Well, the Tigers poured that glass of cold water all over Vicente Padilla, didn't they? For the first time this season, and probably not the last, Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera hit back-to-back
homers and Jacque Jones almost made it three when he tripled to deep centerfield. Hell, even Ramon Santiago hit a home run. Maybe it was fortune, maybe it was Padilla, but the worm is starting to turn for the Tigers - especially with the impending return of Curtis Granderson, which is like the wait for a newborn baby at this point.
Jones' big night was especially encouraging, adding a double in the fifth inning to his triple. The guy has been mired in a slump this whole month, but the way he was swinging the bat tonight has to make me believe that he's turning it around. Jim Leyland should be rewarded for his faith in the guy.
Justin Verlander pitched pretty well in his six innings of work, allowing just the one run on a homer by Frank Catalanotto in the first. Good to see JV get his first win of the year and also put some velocity back on his fastball - he was consistently in the mid-90s tonight and dialed it up a few times when he had to.
Now, on to some surprising news. Leyland announced after the game that Carlos Guillen will be moving to third base and Miguel Cabrera will take over at first. Cabrera's quote on the matter was "It's cool", which is just awesome, but I'm not sure how Guillen will take it. He's struggled with footwork at first base, but that's natural with a position switch like that. There's no real reason to doubt Jim on this one, but I just kind of find it odd - having Guillen be a mediocre defensive first baseman wasn't really causing that much of a problem, at least for me. Maybe Carlos had voiced some opinions about playing there to Leyland in the clubhouse, I don't know, but if it makes the Tigers a better team as Leyland says, I'm all for it.
Back to tonight's game. The old Gas Can, Jason Grilli pitched a perfect ninth - getting a strike out for the third out and pumping his fist for good measure - while the new Gas Can Zach Miner struggled. Again. Is it possible that Zach Miner has become the new Jason Grilli while the Tigers still have Jason Grilli? Can our hearts really take having two Jason Grillis in the bullpen? Doubtful. At best. Meanwhile, Bobby Seay looked pretty good, Denny Bautista did his job even though he looked less than fantastic in the process. In all honesty, outside of the Gas Cans, the rest of the Tigers pen looks (dare I say it?) adequate. That's frightening.
Also, the Potential Bullpen Savior, Francisco Cruceta pitched three hitless and scoreless innings for Toledo tonight. Looks like we might not have to deal with the multiple Jason Grillis problem for all that long. The question is, which Grilli leaves the team and when?
As Tom Gage points out, the Tigs haven't exactly fared well after blowing teams out this season. Just last week, there was the 13-2 hammering of Cleveland and then the 11-1 hammering by Cleveland. Can the bats stay hot for two nights in a row? Remains to be seen.
homers and Jacque Jones almost made it three when he tripled to deep centerfield. Hell, even Ramon Santiago hit a home run. Maybe it was fortune, maybe it was Padilla, but the worm is starting to turn for the Tigers - especially with the impending return of Curtis Granderson, which is like the wait for a newborn baby at this point.
Jones' big night was especially encouraging, adding a double in the fifth inning to his triple. The guy has been mired in a slump this whole month, but the way he was swinging the bat tonight has to make me believe that he's turning it around. Jim Leyland should be rewarded for his faith in the guy.
Justin Verlander pitched pretty well in his six innings of work, allowing just the one run on a homer by Frank Catalanotto in the first. Good to see JV get his first win of the year and also put some velocity back on his fastball - he was consistently in the mid-90s tonight and dialed it up a few times when he had to.
Now, on to some surprising news. Leyland announced after the game that Carlos Guillen will be moving to third base and Miguel Cabrera will take over at first. Cabrera's quote on the matter was "It's cool", which is just awesome, but I'm not sure how Guillen will take it. He's struggled with footwork at first base, but that's natural with a position switch like that. There's no real reason to doubt Jim on this one, but I just kind of find it odd - having Guillen be a mediocre defensive first baseman wasn't really causing that much of a problem, at least for me. Maybe Carlos had voiced some opinions about playing there to Leyland in the clubhouse, I don't know, but if it makes the Tigers a better team as Leyland says, I'm all for it.
Back to tonight's game. The old Gas Can, Jason Grilli pitched a perfect ninth - getting a strike out for the third out and pumping his fist for good measure - while the new Gas Can Zach Miner struggled. Again. Is it possible that Zach Miner has become the new Jason Grilli while the Tigers still have Jason Grilli? Can our hearts really take having two Jason Grillis in the bullpen? Doubtful. At best. Meanwhile, Bobby Seay looked pretty good, Denny Bautista did his job even though he looked less than fantastic in the process. In all honesty, outside of the Gas Cans, the rest of the Tigers pen looks (dare I say it?) adequate. That's frightening.
Also, the Potential Bullpen Savior, Francisco Cruceta pitched three hitless and scoreless innings for Toledo tonight. Looks like we might not have to deal with the multiple Jason Grillis problem for all that long. The question is, which Grilli leaves the team and when?
As Tom Gage points out, the Tigs haven't exactly fared well after blowing teams out this season. Just last week, there was the 13-2 hammering of Cleveland and then the 11-1 hammering by Cleveland. Can the bats stay hot for two nights in a row? Remains to be seen.
