GDT: 6/21/08 - DET (34-39) VS SD (32-43) - 10:05 p.m. ET

SAN DIEGO -- Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney are back with the Tigers. Freddy Dolsi is still here.

That fact alone might rank among the biggest surprises of the Tigers' recent comeback. But then, the way Dolsi has pitched since jumping from Double-A to the Majors last month, he made a strong case for his spot.

A few weeks ago, manager Jim Leyland felt that Dolsi probably wasn't ready for the big leagues, and that hasn't changed. But with opponents batting just .237 with a .641 OPS against him, and with almost three times as many ground balls than fly balls, he isn't looking overmatched.

The return of Zumaya and Rodney likely means the end of Dolsi's late-inning setup work. On the flip side, however, it likely means the start of an apprenticeship of sorts for Dolsi, starting with this weekend's series against the Padres at PETCO Park.

"I can do something I always like to do with pitchers," Leyland said. "I can use him earlier, stretch him out a little bit, let him get a few innings in the big leagues. I can keep getting his feet wet."

That said, Leyland didn't rule out finding some late-game opportunities for him if he needed him.

Leyland said that before Friday's game, in which Rodney missed the strike zone on all eight of his pitches. Leyland said after the game that he would continue to find his spots for Rodney. Whether that changes Dolsi's role remains to be seen.

Though Dolsi has walked 10 batters over 19 2/3 innings, he has thrown 55 percent of his pitches for strikes. His first-pitch percentage is under 50 percent and he has had 2-0 counts to eight out of 86 batters, but he has managed to even his counts from there more times than not.

Dolsi and the rest of the Tigers bullpen will be hoping for an opportunity to help even the three-game series. Detroit went into the eighth inning with a 2-2 game thanks to seven strong innings from starter Eddie Bonine before a four-run Padres rally that saw four Tigers relievers pitch in the eighth.

That said, most, if not all, of the relievers who pitched Friday will likely be available Saturday. That includes Rodney and Zumaya, who showed themselves capable of pitching back-to-back days during their Minor League rehab assignments.

"They're up here. They've got to pitch," Leyland said. "I'm certainly going to watch them close. Am I going to pitch them back-to-back [if needed]? Absolutely."

Interleague record: 106-97 overall, 6-4 in 2008

2008 Interleague schedule
• May 16 at Diamondbacks: Lost, 4-3
• May 17 at Diamondbacks: Won, 3-2
• May 18 at Diamondbacks: Lost, 4-0
• June 13 vs. Dodgers: Won, 5-0
• June 14 vs. Dodgers: Won, 12-7 SWEPT SERIES
• June 15 vs. Dodgers: Won, 5-4
• June 16 at Giants: Lost, 8-6
• June 17 at Giants: Won, 5-1
• June 18 at Giants: Won, 7-2
• June 20 at Padres: Lost 2-6
• June 20 at Padres:
• June 22 at Padres:
• June 24-26 vs. Cardinals
• June 27-29 vs. Rockies


Pitching matchup

DET: LHP Nate Robertson (5-6, 5.46 ERA)
Robertson had some of his best control this season in his last start. He needed only 66 pitches to get through six innings, with 45 of them going for strikes. He did not reach double-digit balls until the fourth. Robertson allowed no runs in an outing for the first time this season. He also recorded his second straight quality start and fourth of the year. Despite starting his career in the National League, the left-hander has never faced San Diego.


SD: RHP Cha Seung Baek (1-2, 4.84 ERA)
It's hard to figure out Baek, who is still getting his feet wet in the National League after joining the Padres from Seattle last month. Baek allowed three runs in the first inning of his last start at Cleveland on June 14 on two hits and two walks. What happened after that? Baek retired 20 of the final 21 hitters he faced, including the last 16 consecutive hitters in earning a no-decision. Baek threw 110 pitches, so it's safe to say he's stretched out now after he pitched in relief with Seattle.



Tidbits

Marcus Thames' second-inning double on Friday night marked his first hit that wasn't a home run since June 7. He had eight hits since then, all them homers, marking the longest such streak since Mark McGwire had 11 hits in a row that were home runs back in 2001. ... Curtis Granderson is 13-for-36 over the course of a nine-game hitting streak, including a 3-for-4 performance Friday night. ... Adrian Gonzalez has 64 of San Diego's 269 RBIs, or nearly one-fourth of the team total. ... Brandon Inge remains day-to-day with a pulled left oblique muscle. He could be back behind the plate after feeling improvement while swinging in the batting cage Friday.

On the Internet

MLB.TV
Gameday Audio
• Gameday
• Official game notes

On television
• FSN-HD

On radio
• 97.1FM/1270AM

Up next

• Sun., June 22: Tigers (RHP Justin Verlander (3-9, 4.55ERA)) at Padres (LHP Randy Wolf (5-5, 4.16 ERA)), 4:05 p.m. ET

• Mon., June 23: Off-day

• Tues., June 24: Tigers (LHP Kenny Rogers (5-4, 4.36 ERA)) vs Cardinals (RHP Braden Looper (8-5, 4.10 ERA)), 7:05 p.m. ET

• Wed., June 25: Tigers (RHP Armando Galarraga, (7-2, 3.03ERA)) vs Cardinals (TBA), 7:05 p.m. ET

STARTING LINEUPS

DET

SD

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72 degrees at game time; Light Winds!

GO TIGERS

FIRST DAY OF SUMMER, LADS!!
LET'S START THE TURNAROUND!!!!

I thought we already started the turnaround



Except Leyland keeps putting Rodney in there to screw it up!


We could have had an 11 game winning streak right now!

Leyland Sucks

Stat of the day: Magglio Ordonez' batting average in the month of June this year... .209.

bobrob2004 wrote:

Stat of the day: Magglio Ordonez' batting average in the month of June this year... .209.

I knew it was bad....funny, I think he knows it too....

Go Nate! Show us a gem tonight!

And please don't use Rodney!

GET READY TA RUMMMMMMMMMMMMBLE!!!!

while I'm trying to stay awake....

laprimamirala wrote:

while I'm trying to stay awake....

That was really fun tonight! More activity!

WE WIN!!! YAY!!!! does that make third place???

bobrob2004 wrote:

That was really fun tonight! More activity!

That WAS fun! I loved it!

June 21, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Detroit	1	0	3	0	0	0	3	0	0		7	10	0
San Diego	0	3	0	0	2	0	0	0	0		5	9	1

Detroit AB- R- H- RBI- BB- SO- LOB- AVG Granderson, CF 3 2 2 0 0 1 0 .265 - b-Thames, PH-LF 2 1 1 2 0 0 0 .254 - Jones, T, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Polanco, 2B 3 0 0 1 0 0 1 .312 Guillen, 3B 3 1 2 1 0 0 0 .302 Ordonez, RF 3 1 2 2 1 0 1 .301 Cabrera, 1B 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 .278 Renteria, SS 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 .266 Thomas, LF-CF 4 1 1 0 0 2 1 .290 Inge, C 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 .217 Robertson, P 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 .000 - a-Larish, PH 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 .200 - Miner, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 - Seay, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 - Dolsi, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 - c-Raburn, PH-LF 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .224 Totals 33 7 10 7 1 9 8 a-Singled for Robertson in the 7th. b-Homered for Granderson in the 7th. c-Flied out for Dolsi in the 9th. BATTING 2B: Granderson (9, Baek), Thomas (5, Baek). HR: Ordonez (11, 3rd inning off Baek, 1 on, 2 out), Thames (14, 7th inning off Hampson, 1 on, 1 out). TB: Granderson 3; Thames 4; Guillen 2; Ordonez 5; Cabrera; Thomas 2; Larish. RBI: Guillen (36), Polanco (27), Ordonez 2 (45), Larish (7), Thames 2 (31). 2-out RBI: Ordonez 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Thomas. S: Inge. SF: Guillen; Polanco. GIDP: Renteria. Team LOB: 3. FIELDING Outfield assists: Ordonez (Greene at home). DP: (Guillen-Polanco-Cabrera).		San Diego AB- R- H- RBI- BB- SO- LOB- AVG Hairston, LF 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 .227 Gerut, CF 5 1 3 0 0 1 1 .278 Gonzalez, Ed, 2B 4 0 1 2 0 0 3 .323 Gonzalez, A, 1B 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .290 Headley, 3B 4 1 1 0 0 2 0 .350 Greene, SS 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 .230 Barrett, C 3 1 2 2 1 0 0 .183 McAnulty, RF 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .220 Baek, P 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 - Hampson, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 - Corey, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 - a-Stansberry, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 - Adams, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 - b-Clark, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .237 Totals 34 5 9 5 3 7 8 a-Flied out for Corey in the 7th. b-Grounded out for Adams in the 9th. BATTING 2B: Gonzalez, Ed (9, Robertson), Gerut (5, Miner). 3B: Greene (2, Robertson). HR: Barrett (2, 2nd inning off Robertson, 1 on, 0 out). TB: Hairston; Gerut 4; Gonzalez, Ed 2; Headley; Greene 3; Barrett 5. RBI: Greene (29), Barrett 2 (8), Gonzalez, Ed 2 (9). 2-out RBI: Gonzalez, Ed 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gonzalez, A 2; Gonzalez, Ed. GIDP: Gonzalez, Ed. Team LOB: 6. BASERUNNING SB: Greene (5, 2nd base off Dolsi/Inge). FIELDING E: Headley (2, throw). PB: Barrett (2). DP: (Greene-Gonzalez, Ed-Gonzalez, A).
Detroit IP-- H- R- ER- BB- SO- HR- ERA Robertson (W, 6-6) 6.0 7 5 5 2 5 1 5.60 Miner (H, 5) 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4.70 Seay (H, 3) 0.2 0 0 0 1 2 0 3.74 Dolsi (H, 5) 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.70 Jones, T (S, 13) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.95		San Diego IP-- H- R- ER- BB- SO- HR- ERA Baek (L, 1-3) 6.1 8 6 6 0 7 1 5.27 Hampson 0.0 1 1 1 0 0 1 9.45 Corey 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.91 Adams 2.0 1 0 0 1 2 0 2.37
Hampson pitched to 1 batter in the 7th. HBP: Hairston (by Jones, T). Pitches-strikes: Robertson 97-61, Miner 20-11, Seay 15-8, Dolsi 5-2, Jones, T 10-5, Baek 94-68, Hampson 2-2, Corey 5-5, Adams 27-17. Ground outs-fly outs: Robertson 9-4, Miner 0-3, Seay 0-0, Dolsi 0-0, Jones, T 1-2, Baek 4-8, Hampson 0-0, Corey 2-0, Adams 3-1. Batters faced: Robertson 26, Miner 4, Seay 3, Dolsi 1, Jones, T 4, Baek 27, Hampson 1, Corey 2, Adams 7. Inherited runners-scored: Dolsi 1-0, Hampson 1-1. Umpires: HP: Tim Tschida. 1B: Jim Joyce. 2B: Jeff Nelson. 3B: Adrian Johnson. Weather: 77 degrees, clear. Wind: 9 mph, L to R. T: 2:52. Att: 34,749.

TigersGirl wrote:

WE WIN!!! YAY!!!! does that make third place???

You betcha! By 1/2 game on the Indians

Ohios#1TigerFan wrote:

TigersGirl wrote:

WE WIN!!! YAY!!!! does that make third place???

You betcha! By 1/2 game on the Indians

I need to hug someone, I am really happy now

Back at ya! lol

I probably should try to sleep at some point.... oh well

I know what ya mean....but I'm too pumped after the Win to sleep! If I went to bed, I'd just toss and turn. lol

Yah... my brother is still up... I think we are both regretting those energy drinks. haha. And I don't sleep well anyway... and when I do i have VERY strange dreams....

As long as freddy Krueger isn't involved in your dreams....you'll be ok...

Nope. But I did have a dream about some masked guy chasing me and trying to kill me, so i jumped into a lake trying to kill myself, but instead the guy became nice.... it was strange.

oh, and at the beginning there was no color in the world, and when i jumped in the color came back. And when it started everyone was 3 inches tall, then when i hit the water me and the masked guy went back to normal size

That IS strange. The strangest one I've had lately had me riding a Dirt Bike and saving the world from terrorists.

reread top post, i added more of the dream.

and wow... At least your a hero!!

LOL! That IS weird!

And I dunno so much about being a hero....but I remember being shot at and shooting back while on a dirt bike....and I got 'em all! I think it was the Taco Bell I ate before going to bed that did it. lol

wow... Anyway, I think I have stuff to do tomorrow. So I'm going to attempt to sleep.

Goodnight!!