Tag: Detroit Tigers

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MLB General

The Full Count: Verlander finishes what Schilling can’t


1. No Hits for You!: Less than a week after Curt Schilling came within one out of a no-hitter but couldn’t finish it, Justin Verlander pitched a no-no against the Brewers. Verlander walked four, but other than that he was perfect as he went the distance. He struck out 12 and had 112 total pitches in the second no-hitter in the majors this season. It was also the first no-hitter for the Tigers since 1984, when Verlander was only one year old. Verlander threw over 100 mph on his fastball as he improved to 7-2 with a 2.79 ERA and made history along the way. The Tigers are now tied with Cleveland for first place in the AL Central. They have won three in a row, while the Indians have dropped three straight. With the no-hitter, Verlander has now secured his place as one of the best (if not the best) young pitchers in the game.

2. Here comes Philly: Their season seemed over in April, but now a great start to June has the Phillies in contention in the NL East. The Braves and Mets lost again on Tuesday, but the Phillies won for the seventh time in their last ten games. They beat the White Sox 7-3 on the strength of two of their best young players–Chase Utley and Cole Hamels. Utley went 3-3 with a homer and four RBIs, giving him 52 runs driven in this year. Hamels improved to 9-2 with eight innings, two runs allowed, and eight strikeouts in this contest. Philly is now a mere three games back of the Mets and just one behind the Braves.

3. Finally .500!: The Yankees improved to .500 for the first time since April 20 after winning their 7th straight game. They beat the Diamondbacks 4-1 on the strength of Chien-Ming Wang’s pitching. Wang, the most underrated pitcher on the Yankees’ staff, went seven strong innings, with one run allowed and no walks. Also for New York, red-hot Bobby Abreu hit a three-run homerun. Abreu has 12 RBIs in his last 8 games and is hitting .500 in that span. The Yankees still may be 9.5 out, but they are on a roll. They will be in contention by the All Star break.

Player of the Day: Justin Verlander, Tigers: No-hitter, 12 strikeouts in a 4-0 win over the Brewers.

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MLB General

The Full Count: The most offensive team in the game…


1. Powerhouse: Two years ago, it would have been laughable to think the Tigers’ offense would soon be the best in baseball. Now, that is the reality–and no one else is even close. The Tigers piled on a season-high 15 runs and 21 hits against the Mets–all without their best hitter in the lineup. Magglio Ordonez didn’t play, but it didn’t matter as Detroit roughed up Tom Glavine for 9 earned runs and 11 hits. Gary Sheffield continued to dominate with a 4-5, two RBI outing. Brandon Inge knocked in five RBIs, Ivan Rodriguez had three hits and three runs, and Placido Polanco went 3-6 to increase his average to .348. The 15-7 win over the Mets sent the Tigers to 1.5 games behind Cleveland, while New York dropped to 3-7 its last ten games. The Tigers now have 374 runs this year–a whopping 32 more than the next-best team, the Yankees. They also lead the MLB in hits, batting average, slugging, and OPS. Last year the Tigers were carried by their starting pitching. This year, they are winning because they can flat-out mash.

2. The Yankees are Back: The Yankees’ season may have seemed over when they were 14.5 back in the division. But now they have new life, thanks to a 6-game winning streak as well as recent struggles by the Red Sox. The Yanks started off interleague play with a sweep of the Pirates, including a 13-6 win on Sunday. Alex Rodriguez, who hit two homers, drove in five runs, and scored four times, is now back to his April self. Bobby Abreu went 4-4 with 4 runs and is on a ten-game hitting streak that has raised his average 44 points. Overall, the Yankees outscored the Pirates 27-13 on the series. Their next two series are against tougher teams, the Diamondbacks and the Mets, but both are at home. The Red Sox are still 9.5 games ahead, but they are only 4-6 in June compared with the Yankees’ 8-2 mark. This race could get much more competitive as the year goes on.

3. Early Ejection, Late Win: The first inning of the Cubs-Braves game featured plenty of controversy. The Cubs’ starting pitcher, Ted Lilly, was ejected in the first after hitting Edgar Renteria with a pitch. It didn’t look like he was intentionally throwing at him, but the umpire was convinced. Both dugouts cleared but there was no fighting between the teams. Renteria then elbowed Cubs second baseman Mike Fontenot when he came in with a hard popup slide on a steal attempt. Renteria was not punished for this action, however, even though it seemed much more intentional than Lilly’s pitch. Anyway, the Cubs were able to take the lead, 4-2, through seven innings despite having to overwork their bullpen. But then in the eighth, the Braves scored three runs off Ryan Dempster to pull ahead and eventually win 5-4. It would be interesting to see what would happen if these two teams played again, but their season series is over. The Braves moved up to just 2.5 games behind the Mets.

Players of the Day: CC Sabathia, Indians: 9 innings, three hits, no runs, 6 strikeouts. Aaron Harang, Reds: 7 innings, three hits, no runs, 10 strikeouts. The Reds and Indians had one of the best pitcher’s duels this season, with a 0-0 tie through the first 11 innings. The Reds won in the 12th off Alex Gonzalez’s RBI single.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Congratulations to Trevor Hoffman


1. The 500 Club: The 500 homerun club has twenty members (and counting), but the 500 save club just got its first member. Trevor Hoffman, one of the more underrated players in major league history, saved his 500th career game on Wednesday. Hoffman broke the career saves record last year, passing Lee Smith and his 478 saves. His mark compared with Smith’s is the statistical equivalent of 790 homeruns or 6000 strikeouts, but it of course is considered less prestigious and will receive very little attention after today. Hoffman closed out a 5-2 win over the Dodgers, which included a solid start by Greg Maddux as the Padres moved to 1.5 games ahead of Los Angeles. Next up for 500 saves is Mariano Rivera, who is 81 away but has played two fewer years than Hoffman.

2. The Cardinals are back: For the first time this season, the Cardinals are playing like a team that has won the division for three straight years. They’ve won six of their last seven games to move within five games of the once-dominant Brewers. On Wednesday the Cardinals topped the Brewers as Albert Pujols hit a key two-run homerun. Pujols has four homers and eight RBIs in his last eight games. Closer Jason Isringhausen, who sealed the deal for his 14th save of the year, is having a surprisingly good season. Isringhausen has a 1.50 ERA and 0.83 WHIP, unusually great numbers for the closer of a disappointing team. The Cardinals aren’t a playoff-caliber team, but they might make it to October if no one else in their division can.

3. Bat over mouth: Gary Sheffield’s racial comments have gone unpunished by the Tigers or the MLB. Maybe that’s because he’s one of the more dominant sluggers in the game, as he proved Wednesday with a great performance. Sheffield hit two homers to give him 15 on the year, and drove in five runs as the Tigers walloped the Rangers 10-0. It’s no wonder the team hasn’t done anything about his comments, which insulted both black and Latin players. Anyway, the Tigers’ win put them within 2.5 of Cleveland, who lost to Kansas City. Justin Verlander followed up a poor start last week with seven shutout innings and a win. Magglio Ordonez went 2-4 with an RBI and is now the AL leader in batting average in addition to RBIs. With .362 and 54 in those categories, Ordonez has been the best hitter in the majors by a mile.

Player of the Day: Chien-Ming Wang, Yankees: Complete game, five hits, one earned run in a 5-1 win over the White Sox. By the way, Roger Clemens will join Wang on the Yankees’ staff when he makes his debut this Saturday.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Josh Beckett cannot lose


1. Still Undefeated: It appears a trip to the DL didn’t affect Josh Beckett. The ace came back as good as ever in a 4-2 win over Cleveland. Beckett threw seven innings, allowing three hits and two runs. He improved to 8-0 on the year, and is one of only three remaining undefeated starters (Jeremy Bonderman and James Shields are the other two). As the Red Sox won their fifth straight game, the Yankees lost their fifth in a row. Boston’s 14.5 game division lead appears now to be insurmountable.

2. Home Sweet Home: Ervin Santana of the Angels has been one of the most puzzling pitchers in the majors this season. At home, he is the ace many expect him to be, with a 4-1 record and 2.12 ERA. But on the road, he has been horrendous: 0-5 with a 9.30 ERA. Thankfully for the Angels, Santana was pitching at home on Tuesday, and he dominated as expected. With seven innings and one run allowed, he allowed the Angels to win easily 4-1. The division-leading Angels might want to consider something unusual to address their problem with Santana: bench him on the road. They have enough starters to make this work.

3. Dominant Delgado: Carlos Delgado was awful in April, with a .188 average and just one homer. But recently, he’s showed signs that he will return to his power-hitting form. After two homers and five RBIs on Saturday, Delgado was even better on Monday. He almost single-handedly beat the Giants, with a two-run shot in the fourth inning and a walk-off solo homer in the 12th. In his last seven games, Delgado has raised his average forty points in addition to the power surge. This game was a pitcher’s duel for a while, with Tim Lincecum and Oliver Perez each throwing seven innings, striking out eight, and allowing three runs. Closer Armando Benitez allowed the winning runs, giving him a loss in two straight appearances. The Mets have won four in a row to extend their lead to a season-high five games over Atlanta.

Player of the Day: Gary Sheffield, Tigers: 3-6, 2 homers (12), 5 RBIs in a 14-2 win over the Devil Rays. The Tigers out-hit the D-Rays 22-4 as all eleven players with a plate appearance got a hit. Sheffield has 5 homers in his last 10 games.

Walk Off: Justin Morneau received much criticism and appeared on many worst-ever MVP lists after winning the award last year. This year, he’s proved he was worthy and is one of a few majors candidates for the MVP right now. Morneau has played in all the Twins’ games and has 16 homers and 43 RBIs. He’s on pace for numbers that would surpass his 2006 season in nearly every category. In games that Morneau has homered in, the Twins are 9-3, which shows how valuable he is to their lineup. As of now, my AL MVP leaders look like this:

1) Magglio Ordonez, Tigers
2) Vladimir Guerrero, Angels
3) Morneau, Twins
4) David Ortiz, Red Sox
5) Alex Rodriguez, Yankees

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MLB General

The Full Count: Smoltz gets his 200th win


1. Bicentennial Man: Future Hall of Famer John Smoltz, pitching against former teammate Tom Glavine, passed an important milestone on Thursday. He pitched nearly flawlessly to lock up win number 200 on his career. Smoltz also became the first player in major league history to record 200 wins and 150 saves. His 7-inning, no-walk performance improved his record to 7-2 on the year with a 2.58 ERA. He’s first in the National League in wins. Glavine pitched well too, with two runs in six innings, but it wasn’t enough as the Braves won 2-1. Glavine is five wins shy of a much bigger milestone: 300. With the way he’s pitching this year (3.39 ERA), he’ll reach that easily. But the focus was on Smoltz, who hasn’t allowed a run in either of his last two starts. With the win the Braves won their third straight series against the Mets this year, and they’re 1.5 games back now of New York.

2. First-place rout: The Tigers and Angels is a matchup of two first place teams, but only one of them looked playoff-caliber on Thursday. The Tigers won in a 12-0 rout, with great offensive and pitching performances. Jeremy Bonderman came off the DL and threw 8 scoreless innings. Carlos Guillen hit two homers and five RBIs. Magglio Ordonez went 4-4 with three RBIs to bring his league-leading total to 45. Gary Sheffield also got in on the action with his 9th homer and three runs. Ervin Santana was the main victim for the Angels, as he allowed 8 runs and his ERA ballooned to 6.00. The Tigers still only lead the Indians by a half-game, while the Angels have a comfortable four game lead over Oakland.

3. Baseball game with a football score: 13-12 sounds more like the score of a Bucs-Seahawks game than a Devil Rays-Mariners contest. But Tampa and Seattle combined for the most runs in the majors this season in a crazy game. Devil Rays pitcher Jae Seo got the win despite allowing 7 runs and 13 hits. The Mariners piled on 18 total hits, with four players collecting more than three hits. But it wasn’t enough as Tampa has 7 players with an RBI and 8 score a run. Seattle reliever Sean White gave up an incredible 7 runs in 0.2 innings.

Player of the Day: Carlos Guillen, Tigers: 2-3, 2 homers, 5 RBIs in a 12-0 rout of the Angels. Guillen continues to be one of the more underrated players in baseball with a .327 average and 35 RBIs on the year.

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MLB General

The Full Count: And now back to your regularly scheduled rivalries


1. Another Yankees Starter: The Yankees have started more pitchers this year than any other team in the majors, with 11. Seven of those have been rookies, including Tyler Clippard on Sunday against the Mets. After Clippard’s first three pitches struck out Jose Reyes, it seemed like he would be one of their better pitching experiments this year. And he was. Clippard was efficient in 6 innings, allowing one run, only three hits, and striking out six. He won as the Yankees avoided a sweep in the Subway Series. The Yankees’ offense featured homers from Derek Jeter, A-Rod, and Jorge Posada as they shelled John Maine for five runs. The Yanks are still 10.5 back behind Boston, as the Red Sox took 2 of 3 from the Braves over the weekend.

2. World Series Revenge: The Tigers-Cardinals matchup was a rematch of last year’s World Series, and the result was a complete reversal. The Cards won the series 4-1 last October, but this time around, the Tigers swept struggling St. Louis. Sunday’s 6-3 win for Detroit was highlighted by Justin Verlander’s fourth straight win. Verlander pitched 8 innings, gave up just two runs, and improved to 5-1 on the year. Verlander has quietly been even better than he was last year, with a team-leading 2.68 ERA. Now they are tied with Cleveland atop the AL Central, while St. Louis is in fifth in the NL Central. The Cardinals just cannot find any starting pitching, and their batter have hit a major-league low 20 homers.

3. Interleague Results: The weekend was highlighted by many strong Interleague matchups. Cross-town rivalries included the Yanks-Mets, Cubs-White Sox, Angels-Dodgers, and A’s-Giants. The Cubs took two of three from the White Sox, though the White Sox won 10-6 on Sunday after smashing Carlos Zambrano for seven runs in six innings. The Angels swept the Dodgers by a combined score of 19-4 using some excellent starting pitching. Kelvim Escobar finished the series with an 8-inning shutout performance as the Angels won 4-1. Oakland won the first two games of their series against the Giants, but San Fran won 4-1 on Sunday behind a complete-game outing from Matt Morris. Barry Bonds continued his slump, and he has no homers or RBIs in his last ten games. The next Interleague action will be the second week of June, with some of these same rivalries.

Player of the Day: Mark Teixeira, Rangers: 4-6, 2 HR, 3 RBIs in a 14-1 rout of the Astros. Teixeira has been on fire lately with 6 homers, 20 RBIs, and a .349 average in his last 22 games.

Stat of the Day: Randy Johnson’s 5.2 inning, 10 strikeout game on Sunday was his first career double-digit strikeout game with fewer than 6 innings pitched, according to Elias Sports. Johnson has 28 strikeouts and is 2-0 in his last three starts.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Dice-K Dominates


1. The Dice-K we were waiting for: After all the preseason hype and promising first start, Daisuke Matsuzaka was plagued by a streak of poor outings. But to start off a series between AL heavyweights (Red Sox vs. Tigers), Dice-K gave his best effort yet. He threw his first MLB complete game, gave up just one run, and threw a whopping 124 pitches in the Red Sox’s 7-1 win. The victory gave the Red Sox an 8.5 game division lead, their largest since 1995, and they have the best record in the league at 26-11. This four-game series at Fenway should be one of the more entertaining so far this year. The Tigers will send Justin Verlander to the mound on Tuesday to face AL ERA leader Tim Wakefield.

2. Nearly a no-hitter: The Braves-Nationals game featured a pitching matchup of 18-year vet John Smoltz and first-year starter Jason Bergmann. Surprisingly, it was Bergmann who delivered a gem: 8 innings, 2 hits, and 10 strikeouts. He no-hit the Braves until the 8th inning, when Brian McCann hit a solo homer. Smoltz wasn’t bad either, but the Braves couldn’t muster any offense in a 2-1 loss. The win extends a season-high four-game win streak for the 13-25 Nationals, and Bergmann’s start was the highlight of their season so far. Atlanta’s loss combined with a Mets win puts New York back in first.

3. All About the Pitchers: This season has been dominated by pitching, and yesterday continued that trend. Dice-K and Bergmann were great, as well as Greg Maddux, Dan Haren, Gil Meche, and Tom Gorzelanny. Maddux pitched a complete-game with one run allowed in the Padres’ 7-1 win over Cincinnati. Meche and Haren pitched a combined 15 scoreless innings in the Royals-A’s game, giving both pitchers an ERA under 2.00. The Royals won on a ninth-inning homerun by John Buck. The surprising Gorzelanny improved to 5-2 with a 2.36 ERA after seven shutout innings in a win over the Marlins. In other pitching news, the Angels’ Jered Weaver returned to form with a great start against the Rangers, which lowered his ERA from 4.26 to 3.62.

Player of the Day: JJ Hardy, Brewers: 2-5, HR, 3 RBIs in a 6-8 loss to the Phillies. This is more of a season-achievement award for Hardy, who now leads the National League with 12 homers and 37 RBIs. It is hard to even imagine a more surprising start than that of Hardy, who already has set his career high for homeruns.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Return of the Rocket


1. He’s (almost) baaaacck: Roger Clemens is back with the team he won two World Series titles with. The Yankees, who have been desperate for starting pitching since the beginning of the season, signed the Rocket in a $28 million deal pro-rated over four months (so he’ll make $18.5 million). While this deal comes as unsurprising, it could have a huge effect on the league this season. When Clemens returns to the mound within the next month or so, the Yankees with have a solid rotation: Clemens, Mussina, Ming-Wang, Pettitte, and Hughes. But since an already old team is adding a 45-year-old pitcher, it also shows the Yankees need a World Series title this year. As Clemens moves from the National League back to the American, he’ll see a rise in ERA from the past two seasons. But with increased run support, he will have a better record than he did with the Astros, and he will help make the Yankees at least competitive with the Red Sox for the division title. I still favor Boston to win it, but Clemens certainly makes the race more interesting.

2. Phenom meets phenom: Barry Bonds didn’t play on Sunday Night Baseball against the Phillies, but the game was still interesting due to a lot of offense and a matchup of young pitchers. The Phillies sent their ace-to-be Cole Hamels to the mound to face the Giants’ Tim Lincecum in his major league debut. Lincecum had lit up the minor leagues for a 0.29 ERA in five starts this year, but he allowed two homers (including a shot to Ryan Howard) and struggled with his control. After four innings and 100 pitches, Lincecum left with 5 runs and 5 walks allowed. Hamels allowed 5 runs as well, but only 3 of them were earned and he had 9 strikeouts. He was credited with the win and improved to 4-1 on the year. Another thing worth noting for the Phillies was the emergence of a new weapon on the basepaths. Pinch-runner Michael Bourn came in on first, stole two bases on two consecutive pitches, then scored on a routine grounder to short that usually would have been an out. The Phillies may only be 14-17, but they certainly have a lot of offensive weapons.

3. Detroit Dominance: The Tigers may have just faced the pitiful Royals over the weekend, but they took advantage of them and extended their winning streak to 7 games. A three-game sweep of Kansas City gave Detroit a share of the division lead with Cleveland. On Sunday they dominated 13-4 and had four different players with a homerun. Gary Sheffield hit his third homer of the past five games and has suddenly heated up after a cold April. Also, rookie pitcher Chad Durbin had one of his better starts with 7.2 innings and just 2 runs allowed. The 19-11 Tigers will be tested with back-to-back road series against the Red Sox and Twins over the next week.

Player of the Day: Trot Nixon, Indians: 5-5, 4 RBIs in a 9-6 win over Baltimore.

Stat of the Day: Padres starter Jake Peavy has struck out at least 10 batters in three consecutive games, while throwing for only seven innings in each game.

Walk Off: An ESPN poll about Barry Bonds shows only 58% of people think he should be in the Hall of Fame. This goes to show the complete unintelligence of baseball fans. Even if you think Bonds cheated in every way possible, he was a Hall of Famer before his alleged steroid use. His is the best hitter in a generation, and should be a unanimous Hall of Fame selection in addition to being considered one of the greatest hitters ever. He has broken more records than anybody since Babe Ruth. Don’t let the crappy person Bonds is diminish his unbelievable numbers.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Remember Gary Sheffield?


1. Sheffield’s back: Gary Sheffield took more than a month to give any kind of contribution to the Tigers whatsoever. Yesterday he finally gave the breakout performance every Tigers was fan was waiting for as the team beat the Orioles 3-2 to complete a sweep. Sheffield went 4-4, with a solo homerun and RBI single that provided the difference in this game. He raised his average from .191 to .226 in one day, and in the past ten days his average has nearly doubled. Additionally, he stole his fifth base of the season, which puts him at a career-high pace. The Tigers now have a four-game winning streak going, and they may finally have the slugger they were looking for.

2. From Champs to Chumps: The Cardinals are having one of the worst seasons ever for a defending champ. Due to a five-game losing streak, they have dropped to last place in the division and have the second-worst record in the entire National League. On Wednesday they were shut out 4-0 by the red-hot Milwaukee Brewers, who have the best record in the NL. Starter Anthony Reyes is now the official unluckiest pitcher in baseball. Despite allowing either 3 or 4 earned runs in each of his five outings, he is 0-5 due to awful run support. In fact, the Cardinals have only given him 1.2 runs per game in support, due to an offense with a .245 team average. Don’t blame Albert Pujols for their struggles; he is currently on an 11-game hitting streak that has increased his average by 90 points. The Cardinals can’t wait until starter Chris Carpenter returns, as all of their current starters have an ERA above 5.00 with the exception of Braden Looper.

3. Still perfect: Josh Beckett may be the Red Sox’s team MVP through one month of the season. He has yet to be beaten, and continued his success Wednesday by improving to 6-0 against the A’s. Beckett pitched 7 innings, with 7 strikeouts and 3 runs allowed. It wasn’t his best outing, but the Red Sox gave him plenty of support in a 6-4 win. The Red Sox are 17-9 and have the biggest division lead in the American League; Beckett has accounted for over one-third of those wins.

Player of the Day: Barry Bonds, Giants: 2-4, HR (9, 743 career), 4 RBIs in a 5-3 win over the Rockies.

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General Sports

Odds and Ends: If only Alycia Lane would grace us with some harmless banter

Alycia Lane’s publicist…er… the Philadelphia Inquirer had an interview today with Alycia Lane aka the chick who sent photos of herself in a bikini to Rich Eisen’s wife by mistake. In the interview, Lane tried to defend her photos as “harmless banter between to old friends, and not as an attempt to entire the Los Angeles-based Eisen or break up his marriage…”

Damn, we really gotta get to work on our harmless banter.  Don’t worry, Alycia, this won’t hurt your career one bit.  If anything, you can go national now. (hat tip: Sports By Brooks)

In other news…

[USA Today] The Mets fan who shined a high-powered flashlight at a couple of Braves gets 3 year ban from Shea and 15 days in jail.

[Seal Clubbers]: A nut shot is always funny

[Our Book of Scrap]: This guy is not doing anything for that ‘white men can’t jump’ stereotype

[Brew Crew Ball]: Don’t look now but the Brewers have the best record in baseball

[Blazers Edge]: Brandon Roy is your NBA Rookie of the Year.

[Hardaway Hates Pittsburgh]: Joe Thomas’ Aunt.  Wow.  Just… wow.