Tag Archives: Jose Valverde

Rivalry Week a split decision so far

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Major League Assholes’ Rivalry Week got off to an unsatisfying start with series splits between the Tigers/White Sox and Cubs/Cardinals.

After the Tigers shit the bed on Monday, blowing two separate multiple-run leads and eventually losing 7-5, the Sox returned the favor in a MAJOR way on Tuesday.  A resurgent Jake Peavy looked like his usual dominant self until the 6th when the wheels completely fell off.  After trailing 6-0, the previously hibernating Tigers’ offense roared to life with an eight-run mauling including bombs from Miguel Cabrera (who’s obviously happy with the way Roger Bossard draws the batter’s box now), Ryan Raburn and Austin Jackson.  Detroit needed all the runs they could get as Jose Valverde and Octavio Dotel did everything they could to give me a heart attack in the 9th as Dayan Viciedo‘s (a.k.a. Lady Di, but a.k.a. Tiger Killer) would-be game-winning drive to right died on the warning track for the final out.

Meanwhile, the surprising Cubs took their third of the last four against the World Champion Cardinals on Monday by a score of 6-4 powered by Bryan “Trade Bait” LaHair‘s ninth blast of the season and a rare productive appearance by Alfonso Soriano. Between suffering the extremes of the Tigers/Sox game and actually trying to get some work done, I missed Tuesday’s walk-off loss to the hated Cards. But I was more than happy to avoid watching those toothless, jort-wearing yokels in St. Louis celebrating.

In a strange scheduling week full of two-game series, the Tigers should get a breather facing the pathetic Twins followed by the equally pathetic Pirates at Comerica Park over their next five.  The Cubs return home tonight to face the offensively-challenged Phillies, but the schedulers at MLB really kicked the Sox in the seeds by sending them out to the West Coast to face the fallen Angels. The Halos aren’t exactly setting the world on fire, but they have won eight of 14 in the month of May.

But the real issue is the travel schedule for the Sox as they won’t land back in Chicago until late Thursday night/Friday monring for Friday’s 1:20 start at Wrigley.  I’m confident enough in the well-rested Cubs’ chances over the drowsy Sox that I picked up Jeff Samardzija (4-1, 2.89 ERA) for a spot-start in our fantasy league.  The Sox send out a suddenly not-so-perfect Phil Humber (1-2, 5.77 ERA) who has struggled badly in his last four starts, giving up 21 runs over 20 just innings.

Saturday’s pitching matchup clearly favors the Cubs again with Ryan “Canadian Trade Bait” Dempster (0-1, 1.74 ERA) facing John Danks (2-4, 6.46 ERA), but as you can see from Demp’s record, the Cubs have found many creative ways to spoil every single one of his outings. Sunday marks the return of the shaken Peavy (4-1, 2.65 ERA) to the mound to battle a chronically mediocre Paul Maholm (4-2, 4.35 ERA), so that one should be interesting.

PV and I will be at Wrigley Friday to witness the carnage while trading insults, slamming Bud Heavies, and maybe even blogging live from the bleachers (if we can still work our iPhones).

Ready to Roar 2.0

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Tigers celebrate Jhonny Peralta’s walkoff homerun to beat the White Sox 5-4 Friday.

“Get to .500, then we can talk.” So goes the ancient baseball adage and so go the Tigers who finally seem to have righted the ship after taking a tight series from the White Sox this weekend to move to 14-13.

I wrote a similar post around this point in the season a year ago about how the Tigers were looking like they were about to separate themselves from the rest of the AL Central and I don’t need to point out how correct I was, but I’m about to do it anyway—sorry about that.

After 27 games in 2011, the Tigers were actually in worse shape with a 10-15 record.  They had suffered through being swept at home by the Mariners just as they have this season, but began turning things around after taking a series from the White Sox.  Sound familiar? Detroit went 85-52 from that point on to cruise to their first division title since 1987 by 15 games. Now it’s looking like history is repeating itself.

The Tigers could be using the Sox as a launching pad once again as 17 of their next 24 games come against sub-.500 ball clubs including Seattle, Chicago, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Boston.  The only exceptions are Oakland and Cleveland who are both bound to come back to earth.

Detroit’s starting pitching had struggled until last week when they combined to give up only 12 runs while eating 40 innings over six games for a 2.70 ERA. Justin Verlander‘s 2-1 record doesn’t reflect his repeat Cy Young performance thus far, averaging almost 7 2/3 innings per start with a 2.38 ERA and .184 batting average against. Rookie Drew Smyly has been dominant with a 1.61 ERA over his first five starts so more consistency from Rick Porcello and Max Scherzer coupled with the return of Doug Fister from the DL to face his former teammates in Seattle tonight suddenly give the Tigers one of the deeper rotations in the game.

There’s no need to fret about a Tigers offense that has sputtered at times this year.  There’s simply too much talent there to flounder all season. PV is a lot more worried about Prince Fielder than I am since he’s sure to improve on his already solid .300 AVG, four HRs and 13 RBI as he gets more and more familiar with American League pitching. Jhonny Peralta finally got his first bomb of the year in spectacular walkoff fashion Friday night. Austin Jackson is showing vastly improved plate discipline and  Miguel Cabrera is simply Miguel Cabrera—on pace for 42 HRs and 132 RBI.

The defense hasn’t been nearly the issue that most pundits predicted it would be before the season started as they currently rank in the top third in the Majors in fielding percentage. However, the bullpen does tend to make me throw up in my mouth at times as the back end has been anything but impressive.  Jose Valverde and Joaquin Benoit are simply allowing way too many base runners (1.82 and 1.86 WHIPs respectively) and need to get back to the numbers on the back of their bubblegum cards.  When they do, we’ll be seeing a repeat of 2011′s runaway victory in the AL Central.

Week One Report Cards: Cubs/Tigers

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Can we please put an end to the debate? There is no question Chicago is the greatest baseball town in the world.  In this first week of the season, not only did I have the privilege of getting sunburned and a bit intoxicated amongst the brick and ivy in the bleachers of baseball’s greatest cathedral last weekend (though I had to suffer through Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol defiling another solid start by Matt Garza), but I get to head down to Mobile Phone Park today to watch the Tigers avenge yesterday’s tough loss to the South Side nemesis.

Seven or eight games certainly isn’t enough of a sample size to draw any definitive conclusions about the long season ahead, but that’s not going to stop me from doing it here.

Cubs: C+
The Cubs 3-5 record masks what has been a surprisingly productive offense that ranks in the NL’s top five in Runs, RBI, and Avg. and better than average starting pitching. Despite poor outings by 4th and 5th staters Chris Volstad and Paul Maholm, Cubs starters have a combined 3.51 ERA with 50 Ks in 51.2 innings. Garza and  Ryan Dempster have both had quality starts spoiled by the bullpen which is the only thing keeping them out of first place in the division.  Is it too early to question the wisdom of the ‘Messiah’ Theo Epstein for trading one of the game’s best left-handed relievers in Sean Marshall for Travis Wood who is on a bus somewhere in Iowa now?  Nope.

Tigers: A-
It wasn’t hard to predict the Tigers would have a good offense, but to lead the AL or rank second in Runs, Hits, Triples, RBI, Avg, OBP, and SLG% is even more than I could’ve hoped for.  With an offense like that, the pitching only has to be average, which it has been, ranking in the middle of the AL with a 3.80 ERA despite having to rely on minor league call-ups Drew Smyly and today’s starter Adam Wilk due to Doug Fister‘s mysterious left side injury. Even the defense has been decent despite the lack of range.  The only thing that worries me is closer Jose Valverde who has already blown a save and couldn’t stop the bleeding when Justin Verlander inexplicably imploded after eight dominant innings on Wednesday.  Papa Grande needs to return to his 2011 form before I can give the Tigers full marks.

So now I’m off to 35th & Shields where the Sox have an awful record against staters they’ve never seen before—I’m sure PV has the numbers. A shaky Gavin Floyd looks to be the next punching bag for the Tigers potent offense. I’m just hoping Roger ‘Sodfather’ Bossard can draw the batter’s box correctly today.

2011 Tigers postmortem: Top 5 moments

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It might be easy to forget what an incredible season the Tigers had in 2011 after such an embarrassing ALCS Game 6 loss to a clearly superior Rangers ball club, but there’s no way I’m going to let that happen. A season in which the Tigers won their first division tille since the Reagan era by a colossal 15 games contained a million indelible moments—here are my top 5:

5. September 28 vs. CLE: Valverde goes 49 for 49
Needless to say, Jose Valverde is a polarizing figure.  His antics on the mound and entering games make opponents seethe with anger and Tigers fans revel in his ridiculousness.  He puts a few to many runners on base for my taste, but no one can deny that his 2011 season was entertaining, effective, and extraordinary. Closing the season at Cleveland with his franchise-record and league-best 49th save after giving up a hit and a stolen base while striking out two was a perfect microcosm of the rollercoaster of emotions Papa Grande put Tigers fans through all year long.  It was never easy, but somehow he always got the job done.

4. September 14 vs. CWS: Tigers win 12th in a row
To win 12 games in a row is a huge accomplishment, but to do it against your division rivals at crunch time to put the division title out of reach is quite remarkable.  On August 29th the Tigers held a tenuous 5-game lead over the White Sox followed by the Indians only a half game behind the Sox. Two weeks later, the race was over after the Tigers swept the the Indians, Twins and finally the White Sox (twice). I was fortunate enough to witness the 11th win firsthand—a 5-0 shellacking by Verlander and crew—the night before the coup de grâce. Coming back from a three-run deficit in the 9th on pinch-hit home runs from Ryan Raburn and Alex Avila then sealing the deal on a Carlos Guillen’s RBI single in the 10th put an exclamation point on the Tigers’ dominating run.

3. September 3 vs. CWS: Tigers come back from 7-down to win 9-8
In many ways, the Tigers ended all their AL Central division foes’ hopes for 2011 with their miraculous 9-8 victory over the White Sox on September 3rd. After trailing by as many as seven runs, the Tigers comeback culminated with a game-tying, two-run homer from Ryan Raburn followed by a stunning walk-off homer from Miguel Cabrera in the 9th. The soul-crushing defeat sent the White Sox spiraling downward as they gave up 18 runs the following night. The improbable victory sent the Tigers well on their way to eventually win 12 in a row and finally clinch their first division crown in 24 years.

2. May 7 vs. TOR: Verlander throws second career no-hitter
Justin Verlander’s 2011 season will go down as one of the greatest individual performances in Major League history. Leading the league in Wins, ERA, Strikeouts and WHIP will not only give him the Cy Young, but it would be a crime if it didn’t also land him the MVP, which I have been campaigning for for months. But when you add in his no-hitter against the Blue Jays in which he only issued an 8th inning walk to spoil a perfect game, the notion that he doesn’t deserve the MVP is simply asinine.  24-5 record, 2.40 ERA, 250 Ks, 0.92 ERA, .192 BAA—’nough said.

1. October 6 vs. NYY: Tigers win ALDS-clinching Game 5
Winning any playoff series is a big deal.  Winning a playoff series in a deciding Game 5 on the road in front of the largest crowd in new Yankee Stadium history is a whole different animal, but that’s exactly what the Tigers did. Unheralded utility player Don Kelly and waiver-wire pickup Delmon Young went yard on consecutive pitches to stun the Yankees in the 1st inning.  Doug Fister went five strong, giving up just one run on five hits to the formidable Yankees lineup. Victor Martinez’ two-out RBI single to score Austin Jackson proved to be the game  winning as Max Scherzer, Joaquin Benoit and Valverde combined to lock down the remaining gut-wrenching, heart-in-your-throat four innings to take the Tigers frist winner-takes-all game in a postseason series since 1968.

Though it ended on a sour note, 2011 was a great year for the Tigers and should prove to be the start of a long run of dominance over the AL Central.  With a strong staff of young pitchers under contract for the next several years, a nucleus of young hitters that collectively ranked in the top five offenses in the game and with money to spend in the offseason after the contracts of Guillen, Magglio Ordonez, Brad Penny and Joel Zumaya come off the books, the tank is full and the gas pedal is mashed to the floor in the Motor City.

It was the best of times…

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The Lions’ complete dismantling of the Bears certainly helped, but to completely get over Nelson Cruz‘ 11th-inning, walk-off grand slam (the first in MLB postseason history) which put the Tigers down 2-0 in the ALCS is going to take some time. The majestic shot off of “reliever” (in the loosest sense of the term) Ryan Perry was so monstrous that I had plenty of time to judge it’s apocalyptic trajectory and switch over to the start of the Lions game before the ball landed safely into the sickeningly jubilant throng in Arlington’s left field bleachers.

To even get to that point was an adventure.  First, the game was originally scheduled for Sunday night, but was inexplicably cancelled four hours before game time due to rain.  The only thing is IT NEVER RAINED.  So the game was moved to late afternoon on Monday when most people are actually working.  Added to Games 4 and 5* (*if necessary) that are already scheduled for the late afternoon in Detroit and you have a situation where most of the fanbases of the Rangers and Tigers won’t be able to watch the majority of the ALCS.  And Commissioner Bud “Admiral Akbar” Selig can’t figure out why his TV ratings continue to plummet?

When the game finally began, the Rangers immediately jumped out to a 2-0 as I stewed in my office listening to ESPN’s shaky internet feed.  Meanwhile, the Tigers squandered chance after chance, stranding five runners on base in the first two innings. Finally, the Tigers capitalized on Derek Holland’s wildness and took the lead with a Ryan Raburn three-rum bomb. Max Scherzer then settled in and cruised through the 6th, at one point mowing down 12 straight Rangers.

Going into the bottom of the 7th, as I walked home from the train listening on my iPhone, I agreed with manager Jim Leyland’s decision to stick with Scherzer as he had thrown only 87 pitches. Facing the bottom of the order, I thought it was a good move to try not to tax a bullpen that is sure to be tested with no off days scheduled until Friday. Unfortunately, the bottom of the Rangers’ order includes the aforementioned Nelson Cruz who promptly deposited a ball over the wall in left to tie the game at three—a harbinger of the awful things to come…

I got home in time to watch Tigers relievers quiet the crowd and Texas’ bats until the Human Heart Attack, Jose Valverde entered in the 9th. The Big Potato immediately gave up a double to Adrian Beltre which then forced him to intentionally walk Mike Napoli. Valverde swiftly drilled Cruz in the wrist and chest, dropping the slugger to the ground and loading the bases with no outs.  I guess you might as well hurt the guy if you’re going to put him on base anyway, he just should’ve hit him harder.

Valverde has been infamously bad in non-save situations all year (5.79 ERA) so I thought I was reading the righting on the walls until he got David Murphy to fly out for the first out of the inning setting up the possibility of a game-saving double play.  With a grounder to first I was off my couch to witness Miguel Cabrera fire the ball home for one and receive it back from Alex Avila for two to complete the improbable 3-2-3 double play to cheat death.

Unfortunately, the great escape only prolonged the inevitable as the deeper Texas bullpen outlasted Detroit’s, eventually forcing Leyland’s hand to go with the 24-year-old Perry who really shouldn’t even be on a major league roster at this point with a 5.35 ERA in 37 innings this year. Cruz’ eventual soul-crushing blast wasn’t too difficult to see coming.

Yes, the Lions’ utter humiliation of the Bears certainly did help ease the pain of a critical Tigers’ defeat. But it doesn’t change that the Tigers essentially need to take all three upcoming games in Detroit, starting tonight, to have any chance of going to their 11th World Series in franchise history.

Nostra Verde = Game 5

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I predict the Yankees will lose game 4! Whoops!

Not sure how I missed this, but I did. I’m not shocked at all by the Yankees performance on Wednesday after reading that MLA poster boy, Jose Valverde aka Nostra Verde aka Nostra Grande predicted the series would be over in four games. Why Jose, why?

There’s no reason to motivate a team that is some how already motivated despite having been to the playoffs for the last two decades, no reason whatsoever. Jose could not keep his mouth shut and here we are today counting down to game 5 of the ALDS. After reading this I think the advantage has swung back to the Yankees. Players never learn to keep their mouths shut in these situations, and it seems to almost always backfire. I’m not the least bit surprised as Valverde’s antics on the mound are ridiculously annoying.

Nostra Verniere predicts that Nostra Verde will not pitch in save situation tonight.

Evil Empire on the verge of destruction

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Game 3 Recap
Last night’s epic struggle between the game’s top pitching behemoths Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia certainly lived up to it’s billing, but not in the locked-down, low-scoring way most expected.  While CC was shaky from the beginning, he was able to get out of trouble with double plays in each of the frist three innings, Verlander gave up two quick runs and then settled into his usual dominant groove. The soon-to-be MVP stuck out 11 (including every Yankee in the starting lineup) and topped the 100 mph mark 15 times—his highest total ever.

Eventually, Detroit was able to wear down CC with clutch hits from some unlikely sources in utility infielder Ramon “Code Red” Santiago and the much-maligned Brandon Inge. The two combined to go 4-for-8 with two doubles, two runs scored and two RBI. Meanwhile, New York was finally able to get to Verlander again in the 7th despite his attempts to explode the radar gun to tie the game at 4.

But the death blow to put the Evil Empire on the brink of elimination came from another unexpected source in waiver-wire acquisition Delmon Young.  The “Little Meat Hook’s” opposite-field blast off the world’s highest-paid middle reliever Rafael Soriano put the Tigers up 5-4, setting things up for closer Jose Valverde to give all Tigers fans a heart attack, but eventually managing to get the Save as he always does.

Game 4 Preview
Tonight’s Game 4 couldn’t be billed more differently as New York’s worst nightmare A.J. Burnett (11-11, 5.15 ERA)  heads to the mound to face the consistently inconsistant Rick Porcello (14-9, 4.75 ERA) for Detroit.  While last night’s game was the battle of the best starters in the league, it’s pretty clear tonight will be a battle of the bullpens.

With Verlander gutting out eight innings last night, Tigers manager Jim Leyland will have a more rested bullpen than the Yankees.  Saddled with inferior starting pitching that hasn’t been able to go six innings in either of the last two games, New York manager Joe Girardi has been forced to burn thru his two best middle relievers in Soriano and Dave Robertson last night as well as Boone Logan, Cory Wade and Luis Ayala for a totat of 3.2 innings on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Tigers haven’t used anyone but Valverde and Joaquin Benoit out of the pen over the last two days so Leyland has a full arsenal to work with. With the offenses being equally potent, the Tigers have the edge with a slightly better starter, more bullets it their bullpen, and a raucous crowd at their backs. This series is OVAH!!!

Game 5* (*if necessary)
Even if by some miracle the Tigers don’t clinch tonight, all is not lost as some hysterical bloggers have suggested. Detroit would send September’s American League Pitcher of the Month Doug Fister (8-2, 2.40 ERA as a Tiger) to the mound, fully rested on Thursday.  Despite one poor inning on Saturday, Fister has proven he can get the job done over the long haul and is simply better than his Game 5* (*if necessary) counterpart, Ivan Nova (17-4, 3.66 ERA).

Those same hysterical bloggers have even suggested that Leyland must start Verlander in Game 5* (*if necessary).  While I agree that Verlander is superhuman and capable of the virtually impossible, to start him on two-days rest after throwing 120 pitches would be a ridiculous panic move and totally unnecessary.  While not unprecedented, a starting pitcher going on two-days rest in the postseason hasn’t happened since the late 1960s when four-man rotations were the norm and there was only one round of the playoffs, not three.

Furthermore, it’s ridiculous to rush Verlander back when you have a legit starter ready to go with Fister. It would be ludicrous to just give up on a pitcher with a sub-3.00 ERA for the season because of a mere blip on the radar in very strange circumstances Saturday. But even in the unlikely event everything falls apart for the Tigers in Game 4 and Game 5* (*if necessary), no one said Verlander won’t be available out of the bullpen in an all-hands-on-deck, worst-case scenario.  Once again, advantage Tigers.

Things really couldn’t be more bleak for the Yankees. Any way you stack it, the Tigers hold the advantage in almost every remaining facet of the series.  Whether they win it tonight or win it on Thursday, all of Detroit will be smiling and New York will be left questioning how a team with a $200 million payroll could loose to the Tigers for the second time in five years.

Motown momentum shift

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Living in Chicago for the last 14 years has definitely rubbed off on me.  As Detroit’s Alex Avila slipped on the Yankees’s on-deck mat and missed an easy foul pop-up off the bat of former Tigers standout Curtis Granderson with two outs in the 9th,  I felt the familiar sense of dread I’ve felt watching so many Cubs games where a freak “Cubbie occurrence” at the worst possible moment would inevitably lead to disaster (eg. 2003 NLCS Game 6, 8th inning).

But it was with a greater sense of relief that I immediately realized these were the Tigers, not the hapless Cubs, and cosmic forces were not conspiring against them to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. Even when Granderson eventually walked to bring up the potential winning run in the form of RBI-machine Robinson Cano, I knew it was just a minor play and not the beginning of the end. Unblemished closer Jose Valverde could get the job done and did, inducing a Cano groundout to first, tying the series at one game apiece, and wresting home field advantage and momentum away from the Yankees.

Now the Tigers send soon-to-be MVP Justin Verlander to the mound to face off against Yankees’ ace CC Sabathia in a rematch of Friday’s rain-shortened Game 1.  It appeared the rainout would work to the advantage of New York as they pummeled the Tigers in Saturday’s resumption, 9-3. But, as I asserted in my ALDS preview, Detroit’s superior pitching depth would prove to be too much for the Yankees to handle, and now that advantage is even greater.

Not only do the Tigers get to send Verlander to his comfortable home mound instead of a hostile Yankee Stadium against Sabathia, but the rainout also ensured that neither would be available to pitch twice in the series, kicking the legs out from under New York manager Joe Girardi’s plan to hide his thin pitching staff.  Now Girardi is forced to expose the chronically mediocre A.J. Burnett (only two quality starts since the All-Star break) in Game 4 against Rick Porcello whose last five outings have all been QSs.

But when it really come down to it, it’s like the old baseball axiom goes: Momentum begins with the next day’s starting pitcher.  The Tigers just so happen to have the best in the world going in about two hours.  I like our chances.

We’ve only just begun…

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Perhaps lost in the malstrom of Wednesday night’s epic finishes and equally epic collapses on THE GREATEST NIGHT IN MLB REGULAR SEASON HISTORY is the fact that Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera won the American League batting title with a .344 average.

He joins pitching Triple Crown winner Justin Verlander (24 Ws, 2.40 ERA, 250 Ks—oh yeah, and he had the top WHIP of 0.92 for good measure) and Saves leader Jose Valverde (49 of 49) on one of the greatest Tigers rosters in the history of the illustrious franchise.

Winning 95 games for the 10th time in their 110 seasons, Detroit has fared quite nicely against each of the remaining AL teams. Of those 95 wins, 14% came against New York (4-3), Texas (4-2) and Tampa (5-1). They also come into the playoffs as the hottest team in the Majors, going 30-9 down the stretch.

But this is only the beginning.  Regular season accomplishments and accolades are meaningless if you don’t get it done on the big stage in the playoffs and it doesn’t get any bigger than Game 1 tonight in the Bronx.

Many have lamented the Tigers’ loss of home field advantage to Texas by one game, forcing them face the hallowed Yankees in the frist round. But this actually works to the Tigers’ advantage as they will only have to beat them three times in the shortened Division series instead of four in the ALCS.  They’re going to have to face them at some point so why not make it easier on themselve?  We only have to look back to 2006 to see it can work as the Tigers dismantled another 97-win Yankees club, three games to one.

As we all know, pitching wins championships and tonight’s heavyweight battle between Verlander and CC Sabathia should prove to be one for the ages. I could analyze the stats forever but the simple fact is JV-MVP is just better than CC and should prevail.  However, even if  the 2011 Cy Young winner falters or Tigers bats go quiet versus Carsten Charles, Detroit’s superior pitching depth will prove to be too much for the Yankees to handle.

Game 2 will feature September’s AL Pitcher of the Month Doug Fister versus an impressive, yet inexperienced 24-year-old Ivan Nova.  The matchup favors Detroit once again with Fister sporting a 2.83 ERA and 1.06 WHIP vs. Nova’s 3.70/1.33.  No contest.

Monday’s Game 3 is where things get really interesting when the Tigers return home sending the mysterious heterochromiac Max Scherzer to the mound against Sweaty Freddy Garcia. We’re never sure if we’ll get Good Max when he’s using his blue eye or Bad Max when his brown eye takes over, but he always has the potential to dominate.  Garcia had been known as s Tigers killer throughout his career, but that reputation hasn’t held true lately as he’s 0-3 vs. Detroit since last September.

But the real key to Game 3, and possibly the whole series will actually be the off day, Sunday.  As long as Tigers’ brass can keep Garcia’s sweaty mits off his Venezuelan buddy Miguel Cabrera and out of any of the saloons the two used to haunt, the Tigers should be just fine.

If the Tigers need a fourth game, manager Jim Leyland has already announced he won’t send Verlander out on three days’ rest so it’ll be Rick Porcello vs. C.C. Sabathia.  I don’t like that matchup at all so let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.  But it it does, the Tigers have the ultimate ace in the hole with Verlander waiting in the wings on his normal five days’ rest to face a completely overmatched Ivan Nova on short rest.  In the immortal words of the tiger-blooded Charlie Sheen: “WINNING!”

Final verdict: The Tigers’ superior pitching depth will prevail. I’ll be conservative and take the Tigers in 5.

Ready to Roar

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Miguel Cabrera is congratulated in the Tigers dugout after hitting a game-tying home run in the 9th en route to an 8-4 victory over Oakland.

There’s not a lot of Tigers talk on Major League Assholes because, frankly, they just don’t generate the same kind of compelling insanity that comes from both ends of the Chicago baseball landscape.  However, that doesn’t mean the Motor City isn’t still #1 in my heart (sorry Cubs, I love you too, but you’ll always take a backseat to my hometown team).

Despite flying almost completely under the radar, the Tigers have quietly clawed their way back to .500, overcoming a tough opening two-week schedule that featured a road trip to the Bronx and a series against the defending AL champs.  They’ve done it so quietly, in fact, that my colleague mistakenly tried to use their record as trash talk on Facebook today (nice try, Pete).

Last night’s 10th-inning, 8-4 comeback win in Oakland shines a light on who the Tigers seem to be this season: an offensive mix of productive superstars and scrappy youngsters with a decent, but not yet dominant starting rotation backed by a lights-out bullpen.

Miguel Cabrera is off to his typical MVP-caliber start with 5 HRs, a .320 average, and 11 RBI.  And while the numbers may not be as obvious, major off-season addition, Victor Martinez has fulfilled his role of suppling Big Mig with much-needed protection, creating an ominous left-handed threat at the plate, playing a mentoring role to emerging talent, Alex Avila, all while providing flexibility to the Tigers lineup as a backup C, DH and 1B.

Last night’s victory was the 1,500th in the illustrious career of Jim Leyland who has the best kind of problem a manager can have:  trying to find playing time for breakout candidates Ryan Raburn and Brennan Boesch in a crowded outfield.  Both have thrived in the competition, combining for 2 HRs, a .290 average and 14 RBI.  Austin Jackson needs to pull out of this early sophmore season slump and the imminent return of a healthy Magglio Ordonez is essential, but the Tigers depth has certainly helped stop the bleeding in the meantime.

The starting rotation has been anchored by perennial All-Star, Justin Verlander who has been his usual dominant self, eating up 23 innings in three games with a 3.13 ERA and 21 Ks including a tough complete-game loss against Texas.  Max Scherzer has been a solid #2 already with two victories including one in Yankee Stadium.  Third-year starter, Rick Porcello has been disappointing so far until he showed signs of righting the ship last night with a solid one-run, six-inning performance against the A’s.

The back of the bullpen has been absolutely dominant thus far with the lethal combination of Joaquin Benoit in the 8th and Jose Valverde in the 9th yielding only one earned run in 12.2 innings. I’ll take these guys over anyone in the AL right now.

While the Tigers are on a 4-game winning streak, they’re still looking up at the surprising Indians and Royals in the division. But it’s been proven, time and again, that teams with such little depth cannot maintain their early torrid pace and will soon fall to the wayside.  After losing their last two, the Sox are a mere half game ahead, and despite a potent offense and solid starting pitching, they are clearly in disarray with an imploding bullpen that has proven no lead is safe and has manger Ozzie Guillen at his wits end, calling for the resurrection of former White Sox closer and 1990 AL Rolaids Relief Man of the Year, Bobby Thigpen.  The floundering Twins are now reeling from the lose of Joe Mauer, on the DL with a mysterious illness.  I’m going to start the rumor here that it’s syphilis, not because I have anything against the former MVP (he seems like a pretty cool guy in all those PS3 commercials), but just because I hate Twins that much.

Given the bullpen being an obvious strength while other AL Central rivals’ being epic failures coupled with the offense and starting pitching rounding into form, I’m starting to really like the way everything is falling into place for the Tigers to take control of the division as we cross over of this gloomy April into the sun and warmth of May.