Summary
Tigers got a big win today on national TV. Their success in 2006 on nationally televised games (other than the playoffs) was not good and if I remember correctly they did not win a single one. Well that ended today which made all that much more disappointing when I read that this game wasn’t going to be seen nationally much at all over at the Detroit Tiger Weblog.
The team played well all around and although I didn’t get a chance to watch the entire game they looked polished. They hit well, pitching was strong and fielding had no errors and the Polanco-Guillen-Casey double-play was in full effect.
This win secures their fourth series win in a row.
Pitching
Chad Durbin has really settled down and started pitching like he did last year at Toledo. He’s either had very successful starts or just gotten drilled. Today was the former and I’m thankful for that and these types of starts are becoming more common for him. I hope to see that trend continue and I believe that it will.
Aquilino Lopez pitched 3 innings of relief and looked better than any of his last outings. He allowed a few well hit balls and worked into a couple tight situations but was ultimatly able to get out without any real damage. He also did not give up any walks which has been a real issue with the rest of the bullpen thus far. After the game Lopez was optioned to Toledo to make room for tomorrows starter Virgil Vasquez.
Hitting
Standard lineup today with Granderson at leadoff except that the slumping Pudge Rodriguez sat out and was replaced by Mike Rabelo. Not sure how many more opportunities Rabelo will get before the return of Vance Wilson as I did see Wilson catching in the bullpen during last nights game, but Mike is making the most of his final outings. Today he had another RBI on a double and while having only a single hit he didn’t strikeout at all and was making solid contact.
Magglio Ordonez is still hot going 2-for-3 while also drawing 2 walks to put his average at .341 with an impressive .432 on-base percentage and .627 SLG. Monroe isn’t all to far behind in recent days getting his 5th home run of the year bringing his average up to .261 which isn’t a small feat with the slump he started the year in.