The Tigers won today and sweep the series from Cleveland Central Division rivals . The Tiger’s pitching was supreme..Cleveland could only amount 3 runs in three games. Although it was a nail biter in the ninth inning when Rodney came in today’s game.

Porcello was masterful but in my opinion he needs more seasoning. He is raw talent. The hitting was light but timely, small ball type.I cannot understand why Leyland continues his passover of Brent Cleven. brent is a  solid right handed hitter and strong defensively. He would be a better call up than Ryan Rayburn.

The tigers have major problems…Guillen should be DH( for the record, I hate the DH rule) and bat third, forget left field. Sheffield should retire. Gomez should play Left field…He is the only pure left handed hitter aside from Timo Perez…We deperately need pure left handed bats in the lineup. Granderson and clete Thomas bat lefty but are right handed..not pure leftys.The only bright spot is a rookie by the name of Kelly, a player who deserves a watchful eye.

The pitching staff is another matter, we need a leader! Verlander needs to regain his form..He needs to throw hard! Bonderman would be my number two but he is a question mark…Jackson might replace Bonderman if Bonderman has shoulder problems. Willis is the biggest question???? He has lost his composure..He needs to throw strikes and throw hard I believe he can be the left handed Bob Gibson. Bob Gibson was all over the place with his windup, but he was always was around the plate. Robertson is in consistent, but we need two leftys…My starting rotation : Verlander, Bloom, Jackson, Robertson,Bonderman…Galaragga & Willis in pen.

Our bullpen can be overpowering if Zumaya can come back. Rodney is strong set up man but Who would be our closer? I like zumaya. Galarraga would be best in the pen he could be a closer too. This new guy, Lyon needs to prove himself…I hear he pitches like roller- coaster Jones. I have not seen Lyon pitch, therfore I will reserve judgement.

  Overall, I predict the Tigers will be a 500 club in 2009…Jim Leyland will be gone after the frst two weeks!

 But now a new year is upon us! Spring training is in full swing! It was a great day for baseball in Lakeland, a few white  puffy clouds in a Steel blue sky, temps in 70’s, green grass, freshly cut, and the Tigers beat  the Braves, the highpoint of the day….Adam Everett And Gerald Laird  hits were a bright spots for the  Tigers..Hello, my name is Joe and I will be Blogging with you this year!

The Tigers offense was able to score four runs on six hits off of Rays starting pitcher Scott Kazmir. They also scored three more runs off of the Rays bullpen. The Tigers used the long ball to win the game as they hit five home runs including two from Ramon Santiago. Mike Hessman, Curtis Granderson, and Dusty Ryan also hit home runs in the game. Miguel Cabrera also added a rbi with a sac fly in the game.

Armando Galarraga ended up with the victory even though he allowed three home runs in 7 2/3 innings. Galarraga gave up six hit and five runs but improved his record to 13-6 for the year. He had a pretty good year and probably should have had more victories and the offense been there to back him up in a couple of games.

Francisco Rodney recorded the final four outs of the game to pick up his 11th save of the season. Great job by Rodney in the game.

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Nate Robertson was terrible as he was charged with seven hits and eight runs in just 4 2/3 innings. Robertson took the loss and is now 7-11 on the year. Chris Lambert was charged with the two other runs that the Royals scored in the game.

I think the offense has pretty much given up. They just want this season to get over with. They can’t even hardly score against the Royals pitchers and that is bad. The only runs the Tigers scored came via the home run ball on Wednesday night. Mike Hessman hit a solo home run while Placido Polanco hit a three-run jack in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Things sure don’t get easier for the Tigers in their final series of the year. They will be taking on the Tampa Bay Rays in a four game series. I think we could be looking at another sweep.

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Zach Miner took the loss after giving up six hits and four runs in six innings of action. Miner is now 8-5 on the season. Relief pitcher Bobby Seay gave up three more hits and two runs. Seay had another bad outing, what else would you expect at this point in this season?

Magglio Ordonez and Jeff Larish had the two rbi’s for the Tigers. Ordonez a rbi sac fly and Larish a rbi single.

The Tigers will try to even up the series on Tuesday. – Tigers Blog

Magglio Ordonez led the team with four rbi while Miguel Cabrera and Edgar Renteria were right behind him with three rbi each. Ryan Raburn, Brandon Inge, and Dusty Ryan all helped out with two rbi each as well. Not to be left out, Marcus Thames added a rbi of his own. Great showing by the offense as they hammered the Rangers pitching staff.

Garcia tossed five innings to pick up his first win of the season and improve to 1-0. In his five innings, he allowed two hits and only one run. Great start for Freddy! Nate Robertson had some problems in his 2 2/3 innings as he allowed four his and three runs. Four walks by Robertson really hurt him in the game.

The Tigers are off on Thursday and then will begin a series with the Cleveland Indians on Friday.

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Dontrelle Willis made his return to the mound and tossed five innings as he allowed two hits and three runs. The three runs that the D-Train gave up all came on a three-run home run in the in the fourth inning. Gary Glover had a terrible time when he came in for Willis in the sixth inning as he allowed three hits and four runs.

Relief pitcher Kyle Farnsworth took the loss for the Tigers as he was charged with four hits and four runs while only recording two outs. Terrible outing for the farns.

At the plate for the Tigers, Gary Sheffield led the team with a three-run home run and three rbi on the night. Sheffield was followed by Jeff Larish who had two rbi. Placido Polanco, Magglio Ordonez, and Miguel Cabrera all finished up with one rbi each. It just wasn’t enough as Farnsworth blew the game.

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Armando Galarraga was terrible as he gave up eight hits and five runs in only four innings. He gave up two first inning solo home runs to Jack Cust and Ryan Sweeney and was bad the rest of the his four innings. Galarraga is now 12-6 on the year after taking the loss.

The tigers bullpen threw the ball pretty well as they tossed five scoreless innings. It’s too bad the offense couldn’t come out of the hole and score five or six runs however.

Both of the teams runs came in the sixth inning when second basemen Ryan Raburn singled to score Miguel Cabrera and Matt Joyce. That was all the offense for the tigers as they only had five hits the entire game.

Tigers Baseball Blog