Welcome to August! In the Phoenix area we ring in the month with 113 degrees…but a mere 20 percent humidity. The poor Tigers head to Tampa where the temperature and humidity are 86. God bless Willis Carrier.

So how did July end up for the Tigers? Even. As in 13-13. Here are some other tidbits that [...]

Todd Jones is no longer the Tigers’ closer. The statement is as true today as it was on this date in 2001. That’s the day the Tigers sent Jones to the Twins for lefty Mark Redman.
In 2002, his only full season with Detroit, Redman went 8-15, 4.21 in 30 starts. The Tigers traded Redman to [...]

The Score: Tigers 5 - Orioles 1
The Gist: Justin Verlander dominated — 8.2 IP, three hits, three walks, three strikeouts — and Magglio Ordonez and Marcus Thames went yard to lead the Tigers to a series split against the pesky Orioles. Brandon Inge made the play of the week, if not the year, for the [...]

ESPN highlights available here.

The Score: Tigers 6 - Orioles 5
The Gist: Gary Sheffield went yard (almost twice), as did Marcus Thames and Brandon Inge, and Kenny Rogers pitched just good enough to win the opening game of the four-gamer against the Orioles. Magglio Ordonez went 1 for 5 in his return from the DL. In [...]

I’m breaking from the usual game recap format tonight to reluctantly raise a white flag on the 2008 season.
In fact, indulge me while I use a line from my favorite movie, “Midnight Run“, in which Robert DeNiro tells Charles Grodin:
“You’re in this mess because you’re in this mess. I didn’t put you in this [...]

The Score: Tigers 7 - Rockies 6
The Gist: Ryan Raburn hit his first career grand slam and Miguel Cabrera’s bottom-of-the-ninth laser to right center drove in the tying and winning runs to save Todd Jones’s neck. Saved, that is, from the choking hands of Justin Verlander or, quite possibly, Jim Leyland. Verlander allowed two runs [...]

ESPN highlights available here.

The Gist: Game #37 featured a terrific outing from #37 Kenny Rogers, three hits from Pudge Rodriguez and ridiculous ninth inning from Todd Jones. Luckily, and most importantly, it all added up to a Tigers’ 6-5 win over the Yankees. Rogers gave the Tigers a quality start — 6 IP, 9 H, [...]

Tigers April Record: 13-15
Individual Batting Leaders (minimum 20 games, my totally subjective criteria)

Average: Carlos Guillen, .321
Home Runs: Miguel Cabrera, Magglio Ordonez, 5
RBI: Cabrera/Ordonez, 19
OBP: Guillen, .414
OPS: Guillen, .938
SLG: Guillen, .524
SB: Guillen, Pudge Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, 3

Individual Pitching Leaders

Wins: Five pitchers tied with two each - Jeremy Bonderman, Armando Galarraga, Aquilino Lopez, Clay Rapada, Kenny Rogers
ERA

Starter: [...]

ESPN highlights available here.

The Gist: While he wasn’t as sharp as his Tigers debut in Cleveland last week, Armando Galarraga gave the Tigers another solid outing in the finale at SkyDome — or whatever — 5-1, to earn a split against the Blue Jays. The bullpen was superb though Todd Jones allowed a ninth-inning home [...]

The Gist: It took more than a week, but the Tigers left the field with a win on Wednesday night, 7-2 over the Red Sox. Naturally, Todd Jones did his thing to make any level of comfort more than a bit tenuous. Huzzah, Marcus Thames! The man simply delivers when the Tigers need him. Jeremy [...]