Detroit 10, Minnesota 9 (13 inn.) (box)
The Tigers pounded out 19 hits and 10 runs, but it still took them nearly five hours (and a Gerald Laird home run) to finally win a game from the Twins.
It was apparent very early that Twins starter Scott Baker didn’t have it last night. The Tigers pounced on Baker from the jump, putting each of the first three runners on base to bring up Miguel Cabrera. Baker rebounded to strikeout the big fella and was a groundball away from wiggling off the hook. Baker got his groundball, but second baseman [...]

Detroit 7, Toronto 1 (box)
The Tigers used a six-run fourth to give right hander Max Scherzer all the support he would need last night. Facing Toronto’s Ricky Romero, Tigers hitters had trouble at times laying off the changeup low and away. When they were able to spit on that pitch, Romero was forced to come in with fastballs and Detroit hitters attacked.
Entering the fourth, Romero had held the Tigers to one hit and one walk. In that innings, Detroit found a new approach, a little luck, and much more success. Romero allowed the first two batters to reach [...]

Kansas City  4, Detroit 3 (box)
Willie Freaking Bloomquist.
When the Royals lineup for today’s series finale was announced, I laughed. Everybody laughed. When manager Ned Yost was asked about his order today, and more specifically why he would use Bloomquist as his no. 3 hitter, Yost responded by saying that “he’s gonna get two hits today, I guarantee it. You watch.” Again, everybody laughed.
In the top of the 12th, Bloomquist came up with his second hit of the day, a solo home run on a full count pitch from Tigers reliever Alfredo Figaro. In his ninth major league season, Bloomquist now has 13 career home runs. [...]

Unless you have no access to anything other than this very site you are already well aware that Tampa’s Matt Garza tossed a no-hitter against Detroit last night. Garza threw 120 pitches in his gem, 101 of them were fastballs. Aren’t the Tigers supposed to be a good fastball hitting team?…
Max Scherzer had an outing to remember as well, as he didn’t allow a hit through 5.2 innings either, until Matt Joyce delivered a grand slam to break the game wide open. The Rays managed just three hits all night, but two of them left the yard (or [...]

Texas 1, Detroit 4 (box)
In the pre-game telecast, Rod Allen said that all Max Scherzer needed to do tonight to be successful was go ahead an toss a shutout. When the “scouting report” flashed on the screen just before Scherzer threw his first pitch, that sentiment was repeated. I guess Scherzer to the advice to heart because he did just that, holding the Rangers to just four hits and two walks over seven innings.
The offensive support came from perhaps the most unlikely of sources.
With a runner on and one out in the second inning, Gerald Laird jumped on a [...]

Hey all, it’s time once again for the annual mid-season awards. I have no idea if this is the first annual awards or second, or third, as I was not with this site last year and I’m too darn lazy to dig through the archives to see if Joe did something like this before.
But regardless, here they are. There is some collaboration of these things, you’ll find a few notes written by my cohorts, Matt and Zac. Then, just for fun (and because I was just catching up on what Samara has been doing at Roar of the Tigers) I added a [...]

In the wake of a devastating 14-6 loss to the New York Mets last night, a game in which catcher Gerald Laird was written into the 2-hole in the order, Tigers manager Jim Leyland is now contemplating further efforts to make a mockery of baseball.
Laird thwarted his manager’s attempts with an RBI single last night, finishing his day at 1-for-5 and raising his batting average to .181. Leyland, who has long been known for using Triple-A hitters in the three-spot, has apparently not been satisfied in destroying the sanctity of the lineup, and has aimed his assault on the second hitter.
As Jeremy Bonderman is scheduled to pitch [...]

Washington 3, Detroit 8 (box)
Nationals starter Livan Hernandez didn’t have his good stuff tonight, and the Detroit Tigers capitalized on some free passes handed out by the big Cuban en route to an easy home win.
It wasn’t easy early for Justin Verlander. The Tigers ace served up a mammoth home run to Adam Dunn that traveled well over 420 feet, landing beyond the centerfield fence in the first inning. One inning later, the Nats made it 2-0 when Roger Bernadina smoked a Verlander offering over the right field wall for a solo shot of his own. rom there, Verlander (8-4) [...]