This time it was Luke Hochevar who made the Tigers look feeble at the plate.  The end result is the Tigers third straight loss and it’s their ninth loss in eleven games since sweeping the Yankees in the Bronx a couple of weeks ago.  The Tigers managed just six singles and the only hitter with a pair was Miguel Cabrera.  Magglio Ordonez singled but that was pretty much negated because he grounded into a double play.  The only other hitter to reach base twice other then Cabrera was Curtis Granderson, who singled and drew a walk.

Justin Verlander picked up just his second quality start of the season but because of the lack of offense, it turned into his fourth straight loss.  He gave up just two runs on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts.  I still don’t know what’s wrong with Justin.  His walk rate is up and his strikeout rate is down.  That’s usually a deadly combination.  And while he didn’t give up any yesterday, he’s also on pace to give up more homeruns.  If we didn’t need a turnaround so badly, I’d say we give him some extra rest.

Sparky Anderson always said it’s tough to judge a team until 40 games are in the bag and that’s where the Tigers are at right now.  Unfortunately, it’s not pretty and they’re eight game below .500 with a 16-24 record.  Only the Mariners have a worse record in the American League.  Still, they’re just five games out first place so if they can put together a seven of ten streak or something along those lines, they could see a pop in the standings.  And the Indians just moved into first place so that cream has finally risen to the top.

It’s get away day so we have an afternoon game.  Kenny Rogers gets the ball for the Tigers and he’ll face Gil Meche.  Neither have had a good start to the season so we’ll see which one turns it around today.

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