GDT: 6/26/08 - DET (37-40) VS STL (45-34) - 1:05 p.m. ET

DETROIT -- Dane Sardinha will likely get his first start as a member of the Tigers in Thursday's series finale against the Cardinals. The Tigers will go for their fifth straight series win.

With Brandon Inge on the disabled list with a strained left oblique muscle, Sardinha, called up on Wednesday from Triple-A Toledo, will serve as the backup catcher for at least the next two weeks.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland said he will not continue the every-other-day platoon at catcher he employed with Inge and Ivan Rodriguez. But Leyland also wants to avoid overworking Rodriguez, which means Sardinha may get his share of work.

"I'm going to try to find places to get him in there," Leyland said of Sardinha.

Sardinha has Major League experience, having made stints in 2003 and 2005 with the Reds. He has gone 0-for-5 at the plate.

Sardinha's bat has been a glaring weakness in seven Minor League seasons. He comes to Detroit with a .221 career average in the Minors and has never hit higher than .256. This season, he owns a .206 average and .246 on-base percentage. His power, as Leyland pointed out, is an asset as he belted six home runs in the Minors.

In fact, last year he became just the second player in Toledo's stay at Fifth Third Field to homer three times in a game. But he hasn't sustained consistent contact. He has struck out in almost 30 percent of his at-bats.

"I can't lay off certain pitches," he said during Spring Training. "I don't know if I don't see it as well as other guys do, or what the deal is. I just swing at a lot more bad pitches than other people."

His defensive prowess, on the other hand, cannot be questioned.

"We're fortunate to have a guy like him that can catch and throw well," Leyland said Wednesday. "That's what we got."

His receiving and throwing skills almost earned him an Opening Day roster spot, but the club decided on Inge as the backup catcher.

On Thursday, he will catch for left-handed starter Nate Robertson, whom he worked with in Spring Training. His experience at Detroit's spring camp taught him how to handle unfamiliar pitchers.

"We throw ideas out there, and it's up to them to make their pitch," he said during Spring Training. "Sometimes you have to acknowledge that they're going to shake you. You want them to throw what's comfortable. You don't want to force them to throw something they're not really comfortable with."


Interleague record: 109-98 overall, 9-5 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: Won 7-5
• June 22 at Padres: Won, 5-3
• June 24 vs. Cardinals: Lost 4-8
• June 24 vs. Cardinals: WON 8-7
• June 24 vs. Cardinals:
• June 27 vs. Rockies
• June 28 vs. Rockies
• June 29 vs. Rockies

Pitching matchup

DET: LHP Nate Robertson (6-6, 5.60 ERA)
The Tigers maneuvered their rotation for their homestand so that Robertson could start on his normal rest. The way he's been winning, it's hard to blame them. Robertson has won his last three starts, tying a career-best winning streak he set in 2004, his first full Major League season. The latest came Saturday at San Diego, where he gave up five runs on seven hits over six innings but somehow avoided further damage to let his offense pick him up for the victory. He's 6-3 for his career in Interleague Play, including one victory over the Cardinals last year at Comerica Park.

STL: RHP Todd Wellemeyer (7-2, 3.67 ERA)
This one is written in pencil, rather than ink, but it appears that Wellemeyer will get the start in the series finale in Detroit. He had been absolutely exceptional until coming down with some elbow soreness, and the injury resulted in an extremely rocky last start. A fairly intensive bullpen session told Wellemeyer that he's coming along well, though, and he expects to get the ball. If he's not ready, the assignment would probably fall to rookie Mitchell Boggs.



Tidbits

Injured backup catcher Vance Wilson had reconstructive revision surgery on a torn ligament in his right elbow Tuesday at the Detroit Medical Center. It marked the second time in just over a year he endured the procedure. He missed all of last season after reconstructive surgery last June, and reinjured the ligament making a throw to second in an extended Spring Training game in May. He will now restart the rehab process. Leyland added, "It's terrible, breaks your heart. It's obviously very frustrating for all of us, but most importantly to him." ... Curtis Granderson's second-inning single on Wednesday extended his hitting streak to 13 games, which ties a career high. ... Gary Sheffield became the 39th player in Major League history to accumulate 4,500 total bases with his second-inning double on Wednesday. He trails Mickey Mantle for 38th place by 11. ... Carlos Guillen matched a career high with four hits.

On the Internet

MLB.TV
Gameday Audio
• Gameday
• Official game notes

On television
• FSN-HD

On radio
• 97.1FM/1270AM

Up next

• Fri., June 27: Tigers (RHP Eddie Bonine (1-0, 5.84 ERA)) vs Rockies (RHP Ubaldo Jimenez (2-7, 4.52 ERA)) 7:05 p.m. ET

• Sat., June 28: Tigers (RHP Justin Verlander (4-9, 4.49 ERA)) vs Rockies (LHP Jeff Francis (3-7, 5.65 ERA)) 7:05 p.m. ET

• Sun., June 29: Tigers (?LHP Kenny Rogers (5-5, 4.60 ERA)) vs Rockies ( RHP Greg Reynolds (2-5, 5.68 ERA)) 1:05 p.m. ET

STARTING LINEUPS

St. Louis
Barton, LF
Miles, 3B
Pujols, DH
Glaus, 1B
Ludwick, RF
Ankiel, CF
LaRue, C
Kennedy, 2B
Ryan, SS


Detroit
Granderson, CF
Polanco, 2B
Guillen, 3B
Ordonez, RF
Cabrera, 1B
Thomas, LF
Sheffield, DH
Hollimon, M, SS
Sardinha, C

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90 degrees on Thursday

Severe Storms possible in the late afternoon


GO TIGERS

Live Blog is up and running!

Tigers win their 5th series in a row!

June 26, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10		R	H	E
St. Louis	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0		2	14	0
Detroit	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	1		3	11	1

St. Louis AB- R- H- RBI- BB- SO- LOB- AVG Barton, LF 4 0 1 0 0 0 4 .256 - a-Schumaker, PH-LF 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .305 Miles, 3B 5 0 3 0 0 0 1 .318 Pujols, DH 4 0 4 1 1 0 0 .358 - 1-Stavinoha, PR-DH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .267 Glaus, 1B 5 0 1 0 0 2 7 .257 Ludwick, RF 5 0 0 0 0 2 7 .286 Ankiel, CF 5 0 1 0 0 1 0 .255 LaRue, C 4 0 1 0 1 0 1 .229 Kennedy, 2B 5 0 1 0 0 2 2 .267 Ryan, SS 3 1 1 0 1 1 1 .295 Totals 41 2 14 1 3 8 23 a-Singled for Barton in the 9th. 1-Ran for Pujols in the 9th. BATTING 2B: LaRue (3, Robertson), Miles (7, Robertson). TB: Barton; Schumaker; Miles 4; Pujols 4; Glaus; Ankiel; LaRue 2; Kennedy; Ryan. RBI: Pujols (43). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Ludwick 3; Ryan. GIDP: Miles; Barton; Glaus. Team LOB: 12. FIELDING Outfield assists: Ludwick (Hollimon, M at 3rd base). DP: (Miles-Kennedy-Glaus).		Detroit AB- R- H- RBI- BB- SO- LOB- AVG Granderson, CF 5 2 4 0 0 0 0 .282 Polanco, 2B 3 0 1 0 0 1 2 .316 - Raburn, 2B 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .205 Guillen, 3B 3 0 0 0 2 1 2 .302 Ordonez, RF 5 0 2 0 0 0 4 .306 Cabrera, 1B 4 0 0 0 1 2 5 .273 Thomas, LF 3 0 1 2 2 1 0 .297 Sheffield, DH 4 1 1 1 0 1 4 .235 Hollimon, M, SS 4 0 2 0 0 1 0 .167 Sardinha, C 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 Totals 36 3 11 3 5 9 18 BATTING 2B: Granderson (10, Wellemeyer), Polanco (17, Wellemeyer), Hollimon, M (1, Franklin). HR: Sheffield (5, 9th inning off Franklin, 0 on, 1 out). TB: Granderson 5; Polanco 2; Ordonez 2; Thomas; Sheffield 4; Hollimon, M 3. RBI: Thomas 2 (7), Sheffield (16). 2-out RBI: Thomas 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Ordonez; Sheffield 2. S: Raburn. GIDP: Sheffield. Team LOB: 10. BASERUNNING CS: Granderson (4, 2nd base by Isringhausen/LaRue). FIELDING E: Raburn (6, throw). DP: 3 (Hollimon, M-Polanco-Cabrera, Hollimon, M-Raburn-Cabrera, Polanco-Cabrera).
St. Louis IP-- H- R- ER- BB- SO- HR- ERA Wellemeyer 5.0 4 0 0 0 3 0 3.46 Villone 0.2 2 1 1 2 2 0 5.83 Isringhausen 2.1 2 0 0 0 2 0 5.74 Franklin (BS, 4) 1.0 2 1 1 0 2 1 2.95 Parisi (L, 0-4) 0.2 1 1 1 3 0 0 8.22		Detroit IP-- H- R- ER- BB- SO- HR- ERA Robertson 6.1 11 1 0 2 5 0 5.23 Rodney 1.2 0 0 0 0 1 0 15.00 Jones, T 1.0 3 1 1 0 1 0 3.86 Seay (W, 1-1) 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3.42
WP: Wellemeyer. IBB: Guillen (by Parisi), Cabrera (by Parisi), Pujols (by Robertson). Pitches-strikes: Wellemeyer 76-50, Villone 26-14, Isringhausen 27-19, Franklin 20-14, Parisi 22-8, Robertson 92-57, Rodney 15-11, Jones, T 21-13, Seay 13-6. Ground outs-fly outs: Wellemeyer 7-5, Villone 0-0, Isringhausen 1-3, Franklin 0-0, Parisi 1-1, Robertson 11-3, Rodney 1-3, Jones, T 2-0, Seay 1-1. Batters faced: Wellemeyer 18, Villone 6, Isringhausen 8, Franklin 4, Parisi 6, Robertson 30, Rodney 5, Jones, T 5, Seay 4. Inherited runners-scored: Isringhausen 3-0, Rodney 2-0. EjectionsDetroit Tigers second baseman Placido Polanco ejected by HP umpire Paul Schrieber. (6th). Umpires: HP: Paul Schrieber. 1B: Kerwin Danley. 2B: Laz Diaz. 3B: Wally Bell. Weather: 82 degrees, sunny. Wind: 8 mph, Out to LF. T: 3:31. Att: 41,022.

I just got home! That last inning was awesome!!!

I am sooo sunburned....
But hey, I got Rodney's autograph today.

Glad you had fun Holly

That's a TOTALLY awesome avatar!!!

Lol thanks Holl!

Although I do like the live blogging, I miss the 13 page GDT's lol

And now we are only two games away from .500!!!

Omg, so I was just looking at my arms... they are BRIGHT red. And my face is sooo messed up. My face is all red except where my hair was, which is still completely white and untanned or anything.

ouch!

Tigers win! Way to go Miner even though he didn't pitch!

catbox_9 wrote:

Tigers win! Way to go Miner even though he didn't pitch!

I'm watching the replay

OH! I forgot to mention something that happened.... (sorry I know I am talking a lot)

So it was the top of the 9th, 2 - 1, and my dad was like I think we are going to lose. I told him "I'm checking my crystal ball and it's telling me that we are gonna have a homerun in the bottom of the 9th"

So the bottom of the 9th comes around... Sheff is at bat. He fouls a ball off to right by my seats... almost a homerun. Then he hits the homerun. OMG, I was sooo happy (and sooo right)

I sat in the last row of Section 215;


No Sunburn for me!

gs78 wrote:

I sat in the last row of Section 215;


No Sunburn for me!

Lucky

I just took off my hair rubberbands that were around my wrist... I now have a ring there too. So I have a half burnt face, and partially burnt arms (I was wearing my jersey so they aren't completely)