The Tigers finish off their West Coast trip with a three game set with the CALIFORNIA Angels (I refuse to call them the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim). By finishing off the sweep of the Mariners on Sunday, the Tigers guaranteed themselves their first winning West Coast trip in God only knows how long. Hopefully, they can keep the mojo working against the Angels in Anaheim.

The Angels feature a good mix of young and veteran talent, led by all-world right fielder Vladimir Guerrerro. Vlad the impaler is off to another good start, hitting .347 with 4 homers and 14 driven in so far this April. He is famous for being able to swing at and hit almost any pitch, regardless of location (rumor has it he once drove a pitch that bounced 3 feet in front of the plate 375 feet to left for a home run while playing for the Expos in Montreal.). He is joined in the lineup by veteran sluggers Garret Anderson and Tim Salmon and a solid double play combo of Orlando Cabrera and Adam Kennedy. Young first baseman Casey Kotchman is off to a slow start this year, but he is said to have enormous power potential, and could bust out of his slump at any time.

On top of their dangerous lineup, The Angels boast what amounts to probably the best bullpen in the league. With closer Francisco Rodriguez and top setup men Scott Shields and Brendan Donnelly, if the Tigers don't have a lead by the seventh inning, we may well just have to forget about it, as these guys are lights out.


The series starts out with two late games, at 10:05 Monday and Tuesday before a 3:35 start on getaway day Wednesday. If the Tigers can take 2 of 3 here, we'll be looking pretty as we head back to Detroit for our second homestand of the year.

I'm sure we'll see Denny bumping his gums in this thread, lol.

1.5 games out of first and I'm loving it.

BTW, nobody can confirm that Vlad/Expos rumor.

(I won't give away the punchline, you can probably guess it)

Monday's game is at 10:05 ET and features Kenny Rogers vs Ervin Santana.

Detroit's veteran lefty Rogers was roughed up pretty good by the Angels last year, going 0-1 in three starts with a 5.51 ERA. The heart of the Angels' lineup, Garret Anderson, Vlad Guerrero, Darin Erstad and Juan Rivera went a combined 14-33 off of him, with 4 doubles and a homer. Rogers has historically had his best starts in April and May, though, so he may be able to keep the Tigers in this one.

Ervin Santana is comin off of an inconsistent rookie campaign that he finished 12-8 with a 4.65 era. He dominated the Tigers the only time he faced them last year, and dominated at home in general, so it could be tough to get the bats going tonight.

Sad to say it, but I think the Tigers winning streak ends at 5 tonight. I'll go with 5-2 Angels.

I'm just interested in seeing if we can play with these guys.

I'd love to see the gambler get his 4th win tonight.

Shelton is 1 for his last 15 ABs so let's end that, too.

I would like to see Maroth lower his ERA even more during this series. It would be very sweet for him to have monumental success to offset the 20+ loss season.

I would like to see Maroth lower his ERA even more during this series. It would be very sweet for him to have monumental success to offset the 20+ loss season.

Yeah, specally because I picked him up in my fantasy league. Dude is just solid.

Ervin Santana is a pretty meh pitcher so the Tigers will most likely have the sticks out tonight.

Ervin Santana is a pretty meh pitcher so the Tigers will most likely have the sticks out tonight.

So much for that.

Monroe went 0-for-4 with 4 K's.

Yep, the dreaded "golden sombrero".

Agreed.. it's the Cali Angels.

The Angels are off to a slow start, but April generally hasn't been a very good month for them. If they can stay close to the top of the West until June, watch out!!!

I'm sure we'll see Denny bumping his gums in this thread, lol.

1.5 games out of first and I'm loving it.

BTW, nobody can confirm that Vlad/Expos rumor.

(I won't give away the punchline, you can probably guess it)

It took me waaaaay too long to get that....

Big win for the Tigers tonight. We're playing like the real deal this year and boy is it fun. The lows are going to come eventually on the road, but it looks like we really have some components of a real contender here.




Detroit 5, LA Angels 2

Detroit 5, LA Angels 2Preview - Box Score - Recap
April 26, 2006

AP - Apr 25, 11:57 pm EDT
More Photos
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Magglio Ordonez was 3-for-4 with a home run, Jeremy Bonderman allowed three hits over six innings and the Detroit Tigers beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-2 on Tuesday night to improve their road record to a major league-best 11-3.
Bonderman (2-2) held the two-time defending AL West champs to two sixth-inning runs after being staked to a 5-0 lead. The right-hander struck out six and walked one while helping lower Detroit's league-leading ERA to 3.58. The Tigers are 3-0 in Bonderman's road starts and 0-2 in his starts at Comerica Park.
Todd Jones, the fourth Detroit pitcher, worked a perfect ninth for his third save in three attempts since coming off the disabled list.
The Angels had three baserunners over the first five innings -- one on a throwing error by second baseman Placido Polanco trying for a force on Casey Kotchman's grounder toward the middle.
Hector Carrasco (0-1) was charged with five runs and seven hits over five-plus innings in his second start filling in for reigning Cy Young winner Bartolo Colon, who is on the disabled list because of inflammation in his right shoulder. Last Thursday, Carrasco gave up three runs and four hits over three-plus innings in the Angels' 6-4 win at Minnesota.
Brandon Inge, the Tigers' No. 9 hitter, opened the scoring in the third inning with an RBI triple high off the 18-foot wall in right. Polanco drove him in one out later with a groundout.
Ordonez led off the fourth with a drive to left-center, his fourth homer. The four-time All-Star averaged 32 home runs during a five-year span with the Chicago White Sox, but was limited to 17 homers in 134 games over the last two seasons because of injuries.
A two-out single in the second by Darin Erstad was the only hit Bonderman allowed until the sixth. Orlando Cabrera followed an infield hit by Chone Figgins with an RBI double, then stole third with a huge jump against Bonderman and scored on Garret Anderson's groundout.
Notes
Only five times in the Tigers' first 21 games has someone tried to steal a base against them, the fewest attempts against one team in the majors. ... Figgins was 0-for-13 lifetime against Bonderman before his sixth-inning hit. ... The Tigers have outhomered their opponents 32-17. ... Mike Maroth, a 21-game loser in 2003, will start Wednesday and attempt to become the first Detroit pitcher to start a season 4-0 since David Wells in 1993. ... Bonderman, who turns 24 on in October, needs 52 strikeouts to join Denny McLain and Hal Newhouser as the only pitchers in Tigers history to record 500 strikeouts before their 24th birthday. ... The Tigers' road record is their best after 14 games since 1984, when they won their first 17 away from Tiger Stadium en route to a World Series title.
Updated

Given our record at home (2-5) and on the road (11-3), I think we should request the MLB to schedule us more road games. :D

Three stars for Tuesday's game:

1. Jeremy Bonderman. He's really starting to look like he'll turn into a legit number one. Kept the Angels completely in check for five innings and only allowed the 2 runs in the sixth. Final line:6 ip, 3 Hs, 1BB, 2 ER, 6 Ks.

2. Magglio Ordonez. He went 3-4 with his 4th homer and two runs scored. He's slowly turning in to the driving force behind our offense.

3. Todd Jones. I'll admit I had my doubts when we signed him, but he's done nothing to make me think he can't handle the load. He got his third save in as many appearances since coming off the DL with a perfect ninth to finish it for the Tigers.

Just to think, they put the wings on fox instead of this. Pfffft.....

Now let's see what Maroth can do to win this series. Wouldn't it be wild to see him start 4-0?

I'd love to see it. As I've said, i'm a big MM fan.

Maroth's ERA is 0.47. wow

Game has started, here are the lineups: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=260426103

Bottom 3 no score

check that 1-0

Monroe had a brain cramp

3-0. Yuck.

Just like that Maroth's ERA jumps to 1.67

Booo!

The Detroit Cybills strike again!

We're hitless through 4...

Shut out in two of the three games.

YIKES!

Santana and Lackey are thir two best pitchers right now, Sucks but it's not the end of the world.