Tigers sweep Milwaukee, Chicago Cubs on Deck

After the Pittsburgh and St. Louis series, I admit that was I felt a bit uneasy about the upcoming weekend series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Miguel Cabrera was struggling at the plate. Talks continued that Brandon Inge was falling back down to the dreaded .250 mark. The pitching continued to struggle and the bullpen wasn’t hitting it’s spots at the time. The Twins were creeping on the Tigers,two games away from first place. Now they sit four games back and 11-21 on the road as they head to Miller Park to take on the Brewers.

Overall, you have to grade high on this weekend’s play. The offense got on board in game number one, with Miguel Cabrera getting back on track. Curtis Granderson continued to show his power, and overall you have to be pleased with the play of the Bengals.

I was impressed with Alfredo Figaro, who became the 29th rookie pitcher to start a game in 2009. He mixed pitches well, and made good decisions overall. One thing that I have been impressed with lately is the improvement of Placido Polanco’s bat. Polanco is hitting .333 in his last 15 games. The Tigers start a Three game series against the Cubs at Comerica Park on Tuesday.

Series Preview:  

Former Tigers Shortstop and manager Alan Trammel will return to Copa as the Cubs bench manager. Trammell returned to his hometown of San Diego earlier in this year, and now will head back to his second home for the first time since 2006, when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch in the 2006 World Series. Expect to see a moment where Tram and Leyland meet up and talk. The two have known each other since the ’70s.  The Cubs will be flying in from Atlanta after tonight’s game. The Tigers will sit out Monday, and get a much needed day off. Magglio Ordonez could return to the lineup for the Tigers in the final game of this series.