EJack City: Jackson Continues to Own Cleveland

Detroit 3, Cleveland 1 (box)

Magic Number 10

Edwin Jackson certainly wasn’t as sharp as he would have liked.  He fell behind every single hitter he faced until the third inning, and was 1-0 or worse on 21 of the 27 hitters he faced, hardly a recipe for success.  But Jackson battled all day and in the end, he kept the reeling Cleveland Indians off the board.

Jackson (13-7) had been struggling of late, allowing four earned runs or more in each of his past three starts, but after making a few adjustments over the weekend, he was able to get very good results against the Tribe.  In the process he earned his 13th win of the year, and improved to 4-0 in his five starts against Cleveland this year.

The Tigers didn’t have a ton of success against lefty Aaron Laffey, but Jackson made what success they did have stand up.  Laffey (7-7) allowed a solo homer to Ryan Raburn in the third inning, his only blemish over his 6.2 innings of work.

Cheers for

• Ryan Raburn– So how long until we see Raburn leading off against right handers, as well? Raburn threw out another runner at home to preserve a scoreless tie, then homered to give the Tigers the lead.  As a lead off hitter this season, he has an OPS of .850, compared to Granderson’s .764.
• Magglio Ordonez– Maggs was 3 for 3 with a walk, and all three of his hits were bullets, including a first inning double.  His season average continues to climb (now at .295) thanks to a stellar second half.  He now has a .942 OPS since the break.
• Miguel Cabrera– Maybe Cabrera read Greg Eno’s piece about his narrow shoulders, because like Ordonez, he hit some rockets last night.  The first three balls he he were scorched, but resulted in an 0 for 3 with five left on base, thanks to some sparkling Indians defense.  When he came to bat in the eighth, he hit another rocket over the head of the left fielder for an RBI double.  He may be heating up at just the right time.

Jeers to

• SeayLyon– I had a bad feeling about Jackson not coming out for the eighth, and my fears almost came to fruition.  Bobby Seay allowed two hits to the three men he faced, and Brandon Lyon couldn’t find the (very small) strike zone when he came in.  The run scored when Lyon walked pinch-hitter Jamey Carroll with the bases loaded, but it was Seay’s man that came across.  Lyon got away with a hanging breaking ball that Luis Valbuena fouled off before he struck out to end the threat.

What’s on tap

The Tigers and Indians continue their three game series tonight when Rick Porcello takes the ball opposite Justin Masterson.  If there is a game to fret about in this series (although in a pennant race, they all are), it’s this one.  Porcello (13-9, 4.22) has done well in his three starts against the Tribe, posting a 2-0 record and an ERA south of two.  Masterson (4-8, 4.49) came to Cleveland in the Victor Martinez deal, and has above average stuff.  He has never started a game versus the Tigers, but has worked twice in relief, allowing just two hits over 3.2 career innings.

Division Update

The Twins continued their winning ways, besting the White Sox for the second straight night.  Minnesota stayed 2.5 games back of the Tigers with its win and have seven games remaining on a nine game road trip.  The Twins will try to complete the sweep in Chicago when left handers Brian Duensing and Mark Buehrle square off tonight at the Cell.