GDT: 9/9/09 - DET (75-62) at KC (53-85) - 8:10 p.m. ET

KANSAS CITY -- Brandon Inge is making his late-inning heroics a recurring theme. Still, he wouldn't mind an easy win that doesn't require a ninth-inning outburst, especially with Justin Verlander going for his American League-leading 17th win.

Even as Inge's batting average continues its late-season slide towards the .230 mark, he's making sure his few hits tend to be important ones. His ninth-inning grand slam on Sunday to push the Tigers past the Rays improved his average to .296 (24-for-81) in "close and late" situations this year, defined by baseball-reference.com as the seventh inning or later with the team up by one, tied or having the potential tying run at least on deck.

More than half of Inge's home runs, 14 of 27, have come in either one-run or tie games, as has a .249 average. Just five of his homers have been with the Tigers leading or trailing by more than four runs.

Before Tuesday's 7-5 loss to the Royals, Inge talked about what he admired about Derek Jeter as Jeter approaches Lou Gehrig's career hits record with the Yankees. The consistency of Jeter's approach, his swing and his results, regardless of the situation or the opponent, is something Inge admires.

"That's my battle, consistency," Inge said. "That's every player's battle is consistency."

It's a battle that Inge at least has made strides on in situations where it means the most, regardless of his at-bats earlier in a game. Four of Inge's home runs this year have come in the ninth inning to either tie the game or pull the Tigers ahead. Two of them came on days when Inge was hitless entering the ninth.

"It's got to come down to just focus, I think," Inge said. "I remember a time or two where the last at-bat of the game, I'm like, 'OK, this is the one that counts. Make it count.'"

Inge credits that as part of the mental training he did with a specialist around Spring Training. His ability to have fun all the while, on the other hand, seems to follow Leyland's advice to his players this month to enjoy the pennant race rather than letting it suffocate them.

"Don't worry about it, enjoy it," Leyland said. "To me, it's like buying a new car. If you get it and worry that it's going to stall, or worried that there's a paint chip or something, don't worry about it. Get in the new car and ride with it and have a good time."

The way Verlander has been pitching, it's difficult for the Tigers not to enjoy his starts. He enters Wednesday tied with Yankees ace CC Sabathia for the AL lead with 16 wins, one behind St. Louis' Adam Wainwright atop the Majors. His next win will bring him from 17 losses one season to 17 victories the next.

With his competitive fire, he, too, has been able to enjoy this stretch run.

"If you start worrying about [the race] and hoping for it and you put pressure on yourself and you're not enjoying it, I don't think you have a tendency do as well," Leyland said. "It doesn't mean you're not prepared. You have to prepare your tails off. There's still some pressure and concentration that's a factor, but I don't want somebody to go through this and not enjoy it, however it turns out."


------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pitching matchup

DET: RHP Justin Verlander (16-7, 3.29 ERA)
Verlander continued to make his case to be the American League Cy Young Award winner on Friday, when he overcame an intense pitchers' duel with the Rays' Jeff Niemann and notched his 16th win, which was tied for the AL lead at the time. Verlander gave up a run in the second inning, but he retired 10 of his next 11 batters and ended up giving up just that one run on four hits and a walk while striking out seven in eight innings. The 26-year-old did, however, need 126 pitches (85 strikes) to get through his outing. Verlander has thrown at least 100 pitches in 24 of his 29 outings this year, with 14 of those being for 115-plus. Verlander, who has a 2.64 ERA since April 27, is 9-1 with a 2.38 ERA in 13 career starts against the Royals.

KC: RHP Robinson Tejeda (1-1, 3.61 ERA)
Tejeda, making a spot start for Gil Meche, did a superb job last Friday night and he gets another chance with Meche being skipped again. Tejeda held the Angels scoreless on one hit for 5 1/3 innings but got a no-decision as the bullpen lost his 1-0 lead. Tejeda struck out six and walked just two, the last two batters before he left the game. Tejeda now has a string of 13 straight scoreless innings, in which he's given up only two hits. Although he's no certainty to finish the season in the rotation, his recent performances give him a chance to return to starting, which he did most often with Philadelphia and Texas.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tidbits

... Magglio Ordonez now needs 23 more plate appearances this year to trigger his $18 million contract option for next year, and it's just about certain he'll get that. Team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski didn't want to comment specifically on the contract, but he acknowledged the situation. "It all speaks for itself, what's taking place at this point," Dombrowski said.
... Placido Polanco is 2-for-5 with a double and four RBIs lifetime off Tejeda.
... Though Nate Robertson finished Tuesday's loss in relief, he remains on track to start Friday against the Blue Jays. Since it'll be his first start in more than a week, Leyland said he wanted to get Robertson some game action on what would've otherwise been a day for a side session to keep him fresh.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

To track MLB play-by-play, to help post GDT outcomes: http://m.mlb.com/scores/

On the Internet
MLB.TV
Gameday Audio
• Gameday
• Official game notes

On television
•

On radio

• /
• XM Channel Schedule
• Direct TV Extra Innings Schedule


------------------------------------------------------------------------

Up next (Probable Pitchers)

• Thursday: Tigers (Jarrod Washburn, 9-8, 3.55 ERA) at Royals (Lenny DiNardo, 0-0, -.--ERA), 2:10 p.m. ET
• Friday: Tigers (Nate Robertson, 1-1, 5.52 ERA) vs. Blue Jays (TOR Brian Tallet, 6-9, 5.31 ERA), 7:05 p.m. ET
• Saturday: Tigers (Edwin Jackson, 12-6, 3.10 ERA) vs. Blue Jays (Scott Richmond, 6-9, 4.76 ERA), 7:05 p.m. ET

STARTING LINEUPS:

Detroit AVG
Granderson, CF .255
Polanco, 2B .279
Guillen, C, LF .244
Cabrera, M, 1B .338
Huff, A, DH .244
Thomas, C, RF .244
Inge, 3B .231
Laird, C .218
Santiago, SS .258

Kansas City AVG
DeJesus, D, LF .276
Maier, CF .247
Butler, 1B .302
Jacobs, DH .237
Callaspo, 2B .297
Teahen, RF .276
Buck, J, C .208
Gordon, A, 3B .198
Betancourt, Y, SS .236

Inning 1
Top Half

B:1 S:3 O:1 -
Curtis Granderson swinging.

B:1 S:2 O:2 -
Placido Polanco grounds out, shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt to first baseman Billy Butler.

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

B:2 S:3 O:3 -
Miguel Cabrera swinging.

0-0 after .5 inning

Bottom Half

B:1 S:2 O:1 -
David DeJesus grounds out, second baseman Placido Polanco to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

B:1 S:3 O:2 -
Mitch Maier swinging.


B:1 S:3 O:3 -
Billy Butler swinging.



0-0 after 1 inning

Inning 2
Top Half

B:2 S:3 O:1 -
Aubrey Huff on foul tip.

B:0 S:3 O:2 -
Clete Thomas swinging.

B:0 S:3 O:3 -
Brandon Inge swinging.

0-0 after 1.5 inning

Bottom Half

B:0 S:0 O:1 -
Mike Jacobs flies out to center fielder Curtis Granderson.

B:3 S:1 O:1 -
Alberto Callaspo singles on a ground ball to right fielder Clete Thomas.

B:4 S:2 O:1 -
Mark Teahen walks. Alberto Callaspo to 2nd.


B:1 S:2 O:2 -
John Buck flies out to right fielder Clete Thomas. Alberto Callaspo to 3rd.

I'm glad this guy has 5 K's in 2 innings.

B:4 S:2 O:2 -
Alex Gordon walks. Mark Teahen to 2nd. (bases loaded)


B:2 S:3 O:3 -
Yuniesky Betancourt swinging.

0-0 after 2 innings

Strikeouts – Tigers Single Season Leaders

Rank	Player		SO		Year
1.	Mickey Lolich		308		1971
2.	Denny McLain		280		1968
3.	Hal Newhouser		275		1946
4.	Mickey Lolich		271		1969
5.	Mickey Lolich		250		1972
6.	Joe Coleman		236		1971
7.	Jack Morris		232		1983
8.	Mickey Lolich		230		1970
9.	Mickey Lolich		226		1965
10.	Justin Verlander		225		2009

(from baseball-reference.com)
3 k's after 2 innings

Inning 3
Top Half

B:2 S:3 O:1 -
Gerald Laird swinging.

B:1 S:1 O:1 -
Ramon Santiago singles on a soft line drive to center fielder Mitch Maier.

B:0 S:0 O:1 -
Curtis Granderson reaches on a fielder's choice, fielded by first baseman Billy Butler. Ramon Santiago to 2nd.

B:3 S:1 O:2 -
Placido Polanco pops out to shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt on the infield fly rule.

B:1 S:1 O:3 -
Carlos Guillen flies out to center fielder Mitch Maier.

0-0 after 2.5 innings

Bottom Half

B:2 S:2 O:1 -
David DeJesus flies out to right fielder Clete Thomas.

B:0 S:3 O:2 -
Mitch Maier swinging.

(226 for JV)


B:2 S:2 O:2 -
Billy Butler doubles (43) on a line drive to right fielder Clete Thomas.

B:1 S:0 O:2 - Mike Jacobs singles on a line drive to
right fielder Clete Thomas. Billy Butler scores. Mike Jacobs to 2nd on
the throw.
KC 1, DET 0

B:1 S:2 O:3 -
Alberto Callaspo flies out to center fielder Curtis Granderson.

KC 1, DET 0 after 3 innings

Inning 4
Top Half

B:0 S:0 O:1 -
Miguel Cabrera pops out to second baseman Alberto Callaspo.

B:3 S:1 O:2 -
Aubrey Huff flies out to right fielder Mark Teahen.

B:1 S:2 O:2 -
Clete Thomas doubles (11) on a line drive to left fielder David DeJesus.

B:1 S:3 O:3 -
Brandon Inge swinging.

KC 1, DET 0 after 3.5 innings

Bottom Half

B:0 S:2 O:1 -
Mark Teahen grounds out, second baseman Placido Polanco to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

B:2 S:2 O:1 -
John Buck singles on a ground ball to left fielder Carlos Guillen.

B:2 S:0 O:2 -
Alex Gordon pops out to third baseman Brandon Inge.

B:2 S:2 O:2 -
Yuniesky Betancourt singles on a ground ball to shortstop Ramon Santiago. John Buck to 2nd.

B:1 S:3 O:3 -
David DeJesus swinging.

(227 for JV)

KC 1, DET 0 after 4 innings

Inning 5
Top Half

B:4 S:2 O:0 -
Gerald Laird walks.


B:1 S:0 O:1 -
Ramon Santiago flies out to center fielder Mitch Maier.


B:0 S:0 O:2 -
Curtis Granderson pops out to shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt.

B:2 S:2 O:2 -
With Placido Polanco batting, Gerald Laird steals (4) 2nd base.

B:2 S:2 O:3 -
Placido Polanco flies out to center fielder Mitch Maier.

KC 1, DET 0 after 4.5 innings

Bottom Half

B:0 S:0 O:0 -
Mitch Maier singles on a ground ball to left fielder Carlos Guillen.


B:1 S:2 O:1 -
Billy Butler grounds out softly, third baseman Brandon Inge to first baseman Miguel Cabrera. Mitch Maier to 2nd.


B:2 S:3 O:2 -
Mike Jacobs on foul tip.

(228 for JV)


B:4 S:1 O:2 -
Alberto Callaspo walks.

B:4 S:1 O:2 -
Coaching visit to mound.

B:1 S:2 O:3 - Mark Teahen grounds into a force out,
second baseman Placido Polanco to shortstop Ramon Santiago. Alberto
Callaspo out at 2nd.

KC 1, DET 0 after 5 innings

7 K's for what's his face.