Ouch Bullpen, Ouch

Verlander looks unhittable for 6 innings. Bullpen gives up 5 run lead.

Justin Verlander had 13 Ks in 6+, and the offense had scored 5 runs on Baker, who at times looked like he was also unhittable. Everything was pointing towards a Tigers win, and then came Bobby Seay. Seay had been great up to today, Today however, he got crushed.

Hit after hit, either to the wall, or Joe Crede's (the Tiger killer) broken bat GW blooper. It didn't matter, we just could not get an out.

What a waste of a great start by JV.

That hurt, and we just got swept by a divisional opponent. The final two, just crushing games back to back within 12 hours of each other.

We will need to rebound, and quickly. Oakland comes to town Friday.

AL Power Rankings

1. Toronto Blue Jays (21-12)
Right now, this team is the best team in the American League. Halladay is still Halladay (6 wins), but the hitting has been amazing. The Jays are tops in the AL in both Batting Average, and Batting Average against.



2. Kansas City Royals (18-13)
Every baseball fan knows about Greinke and his 0.51 ERA, but some may not realize the Royals are #1 in the A.L. in quality starts which means the other starters are also producing.



3. Los Angeles Angels (15-14)
The Angels have guys injured all over the place and are still in the AL West race. The Angels and manager Mike Scioscia just play Angels baseball, and that is good enough to win more than not. It looks like another good year out west for the LAA.


4. Boston Red Sox (19 -12)
The hitting has been as good as expected (outside of Papi). But the pitching has been dreadful. Josh Beckett has an ERA of almost 7, and the Sox are in the bottom half of the AL in almost every pitching category.


5. Detroit Tigers (16-13)
The Tigers have had better than expected results from their starting pitchers. Edwin Jackson, Armando Galarraga, and lately Justin Verlander have been outstanding. The hitting has been inconsistent, and Guillen is back on the DL, but if the SP keeps this up they will compete for a playoff spot.




6. Texas Rangers (16-14) need better pitching
7. Tampa Bay Rays (15-17) not quite the Rays from last season
8. NY Yankees (14-16) Going to get better, starting slow
9. Seattle (15-16) on a 6 game skid
10. Chi Sox (14-15) Typical hitting missing, 13th in AL AVG, 12th in runs.
11. Minnesota Twins (15-16) Need a better Liriano
12. Oakland A's (11-17) Not taking advantage of great pitching (2nd in AL in ERA)
13. Baltimore Orioles (13-18) Dreadful pitching (.296 BAA), team lead in Ws is 2.
14. Cleveland Indians (11-20) ERA of almost 6 (last in AL), not hitting well either (.266)

The Catch of a Lifetime

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a catch, wow. GW Catch. Don't here that often, but it was the case. Up 1, Verlander pitches a gem and BAM Grady Sizemore crushed one to the centerfield wall....and CG leaps and grabs the ball. Honestly, one of the best catches of all time (regular season) considering the circumstance. VIDEO AT BOTTOM.

Justin Verlander was not good his first few times out. In his first 4 starts of the season he gave up 21 Earned Runs, and had not won a game yet. In his last 3 games he turned it around, IN A HUGE WAY.

Last 3 games by Justin
7 IP o ER 9 Ks
7 IP 1 ER 11 Ks (only gave up 2 hits)
9 IP 0 ER 11 Ks (2 hits)

Cliff Lee pitched real well for Cleveland but was up against a hot pitcher. The only score for the Tigers offense was on an infield single from Clete Thomas.

Tigers 1 Indians 0

HAROLD REYNOLDS TALKS ABOUT CG'S SEASON AND ESPECIALLY THE CATCH!!!!

Manny Ramirez suspended 50 games

Performance Enhancing Drugs will cost him $8 million dollars

MLB announced today that Manny Ramirez will be suspended 50 games for violating the leagues anti-drug policy.

The Dodgers currently lead the league with a 21-8 record including a 13-0 home record.

Ramirez is hitting .348 with 6 HR and 20 RBI on the season.

New lineup Sparks offense

Anderson leads off, Granderson and Ordonez hit 5 and 6

Carlos Guillen was put on the 15 day DL and Jim Leyland took the opportunity to shake the lineup around. He moved Anderson up to leadoff, CG to the 5 spot, and Ordonez down to the 6 hole.

The Tigers wondered how it would work, well, for one day it worked very well. The Tigers came out early and exploded. After scoring 1 run in the first, the Tigers put a 5 spot up in the 2nd. A Single by Anderson, Double by Santiago, and Triple by Clete Thomas did the damage. In the 4th inning Cabrera and Granderson went back to back to put the Tigers up 9-0, and that would be the final score.

Porcello was on the mound coming off of two bad starts pitched amazing. He may not have needed to be great today, but he definitely was. 7 innings pitched, and only 4 hits allowed.

Tigers 9 Twins 0

*Sidenote: Frederick Alfred Porcello is the Rookie Standouts full name.

Cabrera's Homerun was measured at 440 feet to Left Field. Check out the video by Clicking Here

Need better hitting than this...

The Tigers offense had only 1 hit through 6 2/3 innings, than with a 2-0 count Cabrera smoked a low and inside pitch over the left center field wall. That tied the game, but only for a minute.

Once again the Tigers went scoreless for 5 innings to start the game, this is just too taxing on your Pitching Staff. Jackson started out really strong, only allowing 1 R through 6, but was hit hard in the 7th inning allowing 5 Runs. It probably didn't help that we were DH'ing a minor leaguer (Raburn). The bullpen gave up a couple more, and the game looked uglier than it really was.

Tigers get 4 whole hits, not good enough. Not even close actually.

Twins 7 Tigers 2

Tigers Week That Was.....

Tigers went 3-3 versus Cleveland and the Yankees

The Tigers began the week versus the Yankees. Game 1 was Monday and the Tigers sent Verlander to the mound against C.C. Sabathia and the Yankees.Verlander would pitch a gem, striking out 9 Yankees in 7 innings, and not giving up a run. The Tigers won that game, but lost the next two. Tuesday the Yankees exploded for 10 runs in the 7th in a 0-0 game. Edwin Jackson was once again money, but the bullpen on this day was horrible. Wednesday, in the series deciding game, the Yankees led throughout, and the Tigers 5 run 9th inning was not enough. Porcello was awful on this day.

Friday would be the series opener against divisional foes, the Indians. Galarraga would take his first loss. Like the game prior vs NYY, the Tigers would score 5 runs late, and it still wouldn't be enough. The Tigers would win the next 2 games. Saturday in a great game with many lead changes, and a GW HR by Granderson. Sunday they won behind another stellar effort from Verlander.

The Tigers would finish the week 3-3, and on a 2 game win streak. The starters were strong, and the pen was solid other than the 10 run explosion vs NYY. Rodney, still is yet to blow a save, and CG is a stud.

Weekly Grades:
Hitting: C+ (stayed off the scoreboard for 4+ innings too many times)
Starting Pitching: B+ (Galarraga was bad, others were good to great)
Bullpen: B (Couple bad innings, but still solid)

Overall: B- (3-3 record, too many zeros offensively)

5 most important things from the week that was
1. Verlander, Verlander, Verlander (14 IP, 20 K, 1 ER)
2. CG is a stud
3. Carlos Guillen needs to start hitting
4. Edwin Jackson looks like a steal
5. Too many errors defensively