2009 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS

Verlander has off night as Tigers fall
Right-hander allows five runs in just four innings

By B.J. Rains / MLB.com

06/16/09 10:52 PM ET
updated: 06/17/09 12:42 AM ET

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ST. LOUIS -- The last time Justin Verlander took the mound at Busch Stadium he gave up six hits and three walks in six innings and committed a crucial throwing error that led to two Cardinals runs as the Tigers lost the deciding game of the 2006 World Series.

Verlander and the Tigers had another rough night on Tuesday.

Playing their first game at Busch Stadium since losing to the Cardinals in five games in the 2006 World Series, the Tigers suffered a painful 11-2 loss in the series opener.

"It just wasn't our night," manager Jim Leyland said. "We weren't very good at anything we did tonight. Obviously, we're better than that.

"There weren't a lot of positives. That's just as simple as it is."

Verlander was off from the start -- giving up four runs in the first inning -- and was pulled after just four innings in his shortest start since Opening Day. The righty had been dominant of late, but gave up five earned runs on eight hits. He hadn't given up more than three earned runs in a start since April 22 at Los Angeles.

"He was gassed a little bit," Leyland said. "Right from the get-go, he just didn't have it. And that's allowed to happen. He's allowed to have that happen. He's a great pitcher having a great year and he's going to win a lot of games. That's the least of our issues."

The Tigers righty felt fatigued warming up in the bullpen before the game and then felt as tired as he could remember during a long 34-pitch first inning. The game-time temperature in St. Louis was only 80 degrees, but the high humidity seemed to take its toll on Verlander.

"I was exhausted," Verlander said. "I've never been like that before and I've pitched in some hot weather. I think just the humidity, I don't know what it was, but towards the end of the first inning, I was just gassed. And then at the end of the first, I had to come in and hit and then go right back out there. I couldn't get my legs underneath me. It was a weird feeling, I've never been like that before.

"I'm not blaming it on that, but I've never been like that out on the mound, almost out of breath and just tired."

The long first inning got going when Leyland ordered an intentional walk to Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols with a runner on second and one out. Chris Duncan followed with a single to load the bases and after a strikeout to Rick Ankiel, the Cardinals' Yadier Molina singled to right to score two runs and Joe Thurston followed with a two-run double of his own.

Just like that, Verlander had given up as many runs as he had in his past four starts combined.

"I'm not going to let Albert Pujols beat me," Leyland said. "I'm not going to pitch to him. He's the best hitter in baseball. He's the best player in baseball.

"If I have to come in and look at my team and say that I let Albert Pujols beat me, I think my players would be disappointed."

Whether the intentional walk to Pujols changed the complexion of the first inning is debatable, but the effect that the long first inning had on Verlander is not. The righty gave up hits in the next three innings and a run in the fourth before being pulled for a pinch-hitter in the top of the fifth.

"That first inning just drained me," Verlander said. "There was really nothing left after that. Especially not getting to rest after that and having to go out there and hit and then come right back out and pitch. When I came out, I usually jog to the baseline, but when I did that, I was already tired. I was like, 'You've got to be kidding me.'"

Lefty Nate Robertson, who gave up two earned runs in five innings and was the losing pitcher in Game 3 of the World Series at Busch Stadium, didn't retire any of the four hitters that he faced before being yanked in relief of Verlander in the fifth. All four eventually scored as the Cardinals built up a 9-0 lead at the end of five innings.

Ryan Perry was the next Detroit reliever, and he served up back-to-back home runs to Pujols and Chris Duncan once the game was already decided to make it 11-1.

Miguel Cabrera added a solo homer in the eighth and was on base three times.

Adding to the 2006 flashback was the St. Louis starter, Adam Wainwright, who struck out Brandon Inge to end the deciding Game 5 three years ago. He allowed one run in seven innings -- fittingly a solo shot to Inge.

His strong pitching performance did nothing to help awaken the struggling Tigers bats.

"He pitched great against us in the Series," Leyland said. "He's an outstanding pitcher and he pitched a very good ballgame. He has a nasty curve, he buckled a couple of guys tonight, so I tip my cap to him. But it hasn't mattered lately who has been pitching against us. We just haven't mustered much offense. Please emphasize, I'm not taking anything away from Wainwright, but I'm just speaking in general, our offense has not been good, no matter who we've been facing.

"We have some major issues going on, and we have to correct them."

B.J. Rains is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tigers fall despite Granderson's homers
Outfielder hits two solo shots as skid reaches four games

By B.J. Rains / MLB.com

06/18/09 12:53 AM ET

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ST. LOUIS -- Nothing seems to be working for manager Jim Leyland and the Detroit offense these days.

Leyland moved Curtis Granderson back to the leadoff spot for Wednesday night's game against the Cardinals and he responded by hitting two home runs. But both shots accounted for just two runs because nobody was on base. It all added up to a 4-3 loss at Busch Stadium.

The skipper tried a hit-and-run in the fourth and Adam Everett hit the ball up the middle for what would have been a sure hit. But because Brandon Inge was stealing second, Cardinals second baseman Skip Schumaker was moving to cover the bag and was in perfect position to field the ball, step on second base and throw to first for the inning-ending double play.

Magglio Ordonez, who is in a power drought, was dropped to fifth in the lineup and came up with two outs and the bases loaded in the third with a chance to give the Tigers the lead. But he grounded into a fielder's choice and the Cardinals escaped the jam.
That's the way it goes when you're struggling like the Tigers are, who scored three runs or less for the seventh straight game.

"When you get in a little funk like this, that's exactly what happens," Leyland said. "When you do get a chance, it seems like the guy who comes up is the guy that's in a funk. That's just the way it goes.

The Tigers scored 34 runs in a three-game sweep of Oakland from May 15-17, but have scored more than five runs just five times in 29 games since. The loss was their fourth one-run loss during that span in which they scored three runs or less.

"We seem to be stuck on [the] number three for whatever reason," Leyland said.

Edwin Jackson pitched well enough to win, but didn't get any help from the struggling offense. Jackson gave up three runs in six innings -- a solo blast to Yadier Molina in the second and two RBI hits by rookie Colby Rasmus -- and struck out seven.

But when the offense isn't scoring any runs, one mistake could be the difference in the game.

"Of course you know that," Jackson said. "But if you go out there thinking, 'If I make a mistake it's over.' You've already lost the battle. You have to go out there with the intent on keeping it close. I mean everybody knows when it's close that one mistake could win or lose a game, but you can't go out there with that on your mind."

The Tigers have now lost the first two games in the series with their two best hurlers, Justin Verlander and Jackson, on the mound. They will turn to rookie Rick Porcello on Thursday night to avoid the three-game sweep.

The list of possible reasons for the slumping offense is longer than the current homerless drought for Ordonez. The right-fielder hasn't homered since April 27 and has just three extra-base hits since May 25. Placido Polanco, who has hit .300 in four of the last five seasons, is hitting .260 and hasn't provided much else offensively.

Catcher Gerald Laird scored 11 runs in his first 14 games, but has just 13 runs in his last 42 games. Cabrera was six for his last 35 entering Wednesday's game and Carlos Guillen has been on the DL since May 5 with a bum shoulder.

The combination is a struggling offense in need of a breakout day at the plate to turn things around.

"We've been in one of those streaks where we have too many dead spots," said Leyland. "And when guys do get a hit, it's not doing much damage. You go through those and we just have to continue to fight our way through it.

"We're not hitting very much. When a guy's not hitting, he's not hitting. It doesn't matter whether you put him first, third, fifth, eighth, seventh, wherever."

But with all of the recent struggles that the Tigers are having at the plate, they still sit in first place in the American League Central and seem primed to take off once they finally get the bats going.

"There's no need to panic by any means," said Granderson. "Most, if not all of our offense is not hitting up to our capabilities and we're still in a very good situation in the American League Central. The fact that nobody has really gotten hot or put together a few games in a row where they are the guy you don't want to face is a good thing. Hopefully when we finally get a guy who can get hot, it will be at the time when we need them.

"We can't keep dancing and playing with the fire because that's not a good situation to be in, but we definitely don't need to panic by any means."

B.J. Rains is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tigers end skid with win over Cardinals
Porcello earns eighth victory; Offense wakes up

By Nate Latsch / Special to MLB.com

06/18/09 11:08 PM ET
UPDATED: 06/19/09 12:45 AM ET

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ST. LOUIS -- The Detroit Tigers struggled through their first two hot and humid nights at Busch Stadium, but were able to find a positive result and snap a four-game losing streak on their last night in town.

The Tigers broke out of an offensive funk with a four-run first inning, got solo home runs from second baseman Placido Polanco and left fielder Marcus Thames late and helped rookie hurler Rick Porcello pick up his eighth victory by defeating the Cardinals, 6-3, on Thursday night before a crowd of 41,323 at Busch Stadium.

"It was a real good win for us because we were probably ripe for the sweep to be honest with you," manager Jim Leyland said. "It was a long, tough, grueling trip. It would have been easy to say, let's get home, it's been a long trip. But I thought we really came out and played well, really busted our tails."

The Tigers improved to 35-31 on the season and finished the 11-game road trip through Chicago, Pittsburgh and St. Louis by salvaging their fifth victory.

"It certainly wasn't a great road trip," Leyland said. "It's not what you wanted, but it wasn't disastrous either and it could have been. I thought we came out OK."

The team now returns to Detroit for series against the Brewers and Cubs.

"It's been a long one," Thames said. "I was talking to one of my buddies today and I told him, 'Man, it seems like we've been on the road for a month.' It's one of those things you have to go through. It was hot. I talked to Porcello and he had hardly no energy after the fourth or fifth inning. It takes it out of you."

The Tigers jumped out to an early lead with four runs in the first inning against Cardinals right-hander Joel Pineiro (5-8).

Center fielder Curtis Granderson and Polanco opened the game with back-to-back singles. Granderson then scored when Cardinals third baseman Joe Thurston mishandled first baseman Miguel Cabrera's smash to third and Polanco scored on a groundout to third by Thames.

Cabrera scored on third baseman Brandon Inge's two-out single to right field and then Inge scored the fourth run on catcher Gerald Laird's double into the left-field corner.

"It was huge," Laird said of the four-run first. "We've been struggling with the bats for a while now."

The Cardinals got two runs back in the second inning off Porcello, with the help of three singles and an error.

After catcher Yadier Molina and Thurston led off the inning with consecutive singles, Laird fielded Pineiro's sacrifice bunt attempt and threw the ball past Inge at third base, which allowed Molina to score.

The next batter, shortstop Tyler Greene, hit a hard shot off the glove of Cabrera at first base, which allowed Thurston to score and was ruled an RBI single.

The Cardinals made it 4-3 with a run in the fifth inning after second baseman Skip Schumaker led off with a single and scored on first baseman Chris Duncan's RBI fielder's choice groundout.

The Tigers' offense struggled after that fast start -- Pineiro retired 16 consecutive batters at one point and 19 of the final 20 he faced -- but the Tigers' bullpen kept the Cardinals' bats at bay from there.

Porcello (8-4), who became the fifth American League pitcher to win eight games, lasted 5 2/3 innings and allowed three runs, one earned, on eight hits. The 20-year-old right-hander struck out three and walked two before being relieved by left-hander Bobby Seay.

"I thought I threw the ball OK," Porcello said. "I left a couple fastballs up and made it a little bit easier for them to get the bat on them and hit it hard somewhere. My changeup was good tonight. It bailed me out of a couple situations where it could have been a lot worse. Overall, our team did a great job and I thought I threw the ball OK."

Leyland said: "He's had a little trouble getting the ball down. With that good sinker, he's got to get it down a little bit better. But I will say this, I thought he had a great changeup tonight and that's very encouraging."

Seay got the final out of the six inning and then tossed a scoreless seventh.

The Tigers padded their lead with solo home runs from Polanco and Thames in the eighth inning off Cardinals reliever Jason Motte.

Polanco's homer into the visitors' bullpen was his second of the season. Thames' two-out home run, which was his third of the year, hit into the netting next to the foul pole in left field.

"I'm a fastball guy," Thames said. "It was out over the plate. I thought it was going to hook foul. I stood there for a while and was like, 'Stay true, stay true.' It gave us that cushion. It gave us a big run."

Right-hander Brandon Lyon followed up Seay's scoreless 1 1/3 innings with a scoreless eighth before giving way to closer Francisco Rodney for the ninth.

Rodney, who hadn't pitched since June 12 in Pittsburgh, walked three of the first four batters he faced, but then got Rick Ankiel to ground into a double play to end the game and secure his 13th save of the season.

"It's just been rough for us for the last week or two weeks or whatever," Thames said. "But we just talk to each other and we have to believe in each other and eventually it's going to come around. Everybody has a track record and we're too good of a team to not be doing as well as we should be doing. We just have to stick together and stay positive."

Nate Latsch is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

DETROIT 6, ST. LOUIS 3
Tigers respond to moves with win over Cardinals

FREE PRESS STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES • June 18, 2009

Placido Polanco and Marcus Thames each homered as the Tigers beat the Cardinals, 6-3, tonight in St. Louis.

In the ninth, Fernando Rodney walked the bases loaded, but not before getting Albert Pujols to fly out to left. He got Rick Ankiel to ground into a double play to end the game. Rodney recorded his 13th save of the season.

The Tigers scored four runs in the first inning off Joel Piñeiro. Curtis Granderson and Placido Polanco opened the game with singles and Miguel Cabrera reached on an error, which scored Granderson. Marcus Thames then grounded out to third, scoring Polanco. After Ryan Raburn struck out, Brandon Inge singled home Cabrera. Then, Gerald Laird doubled to score Inge.

The Cardinals followed with two runs in the second off of Rick Porcello. Yadier Molina and Joe Thurston both singled, and Piñeiro tried to bunt them over. But, Laird's throw to third was wide of third base, allowing Molina to score. Tyler Greene then reached on an infield single, scoring Thurston.

In the fifth, the Cardinals got the first two batters on base with singles by Skip Schumaker and Colby Rasmus. Ryan Ludwick bounced into fielder's choice to put runners at the corners and Chris Duncan's fielder's choice scored Schumaker.

Porcello (8-4) went 5 2/3 innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on eight hits and two walks while striking out three.

With a runner on first and two outs in the seventh, Joel Piñeiro (5-8) struck out Josh Anderson to end the inning, but Piñeiro seemed to injure his right leg. He was carried off the field. He gave up only one hit and struck out three after the first inning.

In the eighth, off of reliever Jason Motte, Polanco hit a solo homer to left with one out. Then with two outs, Thames homered to left.

When Porcello left the game, Bobby Seay gave up only one walk in 1 1/3 innings and Brandon Lyon yielded only a hit in the eighth.

Before the game, the Tigers announced that Magglio Ordoñez would be benched indefinitely and Dontrelle Willis (anxiety disorder) was would be placed on the disabled list, retroactive from Monday. Alfredo Figaro will be called up from Double-A Erie to take Willis' turn in the rotation, beginning Saturday against the Brewers at Comerica Park.

Notes: Cardinals manager Tony La Russa won his 100th game against the Tigers on Tuesday and is in triple figures against 16 teams, by far the most in major league history according to the Elias Sports Bureau. ...

Cardinals Hall of Famer Lou Brock attended the game on his 70th birthday. ...

Albert Pujols grounded out as a pinch hitter for hot-hitting rookie Colby Rasmus in the seventh and played first base the rest of the game and flied out in the ninth. La Russa wanted to get him a day off, plus he has a sore ankle. ...

Piñeiro is 6-2 with a 2.66 ERA against the Tigers, lowest against any AL opponent. ...

The homers by Polanco and Thames came in a span of three at-bats in the eighth off Cardinals rookie RHP Jason Motte, who has surrendered four homers in his last six appearances over 3 2/3 innings.

Thames helps Tigers rain down runs
DH goes deep twice in rain-shortened win over Brewers

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

06/20/09 12:18 AM ET
UPDATED: 06/20/09 1:44 AM ET

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DETROIT -- The first game in Major League history to have two home run-replay reviews became the first game of the year with four Tigers home runs. They'll be much happier if they can get some replays of the latter this summer.

Not since the final weekend of last season had the Tigers hit that many homers. Even when Detroit has hit well this year, it hasn't posted those dramatic power displays. The offensive outburst Friday -- two home runs from Marcus Thames, one each from Miguel Cabrera and Curtis Granderson, and another called back by replay -- came just in time to overpower the Brewers after Milwaukee took a three-run lead in the opening inning, sending Detroit to a 10-4 win in a game that was called due to rain with one out in the bottom of the seventh.

"Offensively, we've been struggling. We know that as a team," said Thames, who has homered three times in two nights since taking over in the cleanup spot behind Cabrera. "We have to rally around each other and try to pick each other up and try to get everybody going. Not one guy is going to carry us. It's going to take all 25 guys, and all the position players."

Long-term, that's true. But short-term, Thames has shown the impact his home runs can make, especially during that stretch of five straight games with a homer last June that helped power the Tigers back to the .500 mark.

This isn't nearly the same surge, but he's 12-for-36 with five homers in 13 games since coming off the disabled list.

"We were hoping that Marcus could come back and give us some thunder," Leyland said. "We know what he can do if he gets on one of his rolls. That was huge."

The instant impact of the home run, that huge momentum surge, was worth the wait Friday -- at least through the two hours and 42 minutes of delays that topped the two hours and 28 minutes it took to play through six-plus innings.

Prince Fielder gave Milwaukee a first-inning lead with his three-run homer off Tigers starter Armando Galarraga. Granderson led off the bottom of the inning with a single, then watched Brewers starter Braden Looper strike out Placido Polanco and Cabrera to halt any rally until Thames came up.

Looper started off Thames with a first-pitch fastball before trying back-to-back offspeed pitches. Thames fouled off the first one, but didn't miss the second.

"We didn't tie it up, but we at least marked," Leyland said. "We got on the board right after they scored. I always think that's very important. It's something we always try to eliminate ourselves, as all teams do."

The ball landed in the left-field seats. As it turned out, it was one of the few shots of the night that wasn't close.

The next time Cabrera came up in the third inning, he hit a line drive off the back wall in the left-field bullpen that was eventually ruled a game-tying solo shot off Brewers starter Braden Looper (5-4).

The ball was initially ruled a single off the fence before replays showed it had actually cleared the fence. An inning later, Dusty Ryan's loft off the top of the left-field fence was initially ruled a two-run homer before replays showed it was instead a double.

Because it wasn't a ground-rule shot, the umpires used their discretion and decided that Josh Anderson, who was on first and running on contact, would've scored on the play, tying the game. Adam Everett made the ruling moot and rekindled momentum by singling in Ryan two pitches later.

"Everett just got another huge hit," Leyland said. "That little single was a huge hit in this game. It doesn't look like much now because of Curtis and Marcus, but that was a huge hit."

Once Granderson launched his 17th home run of the season, the main question was whether the weather would allow them to get the outs to make the game official. They had to wait through two hours and three minutes of a rain delay to find out.

"We're all looking at the radar, trying to figure out when there's going to be a hole," Granderson said. "If we see one, we're getting ready to come out, and sure enough it closes on us. Definitely a little anxious trying to figure out what's going to go on the rest of the night."

While they were looking at the radar, Zach Miner was preparing to pitch. Even if the delay hadn't gone so long, Leyland said, he wasn't sure Galarraga could hold down Milwaukee's lineup if and when they restarted.

Enter Miner (4-1), who was passed over for the rotation opening but whose 2 1/3 scoreless innings continued his roll in relief.

"I wasn't in there messing around," Miner said. "I knew that if we started the game, I was going in. I was relaxed."

Another downpour in the bottom of the seventh followed Thames' second homer, essentially calling it a night. Still, the Tigers ended up in double digits. They've scored 16 runs the last two nights after going seven straight games with three runs or fewer.

"It was a long, tough night for everybody," Leyland said, "but a very rewarding night."

Jason Beck is a report for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tigers' rook gives Crew the hook
Figaro fans seven in beating Milwaukee for first career win

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

06/20/09 9:23 PM ET

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DETROIT -- Alfredo Figaro didn't need a coach or teammate to tell him what to think as he watched his first Major League changeup go deep off Ryan Braun's bat and over the left-field fence on Saturday.

"I said to myself, 'Welcome to the big leagues,'" Figaro said.

Figaro said it was a lesson. The offensive outburst supporting him provided more of the welcome. And after Fernando Rodney sealed the Tigers' 9-5 victory over the Brewers at Comerica Park, he saved the ball for his cousin, Figaro.

"He said, 'Good job, man,'" Figaro said. "He said, 'I know you can be here. I told you, you can be here. So be relaxed and you can take your spot. That's your spot.'"

The Tigers would no doubt like him to take the rotation spot that opened when Dontrelle Willis went on the disabled list, but they didn't know what to expect in Figaro's debut on Saturday. Detroit knew his stuff from Spring Training, but it didn't know what the results might be. So much of that depended on how Figaro would react to being in the big leagues.

Like Rodney, Figaro was relaxed. He didn't dominate, having allowed eight hits and two walks over his five innings, but he didn't wither under the pressure, either. By working in and out of trouble in his first few innings, he kept what shaped up to be an OK outing from being far worse.

"He did OK," manager Jim Leyland said. "He had pretty good control, but not real good command. He threw strikes without a lot of good location. But he did fine. He has an outstanding arm. I thought he handled himself very well for the first time."

Figaro came from Double-A Erie with four potential big league pitches and the track record for strikeouts, and he mixed in just about all of them early. He ramped up his fastball from the mid 90s up to 97 mph in the right counts, and he had an occasional nasty arsenal of offspeed pitches when he needed them.

Figaro went from a 96-mph fastball to an 86-mph slider in fanning Casey McGehee in the opening inning before he used back-to-back breaking balls to strand two runners with a popout from Corey Hart. Figaro got McGehee again swinging at a 97-mph heater in the second to strand runners at the corners for the second successive inning.

After Detroit's three-run second put Figaro ahead, up came Braun to lead off the third. When Figaro hung an offspeed pitch over the plate, Braun pounced.

Considering the warm weather and a steady breeze blowing out to left, it was not a good day to leave pitches up.

"That was my first changeup, and he hit a home run," Figaro said. "That's all right. That's baseball. Welcome to the big leagues. Then let me throw a little bit harder. No more changeups. You're going to see my slider. Hit it."

The fastball geared up, but he didn't overuse it. If anything, he seemed to settle in, even as the Brewers put more runners on base. J.J. Hardy's strikeout and Jody Gerut's popout stranded two more in the third inning after Braun's homer. Hardy struck out on a breaking ball again in the fifth after Mat Gamel's two-out triple.

"I thought he had real good poise," Leyland said, "and I thought he was able to tune it up a notch when he got in a little jam. He tuned it up to 97 [mph] a couple times. I was surprised, really, and I was surprised that he didn't just decide to go out and throw hard all the time.

"I thought he pitched. I thought he did a pretty good job."

The Brewers would agree.

"Good stuff, definitely. Really good stuff," Braun said. "He missed his spots a few times, but overall, he had good stuff. Better command of his fastball than his offspeed pitches, but you can see why he's pretty highly touted. He definitely has a chance to be pretty good."

Figaro was already going to get at least another start; that was decided when the Tigers called him up. Now, there's a curiosity to see how he reacts the second time around.

"It's all about talent," Leyland said. "It's not about age or service, veteran, rookie. It's not about that. It's about talent. It's about being able to get the job done."

Meanwhile, the same Detroit team that was held to three runs or fewer for seven straight games until last Thursday has now scored 25 runs over the past three days, all of them Tigers victories. Yet while Miguel Cabrera's second home run in as many days and Placido Polanco's solo shot continued Detroit's power resurgence, the bulk of the offense came on three-hit efforts from Don Kelly, Cabrera, Marcus Thames and Josh Anderson.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Verlander gets the win in pitching duel
Tigers' ace cruises to his eighth win of the season

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

06/21/09 3:27 PM ET
UPDATED: 06/21/09 5:49 PM ET

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The Tigers look a lot less now like a team trying to find a direction than when they got back into town Friday. Their sweep of the National League Central leaders took care of that.

Justin Verlander couldn't duplicate the no-hitter from his last meeting with the Milwaukee Brewers two years ago, but he did provide an exclamation point to a three-game series sweep. It took a tight pitchers' duel with Yovani Gallardo, but with 7 2/3 innings of two-run ball, Verlander silenced Milwaukee's offense and allowed Brandon Inge's three-run homer to stand as the difference in a 3-2 win.
Three days ago, the Tigers came home with major issues, mainly on the offensive end, facing a Brewers club that had just run up a lot of offense in Cleveland. Now, after outscoring Milwaukee by a 22-11 margin, they're looking like a team that has a chance to reverse that stretch.

"It was a big series, there's no doubt about it," said Verlander (8-3), whose eighth win in his past 11 starts moved him into a tie for the team lead with Rick Porcello. "But at the same time, I really look at the last couple weeks as being big weeks for us. I know we didn't play well, but at the same time, we didn't play well and we managed to squeak out some wins in tough games and stay in first place.

"Every team's going to go through a slump at some point in the season. Hopefully that was our one and only. To come back and be clicking on all cylinders in the first three games of this homestand is outstanding."

Sunday was a squeaker, but one in which the Tigers played sharp to simply stay in it. On a day when Gallardo's change of speeds gave Tigers hitters fits, Inge pounced when Gallardo left a bad one over the plate.

When Casey McGehee jumped on Verlander's first-pitch fastball for a solo homer two batters into the game, it was reminiscent of the way the Cardinals attacked Verlander early in his last outing Tuesday to knock him out after four innings.

Sunday was more of a mix for Verlander, changing speeds and using his breaking ball against an aggressive Brewers lineup. The result was six strikeouts from Milwaukee's first 19 hitters, and a heavy dose of ground-ball outs.
"My changeup was outstanding," Verlander said. "Best one I've had all year."

Verlander stranded runners in the second, third and fourth innings, but it was the fifth and sixth that proved crucial. By retiring the Brewers in order on 11 pitches in the fifth and just six in the sixth, he allowed himself to work into the eighth and keep the bullpen idle until the final four outs.

In doing so, he gave the Tigers a fighting chance against Gallardo.

"He was really good against an excellent hitting team," manager Jim Leyland said. "I thought [Gallardo] was one of the best I've seen in the four years I've been here."

Gallardo didn't allow a hit until Miguel Cabrera's ground-ball single off third baseman Mat Gamel to lead off the fourth. Detroit didn't put a runner in scoring position until Gerald Laird and Adam Everett hit back-to-back singles with two outs in the fifth.

Gallardo escaped that threat with a flyout from Curtis Granderson, but Cabrera's single his next time up started the Tigers on another potential rally with one out in the sixth. Marcus Thames nearly put Detroit in front, but his drive died in Mike Cameron's glove just in front of the fence in left-center field, the deepest part of the park.

Don Kelly's ensuing ground ball through the middle extended the inning for Inge, who was ready for something offspeed. When Gallardo (7-4) hung a 1-1 breaking ball, Inge pounced, sending it into the left-field seats.

"It stinks. I made one mistake the whole game, and it cost us the game," Gallardo said. "I felt pretty good out there. Just that one pitch up in the zone. He took advantage of it."

Considering it was Inge's 16th home run of the year, it's easy to forget that it was the kind of pitch Inge wouldn't have hit well last year. Instead of fouling it off, Inge kept it fair and hit it deep.

"I was trying to stick to a plan all day, and I really didn't see very many [breaking balls]," Inge said. "The ones that start up, you kind of recognize a little earlier. He threw it where I could see it. I'm sure he didn't want to throw it there. He pitched well, he really did. I was impressed with him."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW Raburn's walk-off blast


Tigers win fifth straight on walk-off homer
Raburn comes through with pinch-hit, two-run shot in ninth

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

06/23/09 9:50 PM ET
UPDATED: 06/23/09 11:15 PM ET

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DETROIT -- Ryan Raburn had never hit a walk-off home run, not in the big leagues, Minors, college -- even high school. But then, the last time the Tigers had one like this, Alan Trammell was still playing for them.

What had been a pitchers' duel between Edwin Jackson and Carlos Zambrano on Tuesday at Comerica Park suddenly broke into a game of dueling go-ahead homers -- Brandon Inge in the seventh then Micah Hoffpauir in the eighth. And as Ryan Raburn stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth against Cubs closer Kevin Gregg with Don Kelly on first, he had a chance to turn the game again.

Still, not even he was thinking about a no-doubt walk-off shot, a 5-4 Tigers victory and a mass of players at home plate waiting to "beat the crap out of him," as Inge put it.

"That's the first one I've ever done," Raburn said. "I'm usually at the other end of those."

He isn't usually called on for those heroics at the end of a game against a right-handed closer, for that matter. But then, plenty of this game went against expectations.

Jackson loaded the bases three batters into the game, escaped the jam with a lone run allowed then held the Cubs to one run for his next six innings. Zambrano gave up a Placido Polanco RBI triple two batters into the game, stranded Polanco at third and went on to retire 17 of the next 20 Tigers.

"That's what good pitchers do," catcher Gerald Laird said. "They get into trouble, and they know how to get out of it."

The way Zambrano was pitching, it took a hit-by-pitch to Kelly to start a rally in the seventh, then a high fastball for Inge to hit his second go-ahead homer in as many nights. But then, on a night when Joel Zumaya hit 103 mph on MLB.com's Gameday and 104 on the television radar readings, it took an 85-mph changeup -- a pitch Zumaya shook off Laird three times to get -- for him to yield Hoffpauir's blast.

"It got to the point where I started to see the hitters get real jumpy," Zumaya said. "Gerald wanted a fastball away, and I shook him off."

With the bottom of the Tigers' order coming up and Gregg coming in on a dominant stretch, that should've been it. But once Kelly worked his way on again, this time with a nine-pitch battle that ended with a leadoff walk, the Tigers had another shot.

Inge had the first chance, but Gregg induced a popout to second base for the first out. With Josh Anderson coming up, manager Jim Leyland went with an idea and brought in Raburn, 4-for-22 in his big league career as a pinch-hitter.

"I thought right-handed hitters had a little better chance against [Gregg] than left-handed hitters," Leyland said. "The numbers show [that]. We felt like he throws the slider a little bit more to right-handers, and if he happened to hang one, he might be able to jump one. And we caught a big break."

Raburn wasn't looking for the slider specifically, but he was ready when he got it.

"I was just looking for a good pitch to hit," he said.

His 403-foot drive to left-center set off a celebration, not to mention history. The last pinch-hit, walk-off homer by a Tigers player came from Lou Whitaker, whose three-run shot off White Sox closer Roberto Hernandez sent Detroit to a 7-5 win on Aug. 23, 1995.

Trammell was the runner on third base when Whitaker delivered his dramatic homer. He was the Cubs' bench coach for the blast by Raburn, who is one of the Tigers that Trammell managed in his big league debut, back in 2004.

Like Kelly, Raburn is also one of the Tigers who began this season at Triple-A Toledo before getting his chance.

"I'm happy for those guys," Leyland said. "They're not in the limelight every day. They don't get the recognition they deserve. Very few times is the camera talking to them after a game. I like stuff like that. To me, that's great stuff."

It was certainly stuff that Raburn appreciated. So did Kelly, who had been involved in some walk-off celebrations before.

"Not like that," he said. "That was unbelievable. Just being on for that was awesome."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tigers escape with sixth straight victory
Everett hits clutch decisive single; Rodney walks tightrope

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

06/24/09 10:25 PM ET
updated: 06/25/09 12:06 AM ET

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DETROIT -- The fireworks over the Detroit River burst out over the downtown skyline beyond center field at Comerica Park. The fireworks in the ballpark never quite seemed to develop, though not for lack of opportunity.

Fittingly, the grand finale was in full display as Tigers closer Fernando Rodney finished off Kosuke Fukudome on a full-count high changeup, wrapping up Wednesday's 5-3 win over the Cubs. He was the potential winning run at the plate, as was Jake Fox before him, and Milton Bradley two batters earlier.

Rodney again escaped a ninth-inning jam, saving some of his better pitches for when he absolutely needed them to go 15-for-15 in save chances. It wasn't smooth, but with 14 walks combined between the two clubs, neither were the previous eight innings.

The Tigers and Cubs combined to go 3-for-24 with runners in scoring position and stranded 24 runners on base. But Detroit not only drew two bases-loaded walks from Chicago relievers, it came up with arguably the one deciding clutch hit of the game -- fittingly, an Adam Everett infield single just far enough away that third baseman Fox couldn't recover in time for a play after his diving stop.

It wasn't always a pretty win, but with six straight wins, clutch plays are turning their way.

"We did a good job and we won the game," manager Jim Leyland said. "We made some big pitches when we had to. But we can't give them that many opportunities."

The way Rick Porcello has been rolling at times this season, it's easy to forget that he's still a 20-year-old pitcher finding his game and learning how to adjust at the Major League level, pitching every fifth game. It says something about his season, then, that his four walks Wednesday were enough for a career high.

His two double plays weren't a season high, but they both proved critical.

After a Micah Hoffpauir single and Milton Bradley walk put two on with nobody out in the second, Porcello nearly escaped the entire threat on one Fox grounder thanks to Brandon Inge.

He fielded the ball and dashed to third for the first out. Then instead of firing across the infield to first, he made a leaping turn and throw to second to force out Bradley. Only a step or two by Fox prevented a ground-ball triple play.

"It would've been one of a kind," said Inge, who admitted he's dreamed about that play. "It never really works out. I mean, you really have to have the stars aligned for that one."

For Tigers pitching, they almost seemed to be. An inning later, a fielder's choice at third and a more traditional twin-killing allowed Porcello to overcome a leadoff double.

"I think the biggest thing was just to keep us in the game, give us a chance," Porcello said.

So did some of the pitchers who followed him. After a walk and two singles off Porcello and Nate Robertson gave the Cubs a bases-loaded, no-out chance for the second straight night, the Tigers limited the damage to one run again thanks to Zach Miner, who retired the side in order. A bases-loaded, one-out chance in the seventh allowed Fox to tie the game with a sacrifice fly off Brandon Lyon, but nothing more.

Joel Zumaya, one night after giving up a go-ahead homer on a changeup, erased a two-out single in the eighth with a shrewder mix of pitches, capped with a 102-mph fastball to fan Ryan Theriot.

"There were a lot of runners that we left on and they left on," said catcher Gerald Laird, "but sheesh, we definitely made pitches we needed to keep us in the game."

Laird hit one of two Tigers solo homers off Cubs starter Rich Harden, against whom he was 0-for-7 for his career. From there on, it was all about run production.

Everett's sixth-inning single improved him to 6-for-11 with eight RBIs this season when there's a runner on third and two outs. Curtis Granderson followed by drawing a full-count pass off Aaron Heilman, which Miguel Cabrera repeated in the eighth off Sean Marshall.

The fireworks had just started at that point. They were roaring by the time Rodney took the mound in the ninth. He didn't give up anything nearly as explosive, but after leading off the ninth with a four-pitch walk of Derrek Lee, he drew a fiery mound visit from Leyland.

"I told Rodney, 'Come on, you're better than this,'" Leyland said. "'You're just throwing it and falling off the mound. You're got to drive right to the hitter.'"

Hoffpauir hit a 97-mph Rodney fastball for a single to put the tying run on base before Rodney fanned Bradley. Fox took Granderson deep to right-center to corral his fly ball, then Rodney finished off Fukudome.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

DETROIT 5, CHICAGO 3
Tigers 'relieved' to get 6th straight win

FREE PRESS STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES • June 24, 2009

Miguel Cabrera and Gerald Laird homered as the Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-3, for their sixth straight win tonight at Comerica Park. Zach Miner (5-1) earned the win out of the bullpen as nearly every reliever worked for the Tigers.

Rookie Rick Porcello allowed two runs and seven hits. He walked four in five-plus innings.

“I thought I did OK, battled out of some jams early,” said the 20-year-old Porcello. “I think the biggest thing was just to keep us in the game and give us a chance.”

Rich Harden (4-4) took the loss, giving up four runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings.

“It was an ugly game and I was unhappy with my performance,” he said. “That’s all I have to say.”

In the bottom of the sixth, the Tigers took the lead. Marcus Thames walked to lead things off, followed by a one-out walk to Brandon Inge. Aaron Heilman then relieved Rich Harden. Magglio Ordoñez then singled to right to load the bases. With two outs, Adam Everett's infield single to third base scored Thames and a walk to Curtis Granderson scored Inge.

In the Cubs' next at bat, Zach Miner walked Ryan Theriot and gave up a single to Derrek Lee. Bobby Seay came in to face the left-handed-hitting Micah Hoffpauir, who lined out to center. Brandon Lyon then entered the game and walked Milton Bradley. Jake Fox then hit a sacrifice fly to score Theriot, but got Kosuke Fukudome to ground out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Tigers tacked on another run with a bases-loaded walk to Miguel Cabrera.

Rodney entered the game in the ninth and put the first two hitters on (Lee with a walk, Hoffpaiur with a single), but struck out Bradley, got Fox to line out to center and struck out Fukudome to get his 15th save of the season.

“Rodney was real wild to start, and that’s not good,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “He did a great job getting out of it, though.”

Cabrera homered in the fourth inning and Laird in the fifth. In between those solo shots, Soto homered for the Cubs.

“Thank god we’re going to get them out of here before their bats get going, because they will,” said Leyland. “We let them have way too many opportunities tonight.”

In the top of the sixth, Porcello walked Bradley and gave up a single to Jake Fox. Porcello was relieved by Nate Robertson, who gave up a single to Fukudome to load the bases. Miner then entered the game and struck out Geovany Soto but got Mark Fontenot to ground out to second, which scored Bradley. Alphonso Soriano then flied out to center to end the inning.

Galarraga snaps winless skid vs. Cubs
Right-hander's solid outing earns him first win since April

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

06/25/09 5:45 PM ET

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DETROIT -- Magglio Ordonez had gone almost as long without a home run as Armando Galarraga had gone without a win.

Given their recent histories, both streaks were pretty tough to fathom. Both are now over after Detroit's 6-5 victory over the Cubs Thursday afternoon at Comerica Park. The Tigers' winning streak, on the other hand, rolls on.

Detroit has won seven straight games, including a 6-0 homestand over two of the National League Central contenders. Its 23-11 record at home now ranks third-best in baseball behind just the Red Sox and Dodgers. Its once moribund offense is now showing signs of breaking out with efforts from big names such as Miguel Cabrera, less recognizable ones such as Ryan Raburn, and previously dormant bats such as Ordonez.

And after Galarraga snatched a victory out of what had the makings of another disastrous loss, the Tigers' top-heavy pitching rotation now looks ready for a more balanced run.

"I have a plan again," said Galarraga, whose previous outings often seemed to run off script quickly.

Galarraga (4-7) was 3-0 in April, but was battling his control through the opening inning. Once May rolled around, it was a losing fight and a losing stretch, leading to an 0-7 record over his next 10 outings. Opponents, meanwhile, had batted .368 over Galarraga's previous seven outings with a 1.079 OPS, including nine home runs over 32 2/3 innings in that span.

As University of Michigan product Jake Fox's drive went deep to left-center for his first Major League home run, a three-run shot in the opening inning on Thursday, confidence in Galarraga would've been hard to come by, including maybe from Galarraga himself. But as he made his way back into the dugout following a strikeout of Mike Fontenot, he got a round of support from his teammates.

"I give up a home run, and the other guys are saying, 'Let's go, let's go, keep it right there,'" Galarraga said.

It was a reminder to him to not give up. He's a perfectionist when it comes to his pitching, so early damage can quickly get him down, such as his two-inning outing in Pittsburgh two starts earlier. He had to avoid the inclination to pitch away from contact, even if some of that contact was hard.

"I'm trying to compete," Galarraga said. "Baseball's all about trying to compete, no matter what. When you struggle, you go compete. It's important."

Galarraga came out for the second inning and fell behind on a 3-0 count to Kosuke Fukudome, but retired him on a comebacker for the first out on his way to retiring the Cubs in order. An Alfonso Soriano bloop single leading off the third inning was quickly nullified when Soriano strayed too far on Derrek Lee's drive deep to left that Raburn corralled at the fence.

He nearly escaped the fourth without a run until Fukudome tripled to the gap in right-center field, but he regrouped to strike out Koyie Hill and prevent the inning from falling apart on him.

Galarraga retired seven of his final eight batters, starting with that strikeout. His slider got a little sharper, he said, and his sinker grew more effective. He threw the same pitches at different speeds, trying to disrupt hitters' timing, and got a confidence boost.

"It feels really good, because the last couple innings, I felt like I'm pitching," he said. "I have a plan again. They're swinging at pitches I want to be a ball. I've been playing with my fastball, playing with my slider, not just throwing hard, hard, hard, hard."

Galarraga finished allowing four runs on six hits over six innings, walking one and striking out five. Those last couple innings, not coincidentally, he had a lead to protect.

Cabrera nearly powered a run back on the board for Galarraga in the opening inning, but his drive to deep right field was ruled a double off the fence. Replays suggested that it had actually hit off the railing above the fence, and should've been a homer.

Manager Jim Leyland apologized to Cabrera later for not arguing the call.

"I didn't see it hit the railing," Leyland said. "I thought it hit the crease [between the railing and the fence]. But I'm 64 years old. My eyes aren't that good. One guy told me he looked at five replays before [he thought] it was definitely a home run."

The rest of Detroit's offense rendered it moot. Ramon Santiago's fifth home run of the year, a two-run shot, opened Detroit's scoring in the third inning before back-to-back doubles from Marcus Thames and Raburn propelled the go-ahead rally an inning later.

Cubs starter Ted Lilly retired Brandon Inge and put Ordonez in an 0-2 hole before trying to put him away with a curveball. Ordonez reached for it and pulled it deep to left. His third homer of the season was his first since April 27, ending the longest homerless stretch of his career.

Another Raburn RBI, this one on a two-out single in the fifth, provided what ended up being a critical insurance run once Micah Hoffpauir homered off Fernando Rodney in the ninth. His strikeout of Geovany Soto wrapped up not only his 16th save in as many tries, but Galarraga's first win since April 26.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

DETROIT 6, CHICAGO CUBS 5
Magglio Ordonez hits go-ahead homer in Tigers' victory

BY LARRY LAGE • AP Sports Writer • June 25, 2009

Maybe the slump was in his hair.

Magglio Ordonez ended a career-long drought without a homer by connecting on a go-ahead shot, leading the Detroit Tigers over the Chicago Cubs, 6-5, today for their seventh straight victory.

“It was huge for us,” Detroit manager Jim Leyland said.

It had to be big for Ordonez, too, but the quiet player didn’t talk to reporters after ending his 40-game skid without a homer.

Ordonez had two hits Wednesday night in his first game since cutting his flowing locks, which are now being auctioned on eBay for charity.

“If I had hair like that, I’d still be single,” Leyland joked.

The six-time All-Star and 2007 AL batting champion was benched for almost a week before going hitless Tuesday in the series opener against the Cubs.

Ordonez, whose two-run homer was in the fourth, bounced back with three hits in two games and is batting .274 with three homers and 24 RBIs.

“I know Magglio. I know what he can do,” Miguel Cabrera said about his teammate and fellow Venezuelan. “I know how hard he works. I don’t worry about him.”

The AL Central leaders closed a road trip by beating St. Louis and swept a pair of three-game series against Chicago and Milwaukee to match their longest winning streak of the season.

The Tigers are 23-11 at Comerica Park for their best 34-game mark in Detroit since the 1984 world championship team had the same start at home.

“We’re playing pretty good, but it’s June 25th, so I’m not getting excited about that,” Leyland said.

Armando Galarraga (4-7) gave up four runs over six innings and won for the first time since April 26, ending a career-long, seven-game losing skid.

Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth to earn his 16th save in as many chances, extending the longest streak by a Detroit pitcher since Todd Jones saved 19 straight games in 2006.

Rodney, though, made it interesting by giving up a leadoff homer to Micah Hoffpauir to cut Detroit’s lead to one and allowing a two-out double to Kosuke Fukudome. Rodney struck out pinch-hitter Geovany Soto to end it.

“I feel comfortable because I’m getting a chance to be the closer,” Rodney said.

Ted Lilly (7-5) allowed six runs and 10 hits — matching a career high — in six innings and lost for the first time in a month. He gave up homers to Ordonez and Ramon Santiago.

“They hit some home runs, and when Ted isn’t pitching well, that’s usually his bugaboo,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said.

Chicago’s Jake Fox (Michigan) hit his first homer in the majors, a three-run shot in the first, in his 23rd career game.

“That’s going to my dad,” Fox said of the keepsake. “It was great to get my first one out of the way. I think I was pressing a little in order to get one. That’s probably why I had a big day after I hit it.”

Fox finished with a career-high three hits.

“It was refreshing to see Fox go up there and powder the ball,” Piniella said. “We need more of that.”

Notes: Soto says he is embarrassed after testing positive for marijuana at this year’s World Baseball Classic. ... Ordonez, who hadn’t homered since April 27, went 32 games without clearing the fences last season. ... The Cubs took OF Milton Bradley out of the lineup, but Piniella said “call it a day off,” seemingly to play down the decision. ... Cubs INF Aaron Miles (elbow) was injured in a batting cage and will be evaluated Friday. ... Galarraga has given up a homer in 11 straight games, the longest streak by a Detroit starter since Bill Gullickson in 1994. ... Santiago’s first home from the right side of the plate gave him five overall this season, setting a career high.

Detroit denied eighth straight win in eighth
Tigers let early four-run lead slip through their fingers

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

06/26/09 11:30 PM ET
updated: 06/27/09 1:43 AM ET

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HOUSTON -- Tigers manager Jim Leyland hasn't had to use his sense of smell with his team in a while. Friday, however, had an odor.

It was a scent when the Tigers couldn't put away Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez early beyond their four runs in the first two innings. It grew stronger when Justin Verlander labored through his first three innings and struggled to find a comfortable rhythm all evening.

By the time Joel Zumaya's three straight eighth-inning walks helped complete the turnaround from what had been a four-run lead into a 5-4 Tigers loss at Minute Maid Park, it was impossible to ignore. Even with a seven-game winning streak, the ingredients of defeat were simmering in the Texas heat.

"This one had disaster written all over it," Leyland said. "That's one of those ones that you hate to say it, but you kind of smell it. We had a chance to add on, and we didn't do that. And we didn't throw the ball over the plate."

It's a bizarre feeling for a game in which the Tigers staff ace gets a four-run lead. Yet it has to be familiar feeling, even with the recent winning ways.

For the second time in three days, both the Tigers and their opponents walked seven batters in the same game. The Tigers beat the Cubs on Wednesday by turning two of their walks into runs and drawing two bases-loaded passes, while allowing one run out of the walks they gave up.

Only one of Detroit's walks Friday came around to score. It was Curtis Granderson's two-out pass with Adam Everett on second that extended the second inning for Placido Polanco to power a three-run homer for a 4-0 lead. Zumaya's walks Friday drove in the tying run with one out and set up the sacrifice fly off Freddy Dolsi to plate the go-ahead tally. The lone hit in Houston's rally was the one-out single from Kazuo Matsui that started it.

"He got Pudge [Ivan Rodriguez] out, he gave up a base hit, and then he got wild," Leyland said.

Somehow, everything turned against Zumaya after that. He needed just seven pitches, all of them strikes, to retire his first two hitters. The right-hander entered with back-to-back curveballs to get a ground ball from Hunter Pence and strand the potential tying run on base in the seventh, then used five straight fastballs to eventually wear down ex-teammate Rodriguez, who fouled off the first four -- two of them barely foul in the right-field corner -- before flying out to right.

Zumaya spent his next 23 pitches trying to get his second out, running the count full on three straight hitters once Matsui connected with a 101 mph fastball for a liner to left. Pinch-hitter Darin Erstad fouled off four triple-digit fastballs and shrugged off three curveballs before Zumaya finally missed with the heater. Back-to-back 101 mph fastballs sailed high on Michael Bourn after a 2-2 count, loading the bases for Jeff Keppinger.

Zumaya (3-2) fell behind on a 3-0 count before spotting two triple-digit fastballs on the corners -- the first low and outside, the second high and in. Looking for the payoff pitch, he fired a fastball below the knees to force in Matsui with the tying run -- Detroit's Major League-leading 15th bases-loaded walk this season -- and bring out Leyland for a pitching change.

"You've got to throw strikes up here," Leyland said. "It's that simple."

Dolsi entered and got a first-pitch out from Miguel Tejada, but the fly ball to left was well deep enough to send Erstad home.

Zumaya's control woes have been building, even as his velocity has been climbing well past 100 mph. It's part of a month in which Zumaya can't seem to get everything right at once, no matter what he tries. He has 14 walks for the month compared with 10 strikeouts over nine innings, and he has a trio of three-walk performances.

Still, he would've had more breathing room had the Tigers capitalized on one more scoring chance after their outburst. All four Detroit runs came off Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez, who survived a bases-loaded jam in the fifth by inducing an inning-ending double play from Magglio Ordonez on a curveball, a similar pitch that he hit out Thursday off Cubs left-hander Ted Lilly.

Ordonez had another chance in the seventh with two outs and runners at first and second, but Alberto Arias got another grounder to short to end that threat.

"You can usually tell on those games when you don't add on," Leyland said.

While Rodriguez was surviving, so was Verlander, who needed 76 pitches to get through his first three innings. He stranded the bases loaded in the first with a strikeout of Pence and sent down the Astros in order in the second, but Tejada's RBI double and Pence's run-scoring single halved Detroit's lead in the third.

"It was a heavy effort for him tonight for some reason," Leyland said.

Two sixth-inning hits chased Verlander in the sixth before Bourn's single off Nate Robertson brought in Ivan Rodriguez. Zach Miner prevented anything worse with an inning-ending double play, then Zumaya retired Pence for the final out of the seventh.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Figaro's encore not met with applause
Rookie hit around early; Tigers offense unresponsive

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

06/27/09 9:33 PM ET
updated: 06/27/09 11:12 PM ET

HOUSTON -- When the most running the Tigers did on the basepaths was a rundown play they were trying to execute between first and second base, it was that kind of night.

Five Tigers were involved in trying to retire Astros speedster Michael Bourn for the final out of Saturday's second inning, a putout that went 9-3-6-4-3-6-5. As it turned out, there were more Tigers running between first and second on that play alone than there were on first base offensively all night. But Detroit's downfall in Saturday's 8-1 loss at Minute Maid Park came down more on the seven Astros who crossed the plate in the first three innings.

"We let him get into a relaxed mode," manager Jim Leyland said of Houston starter Felipe Paulino, who allowed just three hits over seven innings. "We were hoping to keep it a little closer, obviously, but we weren't able to do that."

A week after Tigers starter Alfredo Figaro impressed the team with his poise in tight situations, he settled down to retire 11 of the final 14 batters he faced, turning what could've been an early exit and a long night for Detroit's bullpen into a six-inning performance. The bad news was that the Astros had already hit him around by then.

Unlike Friday, Leyland didn't need his sense of smell to detect defeat.

"When the horse was out of the barn, he threw the ball a little bit better," Leyland said of Figaro, "but it was too late."

The fastball that ranged 93-97 mph in his big league debut wasn't the problem this time around. It was the breaking ball, which he seemed to throw a lot in his second turn through the Astros order after giving up a run in each of the first two innings.

Bourn's bunt single in front of third baseman Brandon Inge started the opening-inning rally before his liner to right drove in Kazuo Matsui in the second. Once Figaro lost Jeff Keppinger to a walk leading off the third, he seemed to get away from the fastball.

His next pitch was a changeup to Miguel Tejada, who grounded it through the left side for a single. After Carlos Lee flew out to right, Lance Berkman hit another first-pitch changeup to the center-field fence, where it rested on Tal's Hill for Curtis Granderson to run down as Keppinger and Tejada scored and Berkman rolled into second.

By then, Figaro appeared rattled. Berkman stole third without a throw, then Hunter Pence doubled him in on a curveball he lined into the left-field corner for another double. Figaro recovered to put Matsui in a 1-2 count, then tried to finish him off with a curveball, which hung long enough for Matsui to drive into the right-field seats for his second home run on the season.

It was too cautious of an approach for Leyland's liking.

"I was very disappointed," Leyland said, "because I thought the one thing [Figaro] would be was aggressive. He was totally unaggressive. And I'm not talking about trying to throw 97 [mph], but he didn't throw the ball. It looked like he was trying to throw his breaking ball for a strike just to get it over. I was very disappointed."

Figaro didn't dispute it. He made the adjustment from there, going more with fastballs, but it was too late.

"I think I threw too many breaking balls," he said.

By contrast, the combination of an upper-90s fastball and a nasty 12-to-6 curveball with good velocity kept Paulino flustering Tigers hitters for most of the night. Detroit's lone extra-base hit was the third-inning fastball Ramon Santiago drove to right for his sixth home run of the season.

He was one of just four Tigers to get the ball out of the infield against Paulino in the first five innings. Paulino struck out nine of Detroit's 18 hitters in that span.

"I haven't swung at a curveball in front of the plate in -- I don't know how long," said Inge, who fanned twice and grounded out the other time. "It was baffling. Give him credit."

It has not been a consistent attack for Paulino, who hadn't won since May 2 in a relief appearance and had just two quality starts in nine outings all season. At one point, Inge said, he turned back to Houston catcher Humberto Quintero and asked if anyone had beaten this guy.

Pitching can turn like that from one outing to the next. Figaro might agree.

"Yeah, I learned about the game today," Figaro said. "That was my second time."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Ailing Inge looks fine on go-ahead jack
Third baseman's late homer sends Detroit past Houston

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

06/28/09 4:38 PM ET
updated: 06/28/09 6:57 PM ET

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HOUSTON -- Brandon Inge can feel his left patella tendon in his left knee aching when he walks, let alone when he runs around the bases. But that's nothing compared to the bruise he put on the Astros Sunday as he made his go-ahead-homer trot in the ninth inning.

It ended up being a pretty good Band-Aid for a Tigers club that would've been hurting heading into Oakland had it not pulled out Sunday's 4-3 win at Minute Maid Park.

"It's a long road trip we're on right now -- three cities, ending up in Minnesota, where it's hard for us to beat them in their place," Inge said after his two-run homer helped the Tigers salvage a win in this three-game series. "To start off a road trip with a sweep, it's not how you want to do it. It's big just to get us started back in the right direction."

It doesn't heal all of the Tigers' ills from the weekend, including an offense that has struggled to put up big innings. But it sure helps.

Kazuo Matsui's seventh-inning double seemed set to give Houston the sweep and Edwin Jackson a hard-luck loss. Astros starter Russ Ortiz and two relievers had set down 10 straight Tigers since Curtis Granderson's game-tying home run in the sixth inning -- his 18th homer of the season -- and Placido Polanco's hit by pitch. Astros closer Jose Valverde had a 1-2 count on Marcus Thames, one strike away from sealing Detroit's defeat.

While Thames has a well-deserved reputation for big home runs, he's less known for his walks. A little more than half of his 115 career walks have come with two strikes, and 31 have been after 1-2 counts. He has 21 in the late innings of close games, where the Tigers are either tied, ahead by a run or have the potential tying run at least on deck.

Given Valverde's power arsenal, it would be obviously tempting for Thames to look for the long ball. Thames, however, was looking to stay alive.

"I know what he's got," Thames said. "He's going to go to his bread and butter, and his bread and butter is his split-finger. I was just trying to make sure I saw it up. He kept trying to get me to chase it, and I wouldn't chase it."

Three straight Valverde pitches went low and outside. Thames laid off all of them to put the tying run on base and extend the game for Inge.

"It looked like they were starting in a good spot and kind of running off," Inge said. "That was the big at-bat, in the grand scheme of things. He took a lot of good pitches. I give him a lot of credit."

Like Thames, Inge isn't known for his patience, either, though he annually runs up some of the highest pitch counts per at-bat of anyone in the league. That wasn't the issue at hand this time, hitting a mistake pitch was.

While Inge credits his adjusted position at the plate for his hitting resurgence this season, being able to drive more pitches with authority and make better contact, he also believes it allows him to take advantage of mistakes better. Once Valverde left his 1-0 fastball over the plate at 95 mph, Inge pounced.

"I was just trying to stay on the fastball," Inge said. "I had noticed he walked Marcus on the split-finger, and he threw me a first-pitch split-finger, so I thought he probably wasn't going to fall behind really bad. Stay on the fastball and be aggressive with it.

"I think that's one of the things I'd thought of here recently. The mistake pitches, you're still going to miss them from time to time, but I feel I don't miss them as much. And I think my hands have something to do with getting myself into a better body posture so that I don't miss them."

Valverde knew it as soon as Inge swung, pounding the mound in disgust. Inge knew it, too, refraining to look up at the flight of the ball as he limped around first base. The only question was where it would land, eventually hitting high off the left-field facade above the Crawford Boxes.

The estimated distance on the shot was 386 feet. The difference in the standings, and potentially the road trip, was far bigger.

Inge nearly left the game in the fifth inning after stepping on first base awkwardly to leg out a single. Head athletic trainer Kevin Rand and manager Jim Leyland came out to attend to him, but he stayed in. It figured that he'd have to run all the way from first to score on Gerald Laird's double two batters later.

"I was trying not to limp," Inge said. "I looked like an idiot."

His slight limp as he rounded the bases in the ninth, however, looked pretty good to the Tigers.

"Tremendous win," Leyland said. "Tremendous."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tigers go quietly in opener vs. A's
Porcello struggles in duel with fellow rookie Anderson

By Adam Loberstein / MLB.com

06/30/09 1:34 AM ET

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OAKLAND -- Rick Porcello and Brett Anderson entered the year as two of the best pitching prospects in the game.

Porcello had lived up to the billing. Anderson had not.

On Monday, their roles were reversed.

Porcello surrendered five runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings, while Anderson struck out seven in 5 1/3, as the Tigers fell to the A's, 7-1, in Monday's series opener.

"They found some holes and he made some bad pitches," manager Jim Leyland said. "He's fine. Early on, he looked pretty good. I'm not concerned. You're not going to pitch well every time."

Porcello pitched his way into trouble in the fourth, but was able to limit the damage to two runs, inducing a double-play ball to strand a runner at third.

He didn't have the same luck in the fifth. Mark Ellis hit a two-run shot to left and Matt Holliday pushed the lead to 5-0 with a RBI groundout to knock Porcello out of the game.

"He's got good stuff," Ellis said. "He's gonna be a good pitcher in this league for a long time."

Like Porcello, Anderson put runners on base. He left most of them out there, though.

The 21-year-old lefty allowed eight to reach base (four hits, season-high four walks), but held the Tigers to one run to earn the win. Anderson entered the game at 3-7 with a 5.74 ERA.

"Anderson's got a really good arm," Leyland said. "He's got a power arm. He was effectively wild. You don't see many left-handers like that. He was very good."

While Leyland was impressed by Anderson, he also said he was left uninspired by his hitters' performance.

"It's puzzling, to be honest with you," Leyland said. "Our right-handers need to do better against these lefties. We did a very poor job."

The A's will put two more lefties on the mound this series, starting Gio Gonzalez (0-1, 8.03) and Dallas Braden (5-7, 3.26) Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

"When I made that lineup last night," Leyland said, "I felt great about it. You need better concentration that that. That's the fact of the matter. ... If it doesn't get any better, I'll play my lefties."

Making his Major League debut, Fu-Te Ni struck out Jason Giambi and got Kurt Suzuki to fly out to center in relief of Porcello in the fourth inning.

Ni struck out three in 1 1/3 frames, the only blemish on his scorecard being a Ryan Sweeney leadoff home run in the sixth.

"He did fine. He looked pretty impressive, actually," Leyland said. "I think he'll do well. I'm happy for the kid."

Leyland lifted Brandon Inge, who has been coping with a patella tendon injury in his left knee, for Don Kelly as a defensive replacement in the seventh.

"The thing has been acting up. I have to watch that," Leyland said. "It looked like it could be one of those games, so I took him out."

Adam Loberstein is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Galarraga helps Tigers even series
Polanco's homer, three-RBI night prove to be difference

By Adam Loberstein / MLB.com

07/01/09 2:17 AM ET

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OAKLAND -- Armando Galarraga got away with it.

The 27-year-old right-hander walked a season-high six hitters and lived to tell the tale, pitching his way out of danger to help the Tigers to a 5-3 win over the Oakland A's.

"You can't walk that many. You can't," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "That's just the way it is. It's not part of the Major League game."

It was Tuesday. Galarraga limited Oakland to one run on two hits in 6 1/3 innings.

"We got to him early last time," A's manager Bob Geren said, referring to his team chasing Galarraga with five runs in the first May 17. "We had our chances early this time. After the first inning, he was pretty good. He had a little cutter and that fastball-slider going, so he had three pretty good pitches working."

A pair of walks and a fielding error by Adam Everett loaded the bases with one away in the first. Galarraga made the right pitch when he needed it, getting Kurt Suzuki to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to end the threat.

"When he made them put it in play, he got outs," Leyland said. "He was too wild and walked too many. His stuff was good. You've just got to get strike one."

While Galarraga was being wildly effective, the Detroit offense was doing its part to keep him in the game.

The Tigers managed just six hits in Monday's series-opening 7-1 loss, leaving Leyland unimpressed.

"It's puzzling, to be honest with you," Leyland said following the loss. "Our right-handers need to do better against these lefties. ... If it doesn't get any better, I'll play my lefties."

Leyland doesn't need to play his lefties. Detroit took a more aggressive approach into Tuesday night's game, putting 12 hits on the board -- including seven against A's starter Gio Gonzalez, who was removed after five innings.

"We had better at-bats," said Miguel Cabrera, who went 2-for-5 with a double and scored a run. "You have to make adjustments, get your pitch and hit it. We did that."

Placido Polanco handed Detroit an early 2-0 lead with a two-run home run to left in the first. He gave the Tigers an insurance run in the ninth, singling home Everett with one away.

"He got two big hits," Leyland said. "He's going to grind it out every time. He's not going to give any at-bats away."

Fernando Rodney made things interesting in the ninth, surrendering a two-run home run to Mark Ellis to bring Oakland within two.

He then gave up a hard single up the middle to Adam Kennedy before getting Orlando Cabrera to ground into a double play to end the game.

"It's got to get better," Leyland said of Rodney, who has a 6.75 ERA in 13 appearances this month. "We can't be on pins and needlss. He's been a good pitcher for us, but we can't have that every night."

Adam Loberstein is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tigers' offense slumps in series finale
Lack of run support sinks Verlander's efficient outing

By Adam Loberstein / MLB.com

07/01/09 7:19 PM ET

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OAKLAND -- Justin Verlander saw the A's get two good swings against him Wednesday afternoon.

Unfortunately, that's all it would take.

Verlander surrendered a pair of two-run home runs, the Tigers' lineup couldn't solve Dallas Braden and the A's took the rubber match of the series, 5-1.

"I went back and watched some of the tape," Verlander said, "and the two pitches that hurt me weren't that bad of pitches. I can't be too disappointed. The way I threw the ball, I'm all right with it."

Jack Cust got to Verlander first, depositing a 1-0 fastball into the left-field bleachers for an opposite-field shot in the fourth.

Jason Giambi then homered on a line drive to right in the sixth to bring home Matt Holliday and push the Oakland advantage to 4-1.

It was the 407th home run of Giambi's career, tying him with Hall of Famer Duke Snider for 43rd all-time.

"He was OK," manager Jim Leyland said of Verlander. "He got the pitch count up again. It's rough when you have to throw 100 pitches in five, six innings. He's got to get some guys out at 92, 93 [mph]. Going 96 every time -- that takes more effort."

Verlander threw 102 pitches in six innings, giving up six hits, walking one and striking out six. The loss slides his record to 8-4.

The Tigers had their share of chances against Braden, but couldn't cash in.

Adam Everett led off the third with a double, and Curtis Granderson bunted him over to third. Placido Polanco grounded out to second and Miguel Cabrera lined one to center to strand Everett.

"Polanco had a great at-bat," Leyland said. "Braden just won the challenge. ... He went in and out, changed speeds. He pitched very well."

Braden allowed five hits -- four doubles -- in seven innings to earn his sixth win.

"It feels good," Braden said, "especially knowing we beat one of the best pitchers in the game."

Don Kelly and Cabrera delivered one-out doubles in the fifth and sixth, respectively, but Detroit wasn't able to score either of them.

The Tigers scored their lone run in the second on a two-out RBI double by Gerald Laird.

Leyland elected to rest Brandon Inge and his ailing left knee and go with Kelly at third base. The manager said he's been pleased with Kelly's play.

"He did fine," Leyland said. "He can play first, second, third, outfield. He's a nice, useable player for us."

Adam Loberstein is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tigers pull out 16-inning win over Twins
Polanco's RBI single sparks three-run frame for Detroit

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

07/04/09 1:20 AM ET
updated: 07/04/09 3:04 AM ET

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MINNEAPOLIS -- What had been a blown six-run lead for the Tigers eventually became a victory -- it just took a while.

Actually, it took quite a while, long enough for Placido Polanco to have two go-ahead singles, for the Tigers to empty the bullpen and for the calendar to turn to the Fourth of July by the time Polanco's RBI single spurred a three-run 16th inning.

It was a tough 11-9 win for the Tigers to pull out over the the Twins, and it probably shouldn't have gotten to that point. But they also know it could have been worse: They could have lost a game that they twice led by six runs, 6-0 in the third and 7-1 in the fourth, and that's a good part of what kept them going from Friday night into Saturday morning.

"We were here for so long that we really wanted to win the game," Polanco said of the Tigers' longest game inningswise since 2003 and their longest ever at the Metrodome. "You don't really think how tired you are or whatever."

Or as manager Jim Leyland put it, "That was a really good win, because it could've been a really bad loss."

The longer the game goes on, third baseman Brandon Inge said, the tougher it is mentally. By the time he came up with two outs in the 16th inning, he was just thinking about how crazy this night had been.

"It's funny, I went up to [Joe] Mauer in my last at-bat and I said, 'This is a messed-up game, isn't it,'" Inge said. "Not tonight, but just baseball. And he just started laughing. Because we throw up seven runs like that, like nothing, then all of a sudden we've got how many innings where we can't even sniff a run? And then they bang back runs and then they can't score. It's a messed-up game."

This particular game was messed up enough that a near miscue on the Twins' game-tying hit probably kept the Tigers alive to win it. And a bullpen effort that began with a five-run sixth inning from Zach Miner concluded with 10 2/3 innings of two-run ball from everybody else.

It took a long at-bat from Polanco to move the Tigers ahead in the 14th, but most of that time was spent with Polanco crouched behind home plate trying to recover from a foul tip.

"It takes a little time for you to, um, get it out of your system," Polanco said.

Stuck in an 0-2 count, Polanco finally stepped back to the plate and slapped the next pitch back through the middle to score Gerald Laird for an 8-7 lead. Freddy Dolsi entered in the bottom of the inning for the save attempt, but three straight Twins singles -- including Michael Cuddyer's RBI grounder off the glove of a diving Inge -- tied the score again.

The ball was sitting behind third base as Mauer trotted home. Inge and shortstop Ramon Santiago looked at each other, waiting a split second for the other to go after it as Justin Morneau decided to try for third.

"I saw Brandon go first," Santiago said, "and then he kind of saw me going to the ball. He went to the bag, because somebody has to be on the base. He was a safer choice to go to the base."

Said Inge: "It might've deked Morneau a little bit. If he sees me going, obviously there's going to be nobody [covering] third. It got to the point where I got out there a little bit, but I came back."

If Morneau had gotten to third, he would've scored the winning run on Dolsi's two-out pitch that skirted past catcher Laird for a passed ball. Instead, that merely allowed Cuddyer to move to third before Delmon Young grounded out to end the threat.

"He thought he could get there and he got thrown out," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "You know what, it's a situation where the ball is rolling down the left-field line and he's trying to get there and doesn't make it."

Dolsi (1-0) retired six straight batters after Cuddyer's game-tying single. By the time his error covering first base allowed Mauer to get on, the Tigers were up three, and he could survive putting Mauer and Morneau on base again.

"That's a lot to ask of the kid," Leyland said. "I'm seeing Mauer and Morneau in my sleep. Every time I turn around, they're coming up."

The Twins could say the same of Polanco, who came back up with one out in the 16th after Santiago singled and Curtis Granderson doubled. With the infield in, Polanco laced a line drive past a diving attempt from Twins shortstop Brendan Harris to send Santiago home. Ryan Raburn and Magglio Ordonez added two-out RBI singles for huge insurance runs.

Once Dolsi finally retired the side in the bottom half, he didn't have enough energy for so much as a fist pump. Nobody could really do their usual celebrations. The guy with the most energy seemed to be Laird, who hugged his winning pitcher.

"To go that long, it feels a lot better when you win," Laird said. "Long game. Important game."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tigers fall despite Ordonez's late tater
Three-run shot puts Detroit ahead before Minnesota rallies

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

07/04/09 8:51 PM ET

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MINNEAPOLIS -- One big swing from Magglio Ordonez abruptly changed the momentum for the Tigers on Saturday. A few smaller swings from Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Nick Punto changed it back.

Instant offense has not been Ordonez's best skill this year, but when he connected on a Francisco Liriano fastball for a three-run homer in the seventh inning, he not only put Detroit on the scoreboard for the first time all day, he put them ahead. RBI singles from Morneau and Punto changed that, tempering the force of Ordonez's outburst and sending the Tigers to a 4-3 loss to the Twins at the Metrodome.

Whether or not it's a game off which Ordonez can build, it's a loss that halted Detroit's momentum after Friday night's 16-inning victory. With the Tigers' lead in the American League Central back to 2 1/2 games over the White Sox and three games over the Twins, Sunday now becomes the rubber match in this division clash.

How Detroit has gotten to this point over the past two days has been anything but ordinary.

"You can't really say what the outcome's going to be until the last out," said Detroit starter Edwin Jackson, who went from a slim lead in his pitchers' duel with Liriano to his fifth straight start without a win.

It wasn't Jackson's best stuff, he said, but another day to battle. Though the nasty slider Jackson had displayed recently seemed hard to control, solo homers from Michael Cuddyer in the fourth inning and Morneau in the fifth were all that separated him and Liriano through six innings.

Jackson tied a career high with nine strikeouts, two more than in any other start this season, but Liriano sent down 13 Tigers in order from the final out of the second inning until Marcus Thames slapped the first pitch of the seventh inning through the middle for a single. Ryan Raburn sent Liriano's next pitch through the left side, putting the potential tying run on base.

After Brandon Inge struck out, up stepped Ordonez. He worked Liriano to a full count in the second inning before lining a double into the left-field corner. He also struck out on a slider in the fifth.

Both times, Liriano started him off with a fastball. This time, Ordonez sat on the fastball and pounced, driving it an estimated 414 feet to left-center field.

What had been a 2-0 Twins lead was suddenly a 3-2 Tigers lead, and a Metrodome crowd of 27,238 seemingly fell silent as soon as Ordonez hit it. It was just his second home run since April 27 and his 14th extra-base hit of the season.

"Honestly, when he squared it up, I thought it had a good chance," Raburn said. "I was just happy for him. He needs something like that. He's really wanted to help this team out. That was really big for him and for the team also."

Ordonez did not talk with reporters following his first multi-hit game since June 8. Combined with his RBI single Friday night, he has three hits this series after entering town mired in a 2-for-20 slump. He was kept out of Friday's starting lineup, but he came out for early batting practice with hitting coach Lloyd McClendon. Ordonez has been pulling the ball early and often this series.

"He had a good day," manager Jim Leyland said. "He had a very nice day."

Though the Tigers had won Jackson's previous two starts, both were on comebacks after Jackson left. Ordonez's shot finally gave him a lead to protect. Jackson took the mound for the bottom of the seventh and promptly put Denard Span on base.

"It was the walk to Span that killed us more than anything," Leyland said. "We took the lead and walked the first guy."

Once Jackson struck out Brendan Harris with his 122nd and final pitch, Bobby Seay entered to face Mauer and Morneau, who had already reached base 10 times in the series. Neither of their next two hits went for extra bases, but they went for damage.

Mauer lined a 3-1 pitch back up the middle, then Morneau grounded a ball through the right side to bring Span in and tie the game.

"They're very tough," Seay said. "There's no secret to that. But they're pitchable. If I can get ahead in the count to Mauer, it's a different situation. He takes, takes, takes until he gets a good pitch that he can hit. That's why he's hitting around .400.

"But I second-guessed myself against Morneau. I didn't really throw a good pitch to him. Got a ground ball, but a hop on the turf, anything's a hit for the most part. That's the way it goes."

The deciding blow, by contrast, came in the air, albeit meekly. Brian Buscher's leadoff single in the eighth off Brandon Lyon (3-4) put the go-ahead run on base. Lyon seemingly jammed Punto into a soft liner, but it was deep enough to fall between shortstop Adam Everett and left fielder Raburn, whose throw home was just barely late for a play.

"I thought I had a chance at it, but it just kept carrying," Everett said.

Said Punto: "A little cutter; it was a pretty good pitch. I got enough barrel on it and barely got it over Adam Everett's head."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Porcello undone by fateful fourth
Tigers, righty drop finale to Twins after six-run frame

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

07/05/09 9:20 PM ET

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MINNEAPOLIS -- Rick Porcello looked like he was on his way to holding down the Twins' big hitters again. Then he suddenly couldn't hold anybody.

For all of Porcello's success, the reminders are inevitable that the 20-year-old still has plenty to learn. Sunday was a teaching experience for Porcello but another loss at the Metrodome for his team, this one by a 6-2 margin.

In both cases, the lessons came fast. How he reacted to Justin Morneau's two-run homer might've been one, but how he reacted to a 10-pitch walk to Michael Cuddyer was arguably bigger.

"They're as much teaching experiences," pitching coach Rick Knapp said, "as they are hopefully learning experiences that he's going to take into his next starts."

Two months ago, Porcello held Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Denard Span hitless in his first meeting with the Twins, part of the reason why he blanked Minnesota for seven innings on that May 5 evening at Comerica Park. For a good while, he seemed on his way towards doing it again, or at least coming close.

Porcello, who struggled in his past outing Monday at Oakland, retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced. The only balls he allowed out of the infield in that stretch was a Mauer fly ball to left field and a Jason Kubel second-inning double that one-hopped the right-field wall.

"He actually looked better to me this time than last time," Morneau said. "The ball had a little more life and was getting on us a little more."

Added Mauer: "I thought the ball was coming out of his hand a lot better today than it was in Detroit. He's got great stuff. He's going to be a tough pitcher to face here in our division and in the league."

For 3 1/3 innings Sunday, Porcello was tough. Then came a sinker to Mauer that he grounded to left-center for a single. Three pitches later, Porcello left a fastball over the plate to Morneau, who promptly drilled it over the fence in center field for a two-run homer and a two-run Twins lead.

Porcello's frustration was evident in his face as soon as he saw the path of Morneau's ball.

"I wanted to get it out there and missed in," Porcello said. "Anytime you miss your spots, he's going to hurt you."

That was the only extra-base hit of the inning. Four singles, two walks and an ill-placed throw from shortstop Adam Everett followed. The total damage left Porcello with his second-shortest outing of the season and the Tigers with innings to fill on a day when they were left with just three relievers who weren't being rested.

"Porcello, for the first time, I thought, lost his composure," manager Jim Leyland said.

Porcello didn't argue.

"That's a big reason I'm having problems in certain innings like that," Porcello said. "I have to do a better job of coming back strong after giving up a big hit and putting that behind me and keeping us in the game. The biggest thing for me is go out there and keep us in the game. The past two starts, I haven't been able to do that."

Yet Sunday's eventual difference didn't come from the home run, but from what followed.

All 10 pitches to Cuddyer were either fastballs or sinkers. He fouled off four straight full-count sinkers down and in to stay alive until Porcello left a fastball up and out of the zone that Cuddyer didn't chase.

Knapp said he thought Porcello tired a bit after that. For Porcello, it was more frustration.

"You never want to do that," Porcello said. "You don't want to give him a free pass, and after you throw that many pitches to a guy, you darn sure want to put him away. You don't want to let him on. I was a little disappointed in myself with that."

Porcello threw another fastball over the plate to Joe Crede, who lined it into left field for a single. A first-pitch slider to Delmon Young turned into another liner and an RBI single. Another full-count walk, this one to Nick Punto, loaded the bases for Span.

"I think the game sped up on him," Knapp said. "He started thinking fast instead of taking his time. The routine of it, I think he got outside himself."

Span went at the first pitch and hit a sharp grounder that Everett ran down deep in the hole, but Everett's jump-throw to second sailed over Placido Polanco and into foul territory in right field. Young and Punto followed Crede home, busting open the game.

Porcello (8-6) was charged with four earned runs on seven hits over four innings with two walks and three strikeouts. He has allowed 11 earned runs on 23 hits over 13 1/3 innings in his last three outings.

The support was plentiful for Twins starter Nick Blackburn, who avenged a rough outing earlier this season at Comerica Park by retiring 15 of the first 17 Tigers he faced. Only Brandon Inge's 19th home run of the year, a two-run shot with two out in the ninth, kept Blackburn (7-4) from a complete-game shutout.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Galarraga shines in Tigers loss
Detroit's offense unable to support right-hander's solid effort

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

07/06/09 11:26 PM ET

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DETROIT -- Armando Galarraga could leave Comerica Park Monday night with a sense of confidence he arguably hasn't had since April. There weren't many other Tigers who could do the same.

After Royals starter Gil Meche left with two runs despite five walks over 5 2/3 innings, it felt quite the opposite. Once Mike Jacobs' ninth-inning homer off Fernando Rodney sent the Tigers to their seventh loss in their last 10 games with a 4-3 defeat, it felt like a game that got away on both ends.

Had Adam Everett's hard-hit grounder gotten past Kansas City shortstop Willie Bloomquist with the bases loaded and one out in the second inning, the Tigers would've had a potential runaway instead of an inning-ending double play. Had Gerald Laird's liner gotten a little more air to clear Mark Teahen, Rodney and Joel Zumaya might've had more comfortable leads with which to work the final couple innings.

"All you can do is hit the ball hard somewhere," manager Jim Leyland said, "and we did."

Of course, the fact that the key near-hits came from the bottom two hitters in the lineup instead of the top third of the order is another matter. Regardless, the frustration Monday was evident.

"We let him off the hook, pretty much," Everett said. "We let him off the hook in the second inning. That was me, basically. You've got to score some runs, especially against a guy like that."

Said Laird: "I don't think he made his pitches. I think we hit some balls hard right at guys. What can you do?"

It was an unlikely pitching duel, but at least a potential building block for Galarraga. For the first seven innings, all three runs in the game were solo homers. In Galarraga's case, it was the only extra-base hit he allowed all night.

Bloomquist was the lone runner to reach scoring position against him, and both times were in passing. He overslid second base trying to stretch out a fourth-inning single, and he rounded the bases on his sixth-inning solo shot that briefly tied the game.

Two Jose Guillen ground-ball singles and a Mark Teahen liner to center was all the other damage against Galarraga. Just as important, he rebounded from six walks last Tuesday at Oakland to only one free pass this time out. He used his slider early and often on his way to seven strikeouts.

For someone who was beating himself up mentally over early runs for the better part of a month, this should be a boost. He had a couple quality starts last month, but nothing like this.

"I thought he had good action on his ball," Leyland said, "and I thought most of his sliders were better tonight. He threw a couple effective changeups, I thought. He attacked the strike zone, pretty much down, better than he has been. I thought he was really, really good."

Ironically, the Royals felt a little similar against Galarraga to what the Tigers felt versus Meche.

"Both clubs looked like they were having a tough time, with the brightness of the day, seeing the first four frames," Kansas City manager Trey Hillman said. "After that, there's no reason we shouldn't get to him better than we did."

The Tigers, however, had more chances to get to Meche. They hit into ground-ball double plays to end three of the first five innings, including Miguel Cabrera in the first and Placido Polanco in the fifth. In addition, there was Everett's shot to Bloomquist in the second after two walks and a wild pitch on a strikeout loaded the bases without the Tigers putting a ball in play.

Meche's near-meltdown came after Marcus Thames led off the second with his seventh homer of the year to open the scoring. Likewise, once Ryan Raburn homered to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead in the sixth, Meche walked All-Star Final Vote candidate Brandon Inge and Magglio Ordonez back-to-back. Laird greeted Juan Cruz with his near-shot, right at Teahen.

"If it's up a little higher, we get a couple runs," Laird said. "Yeah, it gets frustrating, because it could lead to a big inning. But it didn't."

Their 37th game this season with three runs or less still led to a slim lead in the late innings for the Tigers bullpen. But while Zumaya threw hard in his first appearance since throwing 53 pitches in Friday's 16-inning win at Minnesota, he didn't throw particularly sharp. A two-strike single to Miguel Olivo and a one-out walk to David DeJesus set up Bloomquist, who sat on a 98-mph fastball and tripled to the fence in right-center.

"On Zumaya, I was just saying, 'Tell my wife and kids I love 'em if he hits me.' That guy throws gas," Bloomquist said. "I was just able to get the fat part of the bat on the ball against him and he supplied all the power."

Raburn's double in the bottom of the eighth inning tied the game and sent Rodney out for the ninth. His changeup sent down Guillen swinging to lead off the inning, but he left one up for Jacobs, who lofted it deep to right for his 11th homer of the year.

"Those things happen," Leyland said. "They're going to give up a run now and then. Basically, we just haven't knocked the ball around very well, for whatever reason. It's kind of puzzling, really."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Tigers 8, Royals 5
Justin Verlander, three homers carry Tigers to victory
Tom Gage / The Detroit News

Detroit -- Justin Verlander is capable of pitching an occasional weird game.

He pitched one Tuesday night in the Tigers' 8-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

It was weird, good, mind you. But weird.

For instance, he had a 35-pitch inning -- and he allowed just the second home run on an 0-2 count he's ever allowed. That happened in the sixth when Billy Butler took him deep to left in the sixth.

But he also struck out 11, including six of eight at one dominating point in the game.

So he was Verlander as you've come to expect Verlander to be, All-Star pitcher that he is. However, he was also a vulnerable Verlander at times, which explains why he had to leave after six innings with a pitch count of 114.

When he was good, he was very good.

When he was bad, he overcame it.

In any case, Verlander (9-5) hung around long enough, and pitched bottom-line well enough, to get the victory because the Tigers didn't struggle to score this time.

In fact, with three home runs -- including a three-run shot from Marcus Thames in the fifth after an intentional walk to Miguel Cabrera, who hit a solo shot in the first -- they made Bruce Chen pay for every mistake.

There were two tide-turning moments in the game. The first was David DeJesus' three-run double in the second that gave the Royals a 3-1 lead

The second inning was Verlander's 35-pitch inning -- one in which he ended up with a pair of strikeouts, but one also in which the Royals made him work by fouling off nine two-strike pitches

Coupled with a 20-pitch first, Verlander was on a pace for an early exit.

The DeJesus double jolted him back into a groove, however. Verlander retired 10 Royals in a row after that before Butler's home run leading off the sixth.

That was the ultra-rare 0-2 home run, the first off Verlander since Tadahito Iguchi of the White Sox connected off him on April 13, 2006 at Comerica Park, the first home run Verlander ever allowed as a full-time starter in the Tigers rotation.

The other turning point was Ryan Freel not catching Placido Polanco's two-out fly ball in the fifth. Polanco had a fine four-RBI game at the plate -- a two-run home run and a pair of run-scoring singles.

But when he lofted a fly ball to shallow center on a 3-2 pitch from Chen, it looked like it was going to be the final out of the inning.

Freel didn't get to the ball, though. It fell in for a single, and because Adam Everett was running on the pitch, he scored the tie-breaking run from first.

That wasn't the entire extent of the turning point, however.

Polanco took second on the throw from the outfield, so with first base open, the Royals walked Cabrera intentionally, only to have Thames' first-pitch blast to left put the Tigers back in front for good.

The Royals had the tying run at the plate three times after that, but Butler hit into a double-play with two runner on the seventh, Miguel Olivo struck out with two on in the eighth and Fernando Rodney worked out of trouble in the ninth for his 18th save.

Tigers unleash on Royals to even series
Polanco delivers two-run homer and totals four RBIs

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

07/08/09 12:28 AM ET

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DETROIT -- The Tigers took out their offensive frustrations from the past few days on Royals starter Bruce Chen with three home runs in their first five innings. Yet arguably the big hit from Tuesday's 8-5 win over the Royals, the crucial two-out RBI that they lacked Monday, barely got into the outfield.

If Detroit is going to ignite its offense for the season's second half, those kinds of hits will be about as huge as the home runs. In Tuesday's case, it set up the home run that proved to be the crushing blow.

"Three-run homers are backbreakers sometimes," said manager Jim Leyland, whose offense scored as many runs Tuesday as it had in its previous three games combined.

The Tigers are normally a team that punishes left-handed starting pitchers, but they had lost three of their previous four matchups against southpaws. Moreover, they didn't hit any of those four particularly well. For a lineup based around right-handed power hitters, with Curtis Granderson the one left-handed power source, that was a concern.

Chen seemingly was on his way to making it tough on them again by retiring seven of Detroit's first eight batters. Miguel Cabrera's first-inning solo homer was Detroit's lone hit out of its first 10 batters until Placido Polanco took Chen deep in the third inning to score Adam Everett following his one-out walk.

Once again, though, Chen seemingly settled down. It wasn't until another Everett walk, this one in the fifth, that the Tigers could really put up a big inning.

Chen (0-3) had retired five straight before that walk, and he got a foulout from Granderson after that. He was effectively wild at that point, even as he fell behind on a 3-1 count to Polanco. He spotted a fastball on the inside corner that Polanco watched to run the count full.

It was a huge pitch for Polanco, but it also guaranteed that Everett would be in motion. Once Polanco chased a fastball on the outside corner and lofted it into short center field, that motion became big.

Ryan Freel, who just joined the Royals this afternoon following a trade from the Cubs a day earlier, was playing relatively deep. He ran in on the ball almost immediately and made a diving attempt at a catch, but it fell just in front of him as Everett rounded third. Moreover, it rolled just far enough away from him that third-base coach Gene Lamont sent Everett home.

Leyland said after the game he had no problem with aggressive plays, even if they don't work out. In this case, their ability to take the game to the Royals proved crucial.

"If you're busting your tail, good things happen," Leyland said. "Everett was busting his tail, and Gene made a great read."

Not only did Everett score without a play at a plate, but Polanco slid into second when the Royals didn't have anyone covering. That freed up first base for Chen to intentionally walk Cabrera and bring up Marcus Thames, who sent Chen's first-pitch fastball into the left-field seats for his third homer in his past four games and a 7-3 lead.

"We need that. That's what Marcus does," Leyland said. "You give Marcus Thames four or five at-bats, and he's bound to run into one. You just hope, like tonight, there's a couple guys on."

Polanco drove in four runs on the night, his season high. It continues his trend of RBIs in bunches; he had driven in runs in just three of his previous 10 games, but all three were three-RBI efforts. This one happened to come on a day when Leyland talked to his players casually about getting the most out of their final games before the All-Star break.

"Everybody's here physically, but you have to make sure you're here mentally," Leyland said. "You have to grind it out, and Polanco grinds it out every single day. He gives you everything he's got, every day he plays. Good things happen when you're into it and fighting your fanny off."

The run support came in handy for Tigers starter Justin Verlander (9-4), who salvaged what was nearly a disastrous outing by settling down after the third inning for his first win in his past three starts.

"I really feel like in the third inning, I settled myself down, tried to get some quick outs and tried to find that rhythm that I had for a long time," Verlander said. "I've been working hard the past couple weeks, trying to get that feel back."

After David DeJesus' bases-clearing triple in the second made the Tigers pay for a catcher's interference call, Verlander retired Willie Bloomquist for the third out on his 55th pitch of the night. He went on to retire 10 straight batters, including six strikeouts on an eight-batter stretch, before Billy Butler's leadoff homer started a two-run sixth.

"The first two innings I thought we did a real good job because he didn't command the ball very well and we got his pitch count up there," Royals manager Trey Hillman said. "Third, fourth and fifth he started commanding the ball really good with all three pitches."

Two of the five runs Verlander allowed were unearned, but he racked up his first double-digit strikeout game since May 14 by fanning 11 Royals.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

French, Tigers solve Greinke in finale
Detroit starter gets first big league win to take series

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

07/08/09 9:30 PM ET
updated: 07/08/09 10:53 PM ET

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DETROIT -- The Tigers don't need a supernatural act to beat Zack Greinke after all.

After two matchups this season, it sure seemed like they did. What they actually needed for Wednesday's 3-1 win over the Royals, it turned out, was what manager Jim Leyland has talked about often heading into pitching duels. Their starting pitcher had to pitch well, and they had to scrap together a few runs.

"I'm glad we got to him early," starter Luke French said.

It took a gem of an outing from French for his first Major League win, a Placido Polanco chopper over Mark Teahen, and a Gerald Laird sacrifice bunt that turned into an infield single when Greinke slipped and fell. All of them were unusual, but none paranormal.

The resulting win in the rubber match of their three-game series -- their first series win in two weeks -- stood out mainly for the pitcher they beat.

"It was a nice, clean game. It was a nice, clean win against a great pitcher," said Leyland, whose team stayed two games ahead of the second-place White Sox in the American League Central. "You have to feel pretty good about that."

While Greinke had walked just three batters all season after an 0-2 count, Granderson had the same total of walks on the year when falling into an 0-2 hole. Yet by fouling off a couple breaking balls inside and laying off the other pitches down and away, Granderson worked his way out of the 0-2 hole and reached base to lead off Detroit's opening inning for the first time since June 30.

"He battled me a little bit, but I shouldn't have walked him. That should cost you, walking the leadoff guy like that," Greinke said.

It did, once Leyland sent Granderson on a hit-and-run play. Third baseman Teahen played in to guard against a bunt, then had to watch as Polanco's chopper sailed over his head and into left field. Not only did Granderson take third easily, but Polanco's big turn around first and his hesitation drew a bad throw from left fielder David DeJesus, allowing Polanco to take second.

"That kind of set the tone a little bit," Leyland said.

It didn't matter when Miguel Cabrera's fly to right easily scored Granderson, but it proved huge after Marcus Thames hit what would've otherwise been a double-play grounder to short. Instead, Polanco was still at second with two outs before just-recalled Clete Thomas lined an RBI single to right-center.

Josh Anderson's double in the next inning set up Gerald Laird's sacrifice bunt attempt, which became a single when Greinke slipped and fell trying to field the ball in front of the mound.

"Anytime you can get a hit out of it," Laird shrugged.

Ramon Santiago's fly ball to shallow center sent Anderson home while center fielder Ryan Freel's throw went up the third-base line.

"The whole first two innings was whatever could go wrong, did," said Greinke (10-5), who retired nine of the last 10 Tigers he faced.

It certainly wasn't what French was expecting when he first learned he was matching up against Greinke. He chuckled, but he didn't worry about it. He doesn't really get nervous on the mound, he said, and any nerves can't compare to those he had when he married his wife Blythe in January. His poise has made an impression on the Tigers.

By game's end, he couldn't wipe the smile off his face. Three of the six hits he allowed over 6 1/3 innings went to Billy Butler, all of them doubles. But all three came with either one or two outs, and French held the two batters ahead of Butler -- DeJesus and Willie Bloomquist -- and the two behind him -- Jose Guillen and Teahen -- to a combined 0-for-12.

"He benefited from coming after [Justin] Verlander," Teahen said, "because everybody's coming at the ball, and he's all offspeed stuff."

French (1-0) retired 11 of 12 batters after the third inning until Alberto Callaspo's seventh-inning solo homer broke up his shutout bid.

"I thought he pitched pretty good," Leyland said. "His control probably wasn't quite as good as he expected, or we expected. I think the other thing is there [was] definitely a couple times tonight where the fact that they hadn't seen him before, he got by with a couple pitches."

That said, it was much the same stuff that French threw in his first Major League start last weekend at Minnesota. The difference, French said, was an abundance of first-pitch strikes.
"I had good command of my slider," French said. "I thought that was a pretty good pitch for me tonight, especially against the lefties."

Once Fernando Rodney wrapped up 2 2/3 hitless innings from Detroit relievers with a perfect ninth for his 19th save in as many chances, he saved the final ball for French to keep, like he did for Alfredo Figaro a few weeks earlier when he beat Milwaukee.

French, however, can say he outpitched the great Greinke for his first win. And for the first time this year, the Tigers can say they beat him.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.