The Tigers head West in hopes of staying above .500 while facing Billy Bean's Oakland A's. The A's boast great pitching depth, both in the rotation and the bullpen and the lineup's not too shabby itself. They have solid young bats in shortstop Bobby Crosby adn outfielder Nick Swisher and a great third baseman in Eric Chavez, who just destroys right handed pitching and is off to a pretty hot start this year. There really isn't an easy out in the lineup, with solid hitters filling out the lineup in Milton Bradley, Jay Payton, Frank Thomas, Mark Kotsay, Jason Kendall, and Dan Johnson.

It's a three game series with games Tuesday and Wednesday at 10:05 and then a day game on Thursday at 3:35. The A's are a solid squad so we should be estatic if we can get 2 out of 3 here. West Coast Road trips are always tough, and this 9-gamer should be no exception. Let's see if we can get this one started off right with a couple wins in Oakland.

Tuesday's game features Justin Verlander vs Oakland's Esteban Loaizia.

I hate 10pm starts.

Looks like it's box scores and Sportscenter highlights only for the next 10 days.

The big hurt is hitting a measly .171 this year

its quickly becoming clear he'll never be back to his previous levels

The big hurt is hitting a measly .171 this year

its quickly becoming clear he'll never be back to his previous levels

Yeah, he just plain can't run. He limps around the bases.

I will be satisfied if the club comes home from this road trip @ or above .500. That's 4-5 or 5-4, which IMO is not too much to ask from this team.

Well maybe we should just go with a two man lineup. We can have Mike Maroth pitch all the games, and we can just have Chris Shelton bat for everyone. It would be like playing ball on the old sandlot. They could even use "ghost runners" if they needed to.

Maybe you should learn the term "small BALL"
get some speed
OBP just do something other than hit dingers because everybody knows that wont keep up

Yeah. I'm hoping Leyland's rant will do something positive.

Fat chance.

Leylands rant wont do muhc
those guys are professionals if they cant get up for a game without being yelled at they wouldnt be there

somebody needs to yell at illitch

WTF@Ordonez

TIE GAME!'

Good work, Maggs.

COME ON THAMES! Hit a deep one. V deserves the W.

Monroe is a dumb ass.

And Swisher just smacked another one. *shakes head*

HOLY SHIT PUDGE WALKED HELL IS FREEZING OVER!

I caught the game late, who did Gomez bat for and why?

Leyland is just getting stubborn now....He has Gomez setting up Shelton and Guillen. That's just stupid.

Well, the good news is that the Tigers are manufacturing runs instead of relying on homers.

Tigers up 4-1 at the top of the 4th inning with 2 men on base and 2 outs.

Great performance by the Tigers tonight. Very unselish hitting with great pitching.

We have 10 runs but we didn't have to hit single HR to get those runs. [smilie=clap.gif]

And Guillen is awesome.

Kenny Rogers baby! http://wtfdetroit.com/images/smiles/hitit.gif

Wow.

2 Run HR on the first pitch by Spurling.

I really hate Spurling. Dont know why, I just dont like him.


We scored 11 runs with out 1 HR. Great game for us all around.

Today's game features Jeremy Bonderman vs Barry Zito. Pretty much the entire Oakland team just OWNED Bondo last year so this could get ugly. First pitch's at 3:35.

They way both pitchers have been pitching, could be a slug fest.

Pudge and Ordonez left a combined 13 men on base last night. Just sayin'.

I hope we'll see a great pitching matchup today, both pitchers need it.

Anyone know if I can get the game over the internet?

Anyone know if I can get the game over the internet?

It's 15 bucks a month, but MLB.com offers a package of live video game casts with sound and everything. The quality's pretty good. They might black out Detroit in Detroit, though, I'm not sure.

Lineups: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=260420111

Pudge and Ordonez left a combined 13 men on base last night. Just sayin'.

I hope we'll see a great pitching matchup today, both pitchers need it.

As long as they score 10 runs, they can leave 50 men on base for all I care.

Pudge and Ordonez left a combined 13 men on base last night. Just sayin'.

I hope we'll see a great pitching matchup today, both pitchers need it.
Maggs doesn't want to hear it. RBI double, 1-0. Good to see Shelton's back in the lineup, he got hit pretty hard on the elbow last night.

Bonderman's just getting pounded so far. Everything's getting hit HARD. Could be a long day.

Bondo's ERA just jumped from 6.00 to 7.11 in just over 1 inning.

This team is KILLING me. They should re-name themselves the Detroit Cybills

Top of the ninth rally! 3-3 with men on first and second, one out.

Best I could find:

http://utbaptist.org/v-web/gallery3/albums/radio/rally_cap_time.sized.jpg

Brandon Inge just pulled like a 16 pitch walk. He fouled off 9 pitches.

Bases loaded, 1 out. 3-3 Go Tigers!!!!!!!

He walked Granderson for the go-ahead run!

4-3 Tigers, top of the ninth!

Inge took everything he had out of him.

I hope you guys are watching this shit.

Inge with Dave Bergman-esque 15 pitch at bat (aided by a missed 3rd strike check swing).

What a comeback!

Heart of the A's order coming up, this ain't over yet.

Big Win! Rodney was shaky as hell in the ninth, loaded the bases then got out of it. 4-3 Tigers Win!

In honor of the start of the Hockey Playoffs, let's start naming three stars for all the Tigers games. I'll start things off today:


#1: Magglio Ordonez. He went 2-4 with a double and an RBI. Most importantly, his leadoff single in the ninth got the rally started for the Tigers.

#2: Jeremy Bonderman. Anyone who watched the first inning may think I'm crazy, but after giving up three in the first, he was able to bear down and keep the Tigers in this game. He stayed in for 7 innings allowing only 5 hits and 2 walks, and not much of anything after the first.

#3: Brandon Inge. His line in the box score doesn't look like much, but his at bat in the ninth may just have been what put the Tigers in the position to win. With runners on first and second, he came back from an 0-2 count, battling back by fouling off pitch after pitch. 15 pitches later he was on first and the bases were loaded. Duchscherer appeared shaken as he walked Granderson to let in the go-ahead Tigers run.

It looks like Bondo only gave up one hit the rest of the way after getting roughed up in the 1st inning.

Great, great win on getaway day.

I'm sure Jimmy is smiling from ear to ear.

1. Bonderman: Great performance after the 1st inning.
2. Rodney: Had a jam, but showed great confidence in his abilities and got out of it.
3. Inge: Great defense, great at-bats. Thank the stars he DID NOT for the DP in the 9th.

What a game.

Bondo pitched a gem after that 1st inning. Nice to see them rally in the 4th like that. Inge's at bat was amazing. On to face the M's

Not really an exciting game but an incredible finish for sure.