Justin Verlander walked six Red Sox batters — a seventh was intentional. Those walks led to three runs. And the Tigers lost, 6-4, at Fenway Park after he gave up a 2-out, bases-loaded hit in the sixth inning.

Verlander just didn’t really have it. He admitted as much. He only had his fastball today. Last outing, the White Sox hammered pretty much everything but his fast ball, so it was probably the same case. Or it got in his head a wee bit. In his last three starts, he’s given up five, four, and three runs (going backwards from Wednesday). Coupling his tired arm with his recent performances, it is a bit disconcerting. It’s not panic time. But it’s something worth nothing. He probably shouldn’t have been going six innings anyway, but especially not when he was having so much trouble with his control through five innings. It’s not often I question Jim Leyland, but I wasn’t really in favor of the sixth inning, period, little lone leaving him in when he loaded up the bases.

I can’t complain about much else. Brent Clevlen’s home run right out of Fenway Park altogether was awesome. I’m really, really liking this guy. Can he keep it up in the long run? It’ll be interesting to see. I’d really like to see him get more playing time, but Leyland picks and chooses to give his players the best chance at success, so Clevlen’s three homers in 17 at-bats could be due to that. It was nice of Magglio Ordonez to get his first homer since before the All-Star break. Maybe he can add a few more. I liked Pudge leading off the game with a 10-pitch at-bat. Hopefully he keeps doing that. I didn’t like him swinging at the first pitch of the night, though. Oh, and I still like Craig Monroe. Great throw from the outfield to get Alex Cora out.

If you had told me the Tigers would take 2-of-3 in Fenway Park, I’d have been happy. So, having done that, I won’t be annoyed too long when I look at it with perspective. I’ll admit I was rather annoyed at the time because Detroit probably should have taken this game. Plus, the wins-losses figuring I did back in July? Detroit’s only 1 game less than I pegged them at for today. So that’s still more than a 100-win season if they stay on my conservative guesses.

Mark Grudzielanek, 2B for KC, was expected to be traded to the Tigers today. He wasn’t. He signed a contract extension instead. I don’t know how serious the rumors were, if it was something the Tigers were pursuing at all or not. But MLB.com reported it.

With Chicago’s defeat at the bats of Kansas City, Detroit’s playoff RIOT number (similar to magic number) is apparently 30 31 and is 36 for a Central title. If I’m reading this right. This is calculated by folks at Berkeley using remaining schedule information. (Hat tip bilfer at DTW).

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How costly the Tigers’ 3-2 victory over Boston will be remains to be seen. Placido Polanco separated his shoulder while making a run-saving catch in the seventh inning of the game Tuesday at Boston. Craig Monroe drove the game-winning run in with a tough hit down the right field line that popped out of Boston right fielder Wily Mo Pena’s glove. And Jeremy Bonderman pitched so well again that you really have to start wondering when the Cy Young talk comes his way. Watch. It will within another few starts if he keeps pitching like himself.

But the outcome of the game, while important in its own right, really pales in comparison to what happened during the game.

Here’s what we know: Polanco was put on the 15-day disabled list for the injury and will be checked out more completely today. Ramon Santiago, a pretty nice defender and pretty crappy batter, received the call-up. And Omar Infante will take over as the day-to-day second baseman, at least temporarily, although likely for a lot longer.

Speculation by Pudge Rodriguez immediately following the game and quoted by the AP is that Polanco is done for the year. But the Tigers believe it’s too early to say for sure, and they’re probably right.

I do not mean to lessen the gravity of the loss. Polanco is a great defender and a nice contact hitter. It’s pretty big when you play as a team with no superstars, but a lot of important cogs. But if the Tigers were forced to have an injury, it’s one of the lesser injured players they could have. Other than the depth at the left field/first base /designated hitter rotation, he’s one of the few guys who doesn’t leave a big hole. The loss of Carlos Guillen, Magglio, Brandon Inge, Curtis Granderson or Pudge would have been far worse. What those guys bring to the team — whether at the plate or in the field, or in most cases both — is impossible to replace.

Polanco didn’t get on the base an exceptional amount of time. He didn’t have much isolated power, If you want to go the winshares way, he’s right around 0. Polanco and Infante have similar equivalent averages at .244 and .243. (This link is a direct comparison of runs created at Fangraphs. I’ll compare more between the players later today.) Obviously, Placi is popular in the locker room, the guy I wanted up with a runner on third, a better defender and a leader on the field. Infante is a drop-off, and the game isn’t played by statistics alone. But, I’m just saying, it could definitely have been worse.

Hopefully we find out more today or tomorrow. That shoulder injury does not necessarily put him out for the rest of the year, although it certainly could. The Providence Journal speculates it’s typically 4-to-6 week injury. We just can’t say for sure. So, put that panic button away, for now anyway. Let’s get some more facts first. And, see if there are any waiver-wire trades to be made. It’s certainly another character builder, one you’d prefer to avoid.
So, remembering the loss, I am still very happy to take the first two games in Boston. That was much needed after a 5-game losing streak. The Tigers took on the Red Sox’ top two pitchers and came out with a pair of victories in the hardest stadium for the visiting team to win in against a team fighting for the playoffs. It’s definitely a character-proving series, and the Tigers came out looking stellar. Chicago lost, so the AL Central lead returned to 6.5 games.

I would never expect a sweep in Boston, but considering the pitching matchup of Justin Verlander verus David Wells, you have to figure it’s possible.

Hopefully they can survive the Polanco test as well.

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Well, That was a nice way to start off a series in Boston and end a losing streak: When Curtis Granderson led off with a triple and soon after scored, the team looked very loose in the dugout. Very happy. Even Pudgey. They didn’t resemble a team that was struggling, stressed, or worried at all. So Jim Leyland worked his magic. When the Tigers  remembered how to take a walk — to the tune of six for the game — the offense looked pretty good. Combine that with another nice pitching performance by Nate Robertson, and the Tigers won, 7-4.

Like a hitting streak, one win does not mean the bad baseball is over. It was for a day, but we won’t really know for a couple of days if they’ve righted the ship or just looked like it. They might have. But, really, it’s way too early to say, so I won’t. But I am going to enjoy the mostly relaxing game. It feels nice to win for the first time in a week.

The Tigers did some good things. The head’s up play (credited to Omar Infante) by Carlos Guillen to get Manny Ramirez out at home plate was nice. Sean Casey’s two-out hit off the Green Monster was much needed in the third inning and made the game 5-0. And putting two runs on the board in the eighth inning when Boston came within 5-3? That was huge. It would have been nice to hold the Red Sox scoreless in the bottom half of the inning (or for Joel Zumaya to have a glove installed on his shoe) but they were hitting it pretty well. In all, the Tigers just displayed a lot more good habits and a lot fewer bad habits.

So I have hope. Cautiously optimistic. But hope.

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Interesting to see that Todd Jones is even hearing it in the media from his manager. Jim Leyland called his decision to have catcher Vance Wilson come to the mound the “kiss of death” and could not figure out why the pitcher would do that with two outs and a strike. Apparently Jones thought he saw something, tried to pitch to whatever he thought he saw, and gave up a two-out single. That set up Kevin Youkilis, who saw the ball over the leftfield wall. Jason Beck also wrote this at DetroitTigers.com, but I’ll link to John Lowe.

“There’s no reason (Leyland said). You’ve got all the momentum. You got two quick outs. You’ve got 800 acres to play with in centerfield. You’ve got strike one. There’s no reason to have any conversation. He (Jones) has done a good job — he’s got 16 out of 18 (saves) — but that’s a no-no, absolutely inexcusable.”

Draft

The Amateur Draft begins Tuesday. I have nothing really useful to add. Baseball America and Jason Beck both think there’s a decent chance the Tigers take a high schooler from Dallas. I’m of the Billy Beane idea that you should take refined college players, such as Justin Verlander, rather than prep kids. In any case, it’s always a bit of a dart toss anyway and such a wide net is tossed that it’s hard to find anything useful to say until a year or two later, except the rare case of Cameron Maybin or Verlander or something. Joel Zumaya was drafted as an 18-year-old in 2002 in the 11th round. It took three years before we really heard too much about him. But obviously, he turned out fine. That was a Randy Smith pick, by the way. I’m no Smith fan [who is?!], but he seemed to get better just before he got fired.

The Free Press has an article about the re-birth of the farm system. 

Today 

Zach Miner has his Major League debut for the Tigers against a struggling Matt Clement (4-4, 6.91) for Boston.

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Since last Saturday, the Tigers haven’t looked like the Tigers we all know and love. Well, I take that back a bit. They have at times resembled the Tigers. They’ve fought and fought every game, though opponents’ pitching held them to a few shutouts and low scoring games. Coming back against the Yankees, and coming within 1 out of defeating the Red Sox Friday still didn’t really feel quite like the Tigers, though it was getting close. Saturday’s 6-2 victory in front of a sell-out crowd was just what the doctor ordered.

Actually, I feel like the Tigers proved they can “play with the Red Sox.” I scare-quotes that because I don’t really think it had to be proved. If not for a blown save, the series would be 2-0 Tigers right now. But it’s 1-1, and Detroit has played soundly against another quality team. So I am not in the least concerned.

I am not as sure if the Tigers proved much against the Yankees. Not that it matters too much in the long term, but it would have been nice to at least tie that series, though the Yankees seemed to out play Detroit in the innings I saw. That and the Tigers most decidedly did not look like themselves, making mistakes left and right we havent’ seen all season.
But back to the present. Jeremy Bonderman set down 13 in a row, showing he can still be the pitcher he’s projected to be. He gave up three hits. Jason Beck points out Bonderman has been a real thorn in the side of the Boston Red Sox as of late.

He has won his last three meetings with Boston …, all of them at Comerica Park.

More later, I’m sure.

Some Housecleaning

Roman Colon is a bullpen guy, according to Jim Leyland. Leyland wasn’t going bench him after one start, he seems to want guys not to feel their job is on the line with every pitch, but he saw all he needed to, I guess. I’m not really going to dispute his opinion.

Maroth will be out 2 to 3 months, the Tigers say. We hope the best for him, not because his statistics have looked nice, but because over the years in the Olde English D, he’s always been a good guy, and you always want the good guys to find success.

The Daily Fungo Podcast gave me a couple nice compliments. Go check out the podcast if you haven’t already. And no, I was not eaten by mosquitos. But I do have a few black fly bites from my last time fishing.

Danny Knobler wonders why people aren’t showing up, even though they do for the Lions, Red Wings and Pistons. If I had to speculate, I would say filling a 40,000+ seat stadium on a nightly basis is more difficult than a 22,000-seat arena two times a week or so, or a football stadium once a week for 10 weeks over the course of 5 months. I could be wrong. I really don’t know. But I have a good feeling winning like they have, the Tigers will continue to see a mostly-full park.

At Fox Sports, the Inside Pitch thinks Jim Leyland will ignore calls to replace Jones.

But the fact is that while Jones is now 0-3, Friday night’s 2-1 lead was only the second he has blown through the early days of the third month of the season. That’s pretty good for a closer.

And Jones’ history shows he’s much more effective finishing games than he is setting them up, which is what he’d be doing if Leyland replaced him as closer.

It could be worse… Derrick Turnbow blew three saves in the last four games of action for Milwaukee.

The Yankees beat the Tigers 3 of 4 times. Fox Sports Dayn Perry rewarded them with the No. 1 power ranking. After two weeks of leading, Detroit is No. 2.

Detroit is No. 5 in the ESPN power ranking. Their top-choice, the St. Louis Cardinals, have had some injury problems, including the loss of Albert Pujols. Maybe we don’t want to be No. 1…

A few days old, CBS Sportsline has Detroit No.2 behind the White Sox. After this week I don’t know if either team will hang on to that area.

Nearly a week old, Sports Illustrated ranked Detroit No. 1 before the Yanks series.

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Earlier this year, I stuck up for Todd Jones. His inning of work is always an adventure, but he’d only blown one save. He doesn’t give up many home runs. But the adventure of too many baserunners continues. It bit him in the butt for the second time this week, and Todd Jones absorbed a second loss, this time on a blown save attempt in a 3-2 game to Boston at Comerica Park. That one stings a bit.

Jon Papelbon, who’ll give Justin Verlander a run for the money for Rookie of the Year — or more likely the opposite, as Papelbon is the favorite right now — did what Jones couldn’t: get the 1-2-3 inning.

I’m sure the question will arise: Do we replace Jones as closer? My unequivacle no is beginning to waver. The question I’m asking now is, When do we replace Jones? He’s a proven closer. Maybe it’s just a bad stretch. You’ve got to give him his chance to get through it. And if he comes out and gets another 8 or 9 saves without a problem, that’s fine. But if he comes out and blows another game…? Well, that’s why the question is bound to be asked more and more frequently.

MORE later. I have to take a walk.

Walk done. Not sure if I’m rational yet. Kevin Youkilis is the Greek God of Walks, for you Moneyballers out there, but I don’t remember anything about the God of home runs. For good reason. He has 2 6.

I am in a disgusted mood because I am sick, sick, sick of the way Todd Jones pitches, and I, myself, rattle off the fact he’s blown just one save but every time he takes the mound I think he’s inches from blowing another save. This is my mind at work.

What is Jones’ batting average against? Ack. .329.

OBP against? .338

WHIP? 1.59.

OPS? .826.

ERA? 5.21.

Stats aren’t everything, but I think we’re looking at a strong argument here against Jones’ pitching much longer.

Does that sound like a guy you want to hand the ball to in the ninth inning? It doesn’t to me. He gets the job done, for the most part, but rationally, those numbers don’t look good. Wanna compare? Check out the WHIPs of most of those closers. They’re sorted by saves, even if it’s not listed. Or look here. I challenge you to find a closer with BAA, OBP or OPS remotely near Jones.

So I don’t care if we let him lose another or replace him now, I am convinced Jones is not the closer I want to see. I’d rather he blow the lead in the seventh, at least there’d be a few more outs to get it back with.

Who would I rather see out there? That’s simple. Joel Zumaya. Others have said Fernando Rodney. I can respect that. But Rodney seems to get too emotional out there at times and throws the ball right by the catcher at times. Still, you want to convince me he should pitch? You can make a great argument. The guy has a great BAA (.133), a decent OBP (.250), OPS (.479), WHIP (.92) and ERA (1.08). And oh yeah, he’s closed some games and looked pretty good doing it. So, yeah, I’m not exactly going to oppose that change.

I do like Zumaya though. We know rookies can close. Huston Street, former Rookie of the Year. Papelbon, future ROY. And Zumaya has both the stuff and the emotional makeup to close. He will be the Tigers’ closer of the future, I’m convinced, moreso than I am that Rodney will fill that slot. WHIP? 1.13. AVG? .193. OBP? .303. OPS? .620. ERA? 2.77. So, yeah, I will see your argument that you’d rather have Rodney. But I’d still like to see the kid up there in the ninth.

I would feel pretty darn confident with either.

I would not with Jones.

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