Tigers 5,
Blue Jays1

Recap:

• The day belonged to the Tigers pitchers.
• Armando Galarraga picked up his second win in as many tries with the tigers. He accounts for 28.5% of the Tigers wins.
• He struck out four and allowed four hits in 5-1/3 innings.
• The Tigers bullpen allowed just one run: Todd Jones gave up a home run, keeping the Detroit from a 5-0 shutout.
• Ryan Raburn made up for making the final out Saturday by driving in the first two runs today.
• Pudge Rodriguez, batting second, went 4-for-5.
• Edgar Renteria went 2-for-4 with a home run.
• Miguel Cabrera’s hitting streak ended at 8 games. But he was named AL co-Player of the Week.
• The Tigers finally won a day game after starting the season 0-10 in the afternoon.
• The Tigers went 3-3 on the road trip with Toronto and Cleveland and have won 5 of the last 8.

Analysis:

• Normally I’m not one to get excited over the W-L record of guys, but considering Galarraga’s allowed just two run, I’m more than happy to give him credit for the Tigers’ wins.
• Word of caution: It’s important to note he loads the bases too often. He did it in back-to-back innings today and pitched out of both. But eventually someone’s going to single or double if he can’t cut down the walks some.
• The question is, when Dontrelle Willis is ready, which I’m guessing follows two more Galarraga starts, what happens to the kid? Especially if he’s still throwing the ball this well. It’s good to tuck him away in Toledo but you hate to send away the only one getting the job done.
• But we also must credit the much-aligned bullpen. They allowed 1 run in the series with Toronto. And that one run came in the ninth inning today.
• Before that, the pen had thrown 12-1/3 scoreless innings.
• I truly do believe the pen isn’t all that bad. I know I’m taking a risk in believing it. But right now, it’s hard not to feel a lot better about the pen than the rotation.
• I don’t like Pudge batting second because his OBP just isn’t that good and I think Edgar Renteria would be perfect in the spot. But it was great to see Pudge have four hits and prove me wrong for the day.
• I don’t get why the Tigers couldn’t win any afternoon games before today, either. I think it’s mostly due to playing so many afternoon games and playing so poorly the first week of the season rather than any glaring weakness. I think the Tigers’ day-game record will be a lot closer to .500 by the end of the year than it is now.
• I’ll take a split and winning 5 of the last 8. The Tigers need better starting pitching we can all agree. But the rest of the club is settling in and when the rotation comes along the Tigers should start to climb back up the standings.

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Tigers 5, Blue Jays 4

You’d just like to capture the celebration afterwards, save it and enjoy it for awhile. Detroit rallied from three runs down with two outs and no baserunners to win the game in walkoff fashion, and Jim Leyland was the second man up the steps of the dugout.  He was jumping up and down in the celebration huddle; he was giddy like a little kid. And weren’t we all?

This game was left for dead. It was over. Roy Halladay owned the Tigers, and Kenny Rogers’ two allowed runs were going to be the only ones the Blue Jays needed, even if they did add two more.  Joel Zumaya left the game holding his hand — giving instant fear and relief that it was “only” a finger nail. Pudge left the game with dizzyness. Jeremy Bonderman learned he probably wouldn’t be back this year. The season was left for dead, just as the game. But the Tigers didn’t see it that way.

Two outs. A hit and a double play. That’s how it started. Four straight hits. A walk. And a walkoff single by Magglio Ordonez between first and second base that made me leap from dread the second baseman would glove it to celebration for the victory. And I was happy, but I was no Jim Leyland.

There was a lot of postgame talk and maybe some people think the same. If the Tigers make the post season, you can look back at the ninth inning of this game and point to that.

And I suppose that’s fine. Maybe even true.  And yet, a line we have heard so many times before, I’m kinda tired of it.

I’m just going to enjoy this improbably comeback for what it is. And that’s an incredibly fun moment after all the dread we’ve experienced.  Even if the Tigers may be out of the playoff hunt — in all likelyhood — you can’t let that get you down. It’s still a fun game that grabs you and makes you a little kid for a few minutes, despite everything.

Inning 9

Box

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Game 13: Kansas City at Detroit, 7 p.m.
TV: FSN
Pitchers: Zach Greinke (1-1, 1.38, stats vs. current Tigers) vs. Justin Verlander (0-0, 0.00, stats vs. current Royals)

Pregame thoughts — The Tigers finally return home after 10 days on the road and just two games at home in 2007. Right now, Justin Verlander is just asking for some run support. The Tigers have scored just one run during innings he’s pitched. Unfortunately, it doesn’t get any easier when he faces Zach Greinke. As far as the Royals bats go, the annoying David DeJesus has pummeled Justin Verlander in eight at-bats.

Young Greinke’s story may be familiar, but I’ll recite it. The 23-year-old had a great 2005 season at the young age of 21, but before the 2006 season some non-physical issues forced him to miss most of the major league season, though he eventually pitched for AAA-Wichita. But he’s back and he seems to have picked up where he left off. He’s hittable, having given up 14 hits in 13 innings. But he doesn’t walk many and he strikes out a lot (12 so far), so Detroit should be an interesting test for the youngster. Craig Monroe and Placido Polanco both have an OPS over 1.000 against him.

Postgame thoughts (Tigers, 12-5) – About time Verlander got some run support. Oh my did the Detroiters ever get on base and plate the runs for him. Three of the first four batters got on base, and Pudge Rodriguez cleared the bases with a grand slam shot to center-right. It really didn’t get any better from there for Greinke, who threw 49 pitches to just eight batters, retiring just two of them. This was a Tigers team that looked comfortable being patient on the plate, fouling off pitches and waiting for the pitcher to make a mistake. In all, they drew eight walks. Gary Sheffield got on base four times, three by walk, once with a hit. So it was nice to see that eye of his come through — though some “balls” may have been iffy. Four Tigers batters have multiple hits. In all, it was a fun day to be a Tigers fan.

Justin Verlander allowed three runs but stuck around for six innings for the quality start. Naturally, DeJesus took advantage, driving in a run. Verlander allowed five hits and no walks while striking out six. 63 of 98 pitches were thrown for strikes. Not a bad day at all. Jose Mesa, on the other hand, gave up two runs while getting just one out. Not the performance you want from a guy in the pen to eat some innings. Too bad, too. Joel Zumaya had to come in to close the door. Mesa will improve. He can’t get worse, can he? But he’ll draw the ire of a fan base that didn’t want him and doesn’t know why Jim Leyland wanted him. So I expect that to be a theme in the coming days.

In all, just a nice win. No other A.L. Central team played today, so the Tigers are tied for first with the Indians.

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Game 12: Detroit at Toronto, 1:07
Pitchers: LHP Nate Robertson (2-0, 1.38) vs. RHP Josh Towers (0-1, 4.76)
TV: FSN

Pregame thoughts: Major League Baseball will celebrate Jackie Robinson today with many African American players — and several teams — wearing his No. 42. Gary Sheffield was the first Tiger asked to wear the number, but coach Lloyd McClendon will be joined by Marcus Thames, Craig Monroe, Curtis Granderson and Pudge Rodriguez.

The Blue Jays Nate Robertson faces today are not the same Blue Jays from his first start of the year. They’re already being touch by injury troubles. Third baseman Troy Glaus and outfielder Reed Johnson are out. Johnson went on the DL. And even more breaking news, B.J. Ryan was placed on the DL with elbow problems after losing his command against Detroit Saturday.

Adam Lind gets the start at left field, John McDonald at third. Neither have enough experience against the Tigers to infer from. Jason Frasor will closer. He earned a win against the Tigers in the season opener and

Pudge has found success off Towers, going 4-for-6. Magglio Ordonez is 5-for-10.

Postgame thoughts (2-1, Jays): You can’t have that Tiger magic every day. Towers handcuffed Detroit’s bats and got the best of Robertson in yet another pitching duel.

You always hate to see a pitcher take a tough-luck loss — when they pitch for a quality start and still get tagged with the L. It’s becoming far-too-frequent with Robertson. I sometimes wonder if there’s a reason he, in particular, has such poor run support when he pitches. In the good and the bad, Detroit has eight quality starts out of 12 games — tops in the American League. But the starts have only picked up victories on half of them.

Towers, of course, wouldn’t have deserved to lose either. He allowed just three hits and one unearned run in 7-2/3 innings. The run came when Curtis Granderson was hit on a pickoff attempt at second base and managed to score when the ball caromed into the outfield.

With the end of the game, the Tigers finished a long 10-game roadtrip with a 6-4 record. Anytime you’re better than .500 on the road, it’s a good trip in my book. And they still haven’t managed to find their bats in the middle of the order. That can’t go on forever. Can it? Detroit takes on Kansas City Monday.

BOX

Around the Central:

Internet went down so, just a quick recap:

TB 6, Minnesota 4 — Rays split the series
Cleveland 2 Chicago 1 — Cleveland won despite having one hit — that in the first inning.
KC-Baltimore PPD

Cleveland is in first place.

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Game 11: Detroit at Toronto, 1:07 p.m.
TV: FSN
Pitchers: Chad Durbin (0-1, 11.57) vs. A.J. Burnett (1-1, 7.27)

Pregame thoughts: My stomach recoiled a bit when I looked at the Tigers lineup. It’s not really the lineup that caused the recoil. The lineup is almost identical to Leyland’s regular starting nine. No. I didn’t even notice the names. I just noticed the batting averages listed. The .263 of Carlos Guillen was the highest average. These guys are slumping, and they’re slumping kind of hard early on. Omar Infante is getting the start in place of Placido Polanco, which explains why it looks so ugly. Omar hasn’t even got an at-bat yet.

The good news is, they hit A.J. Burnett around pretty well in his first start. He gave up six runs in two innings. The bad news is, he’s probably not going to be that bad again.

The other interesting thing to note is Chad Durbin’s second start. He lost his first one, having a bit of a meltdown for an inning but pitching fine otherwise. Can he stop the bleeding quick when the Jays inevitably game some runners on base? We’ll see.

Postgame thoughts (10-7, Tigers): Hardly saw any of this game. Certainly there are better recaps around the blogosphere tonight than I could hope to provide.

“Nine full innings” — the Tigers slogan — stood tall as Detroit rallied from a bad pitching performance by Chad Durbin to pull out the victory. Already in this young season, the Tigers have two ninth inning come-from-behind victories. In Jon Paul Morosi’s article, Todd Jones (six saves already this year) said the Tigers have stolen three games. That’s what winning teams do more often than they have games stolen.

Marcus Thames again proved useful coming off the bench. He fought off a pitch by B.J. Ryan in the ninth inning for a game-winning two-run double. Maybe he’ll continue to play himself into the playing time he already deserves. Another standout was reliever Jason Grilli, whom Leyland credited for the win.

Now, about the other matter: Chad Durbin. He got tagged for six runs in four innings. The first three runs came before he even got an out in the first inning. His ERA has ballooned to 12.46 and he’s allowed three homers in 8 2/3 innings.

As I figured, Jim Leyland is going to give him another start, Danny Knobler reports. I have to figure that’s going to be Durbin’s last chance — he’ll face the White Sox — unless he turns things around. I saw his first two or three innings and have to say, he didn’t look any better than his first game. I’m not sure if Leyland sees any potential for Durbin to turn things around or not. Probably. You don’t carry a pitcher you don’t think can turn things around. I’m not sure I do. I wish I saw something. You want Durbin to have a success story. You should, anyway. He’s a Tiger.

I know it seems like I point this out daily — it’s only because the Tigers have been on the road nine out of 11 games this season — Detroit has six wins in nine away games. That’s a great way to start a long trip.

Around the Central:

Minnesota 12, Tampa Bay 5: Sidney Ponson gave up two runs in 5-1/3 innings for the victory. Torii Hunter had two doubles for Minnesota (7-4) Carlos Pena had a pinch hit 3-run homer for the Rays.

Cleveland 4, Chicago 0: The Indians (5-3) finally picked up their first home victory of the season. How strange. Two homers backed Paul Byrd’s six innings of shutout ball. Young Chicago (5-5) pitcher John Danks allowed just two runs but fell to 0-2.

Baltimore 6, K.C. 4: The Royals (3-9) blew a 4-1 lead. Baltimore starter Daniel Cabrera followed his ownership of the Tigers by allowing four runs in five innings. Former Tiger Chris Gomez homered to help the O’s.

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Game 10: Detroit at Toronto, 7:07, FSN+
Jeremy Bonderman (0-0, 3.75) vs. Roy Halladay (1-0, 3.46)

Pregame thoughts: Cut short because I didn’t leave much time before work, I’ll point out the obvious on this one. This should be a great pitcher’s duel between two guys who should be favorites to finish second in the Cy Young race. They met in the season opener in Detroit, both giving up three runs. Bonderman gave his three up early, Halladay at bit later, and the bullpens settled that game.

Pudge has some luck off Halladay, so he’ll be batting third, Beck pointed out.

Postgame thoughts (Jays, 2-1, 10 innings): I had no idea it would be that much of a pitcher’s duel. We really are flashing back to an earlier era. Jeremy Bonderman pitched nine innings and gave up one run. Roy Halladay pitched 10(!) innings and gave up one run. That is absolutely incredible to have two pitchers dealing like that and two managers who allow them to go the whole way in the same game.

Bonderman’s pitch count was up there, but with only 96 pitches he could have gone a 10th inning probably. That would have been a really classic matchup. But without seeing the game, I have no clue if Bondo was tiring or not. Leyland knows he has a good bullpen so he probably felt comfortable calling on it. Little did he know Fernando Rodney would allow three infield hits — two on bunts — without getting an out.

Oh God. I just realized. Bunt Singles.

Update: I just saw the replay of the 10th inning on FSN. Rodney made a bad decision the first bunt, which was well placed but may have resulted in one out and the runner on second. The next bunt was perfect. Nothing anybody could have done. Runners would have been on first and third with one out. He’d have needed a strikeout to survive. It would have been slightly easier to get out of the inning unscathed if he allowed Sean Casey to make the play on the first bunt. But Toronto executed so perfectly I’m pretty certain there was absolutely nothing the Tigers could have done differently except strike ‘em out. Just tip your caps to the Jays for the victory.

But getting back to Bonderman, it’s early in the season, so I can’t fault Leyland for pulling him. In either case, he’s one heck of a pitcher, dueling Halladay evenly twice already this season. Bondo had four strikeouts in this game and no walks. Somewhat surprisingly, Halladay only racked up two strikeouts.

Too bad his team didn’t get him the win. I guess it would have been too much to ask for a second victory in a pitcher’s duel after Wednesday’s 11 scoreless innings. Too bad Detroit’s offense keeps getting itself into this. The batters faced Halladay, an excellent pitcher. But they made some lesser pitchers look excellent, too

It can be a bit frustrating. Verlander and Bonderman have 0 wins and 0 losses between them while each having a WHIP of 1.0. Bonderman has an ERA in the mid-2s. Verlander has an ERA in the low 0.00s. In the five games they started, the Tigers are 2-3.

(Just because I’m listening to the A’s in the 11th, I’ll point out Dan Haren was 0-2 with an ERA of .69 going into today’s game. So things could be worse. He’ll remain 0-2 with an ERA of 2.00 after today but easily could have been 0-3 without some late heroics by the A’s Eric Chavez… and A’s won).

The good news is the Tigers still have the best record in the A.L., a 3-way tie at 6-4 that means little in itself but shows some positives. Detroit has five wins on the road already, still the most in baseball, which is definitely a good sign. And you know the offense can’t stay this cold. It just can’t. So, I just look to a few positives right now. It stinks to lose, but the overall picture is fine.

Around the Central:

Chicago 6, Cleveland 4: Juan Uribe is on fire. He hit his third homer of the season and added four RBIs for nine, helping the White Sox (5-4) beat the Indians (4-3) in Cleveland’s…uhm… home opener? Javy Vazquez got the victory.

Tampa Bay 4, Minnesota 2: Johan Santana’s home-winning streak ended at 17 games — the Twins won all 24 starts — when the unlikely Devil Rays derailed him behind ace Scott Kazmir. Carl Crawford had an in-the-park homer for the Rays. Minnesota remains tied for first with a 6-4 record. (AP story)

Baltimore 8, K.C. 1: Brandon Duckworth got payback for owning the Tigers last game. Unfortunately the O’s were the ones to collect it. Nick Markakis homered for the O’s. Reggie Sanders went 3-for-4 for the Royals (3-8).

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Detroit at Toronto, 7:07 p.m. FSN+
Mike Maroth (1-0, 7.20) vs. Tomo Okha (0-0, 10.38)

Pregame thoughts: There’s some happy batters in Toronto tonight. It’s toasty warm. There’s no wind gusts blowing on them. And the pitchers have a combine ERA of 17.58. Today is a great day to be at the plate. Of course, ERAs like that won’t continue. And the way the Tigers have been batting, Okha could look pretty good by the end of the night. But as I said, Detroit batters have had exactly one game in nice weather. It’s been cold and crappy otherwise. I expect some hits.

As I stated earlier, Mike Rabelo will be catching for his first major league game. Gary Sheffield will get out of the clubhouse and into the field when the Tigers aren’t hitting.

Jon Paul Morosi has some thoughts about being in Toronto, which used to be a rival but now is just a team we see twice a year.

Canadian baseball blog Batter’s Box looks at the Jays and the Tigers.

Postgame thoughts (Tigers 5-4): Brandon Inge spurred the Tigers offense with a long solo home run to left in the third inning and the rest of the team followed. Yes. That Inge. Not only that, but he finished the day with three RBIs! It was good to see a little offense, as Detroit (6-3) put five runs on the board by the end of the sixth inning.

(Justin Verlander: And you couldn’t even get me one in two games!?)

For the most part, this looked like a baseball game to me. Toronto assisted the matter with a pair of errors that result in one unearned run. It wasn’t always cleanly played, but it felt like a good game to watch. Jays second baseman Aaron Hill was especially fun to watch, other than the fact every play he made hurt the Tigers.

Mike Maroth went to 2-0 on the year, as he allowed just two runs in six innings for a quality start. Maroth induced 10 ground balls and five fly balls. He did have a stumble, allowing two runs before getting an out immediately after the Tigers took a 4-0 lead in the fourth. But it’s important to remember he’s a softy-tossing lefty in a roofed ballpark against a lineup of guys who love to hit righties. All things considered, that’s not bad. He shot the Jays down after that, and it was a pretty good start, I’d say.

After the 12-inning affair in Baltimore, the bullpen was bare. Jose Mesa, as always, ate up some innings and left Tigers fans just hoping to get through them. That offseason acquisition doesn’t make any more sense now than it did when he was signed. He looked to prove us wrong with two Ks in the seventh, but couldn’t get an out in the eighth.

Oh, and Joel Zumaya got the save, pitching two innings. I wouldn’t exactly say he threw water on the eighth-inning fire that Mesa left brewing, as he allowed both runs Mesa put on base before hunkering down. The ninth inning was a breeze. I still think Leyland’s wrong and he could close right now, but I honestly prefer his role now. Most games, he manages to calm the fire.

Mike Rabelo proved to be fine as a catcher. He wasn’t so good at getting on base, but he caught fellow catcher Greg Zaun stealing and seems to play the position fine defensively.

Detroit has won five of seven games during this road trip, so the Tigers are already assured of a .500 trip with three games to go.

BOX

Around the Central:

Cleveland 4, L.A. Angels 2: Travis Hafner hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to lift Cleveland (4-2) over the Angels. Jeremy Sowers pitched seven strong innings for the Indians but took no decision.

Baltimore 2, K.C. 1 (10 inn): The O’s went to extra innings a second straight day before Jay Gibbons drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th. Gil Meche allowed no runs in six innings for the Royals (3-6) and got 5 Ks.

Minnesota 3, Tampa Bay 2: Former Tiger Carlos Pena knotted the game at 2-2 with an RBI, but the Rays had some awful baserunning mistakes in the ninth to kill a rally. Justin Morneau hit a walkoff homer to give the Twins (6-3) a victory.

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It’s only two games. Obviously, looking for any tendencies this early is a pretty risky endeavor. Much of what we see probably means nothing. But I’m going to toss a few things I noticed out in the first two games.

• Magglio Ordonez has four walk in 10 plate appearances. I find it pretty unlikely anyone is pitching about him to get to Carlos Guillen, so I’m going to credit Maggs for a good eye. That and the Blue Jays had some control struggles.
• As a team, the Tigers drew 12 walks, 8 in the second game. Sean Casey added 3 walks.
• Craig Monroe (5!), Brandon Inge (3) and Granderson (3), three of last year’s strikeout leaders, are again pacing the Tigers in whiffs. The team has an 8 per-game average. Grandy doesn’t seem like he’s struck out three times though. We’ll have to see if he really cuts down on the Ks. I have little faith for the other two, though Monroe really struggled in the home opener, making things a bit out of proportion this early.
• Despite this, Inge has actually scored three runs, tied for the team lead with Granderson …
• who is the only Tiger with any extra bases hits. He’s got 1 double, 1 triple, one homer.
• Anecdotally, there’s too many first-pitch swings still, especially in high leverage situations. (Bases loaded yesterday by Guillen, tying run on base in the opener in the 10th by Guillen).
• I’d have liked to see Curtis Granderson score from third yesterday. He had two opportunities, once on a fly ball, once on a passed ball. He didn’t tag up properly on the fly. But why not score on the PB? I honesty wonder if the Tigers thought the game was in hand with a 10-2 lead and didn’t want to run it up, but you just have to take advantage of all scoring opportunities, and they failed at that.
• The team has looked sloppy at times on defense. Brandon Inge had some bobbles. Craig Monroe made a mess in the first game. Ordonez struggled the second game. I wonder how much of this is weather related, yesterday having a confusing, powerful wind. Bilfer has more on defense.
• The first two starters — Jeremy Bonderman and Nate Robertson — didn’t overwhelm, but they both kept the team in the game with three and two runs allowed, respectively, through regular-length starts. But …
• The bullpen makes me sick, though anecdotally, that defense probably hurt Jason Grilli some. But 9 earned runs, 6 walks and 3 strikeouts among four relievers? That isn’t pretty.
• I was surprised Fernando Rodney got the call in both of the opening games.
• Rodney Feels Out of Sync, Beck writes. You’re telling me!
• Toronto has a great offense, so I don’t doubt a large chunk of the pitching problems were their fault.
• 1-1? I’m happy with that considering the opponent.
• Happy (belated) fourth birthday, TigerBlog!
• On to Kansas City!
• P.S.: GO SPARTY! MSU beat Maine, 4-2, and will play for a hockey national championship Saturday.

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This whole “Second day off” thing seems to have bitten the Tigers in the butt, as Tuesday was fine but they can’t play today. It helps them “getaway” a bit sooner to Kansas City. After getting a bit sloppy against a team that really makes you pay for it in the Jays, maybe we can breathe easier — but maybe not. More in tomorrow’s preview.

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Toronto Blue Jays @ Detroit Tigers, 1 p.m., FSN
RHP A.J. Burnett vs. LHP Nate Robertson
Fangraphs.com live boxscore and win probability

Tigers MLB.com Preview

Jays MLB.com Preview

JAYS

1. Johnson, LF
2. Overbay, 1B
3. Wells, CF
4. Thomas, DH
5. Glaus, 3B
6. Rios, RF
7. Hill, 2B
8. Zaun, C
9. Clayton, SS

TIGERS

1. Granderson, CF
2. Polanco, 2B
3. Sheffield, DH
4. Ordonez, RF
5. Guillen, SS
6. Rodriguez, C
7. Casey, 1B
8. Monroe, LF
9. Inge, 3B

My pregame thoughts: The first day of celebration ended Monday when the Tigers began the day by raising the American League pennant and ended it by losing to the Blue Jays in extra innings. Today, they’ll receive their AL championship rings. Kenny Rogers may even be there to pick up his ring in person. (Update: He made it.) From that point on, it’s baseball.

Which is good. That first inning Monday was a doozy. Whether that’s because Jeremy Bonderman continued his first inning struggles, as Daily Fungo Mike thought, or if it’s because every Tiger had an Opening Day ceremony hangover and every Blue Jay had hopes of spoiling the party, I don’t know. But I sure hope not to see a repeat when Nate Robertson takes the mound. There’s a lot of right-handed batters for Toronto, and Nate had an ERA of 9+ last season against them, so it should be interesting to see if he can overcome that.

Jason Beck’s preview pointed out Sean Casey is 12-for-20 against Burnett.

Update: The weather apparently stinks but they’re going to try to get it in. It’s pretty white way up north, so if it does half this in Detroit anytime soon, the Tigs may take tomorrow off.

Yesterday in the Central: The Twins went 2-0 on the year by defeating Baltimore, 3-2, behind a strong bullpen performance. Beck watched and shared his belief many people wrote off the Twins too quickly. The rest of the Central was off.

Postgame thoughts: 10-9 Tigers. What the deuce!? Seriously. After Curtis Granderson helped put an 8-spot snowman on the board and Craig Monroe helped make it 9-0, the Tigers had, oh, about a 99.9 percent chance of winning. I’m not sure how many digits Fangraph goes out on its probability, but I have to guess it would have spat out something high like that. Nate Robertson had a slight stumble, but it’s still 10-2 when I think “Well this one’s in the bag. Why don’t I get something done at the gym?” It’s 10-9 when I step on the treadmill? What. The. Deuce?! The box score tells me Jason Grilli had a bad day. And Fernando Rodney didn’t really help matters.

So I’ll concentrate on what I did see, which was good and bad. Robertson’s dealing for five innings was decent. A lefty against a righty lineup, Robertson could have been excused if he had any struggles, but he pitched right through the lineup without giving up a run until the sixth inning. That was nice to see. For the game, he got 11 groundballs and 2 flyballs — a nice ratio — and struck out four in 5-2/3 innings. Granderson was obviously a good point, with his grandslam and triple, though he did strike out twice. Pretty much, I could mention most of the first six batters and say they had a good day at the plate. Placido Polanco continued his Spring Training tear with another 3-hit game, and Pudgey had four hits.

But you can nitpick this thing, too. I’m waiting for Fangraphs play-by-play and going off the top of my head, but I believe Carlos Guillen swung at the first pitch with bases loaded and flew out. He swung at the first pitch in another instance too. I believe a couple guys swung at first pitches in the middle of rallies to kill them. And, of course, Brandon Inge and Craig Monroe are really struggling at the plate. Sean Casey failed to get a runner home from third when he batted with the bases loaded twice, throwing fuel on the fire for Chris Shelton’s supporters, but I’d remind them it’s still early and just one game. He scooped up some pretty crappy throws to save errors to earn his keep today.

I’ll probably have a second post with a more detailed look at the game when some better stats come out.

BOX

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