RealGM

@ Detroit

Probable Pitchers;
Game 21: Justin Verlander, RHP (0-3, 7.03 ERA) Vs. Vicente Padilla, RHP (2-1, 3.12 ERA)
Game 22: Luis Mendoza, RHP (0-2, 9.00 ERA) Vs. Kenny Rogers, LHP (1-3, 6.33 ERA)
Game 23: Jason Jennings, RHP (0-3, 7.08 ERA) Vs. Jeremy Bonderman, RHP (1-2, 4.37 ERA)

Detroit Lineup
C. Granderson, CF
J. Jones, LF
G. Sheffield, DH
M. Ordonez, RF
M. Cabrera, 3B
C. Guillen, 1B
E. Renteria, SS
I. Rodriguez, C
R. Raburn, 2B
Game 20 SP;


Texas Lineup
F. Catalanotto, 1B
M. Young, SS
J. Hamilton, CF
M. Bradley, DH
H. Blalock, 3B
J. Botts, 1B
D. Murphy, LF
G. Laird, C
R. Vazquez, 2B
Game 20 SP;

Note: lineup may vary from game to game; I will update as soon as possible.

Scouting Information Coming Soon;

7-2 Tigers, Bases Loaded in 8th Continue Racking Them Up Tigers

Placido did not play in this game but is expected to the next game as well as Curtis Granderson.

Miguel Cabrera has homered;
Magglio has homered;
Santiago has homered;

8-2 Tigers

Bases loaded for Cabrera

AND....He's walked, walk in a run, RBI for Cabrera, 10-2 Tigers.

Tigers win, huge confidence for Grilli, 1-2-3 inning and 2 strikeouts to end the game.

Final Score: 10-2

Great win, great to see Grilli play well but far more important that Verlander managed to shake off the funk he's been in all year.

I'm going to the game tonight... I sure hope Polanco and Granderson are back healthy and we get our rotation in order. It would be good to see Granderson getting out there and lifting the team.

With Clete Thomas, Ryan Raburn, Ramon Santiago and Inge all playing so well.... How do you fit them in enough when the lineup is healthy?

Same thing with Armando Galarraga. At this point, I really like him as a starting pitcher. He's been the only constant we've had thus far. Maybe have Willis rehab through the minors and then have him and Nate duke it out for the last starting job?

^Not sure what exactly they should do, but Galarraga deserves a chance to get into the starting lineup at this point, and not just as a stop gap injury replacement either.

Whether he can hold it is another matter entirely (Ive seen too many new pitchers start out great only to completely peter out), but he's interesting to say the least.

And we ought to have enough guys that once Granderson gets back Jones should pretty much never play. Thatll be a boost.

Cabrera 3-run homer, 5 run 6th, 12-6 Tigers, ownage baby, ownage, only 1 out.

11-run 6th; 18-6 Tigers, end of 6th...

WOW.

I was ready to write this one off when we fell behind early, but holy god, this team's offense is coming alive.

What a game!!!

5 Homers, 2 for Maggs, 1 for Inge, 1 for Rayburn, 1 for Curtis Granderson who returned to the lineup last night.

Bonderman still walked 7 =/

We win 8-2, bull pen was great again, lineup is looking really good.

We're 8-3 the last 11, this is the team we all expected, the team that can walk a ton of batters but win with their offense and fine pitching performances from the bullpen.

Curtis looks good so far at the plate.

He's really helped give us a start. Magglio is really hitting his stride, too. Theres no question our pitching as a whole still has a lot of kinks to work out, but our offense can keep us in it at least for the time being.

Offense completely alone won't win the day for us. Our pitching will have to be at least decent or ultimately we'll have a hard time reaching and competing in the playoffs.

Beyond that, no clue, but right now just releaved we no longer look like cellar dwellers. Lord knows the Tigers have spent enough of the last decade or so as a bad team.

It's all about the O with this squad. They can easily average 8 runs a game for a month and 6 runs a game for the year if even half the lineup is clicking at the same time. We were embarassingly bad with the bat for the first few weeks, and yet we're already up to over 5 runs a game and fourth in the majors in runs scored.

We just need a bunch of average pitchers to give average performances and we'll win 2/3 of our games.

Its great that we beat down on the Rangers to get going, but now the Halos will be a real test.

I hope we can take two out of three against them. That would be a real bonus.