Prince Fielder's 30th Home Run Leads the Tigers to a 2-1 Win

The first place Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins today 2-1.

After the top of the 7th innings it was a 0-0 game, and Anibal Sanchez's outing was over after he allowed a run in the bottom of the inning (because he was left out there too long). He pitched 6 and 1/3 innings, giving up 1 run on 7 hits, walking 1 and striking out 4 batters.

Phil Coke came in for relief and got the final 2 outs of the inning; he ended up getting the win.

Austin Jackson led the 8th inning off with a single, and with 2 outs, Prince Fielder hit a 2-run home run that just got over the wall and the Tigers took a 2-1 lead; it's his 30th of the season.

Octavio Dotel came in and pitched a scoreless 8th inning.

Jose Valverde came in and pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning to get his 34th save of the season and it secured a Tigers win.

Tigers Magic Number: 1

The Tigers open up a 3 game road series against the Royals tommorrow as Rick Porcello (9-12 4.68 ERA) goes up against Bruce Chen (11-13 5.13 ERA). It's the last regular season series for the Tigers.

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Miguel Cabrera's 43rd Home Run Helps the Tigers to a 6-4 Win

The first place Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins today 6-4.

Prince Fielder got Detroit the lead today in the 2nd inning with a solo home run; it's his 29th of the season. After Andy Dirks had an infield single, Jhonny Peralta hit a double to drive Dirks in and the Tigers had an early 2-0 lead.

The Tigers added to their lead in the 8th inning after a single by Austin Jackson, Quintin Berry drew a walk after Jackson stole 2nd base, then Miguel Cabrera hit a 3-run home run; it's his 43rd of the season. Andy Dirks added a solo home run to give the Tigers a 6-0 lead; it's his 8th of the season.

Justin Verlander's outing ended after an error by Jhonny Peralta to lead off the 8th inning. He pitched 7 innings and allowed 1 unearned run on 4 hits, walking 2 and striking out 8 batters; he earned his 17th win of the season.

Joaquin Benoit came in for relief and gave up a grand slam after getting only one out. Why Leyland continues to use Benoit and Valverde in games that aren't close is a mystery.

Al Alburquerque replaced Benoit and got the last 2 outs of the inning.

Jose Valverde came in and pitched a scoreless 9th inning to earn his 33rd save of the season and it got the Tigers the win.

The Tigers finish their series with the Twins tommorrow as Anibal Sanchez (9-13 3.95 ERA) takes on Liam Hendriks (1-8 6.09 ERA).

Tigers Magic Number: 3

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Doug Fister Sets an AL Record in a 5-4 Tigers Extra Innings Win

The first place Detroit Tigers swept the Kansas City Royals today with a 5-4 extra innings win.

The Tigers scored in the 1st inning today after Quintin Berry reached based on a fielding error, then advanced to 2nd base on a throwing error, after a single by Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder hit a single to drive in Berry; a fielding error allowed Fielder to 2nd base and Cabrera to 3rd. Delmon Young came up next and had a sacrifice fly to score Cabrera and the Tigers had an early 2-0 lead.

The Tigers added to their lead in the 2nd inning after a 2 out infield single from Omar Infante who reached 2nd base on a throwing error, Austin Jackson drew a walk, then Quintin Berry came up and hit a 2 run triple and the Tigers took a 4-0 lead.

Douf Fister set an American League record today with 9 straight strikeouts today according to Brian Britten.

Fister pitched very well today, although he did allow 3 runs in the 8th inning. He pitched 7 and 2/3 innings, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits, and striking out 10 batters.

Phil Coke came in for relief and got the last out of the 8th inning.

Joaquin Benoit came in to go for the save, but allowed a home run to tie the game 4-4; he ended up winning the game.

Prince Fielder led off the 9th inning with an infield double (no, it really happened), then Delmon Young was walked intentionally (no, that also really happened). Ramon Santiago (for some reason) pinch-hit for Andy Dirks to lay down a sacrifice bunt, however, the Royals got the force out at 3rd base. Jhonny Peralta was up next and hit a likely double-play ball, but reached safely on a fielding error, and the bases were loaded with 1 out for Alex Avila. What did he do? He grounded into a force play, but the fielder had to dive for the out and the Tigers scored the winning run!

The Tigers open up a 3 game road series in Minnesota tommorrow as Drew Smyly (4-3 4.24 ERA) makes a spot start and goes up against Scott Diamond (12-8 3.64 ERA).

Tigers Magic Number: 6

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Anibal Sanchez Throws a Complete Game Shutout in a 2-0 Tigers Win

The first place Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals tonight 2-0.

The Tigers scored in the 1st inning tonight after singles by Austin Jackson and Omar Infante, then Prince Fielder hit a single to drive in Jackson. Delmon Young came up next with runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out and he hit a single to drive in Infante and the Tigers had an early 2-0 lead, and that would be enough to win tonight.

Anibal Sanchez pitched his best game as a member of the Tigers tonight. He had a complete game shutout. He gave up only 3 hits, walking 1 and striking out 10 batters; he earned his 9th win of the season.

The Tigers finish their series with the Royals tommorrow as Rick Porcello (9-12 4.57 ERA) goes up against Jeremy Guthrie (7-12 4.80 ERA).

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Justin Verlander Pitches Well in a 6-2 Tigers Win

The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals tonight 6-2.

Prince Fielder got the Tigers an early lead after a solo home run in the 2nd inning; it's his 28th of the season. After Jhonny Peralta reached base on a fielder's choice, Alex Avila drove him in with a double and they had a 2-0 lead.

The Royals made it a 2-1 game, but in the 4th inning the Tigers responded after Alex Avila drew a walk, Omar Infante hit a single, then Austin Jackson hit a double to drive in Avila, and Infante scored on a throwing error which gave the Tigers a 4-1 lead.

The Tigers added to their lead in the 6th inning after singles by Miguel Cabrera and Delmon Young to set up runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out for Andy Dirks who had a sacrifice fly to drive in Cabrera and it was a 5-1 game.

Justin Verlander pitched well tonight going 8 innings, giving up 2 runs on 9 hits, and striking out 8 batters; he earned his 16th win of the season.

Detroit extended their lead in the 8th inning after singles by Prince Fielder and Delmon Young, then Andy Dirks hit a single to drive in Fielder and the Tigers took a 6-2 lead.

Jose Valverde came in and pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning to secure a Tigers win.

The Tigers continue their series with the Royals tommorrow as Anibal Sanchez (8-13 4.14 ERA) pitches against Bruce Chen (11-12 5.22 ERA).

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Jose Valverde's Bad Pitching Continues in a 2-1 Tigers Loss

The Detroit Tigers lost to the Minnesota Twins in 10 innings tonight 2-1.

The Tigers took a quick lead in the 1st inning after a single by Austin Jackson, then Miguel Cabrera hit a double to drive in Jackson and the Tigers had a 1-0 lead.

Brian Britten reported that after Cabrera's double, he became only the 2nd player in Tigers history to have 40 doubles and 40 home runs in a season.

Drew Smyly's day was done after loading the bases. He pitched 4 and 1/3 innings, giving up 1 (unearned) run on 3 hits, walking 2 and striking out 2 batters.

Al Alburquerque came in for relief and got the final 2 outs of the 5th inning, but a run scored on an error, so it was a 1-1 game. Alburquerque came back out and pitched a scoreless 6th inning. Alburquerque also pitched a scoreless 7th inning.

Joaquin Benoit came in and pitched a scoreless 8th inning. Benoit came back out and pitched a scoreless 9th inning.

Jose Valverde came in and gave up a run in the 10th inning. At this point Valverde is a platoon pitcher being used as a closer, and that isn't right.

The Tigers open up a 4 game home series with the Royals tommorrow as Justin Verlander (15-8 2.74 ERA) takes on Luke Hochevar (8-14 5.40 ERA).

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Andy Dirks' Poor Defense Costs the Tigers in a 10-4 Loss

The Detroit Tigers lost to the Minnesota Twins today 10-4.

The Tigers scored first today in the 4th inning after a single by Omar Infante, then Miguel Cabrera hit a double to score Infante. Delmon Young eventually came up and hit a single to drive in Cabrera and the Tigers had a 2-0 lead.

Thanks to an error by Andy Dirks (which was somehow called a triple), and then a bad defensive play by Omar Infante (shocker), which led to the end of the day for Max Scherzer. He pitched 5 innings, giving up 3 runs (2 due to bad defense) on 6 hits, walking 1 and striking out 4 batters.

Phil Coke came in for relief and the first batter hit a bloop single thanks to more bad defense from Andy Dirks. After walking the next batter, Coke was pulled without getting an out; he was charged with allowing 2 runs. Brayan Villarreal came in to replace Coke. A mental mistake led to a 4th run scoring; Villarreal eventually got through the 6th inning, but the Twins had a 5-2 lead.

Villarreal came back out and got the first 2 outs of the 7th inning. He gave up an unearned run in the process. Darin Downs came in and got the final out of the 6th inning. Down came back out for the 8th inning and got the first 2 outs, but gave up a 2 runs. Luke Putkonen came in and got the final out of the inning, but allowed 2 runs to score in the process (of course).

Putkonen came back out and pitched a scoreless 9th inning.

Thanks to the bullpen imploding, and Dirks' awful defense, the offense never had a chance to make a comeback. Two runs scored in the 9th inning thanks to a single from Avisail Garcia, but it obviously wasn't enough, and the Tigers lost.

The Tigers play the 2nd game of a double header against the Twins tonight as Drew Smyly (4-3 4.45 ERA) makes a spot start against P.J. Walters (2-4 6.39 ERA).

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