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MLB : Detroit tigers NEWS |
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| It looked like Monday night would be another disappointing loss for the Tigers, but then their bats came alive for back-to-back four-run innings in the 7th and 8th. See highlights of the game in our photo gallery. |
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| The Tigers won Monday night's game the way they lost Sunday's: back-to-back four-run innings. On Sunday, Baltimore scored four in the fourth and four in the fifth to break away from a 5-5 tie and take a 13-5 lead on the Tigers. |
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| The Tigers have one of the worst AL records in their division, 21-30. In an attempt to improve that next season, Leyland plans in spring training that the coaches and catcher Brandon Inge will go over how to pitch to hitters in the Central Division. |
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| Jim Leyland took umbrage to the inquisition, blasting a TV reporter after another disastrous day Sunday for asking whether the manager would return next season. He thought it was a stupid question, but Leyland has himself to blame for that line of questioning. |
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| ARLINGTON, Texas -- Armando Galarraga was a minor leaguer when Texas traded him to the Tigers shortly before spring training. Now the right-hander is one of the majors' top rookie pitchers: He has 11 wins and is 12-for-21 in quality starts. |
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| ARLINGTON, Texas -- Almost as fast as Gary Sheffield can swing the bat, Kenny Rogers went from what looked like a frustration-filled loss Monday night to one of his more unlikely wins, 8-7, in a park where he has more wins than anyone. |
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| If I had to pick one person to blame, I'd have to look at Dave Dombrowski. He's the architect of this mess, so he gets the blame. Dombrowski seemed to reinvent himself in the off-season. Long a proponent of pitching and defense, he seemed to fall in love with offense in November and December. |
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| The Tigers came back and tied the Orioles after falling behind 5-1 early, but after that, Baltimore's bats came alive and then some, pegging the Tiger pitchers for a total of 16 runs and 22 hits, 12 of which were for extra bases. See all the action in our photo gallery. |
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| On Sunday morning, as he returned to the disabled list after spending two days on the active roster, Todd Jones was asked whether he expected to be healthy enough to pitch in September. "I don't know," he said. "I really don't. Your mind tells you things your body might not do." |
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| Everybody is talking and writing about maple bats. Forget maple. What about red bats? I was under the impression that colored bats were illegal. But Tigers shortstop Edgar Renteria and others have been using them this season. So, I checked with the official rule book. |
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| Sunday's game was about 3 hours old when Baltimore leftfielder Luke Scott struck out in the eighth inning. The swing-and-miss was noteworthy for a couple reasons: Scott's three previous plate appearances had resulted in two home runs and a double, and this at-bat stopped a procession of 31 Orioles who had either walked or put the ball in play. |
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| Through Sunday Quality starts: 57-124 (Miner 4-6, Galarraga 13-22, Rogers 13-25, Verlander 12-26, Bonderman 5-12, Robertson 8-25, Bonine 2-5; Willis 0-4). |
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| Tigers second baseman Placido Polanco is no longer choking up about 1-1 1/2 inches on the bat. He now grips the bat on the end. Polanco said he made the change in Tampa Bay a few weeks ago because he wasn't following through in his swing as well as he liked. |
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| Cecil Cooper's spring-training rave about Miguel Cabrera doesn't seem outlandish now. Cooper, the former star hitter turned Houston Astros manager, said in March that Cabrera could win the Triple Crown this season. Cabrera wasn't near the American League lead in any of the Triple Crown categories (home runs, RBIs, average) earlier this season. |
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| Although Justin Verlander has suffered from poor run support, unearned runs hadn't been much of an issue before Saturday. |
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| His tenure as a Tigers employee included one summer in Oneonta, N.Y., and one spring in Lakeland, Fla. His aggregate contribution: a 2-2 record, 1.66 ERA and 19 appearances in the New York-Penn League. |
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| Some of the Tigers' wildest and craziest happenings the past few decades have come in Texas. There could be more when the Tigers visit the Rangers for a three-game series starting Monday night. |
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| Through Friday Quality starts: 56-122 (Miner 4-5, Galarraga 13-22, Rogers 13-25, Verlander 11-25, Bonderman 5-12, Robertson 8-25, Bonine 2-5; Willis 0-4). |
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| Jim Leyland has moved Magglio Ordoñez to third in the lineup and Miguel Cabrera to fourth. Entering Friday, Cabrera led the Tigers with 92 RBIs and Ordoñez was second with 71. The powerful 25-year-old hit in the cleanup spot as a rookie for the Florida Marlins. |
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| Catcher Dane Sardinha was called up from Triple-A Toledo on July 31 to fill the roster spot of the traded Pudge Rodriguez. He caught for the Tigers earlier this season when Brandon Inge went on the 15-day disabled list. Recently he chatted with Free Press special writer Jon Machota. |
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| 22Walks given up by Tigers reliever Joel Zumaya in 23 1/3 innings. 21Blown saves in 44 opportunities through Aug. 12 for the Tigers. |
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| VS. BALTIMORE Today 1:05 FSN RH Zach Miner (6-4, 3.41 ERA) vs. LH Garrett Olson (8-6, 6.06) at texas Monday 8:05 FSN LH Kenny Rogers (8-10, 4.95) vs. RH Scott Feldman (4-5, 5.18) Tuesday 8:05 FSN |
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| Richard Justice of SportingNews.com: "Did the Tigers think the rest of baseball was going to roll over for them? No matter how much manager Jim Leyland barked and threatened and changed his lineup, the Tigers simply never played with much passion." |
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| Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Guillen hit home runs in the fourth inning, and Justin Verlander got his first victory in almost a month to lift the Tigers to a 5-3 win over Baltimore on Saturday night. |
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| Armando Galarraga leads the Tigers -- and all rookies in the American League -- with 11 victories. Galarraga has a 3.11 ERA, which is a half-run better than Justin Verlander's mark when he was named AL rookie of the year in 2006. |
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| Magglio Ordoñez spiked his helmet after grounding out in the seventh inning. Placido Polanco, the mild-mannered second baseman, was ejected in the ninth for arguing a call. A discontented crowd of 40,546 on Friday night booed Todd Jones after he allowed five runs in his return from the disabled list. |
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| RICHMOND, Va. -- There was this sequence for Dontrelle Willis on Friday night: emphatically shaking off Toledo Mud Hens catcher Dusty Ryan, throwing a sinker and getting a groundout to cap a seven-pitch, seven-strike inning. |
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| Reliever Freddy Dolsi was sent to Triple-A Toledo to clear a spot for Todd Jones' expected return from the disabled list today. Tigers manager Jim Leyland did not say when or if Jones will return to his previous role as the primary closer. (Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth in a non-save situation Thursday.) |
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| During his news conference after Thursday's 5-1 victory over Toronto at Comerica Park, Tigers manager Jim Leyland made an announcement. For the rest of this season -- and into 2009 -- Leyland plans to bat Magglio Ordoñez third and Miguel Cabrera fourth. Ordoñez and Cabrera have been the Nos. 4-5 hitters, respectively, much of the season. |
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| The Tigers' clubhouse was quiet Thursday morning, as it usually is when an afternoon start follows a night game. Sleep must not have come easily Wednesday after a third straight loss on a home stand targeted to bring sorely needed victories. |
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| The Tigers managed to prevent the Blue Jays from making it a clean sweep for the week with a comeback with Thursday afternoon. Revisit the game in our Free Press photo gallery. |
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| What went wrong for the Tigers this season? Do they still have a chance at the playoffs? Let us know what you think by sending an e-mail to sportsletters@ |
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| Tampa Bay closer Troy Percival left Thursday's game against Oakland in the ninth inning after spraining his right knee while trying to field a sacrifice bunt. |
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| As expected, Tigers designated hitter Gary Sheffield cleared trade waivers this afternoon. Now that the team has secured waivers on Sheffield, it can trade him at any point between now and the end of the regular season. |
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| Free Press special writer Anthony Fenech is blogging on today's Tigers game from the best seat in the house ... his couch. |
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| BEIJING -- News travels fast here, unless it involves Darfur, or the government, or the implication that a gymnast who is three-feet tall is probably a bit young for the Olympics. So Gary Sheffield's latest inane, controversial comments quickly found their way to my laptop. |
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| Gary Sheffield needs two homers for what he calls "the only thing I care about that I've ever done." Two more homers would give him 494 -- one more than Lou Gehrig and Fred McGriff. Like Sheffield, McGriff is from Tampa. And that's why this is the one milestone -- among all his achievements -- he cares about. |
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| When he threw his final pitch Tuesday night, Joel Zumaya feared the worst. "It felt like my arm exploded, and I thought my career was completely over," he said. A postgame medical exam disclosed that what Zumaya felt was the breaking loose of scar tissue from his shoulder operation last fall. |
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| Through Wednesday Quality starts: 54-120 (Miner 4-5, Galarraga 11-20, Rogers 13-25, Verlander 11-25, Bonderman 5-12, Robertson 8-24, Bonine 2-5; Willis 0-4). |
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| After 3 1/2 hours that consisted of a rain delay and no Tigers runs, no more than 10,000 fans appeared to remain at Comerica Park for the ninth inning Wednesday night. At least those diehards got some excitement for their yelling and endurance. |
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| 6 RBIs in the first inning Tuesday by Red Sox's David Ortiz, who hit two three-run homers. Boston scored 10 in the inning and won, 19-17, over the Rangers. 36 Total runs scored in the Rangers- Red Sox game, tying an AL record. 1 |
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| Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez said minor-league outfielder Cameron Maybin of Asheville is likely to be promoted to the major leagues when the rosters expand on Sept. 1, according to the Miami Herald. |
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| Carlos Guillen said Wednesday that an MRI showed he has a pinched nerve in his back. He said he was told to rest two or three days. |
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| Hours after Gary Sheffield was placed on trade waivers Tuesday, his attorney, Rufus Williams, told the Free Press that his client had not asked the Tigers to be traded. Yet, Williams also left open the possibility that Sheffield, who has a limited no-trade clause, would agree to a deal. |
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| Gary Sheffield stole the show. Then the Blue Jays stole it back from the Tigers' bullpen. Overcoming two Sheffield solo homers, Toronto wiped out a three-run Tigers lead with a four-run seventh. The Blue Jays won, 6-4, Tuesday night and beat right-hander Joel Zumaya in what evidently will be his last appearance for a while. |
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