GDT: 7/31/09 - DET (53-47) AT CLE (42-60) - 7:05 p.m. ET

ARLINGTON -- Tigers manager Jim Leyland says he's fine with his team, whether it makes a trade or not before Friday's non-waiver Trade Deadline at 4 p.m. ET. He just wants to see it relax and play well.

Wednesday's 13-5 runaway win at Texas was a start. Now the Tigers have to continue it Friday in Cleveland, where they have to avoid falling into a trap of underestimating a team that has started planning for next year.

The retooling Indians traded Saturday's previously scheduled starter, Cliff Lee, and could do the same with starting catcher Victor Martinez. Their general manager, Mark Shapiro, talked about building for 2010 and beyond.

Leyland is trying to get his team to take one game at a time, one at-bat at a time. Wednesday had some big at-bats to go with it.

"These guys grind it," Leyland said. "You have to have great appreciation for what they do. Obviously we have to get our offense relaxed a little bit more."

The key to hitting with runners in scoring position, Leyland said Wednesday afternoon, is a combination of relaxation and concentration. They have to fight off the nerves, but not ease up so much as to not be ready at the plate.

Wednesday wasn't an altogether great game from that standpoint. Until Miguel Cabrera hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning, the Tigers had stranded more runners on base than they had driven in.

Still, early runs helped them relax Wednesday. Even when they didn't get hits, they had solid at-bats, evidenced in part by an eight-pitch battle from Ryan Raburn in the opening inning against Scott Feldman with the bases loaded and another eight-pitch at-bat from Raburn in the third inning that ended with an RBI single.

The Tigers have shown they can beat up pitching on rough nights. Now they have to pick it up and take it into Cleveland, where the pitching that's left is often young and inconsistent.

"We're going to run into guys where we're not able to do that," said Granderson, who homered twice Wednesday. "It's one of those things where hopefully we can get consecutive hits, and we haven't been able to get that done. Or, when we get runners on base we can drive them in, and we haven't been able to get that done. In that aspect, I think [Wednesday] looked good, even though we had 13 runners left on base. It's another situation where we're still not there yet.

"Hopefully it's a good sign of what can be there and what's supposed to be there, but still not exactly where everybody wants it to be."

Raburn could get another start at third base Friday while Leyland tries to figure out what to do with Brandon Inge and his aching knees. Ramon Santiago will likely be back in the lineup to spell Placido Polanco, whom Leyland believes is worn out from playing too many games lately.

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Pitching matchup

DET: RHP Edwin Jackson (7-5, 2.59 ERA)
Jackson has lasted seven innings in five of his past six outings and owns quality starts in his last seven, including seven innings of three-run ball against the White Sox last Saturday at Comerica Park. He earned a no-decision for his trouble, but considering it took a ninth-inning comeback to get him off the hook for what would've been a hard-luck loss, it could've been worse.

CLE: RHP Fausto Carmona (2-6, 7.42 ERA)
The Fausto Carmona Project is over, and the Indians have deemed him ready to return to the big leagues in the wake of the Cliff Lee trade. Carmona was a major disappointment for an Indians team that counted on him to be their No. 2 starter coming out of Spring Training. He was demoted to Class A ball in early June and slowly climbed his way up the Minor League ladder, going 3-3 with a 2.72 ERA in seven starts between Class A Lake County, Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus. He walked seven and struck out 39 over 46 1/3 innings, which is a good sign that he maintained his delivery. The question will be if the big league stage causes his emotions to get amped up and his delivery to get back out of whack.

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Tidbits

... Miguel Cabrera is 5-for-8 lifetime off Sowers with a home run and three RBIs.
... Jeremy Bonderman and Nate Robertson are scheduled to throw a simulated game at Progressive Field Friday afternoon before the Tigers take batting practice. Both could go out on Minor League rehab assignments soon as they try to get back to the Tigers around late August or September.
... The Tigers hope to know Thursday whether Joel Zumaya has a chance to pitch again this season. He was scheduled to visit noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews to have his sore shoulder examined.
... Tigers Minor League players Carlos Alvarado and Frank Penalver were each suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. Both were part of the club's Venezuelan Summer League team.

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Up next (Probable Pitchers)

• Thursday: Off-day
• Friday: Tigers (Edwin Jackson, 7-5, 2.59 ERA) at Indians (Fausto Carmona, 2-6, 7.42 ERA), 7:05 p.m. ET
• Saturday: Tigers (Rick Porcello, 9-7, 4.62 ERA) at Indians (Jeremy Sowers, 3-7, 5.15 ERA), 7:05 p.m. ET
• Sunday: Tigers (Armando Galarraga, 5-9, 4.84 ERA) at Indians (Carl Pavano, 8-8, 5.66 ERA), 1:05 p.m. ET
• Monday: Tigers (Lucas French, (1-2, 3.38 ERA) vs. Orioles (Chris Tillman, (0-0, 5.79 ERA), 7:05 p.m. ET

STARTING LINEUPS:

Tigers
1. Curtis Granderson, CF
2. Placido Polanco, 2B
3. Carlos Guillen, DH
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Clete Thomas, RF
6. Marcus Thames, LF
7. Brandon Inge, 3B
8. Gerald Laird, C
9. Ramon Santiago, SS

Starting pitcher: Edwin Jackson

Indians
1. Sizemore, CF
2. Cabrera, A., SS
3. Choo, RF
4. Peralta, 3B
5. Hafner, DH
6. Gimenez, C
7. Marte, A., 1B
8. Valbuena, 2B
9. Crowe, LF

Starting pitcher: F. Carmona

Magic 8 Ball says Tigers will sweep the Indians

Current Conditions

Progressive Field

Sunny 79 F

Humidity: 53 %

Wind: from the WNW at 10 mph

Barometer: 29.93 in

last updated: 7/31/09 6:05 PM EDT

Victor Martinez to the Red Sox
I'm gonna miss him
Judging by his post trade farewell interview, he was crying and did not want to go

Inning 1
Top Half

B:2 S:1 O:0 -
Curtis Granderson singles on a ground ball to center fielder Grady Sizemore.

B:3 S:2 O:1 - Placido Polanco grounds out, shortstop
Asdrubal Cabrera to second baseman Luis Valbuena to first baseman Andy
Marte. Curtis Granderson to 2nd.

B:4 S:2 O:1 -
Carlos Guillen walks.

B:0 S:1 O:1 -
Miguel Cabrera singles on a line drive to left fielder Trevor Crowe. Curtis Granderson to 3rd. Carlos Guillen to 2nd.

B:1 S:1 O:1 - Clete Thomas singles on a ground ball to
left fielder Trevor Crowe. Curtis Granderson scores. Carlos Guillen
scores. Miguel Cabrera to 2nd.
DET 2, CLE 0

B:3 S:2 O:2 -
Marcus Thames flies out to right fielder Shin-Soo Choo.

B:0 S:0 O:3 -
Brandon Inge flies out to right fielder Shin-Soo Choo.

DET 2, CLE 0

Inge needs to hit the DL.

Bottom Half

B:1 S:2 O:0 -
Grady Sizemore singles on a ground ball to shortstop Ramon Santiago.

gdennis59 wrote:

Inge needs to hit the DL.

the sooner the better!

B:3 S:2 O:0 -
Asdrubal Cabrera homers (4) on a fly ball to right center field. Grady Sizemore scores.
DET 2, CLE 2

B:1 S:1 O:1 -
Shin-Soo Choo grounds out, shortstop Ramon Santiago to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

B:0 S:0 O:1 -
Jhonny Peralta singles on a line drive to right fielder Clete Thomas.

B:2 S:3 O:2 -
Travis Hafner swinging.

B:2 S:3 O:2 -
Coaching visit to mound.

B:2 S:2 O:3 -
Chris Gimenez flies out to center fielder Curtis Granderson.

DET 2, CLE 2 after 1 inning

Inning 2
Top Half

flies out

B:4 S:2 O:1 -
Ramon Santiago walks.

B:2 S:2 O:2 - Curtis Granderson grounds into a force
out, second baseman Luis Valbuena to shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera. Ramon
Santiago out at 2nd. Curtis Granderson to 1st.

B:0 S:2 O:2 -
With Placido Polanco batting, Curtis Granderson advances to 2nd on a balk.


B:0 S:2 O:3 -
Placido Polanco grounds out, third baseman Jhonny Peralta to first baseman Andy Marte.

DET 2, CLE 2 after 1.5 innings

Bottom Half

B:1 S:1 O:1 -
Andy Marte lines out to center fielder Curtis Granderson.

come on Tigers!!!

B:2 S:2 O:1 -
Luis Valbuena singles on a ground ball to left fielder Marcus Thames.

B:3 S:2 O:1 -
Trevor Crowe singles on a ground ball to left fielder Marcus Thames. Luis Valbuena to 3rd.

Come on Ed!

I hope the Indians finish with 100 losses this season


they suck

GO TIGERS!

GO AWAY TRIBE!