Tigers sweep White Sox on Cabrera walkoff

Three days ago, the Tigers were 11 games out of first and fans were wondering which players would be traded to contenders in July. Miguel Cabrera was getting booed in Comerica and many internet fans viewed him as the chief culprit of the Tigers disappointing season. Today, the Tigers beat the White Sox 2-1 to complete a three game sweep over the central division leaders and the decisive blow was a walk homer by Cabrera in the bottom of the ninth. So now Cabrera is a hero and Tigers fans are dreaming of a summer come back in the AL Central. What a difference a series makes.

Perhaps even more important than the sweep was that Kenny Rogers pitched another strong game allowing just one run on four hits in eight innings. He has now allowed just four runs in 29 innings (1.34 ERA) in his last four starts. A pitcher who a few weeks ago looked to be all done at the age of 43 now seems to have regained his form of 2006. It's a big boost for a team who has lost Jeremy Bonderman for probably the rest of the season and who has seen Dontrelle Willis seemingly forget how to pitch.

Before we get too giddy about the sweep though, remember that the last two sweeps did not inspire continued good play. A three game sweep of The Yankees, which drew them to within a game of .500 on May 1, was followed by a five game losing streak. A three game sweep of Seattle in the middle of May was followed by four losses in their next five games.

With their margin of error now just about gone, it's crucial that they avoid a let down as they head into interleague play. In their next five series, they will be facing four teams - the Dodgers, Padres, Giants and Rockies - who are under .500 and one team - the Cardinals - who are missing their star play (Albert Pujols). It is a stretch of games where they must do very well if they want to be serious contenders.

Tigers split with Indians, Willis a mess

The Tigers got pounded by the Indians today 9-2 and settled for a split of their four game series with the Indians. Now 11 games behind the high flying White Sox, splitting series is not good enough if they have any plans of a huge comeback this year. I can't get myself to give up on the season on June 9 but, realistically, it's not looking good especially with Bonderman out for the season.

They did get some good starting pitching in this series before Dontrelle Willis blew up today. Coming into the game, the starters had a 3.92 ERA in 24 games. Justin Verlander (3.00 ERA in his last 5 starts), Kenny Rogers (2.14 ERA in 3 starts) and Armando Galarraga (3.74 for the season) all pitched well. Willis was a disaster today allowing 5 walks and 8 runs in 1 2/3 innings.

Willis is a mess and really shouldn't be starting games in the majors right now. I'm not sure what they'll do with him. I imagine they'll give him some more opportunities to start but how many chances can they give to a pitcher who can't find the plate at all? He wouldn't be of any use in the bullpen either. He's signed through 2010 so they aren't going to just release him and, at his young age (26) and with his past success, they shouldn't. The ideal situation would be for him to agree to work out his control issues in the minors.

Then there is the problem of who would replace him if he is removed from the rotation. They don't have any great options in either the majors or minors. Zach Miner is a possibility but the Tigers like him better as a reliever. Casey Fossum might be a better bet. Virgil Vasquez, seen as a possible injury replacement call-up at the beginning of the year, is not having a good year for Toledo. Chris Lambert is doing the best of the current Mud Hen starters.

Tigers take series from Mariners

The Tigers scored 4 runs in the 9th today to break a 3-3 tie and then held on to win 7-5. The best thing about this game was that they probably came through in more tough situations than in other game this year. Jeremy Bonderman allowed 12 hits but walked nobody and got big outs when he needed them getting through 7 innings allowing just 3 runs. He got some help from Curtis Granderson who made a very good running catch in the 5th and then gunned down a runner at third with an excellent throw in the sixth. Placido Polanco also made a nice diving stop to get an out earlier in the game

Zach Miner survived a Magglio Ordonez error in in the 8th by working his way out of a runner on third and one out mess. The clutchness continued in the 9th when Brandon Inge worked a one out walk off of closer JJ Putz. Curtis Granderson then hit three vicious line drives in one at bat, the first two twisting foul and the third one staying fair for a single. Placido Polanco followed with a run scoring single. Magglio Ordonez then got an infield hit on a misplay by third basemen Adrian Beltre to plate another run. And finally the frustrating Miguel Cabrera doubled home two more to make it 7-3.

I don't know if you want to call Todd Jones' performance "clutch" but he continued his record of not blowing a lead all year. He did however allow a mammoth two run homer to Raul Ibanez and managed to put the potential tying run at the plate before retiring the last two batters.

So, it was a positive game and it gave them a 2-1 series victory over the Mariners. It should be noted, of course, that the Mariners are struggling even more than the Tigers. Also, the second game of the series was shutout number nine for the Bengals. They need to put several series victories together in a row before we can get excited. The best news of the season continues to be the fact that nobody seems to want the AL central. The Tigers picked up a game on the White Sox today and are somehow just six games out of first place.

Guillen in left

Carlos Guillen played his first game in left field today while Inge replaced him at third. It was a rather uneventful day for Guillen but he did make all the plays that came to him. He did make a couple of sub-par throws but they did no damage. Jim Leyland did not indicate that this would be a permanent arrangement but I don't think it's a one game thing either. I'm still a bit skeptical of Guillen's ability to handle the outfield on a regular basis but I like the idea of Inge at third so I hope Leyland gives it some time to see if it works.

Home stand ends on sour note

The Tigers lost 6-1 to the Twins today and lost the series two games to one. That made it a 4-2 home stand which isn't bad but it could have been better. On the heels a 19-3 thrashing of the Twins last night, the Tigers could manage only one run in 7 2/3 innings against Twins rookie Glen Perkins today. It was tied at one until Francisco Cruceta allowed a grand slam to left-handed hitting Jason Kubel. Some have questioned why Jim Leyland did not have a lefty (Bobby Seay or Dontrelle Willis) ready to pitch to Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and or Kubel and it's a good question.

There were some good signs in this series. They got two more quality starts from Justin Verlander and Nate Robertson. They are still last in the league with 17 quality stats but 9 have come in the last 13 games. Unfortunately, their bullpen is starting to pitch the way many of us feared when the season started. The pen gave up 4 runs on Friday night and 5 more today and , in general , has been pretty shaky as of late.

On the offensive side, they hit the ball very hard this week and averaged 9 runs per game. Unfortunately, they continue not to do a great job distributing the runs evenly across games. They scored only one run today after 19 yesterday and, despite being third in the league in runs scored, have had more than their share of low run games and they are losing virtually all of those games. This point was nicely illustrated by Billfer.

At least this week, they played closer to what we expected at the beginning of the season - great hitting, decent starting pitching and a leaky bullpen. The other piece of good news (and I know many are probably tired of hearing this) is that nobody in the division is pulling ahead. The Tigers are still just six games behind pending the outcome of the White Sox - Angels game tonight. Next up for the Tigers is a nine game western swing with three games each in Los Angeles, Seattle and Oakland.

Tigers Sweep Mariners

The Tigers completed a sweep of the Mariners with a 9-2 rout this afternoon. After averaging just 2.8 runs per game and going 3-12 in their previous 15 games, the Bengals scored 30 runs on 44 hits and 21 extra base hits versus the Mariners.

It was a well balanced attack with each regular plus Brandon Inge batting .300 or better for the series. Every starter except Pudge Rodriguez also had at least one extra base hit. It was especially encouraging to see several struggling Tigers come through:

Curtis Granderson - 4 for 11 with a homer and a double
Miguel Cabrera - 5 for 11 with two doubles
Edgar Renteria - 6 for 11 with a triple and a home run
Brandon Inge - 3 for 8 with a double, triple and homer while playing four positions
Gary Sheffield - 4 for 13 including three hits today

They got some good starting pitching as well with Justin Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman each pitching six strong innings. It was the second consecutive solid start for each pitcher. It is very important that they continue to get quality starts from what should be the two best starters on the staff. On the negative side, Kenny Rogers continued to struggle allowing 4 runs on 8 hits in 3 walks in 5 1/3 innings on Wednesday.

It was a very positive series for the Tigers but we should remember a similar series in April versus a then reeling Rangers club. They outscored the Rangers 37-10 for a three game sweep but were unable to sustain their offense in coming weeks. Next up is the Minnesota Twins for a three game series at Comerica. It's gotten to the point in the season where they can't afford another swoon and they need another strong series versus Minnesota.

Toothless Tigers lose series to Red Sox

The Tigers lost three of four to the Red Sox this week and they looked bad in the process. The starting pitching continues to be the biggest problem. They did not have any quality starts (six or more innings, three or fewer earned runs) in the series. That's not unusual for them though. They've had only eight all year which is by far the lowest in the league. The next lowest total is 16 by Tampa Bay. For those who prefer ERA, they are dead last there as well. Their 5.46 starting pitcher ERA is more than a half a run higher than the Yankees (13th in the league at 4.79).

Justin Verlander continued to struggle mightily tonight allowing five runs on nine hits in six innings. His poor start is probably the biggest surprise on the team and it's getting to be a concern.He claims he is physically healthy and that it's just a matter of mechanics but his ERA is now 6.43 and it's sure taking him a while to figure things out. Even the fast starting Armando Galarraga got roughed up last night - five runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. It's gotten to the point where if a starter gives up just four runs, such as Jeremy Bonderman and Nate Robertson did in the first two games of the series, then it's a decent start.

Other than last night's 10-9 win, they did not have a great series offensively either scoring three runs or less in the three losses and being held to two hits in eight innings by Tim Wakefield. Miguel Cabrera went 2 for 14 and is now batting just .252. Edgar Renteria went 0 for 11. Curtis Granderson had a horrible series going 2 for 18 with eight strikeouts including seven in the last two games.

The only bright spot was their walk off win last night and even that had to be considered lucky. They scored two runs in the ninth inning off of Jon Papelbon thanks to a check swing single that didn't get past the pitcher's mound, an error by Julio Lugo and a bloop single by Placido Polanco. It was Polanco's fifth hit of the night.

I passed off their 0-7 and 2-10 start as a slump but now they have lost six out of seven just after it looked like they were starting to turn it around. With the starting pitching showing no real signs of fixing itself, I'm starting to become less optimistic about this team. On a positive note, nobody else in the division is doing anything either. Amazingly this 15-21 team is only 3 1/2 games behind. That means that when or if they figure things out, they will have a chance to catch up quickly.