Where Were You the Last Time the Tigers Won Ten in a Row?

Where were you the last time the Tigers won ten games in a row?  Manager Jim Leyland was a 23-year-old catcher for the Montgomery Rebels of the Southern League.  General Manager Dave Dombrowski was a twelve year-old boy attending Crab Orchard Jr. High School in Palos Heights, Illinois.  Personally, I was a five-year-old fan following the Tigers for the first time.  From September 9-21, 1968, the Tigers won 11 games in a row.

Forty-three years later, the Tigers have again won their tenth in a row, a 14-4 rout of the White Sox.  The last time the Tigers faced the Pale Hose on September 4, they scored 18 runs on 25 hits in Comerica Park.  Tonight, the White Sox staff held the Tigers to just 21 hits.  So, that's 32 runs on 46 hits in two game versus their central division rivals.

Ryan Raburn led the Bengal attack with four hits, including a double and a home runn.  Delmon Young added three hits.  Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, Alex Avila and Jhonny Peralta had two hits apiece, but those four do that every night.

Rick Porcello, whose father Fred was 12 the last time the Tigers won ten in a row,  allowed three runs on six hits and three walks in 6 2/3 innings.  As usual, he was not over powering (just three strikeouts)  but had the White Sox pounding the ball into the dirt and recorded 14 outs on ground balls.

You might be surprised to learn that the Tigers are 19-9 in games that Porcello has started.  Of course, they have given him an average of six runs per start, the fourth best run support in the American League.  Conversely, Doug Fister has a league low 2.8 runs of support per game.   

Justin Verlander, who has picked up his team so many times this year pitching the day after a Tigers loss, will get a chance to extend the winning streak to 11 games tomorrow night.