A Battle of Command

Short post today, because I procrastinated too much and I have to go to work soon. Justin Verlander was quoted as saying that last night was the worst he ever felt on the mound in his entire career. Now, I’m sure the other four members of the rotation would all kill to feel the worst they’ve ever felt and still only give up three runs in five innings, but Verlander needed to give the Tigers more than that. I’m not sure if the command problems were something he could make an adjustment to or not (or if it had to do with him pitching on extra rest). I don’t think Yankee Stadium psyched him out, because he’s pitched there before with much more at stake, and he’s pitched reasonably well in those starts. Meanwhile, the Tigers got a little home run power going against CC Sabathia, but there were not a whole lot of scoring opportunities. Ramon Santiago and Johnny Damon both got robbed by Curtis Granderson on plays we’ve seen before many times. Miguel Cabrera chased a couple outfielders to the warning track, but that’s about it.

Jeremy Bonderman takes the hill tonight for the Tigers. He’s coming off a rough start against the White Sox in which he gave up a couple home runs. He hasn’t pitched at Yankee Stadium in quite a while, but he did pitch against them at Comerica Park earlier this year. He took the loss, but pitched reasonably well (the Tigers were shut out by Phil Hughes). The Yankees will start Dustin Moseley, who is filling in for Andy Pettitte. The Tigers have seen him before with the Angels, but not very much. Jhonny Peralta has faced him more than anyone else on the team. He’s 3-for-10 with a home run. The only active Tiger who has faced him and does not have a hit against him is Miguel Cabrera, but it’s an extremely small sample size (0-for-1 with a walk). With Guillen going back on the DL with a deep bruise (I really don’t think it’ll take 15 days to heal, but I’m guessing the Tigers figured it would take longer than they could afford to have a two-man bench, especially with Laird getting a little banged up last night), Will Rhymes is back with the Tigers and in the lineup for tonight.