MLB 09: Restoring the Roar, a Detroit Tigers dynasty

[DeToxRox]

This is the the final one I'll do. Same set up as before. Computer handles banking and promotions, and I'll do the rest.

I will play games as each starter. So I'll play opening day, then sim until #2's next start, then #3's next start, etc. So I should play 1, sim 5 or there about.

[DeToxRox]

Detroit makes two deals as Spring Training closes

The Tigers head into the 2009 season as contenders in the AL Central if everything goes according to plan, but things didn't look good with the bullpen failing to find a closer and the lineup lacking any speed. Today the Tigs attempted to fix both problems.

First the Tigers traded Fernando Rodney and Carlos Guillen to the Pirates for Closer Matt Capps. Capps is a young kid with a lively arm who will become the closer the Tigers have coveted for years.

To fill Guillens void in LF, the Tigs then traded Nate Robertson, Brent Clevelen and Mike Hessman to the Dodgers for Juan Pierre. Pierre is going to give them extra speed in the lineup and allow Curtis Granderson to bat lower in the lineup.

Going into the opener vs Toronto team morale is high and expectations are now that there are no excuses.

[DeToxRox]

Opening Day Lineup

1. LF Juan Pierre
2. 2B Placido Polanco
3. CF Curtis Granderson
4. 1B Miguel Cabrera
5. RF Magglio Ordonez
6. DH Marcus Thames
7. 3B Brandon Inge
8. C Gerald Laird
9. SS Adam Everett

Bench

1B/3B Jeff Larish
C Matt Treanor
SS/2B Ramon Santiago
OF Josh Anderson

Rotation

1. Justin Verlander
2. Armando Galarraga
3. Edwin Jackson
4. Rick Porcello
5. Jeremy Bonderman

Long Reliever

1. Zach Miner

Middle Relievers

1. Brandon Lyon
2. Ryan Perry
3. Juan Rincon

Setup Men

1. Joel Zumaya
2. Bobby Seay

Closer

1. Matt Capps

[DeToxRox]

Game 1: Detroit Tigers (0-0) @ Toronto Blue Jays (0-0)
Justin Verlander (0-0, 0.00) vs Roy Halladay (0-0, 0.00)

The opener featued a nice pitching match-up between two of the AL's best in Verlander and Halladay, and it ended up being a nice duel, though not anything to write home about.

Toronto scored first as Scott Rolen leadoff the 2nd with a solo bomb, but Brandon Inge answered with his own solo HR in the 3rd.

Then in the 4th, Polanco doubled, moved to third on a Miggy ground out, and was driven in with a 2 out, 2 strike single to left by Magglio to put us up 2-1.

The 5th inning was big for us, though only scoring two runs, it showed how are new found speed could help us win games. Gerald Laird singled then stole 2nd. Everett sacrificed him to third to put Pierre up with 2 outs. Pierre stuck out but the ball got back Barajas and Pierre took first. He then stole second and a Polanco single scored him to make it 4-1.

In the bottom of the 6th Toronto had back to back to back doubles to make it 4-3 but Verlander K'd the next two to get us out of the jam, and then Perry, Zumaya and Capps closed down the door in the 7th, 8th and 9th respectivley to seal the deal on a 4-3 W.

For Detroit, Polanco and Thames each had 2 hits, and Magglio added 3.

Verlander went 6 IP,7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K for the W.

Halladay went 5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 K for the L.

Capps pitched a 1-2-3 9th for the S.

W: Verlander (1-0)
L: Halladay (0-1)
S: Capps (1)

Final Line

DET: 4 - 10 - 1
TOR: 3 - 9 - 0

[DeToxRox]

Game 2: TOR 8 - DET 0

Not a good effort here as we had 6 hits but couldn't cross anyone across the plate. Grandy had two hits, our only guy with more then one, but the pitching wasn't up to snuff as Galarraga gave up 4 runs in 5.2 IP, and then Rincon gave up 4 in just 1 IP. Not good at all.

Game 3: TOR 8 - DET 7

This one stung. We had a 3-1 lead going into the 6th but then Jackson gave up 3 runs to give Toronto the lead. Then in the 7th Bobby Seay did his best Rincon giving up 4 runs to make it 8-3. We scored 4 in the 8th but that was it as BJ Ryan closed the door. Grandrson had a monster game though with 2 triples, a double and 3 RBI. He is going to be a star as a #3 hitter.

Game 4: TOR 5 - DET - 0

Rick Porcellos debut wasn't bad, as he went 5 IP, giving up 6 H and 2 ER, but the pen imploded with 3 relievers coming in and all 3 giving up runs. That said, you won't win with 5 hits and 2 errors as we sadly found out. A tough loss for Porcello to take in his debut but he'll have his share of wins I do believe.

Game 5:TEX 5 - DET 1

A sloppy home opener that sees our offense continue to slide. We had 3 errors, chasing Bonderman who only went 4 IP, but gave up 4 runs, only 1 of which was earned. Granderson hit a HR, but Miggy is struggling only hitting .142 early. We cannot do anything with him floundering so badly. One positive note though was that Ryan Perry pitched 2 more scoreless innings, including 3 K's. He's been our best reliever.

Game 6: DET 7 - TEX 2

Verlander proves why he is the ace as he closes the door on Texas and our losing streak with 7.1 scoreless innings, including 7 K. Zumaya did give up 2 in the 9th but it didn't matter as Verlander was flawless and our bats had 13 hits. The MVP though was Magglio with 2 HR and 6 RBI. Granderson had another triple, and Polanco had 3 more hits to put him at a whopping .545 a week in. A nice game to be sure.

[DeToxRox]

Detroit Tigers (2-4) vs Texas Rangers (3-2)
Armando Galarraga (0-1, 6.35) vs Kevin Millwood (0-1, 6.23)

TEX 11 - DET 4

Armando Galarraga was great early on, K'ing the first 5 guys he faced, and we managed 2 runs in the 3rd to go up 2-0 early. A solo HR by Blalock cut the lead to 2-1, and then an RBI from Hamilton in the 6th tied it.

Texas would go up 3-2 on another solo HR from Hamilton, but we tied it up as Josh Anderson stole third and Salty overthrew 3B allowing Anderson to score.

At 3-3 in the 8th Ryan Perry came in and got shelled, giving up two 2-run HR's, and 5 ER in total. Juan Rincon then came in only to allow 3 ER himself, and next thing you know it's 11-3.

Polanco would hit a solo HR in the 9th to make it 11-4 but it was over.

Juan Pierre had two hits for us, and Polanco had a solo HR to really provide the majority of our offense.

Galarraga went 7 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 8 K for the ND.

Millwood went 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K for the ND.

W: Rupe (1-0)
L: Perry (0-1)

Final Line

TEX: 11 - 14 - 3
DET: 4 - 6 - 1

[DeToxRox]

Detroit releases Juan Rincon

Juan Rincon, who had a 31.02 ERA in 3 appearances this year has been DFA'd by the Tigers and is expected to be released if he passes through waivers.

Freddy Dolsi will take his spot in the bullpen.

[DeToxRox]

Game 8: DET 2 - CHW 1

Both teams starters were great, as Edwin Jackson and John Danks battled each other in a great duel that saw Jackson goes 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K for the win. Bobby Seay would pitch 2 scoreless innings giving way to Matt Capps for the save. Offensively Carlos Quentin had a solo HR for the Sox and Marcus Thames had a 2 run HR for the Tigs to account for all the runs.

Game 9: DET 9 - CHW 6

We pound out 19 hits vs Chicago, with every one in the lineup getting at least one, and only Pierre and Inge didn't have more then one hit, thohg Inges one hint was a grand slam. Granderson, Cabrera and Ordonez each had 3 hits apiece to help Rick Porcello get his first career win, even if it wasn't pretty as he gave up 6 ER and 10 H in 5.2 IP.

Game 10: CHW 8 - DET 2

Bonderman was decent, going 6 IP and allowing 3 ER, but Seay and Perry both imploded allowing 5 ER out of the pen to give the Sox the win. Offensively Juan Pierre had 3 hits, and that was about it as far as notable stats go.

Game 11: DET 7 - SEA 0

Justin Verlander is great again, going 8 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 5 K for his third win of the year. Menawhile Granderson goes 4 - 5 with a HR and 3 RBI and Pierre, Thames and Laird each add 2 hits.

Game 12: DET 6 - SEA 0

Galarraga has a CG 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K performance and Thames adds a 3 run HR and it's basically all we need. A nice game though as we had hits spread out and Galarraga was nails. Can't argue with that type of performance.

[DeToxRox]

Game 13: Detroit Tigers (6-6) @ Seattle Marines (6-6)
Edwin Jackson (1-1, 3.86) vs Jarrod Washburn (0-2, 6.30)

SEA 6 - DET 4

Seattle scored all 6 runs in the first four innings, with 2, 2, 1, 1. Edwin Jackson did not have a good day at all. His FB had no location and he was behind the count often. Also he relinquished two 2 run HR's, one to Beltre and one to Branyan, and put us in a hole.

That said, a solo HR from Thames and a 3 run HR from Magglio, combined with 4 shut out innings of relief from Minor and a spotless inning from Perry kept us in it until the very end, when Aardsma and Morrow shut us down the final 3 innings to put this game in Seattles favor.

We'll take the series win but this a game we should've won with some competent pitching.

[DeToxRox]

Game 14: DET 4 - ANA 3

Anaheim struck first with a 3 run third, but then Porcello shut them down over the next 3 innings he pitched, and turned it over to Seay and Capps who combined to just allow 1 hit the last 3 innings to give us a 4-3 win. Miguel Cabrera and Polanco each had 2 RBI for us. Miggy is slowly heating up which is huge.

Game 15: ANA 5 - DET 3

Bonderman pitched another good game only to see Bobby Seay implode giving up 3 runs in the 8th to give Anaheim the 5-3 lead. Miggy had another RBI, but we left too many runners on to pull this one out.

Game 16: DET 4 - ANA 0

Justin Verlander is lights out. He pitches 7.1 scoreless only allowing 3 hits and K'ing 9. He now has gone 22.2 innings without surrendering a run. Meanwhile Ordonez had 3 RBI as he continues to heat up himself.

Game 17: KC 10 - DET 6

Galarraga scuffled allowing 6 ER in 3 innings, and then the pen imploded allowing 4 runs in the next 3 innings. On top of that Brandon Lyon and Ryan Perry both got hurt in the same inning. Both are expected to miss at least a month, but probably more. We call up Aquinio Lopez and Clay Rapada to replace them. At the plate Miggy and Inge had 2 run HR's. Miggy's was his first of the season remarkably. At least he's coming together.

Game 18: DET 10 - KC 1

Edwin Jackson rebounded from this tough last start with 8 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 10 K, and Magglio Ordonez had 5 RBI to lead the offense. Inge had another HR as well, which is good to see as we need him to be a 20 HR guy as our offense lacks depth as fat as HR hitters go.

[DeToxRox]

Game 19: Detroit Tigers (9-9) @ Kansas City Royals (8-9)
Rick Porcello (2-1, 5.94) vs Brian Bannister (0-3, 11.20)

DET 4 - KC 3

This was a game that really was a pitchers duel except for 2 and a half innings. Porcello was cruising until the 4th when he gave up a 3 run HR to Teahan who has been on fire for KC. He then calmed down and got through the 6th without damage.

Sadly Bannister was locking us up at the plate, allowing 2 hits until the top of the 7th when Miggy Cabrera doubled and then Magglio hit a 2 run HR to make it 3-2.

Clay Rapada and Aquilino Lopez would shut down KC in the 6th and 7th, allowing the top of 8 to unfold with some clutch plays. First Juan Pierre walked and stole second. Then he took third on a wild pitch and scored on a Fielders Choice when the SS went home with the throw and Pierre just avoided the tag. That made it 3-3. Polanco was then gunned down on a botched hit and run by Granderson. Thankfully Curtis rebounded with a massive solo HR to make it 4-3.

Zumaya would pitch a 1-2-3 8th, and Capps came in for the save in the 9th. The play of the night though was a Jacobs liner that hit Capps leg and bounced back to Laird at catcher who threw out Jacobs at 1st.

[DeToxRox]

Game 20: DET 9 - NYY 6

We pound out 16 hits, including 4 from Josh Anderson, who also had 4 RBI filling in for Granderson who had the day off. Five other guys would knock in a run to give us a rather balanced day at the dish. Pitching wise, Bonderman pitched 5 innings allowing 2 H and 1 ER, but Rapada give up 4 ER to cost him the game. Thankfully Seay and Capps combined to shut the Yanks down once we got the lead back.

Game 21: NYY 5 - DET 2

Verlander had his first round game of the season, allowing 4 ER on 2 hits in 5.1 IP. He was solid besides two bad pitches that ended up as HR, and we just couldn't do much against Sabathia who pitched 8 great innings before turning it over to Mo for the save.

Game 22: NYY 7 -DET 4

Joel Zumaya struggled with 3 ER in 1.2 IP and that was all the Yanks needed as they broke open a 4-4 tie with those 3 runs in the 7th to win it 7-4. The offense was stagnant again and it needs to be fixed as does our bullpen if we want to win the Central.

Game 23: DET 8 - CLE 6

We pound out 16 hits, including HR's from Polanco, Cabrera and Thames, and hold off a 4 run 9th from Cleveland to pull out a big win in the series opener. Edwin Jackson pitched 8 strong before giving way to Lopez who gave up 4 in the 9th. That brought in Capps who got the final 2 outs for his 7th save. Capps has still yet to allow a run this season.

Game 24: CLE 5 - DET 1

We wasted all our offense yesterday, as this time around Cleveland capitalized on our mistakes to take the game 5-1. Porcello allowed 3 runs, 2 of which were earned, in 5 innnings to take the loss. Cabrera had another RBI as he continues to heat up but it'll take a more consistent team effort to win these kind of games when the pen doesn't have it.

[Balldog]

Thank god you dealt Rodney, smart move! :)

[DeToxRox]

Around the MLB: April Edition

Starting in the American League, the race in the AL East is about as close as it was expected, as there is only 3.5 games between the first place Rays and last place Orioles. The Blue Jays are a surprise in second at 14-13, .5 games off the pace, but the Sox and Yankees will be there all year.

The AL Central is even tighter, with 3 games between the first place White Sox and the bottom three of the Indians, Tigers and Twins, all 3 games back. The Royals sit in second behind an offense that has 147 runs already. Talk about a weakness becoming a strength.

The AL West continues to be close as well, with 4 games between the first place A's and Rangers and last place Mariners. The Angels are just a game back, this despite an AL low 85 runs scored.

Looking at AL league leaders now..

A's LF Matt Holliday is hitting an impressive .429 through April, giving him a nice early cushion in the batting title race. Somewhat surprising is Mark Teahen, hitting .393, who is in 2nd.

Texas 1B Chris David leads the league with 12 HR, 3 more then Jim Thome, and 4 more then Travis Hafner who are 2nd and 3rd respectively. Davis is only hitting .245, but the guy can sure knock the ball out of the yard.

Speaking of Davis, his 33 RBI lead the AL, 5 more then Jason Giambi's 28, and 6 up in Jim Thome and Magglio Ordonez who both have 27.

The SB race is currently headed by Tigers LF Juan Pierre who has swiped 13 bags so far this year, but the ever deadly Chone Figgins is right behind him with 12 of his own.

Looking at pitching now...

Jose Contreras and Roy Halladay lead the way with 5 wins apiece but Zack Greinke, Justin Verlander and Scott Lewis are right behind the pack with 4 of their own.

The save race is on in the AL already, with Brian Fuentes and Frank Francisco both tied atop the leader board with 10 apiece.

A remarkable stat is that Roy Halladay already has 3 shutouts this year, and is the obvious Cy Young winner at this point in the year.

In the NL, the most remarkable story are the Atlanta Braves who have started the season 21-3! That's right ... 21-3! The Braves are already up 9.5 games on the 2nd place Phils and are doing it with insane pitching, having only allowed 66 runs to this point.

In the NL Central the Cubs lead the pack, 3 games up on the Brewers, and 6 up on the second place Cards. Chances are the NL Central race will be over sooner rather then later.

In the NL West, it's the Giants on top, 3 games ahead of the D'Backs, and 3.5 up on both the Dodgers and Padres, with the Rockies 5 back in last place.

Looking at NL leaders ..

Albert Pujols leads the league with a .422 average, followed by Kelly Johnson at .402 and then Pujols teammate Skip Schumaker at .396.

Milton Bradley leads the NL with 12 HR, followed by Pujols and Berkman who both have 10.

Bradley always leads the NL in RBI with 28, followed by Pujols at 27 and Soriano at 25. Could Pujols win the triple crown?

Now looking at pitching ...

A pair of Cubs lead the league with 5 wins each, those two being Zambrano and Lilly. Behind them is a pair of Braves with 4 wins each, Javier Vazquez, Jair Jurrjens and Kenshin Kawakmi. No wonder those two teams are pacing the NL.

Braves closer Mike Gonzalez leads the NL with 12 saves, followed by 9 from Heath Bell and 8 from Brian Wilson.

In NL injury news, Manny Ramirez was placed on the 15 day DL with a broken forearm as April came to a close. Not good news for Dodgers fans.

[DeToxRox]

Game 25: CLE 6 - DET 3

I played this game but lost the write up to a freeze, so the bare bones is Bonderman struggled, giving up 6 runs in 3 innings, and we couldn't score with RISP. We left 11 guys on base which is abysmal, and Magglio, who has been on fire, hit into 3 DP's.

Game 26: DET 6 - MIN 2

Verlander and Liriano pitch 7 innings each of 2 run ball, but Bobby Seay was able to pitch 2 scoreless innings of relief and give us enough time to allow the offense to score 4 in the bottom of the 8th for the 6-2 win. Miggy and Magglio both had 3 RBI in the win.

Game 27: MIN 12 - DET 9

The pen implodes in this one. Matt Capps blows his first save of the year to send us to Extras, where Zumaya proceeded to give up 6 ER. We did get 3 back in the bottom of 10 but it wasn't enough. The only positive here was 3 HR and 6 RBI from Curtis Granderson.

Game 28: DET 8 - CHW 3

Edwin Jackson comes up and saves the pen with 8 strong innings for his 4th win of the year, and we get some offense from Josh Anderson, subbing for Granderson who was given a day off. Anderson had 2 hits and 4 RBI off the bench and it's all we really needed as we get a big divisional win.

Game 29: CHW 8 - DET 5

Porcello gets roughed up, ,only going 2 innings and giving up 7 runs. After that we outscored the Sox 5-1, but the 7 run second was all the Sox needed. Dolsi and Zumaya did prove 6 good innings out of the pen which is nice as our pen as struggled recently.

Game 30: CLE 4 - DET 4

We get down early again, and we lose 6-4 because of it. Bonderman gave up 3 in the 2nd, and finished only allowing 3 in 5 innings, but our offense didn't come to play today. Hopefully we get in sync soon.

[DeToxRox]

Thank god you dealt Rodney, smart move! :)

Ha, had to. Capps is a beast and I am glad I could land him.

[DeToxRox]

Game 31: Detroit Tigers (14-16) @ Cleveland Indians (15-15)
Justin Verlander (4-1, 1.76) vs Cliff Lee (4-2, 2.91)

DET 4 - CLE 3

This was one of those games where both pitchers pitched incredibly well outside of one bad inning each.

We struck first in the 2nd. First Miggy got hit by a pitch, then Magglio walked. Then Lee trying to just get one over served up a 3 run bomb to Inge, his 5th of the year to make it 3-0.

Verlander would cruise through the first three, but had trouble in the fourth, allowing a 2 run HR to Hafner and an RBI double to Peralta to make it 3-3.

Thankfully in the 5th Granderson would rip a double off of the right field wall, and Miggy would drive him in with a sharp single between third and short to make it 4-3.

Verlander would end up going 7 strong, before turning it over to Zumaya who worked a 1-2-3, but in the bottom of 9, Capps would get the first two before allowing a single and then a double. With runners on 2nd and 3rd though he got Cabrera to sky out to Granderson for his 8th save and for us, a much needed win.

W: Verlander (5-1)
L: Lee (4-3)
S: Capps (8)

[DeToxRox]

Game 32: CLE 6 - DET 5

Just couldn't get the bats going and we lose another tough one to Cleveland. Miggy had 3 hits, including a HR and 2 RBI. He's heating up but Magglio is cooling down. We need both to make a successful run at the AL Central. Galarraga also struggled giving up 6 earned in 5.1 IP.

Game 33: MIN 2 - DET 1

It was 0-0- in the top of the 9th when Grandy got an RBI Sac Fly, but then Capps blew the save in the 9th and Seay gave up the winning run in the bottom of 10. We only had 3 hits in 10 innings. That won't cut it ever. Jackson was great, but if the pen and the bats don't ship up we're in deep trouble.

Game 34: MIN 5 - DET 4

Miggy homers again, but Porcello struggles with 8 hits and 4 runs in 4 IP and Lopez comes in for 4 strong innings of relief but we cannot score another run even with 12 hits and we drop another 1 run game. Those are getting really frustrating.

After this game we deiced to sign Derrick Turnbow to a 1 year, 2.15 million dollar deal. We need arms in the pen who can get outs and he has some decent ratings.

Game 35: DET 11 - MIN 7

We pound out 19 hits, including HR's from Miggy and Granderson, and Bonderman manages to get his first win of the year even if it was ugly, giving up 8 hits and 6 ER in 5 IP. We needed this one badly.

Game 36: DET 6 - OAK 0

Verlander pitches 7.2 scoreless, allowing 6 hits, while striking out 10 for his 6th win of the year. We got all the offense we needed from 2 Marcus Thames HR and a HR from Magglio. This was a good day for us.

[DeToxRox]

Game 37: Detroit Tigers (17-19) vs Oakland A's (19-16)
Armando Galarraga (1-3, 5.87) vs Dana Eveland (3-2, 5.75)

OAK 8 - DET 6

This one was just not our night. Galarraga gave up 5 runs in 3.2 innings, including 2 HR. Eric Chavez would hit his 2nd HR of the night in the 6th, and take a commanding 8-2 lead. Then in the bottom of the 8th Granderson hit a solo bomb to make it 8-3. In the bottom of 9 our first 2 got ojn and Laird hit a 3 run HR, his first of the year, to make it 8-6.

The A's would call Ziegler to the mound though and he shut the door to gave Oakland an 8-6 game.

Play of the game was Adam Everett hitting what would be a 2 run HR in the 2nd only to have Matt Holliday make a jumping catch at the fence. Total morale killer.

W: Gallagher (4-1)
L: Galaragga (1-4)
S: Ziegler (8)

[DeToxRox]

Game 38: DET 6 - OAK 4

Edwin Jackson pitches 7.2 strong. He does give up 4 ER but added 10 K's and Inge knocked in 4. The win is a nice bounce back after the tough one we had yesterday vs Oakland.

Game 39: DET 4 - TEX 2

This one went 11, and we only had 6 hits to their 11, but Polanco hits a two run walkoff HR to give us a big game vs Texas. Porcello was strong only allowing 2 ER in 6 IP, while Turnbow and Zumaya combined for 5 innings of 3 hit shutout ball out of the pen. A big win for us but especially for our pen.

Game 40: DET 11 - TEX 6

We pound out 11 runs on 18 hits, and get 3 RBI from Maggs and Santiago apiece, plus 2 from Miggy and then 1 from a slew of others to get another big win. Bonderman was good with 2 ER over 7 innings. This is the start he needed. Hopefully he builds off it.

Game 41: DET 10 - TEX 2

Verlander picks up win 7, and we smoke the Rangers again. This time its 10 runs on 18 hits with HR's from Everett, Thames and Inge. We chase Millwood after 3.1 IP and then we watch Zumaya pitch 2.2 IP of perfect baseball to give us our 4th win in a row.

Game 42: DET 2 - COL 0

Our 5th win in a row sees 4 pitchers combine on a 2 hit shutout. Galarraga bounces back with 6.1 IP of 2 hit ball, then Turnbow, Zumaya and Capps help close it out. We did walk 6 guys today but it didn't matter. We get runs from solo shots from Magglio and Everett.

[DeToxRox]

Game 43: COL 3 - DET 1

I played this last night but was too tired to recap. Basically Jackson got hit hard early and Jiminez spun a CG, 3 hit gem. Our only run came off a Thames solo bomb in the 9th. The good news from this game is Turnbow continues to be perfect with another 1.2 scoreless innings.

Game 44: DET 4 - COL 3

Porcello has his best start of his young career, going 8.1, allowing 6 hits and 2 ER, as well as K'ing 10 batters. He then turned it over to Capps he blew his 3rd save but Joel Zumaya would shut the door and give Josh Anderson the chance to win the game with a walkoff double to give us a big win.

Game 45: DET 4 - KC 2

Bonderman pitches 6 strong, and the pen chips in for 3 scoreless, and we ride Polanco and Cabrera to a 4-2 win. Polanco was a single short of the cycle, and had 2 RBI, while Miggy had 2 hits, including a HR, and also he had 2 RBI. This was a big road win for us.

Game 46: DET 6 - KC 5

We take over first in the AL Central as Justin Verlander wins his 8th game of the year, even though he allowed 5 runs on 8 hits in 6.2 IP. He offense came through for him, as Thames and Anderson went yard and Granderson had 3 RBI.

Game 47: DET 4 - KC 1

We are just flat out on fire thanks to some great pitching, and tonight is no different as Galarraga has a CG, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K performance, while Inge homers and drives in 3 to give us our 9th win in our last 10 games. What a hot streak this is becoming.

Game 48: DET 10 - BAL 3

Down 3-1 going into the 8th, the offense awoke with a 4 run 8th and a 5 run 9th to give us a huge 10-3 win vs Baltimore. Marcus Thames blasted 2 HR and had 6 RBI and Polanco drove in 2, along with 1 apiece from Magglio and Santiago to give us our scoring while Turnbow goes 1.2 scoreless for his first win as a Tiger. Starter Edwin Jackson went 5.1 IP allowing 3 ER. Not a great day but not bad by any stretch.

[DeToxRox]

Game 49: Detroit Tigers (27-21) vs Baltimore Orioles (19-29)
Rick Porcello (2-3, 5.63) vs Jeremy Guthrie (2-1, 3.34)

BAL 13 - DET 1

Not much to say. They mashed 21 hits and just killed any pitch I left up in the zone. Five homers allowed, and all of them were no doubters. Pretty frustrating but my own fault as I got too picky on the corners and missed over the plate too often.

W: Guthrie (3-1)
L: Porcello (2-4)

[DeToxRox]

Game 50: DET 6 - BAL 4

We rebound nicely with a nice 14 hit outing that saw 2 RBI's from Thames and Laird, plus Miggy and Inge chipping in with one. Juan Pierre doubled twice and might finally be showing signs of life at the dish. Meanwhile Bondo gives up 4 ER in 6 IP but the pen pitches 3 innings of 2 hit ball and we get a nice 6-4 W.

Game 51: BAL 3 - DET 2

Verlander goes 7, allows 2 ER and k's 7, but Bobby Seay gives up runs in the 8th to tie it, and in the 9th to lose it. He's been struggling mightily for us but he is still our best LHP we have and we cannot do too much about that at this point. We may have to go shopping for a lefty out of the pen by the deadline though. Polanco mashes 3 hits for us and continues to be a force for us.

Game 52: DET 7 - BOS 6 1

We win in the 10th innings thanks to a walkoff double from Miggy, who had 2 RBI tonight, but the real star was Granderson who had 3 hits and 3 RBI. Adam Everett also chimed in with 2 RBI for us to complete the scoring. Pitching wise Galaragga gave up 5 ER in 6.2 IP, and Turnbow finally allowed a run, but Zumaya pitched 2.1 scoreless for the win.

[DeToxRox]

2009 MLB Draft

#1 Washington - CP Franquelis Flores, 18 y/o (HS)
#2 Seattle - 1B Arturo Guarado, 20 y/o (2-yr)
#3 San Diego - SP Reynaldo Mota, 18 y/o (HS)
#4 Pittsburgh - SP Lindsay Houser, 21 y/o (4-yr)
#5 Baltimore - SP Mohamed Feierabend, 22 y/o (4-yr)
#6 Atlanta - SP Armand Maguire, 22 y/o (2-yr)
#7 San Francisco - SP Edwin Karstens, 19 y/o (2-yr)
#8 Detroit - C Linwood Rose, 21 y/o (2-yr)
#9 Cincinnati - SP Josh Griffin, 21 y/o (2-yr)
#10 Colorado - LF Byron Albert, 20 y/o (2-yr)

Round 2

Detroit - SS Kendry Silva, 18 y/o (HS)

Round 3

Detroit - 1B Yamil Valenzuela, 20 y/o (2-yr)

Round 4

Detroit - LF Marcellus Tinsley, 18 y/o (HS)

Round 5

Detroit - 2B Marucio Villasmil, 18 y/o (HS)

We sign all five players right away, with all of them but Valenzuela and Villasmil getting 3 year deals. Those two players both were given 5 year deals.

[DeToxRox]

Around the MLB: May Edition

Starting in the AL, the AL East is no longer a five team race as Baltimore is now 11.5 out, 12 games under .500. That said, the East leading Yanks are only 2 up on the Jays, 3 up on the Sox and 4 up on the Rays. This will come down to the wire to be sure.

In the Central, the Tigers are 29-24, 0.5 games up on the White Sox, but Cleveland and KC are 4 and 4.5 games back respectively. The Twins at 6.5 back are not out but their offense is scuffling to score with just 221 runs so far.

Anaheim is also 29-24 and leads the AL West by 2 games over Oakland. Seattle and Texas both sit 5.5 back. This looks like a good race to keep an eye out on as Oakland is a remarkable 15-8 in the division.

Looking at league leaders in the AL ..

Matt Holliday still leads the hitting race with a .360 average, but Placido Polanco is right there at .357. Also of note is Bobby Abreu in third place hitting .349.

Chris Davis continues his impressive HR pace, now up to 24 HR in just 212 AB. He is followed by Justin Morneau and Travis Hafner who both have 19 HR on the season.

Chris Davis also reads in the league in RBI with 62, 9 ahead of Matt Holliday's 53, and 10 ahead of Evan Longoria's 52. Davis, who has upped his average to .278 could be the early leader for AL MVP, though Texas needs to start winning some more.

Juan Pierre has the AL SB lead with 25 at this point, but Chone Figgins is still a threat with 20.

As far as pitching goes, Justin Verlander leads the AL with 8 wins, but four pitchers, headlined by Roy Halladay are right behind him with 7.

Brian Fuentes is still the leading in saves with 19. More impressive is Anaheim has 29 wins and he's closed out 19 of those. They play a lot of tight ones no doubt.

Roy Halladay is the current ERA leader with an absurd 1.86 mark in 82.1 IP. Probably more insane is he still has 3 losses. Talk about no run support.

Speaking of Doc Halladay, he now is up to 4 shutouts on the year. As good as Verlander has been, Halladay is just unreal this season.

Now to the National League ..

The Braves are 35-18 and 6 up on the defending champion Phillies. Their pitching is still going well, but they have for sure hit the skids after a tremendous start. Still, the East looks to be all but assured a two team race as the Nats somehow sit in third, 13 games back.

In the NL Central the Brewers got hot. Real hot. And now sit with the most wins in baseball at 37-16. This is also a two team race at this point as the Cubs are 2 games back while the Cards sit in third, 8 back.

In the NL West, the Backs are 34-21 and lead SF by 3 games. This is looking like a two team race also at this point as the Dodgers are in third, 8 games back.

Looking at NL league leaders ..

Albert Pujols is just mashing it right now, and leads the bigs with a .403 average. He has 40 points on second places Adrian Gonzalez, hitting .363. Rounding out the top 3 is Ryan Braun at .353.

Pujols is also tied for the NL lead in HR with Dan Uggla, both at 19 HR. Ryan Howard sits in third with 18.

The RBI chase is going to be a good one to watch as well, as Uggla leads right now with 52, followed by Braun with 50, but Pujols lurks in third with 49. He is the obvious NL MVP at this point and could win the triple crown.

Pitching wise, Ted Lilly of the Cubs leads the NL with 8 wins, while six other guys have 7. Two of those six are fellow Cubs hurlers Rich Harden and Carlos Zambrano. Talk about some good starting pitching.

Braves closer Mike Gonzalez continues leading the bigs in saves with 21. Trevor Hoffmans 19 puts him in second and Chad Qualls and Brian Wilson are in third with 16.

The MLB's best ERA belongs to Carlos Zambrano who has a sparkling 1.44 ERA. Behind him is Dan Haren at 2.00 and then Bronson Arroyo is in third at 2.05.

[DeToxRox]

May trade puts Anaheim as team to beat in AL West

Anaheim needed offense from their corner IF's. Cleveland needed RP and some youth. Therefore it made perfect sense then Anaheim acquired slugger Victor Martinez from Cleveland in exchange for RP Scot Shields and SS Brandon Wood. For Anaheim they now have run producer in the heart of the order, and for Cleveland they have a top end 8th inning guy and a IF who can play any position.

[DeToxRox]

Game 53: BOS 3 - DET 2

Edwin Jackson pitched 5 innings of 6 hit ball, giving up all 3 runs. His problem was he walked 5 guys, and Boston made him pay. Curtis Granderson had 3 hits, including a 2 run HR but that's all we mustered and we go down to Boston 3-2.

Game 54: BOS 6 - DET 2

Rick Porcello pitched 6.1 IP, allowing 8 H and 2 ER. Not great but not bad either. The problem was Zumaya and Rapada gave up 4 ER out of the pen, as Boston scores all 6 in the last 3 innings and we lost 6-2. We only had 4 hits, 1 of which was a 2 run HR from Adam Everett which will not cut it for us. Time to put this series behind us with Anaheim coming to town.

[Sun Tzu]

Pujols hitting .400 heading into June? I'd kill to have a guy like that on my squad, the guy is just a machine.

Are you playing every one of these games? Coaching? Just pitching? Just hitting?

[DeToxRox]

Pujols hitting .400 heading into June? I'd kill to have a guy like that on my squad, the guy is just a machine.

Are you playing every one of these games? Coaching? Just pitching? Just hitting?

What I am doing is playing a game as each starter. So I'll play the Verlander start, then sim the next 5 or 6 games until my #2 starters game, and so on and so forth.

Sometimes I'll manage a game or do the sportscast manager. Depends on the mood.

And yes, Pujols is a beast in the Show. Just a damn beast.

[DeToxRox]

Game 54: ANA 5 - DET 2

I played this one but was too depressed to recap it. Taking a 2-1 lead into the 9th, Anaheim had two bunt singles and then an error from Inge to load the bases. Capps would K Victor Martinez but then Mike Napoli would bash a grand slam to put Anaheim up 5-2 for good. Bondo was great too, and I probably should've let him go for the CG.

Game 55: DET 6 - ANA 2

Verlander improves to 9-1 with 6 solid innings, though the real story was 3 innings from Bobby Seay where he only allowed 1 hit and fanned 7. We then had three two run HR's from Thames, Inge and Granderson to give us a nice rebound win.

Game 56: ANA 12 - DET 5

Galarraga gives up 4 ER, and then the pen gives up 8 ER in 4 innings to give Anaheim an easy 12-5 win. We had 4 HR though, including two from Miguel Cabrera but all four HR were solo shots which we all know is just not going to cut it. Too many game we squander RISP and tonight was no different.

Game 57: DET 9 - CHW 8

Miguel Cabrera is DIALED IN. He had 3 HR today and 6 RBI to lead a 15 hit night that made up for an off day from Edwin Jackson. Thankfully Turnbow and Zumaya were able to give him some help out of the pen and then Matt Capps came up with his 14th save to preserve the W.

Game 58: DET 3 - CHW 1

Rick Porcello pitches his best game yet, with a CG, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K performance, and guess who added a HR? That's right, Miguel Cabrera hits his 6th HR in the last three games to give us all the offense we would need on this day.

Game 59: DET 7 - CHW 3

No homers for Miggy today, but we get three guys with two RBI's, including Juan Pierre who had been stuck at 7 RBI for nearly a month, and in the last two weeks has doubled that. Bondo pitched 5.1 decent innings before Rapada and Zumaya shut down the Sox the rest of the way. These are three massive wins for us though Chicago is seriously sliding.

[Sun Tzu]

And yes, Pujols is a beast in the Show. Just a damn beast.

Oh I know...I have a dynasty going on here as well :)

addicted

[DeToxRox]

Game 60: Detroit Tigers (33-27) @ Chicago White Sox (29-32)
Justin Verlander (9-1, 2.42) vs John Danks (4-4, 5.35)

DET 4 - CHW 2

Justin Verlander wins his 10th game of the year in a great fashion as he pitches a complete game 7 hitter to complete a four game sweep of the White Sox.

The game opened with Placido Polanco hitting a solo bomb, his 8th, but in the bottom half of the first the Sox scored on a Dye RBI single.

In the bottom of the third, it was a Dye again, with another RBI single to make it 2-1 and things didn't look good. Our offense was scuffling and Verlander had given up 5 hits already.

Then JV settled down and rolled the rest of the way, but still down 2-1 he needed help, which he got from an unlikely cast of characters.

The top of 7 started with back to back singles from Inge and Thames. Then with Laird up and a hit and run on, he singled to left, plating Inge but Thames was gunned out at third. Thankfully Adam Everett would single and with runners on the corner Juan Pierre perfectly executed a suicide squeeze to make it 3-2.

We would add our final run in the top of the 9th on a Laird sac fly plating Inge and walk away with a big 4-2 victory.

W: Verlander (10-1)
L: Linebrink (5-4)

[DeToxRox]

Game 61: DET 8 - PIT 4

We pound out 13 hits vs the Pirates, including two doubles and three RBI from Ryan Raburn who started in RF for Magglio to get him a rest. It was Raburns debut as Josh Anderson is out a month with banged up knee. Galarraga pitched 7 strong innings and Capps earned his 15th save vs his old team.

Game 62: PIT 6 - DET 4

Edwin Jackson left the game with a tweaked oblique, only going 1 IP but he won't miss his next start. Safly the pen didn't do much as Turnbow was rocked for 5 hits and 3 ER in 2 IP for his first bad outing since we signed him. We had our chances but it wasn't to be and we fall 6-4.

Game 63: DET 11 - PIT 0

Rick Porcello is Mr. Fantastic again. He goes 6.2 IP allowing 3 hits before turning it over to Seay and Zumaya to finish the game and complete a 4 hit shutout for the good guys. Balanced scoring on our 11 runs with two guys having two RBI and the a slew of others knocking a run in.

Game 64: STL 7 - DET 1

Bonderman gives up 3 ER in 5 IP, and then Zumaya gives up 3 ER of his own in 2 IP and we fall 7-1. The O didn't do much and the pitching was just not good. Pujols was just 1 for 4 with an RBI single but Thurston had 2 hits and 4 RBI to do damage we couldn't afford to have done.

Game 65: DET 3 - STL 0

Justin Verlander wins #11 with a 7 IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 9 K performance. Turnbow and Capps shut the door to preserve the shutout and we get a nice win in St. Louis. Most importantly Pujols goes 0-4. He falls to .396 on the year. What a bum.

[DeToxRox]

Game 66: STL 8 - DET 3

I played this game and felt the need for a summary rather then blow by blow, since well, we blew. Galarraga got hit way too hard and was taken out after four, and then the pen pitched just as bad. We had chances to score but couldn't knock in the runs when the chase arose and we lose a tough series to the Cards.

Game 67: DET 1 - MIL 0

We get 8.1 IP of 2 hit ball from Edwin Jackson, and even after walking 5, he still managed to avoid trouble before letting Capps pick up save #17 in a big 1-0 win. Our only RBI was from Miggy on a two out double in the 8th. Nice to see the pen get a breather in this one.

Game 68: MIL 6 - DET 4

Porcello was knocked around, giving up 11 hits and 4 ER in 4 IP, and we ended up giving up 19 hits as a team, falling 6-4 to the Brewers. Miguel Cabrera was our main highlight as per usual, with 3 hits including a HR and 3 RBI.

Game 69: DET 8 - MIL 5

Bondo gives us 7 innings of 2 run ball, and though Zumaya gave up 3 runs without recording an out, Turnbow and Capps held the Brewers off the score card and we hold on 8-5. Thames had a HR and 3 RBI, and Miggy had 2 more RBI himself on this day. He is really heating it up after a prolonged cold stretch.

Game 70: CHN 12 - DET 11

This was an ugly game. We were up 7-3 going into the 5th when Verlander imploded giving up 5 runs. Then Lopez came up and after an error gave up a grand slam to give the Cubs 9 runs in the 5th. For us, Miggy was 4-4 with 3 more RBI but it wasn't enough and we fall to the NL leading Cubs 12-11.

Game 71: DET 3 - CHN 1

Galarraga pitches 6 strong, and Perry, Zumaya and Capps give up just two base runners the last 3 innings to give us a 3-1 win. Miggy had two more hits and we had RBI's from Magglio, Thames and Everett. Nice balance today.

[DeToxRox]

Game 72: Detroit Tigers (40-32) vs Chicago Cubs (46-25)
Edwin Jackson (7-4, 3.89) vs Rich Harden (9-2, 3.05)

CHN 3 - DET 2

We lost this one 3-2 but it could've been worse. We allowed 14 hits and actually lead 2-0 in the 8th, but a two run bomb from Soto tied it up. Then in the 10th, Zumaya allowed a double to Soriano who scored on a single two batters late from Soto to make it 3-2 and Marmol would close it down in the 10th for the save.

W: Patton (1-0)
L: Zumaya (3-4)
S: Marmol (13)

[DeToxRox]

Game 73: DET 3 - HOU 0

Porcello pitches a CG, 3 H gem, and Miggy goes yard and that's all that needs to be said for today. Porcello is turning into a menace on the mound and with this kid pitching like this, along with Verlander and Jackson being strong, we should at this point win the AL Central no questions asked. One negative however is Ramon Santiago will be out 1-2 months with a knee injury causing us to recall Scott Sizemore from AAA.

Game 74: DET 5 - HOU 0

Another CG , 3 hitter, this time by Bonderman, who he himself is rounding into form. We get two run bombs from Polanco and Thames and we stifle the Astros bats yet again.

Game 75: DET 6 - HOU 0

Yes, it happened again. Houston once again only manages 3 hits, though Verlander only goes 7.2 and Zumaya closes the door to end it. Verlander is now 12-1 and could be a lock for the AL Starter in the All Star Game. We get 3 RBI from Polanco, plus one from Miggy, Thames and Sizemore as we leave Houston allowing 0 runs on 9 hits in 3 games. Unreal.

Game 76: DET 6 - OAK 5

Galarraga struggles, but the pen picks him up holding Oakland scoreless for 5 innings allowing us to win it in the top of the 9th. We get HR's from Magglio and Thames, and Miggy scores twice on two walks to give us another big win, especially as Cleveland is only a half game back of us.

Game 77: OAK 12 - DET 3

Jackson got shelled, as did Rapada and Turnbow, and Jack Cust was beasting with 2 HR and 7 RBI. This was over before we knew it. Still, we're playing well so this doesn't upset me too much.

[DeToxRox]

Around the League: June Edition

Starting the AL East, the Yankees are now 7.5 up on the Rays, and cruising at 50-27. They have an unreal 419 runs scored and are just pounding the tar out of the ball.

The AL Central is a two team race at this point, as Detroit is 0.5 up on Cleveland. Cleveland has 397 runs scored, and boasts a pitching staff that has turned it around, but Detroit is also turning it on with pitching. This will be a race to keep an eye on.

In the AL West, the Angels are 2.5 up on Oakland, and the only team over .500 at 39-38. The M's sit in last only 5.5 back and with no one playing really good ball it's anyones race.

Looking at league leaders ..

Derek Jeter is hitting .356 and leads the race for the batting title. He is ahead of Grady Sizemore and Bobby Abreu, both of which are hitting .354.

Chris Davis struggled in June with only one HR but he still sits a top the leader board, tied with Travis Hafner at 25 HR. Justin Morneau is two back of the pace at 23.

Davis is also still tied for the RBI lead, with 69. He is tied with Matt Holliday, though Mark Teixiera lurks just 2 back at 67 RBI.

Juan Pierre is now at 36 SB, 9 ahead of Chone Figgins and Jacoby Ellsbury's 27.

Pitching wise, Justin Verlander's 12 wins are in front for the AL lead, with Roy Halladay second at 10. A slew of others sit at 9.

Brian Fuentes is still the leader in saves at 25, though Mo Rivera is second with 24 and Joe Nathan is third with 23.

The top ERA in the AL still belongs to Roy Halladay at a sparkling 2.18. Liriano is second at 2.49 and Jeremy Guthrie sits third at 2.51.

Roy Halladay's shutout total is now at 5.

In the NL the Braves at 53-24 are 7 up on the Phils and look to be running away with the East. They've only allowed 274 runs as their pitching continues to amaze.

The Cubs lead the NL Central by 4 games over the Cards and Brewers. After that is Cinncy 15.5 back.

The Giants reclaim first in the NL West, 1 game up on Arizona. The Dodgers sit in third 9 games back, scuffling to stop people from scoring runs.

Looking at NL leaders ..

Albert Pujols still leads the NL batting race, hitting .385. In second is still Adrian Gonzalez at .352, and Ryan Braun is still in third at .345.

Pujols also has a commanding HR lead with 30 bombs so far, 6 ahead of Dan Uggla's 24, and 7 ahead of Ryan Howards 23.

RBI wise Pujols also leads, with 72. Ryan Braun sits in second with 67 and Ryan Howard sits in third with 66. Pujols is just mashing and a triple crown at this point will come down to his RBI's.

Pitching wise Adam Wainwright is tied with Verlander's 12 win mark. Cole Hamels has 11 and Ted Lilly has 10.

Mike Gonzalez has 30 saves for Atlanta, with Brian Wilson in second with 24, and Chad Qualls in third with 23.

Carlos Zambrano leads in the MLB with a 2.11 ERA. He is followed by Dan Haren at 2.17 and Bronson Arroyo at 2.43.

[DeToxRox]

Game 78: Detroit Tigers (44-34) @ Oakland Athletics (37-41)
Rick Porcello (5-4, 4.43) vs Dallas Braden (6-4, 4.61)

DET 4 - OAK 2

Dallas Braden had a no hitter through 5, but in the 6th Juan Pierre laid down a beautiful bunt with 2 outs to reach base. Then on a steal to second Suzuki over threw the SS and Pierre advanced to third. It didn't matter though as Polanco would hit a 2 run HR the next pitch to make it 2-0.

We'd add two more on a Miggy two run double in the 8th to make it 4-2, but with Porcello over 100 pitches we bring in Seay who loads the bases with no outs.

I call on Capps who gives up two runs on two sac flys but gets out of the inning and then he comes back out in the 9th to K the side for the save.

W: Porcello (6-4)
L: Braden (6-5)
S: Capps (21)

[DeToxRox]

Game 79: DET 8 - MIN 4

We pound out 8 runs on 13 hits, including HR's from Magglio and Laird and Bonderman, although allowing 11 hits, only gives up 3 runs. The pen holds on and we get a nice 8-4 win.

Game 80: DET 3 - MIN 1

Verlander moves to 13-1 with 8 IP of 1 run ball, fanning 6. Granderson, Laird and Inge drive in runs and we continue to play some unreal baseball. Verlander's first half is one of the best I have ever seen.

Game 81: DET 7- MIN 2

Thames and Maggs go deep, and Grandy drives in 4 runs to give us a sweep over the struggling Twins. Galarraga pitches 6 innings of 3 hit, 1 run ball and Seay and Zumaya proceed to finish it off.

Game 82: DET 1 - KC 0

Each team had 4 hits, but Inge had the RBI double in the bottom of 7 to put us over the hump and pull out another nice win. Jackson goes 7 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 6 K for the win, and Capps closes the door in the 9th for his 23rd save.

Game 83: DET 11 - KC 3

We had 19 hits with multiple guys knocking in 2 runs and Porcello rolls yet again. This is one of the hottest streaks I've had in a dynasty ever in the Show, and it's being lead by unreal starting pitching.

Game 84: DET 11 - KC 2

Miggy homers twice, and Magglio and Thames also go yard to give us yet another win. We're straight up mashing the ball now, and all our pitchers are pitching great. Plus Brandon Lyon is off the DL to make our pen that much better.

Game 85: CLE 9 - DET 7

We lose a tough one in 13 innings. Verlander got knocked around for 5 ER in 6ns, but then Seay and Zumaya also gave up 2 runs each and we couldn't make the most of our chances. Cleveland is holding strong in second so this is a big series.

Game 86: DET 7 - CLE 1

Grandy homers and knocks in 5 and Galarraga continues his impressive run with 7.1 IP of shutout ball only allowing 6 hits. Polanco was banged up going into today and will miss tomorrow as well but Sizemore filling in had 3 hits. A nice bonus to be sure.

Game 87: DET 9 - CLE 7

Thames homers again and drives in 3. Plus Adam Everett drives in 3 and Miggy has 2 RBI to give us a nice 9-7 win and a series win over the indians. The pen would only allow 1 ER in 6.2 innings of work as Edwin Jackson was yanked early but we hold tough for maybe our biggest win all season.

[DeToxRox]

2009 All Star Game

AL Starters

1. CF Grady Sizemore
2. SS Derek Jeter
3. LF Matt Holliday
4. 3B Alex Rodriguez
5. 1B Mark Teixeira
6. 2B Ian Kinsler
7. C Jorge Posada
8. RF Nick Markakis
9. SP Justin Verlander

Bench

C Kenji Johjima
C Jason Varitek
1B Billy Butler
2B Placido Polanco
3B Evan Longoria
SS Orlando Cabrera
1B Travis Hafner
1B Justin Morneau
RF Josh Hamilton
CF BJ Upton
CF Curtis Granderson
CF Vernon Well

Pitchers

SP Cliff Lee
SP Francisco Liriano
SP James Shields
SP Roy Halladay
RP Jose Arredondo
RP Brandon Morrow
RP Frank Francisco
RP Kerry Wood
RP Brian Fuentes
RP Bobby Jenks
RP Joe Nathan

[DeToxRox]

NL Starters

1. SS Jose Reyes
2. C Brian McCann
3. 1B Albert Pujols
4. LF Ryan Braun
5. CF Carlos Lee
6. 3B David Wright
7. RF Milton BRadley
8. 2B Kelly Johnson
9. SP Cole Hamels

Bench

CF Carlos Beltran
C Russel Martin
C Chris Ianneta
1B Adrian Gonzalez
2B Dan Uggla
3B Ryan Zimmerman
SS Jack Wilson
1B Joey Votto
SS Jimmy Rollins
LF Raul Ibanez
RF Corey Hart
LF Chris Duncan

Pitchers

SP Dan Haren
SP Carlos Zambrano
SP Adam Wainwright
SP Tim Lincecum
RP Chris Simpson
RP Ryan Franklin
RP Brian Wilson
RP Fernando Rodney
RP Heath Bell
RP Mike Gonzalez
RP Chad Qualls

[DeToxRox]

NL 5 - AL 1

Carlos Lee wins MVP with 2 HR and 4 RBI as the NL remarkably roughs up Verlander for 2 ER and Halladay for 3 ER to do all their damage. Those are the two best pitchers in the bigs right now so that was surprising.

The NL now has home field advantage in the World Series.

[DeToxRox]

Game 88: NYY 8 - DET 5

Miggy had a HR and Magglio drove in 4, but Bobby Seay gave up 3 ER in the 8th and the Yanks prevail in our first post ASG game. Porcello was not very good with 5 ER in 5.2 IP but it's his first meh start in a while so it's forgivable. Now we need to get ready for more tough games because our post ASG schedule is a lot tougher then the pre ASG one.

[DeToxRox]

Game 89: Detroit Tiger (53-36) @ New York Yankees (58-34)
Jeremy Bonderman (9-5, 3.86) vs Joba Chamberlain (6-6, 4.32)

Bondo and Zumaya gave up 7 ER in 7.2 IP to a hugely improved Yankees lineup (They added Dye and Chris Davis) and we couldn't solve Joba. The game turned in the third when Bondo was rolling but then served up a 3 run bomb to Jeter.

Our offense was too late to matter.

Not a good start to the second half.

[DeToxRox]

Trade Roundup

After realizing I missed a few deals I will do a roundup for now to catch up.

New York Yankees Acquire: 1B Chris Davis and RP Brandon League
Texas Rangers Acquire: Damaso Marte and Chien-Ming Wang

Trade Outlook: Texas had offense to spare, and Wang didn't fit in with the Yanks anymore. Still, Davis is a tremendous young power hitter who fits into the middle of a lethal Yanks lineup. I'd say the Yanks won this one.


New York Yanks send: OF Austin Jackson
Chicago White Sox send: OF Jermaine Dye

Trade Outlook: A good deal for both teams. Dye is older and going to be a FA soon, and Jackson is potential All Star CF to come in and be a contributor to a rebuilding White Sox organization. I'd say this one is very much a good deal all around.


Anaheim Angels send: OF Juan Rivera
Colorado Rockies send: RP Houston Street

Trade Outlook: Anaheim could afford to move Rivera with a glut of OF'ers plus adding Victor Martinez takes up the DH AB's from Rivera. Colorado needs some bats and Street is going to be a FA. Anaheim wins this deal but not by much.


Chicago Cubs send: RP Jeff Samardzjia to the Giants
San Francisco Giants send: Buster Posey to the Nationals
Washington Nationals send: RP Logan Kensing to the Cubs

A not real three team trade that I am writing up as such as Posey was acquired days later for Kensing. This is a weird one. Kensing is a better RP now but Samardjzia is going to be a stud closer. Trading Posey makes no sense at first but they get a stud young RP who can help them now as they go for the NL West. This is a great deal for the Nats getting Posey but it's hard to say any team truly lost.


Chicago Cubs send: 3B Josh Vitters
Seattle Mariners send: RP Trever Miller

Trade Outlook: Vitters is a good young 3B prospect but he is blocked by Aramis Ramirez. Meanwhile Miller adds another strong arm to their bullpen. The Cubs are loading up for a World Series run and sacrificing the future for it.

[DeToxRox]

Game 90: DET 11 - NYY 6

Verlander wins #14, but it wasn't very good, giving up 6 ER in 5 innings. Thankfully Miggy had 3 hits, including a HR and 3 RBI, and Inge and Magglio also mashed out long balls to give us the run support to survive. Also to be noted is Turnbow, Seay and Perry came up back in the last 4 innings only allowing 4 hits and not walking anyone.

Game 91: DET 6 - SEA 1

Grandy hits a HR and Galaragga has another great starting, allowing just 3 hits and 1 ER for the Complete Game win. Our offense is picking it up and maybe, just maybe, our pitching is following suit,

Game 92: DET 5 - SEA 0

The pen gets another rest as Edwin Jackson pitches a CG shutout, allowing 7 hits and walking none for his 9th win. Marcus Thames hits a 2 run HR and Miggy triples and drives in a run to give us more then enough run support to beat the hapless Mariners.

Game 93: SEA 3 - DET 2

Porcello goes 7 IP, allowing 6 H and 1 ER but Turnbow can't shut the door and Seattle drives in two off of him to escape town with a 3-2 win. Miggy and Grandy had our RBI's but eventually other guys have to pick it up, like Pierre, Inge and Laird if we want a deep run.

Game 94: CHW 6 - DET 2

Bonderman gives up 6 runs on 10 hits in just 1.1 IP, but Lopez goes 4.2 IP of 1 hit ball, and Seay goes 3 IP of 3 hit ball to mitigate the damage. Sadly we'd only get solo HR's from Miggy and Thames and we fall in a tough one 6-2.

[DeToxRox]

Game 95: CHW 2 - DET 1

Played this one but it didn't save when I posted it. We lost in the 10th. Verlander went 9 strong but we couldn't score runs for him and then in the 10th Ryan Perry gave up a solo HR to Thome who took it oppo field. Miggy had 3 hits and an RBI but the offense is still a bit too stagnant for me.

Game 96: DET 6 - CHW 5

We have another extra inning game, but this time we get the win on a walkoff HR from Matt Treanor of all people. Grandy also went yard and Galarraga pitched well but giving up 5 runs, 4 of which were unearned after a Getz grandslam. The bad news from this game is Marcus Thames who has been mashing broke his hand and is out at least two months.

Game 97: TEX 4 - DET 3

We go 18 innings getting 3 hits and 2 RBI from Granderson, but that was our only notable offense contribution and that won't cut it. Turnbow pitched 4 perfect innings of relief and Brandon Lyon added 3.2 IP of 2 hit ball as well, but we just couldn't get it done.

Game 98: DET 5 - TEX 1

Porcello pitches 6 IP of 1 run ball, and then in the 8th Granderson hits a 3 run HR and we add another run in the 9th to give us the 5-1 win. Zumaya pitched 3 IP of 1 H ball in relief. We're getting good pen contributions now but our offense needs some help.

Game 99: TEX 7 - DET 5

Grandy homers again, but Josh Hamilton has 5 RBI and Bondo is chased after 4.1 IP. Lopez goes 3.2 IP of scoreless relief but sadly by that point it was just too far gone. We're for sure looking at the trade market because we need some help badly.

Game 100: CLE 6 - DET 4

Verlander goes 6 IP and gives up 4 to leave in a tie game but Turnbow blew the game and we go down 6-4 to Cleveland who is now just 1 game back in a crucial series. Bill Hall had a bases loaded walk for an RBI in his debut but was 0-4 besides that.

[DeToxRox]

Tigers - Brewers Trade

In an effort to bolster their offense with the injury to Marcus Thames, the Tigers have traded Josh Anderson, Zach Minor and Dontrelle Willis to the Brewers for 3B Bill Hall.

Hall is a guy capable of playing all over the field but will be the DH for the time being. He can hit for power and has speed which will be a nice benefit for the team.

Miner and Anderson will be contributors to the Brewers and Willis is a wildcard, but to get Anderson, who the Brewers coveted, they had to take on Willis and his salary which they did.

[gi]

Nice trade!

[DeToxRox]

Nice trade!

Thanks.

Willis doesn't nearly as much in the game as IRL but he has some ability so it could be a coup for them. Anderson is pretty highly rated but just not needed and Hall can play all over and came over already with 13 HR and 60 RBI. He will be nice for us for sure.

[DeToxRox]

A Look Around the MLB: July Edition

In the AL East, the Yanks are up 4.5 on the Rays, with the Red Sox 6.5 back. The Yanks are not going to slow down scoring runs and at this point should be a playoff lock with their potent offense.

In the AL Central Detroit is 1 game up on Cleveland as the Indians have won 5 in a row making the rest of their series to start August that much more crucial.

Anaheim is 6 games under .500 and somehow they are 3 games up on Seattle for first in the AL West. Texas is just 3.5 back and Oakland at 18 games under .500 is still only 6 games back. This is one sad sack division.

Grady Sizemore leads the AL with a .356 average. Denard Spand is shockingly in 2nd hitting .346 and Derek Jeter is third hitting .339.

Chris Davis and Justin Morneau share the HR lead with 30 apiece, though Travis Hafner is closing with 29. Davis however is on the for two more weeks with an MCL Sprain so expect him to lose the homer race, at least for now.

Davis also leads the AL with 87 RBI, but Matt Holliday is right there with 86, and Mark Teixeira and Justin Morneau are not far behind that with 85.

Juan Pierre leads the MLB with 52 SB and no one is close. His speed has been a nice edition in Detroit.

Justin Verlander still leads the AL, now with 14 wins. Behind him is CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee with 12 wins each.

Verlander's 1 loss is also tops in the AL.

Mariano Rivera and Kerry Wood share the Saves lead with 33 each, though Brian Fuentes is still in the hunt with 31.

Francisco Liriano has a 2.62 ERA to lead the AL, though Roy Halladay at 2.72 is till in the mix. In third is the surprising Mark Hendrickson at 2.86.

In the NL East, the Braves are 9 gmaes up on the Phillies and are all but assured the NL East crown barring a massive collapse.

The Cubs are now up 6 on the Cards and 7.5 on the Brewers and look good to win the NL Central barring a big collapse the final two months.

The Giants and D'Backs are just 0.5 games apart in the NL West and this one will go down to the wire. SF does it with pitching and Arizona with hitting. This could be a great finish to the season in the NL.

Albert Pujols still leads the NL in hitting at .371. Ryan Braun is second at .351 and Manny Ramirez is in third at .343.

Pujols still leads the NL in HR with 33, but Ryan Howard and Dan Uggla are gaining ground with both tied at 31.

Ryan Braun has overtaken the RBI lead at 88, with Ryan Howard at 86 and Pujols at 84. Can Albert regain the RBI lead and win the Triple Crown? Only time will tell but those three sluggers are on teams battling for the Wildcard so it'll be huge to see who can do the most damage.

Adam Wainwright is tied with Verlander atop the MLB with 14 wins. Cole Hamels and Wainwright's teammate Todd Wellemeyer each are 1 behind at 13.

Mike Gonzalez has an impressive 40 saves, 6 ahead of Brian Wilson at 34 and 8 ahead of Chad Qualls' 32.

Carlos Zambrano has the best ERA in baseball at 2.03, with Dan Harren at 2.34 and Cole Hamels at 2.40.

[DeToxRox]

Game 101: CLE 3 - DET 0

I played this one and just couldn't score. It's been a problem in games I play lately. I know it's because I am being impatient but I need to remedy the situation or else it could be a tough postseason if I even make it that far.

Game 102: DET 8 - CLE 5

Juan Pierre has 5 hits and steals 6 bases, and Grandy drives in 3 to be the offensive standouts, while Jackson goes 7 strong, allowing 4 runs and allowing the pen to close it out for a must win game.

Game 103: DET 6 - BAL 3

In a game that went 13 innings following a blown save from Matt Capps, Miguel Cabrera hits a walk off grand slam to give us a 6-3 win. Porcello went 6 innings of shutout ball, but Capps blew it in the 9th on a 2 run HR to Markakis. Thankfully Miggy provided the fireworks in the bottom of 13 for another big win.

Game 104: BAL 4 - DET 3

Bondo gets the loss despire a decent outing going 6 innings and allowing 3 runs. Our offense just didn't get it done for him. Adam Everett was our offensive standout with a 2 run triple but outside of him we were held to 4 hits and left for dead.

Game 105: BAL 2 - DET 0

Verlander gets his second loss of the year only allowing 2 ER in 7 innings, but the offense only could manage 5 hits, 3 of which were from Miguel Cabrera. A tough one for Verlander but a good outing as he had been shaky in a few of his prior games.

Game 106: DET 9 - BAL 4

We get 13 hits this time, with 2 RBI from Polanco, Cabrera and Hall, a 3 run HR from Inge to provide the offense. Galarraga was solid again and the pen did their job when called upon for the series split.

[DeToxRox]

Game 107: MIN 11 - DET 0

I played this one (looking at the 0 runs scored does this shock anyone?) and had an actual writeup done and my net goes out. Regardless, we were shut down pretty easily and just couldn't get consistent pitching.

Game 108: DET 6 - MIN 3

Brandon Inge hits a 3 run walk off HR in the 10th, and we win a tight one 6-3. Miggy also had a 3 run bomb to make up our offense, which only managed 4 hits. Porcello was decent, but Ryan Perry was the star with 4 innings of 1 hit relief for his 2nd win.

Game 109: MIN 10 - DET 7

Morneau has 2 HR and 4 RBI to power the Twins past us 10-7. Our pitching faltered this time around, even after a 12 hit effort, including a HR and 4 RBI from Bill Hall. We have to get more consistent because we're in a nail biting race with the Indians.

Game 110: BOS 8 - DET 7

We score 4 in the top of the 9th to tie it, only to watch Turnbow give up a HR in the bottom of the 9th to Youklis to lose it for us. Verlander didn't pitch well but we still should've won this one, no doubt about it.

Game 111: DET 3 - BOS 2

Galaragga pitches 7 innings allowing just 2 runs and the pen holds on despite a lackluster offensive effort to give us a big 3-2 rebound win after a tough loss the night before.

Game 112: DET 7 - BOS 4

Edwin Jackson pitches 7 innings of 3 run ball, fanning 9, then turnin git over to the pen who come again for the second night. Magglio had a grand slam and Granderson added a 2 run HR to make up most of our offense. It was a solid effort that could help us get a big series win vs Boston with a win tomorrow.

[DeToxRox]

Game 113: Detroit Tigers (64-49) @ Boston Red Sox (63-50)
Rick Porcello (7-5, 3.88) vs Brad Penny (9-6, 4.32)

DET 5 - BOS 4

An exciting end to a four game set in Fenway sees the Tigs prevail 5-4 thanks to a big day from Magglio Ordonez.

Maggs started the scoring with a solo HR in the top of the 2nd, but in the bottom of the 4th Jason Bay would hit a two run HR and Youklis would hit a solo bomb to put Boston up 3-1.

In the top of the 5th Laird would double to leadoff the inning but Everett K'd and Pierre popped out to the catcher. With two out and two strikes Polanco would score Laird on a single up the middle, and then take second on a Granderson walk. Miggy would drive in Polanco with a single and then Granderson scored on a wild pitch to Maggs to make it 4-3.

In the bottom of the 6th however, Papi doubled and was driven in by Youklis to tie it up.

It'd stayed tied until the 9th when a two out rally started with Polanco getting a single, Granderson getting a single, Miggy walking and Maggs hitting an RBI single.

Ryan Perry would continue into the 9th as Capps warmed up K'ing Lugo. Capps would come in and give up a triple to Ellsbury but strand him with a pop out and ground out to end it and preserve a big 5-4 win.

W: Perry (3-3)
L: Lopez (2-2)
S: Capps (28)

[DeToxRox]

Game 114: KC 11 - DET 2

Bonderman is back to struggling, allowing 6 ER in just 3 innings. Add in 4 ER from Lopez in 1.1 IP and it was over before it even started. Hell, our offense only had 5 hits so it never was a game, period.

Game 115: DET 5 - KC 1

Verlander picks up win #15 with 6.1 IP of 1 ER ball, and Magglio had a 2 run HR as part of a 3 hit night to give us a nice 5-1 win. This was one of Verlanders better starts lately and we need him to be nails down the stretch.

Game 116: KC 7 - DET 5

Zuamaya blows the game in the 8th and we lose a series that is just unacceptable. Miggy had a 2 run HR and our offense had 14 hits but only played 5. Part of the problem was also 3 errors by us today. Just sloppy, sloppy stuff.

Game 117: SEA 12 - DET 8

Miggy has another HR and 3 RBI tonigt, but the pen imploded to give up 4 in the 9th and we lose another game we just have to win at this point in the season. We know we cannot win them all but we had a favorable pitching matchup and still blew it.

Game 118: DET 4 - SEA 2

Miggy does it again with another HR and 2 RBI, and Porcello comes in for 6 strong innings before paving the way for Zumaya and Capps to close out the final 3 innings. This was a much better game after the last two disasters

[DeToxRox]

Game 119: Detroit Tigers (67-52) vs Seattle Mariners (56-64)
Jerey Bonderman (9-10, 5.43) vs Felix Hernandez (10-8, 4.13)

DET 6 - SEA 3

Another good game I play out. I am finally back to being patient and it worked as Felix had some erratic command at times and it made it much easier at the dish.

Seattle went up early with a 2 run second, but in the bottom half of the inning Bill Hall hit a bases loaded triple to make it 3-2.

In the third we'd make it 4-2 on an RBI single from Ramon Santiago who filled in for Polanco today.

In the 5th we'd basically put it away with another RBI triple from Hall, and an RBI single from Laird to seal the deal.

Bondo would let up one more in the 8th to make it 6-3, but Capps closed it out for save #30 and we celebrate a nice series win.

W: Bonderman (10-11)
L: Hernandez (10-9)
S: Capps (30)

[DeToxRox]

Game 120: OAK 7 - DET 0

Verlander struggles giving up 5 runs in the first two innings, and we only muster 5 hits to drop a game we should've won vs Oakland.

Game 121: DET 7 - OAK 1

Inge homers twice and drives in four runs, and Galarraga pitches a CG, 1 H, 1 ER gem. This is a game we had to have. Like I said, we cannot drop these kind of series vs bad teams.

Game 122: DET 7 - OAK 4

Inge has 4 hits, with a HR and 4 more RBI, and Grandy, Miggy and Hall also drive in runs to give us another big win. Juan Pierre was also notable with 4 SB's today. Meanwhile Edwin Jackson picks up win 12 with 6 solid innings.

Game 123: ANA 5 - DET 2

Porcello only gives up 3 ER in 5 innings, but Perry and Seay also give up runs and we cannot muster any offense. This loss and a Cleveland win have put them in a first place tie with us. This is going to be tight.

Game 124: DET 4- ANA 3

We get 6.2 solid innings from Bonderman for his 11th win, and Capps picks up his 32nd save in a big win vs Anaheim. With Cleveland keeping pace we have to just keep playing that much better every game. No more time for on again, off again play.

[DeToxRox]

Game 125: Detroit Tigers (71-54) @ Anaheim Angels (59-67)
Justin Verlander (15-3, 3.27) vs Joe Saunders (11-8, 4.61)

DET 2 - ANA 1

Not much to recap here, Verlander and Saunders had an old fashioned duel that Verlander prevailed in.

We scored first with an RBI single from Miggy.

In the bottom of the 7th Vlad hit a solo bomb to tie it up.

In the top of the 8th Polanco hit an RBI double that turned out to be the game winner.

Verlander through a CG, 7 H.

W: Verlander (16-3)
L: Saunders (11-9)

[DeToxRox]

Game 126: TB 5 - DET 1

Shields throws a CG, 7 H, 1 ER game for the Rays., and Upton and Longoria go yard to give Tampa enough cushion to beat us today. A tough game where we just were shut down totally offensively. Galarraga had a nice game but still took the L.

Game 127: DET 13 - TB 6

We pound out 13 runs on 15 hits, with HR fron Polanco, Granderson, Cabrera and Inge, with all those guys have multiple RBI, plus 3 RBI from Pierre, to give us a 13-6 win. Edwin Jackson only went 4.2 IP as he was hit hard but the pen picked him up and got us a much needed W.

[DeToxRox]

Around the MLB: August Edition

In the AL East, the Rays have turned it on to get within 3 games of the Yankees. Boston is now 8 games back and will fight for their lives to win the Wildcard.

In the AL Central, Detroit is still up by 0.5 games on Cleveland. Both teams are 7-3 in their last 10 and are scratching and clawing every time they take the field.

In the AL West Seattle is now just 0.5 games behind Anaheim. It should be noted that Anaheim is in first 9 games under .500. Oakland and Texas are still in contention though with both teams just 4 games back.

The Rays have a 4 game lead on the AL Wildcard, 4 up on Cleveland and 5 up on the Red Sox. For the loser of the AL Central, chances are they won't be headed to the playoffs.

A couple of Indians lead the league in hitting, with Grady Sizemore at .347, Shin-Soo Choo at .327 and then the Royals Billy Butler at .326.

Justin Morneau has the HR lead with 37 bombs, but a healthy Chris Davis is just two 2 back at 35, and two Rays, Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria are each at 34.

Josh Hamilton and Justin Morneau share the RBI lead with 107 apiece, and the Tigers Miguel Cabrera is in third with 102.

Juan Pierre has a remarkable 71 SB to lead the league.

Justin Verlander still has the league lead in wins with 16, but CC Sabathia is right there with 15, and AJ Burnett, James Shields and Cliff Lee are all tied with 14.

Mariano Rivera currently has the lead in saves with 41, with Kerry Wood one back at 40 and Brian Fuenters two back at 39.

Roy Halladay has the ERA lead at 2.95, with Mark Hendrickson at 3.14, and Justin Verlander and James Shields at 3.15.

Roy Halladay has an absurd 5 shutouts and 7 complete games. He is only 12-8 though, even with his 2.98 ERA.

In the NL East, Atlanta has basically won the division, 13.5 on the Phillies.

The NL Central is a close battle though with Chicago 1 game up on St. Louis. Milwaukee has fallen down the stretch and now sits 11 games back. The other three teams in the division are at least 30 games out.

The Giants have a 3 game lead in the NL West over Arizona as their pitching staff has yet to allow 500 runs on the year.

Whoever loses the NL Central will be the Wildcard this year. The Cards currently sit 8.5 up on Arizona for the WC.

Albert Pujols leads the NL with a .381 average. Chipper Jones is in second with a .348 and Manny Ramirez sits in third at .331.

Pujols has also exploded from the pack in the HR chase as he is up to 49, 10 ahead of Ryan Howard's 39. Dan Uggla and Lance Berkman follow after with 37. Just to note: Pujols had 16 HR in August.

Pujols 16 HR August also paved the way for 35 RBI's to give him an absurd 123 on the season. Ryan Howard is in second with 106 and Ryan Braun is in third with 103. Pujols has already won the Triple Crown basically.

Adam Wainwright leads the MLB with 19 wins. Rich Harden has 16, and Cole Hamels and Kenshin Kawakami have 15.

Mike Gonzalez is now at 47 saves. Brian Wilson is at 44 and Chad Qualls is at 40.

Tin Lincecum has the ERA lead at 2.11. Then it's Zambrano at 2.43 and Harden at 2.55.

Tim Lincecum has 5 shutouts and 6 complete games.

[DeToxRox]

Game 128: TB 4 - DET 3

Porcello gives up 4 runs in 5 innings and though the bullpen holds the fort down we just cannot put anything else across and we lose a tough one 4-3.

Game 129: DET 6 - TB 3

Bonderman rights the ship for his 12th win with 7 strong, and we chase Matt Garza after 3 innings with HR from Miggy and a returning Marcus Thames to give us a big series split heading into a home series with Cleveland.

Game 130: CLE 3 - DET 2

We lose this one in 13 even after holding them to just 6 hits. Thames had both RBI on a 2 run HR but Miggy went down with a day to day injury and we couldn't reproduce his fire power. Verlander was great, allowing just 3 hits and 1 ER in 7.1 IP but we couldn't hold Cleveland down and now sit tied for first with them again.

[DeToxRox]

Game 131: Detroit Tigers (74-57) vs Cleveland Indians (74-57)
Armando Galarraga (11-8, 3.80) vs Cliff Lee (14-7, 3.33)

CLE 3 - DET 2

We go up 2-1 early with a HR from Thames and an RBI single from Matt Treanor, but Hafner would make it 2-1 with a solo HR, and then in the top of the 7th Kelly Shoppach would hit a 2 run bomb off of Zumaya to give Cleveland a 3-2 lead and they didn't look back.

W: Lee (15-7)
L: Zumaya (5-7)
S: Wood (41)

[DeToxRox]

Game 132: DET 5 - CLE 3

Gerald Laird hits a walk off 3 run HR in the bottom of the 9th to give us an absolutely huge win vs Cleveland to put us back in a tie for first. Edwin Jackson allowed 2 runs in 5 innings, and Bobby Seay pitched 4 strong, allowing just one run to pick up the win.

Game 133: DET 11 - TB 5

We pound out 17 hits, and get 3 RBI nights from Magglio and Ramon Santiago, plus another HR from Thames to get a huge win over the Rays in Tampa. Cleveland lost their game and we're back in first.

Game 134: TB 4 - DET 2

We have 12 hits, including a HR from Magglio, but Bondo gives up 4 runs in 5.2 IP and we can't score plate any base runners to put us down 4-2. Cleveland would win today as well to put them back in a tie for first.

Game 135: TB 7 - DET 3

Verlander drops to 16-4 giving up 6 runs (5 earned) in just 3 innings. The pen would be decent after that but we didn't do much damage with the bats despite 11 hits and now we're a game out as Cleveland beat Anaheim.

Game 136: KC 5 - DET 1

Another game where our pen blows a decent start and our offense falls flat. We're now 1.5 games out as Cleveland had an off day so they have one game in hand.

[DeToxRox]

Game 137: Detroit Tigers (76-61) @ Kansas City Royals (64-74)
Edwin Jackson (12-7, 4.32) vs Kyle Davies (10-10, 4.33)

DET 8 - KC 5

The offense pounds out 14 hits and gets 2 RBI from Granderson, Magglio and Everett, plus RBI from Miggy and Thames to give us a massive 8-5 win despite a bad start from Jackson who only went 4.2 IP allowing 12 hits and 5 ER. Lopez, Seay and Capps shut it down for the rest of the game to keep us out in front.

W: Lopez (4-2)
L: Davies (10-11)
S: Capps (34)

[DeToxRox]

Game 138: DET 8 - KC 3

We pound out 16 hits, and get HR from Granderson and Thames, with 2 and 3 RBI respectively, plus 2 RBI from Magglio to power us to an 8-3 win. Porcello went 6 innings of 3 ER ball before turning it to Seay who pitched the final 3 innings allowing just 1 hit to earn his 4th save.

Game 139: DET 4 - TOR 3

A grand slam from Miguel Cabrera in the bottom of the 8th off of BJ Ryan puts us up 4-3 after an unreal start from Roy Halladay who pitched 7 strong, and we get a crucial win over Toronto. Turnbow gets the W and Capps picks up his 35th save.

Game 140: DET 7 - TOR 6

Despite 17 Blue Jay hits, we pull out a 7-6 win thanks to a 5 run 8th in which Cabrera hit a HR and Inge his a grand slam. Verlander was roughed up again, going just 4.2 IP but once again the bullpen was huge, as Ryan Perry and Matt Capps closed the door for the win. We are tied with Cleveland for first yet again.

Game 141: TOR 1 - DET 0

Toronto gets just one GD hit, which was a solo HR from Overbay, and we are held to 5 hits and lose 1-0. This is a tough one to swallow as Galarraga pitched 7 strong and has to take the loss. Cleveland would win and we are again a game back.

Game 142: DET 13 - TOR 0

We score 13 runs on 18 hits, including 5 HR from Magglio, including a HR. Thames and Inge also go yard to add to the 13 runs, and Edwin Jackson pitches 8 innings of shutout ball before turning it over to Zumaya to finish it off. The only bad news today is Juan Pierre is out for the year most likely with a forearm injury. Marcus Thames will slide into LF and Hall to DH.

[DeToxRox]

Game 143: Detroit Tigers (81-62) vs Kansas City Royals (64-79)
Rick Porcello (10-7, 4.09) vs Kyle Davies (10-11, 4.50)

KC 8 - DET 6

A grand slam for Mike Jacobs set the tone for KC who would also get a 3 run HR from Alex Gordon and take his on 8-6 despite our best efforts to get back into the game. We had a few guys with 3 hits but none when it counted most and we lose a game we needed to win.

W: Bale (5-1)
L: Porcello (10-8)
S: Soria (31)

[DeToxRox]

Game 144: KC 3 - DET 1

KC gets 3 solo HR and we, despite 8 hits including a few doubles, cannot manage to score anyone but the run we got in the third and we fall to KC 3-1. This is a series we can't lose. Just bad.

Game 145: DET 6 - KC 5

Verlander only goes 2 innings, once again shelled, but the pen picks him up and our offense, including 4 RBI from Magglio, come up big for the huge 6-5 win. This is one we needed but now we need Verlander to not be so bad.

Game 146: DET 5 - MIN 1

Galarraga allows just 4 hits, and Ordonez and Thames go yard. Armando had another CG effort including 9 K's and has been on fire lately. He is quite possibly our Ace at this point considering JV's struggles.

Game 147: MIN 4 - DET 3

Jackson goes 5, allows 3 ER, and then Rapada gives up the go ahead run in the 8th as we fall 4-3 to the Twins. We just aren't producing in pitching and hitting at the same times, as tonight we manage only 6 hits and it bites us in the ass.

Game 148: DET 6 - MIN 4

We take the series thanks to 3 hits and 3 RBI from Miggy, plus 3 doubles from Granderson. Porcello collects win #11 with 5.2 strong innings, and four pitchers come in to close to the door. We now enter a huge series in Cleveland down 1 game.

[DeToxRox]

Game 149: DET 9 - CLE 7

Despite 3 errors, Bondo pitches 5.2 strong, and a 5 man effort holds the Indians the rest of the way for the 9-7 win. Magglio was huge with 4 RBI while Miguel Cabrera is scorching hot with an average now at .330. This is a huge win for us.

Game 150: CLE 4 - DET 3

Verlander pitches very well but we just couldn't put runs across the board tonight and one bad pitch to Choo gave Cleveland a 2 run HR and the lead they'd never look back on. We need to win this third game.

Game 151: DET 4 - CLE 1

Ask and you shall receive. Miggy drives in 3 while Galarraga pitches 7.1 of 1 run ball, fanning 11 in the process to give another tie in first. This was a huge, huge win for us.

[DeToxRox]

Game 152: DET 4 - CHW 3

We get a good effort from Rick Porcello and we manage to hold off Chicago despite 3 runs in the 8th.

Game 153: DET 11 - 2

Miggy homers twice and drives in 6 runs and we pull off an incredible 11-2 win. This was a good effort from Edwin who despite being hit around didn't let runs across.

Game 154: CHW 2 - DET 0

Buerhle and Bondo both had a helluva game but in the end Chicago wins with 2 runs in the 8th, 1 off of Bondo and 1 off of Turnbow.

Game 155: MIN 3 - DET 1

Verlander loses again but once again he pitches great only to find no run support thrown his way. He K's 12 and has really settled down but cannot buy a win now.

Game 156: MIN 3 - DET 2

Another great game wasted by a Tiger pitcher, as Galarraga goes 8 strong but the bats don't heat up and we're back tied with Cleveland for first.

Game 157: DET 6 - MIN 5

Grandy and Cabrera hit HR and Capps blows a save, but calms down allowing the walk off single from Magglio in the 9th for a huge win to keep us tied for first.

Game 158: MIN 4 - DET 0

The offense goes AWOL and we lose 4-0 thanks to a great Nick Blackburn start. We have to be careful from here on out as Cleveland won and is a game up.

Game 159: CHW 9 - DET 8

Capps blows a save at the worst possible time. The only good news from this game is Cleveland loses so with 2 games left we're just a game down.

[DeToxRox]

The AL Central is coming down to the final two games. If we win both and Cleveland loses both we win the Central, if we win both and Cleveland splits, we have a playoff. If we split and Cleveland loses both it's still a playoff. If we lose both obviously we're cooked.

[DeToxRox]

Game 161: DET 3 - CHW 2

In a 12 inning game that saw Verlander pitch 8.1 innings of 2 run ball, it is Ramon Santiago hitting a walk off single to give us a much needed win. Clay Rapada of all people picks up the W with 0.2 IP of work. Meanwhile Boston beats Cleveland 5-0 and shockingly clinches the AL Wildcard thanks to an absolutely massive collapse by the Rays.

Game 162: DET 6 - CHW 3

Woohoo! Armando Galarraga proves to be our second half Ace with 7.2 IP of 5 hit ball, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) and getting HR from Miggy and Thames is enough to give us a 6-3 win. Meanwhile Boston eliminates Cleveland from playoff contention with an 11th inning 2 run walkoff bomb from my new hero Big Papi and the Tigs are headed to the Postseason!

[Sun Tzu]

w00t!

[DeToxRox]

Around the MLB: End of Regular Season Edition

In the AL East, the Yankees pulled away at the end to win 99 games and take the East by 7 games over the Red Sox. Tampa would finish the end of the season 3-7 and lose out on the Wildcard because of it.

In the AL Central it came down to the final game of the year but a Detroit win over Chicago and Cleveland lost to Boston put the Central crown in Detroit.

In the AL West it came down to a playoff as Anaheim and Seattle both finished 76-86 but Anaheim would win the one game playoff 8-1 and march to the playoffs.

The AL Wildcard went to Boston who finished 2 games up on Tampa, who were just too inconsistent in September.

The AL Batting Title goes to Grady Sizemore, who at .340 barely beat out Miguel Cabrera who just caught absolute fire to finish at .336. Billy Butler finished third at .335.

A-Rod came out of nowhere to win the HR race with 46. Carlos Pena was second with 43 and Evan Longoria, Justin Morneau and Matt Holliday would all hit 42.

Matt Holliday would win the RBI crown with 130 driven in. He finished ahead of A-Rod and Miguel Cabrera's 129, and 128 from Josh Hamilton and Justin Morneau.

CC Sabathia set the AL win mark at 19. Cliff Lee would win 18 while Jon Lester and AJ Burnett each won 17.

Mariano Rivera won the Save title with 49. He beat out Kerry Wood, Brian Fuentes and Troy Percival, all of which had 48.

Roy Halladay won the ERA crown a 2.91, with Carmona at 3.06 and Lester at 3.26 to round out the top 3.

In the NL East Atlanta won 101 games and easily took the East by 9 games over the Phils.

In the NL Central the Cards would win 103 games, barely squeaking by Chicago who finished just 1 back with 102 wins.

The Giants would end up destroying the rest of the West en route to the West title. They won 96 games and took the West by 8 games.

The Cubs won the Wildcard, 10 games better then the Phils.

Albert Pujols would go on to win the Triple Crown, and do it by dominating. He hit .361, had 58 HR and 155 RBI and had no one close in any of the categories.

Pitching wise, Adam Wainwright was the MLB's only 20 game winner, winning an insane 23 games while Hamels and Harden both won 19.

Mike Gonzalez would go on to save 56 games, 1 better then Brian Wilson's 55.

Tim Lincecum won the ERA title at 2.42, with Hamels at 2.49 and Harden at 2.62.

[DeToxRox]

w00t!

God I hate Cleveland.

I think we get crushed by Boston but who knows. I didn't think we'd win the Central and I got lazy playing games so I simmed out the end to get to the playoffs.

[DeToxRox]

2009 MLB Playoff Brackets

New York Yankees vs Anaheim Angels

Prediction: Yankees in 3.

Detroit Tigers vs Boston Red Sox

Prediction: Boston in 5.

St. Louis Cardinals vs San Francisco Giants

Prediction: Cardinals in 4.

Atlanta Braves vs Chicago Cubs

Prediction: Cubs in 5.

[DeToxRox]

Game 1: DET 6 - BOS 4

Not our best effort but we squeak out a 6-4 win thanks to an unlikely hero in Ramon Santiago. Adam Everett was injured and is out several weeks but Santiago came in and hit a 2 run HR to kick start a 6 run 5th, and our bullpen pitches 4 scoreless innings to get the win.

Detroit leads the series 1-0

[DeToxRox]

Game 2: DET 14 - 3

This was a simmed game that saw us down 3-2 going into the 6th, when we scored 4 runs, then added 8 runs in the 7th for our third huge inning of the series. Granderson tripled twice, and Miggy hit a grand slam. Add in a Thames 2 run HR and a slew of others joining the hit parade and we take a big time 2-0 series lead. Also of note was Bobby Seay getting the win with 4 innings of 2 hit relief.

Detroit leads the series 2-0

[DeToxRox]

Around the MLB: Mid Divisional Series Report

In what has to be a monumental shock, Anaheim is currently up 2 games to 1 on the Yankees. No idea how this has happened. Anaheim's pitchers are just getting it done.

In the NL the two series are both 2-0 with St. Louis and Chicago up. Expect a battle of NL Central titans for the NLCS.

[DeToxRox]

Game 3: BOS 3 - DET 1

Jackson only goes 5 innings, allowing all 3 runs, 2 of which came from an Ellsbury HR, and Dice-K was on with 7 innings of 6 hit ball, allowing just 1 run before turning it over to Delcarmen and Papelbon for the save.

Detroit leads the series 2-1

[DeToxRox]

Game 4: DET 11 - BOS 3

The rookie Rick Porcello goes into fenway and struggles early, but rebounds to go into the 6th down 3-1. He can't get out of the inning so Seay comes in to bail him out. Then as is the story all series, we score 7 runs in the 8th, and add 3 more in the 9th to win the ALDS series and head on to the ALCS! Polanco hit 2 HR and drove in 4 runs, plus we added in HR from Thames and Laird to give us the cushion we needed, albeit late in the game.

Detroit wins the series 3-1

[DeToxRox]

Around the MLB: ALCS & NLCS Previews

In the AL the Yankees turned on the switch and scored double digits in the final three games to dispatch of Anaheim in 5 where they will face the Tigers. The Yankees are loaded up and down the lineup so it'll take a great pitching effort from the Tigers to head to the World Series.

Prediction: Yankees in 6

In the NLCS it was a sweep by both the Cubs and Cards to give us an epic match up between the MLB's two 100 win teams. With Pujols straight up destroying the ball the Cards are the favorite but the Cubs have the pitching to pull off the win.

Prediction: Cardinals in 7

[DeToxRox]

Game 1: NYY 6 - DET 5

Thames and Inge hit HR, and although we had 11 hits, we didn't get guys in when we had the chance and we drop game one 6-5. Chris Davis did the damage for the Yanks with 2 HR and 4 RBI and both Verlander and Sabathia struggled today turning it into a hitters game.

Yankees lead the series 1-0

[DeToxRox]

Game 2: DET 3 - NYY 1

Armando Galarraga holds the Yanks to 4 hits, 1 of which was a solo HR by Dye, but the pen continues their good pitching with 2.2 innings of hitless ball. Magglio went yard for us, and Laird and Thames also drove in runs, but Galarraga was the story as he stymied the Yanks all day and gutted out a big win to tie it up and send us back to Detroit.

Series tied at 1-1

[DeToxRox]

Game 3: NYY 9 - DET 3

The Yanks pound out 17 hits, including 4 from Chris Davis, and they get a 3 run HR from Damon who had been hitting just .125 this post season to take a 2-1 lead. We didn't have many good performances outside of Miggy who had 2 hits including a 2 run HR. Time to bear down.

Yankees lead the series 2-1

[DeToxRox]

Game 4: NYY 5 - DET 4

A-Rod homers in the top of 11 off Brandon Lyon and we drop a heart breaker 5-4 that could spell the end of our season. Inge hit a HR and Laird continued to be hot at the dish with another RBI but we just couldn't close the deal and now must play mistake free ball to have a shot at the World Series.

Yankees lead the series 3-1

[DeToxRox]

Game 5: DET 2 - NYY 1

In a game what was a battle all night long, with only a 1st inning HR from Cano holding up through the first 8 innings, it was going to come down to just one pitch and in the bottom of the 8th with one on Miggy Cabrera hit a 2 run bomb to right center to make it 2-1 and Matt Capps put down Tex, A-Rod and Davis in order for the save. A huge, huge win and a classic for sure.

Yankees lead the series 3-2

[DeToxRox]

Game 6: DET 5 - NYY 3

Another nail biter. This time vs CC Sabathia no less. With the game 2-2 in the 8th, Ramon Santiago doubled and Granderson singled him home. Sadly the lead didn't last as in the bottom of the 9th Matsui tied it up with a HR off Capps to for it to extras. Then in the 10th Santiago singles. Granderson singles sending him to third. Polanco then singles on a hit and run and then Raburn skies out for a sac fly to make it 5-3. Zumaya comes in and closes the door and we're tied up going to game 7!

Series tied at 3

[DeToxRox]

Game 7: NYY 4 - DET 1

AJ Burnett pitched a CG, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 11 K gem and Matsui and Dye go deep back to back in the 2nd to basically give the Yankees the game. Burnett was nails and sadly for us, the hitting was not. Still we did far better then I ever imagined this season and I think we can be just as good next season with a few solid moves.

Yankees win the series in 7

[DeToxRox]

Around the MLB: World Series Preview

The World Series matches up the Yankees and the Cardinals. St. Louis beat Chicago in five and Pujols is just raking. That said the Yanks will prove to be too much and should take the series.

Prediction: Yankees in 6

[DeToxRox]

Around the MLB: Yankees win World Series

In took 7 games for the Yankees, the third time this playoffs they went the distance in a series, but Andy Pettite pitched a gem and A-Rod of all people came up with 3 hits, an RBI and 2 runs scored to bolster the Yankees to their first World Series this decade.

[DeToxRox]

Around the MLB: Award Winners

World Series MVP: Robinson Cano (NYY) - .400/1 HR/5 RBI

AL MVP : Matt Holliday (OAK)- .325/42 HR/130 RBI
NL MVP: Albert Pujols (STL) - .361/58 HR/158 RBI

AL Cy Young: AJ Burnett (NYY) - 17 - 3, 3.78 ERA
NL Cy Young: Adam Wainwright (STL) - 23 - 3, 2.73 ERA

AL Rookie of the Year: Travis Snider (TOR) - .271/16 HR/61 RBI
NL Rookie of the Year: Chris Dickerson (CIN) - .267/21 HR/64 RBI

[DeToxRox]

Around the MLB: Retiree Edition

BOS John Smoltz
BOS Tim Wakefield
NYY Hideki Matsui
TB Troy Percival
OAK Jason Giambi
SEA Ken Griffey Jr
TEX Omar Vizquel
ATL Derek Lowe
PHI Jamie Moyer
PHI Matt Stairs
ARZ Tom Gordon
SD Brian Giles
SF Randy Johnson

[DeToxRox]

Detroit Tigers Offseason Notes

- We get an 8% budget increase because of our season.

- We need a Hitting and 1st Base Coach.

- We have 96 million bucks available but a lot of young guys to resign so we have to be smart. It is a lot but there are guys I plan on locking up long term now while I can.

[DeToxRox]

Offseason: Initial contract offers to our own players

- We offer salary arbitration to Polanco and Ordonez. We make somewhat low ball offers in hopes they decline it and test the market. Polanco is 34 and wants nearly 12 mil a season, while Ordonez wants 15 mil a year at 36. Not happening.

- We offer long term deals to a bunch of pitchers, including Zumaya, Capps, Porcello and Galarraga. We also offer a lot of minor league guys deals just to keep them in the fray for our numbers to be up.

[DeToxRox]

Week 1: Resignings

- Matt Treanor signs to a 2.4 million dollar deal over 4 years. Chances are he ends up in the minors but he is a good option for a second backup catcher.

- Matt Capps signs to a 40.3 million dollar deal over 5 years. He is officially our Closer for the long term and I couldn't be happier.

- Gerald Laird signs to a 10.2 million dollar deal over 5 years. He is a great defensive catcher and can swing it a little bit. We drafted a catcher #9 overall this past year but he needs some time. Laird is a nice guy to fill the time till he is ready.

- Derrick Turnbow signs to a 4.1 million dollar deal over 2 years. Turnbow was good for us and signs a decent deal for both parties.

- Ramon Santiago signs a 7.7 million dollar deal over 5 years. He is our utility infielder and he played great in the postseason. We're letting Everett and possibly Polanco walk though so we need some Middle Infielders bad still.

- Joel Zumaya signs a 19.5 million dollar deal over 4 years. With he and Capps in the fold our back end of the pen is officially set.

- Bobby Seay and Brandon Lyon agree to deals that lock them up 3 and 4 years respectively. Both deals pay them about 2 million a year.

- Marcus Thames signs an 8.5 mil over 2 year deal. He hit 30 HR and was hurt for a month. He's our DH and can play LF and 1B.

- Magglio has declined arbitration and is now a Type A FA.

[DeToxRox]

Around the MLB: A look at the top 10 FA

#1 - Vlad Guerrero
#2 - Magglio Ordonez
#3 - Rich Harden
#4 - Orlando Cabrera
#5 - Erik Bedard
#6 - Billy Wagner
#7 - Coco Crisp
#8 - Mark Grudzielanek
#9 - Orlando Hernandez
#10 - Chris Capuano

[Sun Tzu]

Hell of a run Dex. I'll be following next season.

[DeToxRox]

Detroit Signings

- Armando Galarraga signs a 4 year, 35.3 million dollar deal locking him into our rotation for the future.

- Rickie Weeks signs a 3 year, 8.5 million dollar deal. He will be our second basemen for the time being though Polanco accepted arbitration so we may end up dealing one of them.

- We cave and bring back Adam Everett to 17.2 million over 3 years. Orlando Cabrera was our main target and he spurned us. Not the best option and considering we lost some big boppers this is not good for our offense.

- Elijah Dukes signs a 5.2 mil over 2 year deal. He will be our replacement for Magglio at this point. I hope for him to be our 4th OF though if we can score a bat in a trade.

- We finish off signing our own guys and Polanco gets 10 mil for the year.

[DeToxRox]

Around the MLB: Top FA Signings

- Atlanta signed Magglio Ordonez to a 3 year, 33.3 million dollar deal.

- Boston signed Orlando Cabrera to a 3 years, 32.2 million dollar deal.

- Cardinals signed Chris Capuano to a 2 years, 11.2 million dollar deal.

- White Sox signed Mike Cameron to a 3 year, 15.6 million dollar deal.

- Yankees signed Erik Bedard to a 3 year, 24 million dollar deal.

- Cubs resigned Rich Harden to a 5 year, 54.1 million dollar deal.

- Rays signed Mark Gruzielanek to a 3 year, 12.3 million dollar deal.

- Atlanta signed Coco Crisp to a 4 year, 24.3 million dollar deal.

- Giants signed Billy Wagner to a 3 year, 16.9 million dollar year.

- Yankees signed Vlad Guerrero to a 3 year, 33.6 million dollar deal.

- Rockies sign Placido Polanco to a 7 year, 71.8 million dollar deal (no idea how I missed that)

[DeToxRox]

Tigers - Yankees Trade

Detroit trades: 3B Bill Hall, C Dusty Ryan and SP Casey Crosby
New York trades: RF Xavier Nady

Nady now comes in to play RF, Dukes moves to LF and Thames can go back to DH.

Somehow the Yanks also got Matt Holliday. I apparently missed a few signings in my haste which sucks as I would've made a move, but it happened when they turned down arbitration earlier in the off season.

The Yankees now have Tex, A-Rod, Vlad, Holliday, Jeter, Dye, Davis and a slew of others. Just sick.

[DeToxRox]

2010 Detroit Tigers Opening Day Roster

1. CF Curtis Granderson
2. RF Xavier Nady
3. 1B Miguel Cabrera
4. DH Marcus Thames
5. LF Elijah Dukes
6. 3B Brandon Inge
7. 2B Rickie Weeks
8. C Gerald Laird
9. SS Ramon Santiago

Bench

SS Adam Everett
1B/OF Ryan Raburn
OF Juan Pierre
C Matt Treanor

Pitching Staff

1. Justin Verlander
2. Armando Galarraga
3. Edwin Jackson
4. Rick Porcello
5. Jeremy Bonderman

Long Reliever

Aquilano Lopez

Middle Relievers

Derrick Turnbow
Ryan Perry
Brandon Lyon

Setup Men

Joel Zumaya
Bobby Seay

Closer

Matt Capps

[DeToxRox]

Game 1: MIN 5 - DET 4

We manage to tie up the game in the 9th off of Joe Nathan, but we lose it in the bottom of the 9th when Perry gave up a walk off single to Mauer. Miggy picked up where he left off with 2 hits, a HR and an 2 RBI, and Elijah Dukes and Gerald Laird also contributed with RBI. Verlander pitched 6 decent innings, allowing 3 runs, but we'll need better.

Game 2: DET 9 - MIN 6

Cabrera has 3 hits, including another HR and 3 RBI, Weeks hits 3 doubles, and Nady and Thames also go yard for 9-6 win. Galarraga went 7, allowing 3 ER and K'ing 5 before turning it to the pen who did struggle, but Capps came in to bail them out and pick up his first save of the year.

Game 3: DET 3 - MIN 2

Granderson and Thames hit homers, Dukes has his third straight game with an RBI and Edwin Jackson pitches 6.1 IP of 1 run ball, fanning 6. The pen does it's job minus one run from Seay and Capps closes it down for the save.

Game 4: BOS 6 - DET 4

Miguel Cabrera hits a 3 run HR, but Porcello only goes 4 IP, giving up 6 ER and we fall to Boston 6-4 for our home opener. Porcello has to have a good season if we want to be contenders. Our top 3 pitchers are great, but we need a good 4th and 5th to contend.

Game 5: DET 8 - BOS 3

Xavier Nady hits 2 HR and drives in 3, plus adds a double, and Inge and Santiago drive in 2 apiece. Add in another RBI for Cabrera and we beat Boston 8-3. Bonderman went 6 strong, allowing 5 hits and 3 ER, but he did walk 4 which isn't going to fly. Still, we get the job done.

Game 6: BOS 7 - DET 1

Beckett throws a CG, 5 hitter for Boston, and Verlander is chased after 4.2 IP. Besides a Granderson HR we did nothing of note. Actually check that, Lopez provided 3.1 spotless innings of relief but we just didn't do enough today.

[DeToxRox]

Game 7: DET 4 - CHW 1

Dukes and Raburn drive in a run, and then we score on two wild pitches to give us our 4 runs. It'd prove to be enough as Galarraga goes 8 innings of 5 hit ball, allowing 1 run and K'ing 7 before turning it offer to the pen to finish it.

Game 8: CHW 3 - DET 2

Nady has an RBI triple, and Dukes an RBI double, but sadly we couldn't do much more then that at the dish, and we fall 3-2 in 10. Edwin Jackson pitched 6.1 innings of 5 hit ball, allowing 2 ER, but the bats couldn't pick it up for him which could be the story of our season.

Game 9: CHW 3 - DET 2

Dukes hits a HR and Santiago has an RBI single but that's all we can put up and again we fall 3-2. Pocello was hit around allowing 8 hits in 5.2 IP but only allowed 2 ER. A Ramon Santiago error in the 7th lead to their final run. A tough way to lose.

Game 10: DET 9 - SEA 2

We get HR's from Grandy, Cabrera and Laird, plus triples from Weeks and Dukes, and we beat Seattle easily 9-2. Bondo goes 5 IP, allowing 8 hits and 2 ER before turning it over to the pen who seals the deal.

Game 11: DET 3 - SEA 2

Granderson, Cabrera and Santiago drive in our runs, and Verlander pitches 7.2 IP allowing just the 2 ER for his first win of the year. Matt Capps came in to pick up his third save.

Game 12: DET 6 - SEA 5

Weeks doubles and homers, driving in 3, and Thames also drives in 2, including a 2 run double in the top of the 9th to give us the 6-5 win. Galararraga went 6 IP allowing 4 ER but the pen came up big and Capps picks up his 4th save.

[DeToxRox]

Game 13: CHW 4 - DET 3

A crazy game that was 0-0 going into bottom of 8 when with 2 out Paul Konerko hit a 2 run HR. A third run was scored on a single from Wise and it was 3-0 in the 9th. Chicago left Contreras in and he walked Nady and Granderson to start the inning. Then Jenks came in and gave up an RBI single to Cabrera and then one to Dukes. Everett would sac them over and Pierre would get a sac fly to tie it, but in the bottom of 9 Alexis Ramirez hit a walk off HR for the Sox.

Game 14: CHW 9 - DET 7

Nady homers twice and drives in 5, and Miggy has an RBI double, but besides an RBI from Santiago we did nothing with RISP and we drop another game to Chicago. Porcello allowed 4 ER in 5.2 IP and then Turnbow was roughed up for 4 ER in 0.2 IP himself. Just not good pitching at all.

Game 15: DET 4 - CHW 1

A 12 inning game that saw a 2 run HR form Weeks in the top of the 12, and then an RBI single from Thames to give us the 3 run cushion. Thames would also homer today and Zumaya pitched 4.1 IP of 3 hit relief including 6 K's for the win. A huge, huge game for us to rebound with.

Game 16: CLE 6 - DET 3

Miggy has 3 hits, including a HR and 3 RBI but that's all we manage. Verlander goes 5, walking 6 and giving up 3 ER. He has to pick it up, no doubt about it. Cliff Lee gets the win for Cleveland, his 4th of the young season.

Game 17: DET 5 - CLE 3

Miggy hits a walk off 3 run HR and Laird and Inge also drive in runs for a dramatic win vs the Indians. Galarraga was not very good today, allowing 3 ER and walking 4 in just 5.1 IP but the pen bailed him out and we get a chance for the series win now.

Game 18: CLE 6 - DET 3

We drop another 12 inning game, this one hurting more then the others as we need these games, even if it is April. Nady has 3 hits, including a HR and 3 RBI and Thames homers but Perry can't hold the game for us in the 12th and we fall 6-3. Jackson only went 5 IP allowing 4 ER today. Our starters have to do better.

[DeToxRox]

Game 19: TB 5 - DET 1

Grandy hits an RBI double but we struggle beyond that with just 4 hits. Porcello would only go 3.1 IP allowing 6 H and giving up 5 ER. His talent is out of this world but he isn't getting it done. Hopefully he like Verlander can turn it aroumd.

Game 20: TB 11 - DET 3

Thames has 2 HR and 3 RBI, along with a single, but sadly he had 3 of our 5 hits for the game. The Rays pounded out 15 hits meanwhile and Bonderman could only go 4.1 IP. These early exits are just killing our pen.

Game 21: DET 9 - TB 8

We win the bottom of 10 on a walk off single from Miggy Cabrera. Adam Everett went yard for us, driving in 2, while Weeks added 4 RBI and Nady and Dukes also drove in runs for the win. Verlander was terrible going just 2 IP allowing 6 ER. Not good. At all.

Game 22: DET 4 - TB 0

Miggy hits an RBI double and Nady drives in 2, and we score on a wild pitch to give us the 4-0 win. Galarraga was the star today though with a CG 5 hit shutout with 4 K. Huge effort to give the pen a break.

Game 23: DET 10 - KC 5

Miggy is on fire, with 2 HR and 3 RBI, and Everett drives in 4 as we power out 15 hits vs the Royals and get a big 10-5 win. Jackson just went 5 IP allowing 5 ER but Turnbow and Zumaya brough their A game to allow just 2 hits over the last 4 innings.

Game 24: KC 1 - DET 0

We only put up 4 hits and lose a tough one to KC. Porcello was a lot better with 6.1 IP, allowing 5 H and walking 3. He was dealt a tough hand tonight but it's a start. Hopefully he can keep putting together good starts and we can make something of this season.

[DeToxRox]

Around the MLB: April Edition

In the AL East, Boston is 20-5 and up 4.5 on the Rays. The free spending Yankees who added a bunch of talent in their outfield including Vlad Guerrero and Matt Holliday are in last place at 10-15, 10 games back already.

In the AL Central, Chicago is in first, 2 games up on Detroit and Kansas City.

In the AL West, the A's are 2 games up on the Angels.

Jim Thome leads the AL in hitting at .400. David DeJesus is second at .385 and Dioner Navarro is in third at .378.

Miguel Cabrera and Kevin Youklis are tied for the HR lead with 8 bombs so far, while Travis Hafner, Vlad Guerrero and AJ Pierzynski have 7 apiece.

The RBI lead is a 3 way tie with Travis Hafner, Carl Crawford (now on Oakland, a FA signing I missed) and Kevin Youklis all at 29 RBI.

A slew of pitchers in the AL are at 4 wins, including Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia.

Brian Fuentes and Scott Downs have the save lead at 10, with Papelbon just 1 back at 9.

Josh Beckett has a 0.44 ERA with 3 complete games and 2 shutouts at this point. He's just rolling.

In the NL East, the Phils are 1 game up on the Nats, with the Marlins and Mets just 2.5 back. The Braves, who added Magglio and some other nice FA are 8-16, 5.5 back.

In the NL Central, the Cubs and Reds are tied for the lead, with last years NLCS winner the Cards 3 games back.

The Giants are up in the NL West, 1.5 up on the Dodgers, but the Padres and D'Backs are just 2 games back themselves.

Derek Lee leads the NL hitting .385. Ryan Doumit is second at .378 and Rafael Furcal and Carlos Guillen are in third at .357.

Ryan Howard and Jay Bruce are tied for the HR lead in the NL with 10 each, while Adam Dunn's 9 puts him in second.

Matt Kemp leads the NL with 24 RBI. Albert Pujols, Aramis Ramirez and Ryan Braun are all tied for 2nd at 23.

A slew of pitchers lead the NL with 4 wins, including Johan Santana, Carlos Zambrano and and Anibal Sanchez.

Franky Cordero has the save lead at 12, with Kevin Gregg at 11 and Fernando Rodney, Matt Lindstrom and Jose Valverde at 9.

[DeToxRox]

Game 25: DET 2 - KC 1

Everett and Dukes drive in runs, and Bondo goes 7 IP allowing 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB and 7 K. Zumaya gets the hold and Capps picks up his 5th save of the season. This was a great game to get the pen a little rest and to see that kind of line out of Bondo is clutch.

Game 26: DET 6 - KC 0

Thames and Dukes hit HR and we get 4 other guys to drive in runs, but most impressive was Verlander going 8.2 IP, allowing 6 H, and striking out 11. This was the game we've wanted him for a long, long time.

Game 27: DET 6 - MIN 3

Galarraga wins his 4th of the year as Thames and Everett hit HR's, with Thames driving in 2 and Everett driving in 3. Galarraga goes 7, allowing 3 ER and striking out 7.

Game 28: DET 6 - OAK 5

Capps blows the save in the 9th, but Inge hits a walk off single in the bottom of the 9th to give us the win. Miggy drove in 2 today, the RBI leader for us on this night, and Edwin Jackson struggled through 4 innings, but the pen goes 5 strong for the win.

Game 29: OAK 5 - DET 3

Porcello goes 4.2 IP, allowing 5 ER and calling it a night. Turnbow and Perry combine for 4.1 of 2 hit ball but the offense doesn't manage to do much with the slim chances we do have and we fall 5-3.

Game 30: DET 9 - TEX 7

Inge homers and drives in 3, plus 3 RBI from Nady and one each from Grandy, Miggy and Laird. Bonderman struggles today going 3.2 IP, but the pen was good for the last 5 and we take home a nice 9-7 win.

[DeToxRox]

Game 31: TEX 3 - DET 2

Solo bombs from Inge and Everett are our only offense tonight, as we fall in Texas 3-2 in the bottom of 10. Verlitched 6 strong but we couldn't give him more then 2 runs. Just got to pick up our boot straps and head on to the next one.

Game 32: TEX 8 - DET 7

Miggy and Inge homer, both driving in 2, and Thames adds 2 RBI himself, but again the pen struggles and gives up 2 in the 8th and 1 in the 9th to give us consecutive losses. Galarraga gave up 2 ER in 5.1 IP but the pen gave up the other 6 in 3.2 IP. Just not good.

Game 33: ANA 8 - DET 0

Jackson is shallacked giving up 6 ER in 3.1 IP, and Weaver pitches 8 innings of 3 hit ball, telling you all you need to know. Not a game to be proud of and now we've dropped 3 straight.

Game 34: DET 7 - ANA 5

Rick Porcello picks up his first win of the season, though he gave up 12 hits and 5 ER. Sometimes you just need to be lucky I suppose. Dukes drives in 3, Weeks drives in 2 and Inge and Santiago provide the other 2 runs and we stop the streak at 3 games.

Game 35: TOR 3 - DET 2

Bondo gives up just 2 ER in 6 IP but Perry gives up a run in the top of the 9th for his 5th loss of the season already, and we fall 3-2. We get runs on a Weeks HR and Nady RBI double.

Game 36: DET 4 - TOR 2

Verlander pitches 6 innings, allowing 2 hits and 2 ER while fanning 7, and we score 4 off of Doc Halladay thanks to HR from Miggy and Weeks to get a nice win vs the Jays. The offense needs to pick it up however as these low run totals are alarming.

[DeToxRox]

Game 37: TOR 7 - DET 1

McGowan pitches a CG 5 hitter for Toronto, allowing just an RBI double to Miggy for his only damage, while Galarraa gives up 4 ER in 5 IP to basically put this one over before it started. Not good.

Game 38: TOR 9 - DET 8

We were down 3 in the 9th when Grandy hit a 2 run HR, followed by a Cabrera triple to center after Wells missed a diving catch. But with 1 out and a runner on third both Dukes and Inge popped up on the infield to shut us down. Even though we had 5 HR we couldn't overcome a 7 run 2nd by the Jays and we fall 9-8.

Game 39: DET 6 - CHW 4

Porcello picks us up with a nice 6.2 IP, 2 ER game. The pen gives up 2 late but Capps comes in to close it out in the 9th for the 6-4 win. On offense we had a HR and 4 RBI from Miggy, plus RBI from Inge and Thames.

Game 40: DET 7 - CHW 4

Bonderman was obscene tonight, going 8.1, giving up 3 ER on 7 hits and striking out 13 for his 4th win of the season. Meanwhile Dukes hits a 3 run HR, and Grandy and Miggy amongst others drive runs in and we get our second in a row vs the hated Sox.

Game 41: DET 14 - CHW 7

Each team pounds out 17 hits, but thankfully ours counted the most, as we score all 14 between the 5th and 7th. Miggy had a HR and 2 RBI, Laird had a HR and 4 RBI, as did Santiago and Dukes added his own HR and 2 RBI and we get a huge win on a night where Verlander gave up 4 ER in 4 IP on 9 hits.

Game 42: DET 4 - PIT 0

Galarraga pitches 8 innings of 6 hit ball, K'ing 6 and Thames has a 2 run HR to basically give us all the offense we would need. A nice win to add to our modest 4 game streak.

[DeToxRox]

Game 43: PIT 3 - DET 2

We would tie this one up in the top of the 9th off a wild pitch from Rodney but Zumaya would give up a walkoff double to McLouth and we leave a win on the board considering we left 7 RISP.

Game 44: PIT 5 - DET 4

The Pirates only manage 4 hits but three of them were to Carlos Guillen, including the walkoff HR would hit in the bottom of the 9th to give us another loss in a game we should've won.

Game 45: CLE 9 - DET 3

Our third loss in a row is a tough one that gives Cleveland first in the AL Central. Bondo was knocked around and then pen didn't fare much better over the course of the game, leading Cleveland to an easy win.

Game 46: DET 7 - CLE 6

Verlander K's 10 in 5.2 IP but gives up 5 ER. Thankfully the pen did a good job of managing any damage after that, sans one run, and we pound out 12 hits for our 7 runs. It should be noted Cleveland only had 4 hits but Verlander walked 5 leading to most of his damage.

Game 47: CLE 8 - DET 7

DeRosa homers twice, driving in 4 and Cleveland leaves Detroit in first place in the AL Central thanks to a good offensive performance, mixed with a bad pitching day for us. These close games are brutal.

Game 48: DET 6 - MIN 3

This was a 14 inning war that saw the Twins take the lead in the top of the 10th with an RBI double from Mauer, but with 2 out in the bottom of 10 Elijah Dukes hits a solo HR to tie it up. Then in the 12th another run from the Twins put Minny up but with 2 outs again, Miggy hit an RBI single to tie it up. Then in the bottom of 14 a sure DP was botched by Punto and the next batter was Xavier Nady who hit a 3 run walkoff HR for the win.

Game 49: DET 11 - MIN 9

We close out May with 11 runs on 18 hits including HR from Laird and Thames, and 3 RBI from Miggy. Porcello struggled again but the pen picked him up and Capps closed the door for save 13.

[DeToxRox]

Around the MLB: May Edition

In the AL East Boston is setting the pace, 8.5 up on the Yankees, who had a big month of May to get to 8 games over .500. Still, they are 8.5 back but with plenty of time to catch up.

In the AL Central Detroit holds a 1.5 game lead on Cleveland, and 3.5 game lead on the Twins. This will probably be a three team race for the rest of the season.

In the NL West the Angels are .5 up on the A's, while Texas is 6.5 back and Seattle is all but done at 14 back.

The AL hitting leader is Bobby Abreu at .379, followed by Thome at .376 and Sizemore at .354.

Kevin Youklis and A-Rod hold the HR lead at 15, followed by Josh Hamilton and Carlos Quentin at 14 each.

Trafis Hafner is the RBI leader with 57 two months in. Behind him are Kevin Youklis and Miguel Cabrera, both of which are at 48.

Justin Duschscherer leads the AL in wins with 8, followed by five other's at 7, including Sabathia and Beckett.

Fuentes has the saves lead at 19, with Papelbon and Zeigler not far behind at 17.

Josh Beckett has the ERA lead with an insane 1.15 through May. He is just dealing. Scott Baker is the next SP closest at 2.25.

In the NL East the Phils are up .5 gmaes on the Nats off all people. The Marlins are 8 back, and the Braves, who spent a lot of money to acquire big bats are in last, 12 games back.

The Cubs are 6 up on the Reds in the NL Central, as well as 6.5 up on the Cards and Brewers. This will still be a tough one to determine until August or September though as the Cards are battling through pitching issues and can still dominate if healthy.

The NL West is ultra competitive as the Giants are 1 up on the Rockies, 1.5 up on the Dodgers and 2.5 up on Arizona. This will be a fun race to watch.

D-Lee leads the NL in hitting at .372, followed by Pujols at .385 and Chipper Jones at .356.

Ryan Zimmerman has the HR lead at 17, 1 up on Ryan Howard at 16 and Jay Bruce is in third at 15.

Zimmerman also has the RBI lead with 50, 9 up on Soriano who has 41 as well as Ryan Howard, also at 41.

Brandon Medders, a RP for the Giants, has 8 wins to lead the NL. Carlos Zambrano and Johan Santana are next with 7 each.

Kevin Gregg has 19 saves to lead the NL, with Manny Corpas at 18 amd Joel Hannarhan, Jose Valverde and Fernando Rodney are at 17.

Cha Seung Bak of the Padres leads the NL with a 1.76 ERA, followed by Ricky Nolasco at 2.09 and Dan Haren at 2.36.

[DeToxRox]

2010 MLB Draft

#1 - Florida - CP Robert Scruggs (4 YR)
#2 - Houston - 3B Napoleon Hillman (2 YR)
#3 - Pittsburgh - CP Teodoro Haad (4 YR)
#4 - Toronto - SP Valentine Ledee (4 YR)
#5 - Oakland - SP Galen Capps (2 YR)
#6 - Cincinnati - SP Tyree Larsen (2 YR)
#7 - Kansas City - RP Gonzalo Piedra (4 YR)
#8 - Texas - RP Jay Marsonek (4 YR)
#9 - Washington - SP Alonzo Terrero (HS)
#10 - Baltimore - SP Parker Reyes (4 YR)

#17 - Detroit - CF Pedro Quiroz, 19 y/o (HS)
#22 - Detroit - SP Homer VIncent 19 y/o (2-YR)

Supplemental Round

#8 - Detroit - 2B Rob Paxton 22 y/o (4 YR)
#12 - Detroit - RP Jalen Feliz 21 y/o (2 YR)

Second Round

#22 - RF Abram McCullough 19 y/o (2 YR)
#28 - 3B Salomon Tejera 21 y/o (2 YR)

Third Round

#22 - C Benito Ramirez 21 y/o (4 YR)

Fourth Round

#22 - 1B Coy Haas 18 y/o (HS)

We had a slew of picks thanks to losing a few Type A free agents as well as Type B. I love this draft we had as well.

[DeToxRox]

Game 50: MIN 10 - DET 2

Bondo is shelled for 8 runs, and outside of a Dukes 2 run HR nothing much went our way. We end up getting humbled 10-2 as a result.

Game 51: DET 5 - NYY 4

We survive a blown save by Capps to score a run in the top of the 10th on an RBI double from Inge to get a nice win vs the Yanks and their incredibly insane lineup.

Game 52: NYY 5 - DET 4

Thames hits a 2 run HR for us, but A-Rod hits a 3 run bomb and Damon adds a 2 run shot, and Galarraga drops his second game of the year 5-4. We had our chances, outhitting them 8-7 but we never found a groove and fell for it.

Game 53: NYY 13 - DET 1

Sabathia destroys us, and A-Rod, Tex and Vlad combine for 11 of their 13 RBI in an absolute mugging. Edwin Jackson was destroyed totally. Thankfully we managed to at least score one run, I guess.

Game 54: TB 2 - DET 0

Porcello and Kazmir both pitch CG 2 hitters, but we sadly gave up two runs (both unearned) and fall 2-0. Just a frustrating game to be a part of.

Game 55: TB 7 - DET 0

David Price kills us this time, and Longoria hits 2 HR, causing us to fall yet again, and to be blanked on top of it. 1 run in our last 3 games is just embarrassing.

[DeToxRox]

Game 56: DET 3 - TB 2

We manage to win this one in the top of the 11th on a sac fly from Xavier Nady to give us a game we had to have to stop this streak. Still not scoring runs but we did what we needed to win.

Game 57: DET 8 - CHW 2

Grandy, Inge and Thames have 2 RBI each, and Weeks and Nady also add runs, while Galarraga pitches another gem for us and is earning some serious Cy Young consideration early into June.

Game 58: DET 8 - CHW 4

We get HR from Nady, Miggy and Thames, and Edwin Jackson throws an 8 inning, 2 run gem for the 8-4 win vs Chicago and we right the ship at least a little bit with 3 in a row.

Game 59: CHW 7 - DET 6

This one hurt as we were up 6-1 in the bottom of 8, but we gave up 4 to make it 6-5, and then in the bottom of 9 Quinten hits a 2 run walk off HR and we lose 7-6. Just damn ugly.

Game 60: CHC 10 - DET 2

We are humiliated 10-2 with Soto hitting 2 HR. Bondo was bad again and Zambrano was very good for the Cubs. That is all it took today.

Game 61: CHC 4 - DET 2

The Cubs score 4 in the 1st and are shut down after that. Miggy hit a solo HR and Laird had an RBI double but that's all we could muster today. Very frustrating, especially when Verlander settled down and pitched great.

Game 62: DET 6 - CHC 2

Galarraga wins his 7th of the season with 7.1 IP of strong ball, and we get 11 hits, including a 2 run HR from Dukes amongst other notable efforts to give us a nice bounce back win.

[DeToxRox]

Game 63: DET 6 - SF 5

We get 4 runs in the 9th off 3 HR to tie it, and we win it in the 14th win with a sac fly. This was a good testament to our grit considering it looked really bleak but we got the job done.

Game 64: SF 9 - DET 6

Nady hit 2 HR and Thames also goes yard but we didn't do much more then that considering we had 15 hits. Matt Cain bared down when he needed to and the Giants beat us because of it.

Game 65: DET 8 - SF 6

Miggy homers and drives in 3 and our pen picks up Bondo who had another bad start. We might have to start looking for another arm at this rate because he is just not going well.

Game 66: PIT 8 - DET 7

Capps blows one vs his old team giving up 3 in the top of the 9th and we fall flat in the bottom of 9. Dukes had a grand slam for us, but Guillen drove in 5 for the Pirates, sticking a dagger in our hearts. Bastard.

Game 67: DET 3 - PIT 2

We win this one in the bottom of 9 as it was Rodney's turn to blow one vs his old team. Miggy Cabrera would drive in the tying run with an RBI single, then Juan Pierre bunted down the third base line with a runner on third which the pitcher fielded but air mailed to first to let Grandy score easy for the win.

Game 68: DET 6 - PIT 2

Miggy drives in 2 runs and Edwin Jackson pitches 8.1 strong innings before getting in a jam which brought Capps in to shut the door and we win a series we had to have vs the Pirates.

[DeToxRox]

Game 69: DET 1 - CIN 0

Porcello pitches 6.1 innings of 3 hit ball, and the pen gives up just 1 more hit the rest of the way. The offense was a solo bomb from who else but Miguel Cabrera and we take a big 1-0 win in Cinncy.

Game 70: DET 8 - CIN 3

Bondo pitches decent, allowing 3 ER in 6.1 IP, and the pen does it's job to close the door. Grandy, now hitting 5th, homers in the 8th to give us a 4-3 lead and we pile on 4 more thanks to a balanced offense.

Game 71: DET 8 - CIN 1

Nady homers, driving in 3, while Miggy and Weeks drive in 2 and Inge drives one in, and Verlander goes 8, allows 1 run on 3 hits and fans 10 to give us an easy 8-1 win. We needed this heading into Milwaukee.

Game 72: MIL 3 - DET 2

The Brewers score in the 8th on a Prince Fielder RBI single to take the opener of the series 3-2. We had a nice start from Galarraga, and Inge had a run bomb but that was it.

Game 73: MIL 5 - DET 4

Another 8th inning RBI from Prince, this time a HR, gives Milwaukee another 1 run win. It's frustrating to see Prince light us up like this but what else can you do, the guy is a stud. Porcello was not good though which didn't help.

Game 74: MIL 9 - DET 8

... Prince homers again in the 8th (Unreal) and we again drop a 1 run game to the f'ing Brewers. Bondo allowed 3 in 5.2 IP but the pen imploded and though we had 8 runs we should've had 12-13 since we had 16 hits and left 11 RISP. Miggy did have a 3 run HR at least.

Game 75: KC 6 - DET 4

We give up 3 runs in the 9th and though we would score 3 of our own it was too little too late. Our offense was hot early, cooled until the end, and those middle innings came back to bite us as they should.

Game 76: DET 9 - KC 7

Verlander gives up 11 hits and 5 ER in 5.2 IP but earns the win thanks to 2 HR and 7 RBI from the Cabrera/Dukes combo. KC actually out hit us 16-14 but we made our hits count and we get a needed win to end our skid.

Game 77: DET 4 - KC 3

We close out June with a Miguel Cabrera walk off single in the 9th to put away KC. Ryan Raburn started for Nady who needed a day off and had 4 hits and 3 RBI. Galarraga pitched well again but was again victim of a ND. Still though we win and that's all I care about.

[DeToxRox]

Around the MLB: June Edition

Boston is still up in the East, already with 53 wins. They're 6.5 up on the Yanks, but the Yanks keep playing better and better ball.

Detroit is 1 up on Cleveland in the Central, but the wins lurk just 1.5 out. This will be a fun race to watch.

The Angels are up 3 in the West over Oakland, with Texas 13.5 out so basically put them out of contention already. Anaheim's pitching is just too good for Oakland to overcome at this point.

Jacoby Ellsbury leads the AL with a .340 average. Next is Abreu at .333 and Jim Thome at .332.

A-Rod has the HR lead with 25, 3 up on Miguel Cabrera's 22 and 4 up on Kevin Youklis and his 21.

Miguel Cabrera leads the AL with an astounding 81 RBI so far. Next is Hafner at 73 followed by Youklis at 66.

Cliff Lee has the AL lead for wins at 12, 1 up on Sabathia and 2 up on Jon Lestor. Lee at this point is 12-1 and just throwing incredibly well.

Brian Fuentes has the saves lead at 28. Net is Papelbon at 26 and Scott Downs and Joe Nathan at 23.

The ERA leader is still Beckett, who has an unreal 1.74 through June. Scott Baker is next at 2.45, then Erik Bedard at 2.51.

In the NL East, the Phils sit 5.5 up on the Nats of all teams. The rest of the division is at least 8.5 back, with Atlanta in last 17 games out despite all the money they spent.

The Cubs sit 6.5 up in the Central over St. Louis and 7.5 up on the Brewers. They're getting great hitting and pitching and should probably win the Central at this point.

The Dodgers lead the NL West with a hot June, 2 up on the Diamondbacks, though the Giants are just 3.5 back and the Rockies are a mere 4.5 back. This will be hotly contested until the end.

Derek Lee leads the NL in hitting a .356, followed by Chipper Jones at .352 and Adrian Gonzalez at .346.

Lance Berkman has the HR lead at 30, then Pujols is at 25 and Dunn sits at 23.

Pujols has the RBI lead at 70, followed by a tie for second with Beltran and Berkman both having 65 apiece.

Johan Santana and Carlos Zambrano have the wins lead with 11 each, followed by Jake Peavy who has 10.

Manny Corpas has the NL save lead at 29. Next is Gregg at 28 followed by Hanarhan at 27.

Cha Seung Bak still has the ERA lead at 2.12. Next is a tie for second with Javier Vazquez and Dan Haren, both at 2.38.

[DeToxRox]

Game 78: MIN 9 - DET 8

We score 5 in the bottom of 8 to go up 8-7, but Capps blows a save and Minnesota ties it. Then in the top of 13 Mauer goes yard and we lost 9-8. Just sickening.

Game 79: MIN 5 - DET 3

We can't do much damage with the bats, only putting up 6 hits, and Porcello struggles again as the Twins hit him around for 5.1 IP. Not a good start to the month.

Game 80: MIN 3 - DET 1

Bondo finally pitches well and we still lose. We even out hit the Twins 10 - 7 and nothing more comes of it. This is the kind of stuff that will send me to an early grave.

Game 81: MIN 9 - DET 2

The Twins complete a huge 4 game sweep by pounding Verlander and Scott Baker wins his 9th game with 8 innings of 1 run ball. How the hell did this happen?

Game 82: CLE 7 - DET 2

Galarraga gets hit hard this time and we lose to the only other team we cannot afford to drop games against! The offense struggles again and an upgrade is going to have to be made. Also of note is Laird is out a month so our #1 pick from last year, catch Linwood Rose who was a AAA All Star selection will now be our catcher.

Game 83: CLE 8 - DET 7

FTW. Lyon gives up an RBI single in the bottom of the 9th and we fall again to Cleveland, putting us on a nice 6 game slide against the only two teams we're competing against in the AL Central. Just pathetic.

[DeToxRox]

Game 84: DET 11 - CLE 3

Porcello rebounds and Miggy drives in 5 runs, Thames drives in 4 and Dukes drives in 2 to stop the losing and giving us a win we had to have absolutely.

Game 85: DET 7 - BAL 2

Linwood Rose has his first 3 hit game, and Everett drives in 3, while Bondo pitches a 7 inning shut out, before turning it to the pen who gives up 2 runs but closes the door. Big win.

Game 86: DET 7 - BAL 6

Thames homers in his third straight, and Santiago drives in 3. Rose has 2 more hits and Verlander pitches well enough for his 6th win. A nice, nice effort today.

Game 87: DET 1 - BAL 0

Thames drives in our only run with a duble, and Galarraga goes 7 allowing just 5 hits and fanning 6 before turning it over to Zumaya and Capps who close the door to give us our 4th straight win.

Game 88: DET 10 - BAL 5

We close out the first half with RBI from 7 different players, but importantly we do it with a 6 run 9th to give the 10 to 5 win. Weeks, Everett and Treanor all have 2 RBI and Lopez pitches 2.2 sparkling innings of relief for the win. This is a great bounce back before the ASG.

[DeToxRox]

2010 MLB All Star Game

AL Starters

1. LF Grady Sizemore
2. RF Jacoby Ellsbury
3. CF Josh Hamilton
4. DH Miguel Cabrera
5. 3B Alex Rodriguez
6. 2B Dustin Pedroia
7. 1B Kevin Youklis
8. C Joe Mauer
9. SS Derek Jeter

SP Josh Beckett

AL Bench

LF Carl Crawford
RF Bobby Abreu
C AJ Pierzynski
C Matt Wieters
1B Carlos Pena
2B Jose Lopez
3B Alex Gordon
SS Orlando Cabrera
1B Travis Hafner
RF Jack Cust
RF Ichiro

SP Cliff Lee
SP Scott Baker
SP Armando Galarraga
SP CC Sabathia
RP Brad Ziegler
RP Scott Downs
RP Jesse Carlton
RP George Sherrill
RP Frank Francisco
RP Brian Fuentes
RP Jonathan Papelbon

[DeToxRox]

NL Starters

1. LF Alfonso Soriano
2. DH Lance Berkman
3. 1B Albert Pujols
4. RF Ryan Ludwick
5. 2B Chase Utley
6. CF Carlos Beltran
7. 3B Ryan Zimmerman
8. C Russell Martin
9. SS Jimmy Rollins

SP Jake Peavy

NL Bench

C Brian McCann
C Ryan Doumit
1B Prince Fielder
2B Brandon Phillips
3B Pablo Sandoval
SS Hanley Ramirez
3B Chipper Jones
LF Manny Ramirez
LF Ryan Braun
LF Adam Dunn
RF Milton Bradley

SP Dan Haren
SP Clayton Kershaw
SP Johan Santana
SP Cole Hamels
RP Kevin Gregg
RP Joel Hanarhan
RP Manny Corpas
RP Ryan Madison
RP Matt Lindstrom
RP Trevor Hoffman
RP Billy Wagner

[DeToxRox]

2010 MLB All Star Game
Live from Angel Stadium of Anaheim

NL 5 - AL 0

The AL only manages 3 hits (Miggy had 1) and the NL gets a 3 run HR from Chase Utley who would go on to win the All Star Game MVP. The NL again will have home field advantage in the World Series.

[DeToxRox]

I had a bunch of stuff posted and FOFC froze and I lost it so I am gonna go bare bones to catch up to where I am at.

[DeToxRox]

Game 89: DET 5 - NYY 4

Game 90: NYY 5 - DET 4

Game 91: DET 6 - NYY 5

Game 92: TEX 3 - DET 0

Game 93: DET 4 - TEX 3

Game 94: DET - TEX 1

[DeToxRox]

Game 95: DET 9 - SEA 8

Game 96: SEA 3 - DET 0

Game 97: SEA 4 - DET 2

Game 98: TOR 5 - DET 0

Game 99: TOR 3 - DET 2

Game 100: DET 7 - TOR 6

Game 101: DET 4 - TOR 1

Game 102: DET 2 - NYY 1

Game 103: NYY 8 - DET 1

[DeToxRox]

Tigers - Braves Make Big Move

- The Atlanta Braves, who came in to the season with huge expectations and now sit in last place needed to do something, so they traded SP Javier Vazquez to the Detroit Tigers for SP Jeremy Bonderman, CP Brett Jacbson and SS Cale Iorg. The deal makes Atlanta younger in the rotation, and gives them big potential at CP and SS, while the Tigs get a stud SP to add to the rotation.

No other major deals went down.

[DeToxRox]

Around the MLB: July Edition

In the AL East, Boston is 5.5 up on the Yanks who continue playing some solid ball. Meanwhile the Rays are 11.5 back and need a big streak to get back in the race.

In the AL Central the Twins are 4.5 up on the Tigers, and 6 up on the Indians. No one else is close.

Anaheim is now 5 up on Oakland in the West, while Seattle is an amazing 31-72 at the break. They are just terrible.

Abreu leads the AL in hitting at .341, with Youklis and Ellsbury tied for second at .334.

A-Rod has the HR lead at 34, with Cust and Miggy Cabrera tied in 2nd at 28.

Cabrera has the RBI lead at 104, with Hafnter at 97 and then Victor Martinez in third at 78. Talk about a two man race.

Lester and Lee have the lead for Wins at 13, with Duchscherer next at 12.

Nathan has the save lead at 36, followed by Fuentes at 35 and Papelbon at 32.

Scott Baker's 2.21 ERA leads the AL, followed by Lester at 2.41 and Beckett at 2.42.

In the NL East, the Phils are 9 up on the Mets and should win the East with ease.

St. Louis is now just 2.5 back of the Cubs in the Central, with Milwaukee 5 backs. This a race that is really heating up.

In the NL West the Dodgers are 8.5 up on the Rockies, and should win the West easily.

Chipper Jones leads the NL in hitting a .356. Next is Victorino at .341 and D-Lee at .339.

Pujols has the HR lead at 37, followed by Berkman at 36 and Howard and Dunn at 28.

Beltran has the RBI lead at 92, with Pujols at 90 and Berkman at 85.

Johan Santana leads the MLB with 15 wins. A tie follows with John Lackey, Zambrano and Peavy at 13.

Corpas has the save lead at 35, with Gregg and Hanarhan next at 33 each.

Chris Young has the ERA lead at 2.56, followed by Volquez at 2.61 and Hamels at 2.62.

[DeToxRox]

Okay I got carried away simming, last time I do these non descript games.

[DeToxRox]

Game 104: DET 7 - NYY 3

Game 105: DET 9 - NYY 7

Game 106: DET 6 - OAK 1

Game 107: DET 2 - OAK 1

Game 108: DET 6 - OAK 1

Game 109: GET 9 - ANA 3

Game 110: ANA 8 - DET 3

Game 111: ANA 2 - DET 1

Game 112: DET 6 - KC 2

Game 113: DET 6 - KC 3

Game 114: KC 6 - DET 2

Game 115: DET 7 - CLE 1

Game 116: DET 7 - CLE 5

Game 117: DET 5 - CLE 3

Game 118: MIN 12 - DET 2

Game 119: DET 9 - MIN 7

Game 120: DET 8 - MIN 0

Game 121: KC 1 - DET 0

Game 122: DET 4 - KC 3

Game 123: DET 7 - KC 2

Game 124: DET 4 - CHW 3

Game 125: DET 6 - CHW 4

Game 126: CHW 1 - DET 0

Game 127: OAK 4 - DET 3

Game 128: DET 4 - OAK 3

Game 129: DET 7 - OAK 5

Game 130: OAK 5 - DET 1

Game 131: DET 6 - ANA 5

Game 132: DET 8 - ANA 3

[DeToxRox]

Around the MLB: August Edition

In the AL East Boston has taken control once and for all over New York, now leading by 9 games.

In the AL Central, Detroit, despite a 21 win month, is just 1 up on the Twins. This one is going to be a war.

In the AL West Anaheim is up 5.5 on Oakland despite being 3-7 over their last 10. The Angels have too much pitching to lose the West at this point.

Right now the AL Wildcard sees the Yankees 3 up on the Twins and 5,5 up on the A's and Blue Jays.

Kevin Youklis now holds the batting lead at .350. He is ahead of Ichiro's .334 and Abreu's .325.

A-Rod still has the HR lead at 41. Next is Miguel Cabrera at 34 and Jim Thome and Marcus Thames are tied at 33.

Cabrera has he RBI lead at 119, with Morneau at 109 and Hafner at 107.

Jon Lester leads in wins at 17. Next is Ervin Santana at 15, and then a slew of others are tied at 14.

Scott Downs has the saves lead at 43. Next is a tie at 42 between Fuentes and Papelbon.

Lester also has the ERA lead at 2.41. Next is Brett Anderson at 2.50 and then Beckett at 2.61.

In the NL East the Phils are 14 up on the Mets and have all but won the division.

In the NL Central the Cubs are 2 up on the Cards, with Milwaukee 7 back and probably out of contention.

The Dodgers sit 7.5 up on the Giants, and should take the West with ease.

The NL Wildcard is currently St. Louis who is 5 up on Milwaukee. The next closest is the Giants at 10.5, so basically, it's St. Louis to lose.

Chipper leads the NL in hitting at .351. Next is D-Lee at .346 and Victorino at .328.

Pujols has the HR lead at 44. Next is Berkman at 41 and Dunn at 38.

Braun has the RBI lead at 113, followed by Pujols at 109 and Prince Fielder at 106.

Cole Hamels has the NL Win's lead at 17. he is followed by 16 from Lackey and Zambrano.

Kevin Gregg has the Saves lead at 45, with Lindstrom at 41 and Hoffman and Lidge at 40.

Edison Volquez has the ERA lead at 2.27, with Chris Young next at 2.38 and Peavy after that at 2.68.

[DeToxRox]

Game 133: ANA 2 -DET 1

Kevin Correia, a late signing to fill in for Edwin Jackson who went down for a few months in late July, pitches well but Anaheim takes it with a an RBI single in the bottom of 11.

Game 134: TEX 8 - DET 7

Grandy, Dukes, Thames and Inge go yard but Porcello struggles, as he has all season, and we drop a game to a team in Texas we just cannot lose to at this time of the year.

Game 135: TEX 4 - DET 3

Vazquez pitches well, allowing 3 in 7 IP, but our offense only manages 3 runs despite 13 hits. Once again we lose a game to Texas, at home, and we cannot afford it.

Game 136: DET 9 - TEX 1

Verlander stops the bleeding with 6 strong, allowing 1 ER and striking out 9. Then add in a Thames Grand Slam and 3 RBI from Laird and it's more then enough to avoid the sweep.

Game 137: DET 7 - TEX 5

Raburn and Treanor hit HR and drive in 5 between them, and Galarraga pitches well enough to win #13 and we split with Texas.

Game 138: CLE 5 - DET 3

Cleveland plates 4 in the top of the 8th off of Turnbow and we fall 5-3. Not a good effort, especially when we had 10 hits off Cliff Lee but didn't make them count nearly enough.

[DeToxRox]

Game 139: DET 3 - CLE 2

Porcello allows just 2 runs in 6 innings and Turnbow pitches 2 shut out innings to get the win. Nady would drive in 2 and Grandy 1 for all our offense.

Game 140: DET 5 - CLE 2

Vazquez leaves with forearm tightness in the 3rd, but Lopez pitches 3 strong to improve to 9-0 out of the pen, and Nady again drives in 2 runs amongst others. This was a great game from our pen who allowed just 3 hits in 6 innings.

Game 141: DET 7 - CHW 0

Verlander wins #10 with 6.2 strong, including 8 K, and Nady drives in 3 more to continue his torrid pace. Even the slumping Miggy Cabrera had 3 hits today which is huge for us.

Game 142: CHW 8 - DET 2

Galarraga gets knocked around big time, and we can only muster up 2 runs on 8 hits. This kind of production will not cut it.

Game 143: CHW 6 - DET 5

Miggy and Thames have 2 RBI each but we can't figure out the White Sox who have struggled all year long, and they beat us in a game we cannot lose 6-5.

[DeToxRox]

Game 144: DET 11 - CLE 10

Brandon Inge, who has been unreal since the ASB, hits a walk off HR off of Vinnie Chalk and we take an exciting 11-10 win over the Indians.

Game 145: CLE 8 - DET 6

Cleveland scores 6 runs in the bottom of the 8th for a loss that is devestating. Add to the fact we lost Nady for 3 - 4 weeks with a shoulder injury and this could go down as the worst day fo our season.

Game 146: CLE 6 - DET 3

Verlander allows 4 ER in 5 UP and Perry then allows 2 more to end the night. Just a bad, bad game. JV has to be better for us to win the Central.

Game 147: DET 5 - MIN 0

Galarraga is spectacular with the CG shutout, and Thames has a HR and 3 RBI to give us a massive, massive win.

Game 148: DET 7 - MIN 3

Correia pitches 6 strong, and Miggy, Granderson and Treanor all play long ball for another big win. This is all being done in Minnesota mind you.

Game 149: DET 5 - MIN 2

Porcello leaves at 3.1 IP with a sore shoulder, thankfully he is just day to day. With him out early, Lopez, Lyon and Capps pitch great, and we score 3 in the 9th for a huge sweep!

[DeToxRox]

Game 150: DET 6 - BAL 5

The O's tie it in the top of 9, but Weeks hits a walk off HR in the bottom of the 9th for another big win. Cabrera would also play long ball, and Vazquez pitched 7 great innings.

Game 151: DET 8 - BAL 2

Verlander picks up #11 with 8 innings of shutout ball, and Thames drives in 4 more runs to give us the 8-2 win. We also find out Edwin Jackson is healthy and he can rejoin the rotation.

Game 152: DET 7 - BAL 3

Galarraga wins #15, and Cabrera has a HR and 4 RBI. This is our 6th win in a row but the Twins are still just 1 back and we swept them. It's going to be a damn dog fight.

Game 153: BAL 6 -DET 5

Jackson allows 3 hits and 4 ER in his return. He was good enough to win but we would allow 2 in the 8th and the Orioles end our streak at 6.

Game 154: KC 8 - DET 5

We lose in the 14th to KC who played gritty all night long. The only good news from this one was the fact that Minnesota also lost to keep us 1 game up.

Game 155: DET 3 - KC 2

Curtis Granderson pinch hits in the bottom of the 9th and hits a walk off 2 run single to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Once again Vazquez is great but gets no run support. It's all good though as we persevere.

Game 156: DET 5 - KC 1

Verlander pitches 7 innings of shutout ball for his 12th win, and we have a HR and 2 RBI from Thames who continues to mash to give us another crucial win vs KC. Still though we are just 1 damn game up on Minnesota with 6 left.

[DeToxRox]

Game 157: BOS 6 - DET 5

Marcus Thames ties it in the top of the 9th with a 3 run HR but we give up a walk off HR to Youklis in the 12th and we lose a heartbreaking game to the Sox.

Game 158: BOS 5 - DET 3

Dice K pitches well, and Jackson guts out 6 strong, but the pen doesn't do their job and we drop one to Boston again. Thankfully the Twins have also lost 2 in a row so we're 1 up still.

Game 159: DET 9 - BOS 5

Miggy and Thames hit bombs and Porcello pitches his best game of the season, even tho he gave up 4 runs in the 1st. He gutted through it and gave us enough to give us a huge win and keep us one up.

Game 160: DET 10 - KC 0

Vazquez pitches 7 innings of shutout ball, and we mash 17 hits. This was never in doubt and the Twins lose putting us up 2 with 2 games left. All we need is a win to clinch the Central.

Game 161: DET 11 - KC 7

A 5 run 8th, highlighted by ANOTHER Thames HR clinches us the AL Central Title from the Twins! Two years in a row it comes down to the last game or two and we prevail. Amazing.

Game 162: DET 5 - KC 0

The game means nothing but we shut down the Royals thanks to a strong outing from Correia and now we get ready for a rematch with the Yanks!

[DeToxRox]

End of Season Tiger Stats

Cabrera: .301 - 40 HR - 142 RBI
Thames: .269 - 44 HR - 102 RBI
Granderson: .275 - 23 HR - 64 RBI
Nady: .287 - 22 HR - 73 RBI
Dukes: .265 - 20 HR - 75 RBI
Inge: .273 - 21 HR - 77 RBI
Laird: .297 - 11 HR - 51 RBI
Weeks: .236 - 10 HR - 52 RBI
Everett: - .276 - 8 HR - 51 RBI

Galarraga: 16-5, 2.72
Verlander: 12-9, 3.97
Vazquez: 7-5, 2.86
Jackson: 3-6, 5.82
Porcello: 6-11, 6.51
Lopez: 9-0, 3.58
Seay: 8-3, 3.31
Zumaya: 5-6, 3.28
Perry: 7-6, 3.10
Capps: 4-2, 2.28, 43 SV

[DeToxRox]

2010 Playoff Preview

AL

Boston vs Oakland

Prediction: Boston is just too good, and Oakland, who was down 3 games heading into the final week of the season, are going to be beat up and tired from just getting in. They don't have the bats to keep up.

Boston in 4

Detroit vs New York

A rematch from last season, the Yanks offense is scary, and they have some great starters. That said their pitching doesn't match Detroit's. Usually in the playoffs, pitching wins, but the Yanks offense is special and they will head on to Boston.

New York in 5

NL

Chicago vs LA

Both teams have good pitching and hitting, but Chicago was challenged all year by St. Louis and Milwaukee while LA skated into the playoffs. It'll be a great series but the Cubs are too much for LA.

Chicago in 5

Philadelphia vs St. Louis

The Phillies had the East won by July, while St. Louis had the Wildcard sown up halfway through September. One would think the Phils take this but they don't have Pujols and that my friends is all it takes.

St. Louis in 4

[DeToxRox]

Game 1: DET 7 - NY 2

Verlander pitches 8 innings of 2 run ball, fanning 9, while getting a Grand Slam from Miguel Cabrera and the Tigers go up on the Yanks 1-0 early. Remember last year though, when Anaheim was up 2-0 in the first round and the Yanks ripped off 3 in a row.

Detroit leads the series 1-0

[DeToxRox]

Game 2: DET 11 - NY 8

The teams combine for an absurd 35 hits, but in the end it's the Tigs left standing thanks to multi RBI nights from Cabrera, Nady and Laird, plus 5 other guys driving in runs. The Yanks look lost as far as pitching goes and their dynamic offense isn't good enough to make up for 19 runs in 2 games.

Detroit leads the series 2-0

[DeToxRox]

Game 3: NY 8 - DET 4

Of our 4 runs, 3 were solo HR. The Yanks did the same, having 3 HR, but they were not solo HR. There is the difference tonight. We shut the door in Game 4, because the Yanks are going to be impossible to beat in a Game 5, in Detroit or not.

Detroit leads the series 2-1

[DeToxRox]

Game 4: DET 10 - NY 1

Dukes goes yard, Grandy drives in 3, Miggy drives in 2 and Jackson, even though he allowed 11 hits, K's 10 and allows just 1 run in 8 innings to give us a magical 10-1 win in game 4 to send us to the ALCS! I didn't think this was possible with how good the Yanks were but wow.

Detroit wins the series 3-1

[DeToxRox]

ALCS & NLCS Previews

ALCS

Detroit vs Boston

A rematch from last years ALDS, this Boston team is far superior then the one we beat last year. Lester and Beckett are the best 1-2 punch in baseball, and Youklis is a monster. It should be close but Boston will prevail.

Boston in 6

NLCS

LA vs Philadelphia

This was a shocker as LA and the Phils both win their series. LA wins in 5 and the Phils in 4. The Dodgers have more overall talent but the Phils seem like they are just something special. Look for the Phils to win and advance to the World Series.

Phils in 7

[DeToxRox]

Game 1: BOS 13 - DET 1

Boston had 13 runs on 17 hits, including 2 HR from Lowell, and also HR from Ellsbury and Ortiz. Verlander was terrible, and Brad Penny of all people shut us down. This is not good at all.

Boston leads the series 1-0

[DeToxRox]

Game 2: BOS 3 - DET 1

Masterson was great, going 8 innings of 1 run ball, while Galarraga pitched well, but back to back HR from Eric Byrnes and Youklis in the 5th ended up being the difference. This is a tough hole to get out from as Boston hasn't even pitched Beckett or Lester yet.

Boston leads the series 2-0

[DeToxRox]

Game 3: DET 6 - BOS 0

With the cards on the table, knowing we had to win, Javier Vazquez took the ball and pitched a CG shutout, K'ing 10 and beating the Cy Young front runner Jon Lester in the process. This was an absolute must and we did it. Miggy also added 2 RBI and Nady had 3. HUGE.

Boston leads the series 2-1

[DeToxRox]

Game 4: BOS 5 - DET 1

Beckett allows just 1 run, and an unearned one at that, on 4 hits, and Byrnes hits 2 HR, plus Lowell adds one, and we fall 5-1 to the Sox. Down 3-1 now, our only saving grace is our top 3 pitchers are scheduled to pitch, but it looks like it might be too little too late.

Boston leads the series 3-1

[DeToxRox]

Game 5: DET 11 - BOS 4

It took a 7 run bottom of 7 but we do the job vs the Sox and extend the series another day. Nady and Laird both drive in 3, Grandy adds 2 and Miggy and Dukes also RBI to pick up Verlander who pitched okay but not great. We have one more at home before going back to Boston. Can we tie it up?

Boston leads the series 3-2

[DeToxRox]

Game 6: DET 4 - BOS 1

I lied above, I forgot we had played 3 at home already but it doesn't matter! Thames hits a Grand Slam in the 1st, and Galarraga pitches a CG, 5 H, 1 ER, 7 K gem to tie us up for a game 7! This has been awesome to watch transpire.

Series tied at 3-3

[DeToxRox]

Game 7: BOS 5 - DET 3

Byrnes homers again, and Vazquez pitches well, but not well enough, and we fall 5-3. This was a heartbreaking game but considering we even made it to a game 7 after being down 3-1 is a testament to this team. I'll go on record saying next year is our year.

Boston wins the series 4-3

[DeToxRox]

World Series

Boston d. Philly 4-0.

Not much to note here, the Sox were too damn good and I didn't even have to bother with the prediction.

[DeToxRox]

2010 Awards

World Series Champions: Boston Red Sox

World Series MVP: Kevin Youklis (BOS) .583, 3 HR, 6 RBI

Playoff MVP: Eric Byrnes (BOS) .362, 6 HR, 14 RBI

AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera (DET) .301, 40 HR, 142 RBI

NL MVP: Albert Pujols (STL) .316, 55 HR, 137 RBI

AL Cy Young: Brett Anderson (OAK) 18-2, 2.83

BL Cy Young: Carlos Zambrano (CHN) 19-4, 3.32

AL Silver Slugger Kevin Youklis (BOS) .335

NL Silver Slugger Chipper Jones (PHI) .344

AL Rolaids Relief Jonathan Papelbon (BOS) 51 SV

NL Rolaids Relief Kevin Gregg (CHN) 60 SV

AL Rookie of the Year Alfred Wiggins (SEA) .221, 22 HR, 74 RBI

NL Rookie of the Year Buster Posey (HOU) .230, 16 HR, 59 RBI

[DeToxRox]

Notable Retirements

Jorge Posada
Mariano Rivera
Jim Thome
Jose Contreras
Bobby Abreu
Jose Guillen
Ichiro
Nomar Garciaparra
Magglio Ordonez
Todd Helton

[DeToxRox]

Detroit Offseason Notes Pt. 1

- Our payroll increases 6% after our successful season.

- Brandon Inge resigns to a deal paying him 12.6 mil over 4 years.

- Justin Verlander resigns to a huge deal paying him 84.9 mil over 6 years.

- Vazquez and Nady are going to test FA and it's a star studded FA to say the least at this point in time.

[DeToxRox]

Detroit Offseason Notes Pt. 2

- Nady signs to a 4 year, 16.4 million dollar deal.

- Javier Vazquez signs to a 4 year, 45.7 million dollar deal.

- Jimmy Rollins signs to a 5 year, 111.76 million dollar deal with your Detroit Tigers!

[DeToxRox]

MLB Free Agency Notes Pt. 1

- Yankees sign AJ Pierzynski to a 3 year, 9.8 million dollar deal.

- Yankees signed Roy Halladay to a 5 year, 83.3 million dollar deal.

- Dodgers signed Aaron Harang to a 4 year, 31.2 million dollar deal.

- Phillies signed Edgar Renteria to a 3 year, 26.4 million dollar deal.

- Twins signed Jeremy Bonderman to a 2 year, 9.5 million dollar deal.

- Giants signed Kaz Matsui to a 3 year, 10.23 million dollar deal.

- Dodgers signed Jason Werth to a 2 year, 10.9 million dollar deal.

- Toronto signed David Ortiz to a 3 year, 32.5 million dollar deal.

[DeToxRox]

2011 Top Prospects

1. C Linwood Rose

Rose does it all. He can hit, field and run, and he can call a great game. He is probably our best catcher right now, but we'll give him at least another half year in AAA, but preferably the full year.

2. 2B Rob Paxton

Paxton is a slick hitting 2B with decent speed, but above average defense. He is a year or so away from the Show, but at 22, he is more mature then most rookies.

3. SP Homer Vincent

The 19 year old soft tosser doesn't over power hitters, but wow can he pitch. He hits his spots well, and doesn't walk a lot of batters. He is a few years away though.

4. SS Kendry Silva

The 19 year old Silva hit .321 in his rookie season in AAA, and is only getting better. He isn't the best fielder but he can just rake. As his defense improves he will become a much more viable option at SS, but 3B might wind up being his position.

5. CF Pedro Quiroz

Quiroz is a fast, can field, and can hit. Lacks power, but he will get on base. A single is going to wind up a double and I'd say plenty of Gold Gloves are in his future.

[DeToxRox]

2011 Opening Day Roster

1. SS Jimmy Rollins
2. C Gerald Laird
3. CF Curtis Granderson
4. 1B Miguel Cabrera
5. DH Marcus Thames
6. 3B Brandon Inge
7. RF Xavier Nady
8. LF Elijah Dukes
9. 2B Rickie Weeks

Bench

C Matt Treanor
IF Adam Everett
IF Ramon Santiago
OF Juan Pierre

1. Justin Verlander
2. Javier Vazquez
3. Armando Galarraga
4. Edwin Jackson
5. Rick Porcello

LR - Aquilino Lopez

MR - Derrick Turnbow
MR - Ryan Perry
MR - Brandon Lyon

SU - Joel Zumaya
SU - Bobby Seay

CL - Matt Capps