Limping Out of Cleveland

That wasn’t exactly how I wanted our top two pitchers to end their seasons. Max Scherzer didn’t have very good command. He had quite a few three-ball counts and threw a lot of pitches in five innings. Travis Hafner certainly proved in this series that he could hit hanging changeups. He homered off both Galarraga and Scherzer, both of whom threw him a hanging changeup, and if he’d been in the lineup for the night game and Verlander had thrown him a hanging changeup, he’d have homered off that too (as it was, Verlander threw a hanging changeup to Jayson Nix, who hit an RBI single off it). On a side note, the fifth inning was a problem for all three starting pitchers in this series. Anyways, Jim Leyland said that Scherzer was rusty because he was pitching on eight days’ rest. There’s no way to test that theory, because the next time we see Scherzer (other than in the background of a shot of the dugout), it’ll be spring training, so we’ll have to take his word for it. Meanwhile, Justin Verlander had good stuff, but the mistakes he made were capitalized on and he got outdone by the suicide squeeze. I’m not sure how. The Tigers sniffed out the squeeze, Laird got out of his crouch, Verlander threw a 97 MPH fastball that was nearly over Trevor Crowe’s head and Crowe was still able to get the bunt down. However, Verlander did leave me with some good memories of his seventh inning. With the bases loaded, he struck out Crowe and Choo rather impressively. His last seven pitches were all at 100 MPH or higher. As he said, no sense in leaving anything in the tank (and by the way, it’s moot now, but had Verlander won, Leyland said he would have indeed considered letting him start Sunday on short rest, but that won’t happen now).

There was not much to speak of in terms of offense, and maybe the absence of Miguel Cabrera had something to do with that, but the others have shown that they can score runs and win games without him in the lineup (they can’t do that for a sustained period of time, of course, but they could certainly do it sufficiently for a week-long stretch or so). Ryan Raburn did a nice job in the cleanup spot, going 4-for-8 with an opposite field 2-run home run, but obviously he is nowhere near anyone’s first choice for an ideal cleanup hitter. Cabrera’s not even with the team anymore. He apparently got sent home early yesterday afternoon, and that makes sense. There’s no point in him traveling around with the team right now. But without him, it seems like the team’s soul is gone. I’m just not sensing a lot of passion or fire from the other guys. Still, life has to go on. I did notice there were a lot of instances in the series where the Tigers ran themselves out of innings, oddly enough. There was that botched hit and run in the first game of the series, then yesterday there was a line drive double play with the runner going, as well as a couple of caught stealings. They did hit the ball harder against Josh Tomlin than they did against Mitch Talbot, but they didn’t do anything against the Indians’ bullpen.

The Tigers’ final series of the year will have to wait, as game one of the series in Baltimore has already been rained out thanks to the remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole. They will play yet another straight doubleheader tomorrow (personally, I don’t care what gets played when so long as I get to see Galarraga’s start). Jeremy Bonderman will start the first game. It could well be his final start as a Tiger (there might be a couple of those in this series). His last start didn’t go so well. He gave up three home runs including a grand slam, and seven runs overall. He has not faced the Baltimore Orioles since April of 2007 (I actually remember that game. He got into a shouting match with Miguel Tejada, the benches cleared, and Gary Sheffield later hit the angriest home run I have ever seen). Rick Porcello, who starts game two, is coming off a terrific start against the Twins (he ended up bookending the home portion of the schedule, as he started the home opener and the final game).

And Then There Was One

For a great deal of the season, the Tigers were a veritable powerhouse of Venezuelans, so much so that they earned their own nickname of the Venezuelan Mafia (And I can say with certainty that at least one of them knows about the nickname and the picture, thanks to JerseyTigerFan of Bless You Boys). At one point, the Tigers had five Venezuelans on their roster. While Enrique Gonzalez was not particularly prominent (he never even made it into the picture), the other four possessed some strong credentials: several All-Star appearances, a batting title, MVP candidacy, and a perfect game with a whole lotta class. But once the second half began, they started dropping like flies. Magglio’s season ended with a fractured ankle while sliding into home plate on July 24^th. Carlos Guillen was lost for good about a month later when Brett Gardner slid into his knee. Enrique Gonzalez was designated for assignment and quietly faded away in Toledo. And now we have an answer to the question we hoped would never have one: Armando Galarraga is the last Venezuelan standing. My mention of high ankle sprains yesterday turned out to be prophetic, as that’s what has knocked Miguel Cabrera out of action for the remaining six games (I also woke up with a killer cramp in my right ankle, and I’ve never had ankle cramps before. I didn’t even know you could have ankle cramps). All I’ve seen as far as a timetable for recovery is that the Tigers.com article mentioned that the MRI revealed no major structural damage, which would seem to indicate a quicker recovery, just not fast enough with so little of the season remaining. Still, it’s not the way I wanted his season to end. As I said, I was excited at the prospect of him hitting forty home runs, and his RBI totals (and he was two away from establishing a career high in that category) might get passed by either A-Rod or Jose Bautista (or both). And these last six games just won’t be as much fun without him.

Okay, there is other business to attend to. Because of the rainout last night, the Tigers and Indians will play a “traditional” (i.e. you see two games for the price of one ticket, so it’s not done as often cuz ballparks don’t make as much money that way) doubleheader starting at 4:00 today. The pitching matchup for the first game is the same as it was last night, so no need to rehash that one. The second game features Josh Tomlin against Justin Verlander (in his last start of 2010, unless he wins tonight and can somehow talk Leyland into letting him start on Sunday). Both of them are coming off complete-game wins. Verlander was brilliant in his last start, and would have shut out the Twins if not for some untimely errors in the ninth that led to an unearned run. That was his second complete game in a row. Tomlin was beaten by the Tigers back on August 21^st (I was at that game), but he has pitched decently in September. He has given up exactly three earned runs in every start he’s had this month except one, where he gave up six to the Royals. And so Tigers fans have a big block of baseball in store for them tonight. I do not know how I'm going to do this. I may do a brief post between games or I might do one big post tomorrow on both games.

Not a Good Night For Venezuelans

I know, I know. I’m too compassionate for my own good. Strangely enough, I’m not nearly as depressed as I was after Armando Galarraga’s last loss. Still, I said he needed it. He didn’t get it, and as maddening as his struggles can be to some people, I’m sure he feels a hundred times more frustrated about it. Part of the problem (I think) is that it hasn’t been the same problem each time. It’s more like he’s alternated problems in these last three starts. In Texas, his stuff wasn’t there. Against Kansas City, his stuff looked good but he lost his nerve and didn’t trust himself. Last night was more like how things went in Texas. I noticed early on that his pitches just didn’t seem to be moving right (or, to paraphrase Leyland, they weren’t moving much at all). The Indians were hitting a LOT of pop-ups for the first four innings, and I didn’t think he was going to go the whole game without giving up a hit/run, because he normally has a much more equal distribution of ground ball to fly ball outs (maybe a little skewed towards fly balls, but not dramatically so). Once Matt LaPorta broke the seal with a home run, Galarraga was unable to stop the bleeding, which is also unusual, because while he is prone to giving up home runs, he generally doesn’t give up three in one inning. An outing like that makes me suspect a little bit that he’s not being honest about the elbow again. But regardless of the reason, the fact remains that the fifth inning bit him again. At least this time he was willing to talk to the media about it. There wasn’t a lot to be happy about, but it was nice to see him interviewed again. I hadn’t seen one with him in almost three weeks (I hadn’t seen so much as a quote from him in three weeks and I was starting to get concerned; up until then, he’d almost always been willing to talk about his starts, good or bad). He basically rehashed the fifth inning and said he wasn’t sure what went wrong because things went downhill so quickly. He also said he had to figure it out because he’s got one more start to get things right. I just hope he can, and that it’s not too late for him.

Things weren’t any better on the other side of the ball for the Tigers. They stranded a lot of runners early and then didn’t mount a comeback against the Indians’ bullpen. There were a couple of untimely double plays as well as a botched hit and run. I’m not sure how much stock you put into the analysis of Rod Allen, but his assessment was that the Tigers had some nice, patient at-bats when the bases were empty, but once there were runners in scoring position, they swung at bad pitches. Of course, all that pales in comparison to the loss of Miguel Cabrera, who sprained his ankle while trying to make it back to first base on a pickoff attempt from Luke Carlin (between that and the home run he hit off Galarraga, I wasn’t feeling too friendly toward Carlin by the end of the evening). I am unsure of his status other than the fact that x-rays were negative and he is not in tonight’s lineup, but I’m guessing it depends on the severity of the sprain (As an aside, how is it that Progressive Field doesn’t have an x-ray machine? I thought all ballparks had them on-site). Again, my schooling fails me, because we aren’t really taught orthopedics in pharmacy school, but I know of instances where guys suffered high ankle sprains in spring training and then missed the whole season. I suppose this is why it’s taking me so long to write this post, because I’m waiting for further word on whether this is the case for Cabrera, but if he has to miss the remaining six games, that can’t bode well for his MVP chances (let alone my near-certainty that he’d make it to forty home runs), because the Tigers’ most compelling argument was that Cabrera has stayed healthy while Josh Hamilton has missed almost the entire month of September. I suppose, if anything, this’ll help Robinson Cano’s case (that and the fact that the Yankees and Rays have yet to sort out who gets the division and who gets the wild card).

The series continues tonight, Venezuelan-less. Max Scherzer is coming off a strong start against Kansas City, where he shut them out. He beat the Indians the last time he faced them (I was there). That was at Comerica Park. He has not pitched well at Progressive Field so far. Mitch Talbot, on the other hand, has pitched strongly against the Tigers in two of his three starts against them this year (and the one in which he was somewhat roughed up happened all the way back in April). Two starts ago, he left the game without retiring a batter after suffering an injury. In his last start, he gave up three runs in five innings to the Royals and took the loss.

The Little Second Baseman Who Could

Photo: AP

Say what you will about sweeping a last place team, but isn’t that what you’re “supposed” to do? Justin Verlander was very, very good. I got the feeling that he wasn’t quite as sharp as his line may indicate, but it didn’t really matter. Also, I think the radar gun was a little slow all weekend. When I was there on Saturday, I didn’t see a reading above 92 MPH (granted, I didn’t look at every pitch), and Scherzer, Coke, and Valverde all throw a lot harder than that. Even on Friday, the TV radar gun was routinely clocking Armando Galarraga at 87/88 MPH, and he’s generally 90-91 with the fastball (Seriously, he wouldn’t have had such a good outing if his fastball was 87 and his slider was 86). That slow radar gun continued yesterday with Verlander on the mound. Slow radar or not, he went eight strong innings and looked impressive nonetheless.

After being victims to Jeanmar Gomez’s first major league win, the Tigers became the first team to truly victimize him. Granted, the offense got quite a bit of help from some bad play from the Indians’ defense (a lot of miscues went as base hits, but they could very easily have been errors), although Jayson Nix made two annoyingly spectacular catches (robbing Don Kelly both times). The star of the show was Will Rhymes. He had four hits and is quickly becoming a fan favorite, judging from the online reactions. I’d watched him quite a bit with the Mud Hens, and he’s doing pretty much what he’d been doing with them. He’s certainly got spunk (and there’s no way he’s 5’9”. I’ve stood close to him at Mud Hens games before. I am 5’8” and I am definitely taller than him). It was somewhat disappointing that they stopped scoring once the Indians’ bullpen took over, though.

With one sub-.500 team swept out of town, another sub-.500 team arrives in the Kansas City Royals. The Tigers haven’t seen them since early June, but those high hit totals the Royals put up against Detroit’s pitching staff is apparently no fluke. The Royals are still second in the league in hitting. However, they are only tenth in the league in slugging percentage and tenth in runs scored, which means that they hit a lot of singles. And they are the toughest team to strike out in the American League (granted, their offense is only 13^th in walks drawn, so they truly do hit their way on). On the flipside, their pitching staff is dead last in team ERA, and the Tigers will not have to face Zack Greinke nor will they face Tiger-killer Brian Bannister, who is on the DL right now. Tonight, the Tigers will face lefty Bruce Chen, who beat the Tigers back in June. He’s been okay in most of his starts (with a few blowups mixed in there), but he usually only goes five innings, maybe six. Most of the Tigers haven’t seen much of him, and they haven’t done a lot in those limited meetings except Damon (10-for-19 with two home runs) and Cabrera (5-for-8 with two home runs). Jeremy Bonderman is coming off a rough start against the Yankees. He’s now had issues in three straight starts, and in his last two, he’s had a big problem keeping the ball in the ballpark (granted, those two starts were on the road in very home run-friendly parks). He’s only faced the Royals once this year, and gave up seven earned runs in 5.2 innings. The Royals who have given him the toughest time through the years are Yuniesky Betancourt (10-for-21 with two doubles) and Willie Bloomquist (5-for-9 with a triple). Also, Casper Wells is being called up, but there has not been an announcement yet of who he's replacing (word is that it is NOT trade-related).

Muy Bien

Photo: ME!

It looked as though there might not be a game at all, what with all the rain, but luckily the rain stopped shortly after the gates opened. The game even started on time and they were able to have Mexican dancers perform on the field beforehand. They also had that ceremony where they named off all the Latin players on the team and they stood in front of their respective country’s flag (It was alarming to see how thin the ranks of healthy Venezuelans has gotten; we’re down to Cabrera, Galarraga, and Gonzalez). They also showed a video montage of the more well-known Latinos to have played for the Tigers (along with all of the current Latin players), which means I got a brief cameo of Pudge (along with a crappy picture). Also, this is kind of embarrassing to admit, but I spent almost the entire game thinking Johnny Damon had been traded, because it took longer than usual for the lineup to be posted, Cabrera was the DH on a night where the Indians had a right-hander on the mound, I couldn’t see Damon in the dugout, and there was someone else in the dugout I didn’t recognize (looked kind of like Danny Worth, though). Then Damon came out of the dugout to warm up Valverde in the ninth inning, so that put an end to that rumor (and I’ve since noticed he shows up in the background of a couple of my dugout pictures). And I came away from the game with a Miguel Cabrera hat, which was cool (my first major league giveaway promotion; the only other thing I’ve ever gotten was a lei at a Mud Hens game). Oh, and if you care to look, here are my photos of the game (They aren’t my best crop ever).

As for the game itself, Max Scherzer did a nice job. I got the feeling he was fighting it a little bit, but when you’re fighting it and still go seven innings while only giving up two runs, that’s pretty impressive. It was also my first time seeing Phil Coke in person, but my third time seeing Jose Valverde, who looked like he was on form in this game. Meanwhile, the offense did more against Josh Tomlin than any other team has so far this year. The offense was spread around, so there really isn’t anyone to highlight. Don Kelly homered, which was entertaining. The other RBIs belonged to Raburn, Inge, and Boesch. It was nice to see Boesch finally come through after an intentional walk to Cabrera (so much for my hope that sub-.500 teams would be more willing to pitch to him).

The series wraps up today with the afternoon game. Justin Verlander is coming off a loss to the Yankees in which he say he felt the worst he’s ever felt in his career. He hasn’t been particularly sharp against the Indians this year, although he hasn’t done badly except for that start back in April. The Indians will start Jeanmar Gomez, who had an ERA of over 5 in the minor leagues. Then he came up and beat the Tigers back in July, and has pitched well ever since. He has yet to give up more than two earned runs in a game.

Que Bueno

Photo: AP

This is one of those wins that leaves a good feeling all around. I said that Armando Galarraga was not going to throw another perfect game, and I was almost proven wrong. He actually got past the halfway point before allowing a hit, which Don Kelly came within inches of snatching, and the other two hits he gave up were both bloop singles. Needless to say, he was spectacular. They said he made some mechanical adjustments to his leg kick after watching video of his 2008 season. Something did look a little different about his delivery, but more than that, I sensed an air of calmness about him that I haven’t seen in quite a while. That frustration that had been building up in previous starts was nowhere to be found. His pitches didn’t move quite the same way in the sixth and seventh innings (as evidenced by the Indians having longer at-bats), but they were still plenty good enough. Galarraga has shown the ability to retire long stretches of consecutive batters when he’s on. Of course, there’s the perfect game, but he’s had quite a few games where he’s retired ten or eleven in a row and a lot of people have forgotten that back in 2008, he had a perfect game through six innings against the Royals before David DeJesus broke it up with a leadoff single in the seventh inning. At any rate, last night was a big step in the right direction, and I hope he can build off it (And I really should have used a picture of him for this post, since he was the star of the show, but the only picture available of him is one where he’s in mid-pitch and making a dumb face).

The offense came out lively against Justin Masterson. From the first inning, the hit parade was on. Leading the charge were Don Kelly (with four hits; have a night) and Brandon Inge, who ended up a home run shy of the cycle and made a great defensive play to preserve what at the time was a perfect game. Five different Tigers had multiple hits and everyone had at least one hit except Peralta and Damon.

Tonight is Fiesta Tigres (which would have been more appropriate last night, since they had a Latin starting pitcher). Max Scherzer pitched pretty well against the Yankees, although he was behind in the count quite a bit. He has not pitched particularly well against the Indians this year (and he hasn’t been good against the other teams in the Central, either). The Indians will start rookie Josh Tomlin, who is only 1-2 but has pitched well in his four starts. It’s possible that some of these call-ups from the Mud Hens have faced him in the minors, but I have no way of checking that (well, I probably do, but it would take more time than it’s worth). By the way, I am going to be at this game, so I’ll have my excellent record on the line here. Your Mood Music for tonight: It’s Fiesta Tigres, so I have to play something Latin. And I have no other reason for playing the song other than I like it and it’s in Spanish.

Is That How The Texas Rangers Felt?

I guess I’m not really going to feel the full impact of what everyone else is feeling, because I did not see two of the games in this series, and looking at a box score doesn’t give you the same emotional charge as “experiencing” it live (or, in my case, on television). The only bit of this game that I saw was Jhonny Peralta’s inside-the-park home run, and that was only because I had to know how that went down, because Peralta doesn’t exactly have a lot of speed, and while Raburn’s definitely a defensive liability, he’s not THAT bad. As it turns out, it wasn’t entirely his fault. He ended up crashing through the bullpen gate, which probably should have been locked (something similar happened to Mike Stanton right before the All-Star Break). Andy Oliver continued to kind of slip away. The decision between him and Porcello, in the end, really wasn’t that difficult, and as it turns out, the Tigers made the expected move a day early, sending Oliver down to Toledo in order to call up Armando Galarraga. The pitching as a whole was a problem in the entire series. Scherzer, Verlander, and Oliver all each walked five batters. Porcello was the lone bright spot in the rotation, going eight innings without walking anybody. And just about every member of the bullpen failed at some point except for Ryan Perry. Even Jose Valverde gave up a run. Meanwhile, the Indians played this series the way I almost expected them to play the whole season (Trust me, go back to some of my writings from spring training, particularly the previews, and you’ll see I warned you not to count Cleveland out; while it’s probably too late for them to make a run, they can realize the potential I sense at any time). However, let us not forget that the Tigers opened up last year’s second half by getting swept, and that didn’t kill the season right then and there (That particular event happened later).

The Tigers are now entering a stretch where their next 31 games are all against teams that are over .500. They had a similar stretch earlier in the season, and they got through it all right. Still, it won’t be easy. At any rate, they’ve returned home for seven. First up is the Texas Rangers. They finished the first half by being swept in a four-game series by the Baltimore Orioles. In a sense, that’s probably a bigger blow to the ego than what just happened to the Tigers, because that sweep happened while the Rangers were at home and the Orioles are an even worse team than the Indians. They seemed to have bounced back nicely by taking three of four from the Red Sox at Fenway, however, and they’re one of the few AL teams who play well on the road. They’ve won something like 14 of their last 19 road games. At the same time, they’ve lost their last eleven games at Comerica Park, and the Tigers will certainly be trying to extend that to twelve. Jeremy Bonderman will try to snap the Tigers’ losing streak in the process. He had a decent start last time against the Twins. He’s faced the Rangers once this year, and was somewhat uneven. The Tigers did win that game, though. Meanwhile, Scott Feldman will start for the Rangers (one silver lining is that the Tigers will NOT face Cliff Lee in this series). He’s struggled for much of the year, but was good in his last start, which was against the Orioles (their bullpen blew that game). I haven’t done Mood Music in a really long time, so why not tonight? This song came on the radio while I was out today, and I felt like playing it here for some reason.

Double Blech

Forgive me for not being very descriptive. I had planned on writing the majority of this post last night once game 2 ended just so I’d have it ready, but the lengthy rain delay and extra innings kind of ruined that plan. Plus, I didn’t see game 1, so I can’t comment on that too much. You’d think Justin Verlander could easily win if he’s up 3-0 before he even throws a pitch, but that wasn’t the case. The only run scoring I saw was the wild pitch, and it definitely looked like a blockable ball. Meanwhile, I guess the story on the offensive side was that all the rallies kept getting squelched by good defensive plays. Okay, I understand how sometimes the Tigers make bad pitchers look good, and I understand how sometimes our pitchers get lit up by teams that don’t hit much. There’s some level of control there. What I don’t understand is how the Tigers can cause a bad defensive team to turn in an entire Web Gem segment of sparkling plays. Logic would dictate that you CAN’T cause that, and yet it just keeps on happening.

Game 2 featured a very encouraging outing from Rick Porcello. He looked like he did the last time I saw him, maybe a little bit better. The key stat of the night was zero walks, after Scherzer and Verlander both walked five batters. However, the bullpen eventually couldn’t hold it. Robbie Weinhardt just could not get the final out of the eleventh inning. Meanwhile, a lot of the fans seem to be blaming the offense problems in this game on Leyland. I don’t really get that. Take the first inning, for example. The Tigers have the bases loaded with nobody out and Miguel Cabrera at the plate. What is Leyland supposed to do there to change the outcome of that inning? Leyland, for his part, seemed to think Game 2 was due to some sort of lack of effort. At least, that’s what his tone suggested. It was a rough night for Cabrera. His lone hit should have been a double but he thought it was a home run and only ended up at first. He immediately realized he had screwed up, because he kept looking in the direction of the Tigers’ dugout, pointing to himself and saying “My bad” (one of the rare instances where I could read his lips), but you could tell Leyland wasn’t happy about it.

Well, Rick Porcello put up a good outing. Now it’s time for Andy Oliver to make his move. Someone will have to be sent down on Tuesday to make room for Armando Galarraga, and it’s likely to be one of those two. Oliver’s been in the rotation for almost a month and he’s still looking for his first win. And his outings have gotten increasingly rough. Obviously, none of the Indians have seen him, unless someone got called up from double A and I don’t know about it. Meanwhile, the Indians will have a starting pitcher making his major league debut: Jeanmar Gomez. I had read earlier that they were considering David Huff for this start (He blanked the Mud Hens over six or seven innings on the Fourth of July), and I don’t know what happened to that planned. Anyways, Gomez’s triple A numbers aren’t particularly enticing. His ERA is 5.70, and that’s over 18 starts (so it’s not like he just got called up to Columbus and the ERA is in that wildly fluctuating state). Still, I’d hazard a guess that none of the Tigers have seen him before.  

Blech

So much for starting the second half off on the right foot. Max Scherzer battled command problems most of the night, but it was really odd the way he went about it, because I think he got ahead of the first four hitters that he walked. Again, lead protection was an issue, since the Tigers led 1-0. Robbie Weinhardt and Brad Thomas had issues, although there was nary a hard-hit ball up until the Austin Kearns home run. Meanwhile, the first couple innings against Jake Westbrook looked really good, because they ran his pitch count up quickly, but after that it kind of fizzled. There were too many swings and misses from guys who don’t swing and miss that often. However, one guy who did look sharp was Austin Jackson, who had really long at-bats in three of his four plate appearances. However, my attention was divided between Tigers and Mud Hens. It’s been an eventful week for Armando Galarraga. Since he was at the ESPYs on Wednesday night, I guess the Tigers decided it would not be a good idea for him to start Thursday after taking a red-eye (I did not know this, and upon getting home from work I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the score). He was supposed to start last night (while being on a pitch count, since the plan is still to call him up Tuesday), so I was really confused when his line got replaced by Scot Drucker in the box score. As it turns out, his flight got delayed and he didn’t land in Scranton until 6:00 (I’m not sure why they didn’t have him fly into Scranton the day before, though). So after all that, he finally got into the game in relief, pitching three scoreless innings against a good team (I daresay the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees could possibly be better than some of the bottom-feeders in the majors). Hopefully no more weird stuff happens and he can rejoin the Detroit rotation as planned (and stay in the Detroit rotation, of course).

Today’s a busy day with a day-night doubleheader. In the first game, Justin Verlander squares off against Fausto Carmona. Verlander, unlike his fellow rotation members, got in a bit of work when he pitched a scoreless inning in the All-Star Game, so hopefully he will not be as rusty as Scherzer was. Meanwhile, Fausto Carmona was the Indians’ lone All-Star, but he never made an appearance, and the last time the Tigers saw him, he was the losing pitcher in Armando Galarraga’s perfect game. However, it’s not like he pitched badly in that game. The final score was 3-0 and Carmona went the distance while only throwing 94 pitches (marking one of those rare occasions where both starting pitchers threw complete games of less than 100 pitches each). In the second game, Rick Porcello will be called up to make the spot start (although there have been hints that he might stay up; one of Porcello, Oliver, and Galarraga will be squeezed out). He last started last Saturday, and looked pretty good with seven shutout innings (I was at that game). Meanwhile, Mitch Talbot has been one of the most consistent starters for the Indians, although I often hear he’s due for “regression to the mean” from the stat geeks. I’d like to do a blog post on each game, but that’s not going to happen, since I work 11-7, so there will be just one blog covering both games. I wonder what the guys in the bullpen will be doing between games this time. Probably carving their numbers into their chests or something like that.

The Day After

Photo: Getty Images

I am writing to you from the campus of Denison University, where I am attending my 5-year class reunion, and I’ll be here all weekend. But let’s save that for later. I did not see the beginning of yesterday’s game, but class ended early so I was able to watch quite a bit of the end. As such, I missed the pregame ceremony where Armando Galarraga was awarded a Corvette. Alas, the call will probably not be overturned, though it should be (On Countdown last night, Ken Burns posited to Keith Olbermann that eventually it will go into the history books as a perfect game, but it may be many years before that happens; Olbermann himself provided a good many arguments for overturning the call in terms of precedence). And I’d like to note that I’ve been through similar, albeit much smaller-scale, circumstances (I was the unofficial salutatorian of my high school graduating class; unofficial because the placements were decided at the end of the first semester rather than the second and at that time there were two people tied for first and it was school policy that if there were co-valedictorians, no salutatorian would be recognized, and as it turns out, at the end of second semester I placed between the two). However, the entire baseball world (myself very much included) continues to admire the classiness with which Galarraga is handling this, and it’s won him a lot of love and respect. Why am I going on about this? Two reasons: First, we’ll be discussing this at least through Galarraga’s next start anyways. Second, I really have nothing to say about the pitching yesterday (since I honestly have no opinion of Rick Porcello, as there were a lot of errors that I didn’t see and you can’t really get a feel from the Gameday play-by-play, though Dan and Jim say that in the inning he gave up five runs, only one ball was hit hard), except to say that there was some good work out of the bullpen.

The offense certainly woke up. Like I said, I missed just about all the damage they did to David Huff, but I was around to (sort of) see the damage done to the Indians’ bullpen. It was a big day for Magglio, who had 5 RBIs and finished a single shy of the cycle (denying him a Corvette, according to Leyland, but Magglio’s got so much money he could probably buy ten of them if he wanted to). Miguel Cabrera also had a big day. He still has the lead in RBIs, he’s third in batting average, and he’s now tied for the lead in home runs. Finishing out the Venezuelan quartet (since I discussed Galarraga earlier), Carlos Guillen finished with a couple of doubles, but left the game with a “great toe contusion” (front office’s words, not mine).

And now, like me, the Tigers have hit the road. They’ll be in Kansas City for three, followed by Chicago for three more (and up until yesterday, I kept skipping over the Chicago trip in my head; I honestly thought that after KC, they would be coming back home to face the Pirates). They haven’t been in Kansas City since the first series of the year, and the last time they saw the Royals, which was at Comerica Park, things didn’t turn out so pretty. Maybe all the hits the Royals got against Tiger pitching wasn’t that much of a fluke, though, as they are still second in the league in team batting average. At any rate, Max Scherzer struck out fourteen batters in his last start. We’ll see what he can do for an encore. This year against the Royals, he’s had one good start (which came at Kaufman Stadium) and one bad start (which came at Comerica Park). The Tiger hitters, meanwhile, will face lefty Bruce Chen, who replaced Gil Meche in the rotation when he went on the DL (I still say they caught a break by not having to face Greinke, even though Greinke’s 1-7 right now). Chen is one of those “crafty” lefty types. The Tigers saw him some last year (in fact, he pitched in the game I went to, and gave up a home run to someone, and looking at the individual matchups, that someone had to have been Cabrera, cuz he’s the only one of the four who hit home runs in that game who has homered off of Chen; in fact, he’s done it twice in addition to batting .889 against him). The other Tiger with good numbers against Chen is Johnny Damon (.563 with two home runs). Everyone else has either horrible or pedestrian numbers. I will try my best to watch this game tonight. It depends on how much pressure my old roommates put on me to be social. This will also be the first time I’ll be entirely dependent on MLB.tv to watch the game, so that’ll be something new and different.

The 28-Out Perfect Game

Photo: AP

I should begin this post by prefacing that I was at work during this game, and I believe this is the first time ever that a Tigers night game has ended while I was still at work. This part doesn’t bother me so much (after all, I was also at work during Justin Verlander’s no-hitter, and I would’ve been a nervous wreck during this game). I have championed Armando Galarraga so much since he was first called up in 2008, and I believed in him all through his struggles last year. This start was the culmination of all that, as he showed the world exactly what he is capable of. Unfortunately, unless something miraculous happens, I cannot bring myself to watch this game because I know it will all end on one very bad call (at that point, I was hiding in the back listening to the radio, and Dan and Jim were shocked, pissed, and distraught all at once). And thus Galarraga becomes the first pitcher to throw a 28-out perfect game, but it will go into the books as a one-hit shutout. The most heartbreaking shot there was the one of Miguel Cabrera, hands over his head, tears in his eyes (and he kept jawing with Jim Joyce through the entire Trevor Crowe at-bat). On a night where the Tigers should have celebrated a 3-0 win and baseball history, it felt like they lost. And it’s a damn shame. It shouldn’t have to be that way. As a Tigers fan, I’ve sat through one or two blown calls that have cost the game (we all remember the most famous example of that), but overturning the call in this case does not affect the outcome in terms of the score (one unfortunate monkey wrench is that the Twins lost last night on an identical blown call). The Tigers still would win 3-0. As far as setting a dangerous precedent, well, this is a very unique circumstance, one that (as far as I can tell) has not happened before and probably won’t happen again. Kind of like a tied All-Star Game or a World Series game being suspended by rain. Someone on Twitter this morning mentioned the George Brett pine tar incident, which I had completely forgotten about. That call was overturned, and that DID alter that game because it ended up being a Royals win. I’m not sure if the same course of action could be taken, though, because that was a different commissioner and the Royals played the rest of that game under protest (whereas the Tigers did not). Still, that is probably the only faint glimmer of hope that we have. There was some thought that the official scorer might change Donald’s hit to an error and thus give Galarraga a no-hitter, but that won’t be happening and it shouldn’t because it clearly was not an error. There are those who feel that a retroactive perfect game is too anticlimactic. Yes, it would be anticlimactic, but what’s at issue here is that Galarraga should not be penalized for another’s mistake (and there IS precedence for that in baseball, at least fundamentally; it’s the reason we have such things as unearned runs). This is the time for me to say that I’m not hating on Jim Joyce. He’s normally a good umpire whom I have had no issues with before. He knows he blew the call. He admits as much, feels terrible about it, and has apologized for it (if he could plead with Bud Selig to overturn his call, I would be most appreciative). I just want Galarraga to get his rightful place in history, and I know it will not happen.

One thing this has done is make Armando Galarraga a household name. He’s the lead story on ESPN and even some general news (Ken Griffey Jr. picked the wrong day to retire). Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think he would be a trending topic on Twitter. There’s a ton of Facebook groups dedicated to him (granted, people still can’t figure out how to spell his name). He’s got all sorts of people backing him, from Jennifer Granholm to Keith Olbermann. Bless You Boys has been visited by fans of almost every other team (no Indians fans as yet) expressing their sympathy. This has also fired up the talk about expanding instant replay. I’m still not sure how I feel about that (though I suppose I wouldn’t mind a system where the managers get one or two challenges a game, similar to how they do it in the NFL), but expanding instant replay still gives no justice to Galarraga, and at this point, he is my primary concern. Another thing this has done is endear Galarraga to a whole lot of people, and not just Tigers fans. He has handled this thing with class from the moment the call was blown (in contrast, I would have blown a gasket and either collapsed into a sobbing heap or inflicted bodily harm on someone, and I consider myself a very level-headed person). I have seen so many comments all over the Internet applauding him for his smiling and gracious attitude. I am glad that this gave an opportunity for everyone to see Galarraga’s personality. If Jim Joyce’s call represents what is wrong with baseball these days, Galarraga’s attitude represents what is right.

I know Tigers fans have been through a lot of frustration this week, and I’m not sure how much more we can take. However, there is still a game today, and the Tigers still need to take this series (and in one of the biggest cases of awkwardness ever, Jim Joyce is scheduled to be the home plate umpire today). Rick Porcello took a tough-luck loss his last time out, even though his pitching was a little screwy (he’s a groundball pitcher and got an extreme number of flyball outs). He faced the Indians in the home opener and beat them, and his career numbers against Cleveland are pretty good as well. Still, I’d like it if his out distribution wasn’t so wonky. The Indians will send David Huff to the mound, and it’s actually kind of a miracle that he’s making this start because he was hit in the head by an A-Rod line drive and had to be carted off the field. How he did not end up with a concussion, I have no idea. The Tigers last saw him (and hit him around) in that game that got rained out, so technically the last time they saw him was the home opener. Therefore, this is an Opening Day rematch. And I’ll be in class learning about tuberculosis.

June Begins the Way May Ended

The post will be a little on the short side today. I’ve got a ton of stuff to do before I go to work and then I have to go strangle Justin Verlander (You’ll hear more about that on Saturday, undoubtedly. Oh, you will hear it. You will get so tired of hearing it). At any rate, Jeremy Bonderman certainly pitched well enough to win. He had some problems with keeping the ball in the ballpark, which you can’t get too upset with because they were solo shots, though it ended up costing the Tigers. The difference in the game was Mark Grudzielanek’s RBI single in the eighth, however. One little footnote I’d like to mention: Eddie Bonine pitched the ninth inning without allowing the run, marking the end of a five-game span in which the bullpen had given up at least one run. At least that’s over.

One thing that’s really hard for me to figure out when a team doesn’t score that many runs is whether the credit goes to the pitcher for pitching well or whether the blame goes to the hitters for getting themselves out. And this is one such example. Austin Jackson probably had the best at-bat of the night to lead off the game, and all it got him was a groundout to short. Outside of Cabrera, Brandon Inge probably had the hardest-hit ball off Westbrook, but it was straight at the center fielder. Now, it did look like they were on the verge of getting to the Indians’ bullpen (and it has not been a good bullpen). They strung together a mini-rally against Kerry Wood, after all. They just ran out of outs. So maybe that’s something.

So tonight is game 2 of this series (and I don’t really appreciate how everyone’s attitude seems to be that tonight will be an automatic loss for the Tigers). I’ve finally gotten what I wanted, and that is having Armando Galarraga in the rotation. He was chosen over Dontrelle Willis. But have I got what I (i.e. the Tigers) needed? His last start came almost two weeks ago, and it wasn’t particularly good. The fastball looked good then, but he had issues with hanging sliders (which is his key pitch, so he can’t let that go on). Hopefully he’s not rusty (I’m hoping not to have to use that as a confounding variable). He did pitch in relief on Friday and looked good (though I hate seeing him pitch in relief), and he’s had some extended bullpen sessions to get the mechanical issues with the slider straightened out. He won three games against the Indians and pretty much dominated them in 2008, but lost all three of his starts against them last year (and gave up a lot of runs in the process). The Tigers will face Fausto Carmona. This is the tricky part. Carmona’s really struggled the last two years, and the Tigers have beaten him a few times in that stretch, but they never seemed to get a lot off him. But this year he’s become a lot more consistent, maybe not like 2007, but as close as he’s gotten since. They’ll have to do the beginning of this one without me. Work’s bound to be a killer.

So Much For Pink Bats

Bleh, I’ve been putting off writing about this one, but I suppose I ought to. If you look at the raw numbers, you might start to panic about Max Scherzer, but I thought he looked better than he did against the Twins even though the final line wasn’t pretty. Only the Marte triple and the Grudzielanek single were hit hard (along with one or two others that didn’t figure into the scoring). The walks were not good, but two of the runs scored on infield singles, and the eventual go-ahead run reached on an infield single that probably should have been an out (there was also a stolen base in the 4-run second that turned out to be big). If there’s anything that puzzles me, it’s that the strikeout totals seem kinda low for someone we were promised was a high-K guy. Meanwhile, the bullpen just has to not walk people, plain and simple.

On the other end of the scale, Mitch Talbot was not exactly dominant, but he continued to supposedly overperform. I noted that he’s actually a lot tougher on lefties in his brief career, and I believe the only thing any of the Tigers’ lefties/switch-hitters did was walk. I’m actually more bummed that they didn’t do anything against the Indians’ bullpen.

By the way, congratulations are in order for Dallas Braden of the Oakland Athletics, who threw a perfect game yesterday. It was the first time I was able to watch part of a perfect game as it happened. And it was very exciting.

The Tigers are back in Detroit to begin quite a grueling homestand. First up, the Yankees are in town for four. And we’re not quite starting things off very promisingly. I was all set to write about how tonight would be a big test for Dontrelle Willis (given that this is the longest stretch of consistency we’ve seen from him and the Yankees are a very patient team). Unfortunately, D-Train has a 102-degree fever, and it seems like Brad Thomas is gonna be Jim Leyland’s spot starter of choice this season. Thomas hasn’t been lights-out, but he’s been better recently (and calling up someone from Toledo probably was not an option because the Mud Hens are in Durham tonight and they probably would not have been able to fly someone-likely scheduled starter Phil Dumatrait-up in time). For all intents and purposes, the Yankees have not seen Thomas (okay, Randy Winn is 0-for-2 against him, but that was so long ago it probably doesn’t count). However, the Yankees are starting a long reliever of their own in Sergio Mitre (because they were going to start Javier Vazquez, but Andy Pettitte is missing a start so Vazquez got pushed until tomorrow). I’ve seen Mitre before, when he was a starter for the Marlins. He’s a sinkerballer, and apparently he was good enough in 2006/2007 that they have a jersey giveaway night for him. He’s been beset with injuries the past couple years. Miguel Cabrera and Adam Everett are the only two Tigers who have seen him before (Cabrera’s 1-5, Everett is 2-5). And for those of you wanting to see Curtis Granderson, he’s on the DL with a groin injury and didn’t make the trip, so that particular reunion will be delayed a bit. Also, there will be an emotional tribute to Ernie Harwell prior to the start of the game. Bring the Kleenex.

With Wind Like That, Strikeouts Come in Handy

Photo: AP

Short post, as I didn’t see this game (as I warned you). I got to listen to the fifth and sixth innings during my lunch break, and I caught wind of the final score before I left work, but that was it. Justin Verlander was dominant early in the game, but when I listened to it, he had found himself in some trouble (and that secret pitch limit must be around 120 or something). Still, Justin had the strikeouts working. And if the weather in Cleveland was anything like the weather here (and there’s a good possibility of that), it couldn’t have been much fun. He was good enough for me. The hitting heroes were Scott Sizemore and Miguel Cabrera, but every Tiger who started the game reached base (hit or walk) except Alex Avila.

Today is Mother’s Day, or as I like to call it, Pink Bat Day. Let’s hope it turns out better for Miguel Cabrera than it did last year (It was slightly funny how he had a bad day at the plate and proceeded to blame all things pink, as the pink bat and pink articles on his person gradually disappeared with each strikeout, pop-up, or double play grounded into). Max Scherzer will look to bounce back after two rough outings in a row against the Twins. Hopefully it is just a Twins thing, because he’s been decent against everyone else. He’s never faced the Indians, and the only Indian on the roster (and I’m not even sure he’s on their 25-man) who has faced him is Anderson Hernandez, so we have zero insight in that regard. The Indians start righty Mitch Talbot today, and Talbot’s actually been one of their better starters this season. The Tigers beat him last month, mostly cuz he walked a bunch of them.

Fun With Rainouts

Forget what you saw last night, cuz it never happened. Miguel Cabrera never homered. Jeremy Bonderman never had a meltdown. Ryan Raburn didn’t make another error. It was all your imagination (Actually, I never saw it in the first place; all I saw was the fourth inning). So with that, they’ll just play one game today, which is a day game (not happy about that, since I work 10-5). Justin Verlander will get the chance to build on the dominance he showed against the Angels last week. Meanwhile, Justin Masterson will start for the Indians. He’s struggled this year (especially against lefties, apparently), but he was the big piece in the Victor Martinez trade. The Tigers have not seen much of him.

Now That's a Comeback

Photo: Leon Halip (Getty Images)

As it turns out, I did manage to get out of work a couple hours early (though I had a vague sense of what was going on when I left). Unfortunately, since the Red Wings were on FSD, the Tigers got shifted to FSD+, which is BCSN (a local sports channel) on my cable provider, and they decided to air the Toledo Walleye hockey game instead (You might be familiar with the Walleye as the ECHL affiliate of the Red Wings, which I read somewhere is the equivalent of Double A). As a result, I listened to the whole remainder of the game on the radio (though it occurred to me hours later that since my cable provider also carries Sports Time Ohio, I could have always watched the Indians broadcast). I have watched the archived game on MLB.tv, but I wasn’t paying attention 100% to it. At any rate, I’d like to get more of what Verlander did innings 2-5 than what happened in the first inning. He probably should have stayed in for one more batter, since Peralta’s done virtually nothing against him in his career, but maybe it was a question of pitch count. For what it’s worth, he doesn’t seem all that concerned.

For all the talk about stranding baserunners, the Tigers did score at least one run in each inning I was able to listen to. The RBIs are all kind of spread around so there’s not really one particular hitting hero, though Maggs continues to sting the ball. As for the ninth inning…do you realize that the last swing the Tigers took was Inge’s groundout to short? Santiago never took the bat off his shoulders. Same for Damon and Sizemore. They didn’t have to. And here’s your first broom of the season:

So now that we’ve sent Cleveland packing with their tails between their legs, it’s time to see the Royals again, only this time without Zack Greinke. This afternoon it’ll be Max Scherzer against Luke Hochevar. The last time they met, they got locked into an epic pitching duel. I’m not going to go over their numbers again because I just did that last week. I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to tire of all these day games, mostly because I keep having to miss most of them.

Bondo Returns

Photo: Leon Halip (Getty Images)

Short post today, as I have to go to work soon and I have not seen a lot of this game. From what I can tell, Jeremy Bonderman gave an impressive performance. He had one inning which ran his pitch count too high to give him a shot at six, but he did get the win. And the bullpen performed admirably on a day they were short-handed. Meanwhile, the offense performed the opposite of how they had been. This time, they scored some runs off the starter and didn’t do anything against the bullpen (except walk). I managed to sneak off for a few minutes and listen to part of the bottom of the third. I heard them call Brandon Inge’s RBI single and Alex Avila’s walk. I didn’t know that that would be the last hit for the Tigers. Still, it was enough to win.

Today wraps up this series against the Indians, and the Tigers will see Jake Westbrook for the first time since 2007 (at least, I don’t recall them meeting up against him in 2008). Westbrook’s coming back from Tommy John surgery, and his numbers during his career against the Tigers aren’t all that great (though I remember his very last start against Detroit he shut them out in an epic pitching duel between him and Nate Robertson). The other thing I remember about him is Rod Allen saying that he gets a lot of ground balls back to himself. Justin Verlander has actually put up the least impressive performance through one turn of the starting rotation, and I can’t imagine that sits well with his competitive nature. The Indians were a team that really gave him problems until last year, when he downright dominated them. Again, I’ll be at work during the game today, although there is a tiny chance I’ll be able to leave at 2:00.

Opening Day Win

Photo: Gregory Shamus (Getty Images)

Between radio and television, it turns out I actually got to listen to/watch most of this game. It wasn’t as exciting as last year’s home opener, but it didn’t have to be. Rick Porcello had some problems throwing strike one, but when that happens, two runs in five innings is a pretty good day’s work. The bullpen did a good job, outside of the two walks that Phil Coke had. And maybe it’s just me, but it seems like the Tigers have turned about thirty double plays so far this season. Which is better than hitting into thirty double plays, I might add.

I saw David Huff pitch a game against the Rays last May. I don’t really remember how he did (that was that weird game where Joe Maddon had accidentally submitted two third basemen in his lineup when he meant for Evan Longoria to DH, which meant that the Rays’ pitcher had to hit third, though luckily for the Rays their best hitting pitcher was on the mound that day and he even managed an RBI double), but even then he had a look about him which suggested that he might be tough against the Tigers. As it turns out, I was right. Still, win any way you can, I suppose, and it took a massive defensive failure by the Indians for it to happen. The swings got better against the Indians’ ‘pen, though they still only got one run out of it. Maggs and Inge in particular continued their hot starts.

Today, like every game on this homestand, features a day game. The Indians are starting Mitch Talbot, who apparently spent last year in Triple A. The only big league time he’s had was with the Rays in 2008. He must’ve pitched against the Tigers, because a few of them have had one or two at-bats against him, which isn’t a lot to go on. Brandon Inge has a triple against him, though. Jeremy Bonderman makes his first start of the year for the Tigers. He keeps saying his velocity is gone so he’ll have to be a feel pitcher (Yeah, right, and I don’t understand how his velocity would go away permanently, because his surgery didn’t involve anything structural like a labrum or rotator cuff). It’s been so long since he’s pitched against the Tribe that only six current Indians have a history against him. Hafner’s hit three home runs off him, and Sizemore’s hit two. Shin-Soo Choo has also hit him well. Leyland’s said that Zumaya, Valverde, and Coke all have the day off today (if there is a save situation, Ryan Perry will be your closer today). Alex Avila is catching, which is what I would’ve recommended anyways, and it has nothing to do with offense. Bonderman’s terrible at holding runners on, and he gives up a lot of stolen bases, so why waste your better defender when you have Verlander (who is good at holding runners) going tomorrow? Besides, if Avila’s going to be the next Johnny Bench as the whole of Tigerdom has practically proclaimed him to be, it’s time he get thrown in the deep end. However, I won’t see any of this game, as I’ll be at work. My only hope is to somehow find an internet connection (so if you live in the Toledo area and you have a prescription for Accutane, please drop it off at my pharmacy at about 1:30).

2010 and the AL Central: September/October

This is what it all comes down to, doesn’t it? As we learned the hard way in 2009, sometimes all it takes is one month. Which is why you work real hard the rest of the season to make sure you’ve either got a big cushion (if you’re leading the division) or you keep it close enough to give yourself a chance (if you’re in second or third place). So let’s see how that final stretch maps out for each team:

Tigers
September 3-5 (Fri-Sun): @ Kansas City Royals (3)
September 6-9 (Mon-Thu): vs. Chicago White Sox (4)
September 10-12 (Fri-Sun): vs. Baltimore Orioles (3)
September 13 (Mon): Off-day
September 14-15 (Tue-Wed): @ Texas Rangers (2)
September 16 (Thu): Off-day
September 17-19 (Fri-Sun): @ Chicago White Sox (3)
September 20-22 (Mon-Wed): vs. Kansas City Royals (3)
September 23 (Thu): Off-day
September 24-26 (Fri-Sun): vs. Minnesota Twins (3)
September 27-29 (Mon-Wed): @ Cleveland Indians (3)
September 30-October 3 (Thu-Sun): @ Baltimore Orioles (4)

Contrary to popular belief, the Tigers didn’t collapse in September. They went 17-16 in September and October combined, which is what everyone said they had to do (they were really bipolar about it, with lengthy winning and losing streaks, but still). Just like in 2009, the final month of the regular season will be jam-packed with the AL Central. They’ll play each division foe at least once, and they’ll have to deal with the Royals (who like to screw with us in September) and the White Sox twice. And that’s how the month begins: A series in Kansas City followed by a return home to meet the Sox for a four-game series. After they depart, the Orioles come to Comerica Park for a second time (which seems really random, and I’m guessing it’s the result of the high number of two-game series the Tigers play in 2010). Then there’s the other off-day/2-game series/off-day sequence of the year (the good thing about this is that it provides the Tigers with ample rest down the stretch). After that brief 2-game stay in Arlington, they journey to the Cell to see the White Sox one more time. September 20th marks the beginning of the final homestand, which’ll feature visits from the Royals and Twins (That point I made about playing well against your own division? Yeah. It comes into play right here). Unlike 2009, where the Tigers seemingly had the advantage by concluding the season at home (this was nullified once a tiebreaker became necessary), they’ll have to do it the hard way in 2010: on the road. Their last seven games are away from Comerica Park. They are against teams that are not expected to be contenders, but if you’re the Tigers, you can’t think that way at all. At the same time, though, they ARE teams you must take advantage of and based on how the Tigers’ September opponents did in 2009, they have the easiest schedule in the Central. At any rate, they wrap up the 2010 regular season with three at Progressive Field and then four (not one, as other sites have reported) at Camden Yards (and hopefully they’ll be busy getting ready for the postseason during this road trip). Do I need to stress the importance of playing better on the road?
Home games: 13
Road games: 15
Detroit’s 2009 record against opposition: 51-39
Combined 2009 winning percentage of opponents: .459

White Sox
September 2 (Thu): Off-day
September 3-5 (Fri-Sun): @ Boston Red Sox (3)
September 6-9 (Mon-Thu): @ Detroit Tigers (4)
September 10-12 (Fri-Sun): vs. Kansas City Royals (3)
September 13 (Mon): Off-day
September 14-16 (Tue-Thu): vs. Minnesota Twins (3)
September 17-19 (Fri-Sun): vs. Detroit Tigers (3)
September 20-22 (Mon-Wed): @ Oakland Athletics (3)
September 23 (Thu): Off-day
September 24-26 (Fri-Sun): @ Los Angeles Angels (3)
September 27-30 (Mon-Thu): vs. Boston Red Sox (4)
October 1-3 (Fri-Sun): vs. Cleveland Indians (3)

By September, whereas the Tigers and Twins will be done with the AL East’s “three-headed monster” (Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays…Seriously, could any of you imagine me typing that about three years ago?), Chicago still has seven games left with the Red Sox. Like the Tigers, they also get a healthy dose of the AL Central down the stretch as well. Their September starts with what could be a grueling road trip through Boston and Detroit. However, after that they start a nine-game homestand where it’s all AL Central all the time (Royals, Twins, and Tigers). By the way, if you haven’t noticed, they have a ton of home games in September/October. Their final road trip of the year takes them out to the west coast to face the A’s and Angels. While the Tigers have to finish the year on the road, the final seven games for the White Sox will be at home. They’ll square off with the Red Sox for four, and then finish 2010 the way they started: a three-game series against the Indians.
Home games: 17
Road games: 13
Chicago’s 2009 record against opposition: 47-51
Combined 2009 winning percentage of opponents: .502

Indians
September 2-5 (Thu-Sun): @ Seattle Mariners (4)
September 6-8 (Mon-Wed): @ Los Angeles Angels (3)
September 9 (Thu): Off-day
September 10-12 (Fri-Sun): vs. Minnesota Twins (3)
September 13 (Mon): Off-day
September 14-16 (Tue-Thu): vs. Los Angeles Angels (3)
September 17-19 (Fri-Sun): @ Kansas City Royals (3)
September 20-22 (Mon-Wed): @ Minnesota Twins (3)
September 23-26 (Thu-Sun): vs. Kansas City Royals (4)
September 27-29 (Mon-Wed): vs. Detroit Tigers (3)
September 30 (Thu): Off-day
October 1-3 (Fri-Sun): @ Chicago White Sox (3)

For a while, it looked as though the Indians were gonna do what they’ve done for most of the past several years and have a good second half. I mean, they had a decent August (15-12). Then September rolled around and they went 7-25. Now THAT’S a collapse. And yes, they get a good dose of the Central in the final month of 2010 as well. They’ll begin September on the west coast with a four game series in Seattle followed by a three-game series in Anaheim (This’ll end 16 games with no break). During the ensuing homestand, they’ll have an off-day/3-game series/off-day sequence, which is not as wacky as what Detroit has, but still. The opponents on this homestand include the Twins and Angels. They then head on the road for six, visiting Kansas City and Minnesota. Their final homestand of the season features a four-game series against the Royals, followed by a three-game series against the Tigers (at which point the Indians will probably just be happy to be facing a team that is NOT the Royals, Twins, or Angels). They end their season on the road in Chicago. If the Indians are in contention, they’ll have to work for it down the stretch. They’re on the road a lot, and they have the toughest schedule of anyone in the division.
Home games: 13
Road games: 16
Cleveland’s 2009 record against opposition: 38-50
Combined 2009 winning percentage of opponents: .512

Twins
September 3-5 (Fri-Sun): vs. Texas Rangers (3)
September 6-8 (Mon-Wed): vs. Kansas City Royals (3)
September 9 (Thu): Off-day
September 10-12 (Fri-Sun): @ Cleveland Indians (3)
September 13 (Mon): Off-day
September 14-16 (Tue-Thu): @ Chicago White Sox (3)
September 17-19 (Fri-Sun): vs. Oakland Athletics (3)
September 20-22 (Mon-Wed): vs. Cleveland Indians (3)
September 23 (Thu): Off-day
September 24-26 (Fri-Sun): @ Detroit Tigers (3)
September 27-29 (Mon-Wed): @ Kansas City Royals (3)
September 30-October 3 (Thu-Sun): vs. Toronto Blue Jays (4)

Oh, yes, indeed. All it takes is one month sometimes. Sometimes you can hover near the .500 mark all season and then inexplicably go 17-4 down the stretch. Remember when I said that even if the Royals and Indians aren’t contending, they’re going to have a lot to do with who wins the Central? Yeah, you see it now (By the way, if Detroit is out of it in September, I don’t think they’ll have a lot to say about the division race because history indicates they suck at playing spoiler). Plus, Minnesota has a ton of home games in September AND they end the season at home. They have home series against the Rangers and Royals to start the month. They’ll embark on a six-game road trip after that, which takes them to Cleveland and Chicago. The Twins return home on the 17th to host the A’s, followed by the Indians. After their final off-day on the 23rd, their final road trip involves three against the Tigers, followed by three against the Royals (boy, they sure do see Cleveland and Kansas City a LOT in September). As I said before, they end their season at home with four against the Blue Jays. So as you can see, between the large number of home games and the ease of the opponents based on 2009 results (not as easy as Detroit’s, but still very sub-.500), the conditions are ripe for another huge September surge for the Twins.
Home games: 16
Road games: 12
Minnesota’s 2009 record against opposition: 59-42
Combined 2009 winning percentage of opponents: .469

Royals
September 2 (Thu): Off-day
September 3-5 (Fri-Sun): vs. Detroit Tigers (3)
September 6-8 (Mon-Wed): @ Minnesota Twins (3)
September 9 (Thu): Off-day
September 10-12 (Fri-Sun): @ Chicago White Sox (3)
September 13-15 (Mon-Wed): vs. Oakland Athletics (3)
September 16 (Thu): Off-day
September 17-19 (Fri-Sun): vs. Cleveland Indians (3)
September 20-22 (Mon-Wed): @ Detroit Tigers (3)
September 23-26 (Thu-Sun): @ Cleveland Indians (4)
September 27-29 (Mon-Wed): vs. Minnesota Twins (3)
September 30-October 3 (Thu-Sun): vs. Tampa Bay Rays (4)

Is it just me, or do the Oakland Athletics show up a lot against the AL Central in September? At any rate, the Royals went 14-15 in September/October 2009, though that featured a hot streak that occurred at the most inconvenient of times for the Tigers. The rough finished featured being swept at the Metrodome, the turning point of which was a bad decision by Zack Greinke to pitch to Joe Mauer with a base open and two outs in a scoreless game (So in a battle of the Cy Young winner vs. the batting champ, the batting champ wins? I thought good pitching was supposed to beat good hitting). At any rate, their September starts with them at home against the Tigers. After that they head out on the road to Minnesota and Chicago. Following the six-game road trip is a six-game homestand against the A’s and Indians. The off-day on the 16th is their last of the year, as they’ll play the remaining seventeen games consecutively. Their final road trip takes them to Detroit and Cleveland. The Royals finish up 2010 at home with three against the Twins and four against the Rays.
Home games: 16
Road games: 13
Kansas City’s 2009 record against opposition: 35-55
Combined 2009 winning percentage of opponents: .489

2010 and the AL Central: August

Ah, August. The last hurrah before school starts again. It’s usually a busy month for me (my birthday, my annual trip to Comerica Park, etc). This is the month where the grind of the season starts to wear on some teams. Who will be the one to collapse in August 2010? Hopefully not Detroit.

Tigers

August 2 (Mon): Off-day
August 3-5 (Tue-Thu): vs. Chicago White Sox (3)
August 6-8 (Fri-Sun): vs. Los Angeles Angels (3)
August 9-11 (Mon-Wed): vs. Tampa Bay Rays (3)
August 12 (Thu): Off-day
August 13-15 (Fri-Sun): @ Chicago White Sox (3)
August 16-19 (Mon-Thu): @ New York Yankees (4)
August 20-22 (Fri-Sun): vs. Cleveland Indians (3)
August 23-25 (Mon-Wed): vs. Kansas City Royals (3)
August 26-29 (Thu-Sun): @ Toronto Blue Jays (4)
August 30 (Mon): Off-day
August 31-September 2 (Tue-Thu): @ Minnesota Twins (3)

The Tigers begin August with a Monday off-day before starting a nine-game homestand that’ll likely prove to be a challenging one. The White Sox come a-calling on my birthday, and the last time that happened, it was 2007 and it didn’t go so well (That was the first Tigers game I ever went to. They lost 7-4, three White Sox hit home runs and it was the only time I ever got to see Pudge play in person. The Tigers tend to lose on my birthday, although they won in 2009). After the White Sox depart, the Tigers will host the Angels and then the Rays. They have an off-day on the 12th, after which they’ll find themselves in a stretch of seventeen games in a row, beginning with a difficult seven-game road trip to U.S. Cellular Field and Yankee Stadium (and remember, the Yankees tend to be a much better second-half team). They then return home for three against the Indians (another team that usually does better in the second half) and three against the Royals (who tend to be a pain in the ass at the most inconvenient of times). They finish August on the road. Specifically, it’s a ten-game, three-city road trip that begins in Toronto (Wow, we go there in August and not April? That’s unheard of). The Tigers wrap up August in Minnesota. In recent history, August has generally not been kind to the Tigers. That was not really the case in 2009, as they finished the month 16-13. Hopefully that starts a new trend.
Home games: 15
Road games: 14
Detroit’s 2009 record against opposition: 53-50
Combined 2009 winning percentage of opponents: .505

White Sox

August 2 (Mon): Off-day
August 3-5 (Tue-Thu): @ Detroit Tigers (3)
August 6-9 (Fri-Mon): @ Baltimore Orioles (4)
August 10-12 (Tue-Thu): vs. Minnesota Twins (3)
August 13-15 (Fri-Sun): vs. Detroit Tigers (3)
August 16 (Mon): Off-day
August 17-19 (Tue-Thu): @ Minnesota Twins (3)
August 20-22 (Fri-Sun): @ Kansas City Royals (3)
August 23 (Mon): Off-day
August 24-26 (Tue-Thu): vs. Baltimore Orioles (3)
August 27-29 (Fri-Sun): vs. New York Yankees (3)
August 30-September 1 (Mon-Wed): @ Cleveland Indians (3)

August killed the White Sox in 2009. They went 11-17, culminating in a hellish road trip to Boston, New York, and Minneapolis that completely took them out of contention. August 2010 gives them a fair amount of the East and a lot of the Central. They begin in Detroit for three before heading to Baltimore. I should point out that August features the second of only two long stretches with no break for the entire season for the White Sox (The schedule was kind to them in that regard). They return home on the 10th to face the Twins, followed by the Tigers. They’ll see Minnesota again on their next road trip, as well as Kansas City. After their off-day on the 23rd, they’ll have a six-game homestand that features the Orioles and the Yankees. The White Sox finish up August in Cleveland with three games against the Indians. The Sox have slightly more road games than home games in August, but they’ll be seeing a lot of the same teams twice, and they have the easiest schedule of the Central in terms of winning percentage.
Home games: 12
Road games: 15
Chicago’s 2009 record against opposition: 41-47
Combined 2009 winning percentage of opponents: .483

Indians

August 2-5 (Mon-Thu): @ Boston Red Sox (4)
August 6-8 (Fri-Sun): vs. Minnesota Twins (3)
August 9 (Mon): Off-day
August 10-12 (Tue-Thu): vs. Baltimore Orioles (3)
August 13-15 (Fri-Sun): vs. Seattle Mariners (3)
August 16 (Mon): Off-day
August 17-19 (Tue-Thu): @ Kansas City Royals (3)
August 20-22 (Fri-Sun): @ Detroit Tigers (3)
August 23 (Mon): Off-day
August 24-26 (Tue-Thu): vs. Oakland Athletics (3)
August 27-29 (Fri-Sun): vs. Kansas City Royals (3)
August 30-September 1 (Mon-Wed): vs. Chicago White Sox (3)

The Indians will be at Fenway Park for four games to begin August. They’ll then return home for a nine-game homestand against the Twins, Orioles, and Mariners. Following the off-day on the 16th, they’ll head out on the road, visiting Kansas City and Detroit. They have another off-day on the 23rd, followed by a nine-game homestand against the A’s, Royals, and White Sox that’ll take them right into September. The Indians have a TON of home games in August, and as I said earlier, the Indians tend to be a better second-half team (even if they are out of contention at this point, these two facts make them a dangerous team). In 2007, they ran away with the Central crown after spending most of the first half in a tight back-and-forth battle with the Tigers. In 2008, they recovered from an awful first half (during which last place seemed all but assured) to finish the season in third place at exactly 81-81. It looked like they were going to do the same in 2009. After going 12-12 in July, they went 15-12 in August (the only month they had that was north of .500). Then September came, but that’s a story better suited for next time.
Home games: 18
Road games 10
Cleveland’s 2009 record against opposition: 45-60
Combined 2009 winning percentage of opponents: .490

Twins

August 2-5 (Mon-Thu): @ Tampa Bay Rays (4)
August 6-8 (Fri-Sun): @ Cleveland Indians (3)
August 9 (Mon): Off-day
August 10-12 (Tue-Thu): @ Chicago White Sox (3)
August 13-15 (Fri-Sun): vs. Oakland Athletics (3)
August 16 (Mon): Off-day
August 17-19 (Tue-Thu): vs. Chicago White Sox (3)
August 20-22 (Fri-Sun): vs. Los Angeles Angels (3)
August 23-26 (Mon-Thu): @ Texas Rangers (4)
August 27-29 (Fri-Sun): @ Seattle Mariners (3)
August 30 (Mon): Off-day
August 31-September 2 (Tue-Thu): vs. Detroit Tigers (3)

The Twinkies will be on the road to start off August (a ten-game, three-city road trip, to be exact). After a four-game series at the Trop, they head on up to Progressive Field for three, and finish up at the Cell. They then return home for nine. Their homestand features visits from the A’s, White Sox, and Angels. After long stays both on the road and at home, their next road trip is a bit shorter (seven games) and features visits to Arlington and Seattle. The end of August marks the beginning of another nine-game homestand for the Twins (most of which will be in September). We’ll be the first opponent. As you can see, the Twins will be on the road a lot in August and it’s a difficult schedule in terms of the teams they’re facing, but they are also teams that they did well against in 2009.
Home games: 12
Road games: 17
Minnesota’s combined 2009 record against opposition: 51-45
Combined 2009 winning percentage of opponents: .507

Royals
August 2-4 (Mon-Wed): @ Oakland Athletics (3)
August 5 (Thu): Off-day
August 6-8 (Fri-Sun): @ Seattle Mariners (3)
August 9-11 (Mon-Wed): @ Los Angeles Angels (3)
August 12-15 (Thu-Sun): vs. New York Yankees (4)
August 16 (Mon): Off-day
August 17-19 (Tue-Thu): vs. Cleveland Indians (3)
August 20-22 (Fri-Sun): vs. Chicago White Sox (3)
August 23-25 (Mon-Wed): @ Detroit Tigers (3)
August 26 (Thu): Off-day
August 27-29 (Fri-Sun): @ Cleveland Indians (3)
August 30-September 1 (Mon-Wed): vs. Texas Rangers (3)

The Royals begin August with a nine-game west coast swing. Their series with the A’s to kick off the month marks the end of a 20-game stretch with no off-day. They then visit Seattle and Anaheim before coming back to KC for a ten-game homestand against the Yankees, Indians, and White Sox (August features a lot of the West and a lot of the Central for the Royals). This is followed up by a six-game road trip to Detroit and Cleveland. They finish up the month at home with a three-game series against the Rangers. This’ll be a challenging month for the Royals. They’ll be on the road slightly more than at home, but it includes a long west coast trip and series against several teams that are expected to be in the playoff chase. Not surprisingly, the Royals are forecasted to have the most difficult August schedule of the AL Central teams.
Home games: 13
Road games: 15
Kansas City’s combined 2009 record against opposition: 39-54
Combined 2009 winning percentage of opponents: .522