I'm certainly not happy that the Tigers lost 11-1 last night to the Indians, but for some reason I'm not as upset as I thought I'd be. I never expected Detroit to rip off 20 straight wins and dig themselves out of this early-season hole by mid May. The Tigers have never been successful against Fausto Carmona. He owned us last year and it appears that trend will continue this year. Tigers had him on the ropes for a fleeting moment during the middle innings. Carmona hit the first two batters of, I believe, the 6th inning. A base hit followed, loading the bases with nobody out at the time. The Tribe was only leading 5-0 so this situation had 'big-inning' written all over it, especially with Miguel Cabrera stepping up to the plate. Cabrera hit a sac fly to center, scoring the Tigers only run of the night. But, the potential for a big inning was still there. Gary Sheffield was then waived around 3rd on a base hit, but chose not to slide into home plate. Had he slid, he would've definitely been safe, cutting the Indians lead to 5-2. The decision by Sheffield to slide or not to slide might have changed the dynamic of that entire inning. Of course, Cleveland ended up scoring 5 runs in their half of the 6th inning, so Sheffield's play at the plate probably would've been moot, but still... he had to score that run.
The worst thing to ccome out of this game were the outings of both Justin Verlander and Zach Miner. Verlander is now 0-3 on the season with an ERA over seven. He's hit an American League leading six batters and walked 12 in his four outings this season. There is definitely something wrong with him to the point where Jim Leyland may want to consider skipping his next start in the rotation. The Tigers need him healthy and right if they are to turn this thing around. He's the ace of the staff and he's been brutal so far. Speaking of brutal, Zach Miner is getting closer to being optioned back to Toledo. Miner pitched one inning in relief last night, allowed 5 earned runs on 5 hits, bulging his ERA to a robust 15.75!! Once Dontrelle Willis comes off the DL, I say Miner gets sent down and Armando Galarraga becomes the Tigers' new long-relief guy. Galarraga was spectacular in Wednesday's game in Cleveland, allowing 1 run on 1 hit over 6.2 innings of work and struck out 6.
In better news, Grand Rapids is about to become home to Granderson for one night, possibly two. Tigers center fielder, Curtis Granderson will be making a rehab appearance for the West Michigan Whitecaps tonight at Fifth Third Ballpark. The Whitecaps told me, just before I went on the air Thursday night, that Granderson will play in the outfield and he'll play the entire game! So unlike last summer, when Kenny Rogers made his rebab stint here, and only pitched 3 innings, Whitecaps fans will get to see Granderson all night long!! Here's how Granderson's weekend will shake out. He'll rehab with the Whitecaps Friday, then play at Toledo for the Mud Hens both Saturday and Sunday. According to some reports in Detroit (I don't have this confirmed, mind you), if Granderson doesn't have at least 25 at-bats through Sunday's game in Toledo, he could be sent back to the Whitecaps for next Monday's game here in Grand Rapids against Beloit! That means local Tigers fans COULD see the future super-star play for the Whitecaps twice in the next four days! Regardless, Granderson playing for the Whitecaps is huge news for this part of the state.
I have met and interviewed Curtis Granderson many times in my career, most recently two months ago when I was in Lakeland covering Tigers' Spring Training. When he sees me, he knows I need an interview with him and always hops up and accomodates. He may be one of the nicest human beings I've ever met in my life. The Tigers are lucky to have this kid and need him back desperately.
Granderson heads to Grand Rapids while the Tigers head to Toronto for the first of four with the Blue Jays. Let's hope they can get back on the right track north of the border. Maybe take three out of four from the Jays. They got to get back to .500 before we can start thinking big again.