2009 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS

DETROIT 6, BALTIMORE 3
Zumaya grounds Orioles

By JOHN LOWE • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • May 31, 2009

BALTIMORE -- It was an especially key moment because of who lurked on deck.


Joel Zumaya entered Saturday night’s game with runners on second and third, two out and the right-handed Melvin Mora at the plate.

What if the right-handed Zumaya hadn’t gotten out Mora? What if he’d given up a tying or go-ahead single, or had walked Mora to load the bases?

Then lefty-swinging Luke Scott would have been up against Zumaya with a chance to clinch the game by hitting another homer.

Who could have been shocked if he did?

In the previous inning, Scott hit the first homer Justin Verlander allowed in his seven-start streak of rebirth to tie the game.

It was Scott’s fifth homer off the Tigers in the last three nights, hit off many types of Tigers’ pitchers and pitches.

But when Joel Zumaya is going full blast, he’s the power-pitching equivalent of a hot power hitter. On a night when the Tigers had many stars, Zumaya’s work against Mora emerged as the standout moment in the Tigers’ 6-3 win.

Here is what Luke Scott saw from the on-deck circle in the seventh inning:

Zumaya’s first pitch to Mora was a sharp breaking ball for called strike one.

His next pitch was a low-level 99 m.p.h. fastball. Mora swung and missed for strike two.

At this point, avoiding a strikeout might have been a challenge even for Manny Mota, the long-ago Dodgers pinch-hit ace who in one season struck out once all year and in another season didn’t strike out at all (one strikeout in 87 at-bats over those two seasons).

Zumaya came back with perhaps that best strikeout pitch of all, the high fastball. It was 97 m.p.h. Mora swung and missed.

If Zumaya has had a more impressive strikeout in a more critical spot, it is hard to remember it right now.

The Tigers had scored twice in the eighth for the 6-3 lead.

Zumaya’s strikeout of Mora was the last tense moment of what became Justin Verlander’s fifth win in May.

Verlander and Rick Porcello each finished May 5-0. They’re the first pair of Tigers pitchers in nine years -- since Steve Sparks and Brian Moehler in August, 2000 -- to each win five games in the same calendar month.

“It’s always nice to be a part of something that includes wins for the team,” said Porcello, who is what Verlander was in ’06, the rookie starter making a big contribution to a first-place team. “The important thing is to keep it going now.”

And what does Porcello think of Zumaya?

“You don’t see guys like that very often,” Porcello said. “Obviously I haven’t been around that long, but you can tell he’s something special.

“He’s got more than electric stuff. He’s got to be one of my favorite guys to watch as far as power pitchers. He’s exciting to watch, and I’m glad he’s on our team.”

When Scott led off the eighth, with the Tigers now three runs ahead, Zumaya treated him just as he had Mora at the game’s biggest moment. He struck him out on three pitches.

Jackson allows two hits in Tigers' win
Granderson homers as Detroit earns series split

By Pete Kerzel / Special to MLB.com

05/31/09 3:56 PM ET
updated: 05/31/09 6:09 PM ET

Box >

BALTIMORE -- Following Justin Verlander in the Tigers' rotation gives Edwin Jackson motivation to try and pitch better than his better-known teammate. Curtis Granderson got Miguel Cabrera's No. 4 spot for a day, then sat next to the slugger on the bench, hoping some cleanup karma would rub off in him.

Done, and done.

Jackson allowed two hits over eight innings and Granderson homered to help the Tigers salvage a split of their four-game series at Camden Yards with a 3-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.

One day after Verlander gutted through six innings to snap a two-game slide by triumphing in his sixth straight decision, Jackson's dominating effort helped Detroit end a seven-game road trip with a 4-3 record and a two-game winning streak.

"On a good pitching staff, you feed off each other and you feed off the person in front of you," Jackson said. "When they pitch a good game, you want to do the same thing. When they pitch a bad game, you want to come out and pick them up."

Jackson (5-3) retired the first 11 hitters he faced before Nick Markakis shot an opposite-field single to left in the fourth, and the Orioles didn't get another hit until Ty Wigginton led off the eighth with a ground-rule double to right-center. The only other baserunner Jackson allowed was a one-out, sixth-inning walk to Robert Andino, who was caught stealing by catcher Gerald Laird. Jackson, who matched a season high with seven strikeouts, finished May with a 4-2 record and notched his eighth quality start in 11 tries.

"He's been an inning-eater like we thought he would be when we got him," manager Jim Leyland said. "He's been more than that, he's been very good. Some guys take innings, but they're not always quality innings. He really gives us quality innings. He keeps us in the game and he knows how to turn it up when he has to."

Granderson also turned his game up a notch at an opportune time. Surprised to find himself batting cleanup in the starting lineup for the first time in his career because Cabrera was given the day off, Granderson hit a 1-0 pitch from rookie Jason Berken over the center-field wall with one out in the fourth. It was his 13th homer of the season and marked the first time Detroit scored first in three games against rookie starting pitchers this series.

"Leyland's made a couple of changes to the lineup, but he really hasn't made any verbal changes to me, saying, 'We want you to do this or do that,'" Granderson said. "[It's] just a little change in the lineup and [you] go out and continue to do the job."

Granderson believes he's yet to hit his stride, but Leyland sees signs of a turnaround.

"He'll be fine. ... He wants to get more consistent, get his stroke down on a more consistent basis, and I see it coming," Leyland said. "I don't want him to start trying to hit home runs, but I don't want him not to turn the bat loose either. It's a Catch-22. Curtis is one of those guys, if he hits the ball hard on a consistent basis, he'll hit his share of home runs."

In between innings, Granderson grabbed a seat next to Cabrera in the dugout. Leyland allowed how he wasn't used to hearing Cabrera's incessant chatter throughout a game on the bench, but whatever the slugger imparted apparently helped Granderson.

"Maybe that was enough -- just to be by [Cabrera]," Granderson said. "It is a little [overwhelming], looking at all the guys who could hit three, four, five on this team. ... Then they put me in there one day and I'm not exactly sure why. I don't think it'll happen too much."

Luke Scott, who had torched Tigers pitching for five homers and 11 RBIs in the first three games of the series, was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, ending a binge of four straight games with a home run.

"You hate to say this because he's on the other team: It wasn't fun to watch, but it was amazing to watch," Leyland said.

Jackson finally got the message that Scott was sitting on fastballs and fed him a steady diet of offspeed stuff to take him out of his comfort zone. When Jackson did throw a fastball, it was out of the zone, designed just to keep Scott honest. Jackson appeared ready to pitch around Scott, when he represented the tying run in the eighth, but got him to hit a soft liner to Jeff Larish at first.

Jackson didn't take his perfect 3 2/3 innings at the start for granted.

"As the game goes on, you have to focus even more," Jackson said. "You see most of the damage is done to pitchers -- a lot of times, from the sixth inning on. You've seen hitters twice, so they have an idea what you do. As the game goes on, it's a matter of you have to turn the focus up a little more and keep executing pitches."

Berken (1-1) was almost as efficient as Jackson. Berken worked seven innings, giving up a run on four hits, walking two and striking out two.

Larish delivered an insurance run in the eighth. Magglio Ordonez walked with one out and scored when Markakis had trouble picking up Larish's double to the warning track in right.

Clete Thomas had an RBI double in the ninth, making it 3-0. Fernando Rodney got the last three outs for his 10th save.

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

Porcello's string of wins ends; Tigers fall
Rookie pulled in fifth inning, picks up loss to Red Sox

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

06/02/09 10:30 PM ET
UPDATED: 06/03/09 1:14 AM ET

Box >

DETROIT -- Rick Porcello can't win them all. Against the American League East, he actually can't seem to win, period. He will, just hasn't yet.

His streak of five wins in his previous five starts saw him shut out the Twins over seven innings, continue the frustrations of the Indians and A's, then escape trouble against the Rockies and Royals. But the Red Sox have a way of working pitchers of all levels, let alone young ones.

"You can't coast through that lineup," Porcello said after Boston put up three runs over his 4 1/3 innings on their way to a 5-1 Tigers loss Tuesday night at Comerica Park. "They're going to make me work."

Porcello (6-4) was trying to become the first AL pitcher to win six straight starts at age 20 or younger since Wally Bunker in 1964. Not since his Major League debut at Toronto had a team managed more than six hits against him, but seven of the first 17 Red Sox batters had base hits. Just two of those hits went for extra bases, though, and two resulted in RBIs.

On another night when Detroit had its offense clicking, it might've been enough to get through with at least a no-decision, since Porcello fell two outs short of qualifying for a win. With Daisuke Matsuzaka thwarting Tigers chances repeatedly, however, the Red Sox right-hander didn't allow much room for miscues.

In this case, the miscue was a pitch similar to what befell Porcello in his other meetings with the AL East.

In Toronto, Porcello had a 2-2 game entering the sixth when he lost a breaking ball high and outside to Adam Lind, who hit it out to straightaway center to put the Blue Jays ahead for good. Porcello's six-run fourth inning against the Yankees on April 29 took off with an offspeed pitch that he lost up to Nick Swisher, who hit it out for a three-run homer.

Porcello's challenge Tuesday was to contain Jason Bay, Boston's stellar cleanup hitter whom the Tigers hadn't faced since he was with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2006. Porcello mixed four-seam fastballs and sinkers in his first at-bat, including a nasty sinker that sent him down swinging to end the first inning with one run allowed.

After starting off Bay with a first-pitch sinker for a strike his next time up, with a runner on in the third, Porcello went to something slower with more movement. His breaking ball began high, then dropped over the plate in time for Bay to drive out to left.

Porcello remembered the other pitches distinctly, specifically the one to Lind.

"That was a similar pitch tonight," Porcello said. "I kind of felt it come out of my hand. I didn't really get on top of it. He's obviously a pretty good hitter, and you have to tip your hat for him capitalizing on it. But at the same time, I could do a better job of keeping the ball down. Fastballs, breaking balls, leaving stuff up, they're too good pitches to hit for a team like that. (I) just have to be a little bit sharper, that's all."

They're the kind of struggles one would expect from a 20-year-old rookie. His winning streak just made it so easy to forget that he's still capable of them.

Not only had Porcello won his previous five outings, but he allowed one run or less in five of them. The exception was his previous start last Wednesday at Kansas City, and the Royals roughed him up for two runs over six innings.

Leyland's decision to take out Porcello with one out in the fifth was a combination of pitch count and pitcher choice. Boston had forced 84 pitches out of the young right-hander, two more than he threw at Kansas City and right around what he has averaged in his starts this season. And with Bay coming back up, Leyland countered with Ryan Perry, who retired the Sox slugger and Mike Lowell to get through it before loading the bases in a two-run sixth.

"He came out of it with five innings, 3-1," Leyland said. "That really wasn't the story. The story was that we let Daisuke off the hook. We had our shot; we just didn't do anything with it."

Like Porcello, Matsuzaka didn't retire the side in order in any inning, but he avoided getting hurt by it. Miguel Cabrera singled in Clete Thomas in the opening inning against Matsuzaka (1-3), but he stranded two more runners with a strikeout of Brandon Inge. Matsuzaka stranded another with a strikeout of Clete Thomas in the second inning.

Double plays ended the next two innings, including Curtis Granderson on Josh Anderson's fly out to right in the fourth, before Matsuzaka sent down the top third of Detroit's lineup in order after back-to-back walks brought the go-ahead run to the plate.

"We didn't hit very well tonight, period," Leyland said. "We had opportunities, three or four of them, and we got nothing out of them."

One more chance came in the ninth, when Jonathan Papelbon allowed three straight singles before striking out the side in order. Anderson battled Papelbon for 11 pitches, nine of them foul balls, before finally missing at a high fastball.

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

Tigers held in check by Sox's Beckett
Detroit doesn't notch first hit until seventh inning in loss

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

06/03/09 10:18 PM ET
updated: 06/04/09 12:32 AM ET

Box >

DETROIT -- One night after manager Jim Leyland lamented his offense for not taking advantage of chances Daisuke Matsuzaka gave the Tigers, Josh Beckett never gave them one until it was too late.

While Randy Johnson remains the last pitcher to no-hit the Tigers back in 1990, and Nolan Ryan the last to do it in Detroit in 1973, Beckett's performance deserves better mention than the numbers. The 10-5 Red Sox win Wednesday night at Comerica Park reflected little of the zeros that Beckett put up for 6 2/3 innings.

"One of the best pitchers in baseball," Leyland said, "had a very good game."

Not only did Beckett (6-2) not allow a base hit until Curtis Granderson's line-drive single through the right side with two outs in the seventh, the only Tigers batter to come close to a hit in the first six innings was catcher Gerald Laird, who attempted to bunt leading off the sixth, but the ball just rolled foul.

Laird eventually struck out looking. Beckett hit him with a pitch when he came to bat again in the eighth.

Beckett sent down 18 Tigers in order between his walks of Placido Polanco in the first inning and Magglio Ordonez in the seventh. Six Tigers struck out in that span, five of them on called third strikes.

Beckett's fastball had its usual consistent velocity and nasty late movement, leaving Tigers hitters struggling to catch up. Pitches they expected to take for balls off the corner ended up hitting for strikes.

"He was really good, spotting well," third baseman Brandon Inge said. "He was spotting away better than I have seen him."

Inge took called third strikes in each of his first two at-bats -- a fastball on the outside corner in the second inning, then a curveball inside in the fifth. Miguel Cabrera swung and missed at the curveball off the corner to end the fourth after getting nothing but fastballs in his first at-bat in the opening inning.

"When he's painting corners," Leyland said, "it's really tough."

Granderson saw Beckett work him almost exclusively outside for five pitches before spotting a fastball on the inside corner for the strikeout to lead off the fifth.

"Throughout the game, everything was on all the corners," Granderson said.

The first pitch Granderson saw over the plate, he said, was the pitch that broke up the no-no. And even that wasn't easy, not with the entire Tigers dugout aware of the zero in their hit column.

"Everyone's talking about it," Granderson said.

After Ordonez's walk, Cabrera nearly tagged his former Florida teammate for a hit with his drive to deep right-center field, but speedy Jacoby Ellsbury ran it down for the second out of the inning. Granderson followed by working into a 2-1 count, then catching one of Beckett's fastballs as it broke back towards the middle of the plate.

"It was a sinker down the middle," Beckett said. "He hit it good. It wasn't a very good pitch."

Granderson's line drive went through the right side for a single, ending the no-hit drama. After a brief mound visit from catcher Jason Varitek, however, Beckett followed by sending down Jeff Larish swinging at a curveball, stranding both runners on base.

Not until Inge's leadoff double in the eighth and three Red Sox errors did the Tigers (28-23) break up the shutout. By then, Boston was already in double digits. In the end, it wasn't so much the four runs -- three earned -- over Armando Galarraga's seven innings, but the add-on tallies against Zach Miner and Nate Robertson in the eighth, including a two-run double from David Ortiz.

Though Galarraga (3-6) salvaged his second straight quality start after J.D. Drew's two-run homer in the opening inning, Beckett's performance and the insurance tallies sent Galarraga to his sixth loss in as many decisions since going 3-0 in April.

"He did pretty darned good," Leyland said. "I thought he pitched well. After the first couple hitters, I was actually a little concerned the way he was throwing the ball, but he really picked it up. He gave us a chance, kept it close enough."

The five Tigers runs in the eighth, three on Granderson's bases-clearing triple, halved Detroit's deficit rather than putting them back into the game. But it gave the Tigers a glimmer of a chance once Takashi Saito -- filling in at closer with Jonathan Papelbon rested for a night -- loaded the bases with two walks and a hit-by-pitch.

Josh Anderson stepped to the plate with Cabrera on deck representing the potential tying run. But one night after Anderson battled Papelbon for 11 pitches and nine foul balls, Saito escaped with a flyout to center to end it.

"It's that never-say-die attitude," Granderson said.

That said, it's still a struggling offense. Take away the eighth-inning miscues, and the Red Sox (31-22) have allowed one earned run to the Tigers in 18 innings.

"I can tip my hat to Beckett," Leyland said. "But in saying that, up here you've got to compete your tail [off] and beat the good pitchers some, too. But he's one of the best in all of baseball. There's no question about that."

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

Willis can't harness wildness in loss
Lefty allows five runs on no hits, five walks in 2 1/3 innings

By Kyle Austin / MLB.com

06/04/09 3:58 PM ET
updated: 06/04/09 6:11 PM ET

Box >

DETROIT -- Dontrelle Willis stood on the mound, his frustration mounting as pitch after pitch missed the strike zone.

The Tigers starter had hit a wall in the third inning of Thursday's game against the Red Sox. After starting the inning by hitting Jacoby Ellsbury, Willis walked four batters and allowed two runs to score, before he was removed from his shortest outing of the year. The Red Sox scored six runs in that inning, enough for a 6-3 win and a series sweep.

Willis (1-3) spent the first part of the year on the disabled list with an anxiety disorder diagnosed during Spring Training. Since rejoining the Tigers on May 13, he said he has been focusing on forgetting the previous pitch. He had been relatively successful with that approach, compiling two quality starts in four outings. But Thursday's game, Willis said, marked the first time this year he was unable to do that.

"This is the first time I was really flustered on the mound," Willis said. "I threw some good pitches, didn't get the calls, and I let that get the best of me today."

As Willis' struggles continued on the mound, Tigers manager Jim Leyland stood in the dugout feeling helpless, hoping to see strikes. But as his starter started spiraling -- a four-pitch and two-five pitch walks to let two runs score -- Leyland walked out and took the ball from Willis, who walked back to the dugout punching his glove and talking to himself.

When Leyland walked back to the dugout a few seconds later, he was talking, too. Only his words were directed at home-plate umpire Jeff Nelson, and concerned balls and strikes. Nelson quickly ejected Leyland, who said after the game that his actions were "out of line."

"It appeared that I was frustrated, and maybe I was frustrated for Dontrelle," Leyland said. "You want it so bad for a guy, and everyone else wants it for him and I overreacted."

Willis finished the game with no hits, five earned runs and five walks allowed. The last pitcher to throw at least two innings and allow five runs without a hit was Sandy Koufax on June 3, 1958. Given his outing, Willis appreciated his manager's willingness to fight for him.

"He continues to believe in me, and he told me that," Willis said. "... I kind of like it, seeing that fire."

After the teams batted out nine runs in the second and third innings, Red Sox starter Tim Wakefield and the two bullpens kept the scoring at bay through the rest of the afternoon. Wakefield (7-3) finished with 6 2/3 innings pitched, three earned runs, three strikeouts and no walks. Tigers pitchers combined for nine walks, the most the staff has issued this season, as the team was swept at Comerica Park for the first time this year.

First baseman Miguel Cabrera left the game after the top of the second inning with a pulled left hamstring. Cabrera said he suffered the injury when he hit a single to left field, but he was able to stay in the game and score the team's first run before being taken out. He is listed as day-to-day, and Cabrera hopes to play in Friday's game against the Angels.

"Right now I feel better," Cabrera said after the game. "We'll see how I feel tomorrow. Hopefully I can play tomorrow."

Reliever Zach Miner also left the game with a cramp in his right calf. He said the injury was minor and that he doesn't expect to miss any time.

Thursday's game against the Red Sox (32-22) marked the first time in team history that the Tigers (28-24) were involved in a situation involving instant replay. It happened when Jeff Larish hit a ball right at the right-field foul pole in the sixth inning. First-base umpire Mark Carlson ruled the ball foul. Tigers hitting coach Lloyd McClendon came out to argue the call, and the umpires retreated to the umpires' room to look at the replay.

When they came back out, crew chief Tim Tschida signaled that the ball had been foul. Raburn grounded into a double play on the ensuing pitch. Leyland, who watched the replay from his office after being ejected, said the correct call was made.

The offense continued its struggles, managing no runs on seven hits throughout the last seven innings. But after the game, Willis blamed himself -- and his lack of composure on the mound -- as the reason for his team's third straight loss.

"I just got frustrated," Willis said. "That was the first time I ever had a call that didn't go my way, and I let it get to me. I can't do that."

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

Verlander great, but bats too quiet
Angels break through against Rodney, hold on to win

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

06/06/09 12:21 AM ET

Box >

DETROIT -- Justin Verlander continues to give the Tigers a chance to win when he takes the mound. Detroit's offense continues to struggle to put up the runs it needs to follow through.

"You just can't ask for anything more than that," manager Jim Leyland said after Friday's 2-1 Tigers loss to the Angels. "It's a shame that he didn't get a win tonight. It's a shame we didn't get a win. But you've got to put some runs on the board."

They eventually did, one anyway, but not in time to give their ace a lead to protect.

However long Verlander could've gone Friday night and kept Angels hitters in check, the problem comes back to the shutout that Ervin Santana took into the ninth. They dueled for the first eight innings, thwarting one chance after another, but neither worked with a lead until the Angels scored twice off Fernando Rodney and sent out Santana for the ninth. He didn't make it through, but the Tigers didn't make their chance work, either.

Verlander tossed a complete-game shutout for a 1-0 win a month ago at Cleveland, and won a 3-1 duel over the Indians five days before that. But he can only do so much.

The Tigers, meanwhile, haven't done much at the plate lately. They've been held to three runs or fewer in nine of their last 13 games, and one of the exceptions included the five unearned runs put up against Josh Beckett and Boston's bullpen Wednesday night. Of greater urgency, Detroit went scoreless for 15 innings between Thursday's three-run second inning and Magglio Ordonez's ninth-inning RBI single Friday.

It was good for Ordonez, who had some of his best swings in a while and said he felt more relaxed at the plate. But it's a big concern on a larger scale for the Tigers, who might not have Miguel Cabrera and his strained hamstring back in the lineup until Sunday.

"We're just not doing much with the bats," Leyland said. "I don't know. We just can't seem to put an inning together."

While Verlander had some of the more impressive outs, Santana often had more efficient ones, creating the difference in the pitch count that eventually played a difference in the game. Verlander walked four batters, one intentionally, and the Angels tried to work him deep into counts. But his seven strikeouts showed he did a masterful job of working ahead and inducing either futile swings at a high fastballs or frozen bats at breaking balls that dropped over the plate.

Bobby Abreu chased a 97-mph heater high in the third inning, much like Juan Rivera in the fourth. Kendry Morales struck out in each of his first three at-bats, twice on curveballs and once with a couple runners on in the sixth.

"We didn't have a lot of luck in pressuring Verlander," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

Yet Verlander's biggest pitch might've been his last one, and it wasn't a strikeout. With Howard Kendrick on third and one out, Verlander intentionally walked Abreu and brought up Vladimir Guerrero, recently back from the disabled list. Verlander started him out with another high fastball at 97 mph, and Guerrero slapped it down to third base, allowing Brandon Inge to start the inning-ending double play.

That was it for Verlander, whom Leyland was not going to risk for another inning.

"He had done everything he could," Leyland said. "He got an extra day's rest, so that was fine, but no, he wasn't going to go any more. He did everything you could ask and more."

The problem was that Detroit's offense could do nothing against Santana with runners on. Two rallies ended in double plays, including in the fifth with runners at the corners for Jeff Larish after Ordonez doubled to deep center and Inge walked. Gerald Laird doubled and advanced on a sacrifice in the sixth, but Josh Anderson's sharp ground ball caught Laird between third and home.

Santana (1-2), roughed up in his previous two starts, looked more like the dominant pitcher of 2008.

"He was closer to himself tonight than he probably has been his other couple starts," Leyland said. "He wasn't throwing quite as hard as you've seen him in the past, but he uses his offspeed stuff very well."

Three straight singles to begin the ninth inning against Rodney finally put the Angels on the scoreboard with Rivera's RBI grounder through the right side and Kendrick's groundout. Yet once Anderson tripled with one out in the ninth, the Tigers had one more opportunity.

Ordonez's opposite-field liner plated Anderson and put Ryan Raburn on third with a chance to tie it. But Chone Figgins, who robbed Placido Polanco of a big hit in the sixth, went flying towards the seats behind third base for Curtis Granderson's foul ball on a 2-0 pitch.

"When a guy gets to third base, that close to home, you want to get him in," Anderson said. "We had a couple opportunities tonight to get guys in [and] we hit the ball hard a couple times. It just didn't work out."

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

Better get going DD and get us some reliable hitting power! And Leyland, what were you thinking... Rodney should not have stayed in!!!

L.A. ANGELS 2, DETROIT 1
Ordoñez and Verlander shine, but Tigers fall in the 9th

BY JOHN LOWE • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • June 6, 2009

On Friday afternoon, with his season-long batting struggles still encasing him, Magglio Ordoñez acknowledged the reality that forever surrounds the sport he plays.

"I hope I start hitting soon," Ordoñez said. "Baseball is a business. When you don't produce, they get rid of you quick."

And a few hours later, he did start hitting.

"I felt good today," he said after the game. "I had my swing back."

When is the last time he felt like that?

"Probably last year," Ordoñez said.

This is the good news in the Tigers' 2-1 loss to the Angels -- Ordoñez had a vintage Ordoñez game.

In the fifth inning, against the otherwise dominant right-hander Ervin Santana, he doubled to deep center.

That's the power-hitting Ordoñez.

With two outs in the ninth, he lined Santana's 0-2 pitch to right for an RBI single.

That's the clutch Ordoñez -- the one who uses the opposite field and can hit behind in the count.

He was asked if he knew why his swing has been missing.

"All the distractions that I have with my family," he said. "Sometimes you lose your focus, and you try to get it back, and it's hard."

It is a rare time, and perhaps the first time, he has publicly connected his struggles this season with his concern for the health of his wife, Dagly. Ordoñez missed three games in mid-May to return home to Venezuela to be with Dagly when she had surgery.

As Friday began, Ordoñez had two homers and 19 RBIs in a season that's almost one-third finished. Last season, he had 21 homers and 103 RBIs.

"I've been trying different things at the plate for the last month," he said. "But nothing has worked. That doesn't mean that I'm going to stop working.

"Sometimes I try to go the other way, and sometimes I'm going to try to pull. I get in between and sometimes you don't know what to do. Then you lose focus. What you're supposed to do is see the ball and hit it where it's pitched.

"I'm a little confused right now," he added before Friday's game. "I'm in between. Am I going to try for a base hit or a home run? Doubles?

"Now I try to do everything, and nothing happens."

After his impressive 2-for-4 game, he said: "Baseball is not easy. Even the best hitters in baseball go through struggles. Hopefully I keep swinging like that and start driving the ball like I did today."

Verlander’s latest gem: According to Baseball-Reference.com, Verlander became the seventh pitcher in the big leagues this year to have an outing in which he didn’t allow a run, went at least eight innings -- and didn’t win. The last two times it happened, the pitchers opposed each other: St. Louis’ Chris Carpenter and Milwaukee’s Yovani Gallardo.

“Verlander was just spectacular,” said Tigers manager Jim Leyland.

It was the sixth time in his career, and second time this year, that Verlander has had a scoreless outing of at least eight innings. He won the other five such games, including his no-hitter.

Leyland said there was “absolutely no question” that Verlander’s last eight starts represent the best stretch he’s seen from the right-hander. In those eight starts, Verlander is 6-0 with a 1.12 ERA (equaling the record-low ERA that Bob Gibson had for his full overwhelming season with St. Louis in 1968).

“He’s better now than I’ve seen him,” Leyland said of Verlander, whom he’s managed throughout his four full seasons. “That’s maturity, tremendous stuff and figuring out the art of pitching a little more.”

Contact play: Gerald Laird was retired in a rundown when he tried to score from third on Josh Anderson’s grounder to first with one out in the sixth inning. Leyland said the “contact play” was on -- that Laird was supposed to try to score on any grounder. Leyland reasoned that even if Laird were to be thrown out, Anderson could reach second on the play. Then Placido Polanco would have a chance to drive home the speedy Anderson from second with two out -- not a big difference from having Polanco trying to drive in Laird from third with two out, which would have been the case if Laird had held third as Anderson was retired on the grounder. With Anderson on second, Polanco grounded out to end the inning on a nice play by third baseman Chone Figgins to his left.

The 2-1 game: The Tigers lost for the first time this season when they allowed two runs or fewer. The Angels won for the second time when they scored two or fewer. Last month they beat Kansas City, 1-0, to hand Zack Greinke his first loss.

Jackson goes distance to lift Tigers
Right-hander ends Detroit's four-game slide

By Kyle Austin / MLB.com

06/06/09 9:31 PM ET
updated: 06/06/09 11:40 PM ET

Box >

DETROIT -- Every time Tigers right-hander Edwin Jackson takes the mound to start a game, he has every intention of being there for the final out of the ninth inning.

In 87 of his 88 career starts before Saturday, that didn't happen. He had been flirting with the elusive complete game for his past few starts, pitching through the eighth in two of his last three. But he couldn't quite make it into the ninth.

So when Jackson finally got his chance in the ninth inning Saturday, he made the most of it. Jackson struck out the side to finish the Tigers' 2-1 win over the Angels at Comerica Park. The win broke the team's season-high four-game losing streak, as Jackson finished the complete game giving up only the one earned run, striking out five and walking only one batter.

"He was absolutely brilliant tonight, just absolutely tremendous," manager Jim Leyland said. "You can't ask for anything better."

Taking to the mound with a pitch count of only 96 in the top of the ninth, Jackson worked through the heart of the Angels' order -- Bobby Abreu, Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter -- in dominating fashion. His fastball touched 98 miles per hour on multiple occasions. His three strikeouts in the ninth were more than he had the entire game up to that point, showing, as he has before, that he gets stronger as games go on.

"You've got to leave it on the field," Jackson said. "That's what I was trying to do, leave it on the field."

But, as teammates Brandon Inge and Gerald Laird noted, what was even more impressive than the late-game velocity was the late-game control. Jackson issued only one walk to the 30 batters he faced. And even in the ninth, he only threw two balls in the 13 pitches he threw, between continuous 98-mph fastballs.

Leyland said doing that was especially important against an Angels team that likes to get men on base and work them around to manufacture runs.

"You have to dial it up, but you still have to be in control of the situation," Jackson said. "You can't over-dial it up."

Jackson's dominating finish could have hardly been predicted from watching the start, though. It took only six pitches for the Angels to score, after Chone Figgins hit a leadoff single and Bobby Abreu hit an RBI double to the right-field wall.

The Tigers' offense struck almost as quickly, scoring two of their first three batters on a Magglio Ordonez RBI double and a sacrifice fly by Curtis Granderson to take a slim lead after one. That lead held up, as the teams combined for three total runs for the second consecutive game. On Friday, all those runs came in the ninth inning. Saturday, they all came in the first.

The Tigers could use more run production, Leyland said. But his team's strong pitching has kept it in games. After Justin Verlander's eight scoreless innings Friday, Detroit's top two starters have thrown 17 scoreless innings in the last two days. Verlander and Jackson are quickly emerging as a preeminent 1-2 pitching combination in the AL, as the two young pitchers appear to feed off each other.

On Saturday, Jackson one-upped Verlander. Leyland decided to go with closer Fernando Rodney in the ninth of Verlander's start. Rodney gave up the deciding two runs and took the loss. So Saturday, when the ninth inning rolled around and his closer was unavailable, Leyland was glad to have Jackson ready to go.

"To have that little extra in the tank at that point, that's pretty impressive," Leyland said.

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

Saturday, June 6, 2009
Tigers 2, Angels 1
Edwin Jackon, Tigers eke past Angels
Terry Foster / The Detroit News

Detroit -- The Tigers' anemic hitting continued, but they finally got a victory Saturday night as pitcher Edwin Jackson went the distance and outdueled Kelvim Escobar during a 2-1 Tigers victory of the Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park.

The Tigers have scored 12 runs in the previous five games, but they will take the victory any way they can take it. However, they couldn't even hit Escobar, who pitched for the first time since Game 2 of the 2007 World Series. He was wild, threw a lot of balls but gave up just two earned runs after a roller coaster five innings of work. Both runs came in the first inning as the Tigers erased a 1-0 deficit.

Magglio Ordonez slapped an opposite field single down the first base line to score Placido Polanco and Curtis Granderson's sacrifice fly to center field scored Clete Thomas.

Jackson ran his record to 6-3 and in his last 45 1/3 innings has given up just seven earned runs, 33 hits and struck out 34 batters. On Saturday he fanned just five Los Angeles batters, but the Angels were off-balance and hit a bunch of weak fly balls.

But Jackson saved his biggest moment for the ninth inning when he fanned Vladimir Guerrero with 96 and 98 mph fastballs for the second out. Jackson struck out the side in the ninth.

The Tigers were not much better offensively. They managed just eight hits and in their last five games are hitting .223 and have not hit a home run. After the first inning they threatened several times but could not get the big hit against Escobar.

Thomas' grand slam rescues Tigers
With aid of walks, Detroit answers call after falling behind

By Kyle Austin / MLB.com

06/07/09 4:15 PM ET
updated: 06/07/09 5:59 PM ET

Box >

DETROIT -- The stars hardly seemed in line for what Clete Thomas accomplished Sunday afternoon.

When Thomas stepped to the plate in the eighth, the Tigers had not recorded a hit since the third inning. All seven of their hits had been singles. The team had not hit a home run in the last five games, its longest such streak since 2003. Thomas had never hit a big league grand slam in his 69 games.

Yet when Thomas saw the 1-1 fastball come his way in the eighth, he cranked it into the bullpen in left field for a four-run shot, handing the Tigers a 9-6 win over the Angels at Comerica Park.

"It's a great feeling," Thomas said, although he didn't get that feeling until after he had already rounded first base.

When the ball left his bat, Thomas didn't think it had the loft to get out of the park. But the noise from the crowd, and the home run signal from the umpire, told Thomas what he had just accomplished.

The power hitting came back just in time for the Tigers. The team had dropped four of the last five before Sunday, and its lead in the American League Central had fallen to 2 1/2 games. A loss would have sent the team limping into a five-game series against the White Sox to start an 11-game road trip.

Thomas would not have even had the opportunity for his grand slam had it not been for a gut instinct on the part of manager Jim Leyland. In the fourth inning, after first baseman Miguel Cabrera drew his second walk of the game, Leyland took him out, sensing he wasn't at full strength from a left hamstring injury three days earlier.

So Thomas came off the bench to take Cabrera's No. 4 spot in the batting order, and proceeded to turn into the clutch hitter that Cabrera is known to be.

"It felt great to be in his situation," Thomas said. "That's a situation everyone dreams of as a kid, coming in and hitting the game-winning grand slam."

Until Thomas' grand slam, the two teams seemed destined to battle it out until the end, in what Leyland called a "grind-it-out game." The Angels scored with power in the first inning -- two home runs in the first five batters to jump on top by three runs. The Tigers countered with a stream of singles, seven of them in all, producing four runs in the first four innings. The Angels tied the game with a run in the sixth, and the game stayed that way until the top of the eighth.

With the score tied at four in the top of the eighth inning, Tigers pitcher Joel Zumaya walked home the go-ahead run, giving the Angels a 5-4 lead heading into the bottom of the inning. After the Tigers loaded the bases, an errant throw home by Gary Matthews Jr. after a fly ball to center in the bottom of the eighth allowed Ryan Raburn to score from third and tie the game, setting up Thomas' late-game heroics.

Tigers starter Rick Porcello exited the game after five-plus innings pitched, giving up four earned runs, and took the no-decision. Leyland cited control issues for Porcello, who gave up two home runs to the first five hitters he faced. He had given up only two home runs in his previous six starts.

"He was OK," Leyland said. "His control was not real good , and it seemed like he was getting caught in between his slider and curve today."

Leyland had been expressing his concern over the Tigers' lack of hitting as of late, and said he's still concerned heading into the road trip. But after nine runs capped off by an unlikely blast, the manager is, for the time being, satisfied.

"I won't be concerned if we get nine every day," Leyland said.

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

DETROIT 9, L.A. ANGELS 6
Clete Thomas' grand slam lifts Tigers

FREE PRESS STAFF REPORTS • June 7, 2009

Clete Thomas' eighth-inning grand slam pushed the Tigers past the Angels, 9-6, today at Comerica Park.

Chone Figgins led the game off with a home run in the rightfield corner. Later in the inning, with two outs and a runner on second, Juan Rivera homered to left for a 3-0 lead.

The Tigers answered in their half of the first by loading the bases with two outs. Then, Brandon Inge singled home Placido Polanco and Magglio Ordoñez.

In the third, the Tigers took the lead with two outs and the bases loaded on an Adam Everett single to score Miguel Cabrera and Marcus Thames.

Rick Porcello pitched five innings and one batter in the sixth. He gave up three earned runs on five hits, two home runs and three doubles, three walks while striking out two. He also had a throwing error on a pickoff attempt at first base.

Ryan Perry replaced Porcello after Kendry Morales doubled. He got two outs before an Erick Aybar single to score the game-tying run.

After the Tigers went 1-2-3 in the sixth, Perry gave up singles to Howie Kendrick and Figgins. Bobby Seay then entered the game. He got Bobby Abreu to fly out to center, but Hendrick advanced to third base.

Joel Zumaya entered the game to face Vladimir Guerrero. Zumaya got Guerrero to ground into a double play to end the inning.

In the eighth, Zumaya walked Morales and then got two outs. He gave up a ground-rule double to Aybar and then intentionally walked pinch hitter Maicer Izturis. With the bases loaded, Kendrick walked to score the tie-breaking run.

In the eighth against Jose Arrendendo, Ryan Raburn led things off with a walk and was bunted over to second by Gerald Laird. Everett was hit by a pitch, which forced Angels manager Mike Scioscia to bring in Jason Bulger. He then walked Curtis Granderson to load the bases.

The next hitter, Polanco, flied out to shallow centerfield, seemingly not far enough to score Raburn. Gary Matthews Jr. threw the ball in but way off line, allowing the run to score on the error.

Ordoñez then walked to set the table for Thomas.

The ninth didn't go smoothly for Fernando Rodney. With one out, he gave up a single to Guerrero and with two outs an RBI double by Rivera. But he got Matthews to pop out to the shortstop to end the game.

In Thames' first game back from the disabled list, he had two singles and scored a run.

In the fourth, Miguel Cabrera walked and was replaced by Clete Thomas. Cabrera pulled his hamstring Thursday against the Red Sox and had not been in the lineup the last two days. The first baseman walked twice in three plate appearances and scored once. Raburn, who started the game in leftfield, went to first base as Thomas went out to left.

Inge's clutch bat propels Tigers to victory
Infielder rips decisive RBI in ninth; Galarraga strong

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

06/08/09 5:15 PM ET
updated 06/08/09 7:59 PM ET

Box >

CHICAGO -- When Tigers manager Jim Leyland met starting pitcher Armando Galarraga in the dugout after his first inning Monday, he wasn't checking on his health. He was giving a reality check.

Detroit was one inning into a day-night doubleheader with the Chicago White Sox, but it took 33 pitches from Galarraga to get through it. And Leyland had Nate Robertson warming up if Galarraga couldn't do better. Leyland would figure out his relief corps from there if he had to.

"I got on him, that's all," Leyland said after the Tigers came back for a 5-4 win over the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. "I'm not saying that had anything to do with it, but I jumped on him after the first inning. I said, 'Look, if you're going to pitch to try to miss the bat, I'll get somebody else.'"

Message received.

Though Paul Konerko's eighth-inning, game-tying home run off Joel Zumaya stretched Galarraga's winless streak to eight outings since his 3-0 April, the right-hander's 6 2/3 innings marked his third straight quality start.

Without Galarraga, the Tigers wouldn't have had a lead in the first place, given their 12 runners left on base. They wouldn't have had a chance for Brandon Inge's go-ahead single in the top of the ninth. They might not have had much of a chance in the day's second game with a shortened bullpen.

Considering Galarraga had the bases loaded four batters into his outing, a quality start seemed highly unlikely.

"I just told him," Leyland continued, "'That's the facts. If you're not going to go after them, try to make them mis-hit the ball, try to miss the bat all the time, that ain't worth nothing.' I said, 'You have to go after them. Use your fastball, slider, changeup. Use all your pitches and go right after them. If you're not going to do that, I'll get somebody else out there.'"

Leyland wasn't the only one trying to get Galarraga going. When Galarraga was plodding through the early innings, Inge reminded Galarraga of something he had said when Inge caught Galarraga last year.

"I told him one of the innings to pick up his tempo a little bit," Inge said. "That's one of the things that he harped on when I caught him. He wanted me to get down and give him the signs so that he can go as fast as he could, so that he could not allow the hitters to get into a rhythm. And I told him, 'Remember what you told me then? This is when you were going good. Just a reminder. Maybe this can help you.'"

Galarraga's outing still wasn't completely smooth, but it was effective -- much like the game as a whole.

Galarraga allowed three hits in the third and escaped without a run allowed. He stranded Chris Getz following a one-out triple in the fourth. His only run-scoring hit was Jermaine Dye's two-run homer in the fifth off a hanging 0-2 slider.

It was a good recovery, but Galarraga was still clearly frustrated by the start, especially a lack of command.

"I'm really disappointed right now," Galarraga said Monday night, "because I haven't done well the first couple innings."

Still, on a day when the Tigers got a sacrifice fly off a botched squeeze play, struck out Jim Thome with a runner in scoring position after Bobby Seay's first pitch sailed to the backstop, then took advantage of a ninth-inning error for their go-ahead tally, they gladly took it.

"I think [Galarraga] knows he has to start working off his fastball and sinker instead of just sliders," catcher Dane Sardinha said.

Sardinha gave Galarraga some early offensive support, too, though not exactly the way the Tigers intended. After Adam Everett singled in Inge and moved Ryan Raburn to third with one out, Detroit called for the squeeze bunt. Sardinha had a 2-0 count with a chance to put Detroit in front.

Sardinha was swinging away and waiting for White Sox left-hander Clayton Richard's 2-0 pitch when he noticed Raburn running down the line.

"I missed the sign," Sardinha said.

His initial thought was best left not said, but it turned to a sigh of relief when he lofted a fly ball to right. Raburn scrambled to the bag in time to tag up.

"He just bunted it a little too far," Leyland said with a smile.

Curtis Granderson's RBI single in the sixth put Detroit back in front after Dye's home run. But when Konerko caught up with Zumaya's 97-mph fastball leading off the eighth, the offensively challenged Tigers had to scrape together a run again.

Enter third baseman Josh Fields, whose botched glovework on a one-out grounder in the ninth allowed a hobbled Miguel Cabrera to trot safely to first. Marcus Thames' harder-hit grounder off shortstop Alexei Ramirez moved pinch-runner Josh Anderson to second for Inge, who caught up with a fourth straight fastball from Scott Linebrink in time to ground it through the left side.

Once Inge turned a sharply-hit hopper from Dye into a game-ending double play, Fernando Rodney had his 11th save in as many chances, and the Tigers had just their third win at this park since the start of last season.

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

Tigers forced to settle for DH split
Bonderman hit for six runs in first start of the season

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

06/08/09 10:35 PM ET
updated: 06/09/09 12:59 AM ET

Box >

CHICAGO -- Jeremy Bonderman had a year and a week between Major League outings. His return to the Tigers, once hoped to be at the start of the season, took two extra months while he worked through the nagging soreness in his right shoulder.

His return to his form as a front-line Major League starter might take a little longer than that.

If Bonderman is going to learn to work with less velocity than he once had, to change speeds and hit corners and become more of a precision pitcher, Monday's 6-1 Tigers loss to the White Sox will have to serve as a learning experience. Bonderman's fastball continues to make little gains each time out, but his effort to change speeds did almost nothing to throw Chicago hitters off their timing at the plate.

If Bonderman's pitches weren't precise, his effort to describe his feelings about his outing was. He essentially summed it up as poor. His manager wasn't much more verbose.

"Not too good," Jim Leyland said.

Leyland was much more concerned about his offense, which he said had "terrible, sickening at-bats" and "weak swings" against White Sox starter Jose Contreras. And had the Tigers scored some early runs, Leyland suggested, it might've allowed Bonderman to loosen up. Still, he described Bonderman's return as a process.

"It was his first outing, so I can certainly give him some slack there," Leyland said. "But I'm not going to sugarcoat the outing. The silver lining in the cloud is that he looked healthy. That doesn't appear to be an issue. He threw a few balls at 90 mph, so those are some signs of hope there. But his outing in general was not good, that simple. And the offense was worse."

In that case, Bonderman's return to the big leagues wasn't the destination, but another leg to the journey. And he has longer to go. Contreras, who had been sent to Triple-A Charlotte in mid-May to work out his issues, had Major League innings under his belt. Bonderman is still building his strength.

The Chicago victory salvaged a doubleheader split after Detroit took the opener with a 5-4 comeback win Monday afternoon. Armando Galarraga survived a 33-pitch opening inning to toss a quality start in the first game, but Bonderman struggled to shake off the troubles that began when Alexei Ramirez pulled a line drive to left for a solo homer as Bonderman's second batter of the night.

The pitch itself was a positive, a 91-mph fastball that represented a pretty good step in velocity from Bonderman's last rehab start eight days earlier at Triple-A Toledo. The resulting drive left the park faster, sending left fielder Josh Anderson in full retreat to the fence before he could only watch it continue into the bullpen. A Jermaine Dye double and two walks loaded the bases and sent Zach Miner warming up in the bullpen before shortstop Ramon Santiago made a running catch in short left field to escape the jam.

Another fastball to Scott Podsednik went out to right for his first home run of the year with two outs in the second inning. Jim Thome's 10th home run on the season, a two-run shot, made Bonderman pay for a two-seamer that caught too much of the plate in the third.

The three homers marked the most Bonderman has allowed in a game since giving up four at Philadelphia on June 15, 2007. Three straight singles chased him from the game with nobody out in the fifth.

Ironically, Bonderman's return came against the same organization he faced in that final rehab outing for the Mud Hens, but a different level of hitters. Rookie third baseman Gordon Beckham was the only Charlotte hitter from that rehab start who was in the White Sox lineup Monday.

Short of a gem of a performance, however, it seemed unlikely that Bonderman would've given the Tigers any momentum against Contreras, who stole the comeback spotlight. His mercurial history against Detroit includes everything from a complete-game shutout in 2006 to a nine-run bashing a year later. Monday's performance was much more like the former.

Tigers top prospect Wilkin Ramirez warned a few weeks ago that Contreras was the best pitcher he had seen in Triple-A, including Red Sox top prospect Clay Buchholz. Monday offered a glimpse why: Contreras sent down 11 straight Tigers and 22 of his final 23 batters after Clete Thomas' first-inning double. Aside from a couple warning-track fly balls from Curtis Granderson, nothing was hit with much authority.

Leyland couldn't fault the pitcher, but couldn't help himself taking issue with his hitters.

"I think he's a very good pitcher that has his ins and outs at times," Leyland said. "But we saw what he's capable of. He pitched an excellent ballgame tonight. And we really didn't do anything to challenge hiim at all. We had terrible at-bats all night; terrible, sickening at-bats, if you really want to know the truth."

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

Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Tigers 5, White Sox 4; White Sox 6, Tigers 1
Bonderman struggles in return, Tigers get split
Tom Gage / The Detroit News

Chicago -- Moral to the story of Monday's second game? It's easier to come back from a month away than a year.

Making his first start since June 1 of last year, Jeremy Bonderman not only struggled against the White Sox, but gave up three home runs in four innings and was the losing pitcher in a 6-1 defeat.

"He wasn't very good," manager Jim Leyland said.

"It's not that I felt rusty," Bonderman said. "I just didn't execute my pitches. I didn't pitch well at all."

Jose Contreras, on the other hand, was making his first start for the Sox after a month in the minors and blanked the Tigers on one hit for eight innings. Marcus Thames hit a solo home run in the ninth off Matt Thornton (Three Rivers).

The Tigers won the opener of the day-night doubleheader, 5-4, taking advantage of a ninth-inning error to score the winning run. They were shut down completely in the nightcap, however -- much to Leyland's chagrin.

To his disgust, actually.

"Contreras pitched an excellent ballgame, but we really didn't do anything to challenge him," Leyland said. "We had terrible at-bats against him, sickening at-bats.

"I'm shocked. Just weak, unaggressive swings. Going up there throwing at-bats away. Terrible. That was a pathetic offensive effort in the second game. It was very disappointing."

Bonderman had been away because of arm trouble, then shoulder surgery, a long recovery and a rehab assignment. Without his old velocity, he said he would have get by with other pitches -- but thus far hasn't.

He pitched into the fifth, allowing six runs on eight hits and three walks. Except for a quiet fourth, he struggled, giving up home runs to Alexei Ramirez, Scott Podsenik and Jim Thome.

Contreras allowed a two-out double to Clete Thomas in the first, but held the Tigers hitless after that for the eight innings he pitched.

As for the opener, the Tigers benefited from both a break and a broken play.

Brandon Inge made the Sox pay for their ninth-inning error with tie-breaking single. Just as important in the one-run victory, however, was the weirdest suicide squeeze of possibly the last several seasons.

The Tigers had just tied the score in the second on Adam Everett's single that not only drove in Inge, but advanced Ryan Raburn from first to third. With Dane Sardinha batting next, Raburn charged down the line, because the squeeze was on. Except Sardinha missed the sign.

"You can't print what I said when I saw him swinging away," Raburn said. "If he hooks one, I'm done for."

Sardinha didn't hook it, however. He lofted a fly ball to center, on which Raburn was able to scramble back to third, tag and score the Tigers' second run.

"With the pitch on the way and Ryan running towards me, I knew I'd missed something," Sardinha said. "Luckily I got a strike to hit."

What also helped in the opener was some direct talk from Leyland to starter Armando Galarraga, who gave up a run in the first after walking two of the first four batters

"I jumped on him," Leyland said. "I'm not saying it had anything to do with him (settling down), but I told him, 'If you're going to pitch to try and miss the bat, I'll get somebody else.' You have to go after hitters.

"He responded all right. He did a good job."

Galarraga left in the seventh with a 4-3 lead, but Joel Zumaya gave up a leadoff homer in the eighth to Paul Konerko. That's why it was tied in the ninth.

With one out, Josh Fields butchered Miguel Cabrera's routine grounder to third. Thames' infield single moved pinch-runner Josh Anderson to second, setting up Inge's single.

Fernando Rodney pitched a scoreless ninth for his 11th save.

The Tigers never trailed after their two-run second. It would have been a three-run inning if Jermaine Dye hadn't robbed Thames of a home run with a catch above the wall in right.

Cabrera's homer lifts Tigers in 10th
Rodney, Lyon off the hook after giving up lead

By Kerry Walls / Special to MLB.com

06/10/09 2:10 AM ET

Box >

CHICAGO -- In a game of plots and subplots, this one had it all.

An erratic, hurting starter battling for survival. A wild closer surrendering a lead. Tempers flaring between division rivals. And a slumping slugger delivering a clutch hit.

Luckily for the Tigers, Miguel Cabrera's first homer in June lifted Detroit to a 7-6 victory over the Chicago White Sox in 10 innings on Tuesday night at U.S. Cellular Field.

Mired in a 6-for-36 slump and facing a 0-for-4 night already, Cabrera deposited a Scott Linebrink pitch just over the left-center-field wall for decisive run.

"No matter what happens," Cabrera said, "whether I go 0-for-5, 0-for-4, I want to be in there. I want to play my best. The important thing is we keep winning."

Early on, all indications pointed to a long night for the Tigers and starter Dontrelle Willis.

Willis threw six straight balls to start the game, injured his right knee on a play at the plate in the first, and nearly had to leave the game in the second.

But Willis pitched like a guy battling to stay in Detroit's rotation, gutting out five innings and exiting the game with a 3-3 tie despite the sore knee.

"I just wanted to go out and show [manager Jim Leyland] I wanted to play," Willis said. "My leg was going to have to come off before I'd come out of the game."

I've got to take my hat off to him," Leyland said. "This guy competes so hard. It's kind of a tough situation to manage right now. He wouldn't come out. I couldn't tell you how happy I was with the way he competed. I think the guys love him. I think they appreciate the way he goes about his business."

Placido Polanco's bases-clearing double gave the Tigers a 6-3 lead in the seventh, and that score held up until the bottom of the ninth when closer Fernando Rodney couldn't find the strike zone, walking the first three batters before getting pulled.

"I don't know what happened [with Rodney]," Leyland said. "He didn't have any rhythm or any command. He's been fantastic for us, and that's just one of those ones [where] you turn the page. He'll be closing the next game."

Brandon Lyon relieved Rodney, and after striking out Jermaine Dye, walked Jim Thome to pull the White Sox to within two runs. With the bases still loaded, Paul Konerko doubled down the left-field line, but shortstop Adam Everett kept the game tied by throwing out Dewayne Wise at the plate on a bang-bang play.

"What a good player he is," Leyland said of Everett. "He's just a very, very steady Major League player."

Tempers flared and benches emptied in the fourth after White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski appeared to say something to Willis while jogging off the field following a groundout. Both sides squashed the issue following the game as a non-factor.

"I don't comment on that," Leyland said. "Boys will be boys."

"Just a misunderstanding," Willis said. "But we're cool now."

"Yeah, I don't know," Pierzynski said. They thought there was something there and there was nothing there. They were being protective. I said 'Hey' to them and they went crazy.

"I have no problem with Dontrelle. I have no problem with anybody on their team. They are a good team and Dontrelle threw the ball well."

Pierzynski later complimented Willis on a diving stop on a Pierzynski groundout to end the fifth inning with the bases loaded.

"He did. He's competitive," Willis said of Pierzynski. "He's a hard-nosed ballplayer."

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

Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tigers 7, White Sox 6
Miguel Cabrera's homer bails out Fernando Rodney
Tom Gage / The Detroit News

Chicago -- After walking 12, a wild game from beginning to end, the Tigers won with a strike Tuesday night.

Had it not been for Adam Everett's accurate throw home in the bottom of the ninth, Paul Konerko's two-run double would have become a three-run double.

And the White Sox would have won the game.

But Everett threw out pinch-runner DeWayne Wise at the plate, the Tigers got out of the inning without another run, and won it 7-6 with Miguel Cabrera's leadoff home run in the 10th.

"I thought we had a chance on the play," said catcher Gerald Laird, "but it took a perfect throw. Without it, they win, we lose."

The Tigers led by three heading into the bottom of the ninth, but Fernando Rodney walked the three batters he faced. Brandon Lyon walked a run in, and that set the stage for Konerko.

Rather, that set the stage for Everett's all-important strike in a game of way too many pitches that weren't.

"What a player Everett is," manager Jim Leyland said. "That's not how you draw it up, but what a big win."

Dontrelle Willis walked five in five innings -- but that was just the start for the Tigers. The White Sox had their control problems, too, walking eight.

With the bases loaded on walks, Placido Polanco's three-run double in the seventh cleared them to break a 3-3 tie. The Tigers also put a leadoff walk to Brandon Inge to good use in the fifth when Everett doubled in two runs.

This game was a definite adventure for Willis -- aren't all his games? But there were moments when it looked like he was capable of ending the Tigers' dilemma.

That would be the pitching dilemma to which Leyland referred before the game, but about which he wouldn't elaborate.

Including Willis and Jeremy Bonderman, the Tigers have six starters for five spots.

"There's no sense asking me about it because I have no idea how it's going to play out. I really don't," Leyland said. "We're not going to have six starters, we all know that. We have to solidify five starters and get back to a seven-man bullpen at some point."

Willis no doubt earned another start with this effort, however. It wasn't the prettiest game he's ever pitched, but it was a masterpiece compared to some of his starts as a Tiger. "I have to tip my cap to him," Leyland said. "He competes so hard."

Not only did Willis pitch Mark Buerhle to a standoff, but he also had one with Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who yapped at Willis in the fourth. Both benches emptied, as did both bullpens, but only words were exchanged.

If Pierzynski wanted to rile Willis, he failed -- because Willis went on to retire the side in order in the fourth, the only inning he did so.

However, he allowed Brian Anderson's two-run shot in the fifth that tied the score. In the second, Inge hit his 13th of the year that knotted the game at one.

The game was many runs and even more walks away from ending at that point. But don't look for this one in the textbooks.

tom.gage@detnews.com

Verlander keeps rolling vs. White Sox
Ace goes distance for first career win in Chicago

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

06/10/09 10:30 PM ET
UPDATED: 06/11/09 12:59 AM ET

Box >

CHICAGO -- Even as Justin Verlander was wrapping up one of the best outings of his career Wednesday, he knew what he was dealing with.

With Verlander two outs shy of a complete-game victory in a 2-1 duel over the White Sox, in stepped Jim Thome, who had pounced on Verlander his last time up for his seventh career homer off Detroit's ace. And ever briefly, a hint of doubt crept into the mind of a pitcher who has rarely hurt for confidence this year.

Would Verlander dare risk Thome home run No. 8 to tie the game and deny him his first career victory at U.S. Cellular Field? Would Verlander repeat the walk of Thome in the second inning?

"The funny thing was, I seriously considered pitching around him," Verlander said afterward. "But that goes against everything that I've thought, and everything that has gotten me to the point I am right now, how aggressive I've been and how my mentality has been.

"So it was a quick thought, but then in my mind, I'm like, 'You know what? I didn't get this far to pitch around anyone. I don't care who it is.' That just goes with the way I've thought about the other team from when we started talking about it. If I were to pitch around him, that goes against everything that I've been working for to get me here."

One could almost see the ghosts of Verlander's past six losses here being chased off by the swing Thome tried to put on Verlander's 98-mph high fastball. Yet Verlander calmly stepped off the mound as if his No. 1 nemesis was just another victim.

Six pitches later, after Josh Fields went down swinging at another 98-mph heater -- this one on Verlander's 122nd and final pitch of the night to wrap up the complete-game six-hitter -- Verlander gave a first pump back to his own dugout.

For a young man whose entire season has been a statement after leading the American League in losses last season, Wednesday was a statement game. And it left manager Jim Leyland struggling for new statements about how well Verlander is pitching these days.

"It's hard to describe how well he pitched," manager Jim Leyland said. "Just absolutely tremendous."

White Sox Ozzie Guillen, never at a loss for words, contributed.

"I don't remember seeing Verlander throw the ball that way, that good," Guillen said. "He's always got a great arm, but most of the time, he's wild. That's why in the past, [we've gotten to] him. But he threw a lot of breaking balls for strikes. He was outstanding. Besides [Kansas City's Zack] Greinke, this is one of the best performances I've seen."

Guillen probably can't remember because he has rarely seen it. Verlander had dominant stretches in games against the White Sox, such as his duel with Gavin Floyd in April 2008, but never pulled them out. A big inning, an untimely home run -- maybe a few untimely homers -- would take the game out of his control.

Yet at no point Wednesday night did Verlander not appear in control of the game, which is actually fitting given what has gotten him to this point.

"From the start of the game to the end of the game, he looked completely in control," Leyland said, "totally different than last year."

Two singles and a four-pitch walk to Thome were the only baserunners Verlander allowed through the first five innings. The second time through the White Sox lineup, he struck out the middle of the order with three consecutive strikeouts -- Jermaine Dye swinging at a curveball off the corner, Thome watching a curveball drop over the plate, then Paul Konerko watching an upper-90s fastball start outside before catching the corner.

"It's nice when you've got the option of a 95-mph fastball, a hook off the table and a changeup," Leyland said.

It's even better being able to command them. Verlander threw 89 strikes Wednesday, the highest total of any Tigers pitcher since Jeff Weaver in 2002.

Danks wasn't far off of Verlander's pace, allowing five hits over 7 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts. However, Adam Everett's solo homer leading off the sixth inning broke up the scoreless battle before back-to-back singles from Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera plus a hit-by-pitch to Brandon Inge loaded the bases for Ryan Raburn's run-scoring walk.

"It feels good to go out there and give us innings," Danks said. "That's part of the job description is to give us innings and give us a chance to win. At the same time, Verlander only gave up one run. You've got to tip your hat to him."

Thome's homer halved that lead, but didn't dampen Verlander's spirit. Nor did Verlander temper Leyland's willingness to keep him out there.

Considering both closer Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya were resting Wednesday, Leyland said before the game he'd be tickled with seven innings and a lead from Verlander. Instead, Verlander calmly pitched right past that.

Yet even if those late-inning arms were available, Leyland admitted afterwards, he wouldn't have made the switch.

"On a normal night, I don't have anything better down there than that," Leyland said.

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

Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tigers 2, White Sox 1
Justin Verlander has the right stuff as Tigers beat White Sox
Tom Gage / The Detroit News

Chicago -- One difference in Justin Verlander between this year and last is what he does against right-handers.

Or rather, what they don't do against him.

It's one of the reasons why, after Wednesday night's 2-1 victory over the White Sox. Verlander is 7-0 in his last nine starts.

Right-handed hitters don't have a home run off Verlander this year. In these nine starts, they are hitting .163 with two doubles.

If anyone's going to get to him, it's going to be a lefty. Case in point -- Jim Thome's home run was the White Sox's only run.

And with right-handed hitters doing nothing against Verlander -- after hitting .254 against him last year, the same that lefties hit against him -- teams will have a diffiicult time against him.

Which has been the case since this lights-out era of his began in late April.

This is the longest streak of dominating excellence in Verlander's career. For that matter, it was longest such streak a few starts ago.

The longer it goes, the Tigers like it -- and thrive on it.

But the longer it goes also makes it look like it could go a lot longer. Verlander isn't coasting on smoke and mirrors. Not even close.

It's with a fastball that swings back to the black against right-handers -- as it was swung back and absolutely froze dangerous Jermaine Dye, who took a called third strike for the final out of the sixth with a runner on third.

It's with a curve many batter can't hit -- as Alexei Ramirez couldn't when he waved at strike three to end the eighth with the tying run on second.

When Verlander had Ramirez down 0-2 in the count in the eighth -- and Ramirez had the deep-sigh look of someone that could only swing and hope at the next pitch he saw.

Verlander didn't throw him a strike. But Ramirez chased it anyway.

The Tigers didn't do much on offense. They didn't have to.

Adam Everett hit his second home run of the season off White Sox starter John Danks in the sixth, the first run of the game, and a bases-loaded walk to Ryan Raburn in the seventh gave the Tigers enough of a cushion to withstand Thome's home run in the bottom of the inning.

Verlander handled the rest.

Right-handers were 2-for-17 against him this time. He owned them.

For nine starts, however, he has owned nearly everyone.

Tigers satisfied to leave with series win
Granderson homers to knot game in ninth, but Detroit falls

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

06/11/09 11:16 PM ET

Box >

CHICAGO -- The Tigers can't be accused of not having the instinct to go for the extra win here when they had the chance. The execution was another matter.

One out shy of defeat, the Tigers seemingly gained a wind of confidence when Curtis Granderson's line drive stayed inside the right-field foul pole for a game-tying, two-run homer in the top of the ninth. They had just handed White Sox closer Bobby Jenks his second blown save against the Detroit, and they had earned the opportunity to turn a long day at U.S. Cellular Field into their fourth win in five tries here.

A few minutes later, as Scott Podsednik's ball skipped through a drawn-in infield for a game-winning single and a 4-3 Detroit loss, the Tigers closed out another series here as usual. They were looking to leave town in a hurry. Yet after winning three out of five and avoiding late-inning defeat until the finale, they knew they were taking some momentum with them.

Even Joel Zumaya, frustrated as he was after his error in the ninth helped move the winning run to third, wasn't going to get caught in tunnel vision. A couple minutes after bemoaning his mistakes, he had a little more perspective.

"I'm the type of guy that can get out of that situation really easy," Zumaya said. "That team's good. I think that team likes to face me. ... It's over with now. We took three out of five here. That's a good thing in Chicago, because they own us here."

The Tigers had won just two games in 10 tries on Chicago's South Side from last season until this week, including the abbreviated one-game series in May that featured Mark Buehrle's no-hit bid. By topping that total in just a few days, they began a potentially grueling 11-game, 11-day road trip with their first series win here since September 2006.

It initially looked like it wasn't going to be much of a fight. While Edwin Jackson fought off some early struggles to allow just two runs, White Sox hitters worked him for 99 pitches and four walks over five innings, stopping his string of quality starts at six and prompting Leyland to go to his bullpen early.

Meanwhile, the Tigers seemingly had no answer for starter Gavin Floyd, who entered the eighth inning with a three-hit shutout bid going. His allowed one runner to reach scoring position over his first seven innings, coming on a Granderson fly ball that fell in between right fielder Jermaine Dye and second baseman Chris Getz for a two-out double.

Floyd had the bottom third of Detroit's order to face in the eighth, and he was showing no obvious signs of fatigue. Then, he left a inside fastball too far over the plate for slumping Ramon Santiago, who turned his hitting around when he sent the pitch into the right-field seats.

"He had good stuff," Santiago said after his fourth home run of the season. "We didn't do much against him today. We never give up. We play nine innings."

Marcus Thames' ensuing single put the potential tying run on base, but Floyd escaped with a double-play ground ball from speedy leadoff man Josh Anderson. A.J. Pierzynski's solo homer in the bottom of the inning seemingly added back an insurance run for Jenks, who had allowed just six runs in 34 career innings against Detroit.

Once Ryan Raburn fought out of an 0-2 count for a single leading off the ninth, though, the Tigers had the tying run at the plate. Jenks recovered to strike out Clete Thomas and induce a popout from Miguel Cabrera, but his first-pitch fastball to Granderson got the unusually aggressive Granderson swinging early.

"Got a pitch to hit," Granderson said, "and hit it. Didn't miss it."

If only hitting Jenks were that simple.

"My numbers before against him I know aren't that great," Granderson said. "I've been asked in interviews who's one of the toughest pitchers to face, and Bobby Jenks is always one of them. It's just recently that I've started to have success, and that can come from a lot of different reasons. Now I have more than 10 at-bats against him. I remember a lot of the at-bats early on, he was 98-99 [mph]. You take that off, now I've got a chance."

In turn, so did the Tigers. But not for long.

Brian Anderson's leadoff single in the bottom of the inning started the White Sox rally, but it was Getz's sacrifice bunt that left Zumaya steamed at himself afterward. Zumaya hurriedly tried to flip the ball to first, but the ball went wide of a surprised Placido Polanco, who was covering the bag.

Instead of a runner at second and one out, the White Sox had runners at the corners and nobody out. And Zumaya and Leyland had more than a twinge of frustration.

"When push comes to shove, we didn't execute," Leyland said.

Zumaya (3-1) then hoped he had gotten Josh Fields on a full-count fastball, but home-plate umpire Derryl Cousins ruled he had checked his swing in time to take ball four and load the bases. Then came an 0-2 fastball to Scott Podsednik, who popped it up into foul territory behind third base. Anderson nearly got to it before he was seemingly blocked by a fan, and because third-base umpire Brian Runge ruled the ball was out of play, fan interference did not apply.

A couple pitches later, Podsednik got his hit, and the Tigers had to settle for three out of five.

They'll still gladly take it. As Leyland put it: "Our track record here has been disastrous."

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

Porcello picks apart Pirates
Tigers rookie dominates over seven frames, drives in two

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

06/12/09 9:37 PM ET
UPDATED: 06/12/09 11:30 PM ET

Box >

PITTSBURGH -- Rick Porcello made the big leagues out of Spring Training at age 20 because the Tigers felt he gave them the best chance to win. But not like this.

It isn't just that Rick Porcello outpitched the Pirates in Detroit's 3-1 win Friday night at PNC Park. He outscored them. And he did it in a game in which he had his first Major League at-bat.

For someone whose welcome-to-the-big-league moments have been almost all positive, this was a new one.

"I think what it boils down to," manager Jim Leyland said, "is this guy's just one of those guys. He's an athlete. Here, he hasn't hit for I don't know how long. He's just one of those guys. That's why he's special. He's 20 years old. He's a baby. But he's an athlete."

He's an athlete who's now defying his league as well as his age.

Porcello is far from the first American League pitcher who hadn't hit since high school. The twist is that high school was two years ago for him. Or to put it in perspective, his last at-bats in a regular-season game came in the same year that Dontrelle Willis, generally regarded among the best hitters in the game, took his most recent big league swings.

Porcello had downplayed his hitting skill when talking with reporters earlier this week. Yes, he hit well in high school, he admitted, but it would be different hitting a 95-mph fastball.

To his teammates, however, it was admittedly a different story. Willis watched him swing in batting practice earlier this month and kept telling him he had a good swing. Pitching coach Rick Knapp said earlier this week that Porcello was "climbing the list" of the most dangerous hitters on the staff behind Willis and Edwin Jackson, who entered pro ball as an outfielder before converting to pitcher in the Dodgers' farm system.

And Porcello did tell Leyland that he was a good hitter.

"I told him I was a good hitter so he wouldn't pinch-hit for me," Porcello said with a smile.

He eventually did, but not until the eighth.

Porcello came up for his first Major League at-bat in the second inning with runners on the corners and two outs against Pirates starter Ian Snell. He fouled off a couple fastballs and shrugged off a couple outside the strike zone, showing some discipline as a hitter.

"The first couple of pitches, it gets on you pretty quick," Porcello said. "I was kind of fighting just to get my timing back and get the bat head out."

As it turned out, he didn't have to hit the 95-mph fastball. It was the 80-mph breaking ball diving toward the dirt.

"I was amazed he got a bat on that breaking ball," Leyland said.

Not just that, he reached out and got enough of it to bounce it through the left side of the infield, just out of the reach of shortstop Jack Wilson, as Magglio Ordonez trotted home.

With that, Porcello became the first Tigers pitcher to get a base hit in his first big league at-bat since Zach Miner doubled at Milwaukee on June 20, 2006. Teammates in the dugout erupted in cheers. But four pitches and a Curtis Granderson strikeout later, Porcello had to worry about pitching.

"When I got the hit, I was so excited, it took me a while to kind of settle down and refocus on the mound," Porcello said. "That had a little bit of an effect."

If so, it was minimal. Miguel Cabrera helped erase Adam LaRoche's leadoff single in the bottom of the second by snagging Andy LaRoche's sharp liner and tagging the elder LaRoche for a double play. It was one of several highlight plays Cabrera made over the course of the game.

"He had a Gold Glove night at first base," Leyland said.

Porcello's Silver Slugger night wasn't done yet. After Gerald Laird's two-out double extended the sixth inning, Snell intentionally walked Ramon Santiago to get to Porcello.

Snell fired two fastballs off the outside corner to try to get him to chase. When he didn't, Snell challenged him with a 2-0 heater over the plate.

Porcello struggled to catch up with it. No matter.

"That last hit, I thought I was going to catch it out in front," Porcello said. "The catcher must have grabbed my bat or something, and it ended up down the right-field line."

It ended up practically on the line. Laird scored, and Snell (1-7) pretty much shrugged.

"God forbid their pitcher ... dang it," Snell said. "You have to tip your hat. ...

"I was a little upset that we intentionally walked [Santiago] to get to him. I didn't see any reason to that. Then he got a hit. Oh well. Karma."

Porcello became the first Tigers pitcher with multiple RBIs since Joe Coleman plated three runs at Boston on Sept. 21, 1972. His two-hit game was the first from a Tigers hurler since Jeff Weaver at Florida on June 23, 2002.

It was a feat rare enough to overshadow his day job. Porcello (7-4) continued the Tigers' dominance in Interleague Play by holding down Pittsburgh to a Freddy Sanchez RBI double in the sixth, one of six hits he allowed over his seven innings.

Brandon Inge added an eighth-inning solo homer for an insurance tally that helped Detroit improve to 44-14 in Interleague Play since 2006. But few of those wins have come on the strength of a Tigers pitcher at the plate.

"He carried us," Inge said with a smile. "He won that game himself."


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

Galarraga, Robertson struggle vs. Pirates
Tigers pair combines to give up eight runs in Pittsburgh

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

06/13/09 9:50 PM ET
UPDATED: 06/14/09 12:30 PM ET

Box >

PITTSBURGH -- Whatever Armando Galarraga has tried to do to get out of his early-inning struggles hasn't helped. And on Saturday night, he didn't get a chance for any middle-inning recovery.

The Pirates' onslaught against Tigers pitching began early and didn't let up until late. The pitching lines from Tigers arms read like a mid-March Spring Training contest, two innings from each of their first three pitchers. And by the end of Detroit's 9-3 loss, the offensive struggles didn't seem to mean much.

"We just didn't pitch well," manager Jim Leyland said, "and that controls everything."

The Tigers had some slight reason for encouragement at the plate. Marcus Thames provided some much-needed punch at the third spot with his first-inning solo homer and third-inning sacrifice fly, and said afterward that he's getting his timing back. Ryan Raburn, batting leadoff with Curtis Granderson off, reached base safely twice before adding a fifth-inning solo homer.

By the time Raburn took Pittsburgh starter Zach Duke's offering deep to left, however, the Pirates already had all the runs they needed. Freddy Sanchez's fourth-inning grand slam off Nate Robertson all but put the game out of reach.

Though Galarraga (3-7) entered the night with three straight quality starts, he was vocal in his frustration over the early-inning runs. Opponents had been batting .331 with a .973 OPS off him in his first three innings, compared with a .241 average from the fourth through the sixth.

He had tried everything from running before games to downing an energy drink. On Saturday, he said he tried throwing more warmup pitches in the bullpen before taking the mound. Once the game started, he ended up throwing less than 45 pitches for the second time this season and left with potentially less confidence than he came in with.

"Everything's bad," Galarraga said afterward. "No location. Nothing."

The Pirates didn't let Galarraga get to the fourth. In fact, he barely saw the third. After a scoreless opening inning, Adam LaRoche's home run led off a second-inning Pittsburgh barrage that followed with four straight singles.

Galarraga didn't get his first out of the inning until pitcher Zach Duke flew out to center, and didn't end the inning until Placido Polanco threw out Andrew McCutchen at home on Nyjer Morgan's double. It wasn't a big inning based on one big hit, but a series of solidly hit balls, from Andy LaRoche's liner on a first-pitch fastball down the middle to Jack Wilson's liner to left on an 0-2 slider.

A couple pitches brought surprising results, like Adam LaRoche's third-inning single on a breaking ball that dove low. Several others were on pitches that didn't do what Galarraga or Leyland wanted.

"When you're trying to throw it here, and it goes there, and when you try to throw it there, and it goes here, that's not good," Leyland said. "It's pretty simple."

Determining why it's happening is a little more complicated. Galarraga has worked on his mechanics for more than a month, trying to straighten out his delivery. Coaches have talked to him about being more aggressive, including an early-inning talk by Leyland in his last outing Tuesday at Chicago. Galarraga has mentioned his approach after his last two starts, on top of the other tricks he has tried.

Still, Galarraga is winless in his last nine starts since going 3-0 in April. He has given up 38 runs on 61 hits over 45 1/3 innings during his skid. And his confidence is hurting.

"We've got his back," third baseman Brandon Inge said, "but he's trying too hard. We all know he can pitch well. It's just when you lose that confidence, it's hard to get it back."

Back-to-back singles leading off the third brought out Leyland to make a pitching change and send in Nate Robertson. With a 4-2 game thanks to Thames' RBIs, Leyland had to do it.

"It was apparent to me that Galarraga wasn't going to be able to hold them," Leyland said. "He just didn't have anything. We had a couple runs on the board at 4-2, and I was taking my shot that we could maybe hold them and come back and take the lead."

For one inning, it worked. Nate Robertson escaped Galarraga's jam in the third with a strikeout and double play, but two more Pirate hits and an intentional walk set up Sanchez. Robertson tried to use a sinker to get a ground ball, but the ball didn't sink. As a result, Sanchez sent it out to left for a grand slam.

"He did a good job," Leyland said, "and then he threw a pitch you couldn't miss."

That was pretty much it for the game, but Galarraga's situation will linger toward his next turn in the rotation on Friday against the Brewers at Comerica Park. Leyland admitted he's "a little concerned," and he plans to talk with Galarraga to try to find the problem.

"His stuff wasn't good, and his location was terrible," Leyland said. "That's a bad combination."

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

Saturday, June 13, 2009
Pirates 9, Tigers 3
Tigers pitching awful in ugly loss to Pirates
Lynn Henning / The Detroit News

Pittsburgh -- From the Tigers' standpoint, it was a game with pitching lines that read more like an accident report:

• Armando Galarraga: two innings, eight hits, four runs.

• Nate Robertson: two innings, three hits, four runs.

And there it was, the gory account of a night at PNC Park that saw the Tigers get crushed by the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-3, in front of 31,411 bystanders.

Galarraga's season-long somersault continued as he fell to 3-7. His ERA ballooned to 5.56 on an evening when he allowed five hits to the first five batters in the second inning, which turned the Tigers' temporary 1-0 lead into a 4-1 hole.

"He couldn't locate anything," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who watched Galarraga all but throw batting practice before yanking him two batters -- and two hits -- into the third. "He was throwing here and it was going there, and vice versa.

"His stuff wasn't very good, and his location was terrible. That's a bad combination."

Leyland added in a dark voice: "For some reason, he seemed confused."

Galarraga appeared just as mystified afterward as he spoke in hushed tones in the Tigers clubhouse.

"Everything was bad," said Galarraga, who hasn't won since April 26. "My mechanics. Mentally, I need to be more aggressive.

"I feel bad."

The Tigers started niftily Saturday when Marcus Thames blasted a first-inning home run into the left-center field bullpen off Pirates starter Zach Duke.

Galarraga had a slick first inning himself, allowing no hits and a walk.

But he fell apart afterward, and so did the game.

Robertson arrived in the third to get a strikeout and a double-play ball that kept the game within reach at 4-1. But he got belted around in the fourth, the big blow coming on a fat pitch that Freddy Sanchez turned into a grand slam that put the Pirates on top, 8-1.

"It's too bad," said Leyland, who has been giving Robertson every chance to show that he can pitch reliable relief. "He gets the strikeout, then the double play. You feel like the game's still in hand."

That notion ended in the fourth. Not that Tigers batters were threatening Duke during his eight-inning, six-hit stint.

Ryan Raburn hit a long home run to left field off Duke, and Thames added a sacrifice fly. But the Tigers finished the night with only seven well-spaced hits.

Leyland acknowledged afterward that he was thinking about more than just Galarraga's bad outing, which he conceded had left him "a little concerned."

Robertson's difficulties (6.52 ERA) continue, which factored in the Tigers using five pitchers Saturday.

That, in turn, puts pressure on today's starter, Dontrelle Willis, who probably doesn't need any additional stress as he fights to stick in Leyland's rotation.

But neither are the Tigers hitting. Miguel Cabrera was 3-for-24 coming into Saturday's game, although he hit one ball to the warning track in center that just missed being a three-run homer, and then slammed another line drive off the right-field fence for a single in the ninth.

"I'm gonna check on Cabrera," said Leyland, who knows Cabrera has been battling a bad hamstring. "I'll figure it out. I'll talk it over with Gene and Mac (bench coach Gene Lamont and hitting coach Lloyd McClendon)."

But it was the pitching that did in the Tigers Saturday night, as Leyland knew. It was pitching that knocked the Tigers out of the game early, which the manager conceded has its effects on everyone.

"It's not an excuse," Leyland said of the Pirates' outbursts and their influence on a batting order. "But it happens a lot of times. It takes the starch out of you."

Neither is it much good for a team's status atop the division standings.

The Tigers saw their lead over the Twins slip to three games Saturday.

"We just didn't pitch very well," Leyland said, "and that controls everything."

lynn.henning@detnews.com

Tigers come out flat in series finale
Willis allows six runs, walks eight in disappointing start

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

06/14/09 6:49 PM ET

Box >

PITTSBURGH -- Tigers manager Jim Leyland has praised Dontrelle Willis' ability to compete ever since Spring Training. His struggles Sunday, however, did not allow the Tigers to be competitive.

"Honestly, today was just unacceptable," Willis said after his eight walks helped lead to all six Pirates runs in Sunday's 6-3 loss at PNC Park. "I can't put my team in that type of hole. Can't beat anybody pitching like that.

"It's very tough to pitch when you're in a jam every inning. I'm going to have to finally do something, or somebody else is going to have to go out there to help this ballclub win."

For a couple of innings, Willis flustered the Pirates by escaping those jams. He induced a ground-ball double play in the second to strand a runner on third base, then escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the third with back-to-back infield popouts and a groundout from Pirates starter Ross Ohlendorf.

The problem for Willis was three-run rallies in the first and fourth, which were all the Pirates needed. Four runs reached base on walks. Four more walks gave him the highest total by a Tigers pitcher in eight years.

His competitiveness could only help him so much. It's not that Willis isn't trying. But on Sunday, it wasn't working, and the Tigers have to figure out whether there's hope that it ever will.

"It's a tough issue for the guy, because he's been through a lot to get back," Leyland said. "Periodically, it's worked a little bit. Consistently, it has not, obviously."

Willis (1-4) kept his rotation spot for this start after Jeremy Bonderman struggled in his brief return earlier in the week, but Sunday's outing continued his battle with command. Time and again, Willis tried to hit the outside corner against right-handed hitters, only to miss even wider.

The first four hitters in the Pirates order reached base safely in the first inning, including a bases-loaded, four-pitch walk to Craig Monroe that opened the scoring. Another bases-loaded walk to Eric Hinske and a Robinzon Diaz sacrifice fly brought in two more.

Willis had big pitches in his arsenal to get out of trouble the next couple innings, but the tone was set.

"I was just taking, to be honest with you," Hinske said. "He was having trouble finding the zone. I came up with the bases loaded, I wasn't going to swing at the first pitch my first at-bat. He ended up walking me on five pitches. Just kind of stick with that approach. He's effectively wild sometimes."

Eventually, Willis got hitters to swing. He put Freddy Sanchez in an 0-2 hole, fouling off a couple before his second-inning double play. Monroe swung his way into a 1-2 count before getting out of it for leadoff walk in the third on Willis' way to loading the bases. Both Diaz and Jack Wilson popped out on the second pitch of their at-bats in the third.

But every time Willis worked out, he struggled his way back in. He issued leadoff walks in all four innings, including putting Andrew McCutchen on base on four pitches in the fourth.

"It's amazing," Leyland said, "because one hitter, he's right there. And then two hitters, he's not close. It's hard to figure out, really, to be honest with you. I don't know if it's mechanical, but it's been a little bit of an issue obviously for a while."

Said Willis: "I have to do a better job of letting it happen against every single batter, not just when my back's against the wall."

McCutchen's walk and ensuing stolen base set up Willis' demise with a Delwyn Young single and another Hinske walk to load the bases.

Enter Zach Miner, who had warmed up each inning. Diaz greeted him with a two-run single.

Willis' final line read six runs on six hits in 3 2/3 innings. Just 43 of his 83 pitches went for strikes. His eight walks were the most by a Tiger since Victor Santos walked eight Red Sox on June 7, 2001, at Fenway Park.

"Even when you get out of a jam, it's tough for the team to be out there all day," Willis said. "You can't defend a walk. So [I'll] try to find a way to get the ball in play, or skip's going to have to find somebody to do it."

Santos made just two more starts for the Tigers after that outing, both in doubleheaders, and finished out the year in the bullpen. The coming days will tell what the Tigers can do with Willis, whose spot in the rotation comes up again Saturday against Milwaukee at Comerica Park.

"We'll just have to go back to the drawing board and see what we can come up with," Leyland said.

Willis knows the precariousness of that. And he's sick of the drawbacks himself.

"I have to do a better job, and it starts today," Willis said.

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

Quote :

Willis knows the precariousness of that. And he's sick of the drawbacks himself.

"I have to do a better job, and it starts today," Willis said.

No Willis, it needed to start much earlier than this... time to go back to the minor league and either learn to pitch, work on mental imagery aspect of pitching, or learn another position, other than pitcher!!!