Archive for the '2007 Tigers' Category

Magglio Ordonez became just the second player in Tigers history to hit two homeruns in the same inning.  He led off the second inning with a solo shot to right field and then he capped off the eight run inning with a big three run shot to left center.  I was at the game and that second homerun was of the no doubt about it variety.  The only other Tiger to hit two homers in the same inning was Al Kaline.  He did it back on April 17, 1955 and it was also against the Athletics, they just happened to be in Kansas City at the time.  Of course you would have known this had you taken part in my trivia challenge back in May.

The A’s sort of made a game of this one though.  They pulled to within four with a two run fourth and then they threatened in the sixth but the Tigers just kept piling on the runs.  Brandon Inge singled, drew a walk, drove in two and scored twice.  Ryan Raburn singled, triple and scored twice.

Nate Robertson pitched into the sixth inning and he improved to 7-9.  He gave up four runs on five hits and five walks with six strikeouts.  Yorman Bazardo threw some nice relief as he was to join the big league club in what’s been a revolving door bullpen.  He gave up just one unearned run on two hits with a strikeout in 2 2/3 innings.  Bazardo came up in April to pitch some but since then, he’s been doing a nice job in Toledo.

The Indians lost again so the Tigers are now back in first place in the Central.  They can make that lead a full game if they win tonight in the wrap around game against the A’s.  It’ll be Chad Durbin going up against Chad Gaudin.  Then it’s a couple of rough weeks with a combined thirteen games all against the Indians and the Yankees.

I almost turned this game off and in a way, I should have.  The A’s jumped out to a quick 8-1 lead off of Jordan Tata and Jason Grilli and things looked to be over with pretty early in the fourth inning.  Then the Tigers stormed back and scored eight runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth and the bottom of the fifth to take a one run lead only to have the A’s answer with eight runs in the top of the sixth to open the game up.

The pitching was bad once again.  Tata was tagged for seven runs and Macay McBride and Zach Miner were bounced for four runs each.  The only Tiger pitcher who didn’t give up a run was Fernando Rodney, who threw a shutout ninth inning.

Marcus Thames belted a grand slam for his twelth homer of the season.  Magglio Ordonez went three for five with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs.  Curtis Granderson came one step closer to making history with his 18th triple of the season.  With Ordonez’s three hits, he once again took the lead in the batting race.

The Indians lost as did the Mariners but the Yankees won (the Yankees are playing the Indians this weekend). So the Tigers now sit a game back of the Mariners and Yankees for the Wild Card and a game and a half back of the Yankees.  The Blue Jays have now won two straight and they’ve put themselves ahead of the Twins in the Wild Card chase. 

Game two is tonight and it’ll be Dan Haren going up against Justin Verlander.  The two squared off a couple of weeks ago with Haren getting the better end of the deal.

Cameron Maybin was bumped up to Double A yesterday but his debut was pushed back because of a rain delay.  It’ll be interesting to see what the outfielder can do now that he’s playing a more hitter friendly league.  I expect a few more homers then what he’s done of late but then again, the jump to Double A is one of the toughest so it’ll be interesting to see how he adjusts.

The Tigers lost yesterday and managed just a split against the Devil Rays.  They did get a little unlucky because they saw both James Shields and Scott Kazmir but when you factor in the fact it was a four game series, you’d almost have to expect to see that.  Jeremy Bonderman’s struggles have been particularly troubling as he’s dropped and been roughed up in four straight starts.  At this point, Bonderman’s close to touching a 5.00 ERA, something he hasn’t done since early in 2006.  Bonderman just seems very hittable.  He’s given up at least eight hits a start in his last five and his batting average against is a pedestrian .273.  Last year’s was .259.

The Tigers managed just a single run on an RBI single by Omar Infante and that wasn’t until the seventh inning.  Marcus Thames went two for four and he scored in his first game back from a rehab assignment and Placido Polanco, with his two hits, passed Magglio Ordonez in the batting race and he sits just a point back of Ichiro for the batting title.

The Indians won so the Tigers fell back another game in the Central.  It looks like Travis Hafner is going to be on the shelf so they have injury concerns of their own.  Don’t count out the Twins though, who sit five games back of Detroit.  They’ve been playing .500 ball, but that’s been good enough to pick up some ground on the Tigers.  In the Wild Card, the Tigers loss puts them in a tie with the Yankees a game back of the Mariners (two losses).  The Tigers can take care of business the next two weeks when they go head to head with the Yankees and Indians.  The Tigers still have a series with the Mariners in September so they can help out there cause there as well.

Next up is a wrap around series against the Athletics.  I’ll be at the game on Sunday.  Game one will have Jordan Tata going up aganst Joe Blanton tonight and the most interesting matchup is tomorrow.  Justin Verlander will get a rematch against Dan Haren in a battle of two guys contending for the Cy Young.

After a couple of wins, the Tigers dropped one to the Devil Rays last night and in the process, they lost sole possession of first place in the Wild Card race after the Mariners won last night.  The Tigers have a slight lead as far as winning percentage, but they’re a game back in the more important loss column so this slide hasn’t just cost them the division lead, it’s cost them a nice cushion for a playoff spot in general.

Chad Durbin got off to a rough start and he didn’t even last the official five innings.  He gave up two runs in the first and then he loaded the bases up in the fifth.  Macay McBride allowed one of those runners to score and then he gave up two more of his own in the sixth as the Rays opened the game up.  In the mean time, James Shields was shutting down the Tigers hitters.

The Tigers lone run came on a Placido Polanco solo homerun in the fourth inning.  Polanco was also the only Tiger hitter with two hits.  The Tigers struck out thirteen times and didn’t walk once in a tough day at the plate.

Game four is this afternoon and it’ll be a great matchup of two young pitchers in Scott Kazmir against Jeremy Bonderman.  Game time is 1:05.

I was up north for a few days this week and the cabin I stayed in didn’t even come with a television and the newspapers didn’t even have the Tiger score from the night before (everything is a day behind in the paper up there) so it was kind of weird being so out of touch.  It was a good time thought and my son really enjoyed the time in the water but I got back in time to see some of the Tigers game last night but I was unpacking and getting squared away but I was happy to see the 6-1 lead.  Then I turned the game on in the eighth only to see it tied and was annoyed but I was fortunate enough to see the Tigers score three to take the lead back.

Nate Robertson threw six solid frames to open up the game but then he gave up a run in the seventh before the floodgates opened in the eighth.  Jason Grilli was particularly hit hard.  He gave up four hits, including a grand slam by Jonny Gomes, and he was credited with three earned runs without getting a single batter out.  Todd Jones put a runner on in the ninth but he picked up save number thirty and Tim Byrdak got the final out in the eighth and he picked up his first save of the season.

Curtis Granderson went two for four with is thirtieth double, an RBI and two runs.  He was also caught stealing for just the first time this season.  Magglio Ordonez went three for five and he hit the only homer for the Tigers and Placido Polanco kept pace with him in the batting race with three hits of his own.  The only Tiger starter not to get a hit was Craig Monroe.

Congratulations to Barry Bonds for getting homerun number 756.  I know there’s all of the controversy, but you have a guy who’s definitely amongst the top five hitters ever and he’s not going to get his due because of the juice.  Regardeless, those who attended last night’s Giant’s game got to see a slice of history and it’ll now be interesting to see if Bonds can stick around long enough to get to 800.

The Indians have matched the Tigers two straight wins so Detroit still sits a win back of the Indians.  The Yankees won their fifth straight and they’re a loss back of Detrot for the Wild Card with the Mariners a loss behind the Yankees.  So things are tight and even these games against the bad teams like the Devil Rays are important.  Tonight, it’ll be Chad Durbin going up against James Shields.  Durbin gets the start for Miller, who’s on the disabled list because of the hamstring injury.  Shields got off to a nice start to open the season and while he hasn’t gotten a lot of run support, he’s also been shelled at times.  Hopefully the Tigers can make it three in a row with another win.

Jeremy Bonderman struggled for the third straight start and while he gave the Tigers seven innings, he once again buried himself a hole that the Tigers were unable to get out of.  Four first inning runs put the White Sox in the lead early and for good and two more in the third sealed the deal.  Bonderman dropped to 10-4 and in these last three starts (all losses), he’s seen his ERA climb from 3.53 to 4.50.

Placido Polanco picked up two more hits and he scored twice.  One of the two hits was his sixth homerun of the season and Polanco now trails Magglio Ordonez by just three points in the batting title race with Ichiro still sandwiched between the two of the them.  Sean Casey went two for four with a double, a run and an RBI.

The Tigers try to avoid the sweep this afternoon.  It’ll be a pair of rookies going at it with Jordan Tata getting the start for the Tigers and Gavin Floyd throwing for the Sox.  The Tigers roughed up Floyd in that five gave series a week and a half ago so hopefully they can shell him again.

The Indians won so the Tigers now sit a half game back of them.  And there’s no longer much of a cushion for the Wild Card race as the Tigers sit just a half game ahead of the Mariners and a game and a half ahead of the Yankees.

Well, it definitely wasn’t home sweet home as the Tiger started a big homestand with a loss to the White Sox.  Andrew Miller was roughed up for six runs and then he came out in the fifth inning after hurting his hamstring.  The pen did a nice enough job with two shutout innings a piece from Macay McBride and Zach Miner but the hitters couldn’t get their bats going to pull off a comeback.  The big hit was a fourth inning grand slam by White Sox Juan Uribe.  Miller’s injury was called a mild strain and he’s day to day.

Magglio Ordonez had a nice game against his former team and he went three for four with his 39th double, two RBIs and a run.  He’s now back in front of Ichiro for the batting title with a .352 batting average.  No other Tiger had more the one hit.

Neifi Perez’s suspension for using amphetimines was bumped up to 80 games after he tested positive again.  The Tigers seem pretty persistent about replacing him with his clone, Jack Wilson, but the deal hasn’t happened yet and I’m hoping someone comes back down to earth and realizes that Wilson isn’t particularly needed.

It’ll be Jeremy Bonderman against Javier Vasquez tonight.  Vasquez handled us in Chicago pretty nicely last week and hopefully Bonderman can bounce back from that rough start he had against the Angels.

The Tigers didn’t pull the trigger on a deal although there was some speculation that a team backed out at the last minute.  I mentioned this yesterday, but if it was for Jack Wilson, I’m glad the deal fell through because I don’t really see how he could have helped the team other then as a late inning defensive replacement, and even then the value is pretty spotty.  The big winner in the American League was probably the Red Sox, who shored up their pen so they added and I’m also still worried about the Yankees.  They sit on the fringe of the Wild Card race and they have Philip Hughes coming back and Joba Chamberlain coming up and both will probably help out quite a bit.

One last note on Jack Wilson, and that’s the fact that, unfortunately, the deal still could go through.  Neifi Perez cleared waivers and we were able to trade for him after the first deadline and I’m sure Wilson would do the same.  So we’re not out of the water there yet.

The Tigers scored three runs in the first two frames but were held scoreless the rest of the way and their defense gave away some runs in a 7-3 loss to Oakland.  Justin Verlander dropped to 11-4 with a mediocre start and both Macay McBride and Jason Grilli gave up runs out of the pen (both of Grilli’s runs were unearned).  The big inning was the sixth when a Carlos Guillen error put the leadoff hitter on.  Then it went downhill from there and four singles and a walk later, the A’s had the lead for good.

Last year, one of the Tiger’s strengths was their defense.  This year, their defense, at least measured by Defensive Efficiency (Tigers have .691 compared to league average .690), is pretty average.  This is one of the reasons the Tigers back end starters are struggling because the defense isn’t there all the time to pick them up.

Sean Casey went two for four with a double, a run and an RBI to lead the way for the Tigers at the plate.  Carlos Guillen went two for four with a run.  To the Tigers credit, while they were shut down, it was by one of the best pitchers in the AL in Dan Haren.

The rubber game is this afternoon and it’ll be Nate Robertson against rookie Dallas Braden.  Dallas Braden is a lefthander who had a nice debut start, he’s just lost six straight since then.  Hopefully the Tigers can jump all over him and put up some early runs.

The Tigers snapped their skid and remained in sole possession of first place late last night behind a solid first career start by Jordan Tata.  The righthander gave up just two runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts in seven innings of work.  Chad Durbin and Todd Jones each threw a scoreless frame to close the game out, but it was nice to see Tata, and Virgil Vasquez before him, put together a couple of nice starts.  It means the Tigers have some depth going down the stretch and I’m a bit curious to find out if this was a showcase start for Tata as far as a potential trade.  Guess we’ll find out since the first trade deadline is today.

Curtis Granderon and Placido Polanco both had three hits in the game and Polanco is now just eight points back of Magglio Ordonez for the batting title with Ichiro sandwiched between the two of them.  Granderson scored three more runs and that brings his season total up to 84.

You’d think the Tigers would have learned from last year’s mistake with Neifi Perez but the lastest trade rumor I’ve heard is that the Tigers might be going after Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson.  He has a career slugging percentage of just .366 which is actually lower then Neifi’s .375.  Yes, it’s hard to believe but there might actually be worse hitters then Neifi and the Tigers might be going after him.  Wilson also called out one of his teammates during the offseason and basically told the manager who he’d prefer to have as a double play partner (Jose Castillo was the player he called out).  Wilson actually is a pretty good fielder (10 fielding runs above average) but I still say we stay away from this one.

At least the Angels are a good team but that’s not an excuse as the Tigers were embarassed in all three of their games in a weekend series against the Angels.  Last nights beating on ESPN’s game of the week was a tough one to take considering Jeremy Bonderman was roughed up in one of his worst starts of his career.  He didn’t even make it through the third inning and he was tagged with eleven runs (ten earned) and his ERA shot up 64 points because of it.  This time, the first inning wasn’t his only bad inning although he did give up four in the first frame.  From looking at his splits page, that first inning continues to be a problem.  27 of the 69 runs he’s given up has been in the first frame in 2007 and in his career, 117 of his of his 493 runs have come in the first inning.  A lot of times he pitches out of it and goes five or six innings but you always hate to dig that hole so early.

Kenny Rogers is back on the disabled list with a swollen elbow so the Tigers once again have a hole in their rotation.  Jordan Tata was called up from Triple A to fill in and he’ll get the start tonight against Oakland.  Tata hasn’t seen much action outside of a cup of coffee at the end of last season and this will be his first major league start.  After spending some time on the disabled list to start the season, he’s thrown pretty well for Toledo this year.

Wil Ledezma was designated for assignment by the Braves after being pretty ineffective at getting batters out for them.  They might be able to get something for him in a trade but if not, he’ll go on waivers where he’s fair game.  Maybe he’ll end up in Tampa Bay where he can resurrect his career like Carlos Pena has (who is now sitting on 25 homeruns).

It’s early to start throwing around labels, but Andrew Miller’s inability to work late into games could cost the young starter down the line.  In his last four starts, he’s thrown just five innings or fewer and with the Tigers bullpen as it stands, no lead is safe.  So as good as Miller is through five, he has to be more effecient and work later into games to better help the Tigers win ball games.

Case in point was this afternoon.  Andrew Miller left in the sixth and Jason Grilli gave up two runs (one of Millers and one of his to tie the game up).  Then there was a complete melt down in the eighth inning when the Angels scored seven innings.  Garrett Anderson belted a three run homer that might not have been a homer to get things going and it went even further downhill from there. 

Magglio Ordonez belted his sixteenth homer of the season and he drove in two runs.  Curtis Granderson singled and stole his thirteenth base as he pushes closer and closer to being only the third player ever to rack up 20 doubles, triples, homers and stolen bases in a season.   Willie Mays did it in 1957 and the Cubs Frank Schulte did it way back in 1911 so Granderson would be in pretty select company.  Mike Hessman’s three game hitting streak came to an end today.  It’s his first game since getting called up that he failed to get a hit.

Jeremy Bonderman throws for the Angels tomorrow night as the Tigers try to avoid a sweep.  Rookie Dustin Mosely gets the start for the Angels.

Tiger fans saw a lot more then just a loss in Anaheim yesterday.  After some shadow victories late (I’ve been documenting this stuff in my BOB Reports at the Hardball Times) in the game for those who were proponents of saving the stadium, the city council voted to tear down the stadium.  The good news is, part of the structure as well as the field will be preserved for local youth baseball so it wasn’t a complete shutout.

Another tough loss yesterday.  The Tigers lost their five game series against the White Sox and of the three losses, the Tigers pretty much gave two of those game away.  Now they have a tough west coast swing with a three game weekend series against the Angels to kick things off.  One again, they’re not only on FOX’s game of the week tomorrow but they’re also on ESPN on Sunday night.  It’s Jered Weaver on the mound tonight against Nate Robertson.

Curtis Granderson hasn’t tripled since July 14 so he’s stuck on 16.  I’ve said this before, but triples are one of those weird stats that can dry up in a hurry.  Granderson could pick up two or three quick ones and put 25 back within reach or he could finish the season with 18.  He now has 15 homers though with two of those coming in this past series against the White Sox.  He also seems a lock to pick up 100 runs although I thought for certain that he’d pick up 100 last year and he just fell short.

Magglio Ordonez’s double pace has also slowed down.  He has 38 and while 50 is definitely within reach, his earlier torrid pace has slowed when it looked like the single season record was a possibility.  Unlike Granderson though, he hasn’t picked up his homerun pace and he’s hit just two in the month of July.

Trade rumors are swirling and while it looks like the Tigers might be out of the running for Octavio Dotel, a familiar face could be the most likely guy the Tigers pick up.  Kyle Farnsworth is being dangled by the Yankees and he could be a cheaper alternative then a lot of the other options out there.  Farnsworth was very good for us back in 2005 and while he has a hot head, I think he’d do okay back in Detroit.

I never got back to the doubleheader sweep, but this is much more interesting news.  Ryan Raburn, who had been called up just this month, put together a game that’d do just about anyone proud.  He homered twice and drove in seven runs.  The last Tiger to drive in seven runs in a game was Carlos Pena back in 2003 and since 1957, only Jim Northrup drove in more runs in a game when he drove in eight twice (once in 1968 and once in 1973).  He finished the game four for five and he scored three runs in a truly spectacular individual performance.  And prior to the seven RBIs, he had just four RBIs in his entire major league career.

Kenny Rogers had his third straight tough start.  He gave up seven runs in four innings and it forced the Tigers to come back a couple of different times in this one.  Jason Grilli picked up the win but he was hardly spectacular either.  He gave up two runs in three innings.  Only Tim Byrdak, who hadn’t pitched at the big league level in a month because of an injury, got through the game unscathed with two shutout innings to close out the game. For his trouble, he picked up his first save of the season.

Curtis Granderon had yet another nice game.  He picked up two hits and three runs and he trails only Gary Sheffield on the team with his 79 runs.  In all, seven Tigers had more then one hit with Raburn, Mike Rabelo and Brandon Inge getting three or more.

The rubber game for the five game series is this afternoon.  Justin Verlander will go up against rookie starter John Danks.  Danks was a top flight prospect coming into the season that won a spot in the rotation in spring training.  He’s looked very good a times but at other times he’s gotten pummelled so this one could go either way.

The Tigers lost both ends of a doubleheader yesterday, and just as I’m about to write this up, I hear my son waking up.  Game two was an ugly one and details will follow later this morning.

It may not have been Mike Hessman’s major league debut, but it’s been a while since the third baseman had seen some time at the big league level.  And he took full advantage of his chance in his Tiger debut with a very nice game.  He went two for four with two RBIs and two runs.  Hessman helped fill in while Marcus Thames is out and while Hessman played most of his season this year for the Hens at third, he did a nice enough job, and provided enough of a punch, as the Tigers starting first baseman last night.

Curtis Granderson stole the show though.  He was a perfect three for three and oddly, he was a triple short of hitting for the cycle.  He did add homerun number 14 to his list of accomplishments and he drove in four runs while scoring two.  Placido Polanco chipped in with three hits, a run and an RBI.

The pitching didn’t do as well, but it did just enough to help the Tigers pick up the win.  Andrew Miller was roughed up for five runs in 4 2/3 innings and his last pitch went way over the catchers head.  Jason Grilli pitched 1 1/3 innings and he picked up his fourth win while Todd Jones pitched a shutout ninth to pick up save number 27.

The Indians lost so the Tigers have their two game lead back.  They can guarantee another 1/2 game lead if they sweep the White Sox today.  The Tigers and White Sox play two today with Jeremy Bonderman getting the start in the first game and then Virgil Vasquez, who just got called back up, will go in the second game.  Both games are on Fox Sports Net so there’s plenty of baseball for Tiger fans today.

Brandon Inge hit a two run walk off homer in the bottom of the tenth inning to win it for the Tigers in what turned out to be a high scoring, 10-8 affair with the Royals.  Inge’s homerun was one of four with Craig Monroe, Placido Polanco and Ryan Raburn all going yard as well.  It was the first homerun of Raburn’s career and Craig Monroe had a team leading four RBIs.

Justin Verlander looked mortal, and while he left the game in the sixth inning with the lead, it was hardly a fantastic start.  Yeah, he struck out seven and walked just two but he gave up five runs (four earned) on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings.  Todd Jones gave up two in the ninth to send the game into extra frames and then it was Chad Durbin who threw a shutout tenth and picked up the win.

The Indians lost so it’s back to a two game lead in the Central.  The Twins bounced back from their sweep at the hands of the Tigers and they’ve won two straight since to pick up a game while the White Sox appear to be done with them being just a game up on the Royals.  This afternoon, it’ll be Nate Robertson going up against Brian Bannister in the rubber game.  It’s on FOX 2 so be sure to check over there instead of FSN.

The Tigers finished their three game sweep over the Twins, effectively burying that team and setting them nine games back.  It was a pretty solid game with the Tigers scoring their first three runs in the seventh inning once Scott Baker cooled off.  The Twins answered and tied it in the bottom of the seventh and while the Twins had a nice chance in the eighth to take the lead, a bizarre play turned almost a sure thing run into an out.  Justin Mourneau was on third with one out, Bobby Seay threw one in the dirt but it took a nice bounce back and Mike Rabello was able to get to Seay in time to get Mourneau in a run down trying to score.  He was finally called out when he stopped and let the ball hit him.

Brandon Inge put the Tigers on the board in the seventh with an RBI double and then he came up with the game winner in the top of the tenth inning when he drove home Timo Perez with an RBI double.  Placido Polanco also had a nice game and he went three for six with a run and an RBI.  Zach Miner picked up his first win of the season and Todd Jones got it done in the tenth for his 26th save.

The Tigers announced on Wednesday that they had sold enough tickets to break their previous attendance record set in 1984.  I think 3 million is out of reach with tickets selling out at a lot of games but maybe that’s a mark that can be reached next year.

Marcus Thames hit the disabled list and he’ll be out for a couple of weeks.  He tweaked his hamstring making a diving catch in Wednesday night’s game.  Timo Perez was brought up in his place and he did a nice job in yesterday’s game.  He went one for four with a walk and he scored the winning run in the tenth inning.

The Tigers handled Johan Santana last night and in the process, won their third straight game.  A win this afternoon would complete a sweep over the Twins and effectively bury that team for the time being.  The fact that the Tigers got it done, and against one of the best pitchers in baseball, was nice to see.

Andrew Miller gave the Tigers five quality innings but you always wonder what’s going to happen once the Tigers to the back end of the pen.  Jason Grilli gave up a run in the sixth but after that, the pen did a nice jog.  Chad Durbin threw 1 1/3 shutout innings and Todd Jones threw shutout ninth to pick up his 25th save.  Miller improved to 5-3 on the season with the win.

The big hit was a solo homerun by Magglio Ordonez which at the time made it a 3-1 ball game.  It proved to be the winning run though and along with a two run double, you had Ordonez driving in all three runs for the Tigers in this one.  In fact, he has all four Tiger RBIs in this series.  Ryan Raburn had a nice game as well.  He doubled off of Johan and he later scored on Ordonez’s double and then he drew a walk. 

It’s Jeremy Bonderman against Scott Baker this afternoon.  The Indians lost yesterday afternoon, so they now have a two game lead over them (three in the loss column). The Twins are now eight back.

Baseball America put out their mid-season prospect list and Cameron Maybin jumped all the way up to three.   Only the Diamondbacks Justin Upton and the Reds Jay Bruce were higher on the list.  Andrew Miller fell off because he’s in the majors and no other Tiger made the cut.

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