Rick Porcello Throws 7 Shutout Innings in a 6-2 Tigers Victory

The Detroit Tigers beat the Tampa Bay Rays tonight 6-2.

In the 3rd inning, after singles by Austin Jackson and Quintin Berry, Miguel Cabrera hit an infield single to load the bases with 1 out for Prince Fielder who had a ground out that scored Jackson and the Tigers took a 1-0 lead.

The Tigers added more runs in the 8th inning after a double by Brennan Boesch, then Ramon Santiago was hit-by-the-pitch, and Austin Jackson hit a 3-run home run to give the Tigers a 4-0 lead; it's his 8th of the season.

Rick Porcello pitched great tonight going 7 innings of shutout Baseball. He gave up 4 hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out 4; he earned his 6th win of the season.

Joaquin Benoit came in to pitch the 8th inning and gave up 2 runs, but the Tigers took a 4-2 lead to the top of the 9th inning.

Jhonny Peralta went on to hit a 2 RBI single and the Tigers had a 6-2 lead going to the bottom of the inning.

Jose Valverde had a scoreless 9th inning to get the Tigers the win.

Drew Smyly (2-3 4.48 ERA) starts the series finale for Detroit tommorrow as he takes on Alex Cobb (3-4 4.73 ERA).

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Justin Verlander Struggles in a Tigers 4-2 Loss

The Detroit Tigers lost to the Tampa Bay Rays tonight 4-2

Tonight was a night that if something had a chance to go wrong, it did. Between a blown call by the umpire (at 1st base), bad base running (Austin Jackson), lazy defense (Quintin Berry), and bad defense (Prince Fielder).

The Tigers were down 3-0 going into the 5th inning, but a Delmon Young solo home run made it a 3-1 game; It's his 6th of the season.

Justin Verlander gave up another run in the 5th inning and was done after going 6 innings tonight. He gave up 4 runs on 6 hits, walking 1 and striking out 8 batters; it was Verlander's 59th straight game going atleast 6 innings.

The Tigers added another run in the 7th inning after a double by Ramon Santiago, a ground out by Miguel Cabrera to advance Santiago to 3rd base, then a ground out to score Santiago and made it a 4-2 game.

Octavio Dotel pitched a scoreless 7th inning and scoreless 8th inning.

The Tigers weren't able to get anything going all night, even after David Price left the game with an injury before the top of the 8th inning.

Rick Porcello (5-5 4.71 ERA) takes the mound for Detroit tommorrow as he takes on Jeremy Hellickson (4-3 3.45 ERA).

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Miguel Cabrera & Austin Jackson Have 4 Hits Each in a Tigers 5-2 Win

The Detroit Tigers beat the Tampa Bay Rays tonight 5-2.

The Tigers got on the board in the 3rd inning after singles by Quintin Berry and Prince Fielder, Delmon Young drove Berry in with a single, then Alex Avila hit a double to drive in Fielder and the Tigers took a 2-0 lead.

Detroit came back in the 4th inning with a single from Brennan Boesch who advanced to 2nd base on a ground ball from Ramon Santiago, then Austin Jackson hit a single and Boesch advanced to 3rd base. Quintin Berry came up and reached base on an error and it allowed Boesch to score. Miguel Cabrera came up next and hit a single, but Austin Jackson was called out at home on a bang-bang play, but the Tigers took a 3-0 lead.

After Max Scherzer allowed a run in the 5th inning, the Tigers came back in the 6th inning with a single by Austin Jackson, who advanced to 2nd base on a fielding error by James Shields on a pickoff throw. Quintin Berry sacrificed Jackson to 3rd base (well, that's what the box score will say), and Miguel Cabrera hit a single to score Jackson to make it a 4-1 game.

Max Scherzer pitched well tonight going 6 innings, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits, walking 2 and striking out 7 batters; he earned his 7th win of the season.

Phil Coke came in to pitch the 7th inning and gave up a run that was credited to Max Scherzer, thanks in large part to an error by Quintin Berry. After the 7th inning it was a 4-2 game.

Joaquin Benoit came in and pitched a scoreless 8th inning.

Miguel Cabrera got the Tigers another run in the 9th inning with a solo home run; it's his 16th of the season and extended the Tigers lead to 5-2.

Jose Valverde came in and pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning to get his 14th save of the season and secured a Tigers win.

The Tigers continue their four game series as Justin Verlander (8-4 2.52 ERA) takes the mound and pitches against David Price (10-4 2.95 ERA).

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Justin Verlander Throws a Complete Game in a 3-2 Tigers Victory

The Detroit Tigers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates today 3-2.

The Tigers have scored 5 runs in their last 4 games, so they decided to finally score some runs early today. After a leadoff single by Austin Jackson, Quintin Berry hit a 2-run home run; It's his first of the season, and first of his career. The Tigers had a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the inning.

After Justin Verlander gave up a 2-run home run in the 7th inning to tie the game, the Tigers offense responded in the 8th inning. After Quintin Berry walked, and stole 2nd base, Prince Fielder was walked to get to Delmon Young who somehow hit a single to score Berry and it gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead.

Josh Harrison just about took Verlander deep in the 8th inning, but Ryan Raburn made a catch to save a home run, and kept the Tigers in the lead.

Justin Verlander pitched a complete game today, and saved a bullpen that was short handed. He gave up 2 runs on 5 hits, walking 1 and striking out 7 batters; He earned his 8th win of the season.

The Tigers travel to Texas and open up a 3 game road series with the Rangers tommorrow and Rick Porcello (4-5 4.95 ERA) takes the mound for Detroit as he takes on Justin Grimm (1-0 4.50 ERA)

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Tigers Offense Shut Down Once Again in a 4-1 Loss

The Detroit Tigers lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates today 4-1.

The Tigers offense once again struggled today, getting their first hit from Ramon Santiago in the 6th inning.

Miguel Cabrera got the Tigers on the board in the 7th inning with a solo home run; It's his 15th of the season and cut the lead to 3-1.

Max Scherzer's day was done after 6 innings. He gave up 3 runs on 3 hits, walked 1 and struck out 7. All things considered for Scherzer, it was a solid outing.

The Tigers bullpen ended up giving up another run, and despite an effort in the 9th inning to get back into the game, the efforts fell short and the Tigers lost again.

Justin Verlander (7-4 2.57 ERA) starts the series finale for the Tigers tommorrow as he takes on Kevin Correia (3-6 4.12 ERA).

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It's Time to Realize It, Delmon Young Isn't Very Good

It's June 23rd 2012 and I am typing this at 10:03 AM and I finally get it. I get why Delmon Young was traded to Minnesota for Matt Garza. I get why Delmon Young was traded to Detroit. . I get why the Atlanta Braves had no interest in trading for Delmon Young in th offseason. I get it.

Truth is, Delmon Young just isn't that good.

I was confused why a guy who had such a successful 2010 season was traded for virtually nothing last season, and was even more confused when Delmon Young finished the 2011 season strong, hitting for a lot of power including 5 home runs in the postseason. It all makes sense now, though.

This is a player who has damaged his career because he is so in love with himself and thinks so much more of himself than what he really is. He's really just a platoon player, and his stats support that. Against right handed pitching, Young has a career OPS (on-base plus slugging) of .711, and against left handed pitching his OPS is .823.

Quite the difference, and those splits seem to be getting worse by the season. In 2012 he has an OPS of .612 vs right handed pitching and an OPS of .836 vs left handed pitching.

However, Young has managed to get playing time on a daily basis for the most part this season. It's almost like the Tigers organization believes he's above his platoon splits, and continue to let him bat 5th behind Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder, even though Young has not done much at all this season.

The hope for Tigers fans at this point is Victor Martinez comes back as soon as he ca, but then Jim Leyland will probably put Young in left field over more deserving players such as Andy Dirks or Quintin Berry (Yes, that's how bad Young is).

However, this wasn't always the case with Young. He was the first pick in the 2003 draft, and was a no doubter to be the #1 pick. However, between throwing his bat at an umpire, and being arrested for an alleged hate crime, Young has shown he would just rather waste any talent he had because he just doesn't care.

Delmon Young also still think he's not a DH, and almost refused to play DH when asked in spring training about possibly being the DH. That's just what you want, a player who doesn't want to help his team out, but rather, worries only about himself.

Delmon Young had so much potential, but it was wasted, and that's a shame.

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Tigers Offense Shut Down in 4-1 Loss

The Detroit Tigers lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight 4-1.

The Tigers struggled to do much on offense today, and didn't score until the 7th inning when they were down 4-0 at the time. Jhonny Peralta hit a double, and Ramon Santiago drove him in with a double of his own.

Doug Fister went 6 innings giving up 4 runs (2 earned) on 8 hits, walking 1 and striking out 7 batters.

Luis Marte came in and pitched 2 scoreless innings, but theTigers couldn't get anything going on offense to come back.

Max Scherzer (6-4 5.17 ERA) takes the mound for the Tigers tommorrow as he goes up against Brad Lincoln (3-2 3.82 ERA).

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Quintin Berry Hits a Walk Off Single in the Tigers 2-1 Win

The Detroit Tigers beat the St. Louis Cardinals in 10 innings today 2-1.

After both offenses struggled to get much going, Prince Fielder started the scoring in the bottom of the 4th inning with a solo home run; it's his 11th of the season and he hit it an estimated 440 feet.

Jacob Turner struggled a bit with his command today, but in his first start for the Tigers this season, he did a nice job. Turner pitched 5 innings, giving up 1 run on 4 hits, walking 5 and striking out 3 batters.

Octavio Dotel pitched in his first game since coming off the DL and had a scoreless 6th inning.

Phil Coke came in and pitched a scoreless 7th inning and got the first out of the 8th inning, then Brayan Villarreal came in to finish off the 8th inning. Villarreal came back out and pitched a scoreless 9th innning.

Joaquin Benoit came in and pitched a scoreless 10th inning and ended up getting the win.

In the bottom of the 10th inning, Ramon Santiago and Jhonny Peralta hit singles, then Austin Jackson was hit by the pitch (well, his jersey was), and it set the table for the bases to be loaded with 1 out, and Quintin Berry at the plate won the game with a walkoff single!

The Tigers start up a 3 game road series with the Pittsburgh Pirates as Doug Fister (1-3 2.68 ERA) takes the mound against A.J. Burnett (7-2 3.52 ERA).

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Austin Jackson, Delmon Young Help the Tigers to a 6-3 Win

The Detroit Tigers beat the St. Louis Cardinals tonight 6-3.

The Tigers opened the bottom of the first inning with a double by Miguel Cabrera, walk to Prince Fielder, then Delmon Young drove Cabrera in with a single to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Cabrera scored thanks to smart base running by Fielder.

The Tigers came back in the 2nd inning with singles by Brennan Boesch and Jhonny Peralta, followed by a bunt single (that was supposed to be a sacrifice bunt) by Ramon Santiago to load the bases. Austin Jackson came up with 1 out and hit a 2 RBI double, then Quintin Berry drove a run in with a ground ball to 2nd base and took a 4-0 lead.

Detroit came back in the 5th inning with a single by Quintin Berry, walk to Miguel Cabrera, then Prince Fielder hit a fly ball that advanced Berry to 3rd base with 1 out for Delmon Young who hit a single to drive in Berry.

After the Cardinals scored a run, Detroit came right back in the 6th inning after Ramon Santiago was hit by the pitch, Quintin Berry hit a single and Santiago advanced to 3rd base on the hit, then Miguel Cabrera drove Santiago in with a single and the Tigers had a 6-1 lead.

The Cardinals scored 2 runs on a Quintin Berry error in the 7th inning, but that's all they got and Justin Verlander's day was done. He went 7 innings giving up 3 runs (1 earned) on 5 hits, walking 4 and striking out 3 batters; Verlander earned his 7th win of the season.

Joaquin Benoit pitched a scoreless 8th inning and Phil Coke pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning to earn the save and got the Tigers the win.

Jose Valverde seemed to hurt himself warming up, there is no information on any injury at this time.

Rick Porcello (4-4 5.18 ERA) takes the mound for Detroit tommorrow as he takes on Jake Westbrook (5-6 4.27 ERA).

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Max Scherzer Strikes Out 12 in Tigers 5-0 Win

The Detroit Tigers beat the Colorado Rockies today 5-0.

The Tigers got on the board first in the 2nd inning, after a Don Kelly single, Gerald Laird drove him in with a double to get the Tigers an early 1-0 lead.

Detroit scored again in the 3rd inning after Quintin Berry hit a single, and reached 2nd base on a balk, Miguel Cabrera was then walked on 4 pitches, then Prince Fielder hit a RBI double. After walking Jhonny Peralta intentionally to load the bases for Ramon Santiago who hit a 2 run single and the Tigers took a 4-0 lead.

There was a 53 minute rain delay in the 4th inning.

The Tigers came back in the 6th inning with a single by Austin Jackson, then single by Quintin Berry and Jackson advanced to 3rd base on the hit setting up runners on 1st and 3rd for Miguel Cabrera with 1 out who hit a double to drive in Jackson and the Tigers took a 5-0 lead.

Max Scherzer had a great game today. He pitched 8 shutout innings, giving up 7 hits, and striking out 12 batters. He earned his 6th win of the season.

Brayan Villarreal pitched a scoreless 9th inning and got the Tigers the win.

The Tigers have an off day on Monday, but begin a 3 game home series with the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday when Justin Verlander (6-4 2.66 ERA) takes on Lance Lynn (10-2 2.42 ERA).

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Doug Fister Returns from the DL To Beat the Rockies 4-1

Welcome back, Doug Fister!



The Detroit Tigers beat the Colorado Rockies today 4-1.

The Tigers started the scoring quick with a solo home run in the 1st inning by Miguel Cabrera; It's his 14th of the season.

Detroit scored again in the 4th inning after a bases loaded walk to Austin Jackson; He ended up walking 4 times today.

Miguel Cabrera scored another run for the Tigers in the 5th inning after hitting an infield single, and advancing to 3rd base on a throwing error, and then scoring after a throwing error towards 3rd base. Yes, an infield single turned into a run after 2 errors.

Prince Fielder went on to add to the Tigers lead with a sacrifice fly late in the game, but the real story was the return of Doug Fister who was coming off the DL. Fister pitched 6 innings throwing only 82 pitches, gave up 3 hits, walked 1 and struck out 6 batters. He finally won his first game of the season.

Phil Coke pitched 2 scoreless innings in relief, and Joaquin Benoit gave up an unearned run in the 9th to get the Tigers the win.

The Tigers finish up a 3 game series with the Rockies tommorrow when Max Scherzer (5-4 5.76 ERA) takes on Jeremy Guthrie (3-5 6.91 ERA).

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Jose Valverde Wild in Tigers 12-4 Extra Innings Loss

The Detroit Tigers lost tonight in extra innings to the Colorado Rockies 12-4.


After the Tigers were down 2-0 early, they responded in the 3rd inning with a double by Bryan Holaday followed up with a double from Austin Jackson to score Holaday. Miguel Cabrera joined the fun with a double of his own to score Jackson. Prince Fielder came up next and drove Cabrera in with a single and the Tigers took a 3-2 lead.

Casey Crosby gave up 2 runs in the 4th to give the lead back to the Rockies and his day was done. Crosby went 3 and 2/3 innings giving up 4 runs on 6 hits, walking 4 and striking ou 4 batters.

Duane Below came in for relief of Crosby and pitched a scoreless inning and 2/3 before giving way to Brayan Villarreal who got the last 2 outs of the 6th inning.

After a single by Bryan Holaday and walk to Austin Jackson, they both advanced 1 base on a wild pitch with Brennan Boesch at the plate and 1 out. Boesch ended up hitting a ground ball to 1st base, but it scored Holaday from 3rd base and tied the game 4-4.

Villarreal came back out for the 7th inning and got the first 2 outs, then Phil Coke came in to get the last out of the inning.

Coke got the first out of the 8th inning, then Joaquin Benoit came in and got the last 2 outs of the inning. Benoit came back out and pitched a scoreless 9th inning.

Jose Valverde came in for the 10th inning, but after a base hit, a sacrifice bunt turned into a throwing error, and an intentional walk to load the bases, the Rockies scored 4 runs in the inning. Valverde was pulled with 2 outs in the 10th inning; Luis Marte came in to get the last out of the inning, but not before allowing 4 more runs to score.

Yes, the Rockies really scored 8 runs in the 10th inning.

The Tigers continue their series with Colorado tommorrow as Doug Fister (0-3 3.15) returns from the DL to take on Christian Friedrich (4-2 5.85 ERA)

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Justin Verlander Gets his 6th Win of the Season in a 5-3 Tigers Victory

The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago Cubs today 5-3.

The Tigers got started right away with a leadoff double by Austin Jackson, who scored on a double by Prince Fielder and the Tigers had an early 1-0 lead.

Detroit kept it going in the 2nd inning with base hit by Jhonny Peralta, then a RBI double by Ryan Raburn. Yes, that actually did happen. However, Raburn made up for it by getting tagged out going to 3rd base on a ground ball from Justin Verlander. Yes, Verlander finally reached base!

After the Cubs tied the game 2-2 the Tigers got the lead back in the 7th inning. After an infield single by Ryan Raburn and a sacrifice bunt by Justin Verlande to move Raburn to 2nd base, Austin Jackson hit a 2 out single to score Raburn and take a 3-2 lead.

Justin Verlander pitched well today going 8 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits, striking out 8 batters while not giving up a walk. He threw only 103 pitches and got his 6th win of the season.

The Tigers added a few more runs in the 8th inning. Don Kelly pinch hit for Justin Verlander and hit a triple, then Austin Jackson hit a 2-run home run to give the Tigers a 5-2 lead; It's his 7th of the season.

Jose Valverde pitched the 9th inning to get the Tigers the win and earned his 13th save of the season.

The Tigers begin a 3 game home series tommorrow with the Colorado Rockies when Casey Crosby (1-1 9.35 ERA) takes on Jeff Francis (0-1 21.60 ERA)

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Drew Smyly Going to the 15 Day DL

I feel like I type this kind of article atleast twice a week.

According to Jon Morosi Drew Smyly will be placed on the 15 day DL with a severe blister on his pitching hand. Smyly has started 12 games this season and is 2-2 with a 3.97 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in his rookie season.

Replacing Smyly on the roster will be Ryan Raburn. Raburn had been sent down to Toledo for being awful this season. In 37 games he was hitting .146 with a .209 on-base percentage and .211 slugging percentage. Yes, his on-base is almost higher than his slugging.

Losing Smyly just adds him to a long list of Tigers who are on the DL currently right now including Victor Martinez, Andy Dirks, Alex Avila, Doug Fister, Octavio Dotel and Al Alburquerque.

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Brennan Boesch's 4 Hit Game Leads the Tigers to a 8-4 Win

The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago Cubs tonight 8-4.

The Tigers scored first in the 2nd inning after Delmon Young reached on a fielder's choice, Jhonny Peralta hit a single, and Gerald Laird was hit by the pitch to load the bases with 1 out for Ramon Santiago who hit a ground ball out that scored Young and the Tigers took a 1-0 lead.

After trailing 4-1, the Tigers responded in the 6th inning after a single by Brennan Boesch, and Miguel Cabrera reached base on a fielding error, Delmon Young hit a single to score Boesch and Cabrera advanced to 3rd base. Jhonny Peralta came up and hit a 2 RBI double to tie the game 4-4. Sorry Cleveland fans, Jhonny just doesn't like your city. After a bunt single by Gerald Laird, Ramon Santiago hit a ball hard towards the pitchers mound that allowed a run to score and the Tigers took a 5-4 lead.

Rick Porcello struggled again today going 5 innings, giving up 4 runs on 9 hits, walking 1 and striking out 5 batters; Porcello ended up getting the win tonight.

The Tigers added another run in the 7th inning with a solo home run by Brennan Boesch; It's his 7th of the season.

Brayan Villarreal came in for relief of Porcello and pitched 2 scoreless innings.

Detroit came back in the 8th inning after a triple by Jhonny Peralta, and walk to Gerald Laird, Quintin Berry had a pinch-hit RBI single. After Berry stole 2nd base, Brennan Boesch hit a single to score Gerald Laird, but Quintin Berry was called out at home; the Tigers took a 8-4 lead.

Joaquin Benoit pitched a scoreless 8th inning and Jose Valverde pitched a scoreless 9th inning to get the Tigers the win.

Justin Verlander (5-4 2.69 ERA) takes the mound for Detroit tommorrow in the series finale as he takes on Travis Wood (0-2 4.71 ERA).

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Tigers Defense Proves Costly in 4-3 Loss

The Detroit Tigers lost to the Chicago Cubs tonight 4-3.

Max Scherzer was 1 out from a nice start, but he gave up a 2-run double that made things look worse. He went 6 innnings giving up 3 runs on 5 hits, walking 5 and striking out 8 batters.

The Tigers struggled to get anything going today against Paul Maholm, but in the 7th inning, after a double by Delmon Young, and walks to Jhonny Peralta and Quintin Berry, Ramon Santiago came up with the bases loaded and 1 out and hit a single to score Young. Austin Jackson was up next and with the bases loaded, hit a 2 RBI single to tie the game 3-3.

Phil Coke pitched a scoreless 7th inning, but gave up a run in the 8th inning due to 2 infield singles, 2 bad plays by Jhonny Peralta and 1 blown call by the 2nd base umpire which should've been the 3rd out of the inning allowed a run to score, and that proved to be the winning run.

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Octavio Dotel Placed on the 15 Day DL

According to Brian Britten, Octavio Dotel is headed to the 15 day DL with right elbow inflammation. The move will be retroactive to June 3rd.

Dotel has made 21 appearances this season pitched 18 and 1/3 innings with a 4.42 ERA and 1.09 WHIP. Dotel in his last 2 appearances had given up 3 runs in 2 innings before he was shut down with his sore elbow.

Luke Putkonen has been recalled to take Dotel's place in the bullpen. Putkonen has spent time with the Tigers this season and was not very good in his 6 appearances. He has a 8.59 ERA and 2.59 WHIP in 7 and 1/3 innings pitched. Tigers fans can only hope he doesn't pitch much, or at all.

This is just another blow to a long list of injuries this season. Austin Jackson was recently activated after 3 weeks on the DL, while Doug Fister, Alex Avila, Andy Dirks and Al Alburquerque are currently on the DL.

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Austin Jackson's 3 RBI Leads the Tigers to a 7-6 Comeback Win

The Detroit Tigers beat the Cincinnati Reds tonight 7-6.

Drew Smyly only pitched 3 innings today due to a blister on his hand. He gave up 3 hits on 4 hits, walking 1 and striking out 3 batters.

The Tigers came back in the 4th inning with a 2 out rally to score. After a Prince Fielder walk and Delmon Young double, Ramon Santiago had a infield single to score Fielder and make it a 3-1 game.

After giving up a run to the Reds, Austin Jackson hit a solo home run in the 5th inning for Detroit; It's his 6th of the season.

Luis Marte pitched 2 innings and Brayan Villarreal pitched 2 innings; Villarreal ened up getting the win.

After the Reds made it a 6-2 game, the Tigers came back in the 7th inning after a single by Quintin Berry, and walk to Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder hit a single to drive Berry in and made it a 6-3 game.

After the Tigers got Ramon Santiago and Gerald Laird on-base in the 8th inning, Dusty Baker brought Aroldis Chapman in the game to go for a 6 out save. Brennan Boesch who was pinch hitting got a single to load the bases with no outs. Matt Young on a 1-2 count was hit by the pitch to score a run, and then Austin Jackson hit a ground-rule double to score 2 runs and tie the game 6-6. Quintin Berry was up next and drew a walk to give Miguel Cabrera a chance with the bases loaded and no outs. However, a wild pitch by Chapman led to Matt Young scoring and the Tigers had a 7-6 lead.

Joaquin Benoit came in and pitched a scoreless 8th inning and Hernan Perez got his first career hit in the 9th inning.

Jose Valverde pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning to get his 12th save of the season.

The Tigers have an off day tommorrow, but open up a 3 game road series vs the Cubs on Tuesday as Max Scherzer (5-4 5.88 ERA) takes on Paul Maholm (4-5 5.10 ERA).

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Prince Fielder's 2 RBI Leads the Tigers to a 3-2 Win

The Detroit Tigers beat the Cincinnati Reds today 3-2.

Ramon Santiago started the scoring for Detroit in the 2nd inning with a solo home run; It's his 2nd of the season.

Prince Fielder added another run for the Tigers in the 4th inning with a solo home run; It's his 10th of the season and the Tigers had a 2-0 lead.

The Reds scored 2 runs thanks to an error (well, it wasn't ruled an error, bt it clearly should've) by Delmon Young in the bottom of the 4th inning to tie the game.

Justin Verlander struggled with his pitch count today, bu ended up going 6 innings, giving up 2 runs (which after a likely appeal by the Tigers, will be unearned) on 6 hits, walking 3 and striking out 9 batters; It was Verlander's 55th consecutive start of 6 innings or more.

Brayan Villarreal came in and pitched a scoreless 7th inning and ended up getting the win.

The Tigers broke a 2-2 tie in the 8th inning after a double by Brennan Boesch, intentional walk to Miguel Cabrera, and a single by Prince Fielder to score Boesch.

Joaquin Benoit pitched a scoreless 8th inning and Jose Valverde pitced a 1-2-3 9th innig to get his 11th save.

Drew Smyly (2-2 3.71 ERA) starts the series finale tommorrow for the Tigers against Homer Bailey (4-4 4.39 ERA).

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Jim Leyland Leads the Tigers to a 6-5 Loss

The Detroit Tigers lost to the Cincinnati Reds tonight in extra innings 6-5.

After trailing 4-0 after 3 inning, Brennan Boesch got the Tigers a run back in the 4th inning with a solo home run; It's his 6th of the season.

Rick Porcello didn't do well today after a mistake pitch to Joey Votto. He went 5 innings giving up 4 runs on 9 hits, walking 2 and striking out 1 batter.

Porcello was pinch-hit for in the 6th inning by Matt Young, who hit a double, then Quintin Berry was hit by the pitch, and Brennan Boesch hit a single to load the bases with no outs for Miguel Cabrera who hit a 2 RBI single.

Luis Marte came in and pitched a scoreless 6th inning.

The Tigers came back in the 7th inning after a single by Ramon Santiago, who stole 2nd base and advanced to 3rd base on a throwing error, scored to tie the game 4-4 on a single by Brennan Boesch.

Delmon Young put the Tigers ahead 5-4 after a solo home run; It's his 5th of the season and went an estimated 441 feet.

Duane Below came in and pitched a scoreless 7th inning, and got the first out of the 8th inning before Jose Ortega came in and made his major league debut. In typical order, Jim Leyland brings a pitcher in a high pressure spot and blows a lead. Chance Ruffin anyone? Ortega got one out, and was then pulled after blowing the lead. Phil Coke got the last out of the inning.

The Reds went on to score in the bottom of the 10th inning thanks to the defensive replacement, Matt Young, making a terrible play to allow Miguel Cairo to get a leadoff triple, and won the game on a squeeze play.

Justin Verlander (5-4 2.67 ERA) takes the mound tommorrow for the Tigers as he takes on Bronson Arroyo (2-4 3.91 ERA).

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Casey Crosby, Miguel Cabrera lead Tigers to a 7-5 Win

The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians today 7-5.

Quintin Berry started the bottom of the 1st inning with a single, and advanced to 3rd base on a single by Brennan Boesch. Prince Fielder drove in Berry with a single, and Brennan Boesch advanced to 3rd base on the hit. Delmon Young followed it up with a RBI single of his own to score Boesch. After Jhonny Peralta hit into a fielder's choice, Prince Fielder scored from 3rd base on a wild pitch, and Jhonny Peralta advanced to 2nd base and would go on to score after a RBI single by Don Kelly, and the Tigers had a 4-0 lead after 1 inning.

Danny Worth led off the 4th inning with a single, and was bunted to 2nd base by Bryan Holaday. Brennan Boesch hit a RBI double to score Worth, and then Miguel Cabrera came up and hit a 2-run home run; It's his 13th of the season. The Tigers ended the 4th inning with a 7-1 lead.

Casey Crosby pitched better in his 2nd start going 5 and 1/3 innings, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits, walking 3 and striking out 2 batters; He won his first career major league game.

Brayan Villarreal came in for relief of Crosby and got the last 2 outs of the 6th inning, and first 2 outs of the 7th inning. Phil Coke came in and couldn't get the last out of the inning, and let 2 runs score to make it a 7-5 game.

Joaquin Benoit replaced Coke and got the last of the inning, and pitched a scoreless 8th inning.

Jose Valverde came in for the 9th inning and pitched a 1-2-3 inning to get the save.

The Tigers open up a 3 game road series with the Cincinnati Reds tommorrow as Rick Porcello (3-4 4.86 ERA) pitches against Mat Latos (4-2 4.91 ERA).

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What's Wrong With the Tigers Offense? - Miguel Cabrera

The 3rd part of "What's Wrong With the Tigers Offense?" series is for the Tigers #3 hitter, and maybe the best hitter in the game, Miguel Cabrera. Now Cabrera is having a great season as always, so for this, Cabrera's numbers aren't a problem, for him, it'll be about his plate discipline.

This season, Cabrera in 56 games has a hitting line of .325/.375/.557 and has 12 home runs, 47 RBI (currently 2nd in the AL), 33 runs scored, and even 3 stolen bases (speed kills). The alarming thing for Tigers fans is his on-base percentage being at .375, in 2010 Cabrera had a .420 on-base percentage and in 2011 it was .448, so .375 is down significantly.

Let's look at reasons that Cabrera's not drawing as many walks this year. First off, he's just walking less in general. fangraphs.com shows that Cabrera is walking 7.3% of the time this year, which is down from his career mark of 11.0%, and down from 2010 at 13.7% and 2011 at 15.7%.

Cabrera is swinging out of the zone much more often this season. His O-Swing% (percentage of pitches a batter swings at outside the strike zone) is 36.6% this season, which is up from 32.5% last year and 32.7% in 2010, and up from a career mark of 28.9%. His Z-Swing% (percentage of pitches a batter swings at inside the strike zone) of 71.1% is down from the last two seasons at 74.1% and 75.3%, however, is in line with his career percentage which is also 71.1%.

Cabrera is also not making contact as much this season when he chases a pitch with his O-Contact% (percentage of pitches a batter makes contact with outside the strike zone when swinging the bat) being at 68.2%, which is down from 75.9% last year, however, last season was a career high in O-Contact% for Cabrera. When Cabrera swings at strikes though, this season his Z-Contact% (percentage of pitches a batter makes contact with inside the strike zone when swinging the bat) of 91.5% is up from his career percentage of 86.4.

Cabrera is also seeing more strikes this year, because his Zone% (overall percentage of pitches a batter sees inside the strike zone) of 44.2% is up from the last 2 years when it was 42.4% and 40.0%. So it seems that perhaps he's just not drawing as many walks because he's getting better pitches to hit with Prince Fielder hitting behind him in the lineup now. It may be a case though Cabrera is trying to do more with the struggling offense the Tigers have had this season. With such a large sample size, it seems likely Cabrera's walkrate may be down this year, but will get closer to normal by the end of the season.

The 4th part of this series will feature the 4th batter for Detroit, Prince Fielder.

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Max Scherzer Roughed Up in Tigers 9-6 Loss

The Detroit Tigers lost to the Cleveland Indians tonight 9-6.

The Tiger started out by giving the Indians 3 runs after an error by Brennan Boesch with 2 outs led to a 3-run home run and Detroit was down 3-0 early.

Don Kelly put the Tigers on the board in the 3rd inning with a solo home run; It's his 1st of the season.

After Max Scherzer gave up a 2-run home run, Miguel Cabrera got the Tigers a run back in the 4th inning with a solo home run; It's his 12th of the season.

Max Scherzer struggled today going 4 and 1/3 innings, giving up 8 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits, walking 3 and striking out 2 batters.

Jhonny Peralta led off the 5th inning with a double, followed by Bryan Holaday hitting a single to get his first hit in his major league career. Quintin Berry followed that up with a RBI double, and Ramon Santiago hit a ground ball to score a run. Miguel Cabrera was up next and hit a RBI double, and scored on a Prince Fielder single to make it a 8-6 game.

The Tigers bullpen went on to give up only 1 run in 4 and 2/3 innings, but the offense couldn't score anymore runs.

The Tigers finish up a 3 game series with the Indians tommorrow as Casey Crosby (0-1 16.20 ERA) takes on Derek Lowe (7-3 3.06 ERA).

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Alex Avila Joins the Club, Headed to the 15 Day DL

According to Brian Britten, Alex Avila has been placed on the 15 day DL with a right hamstring strain.

Avila was hitting .250 this season with a .338 on base percentage in 44 games with the Tigers. He has hit 5 home runs and 20 RBI as well. His numbers are down from last year, but did seem to have started to swing the bat better. He's had several nagging injuries this season, also.

Bryan Holaday is being called up to the Tigers from Triple-A Toledo. In 36 games with Toledo this season, Holaday is hitting .248, with a .313 on base percentage. He has only 10 RBI though and a slugging percentage of .314

Avila will join many teammates on the DL, which include Austin Jackson, Andy Dirks, Victor Martinez, Doug Fister and Al Alburquerque. This means 4 of the Tigers 9 starting position players are currently on the DL.

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Justin Verlander Struggles in Tigers 5-1 Loss

The Detroit Tigers lost to the New York Yankees today 5-1.

The Tigers decided to take the day off and didn't show up it seemed. The only run came from a Prince Fielder solo home run; It's his 9th of the season.

Justin Verlander made the start today and struggled all day with his command. He pitched 6 and 1/3 innings giving up 5 runs (3 earned) on 9 hits, walking 4 and striking out 4 batters. Of the 114 pitches he threw, only 66 were strikes.

Duane Below and Brayan Villarreal combined to pitch 2 and 2/3 scoreless innings in relief.

The Tigers have an off day tommorrow, but open up a 3 game home series with the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday as Drew Smyly (2-1 3.46 ERA) takes on Ubaldo Jimenez (5-4 5.79 ERA).

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Andy Dirks Headed to the 15 Day DL

According to Brian Britten Andy Dirks has been placed on the 15 day DL with right Achilles tendinitis. The move is retro active to May 31st.

Andy Dirks has hit .328 this season with a .379 on-base percentage. Dirks also has hit 4 home runs and has 16 RBI. He had established himself as the Tigers everyday left fielder and this is just another blow to the Tigers who currently have Victor Martinez, Austin Jackson, Doug Fister, and Al Alburquerque on the DL already. Gerald Laird, Alex Avila, and Joaquin Benoit, while not on the DL, are not available to play due to various nagging injuries.

Matt Young has been called up from Triple-A Toledo to replace Dirks, and this season, Young is hitting .259 with a .431 on-base percentage in 51 games; He also has 12 stolen bases.

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Omir Santos and the Tigers Have a 4-3 Walkoff Win

The Detroit Tigers beat the New York Yankees Tonight 4-3.

The Tigers got on the board first with a monster solo home run by Miguel Cabrera in the 4th inning that traveled 466 feet. The Tigers added to their lead in the 5th after a single by Don Kelly, who moved to 2nd base on a sacrifice bunt by Omir Santos. Quintin Berry went on to drive Kelly in with a single and it was 2-0 Tigers.

Rick Porcello pitched well tonight going 6 innings, giving up 1 run on 6 hits, walking 1 and striking out 3 batters.

After the Yankees would go on to tie the game thanks to a blown save in the 8th inning by Octavio Dotel (who was in the game because Joaquin Benoit left after the 7th inning with tightness in his pitching arm), Miguel Cabrera responded again with another monster home run shot, this time going 444 feet and it gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead; Cabrera has 11 home runs this season.

Jose Valverde came in to close the game out, but had no control at all. He hit the first batter he faced, walked the 2nd batter, after getting 1 out, he hit another batter, and with 2 outs walked in a run to make it a 3-3 game. Luckily, that's what the score was after the top of the 9th inning.

The Tigers came back in the bottom of the 9th though with singles by Brennan Boesch and Jhonny Peralta to have runners on 1st and 3rd. The Yankees would walk Ramon Santiago to load the bases trying for a double play, but Omir Santos sent the fans home happy with a walkoff sacrifice fly.

Justin Verlander (5-3 2.55 ERA) starts the series finale tommorrow against Phil Hughes (4-5 5.64 ERA).

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Casey Crosby Struggles in His Major League Debut as Tigers lose 9-4

The Detroit Tigers lost to the New York Yankees tonight 9-4.

Quintin Berry playing in his first home game as a Tiger tonight led the bottom of the 1st inning off with a triple, and scored on a single by Danny Worth to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

Casey Crosby, well, he didn't do to well. He walked 4 batters in the 1st inning to score a run, then gave up a grand slam to Curtis Granderson and the Tigers were down 5-1 early.

Ramon Santiago got a run back for the Tigers in the 3rd inning with a solo home run; It's his 1st of the season. Quintin Berry followed it up with a double and would score on a single by Prince Fielder and it was a 5-3 game heading to the 4th inning.

Casey Crosby who made his major league debut tonight was done after 3 and 1/3 innings giving up 6 runs on 4 hits, walking 4 and striking out 3 batters. Luis Marte came in out of relief and got the final 2 outs of the 4th

Marte went on to pitch 3 and 2/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen for Detroit, which was huge for the bullpen. Brayan Villarreal came into the game in the 8th inning and gave up a run.

The Tigers made one last push in the 8th inning, after a double by Miguel Cabrera, and infield single by Delmon Young. They had men on 1st and 3rd with 1 out and Jhonny Peralta pinch hitting who hit a sacrifice fly to score Cabrera and made it a 7-4 game.

Octavio Dotel gave up a 2-run home run in the 9th inning, and it seemed like the Tigers weren't going to have a chance.

The Tigers had one final push in them. After some over-managing by Joe Girardi, Alex Avila drew a walk, Ramon Santiago then hit into a force out, but advanced to 2nd base on a wild pitch. Quintin Berry hit a single to put men on 1st and 3rd, then Danny Worth took a walk to load the bases with 1 out for Miguel Cabrera, who ended up hitting into a double play and that ended the game.

Rick Porcello (3-4 5.21 ERA) takes the mound tommorrow against Hiroki Kuroda (4-6 3.96 ERA).

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