H1Man
07-24-2006, 01:35 PM
Tigers open series vs. Tribe
Detroit (66-32) at Cleveland (43-54), 7:05 p.m. ET
The Tigers made a point with their 7-3 homestand coming out of the All-Star break. Now they're hoping to continue it on the road.
"Basically, we learned just because of where we're at, there's no need for pats on the back," Nate Robertson said on Sunday. "And just in case there's a slip on any given night, there's going to be tomorrow. And that's the mindset of the club. And our manager makes sure that's where it stays."
By the time the Tigers return home from their 10-game road trip, they might be bringing Alfonso Soriano or some other trade acquisition back with them. They may have stretched their American League Central lead or lost ground to the White Sox. Whichever happens, manager Jim Leyland wants the focus of the club to be the same, not being wrapped up in each individual game.
"You try to win each series as it comes," Leyland said. "We were very fortunate to win three out of four from Kansas City. We won two out of three from the White Sox and we won two out of three from Oakland. And these are tough teams. This is not easy to do.
"Now we're going to go over [to Cleveland] where they've got a bunch of mashers. When they get it together, they're as good as anybody. They struggled. They got out of whack for a while, and they're trying to get themselves out of it. This is not going to be easy."
The Indians welcome the Tigers to town with the opposite second-half start as Detroit, having gone 3-7 out of the break and having sputtered with inconsistencies. They followed up an 11-0 pounding of Scott Baker and the Twins on Saturday by dropping a 3-1 decision on Sunday against Francisco Liriano. But they come into the week having lined up their best three starters possible to face Detroit.
Monday starter Cliff Lee hasn't thrown a quality start in four July outings, but he has shown an ability to throw strikes past Tigers bats. He fanned six Detroiters over 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball in defeat on April 16 at Comerica Park. He then struck out seven in as many innings on May 12, despite giving up five runs on 11 hits. He is 3-3 lifetime versus the Tigers, but he has racked up 50 strikeouts over 55 1/3 innings against them.
Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman has gone from one extreme to the other in his two starts against the Tribe. He was pounded for seven runs on eight hits over 3 2/3 innings on April 15 at Comerica Park, but avenged that loss with eight scoreless innings on eight strikeouts for a 3-0 win on May 13 at Jacobs Field.
Bonderman's primary concern will be slugger Travis Hafner, who is 6-for-21 lifetime off him with two homers, four RBIs and seven walks. But there is plenty more for the 23-year-old right-hander to fret. Casey Blake is 12-for-32 (.375) off Bonderman with six RBIs, while Ben Broussard is 10-for-38 with four doubles, two triples, two homers and 11 RBIs against him.
Pitching matchup
DET: RHP Jeremy Bonderman (10-4, 3.53 ERA)
Bonderman is unbeaten in his last nine starts since May 29, the latest a 7 1/3-inning gem against the White Sox last Wednesday in which he struck out six, while allowing two solo homers. He's still unbeaten on the road this year at 6-0.
CLE: LHP Cliff Lee (9-7, 4.86 ERA)
A five-run fourth inning doomed Lee to defeat in his last outing on Tuesday against the Angels. He had won six of seven decisions before that to get back over .500.
Player to watch
Ivan Rodriguez has a 13-game hitting streak entering Monday. He's 3-for-7 off Lee this year with two doubles and an RBI.
Up next
• Tuesday: Tigers (LHP Kenny Rogers, 11-3, 3.97) at Indians (RHP Paul Byrd, 7-6, 4.28), 7:05 p.m. ET
• Wednesday: Tigers (RHP Justin Verlander, 12-4, 2.77) at Indians (LHP C.C. Sabathia, 7-6, 3.73),
12:05 p.m. ET
• Thursday: Off-day
http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060723&content_id=1571090&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=det
Detroit (66-32) at Cleveland (43-54), 7:05 p.m. ET
The Tigers made a point with their 7-3 homestand coming out of the All-Star break. Now they're hoping to continue it on the road.
"Basically, we learned just because of where we're at, there's no need for pats on the back," Nate Robertson said on Sunday. "And just in case there's a slip on any given night, there's going to be tomorrow. And that's the mindset of the club. And our manager makes sure that's where it stays."
By the time the Tigers return home from their 10-game road trip, they might be bringing Alfonso Soriano or some other trade acquisition back with them. They may have stretched their American League Central lead or lost ground to the White Sox. Whichever happens, manager Jim Leyland wants the focus of the club to be the same, not being wrapped up in each individual game.
"You try to win each series as it comes," Leyland said. "We were very fortunate to win three out of four from Kansas City. We won two out of three from the White Sox and we won two out of three from Oakland. And these are tough teams. This is not easy to do.
"Now we're going to go over [to Cleveland] where they've got a bunch of mashers. When they get it together, they're as good as anybody. They struggled. They got out of whack for a while, and they're trying to get themselves out of it. This is not going to be easy."
The Indians welcome the Tigers to town with the opposite second-half start as Detroit, having gone 3-7 out of the break and having sputtered with inconsistencies. They followed up an 11-0 pounding of Scott Baker and the Twins on Saturday by dropping a 3-1 decision on Sunday against Francisco Liriano. But they come into the week having lined up their best three starters possible to face Detroit.
Monday starter Cliff Lee hasn't thrown a quality start in four July outings, but he has shown an ability to throw strikes past Tigers bats. He fanned six Detroiters over 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball in defeat on April 16 at Comerica Park. He then struck out seven in as many innings on May 12, despite giving up five runs on 11 hits. He is 3-3 lifetime versus the Tigers, but he has racked up 50 strikeouts over 55 1/3 innings against them.
Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman has gone from one extreme to the other in his two starts against the Tribe. He was pounded for seven runs on eight hits over 3 2/3 innings on April 15 at Comerica Park, but avenged that loss with eight scoreless innings on eight strikeouts for a 3-0 win on May 13 at Jacobs Field.
Bonderman's primary concern will be slugger Travis Hafner, who is 6-for-21 lifetime off him with two homers, four RBIs and seven walks. But there is plenty more for the 23-year-old right-hander to fret. Casey Blake is 12-for-32 (.375) off Bonderman with six RBIs, while Ben Broussard is 10-for-38 with four doubles, two triples, two homers and 11 RBIs against him.
Pitching matchup
DET: RHP Jeremy Bonderman (10-4, 3.53 ERA)
Bonderman is unbeaten in his last nine starts since May 29, the latest a 7 1/3-inning gem against the White Sox last Wednesday in which he struck out six, while allowing two solo homers. He's still unbeaten on the road this year at 6-0.
CLE: LHP Cliff Lee (9-7, 4.86 ERA)
A five-run fourth inning doomed Lee to defeat in his last outing on Tuesday against the Angels. He had won six of seven decisions before that to get back over .500.
Player to watch
Ivan Rodriguez has a 13-game hitting streak entering Monday. He's 3-for-7 off Lee this year with two doubles and an RBI.
Up next
• Tuesday: Tigers (LHP Kenny Rogers, 11-3, 3.97) at Indians (RHP Paul Byrd, 7-6, 4.28), 7:05 p.m. ET
• Wednesday: Tigers (RHP Justin Verlander, 12-4, 2.77) at Indians (LHP C.C. Sabathia, 7-6, 3.73),
12:05 p.m. ET
• Thursday: Off-day
http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060723&content_id=1571090&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=det