the big innings for Detroit. Brennan Boesch belted a two-run homer -- his 14th of the year -- with two outs in the fifth, and the Tigers added two more in the sixth. Verlander said the Boesch home run was crucial, allowing him to be more aggressive with a three-run lead than he would with a one-run advantage.
"I just had to battle all game, and I got a pitch to hit and didn't miss it," Boesch said. "[Pavano's] had a lot of success against me, so I knew I had to really focus today."
Miguel Cabrera led off the sixth with a double, followed by a Victor Martinez single, a Jhonny Peralta double and a sacrifice fly from Carlos Guillen.
Peralta added a solo homer in the eighth, his 15th of the season, into the second deck in left off Twins reliever Chuck James. Peralta finished a triple shy of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
Phil Coke pitched the ninth inning, allowing an unearned run on a Wilson Betemit throwing error. Betemit was appearing in his first game since being acquired on Wednesday from the Royals.
"We got some timely hits, Jhonny Peralta had a very good night," Leyland said. "Big hits we got, and just a good win for us. Coke, I thought, looked really sharp at the end, really good."
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
RememberTheBird Toledo Mud Hens (AAA)
Location : Too Far From Copa
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Sat Jul 23, 2011 12:57 am
MINNEAPOLIS -- Since getting a day off, Jhonny Peralta has been crushing the ball over the last two nights against the Twins. Following a 3-for-4 performance on Thursday night, Peralta added three more hits on Friday night in the Tigers' 8-2 victory at Target Field.
For the second straight game, Peralta finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. He belted a solo homer in the second, drove in two runs with a third-inning single and doubled home another run in the fifth.
The home run was his 16th of the season, and the four RBIs boosted his season total to 58.
"He's in the midst of a real good year," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland. "He's really been a perfect fit for us in that area, sandwiched in between Victor and Carlos. He's absolutely been tremendous.
"I think what he's done so far this year is he's capitalized on mistakes. When they've made mistakes, he hasn't missed them very often."
In 12 career games at Target Field, Peralta is batting .432 (19-for-44) with eight runs, two doubles, five homers and 15 RBIs, including seven RBIs over the last two nights. He has homered in each of his last five games in Minnesota.
Over his last 13 games against the Twins, Peralta has 21 RBIs, including 13 this season.
"He's hot, is swinging good and is on the ball," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Right now, he's about as locked in as we've seen him."
With the win, the Tigers' 11th straight over the Twins, they increased their lead in the American League Central to 1 1/2 games over the Indians, who lost on Friday to the White Sox.
With more than 60 games to go in the regular season, though, the Tigers still say that they aren't paying much attention to the standings.
"At this point in the year, we're concentrating on ourselves," said Tigers starter Max Scherzer. "We know that we can win this division. We know that we're good and we know we've got the talent. We just feel like if we go out there and compete every day and keep these winning streaks going, then we're going to be the team on top."
Every Tigers player had at least one hit on the night and five different players scored a run.
Left fielder Ryan Raburn went 2-for-4 on the night with a solo home run in the first and two runs scored. Magglio Ordonez also had two hits with a pair of runs scored, and Carlos Guillen drove in two with a single.
Detroit jumped all over Twins lefty Brian Duensing, who lasted just 4 2/3 innings. Duensing surrendered seven runs on nine hits, walking one and striking out seven. In two starts this year against the Tigers, Duensing is 0-1 with a 12.54 ERA, allowing 13 runs on 18 hits in 9 1/3 innings.
Duensing opened each of the first two innings with a strikeout, followed by a home run, followed by another strikeout. He struck out the side in the second to go along with a homer and a single, but big innings in the third and fifth did him in.
"Their whole lineup is stacked," Duensing said. "They have the standard big guys in the middle of the lineup, but one through nine is pretty good and is producing right now. So that makes them even more dangerous."
With the offense putting up plenty of runs to support him, Scherzer delivered an impressive outing, giving up just one run over seven innings of work. The right-hander struck out four batters while allowing just four hits and one walk.
Scherzer faced just four over the minimum in his seven frames, as he won for the 11th time this season. He allowed more than one baserunner only once, when the Twins had two singles and scored their only run of the game in the second inning.
Over his last three starts, Scherzer is 2-1 with a 1.66 ERA, allowing just four runs on 18 hits with one walk and 12 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings pitched.
"He really had a pretty comfortable seven innings," Leyland said. "I thought he did a good job. He didn't really tire at all, I didn't think."
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Sat Jul 23, 2011 9:12 pm
MINNEAPOLIS -- Detroit's 11-game winning streak against Minnesota was snapped in a 4-1 defeat on Saturday at Target Field behind Twins starter Scott Baker and four relievers.
Baker, who came off a short stint on the disabled list to start Saturday's game, looked to be completely healthy as he stifled the Tigers' bats for the first five innings. Baker was lifted after throwing just 82 pitches because of his recent injury.
Eighty-two pitches were more than enough pitches for Baker, according to Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire, who said he had thoughts of removing his right-hander even earlier.
"We started getting a guy up in the fourth, at one point," Gardenhire said. "We just didn't want him to extend out too awful much. We are still trying to feel our way through and see how he's doing."
Detroit Manager Jim Leyland said Baker's ability to make Tiger hitters swing at pitches that just miss the strike zone was the key to the Minnesota starter's success.
"[Baker] is very good at getting you out on high fastballs," Leyland said. "He's got late life to it, he's sneaky on top and he gets you to chase the ball just out of the strike zone. We were probably a little over aggressive. He pitched a very good game coming back."
Baker agreed with Leyland's assessment that he was pitching close to, but not in the strike zone to get Tiger batters out.
"Today, given the situation, even with the pitch count, I didn't want to give in to these guys," Baker said. "They're a good hitting lineup, and whether I threw three innings or five innings or six innings or whatever, I didn't want to throw it over the plate and allow them to get something going."
Detroit starter Brad Penny pitched seven innings, but was not as effective as Baker -- at least not in his first four innings of work. Penny gave up four runs on seven hits and walked three. Penny, who normally has excellent control, missed the strike zone badly at times early on and even threw a wild pitch in the fourth inning.
"I obviously didn't have good command," Penny said. "I was getting behind a little bit. I felt great, but unfortunately, those first few innings just killed us."
After spotting the Twins a 4-0 lead over the first four innings, Penny rebounded to throw 1-2-3 innings in the fifth and sixth and pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
"The early innings, [Penny] was wild," Leyland said. "His control betrayed him a little bit early on. After that, he settled down and pitched a whale of a game. He gave us a chance to get back in it; we just couldn't do it."
With the Twins up, 2-0, in the fourth inning, a two-run double off the bat of Delmon Young was a back-breaker for the Tigers, as Detroit could only muster one run against the Twins' bullpen, when Miguel Cabrera doubled in Brennan Boesch in the sixth inning.
Cabrera collected two hits to go with his RBI, and Jhonny Peralta also collected two hits, increasing his career average at Target Field to .437.
Four Minnesota relievers combined to pitch four innings, giving up just one run to close out the game. Detroit relievers David Purcey and Lester Oliveros combined to pitch a scoreless eighth inning, but Purcey needed 29 pitches to get two Minnesota batters out.
The Tigers really never threatened the Twins' lead. Any promising start to an inning for Detroit was snubbed out by Baker and the Twins bullpen, as the Tigers left six runners on base over eight innings.
"We just got beat. It was a good ballgame," Leyland said. "We had some chances; we just couldn't get that one hit we needed. We just couldn't get a big hit, and that's the way it is."
The loss dropped the Tigers to 53-47, but Detroit still holds sole possession of first place in the American League Central Division and will look to secure a series win on Sunday at Target Field.
Penny said the only thing to do after a tough loss is to look to the next game and concentrate on securing a series win against the Twins.
Joe Kieser is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Sun Jul 24, 2011 9:00 pm
MINNEAPOLIS -- Patience is a virtue, but it can also help you win baseball games.
The Tigers took advantage of an opposing pitcher who couldn't find the strike zone and found some creative ways to put up a three-run third inning against the Twins on their way to a 5-2 victory at Target Field on Sunday.
The victory gave the Tigers wins in three out of four games in the series and ensured Detroit would remain in sole position of first place in the American League Central Division standings.
"It was a good win for us," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "We got some big hits. You got to be happy with the series. To take three out of four, that's not easy to do. I am very happy about that."
While the Tigers were pleased with three wins in four games from a division rival, the Twins were left with a feeling that they let an opportunity slip through their fingers.
"It would've been nice to get a few more wins here at home, but we've still got a lot of games to go," Twins catcher Joe Mauer said. "We've got to play better."
Nine Detroit hitters batted in the top of the third in chasing Minnesota starting pitcher Francisco Liriano from the game. Five consecutive Tiger hitters reached base in the inning -- four on singles and another on an error. Liriano threw 78 pitches in 2 1/3 innings.
The final numbers showed how patient Detroit hitters were on Sunday, as the Tigers collected nine hits and seven walks.
"I thought we really did a good job with him today, being patient," Leyland said. "Liriano's got such good stuff that it's sometimes hard to lay off some of his pitches that end up being balls."
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said his starter had a poor outing, and nothing seemed to be working for him.
"We were trying to get him to just throw his fastball over the plate, and he really couldn't find anything," said Gardenhire. "He was spinning off the ball. Hopefully, there will be better days ahead for him."
Jhonny Peralta, Wilson Betemit and Ramon Santiago each drove in a run for the Tigers, though the first Detroit run scored in the second inning when Liriano threw a wild pitch with Ryan Raburn standing on third base. Detroit would score another run on a wild pitch in the sixth inning, when Austin Jackson came home on a pitch in the dirt from reliever Anthony Swarzak that got by Mauer.
It was a balanced attack for Detroit, as Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera were the only two players in the Detroit lineup who didn't manage at least one hit. Only Victor Martinez collected more than one knock.
Detroit starter Rick Porcello wasn't flawless and had baserunners to deal with most of the game, but he usually managed to wiggle out of trouble and finished stronger than he started. Porcello lasted six innings to earn his 10th victory of the season, giving up five hits and two walks and striking out four on 93 pitches.
"Aggressive in the strike zone is more what I was today," Porcello said. "There were a couple of at-bats where I fell behind some guys. That lead-off walk in the fourth kind of hurt us, but for the most part, Victor [Martinez] called a great game, and we were pretty effective."
Leyland said Porcello wasn't perfect on Sunday, but he worked through problems and got the Tigers the win, which was the most important thing.
"He was good," Leyland said. "He was being aggressive. He threw some pretty good changeups today. He won his 10th game, so that's pretty good."
Porcello received solid relief from Al Alburquerque and Joaquin Benoit, who pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth, respectively, and closer Jose Valverde, who nailed down the win with his 26th save of the year.
Jackson said that, though it was nice to take three of four from the Twins, he knows the division race is just heating up, and there will be more tough games ahead against AL Central opponents.
"You always know the season goes on," Jackson said. "Those couple teams that were struggling early on will be right there toward the end of the season. There is a lot of the season left, and anything can happen."
Joe Kieser is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:55 am
CHICAGO -- Combine all the breaks -- first Detroit's way, then the other -- and Monday's Tigers-White Sox clash had the feel of a game of chance. And then, it was a game for Chance.
Welcome to the Majors, Chance Ruffin. The 6-3 Tigers loss won't be a result he wants to remember, but the situation will be one he and plenty others won't soon forget.
"Major League debut in middle of a pennant race, bases loaded and [Carlos] Quentin's up," catcher Alex Avila said with a smile. "Good luck."
From a dropped fly ball, to a bloop single that should've been caught, from an extra step on a double play to a missed chance at a pickoff, it took a lot to bring the game to that point.
All that was far out of Ruffin's mind as he stared at Quentin at the plate with two outs and the bases packed in a tie game. He just wanted to focus on what was right in front of him.
"It's a high-pressure situation," said Ruffin, who was called up from Triple-A on Sunday night to help stabilize the club's middle relief. "It's fun to be in. You just want to be that guy to come up with the big out. Just didn't happen for me on that one."
The stuff Ruffin showed reflected the potential the Tigers saw in him. The resulting go-ahead, two-run double from Quentin reflected the way the game was going to go the rest of the way, from manager Jim Leyland's ejection at the end of the inning to the game-tying chance squandered in the seventh.
The loss whittled Detroit's lead atop the American League Central to a game over Cleveland, which beat the Angels. Chicago's fourth straight win moved the Sox to within 3 1/2 games, with the .500 mark a win away. After gaining ground on the Indians last weekend thanks to two White Sox wins, Monday was the Tigers' turn to feel how that felt.
"You don't have to look up at the scoreboard and see what they are doing anywhere else," White Sox All-Star Paul Konerko said. "But regardless of what happens in this series, you still have a full third of the season left. It's not like anybody is going to be breaking out champagne bottles either way."
To Avila, at least, it felt like a game that turned against them in a hurry.
"It seemed like we were catching all the breaks and then it just kind of flip-flopped," Avila said. "That's baseball."
That didn't appear likely early, once the misplays helped Detroit moved ahead. White Sox starter Mark Buehrle seemed set to complete a third scoreless inning despite Magglio Ordonez's two-out single. Buehrle induced a popup into shallow center field from Miguel Cabrera, but second baseman Gordon Beckham couldn't complete an over-the-shoulder catch, allowing Victor Martinez to step to the plate with two on.
Martinez, 23-for-69 (.333) with 12 RBIs off Buehrle entering the night, delivered on the first pitch, lining an RBI single into right-center field. Jhonny Peralta followed with a fly ball that fell between shortstop Alexei Ramirez -- who stopped on the play -- left fielder Juan Pierre and center fielder Alex Rios, allowing Cabrera to score.
Ryan Raburn's drive to center field died at the warning track, stranding the bases loaded, but Duane Below had a lead with which to work.
For four-plus innings, it looked like he had the stuff to protect it. Though Brent Morel's one-out single in the bottom of the inning put the tying run on, the Tigers seemed set to beat it once Cabrera fielded Pierre's grounder and tried to start a double play. But Pierre barely beat out the return throw to bring up Ramirez.
A couple pitches later, Below seemed to have Pierre caught too far off first base. Below quickly fired, but with the grip he had readied for his pitch.
"I had a cutter grip and threw it," he said. "I needed to make a better throw."
It was a missed chance, but a play Pierre forced with his speed. He made it to second without a throw. After a 2-2 fastball that just missed the outside corner, Ramirez ended up on first with a walk that Leyland disputed.
"I thought it was a pitch he was calling all night for both sides, really," Leyland said. "Jim [Wolf] is a very good umpire."
The Tigers intentionally walked Konerko to face slumping Adam Dunn, who has struggled mightily against lefties all year. But after putting Dunn in a 1-2 count, Below couldn't get a strike call on what looked like a pitch at the belt, and he walked.
"He located his fastball pretty good," Leyland said of Below (0-1), "but he couldn't get his breaking ball down tonight. He actually tried to overthrow a little bit to Dunn. But that's youth."
Enter more youth, with the right-hander Ruffin facing the right-handed-hitting Quentin. According to Elias Sports Bureau, it was the first time a pitcher made his Major League debut with the bases-loaded in a tie game since Brian Lawrence did it with the Padres on April 15, 2001 against the Dodgers.
Ruffin used back-to-back fastballs before overthrowing a 1-1 slider. Quentin took advantage with a line drive into the left-field corner. Solo homers from A.J. Pierzynski and Konerko in the seventh, both off Ruffin, padded the advantage.
"He's got a good arm," Leyland said of Ruffin. "We know he's got a good slider. He was probably overamped a little bit, tried to throw it too hard. It kind of stayed there. It really didn't dive. Kind of left it out a little bit and he hooked it."
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Last edited by TigersForever on Wed Jul 27, 2011 1:22 am; edited 1 time in total
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Wed Jul 27, 2011 12:45 am
CHICAGO -- Justin Verlander hunched over after Paul Konerko's game-tying home run like he had been punched in the gut, but he survived, just as he did after Adam Dunn's two-run homer earlier.
The Tigers rewarded Verlander with an eighth-inning rally, capped by new Tiger Wilson Betemit's two-out single to score pinch-runner Andy Dirks for a 5-4 win over the White Sox on Tuesday night at U.S. Cellular Field.
It wasn't the Verlander gem that has wowed Tigers fans so often this season, not with four runs allowed over eight innings. At the end, however, it was classic Verlander (14-5), from the 100-mph fastball to strike out Konerko in their eighth-inning rematch to the curveball he dropped on the outside corner for his 125th pitch to fan Dunn and end the eighth.
With that, Verlander picked up his second win on this critical seven-game division road trip. The Tigers, meanwhile, clinched a winning trip and moved back to two games up on the Indians atop the American League Central. They dropped the White Sox to 4 1/2 games back.
It was a duel in completely contrasting styles. Chicago had just three hard hits off Verlander all night, but two of them cleared the fences, both times with a runner on base. Dunn's first home run since July 8 came after Verlander put him in an 0-2 count. Dunn fouled off three two-strike pitches to stay alive for a 97-mph fastball over the plate on a full-count delivery, then sent it deep to right field.
By contrast, the only extra-base hit of the night for the Tigers was a sixth-inning double from Betemit, and it didn't drive in a run. Twice, Tigers hitters led off innings with bunt singles. Both times, they scored. In the case of Brennan Boesch, the surprise bunt down the third-base line was the first of four straight singles in a three-run sixth that put Detroit in front.
Verlander took the mound with the lead in the bottom of the sixth, having retired 13 of 14 White Sox since Dunn's homer. But Alexei Ramirez's one-out single brought up Konerko as the potential tying run. Verlander put him in a 1-2 count, then left a curveball over the plate that Konerko lofted to left.
Verlander looked down in disbelief, but kept it at that.
Once Victor Martinez drew a leadoff walk in the eighth, the Tigers had their chance to give him the lead once more. Pinch-runner Andy Dirks stole second, but Jesse Crain retired Jhonny Peralta and Carlos Guillen. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen turned to lefty Matt Thornton against the switch-hitting Betemit, who worked out of an 0-2 hole to send a line drive through the middle, deep enough to score Dirks.
Verlander stayed on for the eighth, put the potential tying run on base by walking Ramirez, then got his revenge on Konerko and Dunn. Jose Valverde worked the ninth for his 27th save in as many chances.
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Wed Jul 27, 2011 11:59 pm
CHICAGO -- A day after the Tigers' offense gave Justin Verlander a second chance, Max Scherzer returned the favor. White Sox left-hander John Danks made sure it didn't convert.
For four consecutive innings, the Tigers put multiple runners on base, only to watch Danks and his nasty cutter strand them all. Tigers hitters walked back to the dugout shaking their heads, but Tigers baserunners weren't going anywhere.
And after a 2-1 loss to the White Sox on Wednesday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field, all Scherzer could do was tip his cap.
"We were hanging around," Scherzer said. "When the other team doesn't put you away, you're just hanging around, and you usually find a way to win that game. Lately, we've been able to do that. Even if we're down just a run or two, as long as we get good pitching, our offense is good enough where we can come back.
"That's what was happening today. We were hanging around, hanging around, except their guy was able to get us out today. So tip your hat to them."
They also will keep their eyes on them. The Tigers head back to Comerica Park still up two games in the American League Central over the Indians, who were no-hit by Angels right-hander Ervin Santana earlier in the day. Chicago's win, however, bumped the White Sox up to 3 1/2 games out.
To think in terms of road trips, the Tigers went 4-3, reinforcing their standing as the top team in the division. The approach the Tigers took at the plate in the finale of the trek, though, left their manager feeling a little empty, unlike the basepaths.
"I thought we overswung all day long," Jim Leyland said. "We had opportunity after opportunity. And Danks was tremendous, don't get me wrong. He had his cutter going really good. He was nasty and made a lot of nasty pitches. But at the same time, for some reason, I just thought we overswung. That was really disappointing.
"It was a great game. The only disappointing thing was we just didn't do a very good job of just taking what's there."
They committed to a decent approach toward that on Tuesday night against Jake Peavy and the White Sox bullpen, capped by Wilson Betemit's go-ahead hit off hard-throwing lefty Matt Thornton. Detroit had only one extra-base hit that whole game, but went 5-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
The only extra-base hit on Wednesday was also the lone RBI, and it was Austin Jackson driving in himself. His seventh-inning solo homer chased Danks from the game and put some new hope into Detroit's offense. But the White Sox bullpen set down Detroit's final nine hitters.
Their opportunities at rallies had come and gone over the previous four innings.
"We kept talking about it: Don't try to do too much," Leyland said. "But Danks was really good, too. His ball was darting. His cutter was real good, so you tip your hat to him. It's just that the thing that frustrates you a little bit is when you had opportunity after opportunity. If you take just one or two hits in that game, you might have three or four runs."
Danks tied a career high with 10 strikeouts, and nine of them came with runners on base. All but one were swings and misses. He induced 16 swinging strikes from Tigers hitters, his highest total in two years, and 10 came against the cutter.
One strikeout came from Ryan Raburn in probably the Tigers' best scoring opportunity in the third inning once singles from Carlos Guillen, Alex Avila and Jackson -- the last of them being Detroit's lone hit with runners in scoring position -- loaded the bases with one out. Raburn worked the count full in a nine-pitch at-bat, then swung and missed at a changeup. Magglio Ordonez grounded the next pitch to shortstop to end the threat.
Back-to-back walks to Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez began the threat anew leading off the fourth, but Danks struck out Jhonny Peralta, Guillen and Betemit.
Guillen and Betemit fanned on three pitches each, two cutters and a changeup.
"It's tough to pick up the movement," Guillen said of the cutter. "He kept it down. Tough day."
Cabrera smashed a line drive to center in the fifth, but Alejandro De Aza ran it down to strand runners on first and second.
Danks' final strikeout came on a called third strike to Avila, stranding two more runners in the sixth.
"I didn't feel like I had a clean inning after the first or second," Danks said, "and I guess I really didn't. I felt like I had good enough stuff to pitch out of it and there were plays made behind me that really helped."
While Jackson provided the lone Tigers run, the only damage off Scherzer was also a home run, but it was a two-run shot.
Scherzer (11-6) did his best to keep pace, but an 0-2 offspeed pitch to De Aza provided the deficit from which he never recovered. De Aza, called up Wednesday morning after Mark Teahen's trade to Toronto, sent it out in his first at-bat with the White Sox this season.
It was just the second homer ever off an 0-2 pitch from Scherzer.
"I made one mistake and it cost me," Scherzer said. "I hung an 0-2 changeup and he was able to lift it out of the ballpark, and that was the difference in the game. Aside from that, my stuff was pretty good."
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Thu Jul 28, 2011 7:14 pm
DETROIT -- Remember a day that you look back on in hindsight and think it went downhill from the moment you woke up? Welcome to the Tigers' world on Thursday.
It wasn't just the numbers from the 12-7 loss to the Angels. It was the incredulous look on hitting coach Lloyd McClendon's face in the Tigers' dugout when he threw up his arms at first-base umpire Jerry Layne, wondering how he could throw him out from across the infield, then realizing Layne had tossed manager Jim Leyland instead.
"I was totally confused on why I was tossed," Leyland said. "I did talk with Jerry Layne, and we cleared the issue all up."
It was the clear frustration in Brad Penny's body language as he shouted at his own catcher, Victor Martinez, following three straight hits to lead off the fourth inning. Then it was the look on Martinez's face at someone he caught in Boston two years ago and has caught well for much of this season.
"Me and Victor have been friends for a while now," Penny said, "and that happens when you're competing."
After all that, with Leyland and Penny in the clubhouse, the Tigers had a chance to pull ahead by the end of the fourth. But one more Angels rally, fueled in part by another battle with control for David Purcey, was too much for Detroit to overcome.
And that brought a look of exasperation from Purcey, who surely wants to do more than this with his first shot at a playoff race.
"[The] guys did an unbelievable job of getting us back in the game," Purcey said. "I let the team down today. There's no other way around it. I come in to do my job and just didn't get it done. That's the hardest part."
The Tigers don't very often return from a road trip to start a homestand with a day game.
Thursday was one of those days, literally and figuratively.
"When you have one like this, you turn the page and move forward," Leyland said.
Leyland was willing to turn the page on his fourth ejection of the season -- and second in three days -- after talking with Layne after the game. It wasn't a high-tension situation, he said, just him sticking up for Austin Jackson after a pitch that hit the center fielder on the hands, but was ruled a foul ball. He would have been crazy not to make a case, Leyland said, given the bruise on Jackson.
"Austin Jackson's got a bruise on his hand the size of a baseball," Leyland argued.
It was a key situation, with the chance to put a second runner on base for Brennan Boesch. Instead, Jackson was out in what turned out to be a one-run inning that began with two Tigers runners on with nobody out. Leyland was out, too, in a different sense.
At that point, the Tigers faced a 3-1 deficit, though Penny had the bottom half of the Angels order coming up in the fourth. Then came a Howard Kendrick single that deflected off Penny, then the first Major League triple for rookie slugger Mark Trumbo -- putting him halfway to the cycle -- followed by Peter Bourjos' second double of the afternoon.
"He was leaving the ball up in the zone," Martinez said. "When you pitch up, that's what happens. They don't miss any pitches up."
Out came Martinez to talk things over. Out came Penny's frustration.
"It had nothing to do with pitch selection or anything like that," Penny explained later. "With a runner on second, I like to come set taking signs. That way, the hitter can't look at second base and anything there. I've pitched my whole career that way, and [Martinez] didn't want me to do it."
It might have been a miscommunication, but Penny's frustration came out loud and clear. When McClendon came out to make a pitching change two batters later, Penny met him before he even got to the mound and handed him the ball. Penny gave up seven runs on nine hits over 3 1/3 innings, raising his ERA from 4.51 to 4.89.
Detroit still nearly survived, thanks to a four-run bottom half of the inning, fueled by Andy Dirks' two-run single and Jhonny Peralta's 100th RBI in a Tigers uniform on the one-year anniversary of his trade to Detroit. Chance Ruffin's two scoreless innings sent them into the seventh still down by just one run.
Purcey followed, but his struggles continued. After a single and two walks loaded the bases with nobody out and with a 2-0 count on Howard Kendrick, Purcey was pulled.
Add in his previous four outings, and Purcey has retired just six of 16 batters and walked eight. Leyland, who was watching Purcey's outing from the television set in his office, said he looked like he was aiming the ball. Purcey didn't use that term, but he said much the same.
"It's pretty much just trying too much to put the ball in one spot instead of just letting your body do what you've done for however long," Purcey said. "For me, I've been doing this for a long time. Instead of trying to throw the ball through the catcher, I'm trying to put the ball there instead, just trying to make a pitch instead of letting it happen."
It was a snowball effect, Purcey said, which was the only winter reference from what felt for the Tigers like a dog day of summer.
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Last edited by TigersForever on Sat Jul 30, 2011 12:08 am; edited 1 time in total
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Fri Jul 29, 2011 11:50 pm
DETROIT -- Let the speculation continue on the next Tigers starter. The midseason version of Rick Porcello might be the biggest July addition the team makes.
That doesn't mean team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski won't swing a trade by Sunday afternoon's 4 ET non-waiver Trade Deadline. But that smile on his face as he walked into the Tigers' clubhouse following Friday's 12-2 win over the Angels had a lot to do with one gifted arm already here.
Porcello is that different from his early-season form. And after eight innings of two-run ball, he's making that big of a difference on a team with some pitching questions after Justin Verlander. His 5-0 record and 3.06 ERA in July just provided one big answer.
"It's starting to come around a little bit," Porcello said. "Hopefully, we keep it going. It's at the right time. We're in a race here and every game means something, so we have to go out there as starters, push deep in games and give us a chance."
To Porcello, it wasn't that big of a difference pitching-wise. He felt like his pitches were better than his results, but the hitters were sitting on his sinker. His previous four outings were unpredictable at times, but effective.
On Friday, it largely didn't matter whether the Angels saw the sinker or slider coming. The way Porcello located, they couldn't do much with them.
"Their guy was dealing," said Howard Kendrick, whose fifth-inning run was the last of the night for the Halos. "He had his sinker going, and sinker guys aren't the easiest to hit. When he gets it down, there's not much anybody can do."
The Angels didn't see Porcello four weeks ago in Anaheim, so they couldn't compare much. But they had seen him four times in his brief career and beaten him up each time for a 7.40 ERA and 29 hits over 20 2/3 innings. He was a different pitcher Friday.
"That's the best we've seen him pitch," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Good angles, good movement, good slider. He pitched a terrific ballgame. He didn't let up at all. He changed speeds and pitched deep in the game."
He wasn't the only manager thinking that.
"It might be the best game I've seen him pitch since he's been in the big leagues," said Tigers skipper Jim Leyland. "I thought he was tremendous against a team that just bashed the ball around yesterday."
The Angels put up 12 runs against Brad Penny and Detroit's bullpen Thursday afternoon, and had two games of at least nine runs last week. But in some ways, despite the track record against Porcello, it was a lineup that gave him an opportunity.
Much of Porcello's challenges since last season have involved left-handed batters. Their .327 average against him going into Friday's outing was 96 points higher than that of right-handed hitters, along with a 197-point bump in OPS.
Most opponents have tried to stack their lineups with left-handed and switch hitters. The way the Angels' offense lines up, that's not something they have in abundance. Five of their nine hitters batted from the right side, including Kendrick, Mark Trumbo, Torii Hunter and speedy Peter Bourjos. Their middle of the order featured lefty Bobby Abreu at cleanup and switch-hitter Alberto Callaspo after him.
Porcello had the motivation to attack hitters with his sinker, and he had the location to make it hard for them to hit it.
"The location was definitely better on the fastball, and at the same time, I saw more right-handed hitters in this lineup today than I'd seen in a while," Porcello said. "Normally, I'm seeing six or seven lefties in the lineup. I think today they had five righties. That opens up the door to throw more sinkers. That's definitely a harder pitch for righties to hit than it is for lefties.
"Our game plan was to try to pound a lot of those guys in and throw some sliders. We were able to accomplish that, for the most part."
Sinkers and sliders accounted for 74 of Porcello's 102 pitches, according to data on brooksbaseball.net and MLB.com Gameday. Just as important, he threw 52 of them for strikes. He didn't get many swings and misses, but he didn't have to.
That aggressiveness, Leyland said, is the difference -- not just Friday night, but all month.
"I think he's just made up his mind to be aggressive and quit feeling and just throw the baseball," Leyland said. "His slider's better, his changeup's better and I think he's got an air of confidence now. I think there was a time earlier when he went out and wasn't sure if he expected to do good or not. Now he's been going out there consistently figuring he will do good."
That confidence came in handy Friday. The Angels' first swing was a big one, producing a Maicer Izturis home run on the second pitch of the game, but Porcello shrugged it off. The only other extra-base hit was Kendrick's fifth-inning double that set up the Angels' second run.
"When you're locating your pitches, you're getting confidence with those pitches," catcher Alex Avila said, "and you're able to mix it up and change speeds at any time in the count, because you have the confidence in all your pitches."
That confidence, Avila said, never disappeared. But with experience, it grew. The Tigers' confidence in him is blossoming.
This is the starter the Tigers hoped to develop when they called him up to the rotation two years ago at age 20. And no matter who they add before Sunday, this is one of the starters they need down the stretch.
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Sun Jul 31, 2011 1:10 am
DETROIT -- Tigers fans spent Friday night reading the trade rumors and wondering if Jacob Turner could land them a deal for Ubaldo Jimenez. They spent Saturday night feeling pretty glad to have Turner around.
Turner took the loss in Saturday's 5-1 decision to the Angels, but he also gave the fans a reminder why Tigers officials have clutched onto the lanky young right-hander for dear life.
For all the raves about Turner's maturity beyond his 20 years of age, there are certain moments that bring out the kid in him. Major League hitters, speedy Angels baserunners, scouting reports -- none of that could faze him. But the reaction he heard coming off the mound in the sixth inning, leaving after a one-out walk, got to him.
The sellout crowd of 40,753 got on its feet and cheered. Turner just tried to keep walking.
"Once they started cheering, I don't really know how to describe it," Turner said. "My body felt like it went numb. That was just kind of the highlight of my day, to be honest."
Turner gave Tigers fans plenty of highlights over 5 1/3 innings of three-hit, two-run ball. In the process, he gave them a sneak preview of coming attractions for the Tigers rotation.
"Some of you guys will be gone," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said to reporters before the game, "and I'll be gone, but he'll still be pitching here for a long time. He's that good."
The Tigers gave him a shot now, in just his second pro season out of high school, because their player development officials said he gave them the best chance to win out of all their possible options for Saturday's start. If not for another gem from Angels veteran Dan Haren or a wild relief outing from Phil Coke, Turner might have had a chance.
But as it was, Turner's outing gave them as good of a shot as they've had lately out of their fifth starter's slot, which hasn't garnered a victory for the Tigers since mid-June. Newly acquired Doug Fister will take over the role on Wednesday against the Rangers.
Turner's shot here was a one-time appearance. Whether he gave up no hits or 10 hits, Leyland said beforehand, he was headed to Triple-A Toledo after the game. Saturday's outing gave him some points to learn, notably about holding runners, but it also gave him a lot of things to look forward to.
"It was a dream come true," Turner said. "I definitely had jitters in the first inning, but I think that's to be expected. I think it ultimately went pretty well. I wish could have gone a little deeper in the game, but I got my pitch count up there early in the game. It was an awesome experience."
The five stolen bases the Angels racked up on Turner were the highest total ever for a Tigers pitcher in his Major League debut, according to research on baseball-reference.com; the highest total by any Major League pitcher in his debut since 1995, according to STATS, and the second-highest total by any Tigers pitcher since Jack Morris gave up six in a start in 1980.
Half of those steals came in one inning. Erick Aybar followed up his one-out single in the second by swiping second, then third without a throw. After Peter Bourjos drew a two-out walk, he stole second.
It was a difficult sequence to watch a young pitcher go through. But he left it scoreless by striking out Jeff Mathis on three pitches -- two called strikes on a fastball and curveball, then a breaking ball in the dirt that got Mathis swinging.
All three outs that inning came on strikeouts, all on offspeed pitches. In fact, Turner's six strikeouts were the second most by a Tigers pitcher in his Major League debut since 2000.
"Very impressive," said Angels rookie slugger Mark Trumbo, who fanned twice in as many chances against Turner. "He's got real good movement and a nice curveball to complement the fastball. He pitched like somebody a lot older than 20. He did a real good job. We got a last-minute scouting report, and the fact nobody's seen him didn't help."
The Angels didn't know he was pitching until Friday night, and none of their players had seen him, since their affiliates play in different leagues. They came up with video from his starts to get an idea what he looked like.
The in-person version obviously left an impression.
"He has a nice, loose arm," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He spins the ball well and has late life. He shows the makings of a good changeup for a kid of 20 out of Double-A. He has poise and command. You have to be excited about everything that kid did."
Turner stranded four runners in scoring position over his first three innings, then retired seven of eight batters. He didn't pay for a stolen base until Bourjos reached base in the fifth, swiped second and took off on Torii Hunter's two-out single to left.
"That's definitely something that I'll go back to the Minors and work on," Turner said. "Obviously, you can't have guys running around all day. So that was a little disappointing. But it's just one of those things that, when you're out there, you might forget about them for one pitch, and these guys are so good, they take advantage of it. It's one of those things that you can't take any pitch off, depending on where the runners are at."
Leyland wasn't going to let Turner get past 100 pitches, and with his pitch count at 97, Kendrick's walk chased him. The Angels pounced from there.
Still, Turner accomplished what the Tigers asked of him.
"He gave us every opportunity to win the game," Leyland said.
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Sun Jul 31, 2011 6:00 pm
By Jason Beck and Chris Vannini / MLB.com | 7/31/2011 8:09 PM ET BOX>
DETROIT -- The billboard over Interstate 75 leading downtown advertised Verlander-Weaver all weekend as if it were a heavyweight bout. There wasn't a fight on Sunday afternoon at Comerica Park, but it was arguably a knockout.
And while the Tigers' 3-2 win mattered more to Verlander than his no-hit bid that fell four outs short of etching his name more deeply into baseball history, he wasn't going to pretend that winning the duel didn't matter.
"I was definitely a little bit pumped up, once I got out there," Verlander said. "That was fun. It was a fun game. ... Really, I thought it might come down to one or two more swings, and hopefully, we were able to get those balls over the fence off him."
It was arguably the best pitchers' duel in Major League Baseball this season. At the very least, it was the nastiest.
It came down to two swings, both sending Weaver pitches over the fence, and both drawing an angry reaction from the Angels' 14-game winner. His reaction to the second one earned him an early exit.
By the time his retaliatory pitch over Alex Avila's head left him outlclassed, however, he had long since been outpitched.
Verlander already has one no-hitter this season, having blanked the Blue Jays in Toronto on May 7, and took another bid into the eighth inning last month against Cleveland. Neither of those, though, came under such a spotlight, opposite a similarly dominant pitcher.
All week, Verlander had played down the matchup. He doesn't face Weaver, he said; he just pitches in the same game. The conviction in his pitches from the opening delivery suggested otherwise.
Verlander didn't just retire the first 11 Angels he faced; he essentially toyed with them, striking out five and requiring only one moderately challenging play, with Carlos Guillen snaring Alberto Callaspo's ground ball up the middle. After Bobby Abreu's two-out walk in the fourth inning gave the Angels their first baserunner, Verlander recovered to retire the next eight batters.
Tigers fans, having grown accustomed to no-hit bids from their ace, grew louder with each inning. Once Verlander began locating offspeed pitches time and again, setting up a high fastball Angels hitters couldn't lay off, they knew something special was possible.
They didn't know it would be quite as unique as it turned out to be.
The first crushing shot in this duel came with two outs in the third inning, on one of the few mistake pitches Weaver made all day: a first-pitch breaking ball to Magglio Ordonez with Don Kelly on base. Ordonez turned and drove it down the left-field line toward the foul pole, waiting to see if it would stay fair.
The ball did stay fair for Ordonez's fourth home run of the year. Weaver, meanwhile, kept his eyes focused on Ordonez.
"I didn't see where the ball went," Weaver said. "But when you're standing up at the plate and do what he did, I don't agree with that."
Ordonez insisted he wasn't admiring.
"I don't hit many home runs," Ordonez said, "so I tried to make sure it was a home run. I didn't try to show him up. ... I was just making sure it was a fair ball, and I started running. He got mad because I stood at home plate and thought that I needed to run. That's how fast I run."
Weaver (14-5) retired 12 consecutive Tigers after that, striking out five of them. But as long as Verlander was matching him, there was no way to catch up.
That frustration seemed to linger with Weaver, who could be seen having words with Ordonez, once he flew out in the sixth, and Miguel Cabrera. Once Carlos Guillen pulled Weaver's one other mistake pitch 378 feet to right for his second home run of the year, the Tigers second baseman reveled in the revenge. He watched the home run land in the right-field seats, flipped his bat and stared out at a fuming Weaver.
"That's the first time I've done that," Guillen said. "I've never done that before like that. But the way he reacted to Magglio -- he's my teammate. We're a team."
Guillen had barely touched home plate when umpire Hunter Wendelstedt warned both dugouts about retaliation. Moments later, Weaver threw his next pitch over catcher Alex Avila's head and was immediately ejected, along with manager Mike Scioscia.
"I'm not one to go do like that," Weaver said. "But after what Guillen did, I thought that just kind of crossed the line a little bit. I'm not just going to go out there and take that. I'm a competitor. I'm not going out there trying to show anybody about up. Never have. And if that's way to play the game, then that's what it is."
That ended the duel, but it didn't end Verlander's no-hit bid. That lasted into the eighth, where hijinks continued.
Erick Aybar, known for bunt singles, laid down Verlander's first pitch to the third-base side of the mound, reaching base when Verlander's throw came in low. The scoring decision was an error, keeping the Angels hitless. After a botched fielder's choice allowed Aybar to score, Verlander still had it going. A second straight changeup to Maicer Izturis, however, led to an RBI single.
"A couple of fluke things happen," Verlander said, "and all of a sudden, you look back and the tying run's on second base with two outs, and somebody that's had a decent amount of success against you is at the plate. Right now, I'm just happy that I was able to make my pitches."
Verlander (15-5) stranded the tying run with a 101-mph fastball that struck out Torii Hunter, becoming the first Tigers pitcher since Joe Coleman in 1973 to notch 15 wins by August 1. Jose Valverde stranded the Angels' lone runner in the ninth for his 28th save.
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. Chris Vannini is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Wed Aug 03, 2011 12:39 am
DETROIT -- Brennan Boesch looked like he had the weight of the team on his shoulders around this time last year. As he watched his line drive clear the right-field fence Tuesday night, he looked like he could've flown around the bases.
"There's rare times as an athlete where things start to slow down a little bit," Boesch said, "and you kind of seize the moment, and I really felt like that was one of those times."
His go-ahead home run in the eighth inning off Mike Adams meant he could do an easy home-run trot through the driving rain at Comerica Park, having dug himself out of a two-strike hole. Once Jose Valverde followed it with three outs in the ninth, it meant the Tigers could breathe a sigh of relief with their 6-5 win over the Rangers.
They had a three-run lead in the eighth that felt like twice that with all the hits they recorded, but missed chances at add-on runs gave the Rangers a chance at a comeback, which they completed with two eighth-inning homers off their former teammate, Joaquin Benoit.
Boesch's solo shot in the bottom of the inning brought Detroit back. With the Indians and White Sox falling to defeat, it also pushed the Tigers further up in the American League Central. Their three-game lead over the Tribe is their biggest margin all year, while their 5 1/2-game gap over the White Sox is the biggest Chicago has faced since July 8.
It means Boesch's bash had a major impact around the Central. Just as important, it continued a season in which the second-year slugger has been less of a flash of lightning and more of a steady source of production.
After all that happened last year, that's what he has been looking to do.
"I'm just trying to be consistent," Boesch said. "I'm not trying to hit 50 home runs and do anything crazy. I just want to be consistent for this team."
If he can stay that way, the Tigers believe, he has a chance to be a lot more.
"If he lets himself," manager Jim Leyland said, "he has a chance to be a monster at some point, I think."
Boesch isn't interested in 2010, the stellar first half and the drop after the All-Star break. It isn't going to help him this year. He knows it, and he's moved on. His important message this year has been one word: Relax.
The publicity over that stellar first half last year is long gone, allowing him to settle in. He has become a much better hitter for contact, with 68 strikeouts in more than 400 plate appearances. He had a little bit of a slump after the All-Star break, a .230 second-half average entering Tuesday, but nothing by comparison to last year.
He went 5-for-15 over the four-game weekend series against the Angels, and he said he felt good about nearly every at-bat. That carried over.
"I felt like I was putting a good at-bat on some tough pitchers, and it kind of locked me in for today," Boesch said.
His evening was a decent sampling of his summer. His one-out walk in the opening inning off Texas starter Colby Lewis started a scoring chance that ended with a double play, one of three the Tigers hit into over the first five innings. His third-inning single was an easy ground ball through the middle, putting him on base to score on a head-first dive following Victor Martinez's hit.
Another ground-ball single through the middle led off the sixth before Boesch swiped second base, only to be stranded as Yoshinori Tateyama kept Detroit's lead at three. By the time Boesch came back up in the eighth, it was tied.
Adams arrived from San Diego with a 1.13 ERA and just 26 hits allowed over 48 innings. He had allowed just two home runs all season, and just five over the last three years combined.
All Boesch knew about him as he stepped to the plate with one out was what he saw on video before the game.
"I saw that he had a nice cutter, good cutter, tough cutter," Boesch said. "That was probably his pitch. I had a feeling that I might not get a pitch to pull because of the situation, and so he threw two good cutters away to get me down and 0-2.
"From there, it's just a battle, seeing the ball big and trying to just take anything he gives you -- a base hit the other way, whatever it takes to get on base from that point."
Boesch fouled off four straight pitches -- back-to-back sliders, another fastball, then a curve -- as he tried to extend the at-bat. He hadn't hit a home run after an 0-2 count this year, and had just two with two strikes, but he owned a .239 two-strike average that some hitters with more experience would love to claim.
"Things kind of slowed down," Boesch said. "I knew if I just laid off some tough pitches with two strikes that I'd get a pitch to hit, and I got a pitch to hit."
It was a changeup Adams left high, and it was enough to pull with authority. Boesch didn't miss.
"Boesch had a great at-bat," the Rangers' Michael Young said. "He fouled off some tough pitches and then hit the ball out of the ballpark. That was a great at-bat."
The at-bat ended in a no-doubt result. The line drive went out in a hurry through the rain. Boesch knew from the swing.
"It's just smooth," he said. "You don't feel anything. That's when you know you got it."
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Last edited by TigersForever on Thu Aug 04, 2011 1:19 am; edited 1 time in total
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Thu Aug 04, 2011 12:06 am
Fister, Valverde discuss win
08/04/11 - 01:04
8/3/11: Doug Fister and Jose Valverde talk about their performances in the Tigers' 5-4 win over the Rangers
DETROIT -- After Tuesday night's thrilling win, Victor Martinez told newcomers Doug Fister and David Pauley, "Welcome to the fun."
It didn't take long for more fun to arrive. Fister was solid in his Tigers debut, giving up three runs in seven innings, and Detroit held on for a 5-4 win over Texas at Comerica Park.
The win moved the Tigers to a season-high eight games over .500 and, coupled with the Indians' loss in Boston, gave them a season-high four-game lead in the American League Central.
"This is contagious," Fister said. "The way the guys handle themselves, the way the guys come to the ballpark early, get work done, that's the kind of situation I love being a part of."
Fister was excited for his debut since coming to the Tigers in Saturday's trade with the Mariners, but he was able to calm his nerves and hold off one of the top offenses in baseball -- and one that had past success against him. Fister had owned a 4.78 career ERA against Texas.
"I really liked his demeanor," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland. "The way he went after the hitters, stayed away from the middle of the plate for the most part. I really liked his presence on the mound, his demeanor. He did a real fine job for us. I'm tickled for him to get a win. I'm really happy for him and all the guys were."
It was Fister's first win since May 30, spanning 10 starts and seven losses. Jose Valverde, who remained perfect with his 30th save of the season, gave Fister the game ball afterward.
Fister struggled to pick up wins all season due to the lowest run support of any Major League starter. Despite that, Fister never lost focus and put up a respectable 3.33 ERA.
"It's not so much weighing on me at all," Fister said. "The focus is one pitch at a time, one game at a time. You can't control other than what you do and how you prepare and how you take your mentality to the mound."
An RBI single by Ryan Raburn opened the scoring in the second inning, and he came home one batter later when Alex Avila singled.
The Tigers extended the lead when Miguel Cabrera drove in Austin Jackson on a double in the third inning, giving Fister something he wasn't used to: a lead.
But Detroit lost a three-run lead for the second time in as many days. Although Fister could gameplan for a team he was used to, the Rangers were also familiar with him.
"It sometimes makes it tougher and sometimes makes it a little easier knowing what they're going to do, but they also know me," Fister said. "I just have to take the mindset that I'm going to attack them with my best stuff. If they get a hit, I tip my cap, if not, it's part of the game."
The biggest thing Fister had going for him was location. He threw 73 of his 99 pitches for strikes, including all 10 of his changeups and all five of his curveballs.
"Control is always the focus of my game," Fister said. "Using the defense, getting quick outs is the mentality that I take out there, trying to get everybody involved."
Unfortunately for Fister, that defense let him down a couple of times.
A fielding error by Wilson Betemit with two outs in the fourth scored a run for Texas. The Rangers tied the game in the fifth when the Tigers couldn't finish a double play, as shortstop Jhonny Peralta's throw to first was wild.
But it didn't affect Fister, something his new catcher noticed.
"Nothing really ever bothers him," Avila said. "He's just kind of focused on the hitter and doing what he has to do. When he was pitching in Seattle, he never let the lack of run support or anything affect him. He just went out there and pitched and did his job. Whatever happened, happened. To have a [3.29] ERA in the American League is pretty good."
Fister finished without recording any walks or strikeouts in seven innings. The only other pitcher to do that in at least seven innings this year was the Cardinals' Kyle Lohse on June 22. The last Tigers pitcher to do it was Justin Verlander on May 17, 2006.
Avila's solo home run in the bottom of the sixth gave the Tigers the lead and put Fister in line for the win. It was the third time this year Avila had a home run and a sacrifice bunt in the same game. Only the Angels' Bobby Abreu (four times) has done it more often.
"I just made a bad pitch," said Rangers starter Matt Harrison. "It's frustrating to do that after we had tied it."
Ryan Raburn, who went 3-for-4 on the day, added an insurance home run in the bottom of the eighth. That proved to be vital, as Valverde gave up a solo home run before picking up his 30th straight save to begin the season.
Then, Valverde gave Fister the game ball, officially welcoming him to the family as the Tigers push toward the playoffs.
"He gave me a big ol' hug and gave me that smile and said, 'Here it is,'" Fister said. "That's the kind of guys we have here. It's a great park to be a part of."
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Last edited by TigersForever on Sat Aug 06, 2011 2:49 am; edited 1 time in total
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Thu Aug 04, 2011 7:14 pm
DETROIT -- It may be August, but Brad Penny's arm felt like it was May.
The stat line didn't look great, but Penny and several Tigers agreed Thursday's 5-2 loss to the Rangers was perhaps the strongest Penny had looked this season.
"I thought Brad threw the ball outstanding," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "He really popped the ball well. He had a pretty lively fastball. He probably got a little fastball-happy, but he did a great job, threw the ball extremely well. [Rangers starter Alexi Ogando] was just too good for us today."
Penny's fastball was an average of 94.9 mph and topped out at 97.3. He had thrown with high velocity before Thursday, but the location was there this time. Penny threw 111 pitches, his third-highest total this year. He missed most of last season with the Cardinals due to an oblique injury.
"I felt good," Penny said. "That's where I was last year. It's taken me a while to feel stronger, but over the last few outings, I've started to feel a lot stronger than I have."
Unfortunately for Penny, the Rangers were able to find holes and get some bloop hits all day.
With runners on first and second in the second inning, the Rangers' Mitch Moreland grounded to first base and nearly into a triple play. Don Kelly stepped on first base, tagged Mike Napoli in a rundown and threw home, where Nelson Cruz was heading. But Victor Martinez couldn't handle the throw, allowing an unearned run to score on the error.
"I thought we had one," Leyland said of the near triple play. "It would have been a unique one, but it would have been a neat one."
The Rangers hit four straight singles to open up the fourth inning and finished with three runs in the frame.
"To be honest with you, I've been catching Brad for a while, and I don't remember [him having] this kind of a start that he [had] today," Martinez said. "The scoreboard really doesn't say, not even close, how well he pitched today. He had great stuff. His fastball was exploding pretty good with the curveball and slider. The change, split, everything was great."
Not only were an abundance of singles hurting the Tigers, so was Ogando, who picked up his third win against Detroit this season -- the first pitcher outside the American League Central to do that to the Tigers since the Angels' Ervin Santana in 2008.
Ogando allowed three runs in 21 innings against the Tigers this year.
"I feel like every time I've gone out there against them I've had good command of my fastball," Ogando said. "I felt I had good command out there today. I really focused on throwing strikes. You always try to avoid walks, but my concentration on throwing strikes was good today."
Ogando was lights out through six innings, allowing just four hits, two of them to Martinez, and not allowing a runner to get into scoring position.
"He's tough," Martinez said. "It's not just with us, he's been tough around the league. He's been showing that he can pitch."
Penny allowed another run in the top of the seventh when Josh Hamilton, who reached on a seeing-eye single, scored on a Michael Young triple -- the only extra-base hit of the 11 hits that Penny allowed. It was the 15th day game Penny has pitched this year, the most in the Majors.
The Tigers finally got to Ogando in the bottom of the seventh, scoring two runs on RBI singles from Wilson Betemit and Ryan Raburn. But four Rangers relievers, including newly acquired Koji Uehara and Mike Adams -- both of whom the Tigers had homered off earlier in the series -- shut down Detroit the rest of the way.
Penny has allowed at least four earned runs in four of his last five starts, but there was much more optimism following this one.
He has been working with pitching coach Jeff Jones on continuing his arm motion throughout the pitch. Penny said the pair noticed he was stopping his arm during the motion and forcing it to catch up. While the stat sheet didn't show it, Penny was very pleased with how he pitched.
"My line was a lot worse than I threw today," he said. "We want to win every game, but we did beat a good team two out of three. We've got to win series from here on out."
For the Tigers, a 4-3 homestand against two of the best teams in the American League was a positive sign heading into a nine-game road trip.
"We got beat by a good pitcher," Leyland said. "He was just better than we were today. There's not much you can say. We didn't play, bad, Penny didn't pitch bad, Ogando was just better today than we were."
Chris Vannini is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Last edited by TigersForever on Sat Aug 06, 2011 1:16 am; edited 1 time in total
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Sat Aug 06, 2011 12:53 am
KANSAS CITY -- Go ahead and tell the Tigers it's the first week of August, and maybe a little early to get wrapped up in a playoff race. They're ready now.
With a little less than eight weeks left, the American League Central race is on for them. It showed in the reactions after the 4-3 win against the Royals, a game the Tigers pulled out in 10 innings after a three-run lead vanished a few innings earlier.
They knew what it meant even before the Rangers came back against the Indians minutes later to force extra innings on their way to a win that stretched Detroit's division lead to four games. They were still watching on the televisions in the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium when the Rangers rallied.
"It doesn't mean anything for me. For the team, we need to win," said Daniel Schlereth, whose two scoreless innings rescued the Tigers' bullpen and set up his first win of the year. "I don't care about me getting the win or whatever. I knew if I strand that guy on second base, that we're going to win."
It was a big spot for Schlereth, who was just recalled from Triple-A Toledo little more than a week ago and now finds himself in big situations. It was a familiar spot for Brennan Boesch, whose 10th-inning single was his second go-ahead hit in four days.
"A win is a win," Boesch said. "Just take them whenever you can."
They're doing that lately, even in games like Friday that seem to be going against them. What had been a Rick Porcello shutout bid going into the bottom of the seventh became a tie game by inning's end thanks to five singles, four of them on the ground through the Tigers' infield, two of them off the bullpen. It became untied three innings later with a walk, a wild pitch and a bouncer through the middle.
"Guys played hard," manager Jim Leyland said. "They didn't give in. They came back, really got a nice win for us. Because that would've been a tough game [to lose].
"If you come in and lose 6-1 or something, you don't like it, but that happens. But if you let one like that get away, that's a tough one. I was proud of them. They hung in there and battled their tails off."
Between Kansas City and Arlington, it was a huge momentum shift late for two teams on the road before they meet next week in Cleveland. It turned back and forth in Kansas City first, and it turned with at least one unlikely figure in the center of it.
Wilson Betemit, a Royal just two weeks ago before being traded to the Tigers, became a part of the Royals' game-tying rally when Billy Butler's leadoff single skipped past him. Betemit came back to start the game-winning rally with a leadoff walk against Aaron Crow (3-3).
Austin Jackson's foul bunt and ensuing strikeout failed to advance pinch-runner Andy Dirks, but Crow's wild pitch did, putting Dirks in position to score unchallenged once Boesch sent a 1-0 pitch through the middle.
"As soon as the ball's on the other side of you, you're going to go," Dirks said. "But I'm busting it until I see Geno [third-base coach Gene Lamont] either hold me up or go."
It came three nights after Boesch's home run had powered the Tigers to another victory after a blown three-run lead, that one coming against the Rangers.
"Tomorrow, it'll be somebody else," Boesch said. "And the next day it'll be somebody else. Just glad to have the opportunity to do it."
So, too, was Schlereth, who couldn't have been expecting it once he was called up as a fresh arm a week ago. He became the bridge to closer Jose Valverde, or at least the guy who repaired it.
Back-to-back triples from Jackson and Boesch leading off the game, plus Alex Avila's third home run in as many games for him, earned the Tigers a 3-0 lead with Porcello rolling. He faced the minimum 12 batters through four innings with two singles, two double plays and four strikeouts, all on offspeed pitches.
Porcello kept going into the seventh before Butler's ball past Betemit and Eric Hosmer's grounder past Carlos Guillen. Rookie Johnny Giavotella's first Major League RBI put the Royals on the board and prompted Leyland to pull Porcello in favor of Phil Coke against Mike Moustakas, 3-for-42 at that point against left-handed pitching.
Moustakas answered with another RBI single, moving Giavotella to third. David Pauley put Alcides Escobar in an 0-2 count before a soft line drive fell in center field to tie the game.
"To get the game back to even was big," Royals manager Ned Yost said.
With Al Alburquerque held out after throwing or warming up for three straight days, Leyland turned to Schlereth, who retired the top of the Royals order with ease in the eighth. He nearly did the same in the ninth before walking Giavotella with two outs.
"First inning, my fastball was good," Schlereth said. "Second inning, I didn't have as great of a feel for it. My breaking ball I was throwing for strikes. That's my go-to when I need a big out."
Once he got to a full count against Moustakas, the curve was his go-to pitch again. Moustakas had hit a similar pitch against Coke, but swung and missed at one from Schlereth in the dirt.
"I knew if I strand that guy on second base, that we're going to win," Schlereth said. "I guess that was a big situation for me to get out of that jam, but you know what, I was confident that we were going to win if I got out of that inning."
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Last edited by TigersForever on Sun Aug 07, 2011 12:10 am; edited 1 time in total
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Sat Aug 06, 2011 11:38 pm
KANSAS CITY -- Alex Gordon sent Justin Verlander's first pitch of Saturday night 410 feet to center field. Austin Jackson went over the fence and brought it back. That looked like all the help Verlander would need to hold Detroit's early lead.
It ended up potentially being part of the difference in a 4-3 victory over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. So did a 98 mph fastball up and in that jammed Alcides Escobar in the seventh inning with the potential tying run in scoring position, the Royals having finally gotten to the ace that has tormented them for at least three years.
"He pitched a heckuva game," manager Jim Leyland said. "His pitches weren't bad. He was drained, obviously, when he came off. He was spent. But he had to up it a little bit in that inning. He was spent, but he pitched great."
The win maintained Detroit's four-game lead over Cleveland in the American League Central. It also moved Verlander (16-5) back into a tie for the Major League wins lead with Yankees ace CC Sabathia, who lost to the Red Sox earlier on Saturday.
Barring a change of heart, Verlander will get his shot at the Indians on Thursday night at Progressive Field. First, though, he had to handle a 92-degree first-pitch temperature with a triple-digit heat index at Kauffman Stadium. That ended up being a lot trickier than the early innings would've suggested.
Brennan Boesch and Magglio Ordonez walked and scored on hits from Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez in the opening inning to hand Verlander a 2-0 lead before he threw his first pitch. Once he did, Gordon belted it to straightaway center.
Neither Verlander nor Jackson initially thought the ball was carrying as far as it was.
"Off the bat, I didn't think it was hit all that well," Verlander said.
That explained the surprised look on Verlander's face as Jackson kept retreating towards the fence, setting up a leap if he needed it.
"At first, I didn't know if it was going to make it back there to the wall," Jackson said, "because it was hit so high. But it kept carrying, and I got back to the wall and got a good look at it and I was able to make the play. Once it started carrying out there, I had to time my steps right, and I knew where the wall was at."
It took a leap that reminded some of Curtis Granderson's leaping at the fence in Cleveland to help preserve a Verlander victory two years ago. Jackson jumped in a way that put his back to the fence to brace himself, yet still extended his left arm enough to get his glove and wrist over the top.
Gordon smiled in disbelief. The Tigers' dugout erupted in cheers, some raising their arms like Jackson had caught a touchdown.
"That was a big one," Leyland said. "That took a little sting out of them a little bit, right off the bat. When you've got a good pitcher like Verlander and it looks like you've got a home run to lead off the game, and somebody takes it away from you, that pumped [us] up a little bit, obviously."
Verlander looked out in gratitude, then went back to work.
"Obviously it was big, especially looking back on the game now," Verlander said afterwards.
For a good stretch, Verlander settled into his usual form -- not no-hit form, but close to it, allowing a single and a walk through four innings before Jeff Francoeur homered leading off the fifth. By then, Cabrera had doubled on a ball Francoeur nearly caught, then scored to tack on another run for a 3-1 lead.
Four straight comebackers in the seventh turned into a leadoff single, a sacrifice and back-to-back plays that advanced Alex Avila around to score for a 4-1 Tigers lead. By the bottom of the inning, that was the difference.
"They made it very interesting, obviously," Leyland said. "It's a scrappy team, a team that's been swinging the bats well, scored a bunch of runs the night before they came home. They're pretty good."
Time and again, Verlander went to his curveball for strikes through the middle innings, a big reason behind his eight strikeouts to move past Denny McLain into ninth place on the Tigers' all-time list. After Billy Butler grounded out for the first out of the seventh, though, the Royals seemingly started attacking fastballs.
Eric Hosmer fouled off his first-pitch fastball and centered the next for a single. Francoeur, who homered on a changeup his previous time up, also fouled off one fastball before sending the next into right field for a double. Ryan Raburn's overthrow to second allowed Hosmer to score, but the damage after that made that a moot point.
Jackson tried to step up again, running down a sinking liner in shallow center to rob Johnny Giavotella for the second out. He couldn't run down Brayan Pena's double to deep center, but he came awfully close.
Verlander pitched around Mike Moustakas, risking the go-ahead run at first, and fell behind Escobar. But a 98 mph fastball inside jammed Escobar into a pop-out behind home plate.
After Joaquin Benoit stranded a walk in the eighth, Jose Valverde worked the ninth for his 32nd save in as many chances this year, tying Willie Hernandez's single-season franchise record on a night when many might not have expected him to be needed.
"We battled as a group tonight," Francoeur said. "You go out there and we put up three runs on him. You'd think we'd be in the game, and we were, but we just came up short."
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
RememberTheBird Toledo Mud Hens (AAA)
Location : Too Far From Copa
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Sun Aug 07, 2011 10:03 pm
KANSAS CITY -- Bruce Chen's success against the Tigers the last two years has led some Detroit fans to wonder if something supernatural was happening. On Sunday, Mother Nature got in on the act.
"He changed speeds well today, and it was hard for us to get anything going," Austin Jackson said of Chen. "And when we did, then the rains came."
The severe storm that brought winds, lightning, heavy downpours and a little hail to Kauffman Stadium did what the Tigers have struggled to do: Knock Chen out of the game early. By that time, though, the Tigers were actually rallying against him. Once the Royals' bullpen held onto the 4-3 decision, denying Detroit a series sweep, Chen had his fourth win over the Tigers in five tries since last summer.
The Tigers had just their second loss in seven days, but they still had the series win in a three-game set in which every decision came down to a one-run difference. They'll take the series win on the road, and they'll give the compliments to Chen.
His splits are vast, from a .301 batting average allowed to left-handed hitters to an ERA nearly three runs lower in home games than away. But his success against Detroit is becoming consistent.
"Chen's a really good pitcher, not only today, but the couple times we've faced him," said Jhonny Peralta, now 2-for-18 lifetime against the veteran lefty. "He doesn't throw too hard, but he can move the ball any place he wants."
Location, Tigers players agreed, is his key.
"He definitely throws a lot of pitches. He pretty much throws all of them for strikes," said Jackson, 1-for-14 off Chen before his sixth-inning double.
He has done that against more teams than just the Tigers, manager Jim Leyland pointed out.
"He's been tough on a lot of people," Leyland said. "He's really learned the art of pitching. He's figured it out over the years how to use his equipment. He's different than he was as a young kid coming up with Atlanta, to his credit. He's learned the art of pitching, and you saw that today. That was a good performance."
Not only did Chen (6-5) retire 11 of Detroit's first 12 batters, he struck out five of them. Carlos Guillen's second-inning single and Miguel Cabrera's fourth-inning liner off the left-field fence were the only hits against Chen through five innings.
Cabrera's shot was the hardest hit ball off Chen all day, and it allowed Alex Gordon to retrieve the ball quickly and throw out Cabrera heading into second base.
"When you hit it that hard and you're not real fast, that's what can happen," Leyland said.
Once the Royals pulled ahead with a three-run fourth inning off Max Scherzer, Chen seemed ready to cruise. He entered the sixth inning with a 4-0 lead, but the Tigers suddenly slugged themselves back into the game with three consecutive doubles, capped by Jackson's line drive down the left-field line to score Andy Dirks and cut the deficit to 4-2.
By then, the storm clouds were already hovering over the park, and the winds were swirling. Water from the waterfalls was blowing into the Tigers' bullpen in right field, along with dirt. Jackson not only had to deal with Chen, but hot dog wrappers whipping around him.
"That was crazy," Jackson said. "I don't think I've ever seen that before. I stepped out at one point and one [hot dog wrapper] flew past my face."
He might have been the player to which Royals manager Ned Yost was referring.
"One guy swung through a napkin and got a hit," Yost joked.
Brennan Boesch followed Jackson to the plate as the potential tying run with none out when the downpour was set to begin. With a 2-0 count, the umpires called for the tarp, which the grounds crew put on the infield just in time.
"We were hoping to take advantage of those wind-like conditions there," Leyland joked, "and hoping that we could get maybe a couple more pitches in and Boesch might fly out to right field and it would've flown way out to right field [over the fence]. Because it was blowing like a gale."
Play resumed after a 46-minute rain delay, but Chen didn't. Cabrera's two-out double off Louis Coleman extended the rally, but Magglio Ordonez flew out to center field to end the threat.
The delay also closed the pitching line on Scherzer (11-7), who gave up four runs on six hits in five innings with strikeouts. Duane Below retired all seven batters he faced, striking out four, to keep the Tigers within a run. But the run never came.
Back-to-back one-out singles from Peralta and Avila nearly gave the Tigers a golden chance to tie the game in the seventh, but the Royals took advantage of another outfield assist -- this one a launch from right fielder Jeff Francoeur to third base -- to catch Peralta trying to create a sacrifice fly situation.
"I knew that he has a good arm," Peralta said, "but in that situation I need to try to go to third base. When I see that ball go to right field, my first reaction is to try to go to third base. He made a good throw."
Cabrera came up one more time after Ryan Raburn's two-out single continued the eighth inning, but Greg Holland put him in an 0-2 count en route to an inning-ending popout.
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Wed Aug 10, 2011 5:41 pm
By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 8/10/2011 3:59 AM ET BOX>
CLEVELAND -- The game was a 4-hour, 43-minute marathon, with a two-hour rain delay mixed in and a 14th-inning stretch for good measure. The ending was awfully familiar.
The Tigers have seen three Indians walk-off victories at Progressive Field this year, and many before that, but they hadn't seen a game like this to set it up. Eleven scoreless innings from the Tigers bullpen, including four perfect innings from Duane Below and two more from Joaquin Benoit, couldn't buy them enough time before the Indians pulled out a 3-2 win in 14 grueling frames at 1:52 a.m. ET.
"It was a battle," said Daniel Schlereth, whose two scoreless innings included an out at the plate on a squeeze-bunt attempt in the eighth. "Their bullpen's really good, and obviously, ours is good, too. It was kind of a bullpen battle, I guess you could say. We came out on the losing end tonight, but you know what, that's baseball. That happens."
The loss whittled Detroit's lead to three games over Cleveland atop the American League Central and four games over third-place Chicago, which has won five straight.
In the end, Detroit's bullpen wasn't beaten on a walk-off hit, but a walk-off hit-by-pitch from David Pauley -- the next-to-last reliever left in the bullpen -- with the bases loaded. Realistically, they were beaten on the other side, with 10 runners left on base and an 0-for-7 performance with runners in scoring position.
"Both bullpens did a tremendous job," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland, whose first game since his contract extension included overtime duty. "We just didn't get any big hits."
The way the game played out for two innings before the rain delay, that sounded highly unlikely. For as long as they sat, though, it might as well have been a different contest.
Two first-running runs off Doug Fister and two run-scoring groundouts from Don Kelly and Austin Jackson off Tribe starter Justin Masterson in the second inning left the game tied. After the final out of the second inning, umpires called for the tarp with heavy rains arriving, then circulating off Lake Erie.
A pair of downpours kept them waiting before finally resuming play around 9:45 p.m. ET. Both starters were finished.
From there, the game took a decidingly different tone -- set in large part by Below, who has retired all 22 batters he has faced since moving out of the Tigers' rotation and into the bullpen fewer than two weeks ago. A game that featured eight hits through two innings tacked on just nine hits over the final 12 frames.
The Indians' bullpen has drawn raves for much of the season, despite some second-half struggles. The Tigers' bullpen had been comparatively much-maligned, notably for its lack of depth. For most of the night, they were evenly matched, seemingly holding serve to put pressure on the other to do the same.
"There weren't a lot of chances on both sides," said Indians reliever Vinny Pestano. "We were just going back and forth and back and forth. This is the longest game I've been a part of, and it's certainly one of the most important, given the circumstances of playing the Tigers."
Two days after Below sent down all seven Royals he faced, he retired all 12 Indians batters. Schlereth retired his first four, three of them on called third strikes, before Jason Donald's pinch-hit double leading off the eighth broke up the no-hit bid, of sorts.
Ezequiel Carrera's groundout advanced Donald to third, but with a 1-1 count on Michael Brantley, Indians manager Manny Acta took a chance and signaled for a squeeze.
"I take full responsibility for it; I called for it," he said. "That lefty, Schlereth, was just eating up our left-handers. I took a gamble."
Brantley missed badly on Schlereth's curveball down and away, leaving Donald to be run down between third and home.
"Right when I saw him square, I kind of put a little extra on it just to make sure it was out of his reach," Schlereth said. "Worked out pretty well."
Phil Coke pushed aside his recent struggles and tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts. Al Alburquerque got five outs, fanning two. Benoit's season-high two innings included revenge against Carlos Santana, who beat him for a walk-off grand slam in April.
The Tigers had several missed scoring chances on their side, from runners at the corners with one out in the sixth to a Ramon Santiago pinch-hit bunt attempt that turned into a popout double play in the seventh. Detroit's leadoff batter reached base in seven of the final 10 innings, but advanced into scoring position just twice.
Even the defenses stayed awake. A diving catch from Jason Kipnis robbed Alex Avila of a single with a runner on in the 14th. A similar dive from Miguel Cabrera robbed Carrera in the 13th, as did a sliding catch from Brennan Boesch in the 12th.
Tigers relievers recorded 11 scoreless innings on two hits with three walks and 12 strikeouts. Indians relievers -- all of them, including two innings from final reliever Frank Herrmann -- tossed 12 scoreless on six hits and fanned 11.
"We just couldn't do anything with their bullpen," Leyland said.
Like Herrmann, Pauley had been waiting all night. Once he got his shot, he struck out Kipnis, but walked Asdrubal Cabrera on four pitches. Travis Hafner hit a sharp bouncer that skipped past second baseman Carlos Guillen and into center field to move Cabrera to third.
Pauley intentionally walked Santana to bring up Kosuke Fukudome. It almost worked once Fukudome fouled off back-to-back pitches to fall into a 1-2 count, setting up what Avila and Pauley hoped was the strikeout pitch.
"One of the reasons why we went in trying to get the strikeout there was because he was almost kind of changing and wasn't bailing out," Avila said. He was trying to stay in."
Said Pauley: "I was trying to make a pitch to kind of move him back off the plate a little bit, set up something away. It just went a little too far."
What was left of the crowd of 25,317 erupted in part elation, part relief. The Tigers, like they have two other times here this year, walked off.
"We're going to sleep on this and get rid of this game," Schlereth said. "We'll be back here ready to win tomorrow -- er, I'm sorry, later on today."
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
TigersForever Tiger All-Star
Location : Ohio
Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS Wed Aug 10, 2011 5:42 pm
RAIN DELAY GAMES ARE BAD FOR THE TIGERS!
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Subject: Re: 2011 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS
Sun Jul 10, 2011 7:31 pm
