GDT: 4/14/08 - Minnesota (6-6) @ Detroit (2-10) - 7:05 p.m.

04/13/2008 9:01 PM ET
Tigers hope to awaken slumbering bats
Detroit (2-10) vs. Minnesota (6-6), Monday, 7:05 p.m. ET
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

Tigers manager Jim Leyland said all weekend that his offense will hit. This week would be a good time to start.

As stunning as Detroit's 2-10 record is for many, the pitching isn't the focus of it. Rather, it's the scope of futility from a lineup whose biggest question mark was whether it could top 1,000 runs for the season. Through 12 games, it has scored just 33. The Tigers have suffered four shutouts in 12 games, and they haven't scored a run since the eighth inning on Friday night, having been blanked in back-to-back games by Gavin Floyd, Javier Vazquez and the White Sox bullpen.

Now, they head back to Detroit for a quick two-game homestand against the Minnesota Twins, owners of the second-lowest ERA in the American League. From there, C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona await them in Cleveland for a two-game series. Then comes a four-game series at Toronto, where they'll likely miss Roy Halladay but face A.J. Burnett and the Blue Jays' talented back-end starters.

It has all the makings for another long week if Detroit's talented hitters can't get going. And as confident as Leyland is that they'll get going, he sees the urgency building.

"We've got a lot of issues," Leyland said. "We have to fight through it. We just haven't been able to get in sync."

Detroit's players, meanwhile, feel the urgency. One particular player, rightly or wrongly, seems to feel it plenty.

"I feel like I've got to do it," third baseman Miguel Cabrera said. "I have to get on base. I have to do something to help the team so we can score runs."

Cabrera was expected to be the star slugger that pushed Detroit's offense from one of the best in baseball into a truly formidable lineup. However, no one knew what kind of adjustment period he would face.

So far, whether it's changing leagues or entering the spotlight, that adjustment appears to be steep. With Sunday's 1-for-4 performance, he raised his average on the season to .175. He has struck out 11 times in 46 plate appearances, and he has hit into as many double plays as he has driven in runs -- two apiece.

He called it his worst baseball, and it has him feeling more than simple pressure.

"I'm embarrassed," Cabrera said. "I think everybody's laughing right now."

It's not just Cabrera, who drove in Detroit's last run with an eighth-inning single.

It's that type of pressing that seems to be building on the team. And instead of easing after Detroit scored 18 runs over three games through Friday, it increased on them over the last three games.

"There's so much pressure on a lot of guys," Brandon Inge said. "Now that it's started to compound, everyone knows that they have to really pick up the slack or it's going to be one of those ... you just get more attention this way. Bad teams are supposed to be bad teams, but when a team's supposed to be good and you're not doing well, you're going to come under a lot of heat."

As Leyland watched the White Sox put up runs in bunches on Sunday, mainly on two grand slams, he couldn't help but think the tables should be turned.

"You don't have to pound the ball all around the ballpark," Leyland said. "Maybe a walk and an infield single and a base hit, and then somebody hits a grand slam, they add up quick. And that's kind of the offense I think we'll have, that does that kind of stuff. That's what I believe."

So do many of his players. But with each game, it's clearly frustrating that they don't. Leyland met with his players after Sunday's loss, and though he kept the discussion private, he has said ever since he joined Detroit that he didn't like to see hitters giving in during their at-bats and making quick outs. Sunday's loss revealed many of those. Vasquez needed just 15 pitches to get through his final two innings, followed by a six-pitch eighth inning for Matt Thornton.

Even before the game, though, the mood was evident.

"Skip, he tells you you stink. That's what I appreciate about him," Gary Sheffield said. "I know I stink. We know we stink. But I don't see anybody in there hanging their heads and feeling sorry for themselves.

"Yeah, we stink. But we'll see who stinks at the end. And that's just the bottom line. You can't sit here and get wrapped up into now. This is not a now game. It's the end of the day. You have to keep fighting. Fighters always win, man."


Pitching matchup

DET: RHP Jeremy Bonderman (1-1, 3.97 ERA)
Bonderman became the first Tigers pitcher to earn a victory with his five-plus innings of work on Wednesday at Boston, recovering from a pair of early runs to keep the mighty Red Sox lineup relatively in check. He continued to show progression with his offspeed pitch, using it liberally and early to try to get Boston's power hitters off their timing. That could come in handy against a Twins lineup that has put up big innings against him over the years.

MIN: RHP Nick Blackburn (0-1, 2.25 ERA)
Blackburn continued to turn heads in his second Major League start. He gave up just two runs on seven hits over five innings against the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. With a dominating fastball and cutter, Blackburn has had success by mixing in his offspeed pitches more frequently. For a Tigers club that only saw him in a brief relief appearance last year, that could be a bad combination.

Tidbits
Carlos Guillen remains questionable for Monday. He's day-to-day with a strained right hamstring. ... Curtis Granderson is expected to hit soft-toss pitches prior to Monday's game as he continues to rehab from a fractured right middle finger. ... The Tigers scored four earned runs on seven hits in Blackburn's two-inning relief appearance last September at Comerica Park, including a two-run triple from Ryan Raburn.

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

On television
• FSN +

On radio
• 97.1 FM/WXYT 1270


Up next

• Tuesday: Tigers (Nate Robertson, 0-1, 7.84) vs. Twins (Scott Baker, 2-0, 4.63), 7:05 p.m. ET

• Wednesday: Tigers (Armando Galarraga, 0-0, -.--) at Indians (C.C. Sabathia, 0-2, 11.57), 7:05 p.m. ET

• Thursday: Tigers (TBD) at Indians (Fausto Carmona, 1-1, 2.20), 7:05 p.m. ET

TONIGHT'S LINEUPS

Minnesota Pos. AVG
Gomez, CF .269
Span, RF .250
Mauer, C .250
Morneau, 1B .225
Young, LF .244
Kubel, DH .263
Harris, 2B .333
Lamb, 3B .176
Everett, SS .130

Detroit Pos. AVG

Thomas, CF .370

:placido: Polanco, 2B .154

:sheff: Sheffield, DH .179

Ordonez, RF .234

Cabrera, 3B .175

Guillen, 1B .314

:edgar: Renteria, SS .245

:pudge: Rodriguez, C .195

:jjones: Jones, J, LF .214

Will the Tigers ever win again? Stay tuned...

I hope Leyland could wake them up finally!!

I'll be interested to see the fans' reaction in Detroit when the team is announced. They deserve a booing of a lifetime.

I think the fans should encourage our guys an not boo them. They know that they play like a bunch of .
It's hard enough to get out of this. I think it's easier when we show them that we still are behind them and believe in this team!

Real fans don't boo.

I don't ever boo at the game, but I expect others to do it for me

good answer catbox

Go Tigers

I am going to the game tomorrow night. I promise I won't boo.

rickimouse!

I'm going to the game tonight and I will not boooo!

Go Tigers

Hit anybody who does with one of those Magglio mini-bats they are handing out tonight!

Great Casey21! Have a lot of fun and cheer for us all!

Go Tigers!

Booooooooooooooo!!!

anybody want to get a Magglio mini-bat for me, PLEASE PM me. I will be glad to pay!

and I ain't stingy, either!

Tomorrow night's it's No-hitter DVD's

I would share lap, but I've got at least two kids who would not be happy if I gave that away! (Hopefully we will make it in time to get one)

Casey21 wrote:

I would share lap, but I've got at least two kids who would not be happy if I gave that away! (Hopefully we will make it in time to get one)

just puttin' my request out there!

Gotta leave work early; Try and get me a bat!

just thankful Magglio is still a *HOT* commodity!

I am going to be in Detroit twice this week. ( I am going to see REO Speedwagon, Styx and Def Leppard Saturday) Hopefully having me in the vicinity so often will help. Certainly can't hurt at this point!

rickimouse wrote:

I am going to be in Detroit twice this week. ( I am going to see REO Speedwagon, Styx and Def Leppard Saturday) Hopefully having me in the vicinity so often will help. Certainly can't hurt at this point!

I envy you getting to see Styx and REO!!! Did you see our Styx video music section? I love that group! Hope your being in the area is good luck for the Tigers.

im just hoping for a win today for both the tigers and my team.... if we play...

Why wouldn't they play today? It's not supposed to rain in Detroit?

it hasnt rained all day, but it did yesterday and our home field is still messed up, so our varsity was supposed to play there but if the field is too bad we dont play and the varsity plays where we were supposed to

I am sending Dry Sunshine beams your way.

rickimouse wrote:

I am going to be in Detroit twice this week. ( I am going to see REO Speedwagon, Styx and Def Leppard Saturday) Hopefully having me in the vicinity so often will help. Certainly can't hurt at this point!

that's great U get to see Styx! one of my favorite groups too....

I am VERY excited. This should be a fun week for me!
Hopefully the Tigers will have a fun week too!