The Present:
Justin Verlander continued his streak of amazing outings as he recorded his fifth win in six starts against Memorial Day against Kansas City. In the 13-1 victory at Kaufman Stadium, Verlander went seven innings without allowing a run and struck out eight Royals.
Over his last six starts, along with the five victories, the Tigers’ ace has racked up 60 strikeouts while only walking 10. He has allowed four earned runs in those six starts (42.333 innings = 0.85 ERA).
The best thing about Verlander’s amazing streak is that it’s not the only bright spot in Tiger town.
The Tigers are 14-8 thus far in the month of May after being 11-10 in April. Their 25-18 record is good enough to put them four games ahead of the Royals in the division.
However, we are going to have to see what happens on Tuesday night as the Motowners square off against Zach Greinke and his almost invisible ERA. … Worst-case scenario, the Tigers will only be three up in the division.
But hold on a minute, the match-up could be deceiving. Edwin Jackson has been no joke in 2009. Even though he is going to be faced off with, statistically, the best pitcher in baseball Tuesday, there is definitely a chance for a Detroit victory.
Jackson has only allowed four earned runs in his last 22 innings pitched. Greinke has allowed the same amount of runs in one less inning pitched and recorded one fewer strikeout in that same span.
Though the season numbers definitely favor Greinke ( 7-1, 0.82 ERA, 73 SO, 12 walks and a hitters have only hit .203 against him), Jackson (4-2, 2.55 ERA, 48 SO, 16 walks and hitters have hit .233 against him) has definitely had a year which would make a win Tuesday not much of a surprise. Jackson has been as good, if not better, than Greinke over their last three starts.
Rick Porcello has definitely deserved his promotion in the Tigers rotation. Having started the season as a “chance” replacement for Jeremy Bonderman, Porcelle has recently improved to 5-3 and boasts a respectable ERA in the mid threes. Porcello will face the Royals’ number three starter, Kyle Davies, on Wednesday.
Kyle Davies has been the victim of terrible run support this season. If the Royals could have scored three runs or more during his starts, Davies could easily have six wins. His 4.78 ERA in nine starts accurately describes the righty’s efforts this season. Every time Davies takes the mound, you can expect about three earned runs over six innings. He has stood in that general vicinity for six of those nine starts.
This series looks good for the motor city.
The Recent Past:
Since a one-game series loss to the White Sox on May 7 – and other than that unfortunate three-game sweep by the Twins – the Tigers have recently been rolling. Going into the weekend interleague series, the fierce felines were 9-4 in their last 13 games.
They welcomed the Colorado Rockies into Comerica this past weekend with hopes of extending a six-game win streak.
Six wins soon turned into seven. Then the streak ended.
Armando Galarraga gave up three early runs on Saturday and the kitties couldn’t scratch but one run for Dontrelle Willis; as he pitched his second gem in a week on Sunday. Willis is now 1-1 with a 3.57 ERA in three starts and looking good.
What hurts is the fact that the Rockies (18-26) are a terrible baseball team thus far in 2009.
While that can be said for Colorado, it can definitely not be expressed with regard to the Texas Rangers; the team who the Tigers swept just before the Rockies series.
After scoring 34 runs in three games against the struggling Oakland A’s, the Motowners scored just 13 runs in their sweep of the AL West’s, first place Rangers.
Solid performances by all three Tiger starters helped illustrate the motor city’s rejuvenated and multifaceted attack.
If the hitters aren’t smoking the ball over the fences, Detroit’s hurlers have definitely shown that they can hang on into the late innings and leave Gerald Laird’s catcher’s mitt smoldering in the process.
Texas was shut down by Willis, Verlander, and Jackson in consecutive days. The Rangers, the AL’s best slugging team, was held to just six runs in those three games.
Tiger pitching has now allowed the fewest hits and earned runs in the American League.
The Future:
The month of May has proven to be a good one for the Motown Maulers. As the season rolls on much more will begin to be said about these ferocious felines.
One thing that will begin to be discussed, at length, is the depth of the Tigers rotation.
Jeremy Bonderman is back and on a minor league rehabilitation and training program. He may be ready to try a couple starts at the big league level in a couple weeks.
Nate Robertson – never the most dominant, but always a capable left-handed arm – rejoined the Detroit bullpen last Tuesday and will resume the long relievier’s role.
Zach Miner, who was removed from the rotation and put into the long reliever roll while Roberton was out, may soon be able to get a few more starts for the Tigers.
While those three arms are not going to make the Tigers immediate World Series contenders, they do mean something very significant. The Tigers have eight, proven, major league starting pitchers.
With the fact that Rick Porcello has fewer than 150 innings pitched at any professional level, the Tigers will want to sit him for a start or two in the summer heat.
This is when the rotational depth becomes immediately effectual. Manager Jimmy Leyland has been given so many options that it will not be hard to keep his young arms fresh this season. That could mean a huge deal to a late season run and pennant race.
Let me be the first to say it – There is no fluke in Detroit this season.
If Detroit can keep stringing together wins, we may see them pull away in this division. With the inconsistencies of the AL Central, we may begin to see something more reminiscent of the Angels in 2008 than that which was predicted for our beloved Tigers in 2009.
(I would have no problem admitting that I had predicted terribly if it means the Tigers are playing in late October.)
