Come back for more...

Clete Thomas completed the 2nd come from behind win of this 3 games series today with a single past the diving 1st baseman in the bottom of the 9th as Miguel Cabrera scored from 3rd. The Tigers came back from being down 4 runs two times in this rain delayed game. Before the delay the game appeared to be all Seattle. But the Tigers had loaded the bases as the rains stopped play. The sun came out and so did the Tigers.

It was great for them to not roll over on this "get away" game. They might have folded when down by so many runs as they thought about the plane trip out west to Oakland. Instead they focused on what it took to win. They may have folded as the Mariners' defense took hit after hit away, but they just kept working it. Finally Thomas had the chance to drive in Cabrera after Inge had driven in Guillen just one batter earlier.

Alex Avila had a key, pinch hit single for 2 RBI. Raburn had 3 hits including a home run. Inge had his 24th home run also. Cabrera set up his winning run with his 2nd double of the day.

In other news:

• Here is an article listing the playoff contenders with closer worries. Guess who is NOT on the list! (ESPN)
  
• What is Gary Sheffield up to anyway? Well, apparently sulking for not getting a contract extension. (Baseball Musings)
• Zach Miner and his wife had a baby boy on Tuesday. (Jason Beck)
• Chris Lambert, who gave up a ton of runs during his short stint with the Tigers, was claimed by Baltimore. (Jason Beck)

As mentioned above, the Tigers are flying to Oakland for the beginning of a 6 game road trip. Unfortunately that means late night games for us in the Eastern time zone.

Pudge moves to the Rangers

Pudge Rodriguez has been traded from the Astros to the team where it all began (for him). The Free Press reports that he has been traded to the Texas Rangers for 2 minor leaguers.

I hope he can wrap up his career there on a high note (so long as it doesn't interfere with a Tigers' playoff spot).

Grinding it out....

This will be mostly a catch up post because I couldn't possibly do the past weeks justice.

The Tigers are still in first place. As of right NOW they are 2.5 games ahead of the White Sox and 6 games over the Twins (but both of those teams are playing (and losing) as I write this, so stay tuned).

It is awesome that Detroit is leading the AL Central. Mainly because in either other division this year they would be lost in the pack. The Yankees are starting to walk away with the AL East and the Angels are 5 games ahead in the West. The Tigers have a .530 winning per centage and that would put them at 4th place in the East and 3rd in the West.

But, the reality is that they are in the Central. Maybe this is something like "reigning in hell", but it beats trying to catch the Yankees or Boston. So far this year Detroit has played well against everyone but the AL East. They are 17 and 10 against the West (thank you Texas!) and, even more importantly, they are 27 and 20 when facing the AL Central.

The glaring reason they are in 1st place is the same reason they weren't last year- pitching.

• Justin Verlander is an absolute stud. He has had two bad outings in the last couple of weeks, but his ERA is still only 3.28 and he has 194 strike outs in his 13 wins. He was the only pitcher who could shut down the Red Sox last week.
• Edwin Jackson has not been as totally dominant as he was earlier in the summer, but he is still coming in with a 2.94 ERA. Both Verlander and Jackson face an average of only 4.1 batters per inning. That shows that they are keeping men off the basepaths (and as a result, it is hard to score off of them).
• The Kid (Porcello) has also been having a Rookie of the Year season (IMHO). He has 10 wins and a 4.34 ERA. His WHIP is only 1.39. And let's not forget that he flipped Kevin Youkilis to the ground during the only fight of the year- pretty good for a 20 year old!

The bullpen hasn't been slouching either.

• Bobby Seay has slipped a bit in the past few weeks, but he still allows only 1.06 batters to reach per inning. He just gave up his first 2 homeruns of the year.
• Brandon Lyon was slow to start but he has established himself as a firewall to any rally the other team might consider putting together. In 44 appearances he has allowed only 17 earned runs. His WHIP is only 1.05.
• Then there is Ni. He can barely speak any English, but he has struck out 17 batter in only 21 innings pitched while only walking 7. There is just a metric ton of confidence in these guys taking the ball right now.
• Rodney is no longer perfect in saves, but as scary as he is- he gets the job done.

If the bats coud keep up with the pitchers the race for the AL Central would be over. But the bats are anemic so the Tigers win on pitching. Detroit has played 23 games where the opposing team scored 1 run or less. That is almost 1/3 of their 62 wins so far. The down side is that they have played in 21 games where they have scored 1 run or less. They have won only 2 of those games. That ties the number of games like that from last season (although last year there were many more shutouts against Detroit).

Today the Tigers traded for Aubrey Huff from the Orioles. I don't know much about him yet. He has 72 RBI so far this year, so maybe can help the area the Tigers are worst at - hitting with men in scoring position. In the past 3 weeks the Tigers have left 332 men on base, 332! Huff is a left handed batter who, until this year, was a power hitter. All I remember is reading that he threw dirt in Brandon Inge's face during a game a couple of weeks ago- apparently they are friends.

Ordonez is hitting again. Guillen is hitting. Cabrera never really stopped hitting. Maybe Huff is the guy they need.

But I don't think the Twins can catch them. The White Sox can (and might) but I think Detroit can and should win the division. And with their pitching the playoffs could be sweet.

It's time for bed.

Week 19
Place - 1st

Tigers -
W. Sox 2.5
Twins 6
Indians 11
Royals 16

only 46 games in regular season.