Here is today's Detroit Tiger's starting lineup: 

 Andy Dirks CF 
 Torii Hunter RF
 Miguel Cabrera 3B
 Prince Fielder 1B
 Victor Martinez DH
 Jhonny Peralta SS
 Matt Tuiasosopo LF
 Alex Avila C
 Omar Infante 2B

Heading into a short two-game series against the Tigers, the Cleveland Indians are in first place all by themselves. Jim Leyland and the players aren’t too happy about that.

The Tigers are 23-19 2 ½ games behind the Indians. They are 4-6 in their last ten games and come into tonight’s game having suffered back-to-back losses to the Rangers.

Unfortunately, they won’t get back into first place by winning both of these games, they would end up a half game out. Still, it is almost imperative that they gain some ground on the Tribe, especially before heading into the four-game weekend series against Minnesota in Detroit.

The Indians boast a five game winning streak. They are 8-2 in their last ten games. At Progressive Field they have lost a scant eight games out of their last 23.

They are on a tear!

This is the second meeting between the two Central Division rivals this season. When the Indians were at Comerica Park in the beginning of the month they won two of the three games in the series. Max Scherzer picked up the win, 10-4 in the first one. Verlander was tagged with the loss in the second game, 7-6. He lasted just five innings, allowing three runs in the first two innings.

That was the game where the Tigers mounted a comeback in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs, the score was 7-6. Austin Jackson was in scoring position when Miguel Cabrera grounded out to end the game. Hopefully, things will be different tonight.

Scherzer and Verlander will get the call for both games respectively.

No one is pressing the panic button, however, the Tigers need to turn it around NOW.

As always…

GO GET ‘EM TIGERS!!

~Skip

Miggy crosses the plate after hitting a home run in a game against the Houston Astros at Comerica Park on Tuesday, May 14, 2013. (Photo DeeTownTigers)

But the water cooler talk this morning was all about last year’s Triple Crown Winner. The Tigers might have lost, 11-8, BUT Miggy was on fire!

On Sunday, he went 4-for-4 with five RBI’s. He went deep three times – in front of a national crowd on ESPN.

It was the second time in his career. The last time was on May 28, 2010 at Comerica Park against the Athletics.

Miggy is the fourth Tiger to have multiple three-homer games. The others were Bobby Higginson, Rocky Colavito and Cecil Fielder. He is the 23rd player in MLB history to go 4-for-4, have three homers and five RBI’s in a game.

You don’t feel very good when guys hit three home runs and you lose the game,” manager Jim Leyland said. “Miggy never ceases to amaze you. I also take my hat off to Prince Fielder for that situation against a left-handed pitcher. Between the two of them, that was impressive.”

After the third home run, social media lit up like a Christmas tree. Here are a few Twitter comments from some of Miggy’s  peers.

WOW…this guy by the name of @MiguelCabrera…he is a pretty good player LOL #Impressive—
Shane Victorino (@ShaneVictorino) May 20, 2013

That Miguel Cabrera guy… is pretty good.—
andrew mccutchen (@TheCUTCH22) May 20, 2013

This guy is the real deal! Best hitter in the game! #Beast #Homersforfun #MLB @MiguelCabrera—
Bryce Harper (@Bharper3407) May 20, 2013

Detroit is very lucky to have such a special ballplayer!

As Always,

Go Get ‘Em Tigers!

~Skip

 Here is tonight's Detroit Tiger's starting lineup:  

 Omar Infante 2B 
 Torii Hunter RF
 Miguel Cabrera 3B
 Prince Fielder 1B
 Victor Martinez DH
 Matt Tuiasosopo LF
 Jhonny Peralta SS
 Brayan Pena C
 Avisail Garcia CF

So far, the series with the Texas Rangers has been a disappointment. On Thursday, Justin Verlander was sent to the locker room early. Last night, Anibal Sanchez picked up his gear and headed to the showers after 2 2-3 innings. To be fair, he wasn’t completely at fault for the Tiger’s latest loss to the Rangers. The official record has a big “L” next to his name, for sure. At the same time, the Tigers defense  packed it up early, too. Avila recorded two errors and Anibal had one. Torii Hunter lost a batted ball in the lights.

Oh, and let’s not forget Elvis Andrus was a one man wrecking crew!

Andrus went 5-for-5. He also stole a couple of bases.

The Tigers showed little offense as they managed seven hits against Justin Grimm. Both Detroit runs came in the third inning. Hunter doubled in Garcia. Fielder singled in Hunter.

The Tigers are 23-18 – second place in the Central – a game and a half behind the Indians.They have lost for the second time in three days.

Today, the Rangers placed Ian Kinsler on the 15-day DL with bruised ribs. Kinsler tied a Ranger’s record (54th hit-by-pitch) when he was jolted by a Justin Verlander pitch in Thursday’s game. He sat out Friday’s game until the ninth inning. Then he came in as pinch runner for Geovany Soto. The Rangers have recalled their top prospect Jurickson Profar prior to tonight’s game.

For the Tigers, it is now it is up to pitcher Doug Fister to try to salvage the series finale. By the way, Kinsler must be breathing a sigh of relief to know that he won’t have to face Fister, who has hit at least one batter in six of his eight starts. He leads the majors with 10 hit batters this season. Tonight’s game will be televised nationally on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball.

As always…

GO GET ‘EM TIGERS!!

~Skip

 Here is tonight's Detroit Tiger's starting lineup: 

 Andy Dirks LF 
 Torii Hunter RF
 Miguel Cabrera 3B
 Prince Fielder 1B
 Victor Martinez DH
 Alex Avila C
 Jhonny Peralta SS
 Omar Infant 2B
 Avisail Garcia CF

Someone in the store, standing behind me in line, was talking about last night’s baseball game. The person remarked that it was as though Justin Verlander and Rick Porcello did a switch last week – like the movie Freaky Friday.

I couldn’t help but smile. It sure seemed like it, didn’t it?

Rick Porcello pitched a great game. He had good command of an array of pitches to baffle the Rangers and hold them to one run on just five hits, and led the Tigers to beat the Texas Rangers, 2-1.

Porcello’s lone mistake was a home run off of Geovany Soto’s bat in the bottom of the fifth. He struck out six men and walked one.

Jose Ortega, Drew Smyly, Joaquin Benoit, and Papa Grande combined to shutout the Rangers the rest of the way. Valverde earned his fourth save.

Miguel Cabrera went 3-for-4, with a walk, and drove in a run with a double in the fifth inning to give the Tigers the lead 1-0. Two batters later Miggy scored on a sac fly from Alex Avila. Cabrera’s average has swelled to .376.

Tonight, Anibal Sanchez will get the ball. Although he hasn’t reached the strikeout summit of 17 that he touched back on April 26 against the Braves, he hasn’t been too bad. His ERA is 2.05. His WHIP is at 1.082 and he has fanned a total of 25 men in his last three games.

We could use a solid performance out of him tonight, too!

As always…

GO GET ‘EM TIGERS!!

~Skip

 Here is tonight's Detroit Tiger's starting lineup: 

 Andy Dirks LF 
 Torii Hunter RF
 Miguel Cabrera 3B
 Prince Fielder 1B
 Victor Martinez DH
 Alex Avila C
 Jhonny Peralta SS
 Don Kelly CF 
 Ramon Santiago 2B

The game was not what we had hoped it to be last night as the expected pitching duel between JV and Darvish turned into more of a slug-fest – mostly against Verlander. It turned out to be a short night for him. In fact, one of the shortest nights of his career. He gave up two bases-loaded walks and eight earned runs in 2 ²/³ innings.

You’ll remember that Verlander also had a rough outing last Saturday. ESPN stats posted that in his last 2 starts, Justin Verlander has 10 hits allowed and only one strikeout against his fastball.

It has many folks wondering whether he is hurt. Jim Leyland isn’t concerned, and Verlander plans to go back to the drawing board to get things fixed before his next start.

“I can tell things are a bit off. I know what I need to do. It’s just a matter of doing it. It’s going to be a matter of working it out in the bullpen, repeating pitches and carrying it over into the game. I’ve been tinkering too much. No more video. Back to basics now.”

You know, all of the talk is about Verlander, as it should be. We are Tiger’s fans. But Darvish didn’t have a great night either! He struggled at times, too. Still he made it through eight innings and gave up just four runs. And, don’t forget that Peralta and Don Kelly homered (his first of the year) off of him.

As for Leyland’s post-game thoughts about the match-up between Verlander and Darvish, he said, “It probably let down the audience a little bit.”

Yes, Jim, it did.

In the meantime, tonight’s second game of the series will have Rick Porcello (1-2, 6.68 ERA) working to get the Tigers back into the win column.

As always…

GO GET ‘EM TIGERS!!

~Skip