Today’s Ch-Ch-Changes

Denny Bautista has been DFA’d to make room for Zoom Zoom tonight per Jason Beck.

Also, Cletus the Slack Jawed Backup returns tonight as Brent Clevlen gets a little more seasoning in Toledo.

The Whales’ Va-Jay-Jay

Ah, Saint Diego. It’s the 1984 World Series all over again. I’m pretty sure Greg Maddux was at least a 5 year veteran by then. Our Tigres storm SoCal having gone 8-2 over their last 10 games and coming off of their 3rd straight series victory (it would be a nine game winning streak if not for that pesky 8th inning, Mr. Rodney and Mr. Dolsi…). The Fathers come in with a 4 game losing streak, following what had been a hot streak for the NL West’s current cellar dwellers. Once again, there is no reason to lose this series folks. The action starts tonight at 10:05p EST as Eddie Bonine gets his 2nd start for the Tigers against Cha Seung Baek.

Baek has pitched well in his last two starts going 7 innings and giving up 2 hits and 3 runs last time out. Bonine got the win in his MLB debut, but was hit hard by the Dodgers, giving up 6 runs and 9 hits in 5.1 innings. SURPRISE! IT’S REALLY GREG MADDUX!!! The Padres are only hitting .245 as a team and Adrian Gonzalez is their only big power threat. However, in Petco Park there are no true power threats. The weekend wraps up with Nasty Nate taking on the ageless Greg Maddux Baek on Saturday and JV facing off against Randy Wolf on Sunday. Also, I hear this guy is back…

Game 71: Marcus Thames

Marcus Thames Marcus Thames Marcus Thames. Marcus Thames? Marcus Thames, Marcus Thames (Marcus Thames) Marcus Thames.

(Translation: His last eight hits have been home runs, and that’s five straight games with at least one dinger. Mark J. Terrill, Associated Press, you feel me.)

Back to life, Back to reality…

And as quickly as a six game WINNAR streak comes, it slides out of door as quickly as a Fernando Rodney pitch can leave the stadium. For 2/3 of the game, we saw the relatively low scoring game that we expected from Verlander and Lincecum. JV went 6 and gave up 3 runs while striking out 7. Lincecum went 7 and gave up 4 runs and struck out only 3. However, he also gave up two homers to the River Thames, continuing his “hot when he hits it” streak to a total of 7 homers in his last 7 hits.

However, in a scene we hadn’t seen in at least two weeks - the bullpen fell appear. Steady Freddy Dolsi took the loss, but it was the recently returned Fernando Rodney who took the beating. Fernando’s current ERA after 1/3 of an inning pitched is 81.01. The five run eighth inning saw our heroes go from up 4-3 to down 8-4. A pair of rally runs in the 9th fell short of the ultimate goal and the Tigers winning ways came to an end for the night.

Tonight Men Who Look Like Kenny Rogers takes the mound against somebody named Jonathan Sanchez, who is clearly not a real major league baseball player in spite of his 6-3 record and 4.26 ERA.

EL SCORCHO!!!

ROCK AND ROLL!!!

Let us a take a moment to look back to last week…

“A 7-3 homestand would leave Detroit at 31-38 and likely back to having a pulse. Conversely, a 3-7 homestand would leave the Tigers at 27-42 with a demotion to the International League. See why it’s important to actually win these next ten days?”

So, a few Marcus Thames homers later and the Tigers have wrapped up their 10 game stand with an 8-2 record and a six game winning streak to accompany them on their week long sojourn to the West Coast. After falling to twelve games under .500, the Tiggers are back within striking distance at 5 games under at 32-37. The division lead has been cut to 6 games. We are right back in this thing, folks - but they’ve got to keep the intensity up in San Francisco and San Diego. Monday night will probably be one of the better pitching match-ups of the season as a rejuvenated Justin Verlander takes on Tim Linecum. Linecum is 8-1 with a 1.99 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. He’s given up all of 2 runs in the last 21 innings he has pitched. It’s not going to come easy. I fully expect to be staying up late this week.

Big Tilde In Full Effect

4 in a row friends. Slowly creeping back and making a move. Like a tilde in the grass. The Little Cat pitched 7 shutout innings and gave up only THREE hits.  The Big Tilde went yard as did the River Thames in the 5-0 victory for the Tiggers. Now why couldn’t the rest of the division lose too?

FAT MAN MAKE SWEEP COME TRUE!

TATER CHIPS FOR ALL!!!

Afternoon Delight!

Can you hardly believe it? A complete game 4 hitter from JV AND the Tiggers scored runs for him! Huzzah! Punch and pie for all!!!*

This afternoon, The Gambler and his hamfists go against Mark Buehrle. Rogers has been pitching very well of late, going 7 in each of his last three starts while giving  up a grand total of 3 ERs (but 5 all together) and surrendering 16 hits and 6 walks over the last 21 innings - that’s a pretty tasty WHIP right there, friends. Yet, all 3 starts have been no decisions. Over the last three weeks, Rogers ERA has dipped from 6.66 (EVIL!) after 5/21 against Seattle to a less hideous 5.13. Much like JV last night, a solid performance tonight will get Kenny squarely back in the high 4s.

Buehrle has been equally good in his last five starts, with the exception of a bad night against the Cleve in which he was hit hard for 7 runs in 5 innings. However, in the two starts prior to and after that debacle, he’s been highly effective, pitching 28 innings and giving up only 6 runs. Here’s to an appearance by Cleveland Buehrle this afternoon.

Game time is at 1:05 and I’m thankful that MLB.TV works at my desk…

*There is no punch and pie. Sorry.

Optimism, Bitch!

(Duane Burleson of the AP loves showtunes as much as we do.)

Afternoon Optimism

The first half of the epic ten game home stand hath come and gone. Team Tilde has fashioned a 3-2 start, leaving little room for error in achieving the mighty 7-3 stand that The Book of Tilde demanded last week. But, with Verlander on the mound tonight, we remain optimistic for a series win over the South Side. Last night was a perfect example of the Tigers doing the little things right and the team appears to be playing with some heart and enthusiasm of late. Now, if they can just find a way to get to Vazquez tonight as well as they did to Contreras last night, we just might be back in business.

Vazquez has been somewhat hittable of late, giving up 9 hits and 4 ER in his last start (a win) against the Twins. He also gave up 9 hits and 3 ER against the Indians two starts ago. He was solid against Tampa Bay in between those two, but he has given up 5 HRs in his last 18 innings. JV hasn’t won since 5/20 against Seattle, but it hasn’t been his fault entirely. He’s received exactly THREE runs of support in his last three starts, while giving up 8 over his last 21 innings. You try winning with that kind of help. His WHIP is back under 1.4 and his ERA should creep back under 5.00 tonight with another solid 7 innings.

A win today would give the Tigers their first series win over a team not named Seattle since sweeping the Yankees at the end of April.