Series 2: Rangers Vs. Tigers

[m23uza1hem36]

@ Comerica Park

Texas Rangers (3-0); 1st Al West Vs. Detroit Tigers (1-3); 4th Al Central

Probable Pitchers:
Game 1: Kris Benson, RHP (0-0, -.--) Vs. Armando Galarraga, RHP (0-0, -.--)
Game 2: Matt Harrison, LHP (0-0, -.--) Vs. Justin Verlander, RHP (0-1, 19.64 ERA)
Game 3: Kevin Millwood, RHP (1-0, 1.29 ERA) Vs. Edwin Jackson, RHP (0-0, 1.23 ERA)

Detroit Tigers Lineup:
C. Granderson, CF
M. Thames, LF
M. Ordonez, RF
M. Cabrera, 1B
C. Guillen, DH
B. Inge, 3B
M. Treanor, C
R. Santiago, 2B
A. Everett, SS

Texas Rangers Lineup:
I. Kinsler, 2B
M. Young, 3B
J. Hamilton, CF
A. Jones, DH
N. Cruz, RF
M. Byrd, LF
C. Davis, 1B
T. Teagarden, C
O. Vizquel, SS

Note: Lineups vary from game-to-game, I will update as soon as possible.

[Snakebites]

Kris Benson, huh?

Didn't think he still had a career in these parts.

Lets see how serious Galarraga's sophomore slump is going to be.

[RustInPeace]

I'm expecting him to finish with an ERA at around 3.9-4.3. He struggled a bit towards the end of the season.

I also have a bad feeling he'll get hurt for more than 3 weeks sometime this season, but I sure as hell hope I'm wrong.

[ajaX82]

Two teams with awesome offenses, bad pitching.

These games will have some fireworks

[RustInPeace]

GRAND SLAM CABRERA!!! 7-0 Tigers

[m23uza1hem36]

Great, great game to watch. Third nice pitching start out of four games, Armando gave up only one, struck out eight. Perry looks impressive, struck out first guy he saw. Cabrera is heading toward a tremendous year, very impressive start to the season, love the grand slam.

[m23uza1hem36]

Kris Benson, huh?

Didn't think he still had a career in these parts.

Lets see how serious Galarraga's sophomore slump is going to be.

He got shellacked today, feel bad for the guy.

[Liqourish]

Edwin and Armando will have great seasons for us. Miner and Porcello should be serviceable. We need Verlander to get on board and start pitching like the ace he's supposed to be.

I got Cabrera for MVP!!! He's just unstoppable!!

2-3 to start the season. Very easily could have been 4-1. Team looks really good. Bull pen is weak, but Perry, Seay and Robertson look good. Rodney appears in good shape too. Rincon and Lyon are our weakspots. it's be nice to get Zumaya back healthy.

[Snakebites]

I HOPE Edwin and Armando look anywhere near as good as they did in their first starts for the whole season.

And yeah, Cabrera has been an absolute BEAST so far. This could be the start of an absolutely monster year.

2-3 isn't spectacular, but theres definitely enough here that will be interesting to see for the rest of the season.

[Liqourish]

2-3 isn't spectacular, but it should have been 3-2 if not for Lyon who justly got booed unmercilessly in the announcements. LMAO. I bet Edwin Jackson hopes the team can give him a 10 run cushion to work with his next time out.

The team just looks better this season. I mean, even in the dugout. Teammates are talking and laughing. Players seem closer and more encouraging. It's got a nice feel to it. And it's showing out on the field. Pitchers are trusting the defense behind them. Players are making assists to get the outs. There is only one player who appears not to be totally into diving for every ball.

Past few years, the wild card in the AL has won at least 95 games. If the Tigers can stay close to the top of the AL central, they have a chance to get back to the postseason.

Alot will depending on pitching though. Let's hope Verlander has a better outing tomorrow afternoon.

[Snakebites]

^Yeah, we can talk about the other pitchers all we want (and a couple of them could be solid), but bottom line is that I still don't think we can contend for the playoffs (much less do anything once we get there) without Verlander pitching closer to the level he did a couple years ago.

We need a legit number 1, and I still think Verlander is the only one we've got with the talent to be that.

[ajaX82]

Our offense is kinda decent. Pretty serviceable even

If Verlander could remove head from ass tommorow i would be just thrilled

[m23uza1hem36]

One more pitch Rodney...lets go!

[m23uza1hem36]

Another great game all around, solid pitching, great bullpen play, the bull pen eliminated the final 13 batters in a row. Offense was good enough to win, woo.

[Liqourish]

Verlander was good. He was locating his fastball nicely. 8 strikeouts in 5 innings. Brought down his era alot today. It was encouraging. Hopefully he builds on this start.

Back to back errors by Inge and Everett added a couple runs for the Rangers, but our bullpen came through. Seay, Robertson, Perry and Rodney have looked great this season so far. Brandon Lyon and Juan Rincon have been the culprits who've cost us leads/games.

Gerald Laird has impressed me thus far. He had a triple yesterday, a double today. Not too mention him going over the rail to get Josh Hamilton out. He looks comfortable on the team. He was a nice pickup.

We've left alot of men on base already this season. We need to find ways to get these guys in for runs.

Hopefully, the batters and defense can make up for the loss in Toronto and go get Edwin a win tomorrow. A 4-3 start to the season would be a whole lot better than 0-7 to start the season.

[ajaX82]

good stuff here, a sweep tomorrow would certainly have me in higher spirits than after the Jays series

[Snakebites]

Good stuff today, but I'd like to see Verlander get his pitch count under control.

I know he struck out a ton of guys in 5 innings, but just the same you shouldn't be pushing 100 pitches in the fifth inning, and that was a big part of the problem with his starts last year.

Guillen's not off to much of a start so far in the hitting department, but that happens. Hopefully he'll get into a rhythm.

And apart from a few misteps in the first couple of games, I remain pleasantly surprised with the bullpen. I hope that doesn't go away too fast.

[Liqourish]

Well it normally takes switch hitters a little longer to get going for the season. And with having such a mix of right and left handed pitchers already, I can see why he's struggling a little. Knowing Guillen though, he'll get it going.

Going against a RHP today, we'll probably see Josh Anderson and/or Jeff Larish in some role. Josh hasn't done anything at the plate yet, but he's looked good in the OF. Larish looks to be where he was when last season ended. Along with Santiago and even Matt Treanor.... I really like our bench this season.

Let's hope Cabrera gets at least a hit his first AB today.

[m23uza1hem36]

I'm loving Inge right now, rally here in the eight inning, now 4-1, man on, no outs.

[RustInPeace]

Bizarro Inge and Lyon show up today