Archive for the '2009 Tigers' Category

The Tigers fell back to an even 5-5 late last night as they fell to the Mariners.  Justin Verlander was good for six innings, unfortunately, he threw 7 1/3 and one of those frames was a five spot (ironically in the fifth).  He gave up a double, double, single, single before getting two outs (although one of them was a sac. bunt) then single, single, wild pitch turned into a five run frame.  He actually pitched into the eighth when he gave up another run but then the game was somewhat out of reach anyway (although Sunday’s game should point to the whole “It ain’t over ’till it’s over” credo).

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Verlander struck out eight and walked one but of his eight hits, three were for extra bases.  When Verlander is getting knocked, he’s getting knocked hard and his OPS against is up over .900.  That’s not encouraging and it shows in the 0-2 start.

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Miguel Cabrera continued his impressive month and he went three for four with a run.  Brandon Inge singled and drove in two while Gerald Laird singled, drew a walk, stole a base and scored.  All nine Tiger hits were singles.

Ridicule video The Tigers play tonight although it’s a little earlier (9 pm start time).  Edwin Jackson looks for his first win and he’ll go up against Erik Bedard.  Bedard has looked good his last time out with 8 1/3 shutout innings against Athletics so this should be a good pitching matchup if Jackson can do his job.

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On Golden Pond movie download For the last week and change, I’ve either been sick or I’ve taken care of someone who was sick, or took care of my son on a day he should have been at a relative’s house because they were sick.  Fun times and the timing couldn’t be better.  Let’s just say, as a CPA, things get a little busy come April 15.  Of course the date comes and goes and as has been the case the last 14 years, I survived. Now it’s time to get back at it although there’s a good chance in the next couple of weeks I’m going to have both a new job and a new profession.

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Today’s game was a good one.  Armando Galarraga threw the bulk of a four hit shutout against a hot White Sox team.  He improved to 2-0 and he gave up four hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.  Bobby Seay, Ryan Perry and Fernando Rodney then all combined to throw the final 2 2/3 innings to give the Tigers their first shutout of the season.

Miguel Cabrera belted home run number four and he also stole his first base of the season.  Placido Polanco drove in three runs while Josh Anderson was a perfect two for two with two walks, two runs and a stolen base.

The win puts the Tigers back onto the winning side and it also puts them into a tie for first with the Royals.  Tomorrow there’s a day off and then we have a nice pitching matchup on Friday with Justin Verlander going up against Felix Hernandez.

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The Tigers evened up their record at 3-3 this afternoon with a nice win over the Rangers.  Justin Verlander bounced back (sort of) and the pen did their job nicely.  The good on Verlander was the eight strikeouts in five innings.  He did walk four though and while he gave up just earned run, he also gave up three unearned runs.

After that, it was some nice work by the pen.  Nate Robertson did his job with two perfect frames and he picked up his first win of the season (with wins tough to come by for him the past couple of years, maybe this pen thing isn’t all bad).  Fernando Rodney looked really sharp in the ninth and he struck out the side for his first save of the season.

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On the offensive side, Adam Everett was the surprising star at the plate.  He put the Tigers on the board in the second with a two run triple and then he singled and scored on Placido Polanco’s double in the sixth and that proved to be the game winner.  Gerald Laird was three for four with a run and then Polanco doubled twice, scored and drove in that big run.

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Edwin Jackson looks to put the Tigers on the winning side of the ledger as the team tries to pull off a sweep.  Kevin Millwood gets the nod for the Rangers.

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The Tigers provided some fireworks this afternoon as they kicked off their first home series with a 15-2 blowout win over the then undefeated Texas Rangers.  Miguel Cabrera was one of many hitting stars but his six RBIs led the way.  He also jacked his third home run while Jeff Larish also went yard in the game.  Every Tiger starter had at least one hit and one run and the only starter who didn’t drive in a run was Brandon Inge.

Lost in all of the offense was a very nice start by Armando Galarraga.  He gave up just one run on five hits and a walk with eight strikeouts.  Ryan Perry walked two and struck out one in 2/3 of an inning while Eddie Bonine gave up a run in his 1 1/3 innings to close out the game.

Vertigo movie download The Tigers have a chance to get .500 for the first time this year tomorrow with Justin Verlander on the mound.  Matt Harrison gets the nod for the Rangers.

For an interesting take on the game, Gary Gillette blogged the game while in the press booth over at Tigers Corner The Hard Word download .  Well worth checking out for the humor alone.

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Well, this one was a tough one to watch.  I don’t get to watch many Tiger games from beginning to end.  My son doesn’t go to bed until 8:30 or so so I usually get some early innings then the last few.  He spent the night at the grandparents so I got an early treat and got to a watch a Tiger game (at least as much as I watch it while it’s on when I’m working) from beginning to end.  Of course it was bitter sweet because of the end result of this game.

Brandon Lyon made his regular season debut and made some enemies.   He gave up a big three run blast in the eighth and then he lost in the ninth after Brandon Inge tied the game up with his second home run in as many games.

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One problem I see with the Tigers staff is the lack of punch out of the pen with their lefties.  Bobby Seay came in and pitched to one batter but once he left, you’ve only got Nate Robertson left.  It’ll make decisions tough because you don’t want to bring in Seay too soon and burn him, but you never know when you’re going to need that out from the southpaw.

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Edwin Jackson looked good and he gave up just two hits through 7 1/3 innings.  One of his two runs came on the three run homer that Lyon gave up and Jackson struck out four and walked just one.  I’m becoming a believer in this guy.

Brandon Inge hit home run number two and also a doubled while Miguel Cabrera was a perfect two for two with two walks.  I do like the fact that the Tigers walked five times with six strikeouts, they just couldn’t put more then four runs across the plate.  The only Tiger who didn’t reach base was Adam Everett, but he helped out with an effective bunt that resulted in the Tigers first run in the third.

I know Fernando Rodney didn’t blow this one, but I have a feeling Ryan Perry is going to be the closer of the more immediate future if he ever gets a chance.  My bet is he’s closing games by the All Star break if he lives up to the hype and the rest of the pen continues to struggle.

Torque dvd It’s another night game tomorrow.  I’ll be on the road when this one starts.  It’ll be Zach Miner going  up against Jesse Litsch in game three.  Rick Porcello then makes his debut on Thursday in an afternoon get away day game.

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Alright, it’s 9-1.  MUST. STAY. POSITIVE.

I just hope the Spartans fare a little better.

***UPDATE***

Or not.

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As an MSU grad, yesterday’s win over U-Conn was pretty big for me and it makes Monday that much more interesting.  You’ve got the Tiger game starting at seven and then leading up into the National Championship game later that night.  It doesn’t get much better then this.  Go Green and Go Tigers.

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The Tigers head north with a wind after they doubled up the Braves this afternoon 8-4.  Carlos Guillen hit his first homerun of the spring and Miguel Cabrera went two for four with two RBIs and a run.  Magglio Ordonez was hitting third and Cabrera fourth so I wonder if that’s how they lineup is going to shake out. 

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Rick Porcello threw two shutout frames before he gave it up for Armando Galarraga, who gave up two runs (just one earned) with five strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.  Nate Robertson struggled out of the pen and he gave up two runs in the ninth to finish up the game.

Monday is the day and for the first time ever (I think), the Tigers open up their season at night.  If anyone knows of a night opener, let me know because I don’t ever remember one.  It’ll be Justin Verlander going up against Roy Halladay.  The Sunday opener will be the Braves and Phillies so we’ll get our first taste of real baseball tomorrow.

ESPN.com released their power rankings and the Tigers start the season at 18th.  That’s behind everyone in the AL Central ahead of just the Twins at number 23.  I’m curious as to what people think.  Do you think they’ll finish above or below this ranking by the end of the season?

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The Tigers played their second to last spring game yesterday and they lost a close to the Braves 3-1.  You wonder how intensely these guys were playing through with the opener just a few days away and that kind of showed at the plate with just five hits.  The only extra baggers were doubles by Curtis Granderson and Ramon Santago and Josh Anderson scored the lone run in the seventh inning.

Zach Miner had three shutout frames before he was touched up for three runs in the fourth inning.  The big blow was a two run homer by former Tiger Omar Infante.  After that, things looked pretty good because none of the four relievers gave up a run.  Juan Rincon closed the game out and he finished his spring season without giving up an earned run while Brandon Lyon’s shutout frame got his ERA down to 5.25. 

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.  I’ve always been a big Nate Robertson fan (it’s a southpaw thing) but I also understand how poor of a year he had (although he had some help from the pen) last year.  My suggestion to Nate would be to force the Tigers hand by pitching your guts out every time you come out on the mound and leave them no choice but to put you back in the rotation.  I know it’s easy to get frustrated when the news drops but I still think Robertson can be a big key to a winning Tiger team.

A lot is being made about the Tigers having an all right handed rotation.  While it’s going to be limiting, that puts even more pressure on the lefty’s coming out of the pen because they’ll probably be the first one’s called on.  Of course if you’re into the history thing, in 1984, the Tigers didn’t have a single start that went to a left hander and there were only three relievers used all year that were southpaws (of course one of those was Willie Hernandez).  So it can be done.

Mike Hessman and Brent Clevlen both cleared waivers so they’ll be playing for Toledo.  That Mud Hens squad, if left relatively intact, should make some noise this year.  I was hoping to get down to see them on April 18th when they play at Columbus, but that’s the new Huntington Park’s opener and it was sold out.

The final spring game is this afternoon.  I probably won’t be home, but I’ll try to watch the archive of it online.  Then there’s a day off to travel to Toronto for opening day.  Real baseball is just two days away.

This is a relatively small deal, but the Tigers got Brooks Brown from the Diamondbacks for James Skelton.  The catcher was lost in the Rule 5 draft but the Diamondbacks couldn’t find room for him so they worked out a deal to keep him.

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Brown is a fringe prospect starting pitcher and despite going 6-15, he played in the Southern League All Star game for Double A Mobile.  He also had a fair showing at the Arizona Fall League with 19 strikeouts in 25 2/3 innings.  Brown was subsequently sent to Erie so he’ll repeat Double A at least to start the season.

Just a quick side note, I’m listening to the Reds/Pirates game and they’re talking about bringing Gary Sheffield in.  The guy talking for the Reds (missed who it is, might be Walt Jocketty) said simply their scouts said Gary can still hit but the big question is how many games he can play in the field.  He also indicated Gary will probably make a decision on where he goes tomorrow.

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With that, the Tigers have moved and they’re heading to Atlanta for a two game series against the Braves at Turner Field.  In the meantime, they finished off their Florida play with an 8-5 win over the Jays.  The only pitcher of consequence to throw was Ryan Perry and he threw a shutout inning.  Josh Rainwater and Jon Huber were the relievers who were touched up for runs.

Brandon Inge belted his fifth homer of the spring and Carlos Guillen went two for three with two RBIs and a run.  Miguel Cabrera also had a nice game with two hits and three RBIs.  Magglio Ordonez also had a nice game and he went two for two with with two walks and a run.

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No news on how Edwin Jackson did at the minor league game.  Tomorrow’s game is a night game and Zach Miner will go against Javier Vazquez.  Sunday’s game will be interesting because not only will Armando Galarraga and Rick Porcello get some time, but we’ll get to see Brave’s phenom Tommy Hanson.

Looks like Jeff Larish secured the final spot on the roster.  That rounds things out for the 25 man.

Seven runs in five innings.  It wasn’t that great of a tune up game for Justin Verlander this after as the Braves bounced him around.  He gave up five in the second, one in the third and one more in the fourth so it wasn’t just contained to one bad inning (even though he had one of them).  He’ll go head to head to with Roy Halladay on opening day this coming Monday.

Juan Rincon threw another shutout frame.  Again, the game wasn’t on so I wasn’t able to see who he faced.  Fernando Rodney also threw a shutout inning while Casey Fien gave up a run in the ninth.

Curtis Granderson was the hitting star.  He went two for four with a two run homer, his third long all of the spring.  Miguel Cabrera and Gerald Laird each had a pair of hits in the 9-3 beat down.

Next up are the Blue Jays.  Eddie Bonine and Ryan Perry should see some work in this one.  Edwin Jackson is going to get some innings, but it’ll be with the minor league club against a Nationals affiliate.  This will be the last spring game at Lakeland before the Tigers head to Atlanta for a pair of spring games at Turner Field against the Braves.

I have some misgivings about the Tigers putting Rick Porcello and Ryan Perry on the opening day roster.  Back in 2007, the Tigers promoted Cameron Maybin probably earlier then he should have been and it smacked of desperation.  This year, the Tigers are hoping to recapture the magic of 2006 when Joel Zumaya and Justin Verlander helped lead the Tigers to their first pennant since 1984.  It was announced today that both Ryan Perry and Rick Porcello would be on the opening day roster.

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To make room, Clay Rapada was sent to the Hens and Scott Williamson was sent to minor league camp.  Porcello may be more of a placeholder in the rotation until Jeremy Bonderman (or even Dontrelle Willis) comes back but if he  throws together a couple of good starts, it’ll make the rotation decision that much tougher to make when Bonderman comes back.  Perry will likely pitch a lot in the sixth and seventh innings to basically fill the role Zumaya played in 2006.  Juan Rincon and Eddie Bonine also made the team.  The other surprise move is that Zach Miner got the other rotation spot and Nate Robertson will come out of the pen.

On the hitting side, Ryan Raburn and Dane Sardinha were optioned to Toledo while Mike Hessman was placed on waivers.  I can’t see Hessman’s power bat not getting picked up so he’s as good as gone.

With the Josh Anderson trade, that leaves Brent Clevlen and Jeff Larish vying for the 25th spot.  My bet is Clevlen gets the nod because Larish has options but the Tigers don’t seem t shy about cutting a player loose these days.

Jeremy Bonderman was put on the 15 day disabled list today and that would allow him to come back as early as April 14th so he’ll miss the whole first week and at least part of the second week.  I’m curious to see how they get him innings while on the disabled list and it wouldn’t surprise if there’s a minor league rehab period that would effectively replace the spring training he missed.

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Clete Thomas was optioned to Toledo and Timo Perez and Will Rhymes were both sent to minor league camp.

That leaves a rotation spot open.  Rick Porcello made yet another statement today with five innings of solid pitching.  He gave up just two hits and a walk with two strikeouts.  The Tigers have just one hit through five innings but they’re tied 1-1 with the Nationals.  Zach Miner, after a solid outing his last time out, is my bet to get the nod.

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***UPDATE***

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Just when I was getting comfortable with Nate Robertson, he goes and gets shelled by the Nationals.  His inning was cut short because of the weather, but he was tagged for four hits and three runs in the seventh inning.  That’s twice as many hits as Porcello gave up in five frames.

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***UPDATE***

The rain break didn’t help Nate Robertson and he was knocked around for two more runs in the ninth.  That’s five runs over his three innings of work.  It’s 7-2 with the Tigers batting in the bottom of the ninth.  Josh Anderson made his debut and he went 0 for 2 with two walks and a stolen base.

Wow, I didn’t see this one coming.  The Tigers cut bait on Gary Sheffield despite the fact that they’ll still be on the hook for his $14 million salary this year.  This is one of those moves that could make or break the Tigers and their front office.  If Sheffield goes on to have a productive season and the Tigers fall just short, people should probably be fired over this.  Of course it’s not my team and I’m a little biased because I’ve always been a big Sheffield fan.

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I talked about a couple of reasons why he may still struggle in my five question piece.  Throw on a .178 spring batting average and the move shouldn’t come as a total surprise.  One option that comes to mind would be putting Miguel Cabrera at DH then using either Jeff Larish or even better, Mike Hessman at first base.  Another option would be to move Carlos Guillen to DH and then use someone like Marcus Thames, Brent Clevlen or the newly acquired Josh Anderson out in the left field.

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The other side note is, the Tigers will remain as a team that’s never seen a player hit his 500th home run in their uniform.  Gary Sheffield would have been the first one.

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I’m interested to see what this “more versatile” lineup is the Tigers refer to in this story.  I’m also interested in seeing where Gary Sheffield ends up.

The Tigers are seven innings into their spring game against the Nationals and so far so good.  Armando Galarraga threw five solid innings in which he struck out nine and walked just one and his lone blemish was a two run homer by Ryan Zimmerman.  Outside of the home run and the walk, he only gave up one other single to Christian Guzman.  Even better, Brandon Lyon and Fernando Rodney each have a perfect inning each.

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The Tigers also swung a deal today.  They traded Rudy Darrow to the Braves for centerfielder Josh Anderson.  This is an interesting move because the Tigers have a couple of 25+ AAAA guys (Anderson is 26) who can play centerfield coming off the bench in Brent Clevlen and Clete Thomas so I wonder if this move sets up a bigger trade down the line. 

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Anderson has little to prove in the minors.  Last year, he hit .314 at Triple-A and he stole 42 bases.  In each of the last five seasons, he’s stolen at least 40 with his career high coming in 2004 when he split time between both A levels where he stole 79 bases.

***UPDATE***

The final ended up being 3-2.  Mike Hessman singled and Juan Rincon and Ryan Perry each threw a shutout inning.  One of the knocks on Rincon has been the fact that the Tigers have protected him, only throwing him against minor league players.  Today he got into trouble (one hit and a walk) but he struck out two, I just don’t know who he faced.  If they have been protecting, I hope they stop soon so we see what they have.

The Tigers trimmed three more from their major league camp with two players hitting the disabled list and then Rule 5 pick Kyle Bloom getting shipped back to the Pirates.  No surprise that Joel Zumaya is beginning the season on the disabled list but the unusual one is Dontrelle Willis’ anxiety disorder.   The specifics aren’t there but Dontrelle seemed upbeat about it and from what they say, it’s treatable.  They don’t put a time table on the treatment but hopefully Dontrelle is back sooner rather then later.

It was also announced that Jeremy Bonderman won’t begin the season in the rotation.  He’s throwing as I write this but he’s still trying to get his arm strength back.  I’m not 100% sure on the rules, but Bonderman might have some options left (he only spent one season in the minors) so I wonder if the Tigers will take the DL route or not.  There’s also a chance we could see someone like Rick Porcello get a start or two with the big league team before Bonderman comes back and they ship him to Erie.

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The Tigers took care of the Jays yesterday.  Edwin Jackson went seven innings deep and he gave up just one run on six hits with four strikeouts.  Ryan Perry and Scott Williamson each threw shutout innings to finish things out.  At this point, the game are going to more closely resemble real games so they’ll be a little more interesting then the six pitchers throwing we saw just a week or so ago.

Placido Polanco hit his second homer of the spring and he drove in two runs.  Carlos Guillen led the way with two hits and a run in the 5-1 win.

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The Tigers had their regulars today yet they still managed just five hits and their only two runs came off a Matt Treanor homer in the seventh.  Carlos Guillen had two of those hits and while Miguel Cabrera singled in three at bats, he struck out the other two times.

The big news was Justin Verlander’s seven shutout innings.  He gave up just two hits and a walk with three strikeouts and that dropped his spring ERA to 2.30.  This came shortly after he was announced as the Tigers opening day starter.  Of course the bad news was Brandon Lyon and Fernando Rodney were both touched up.  When your supposedly two best starters have ERA’s of 7.88 and 6.00, you know you have some problems. 

I was going to watch this game via the archive but the Spartans are on right now.  I am curious as to how strong Verlander looked in this one.

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Edwin Jackson gets the start tomorrow in an afternoon game against the Jays.  Ryan Perry is also supposed to get some work.  There’s radio coverage but no television.

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Yesterday I mentioned the passing of John Brattain.  If you’d like to donate money to his memorial fund, stop by the Hardball Times.  They set up a special paypal account to accomodate this.

Other then the injuries and Scott Williamson, the Tigers had a pretty nice gam today.  Zach Miner threw some solid innings and Placido Polanco and Jeff Larish drove in three runs each.  Ryan Perry gave up some baserunners, but he got out of his 1 2/3 innings unscathed.

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Tomorrow, the Tigers take on the Rays in an odd 6:05 start.  Rick Porcello gets the start.

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