GDT: 5/14/08 - DET (16-23) AT KC (17-21), 8:10 p.m. ET

KANSAS CITY -- Jim Leyland will not be partaking in any discussions on the merits of Moneyball anytime soon.

He has never been a big fan of the emphasis on on-base percentages, but somehow, the Tigers have become his example for why he doesn't put much stock into the stat. The club entered Tuesday night ranked third among American League teams with a .343 OBP, yet it hasn't translated into a consistently scoring offense.

Detroit came into Tuesday ranked fifth in the AL in runs scored and RBIs, but that number is a little deceiving. Sixty-three of its 180 runs -- better than a third of its scoring -- had come in five double-digit scoring games. Take out Detroit's three-game sweep of Texas in which the Tigers scored 37 runs, and the club is averaging 4.08 runs per game, instead of 4.74.

The more important stat came with Tuesday's 3-2 loss to the Royals. Detroit has now scored four runs or fewer more often (20) than it has scored five runs or more (19). The club is 0-20 without scoring at least five runs.

Break down that stat a little further, and Detroit has scored three runs or fewer 19 times. The team's one loss with four runs scored was on Opening Day -- to the Royals.

"That's why I always talk about how I like slugging percentage, the guys that knock them in," Leyland said.

Leyland said he accepts the point that they need runners on base in order to knock them in.

"I understand that," he said. "But during the course of a Major League game, there's going to be seven or eight hits, probably, with both teams -- sometimes more, sometimes less. But the key is to get them in. That's why I'm a big believer in that, rather than on-base percentage. The guys who get paid big are the guys who knock them in."

The Tigers were third in the Majors in slugging percentage entering Tuesday, with a .416 rate. With runners in scoring position, however, that percentage falls to .368, second from the bottom in the AL. The team's simple batting average, meanwhile, plummets from .264 to .249 under the same conditions. From a power standpoint, Matt Joyce has the Tigers' two home runs since May 4.

In the Tigers' defense, however, they had plenty of scoring success without extra-base hits last year. Magglio Ordonez piled up 48 of his 139 RBIs on singles last year, compared with 47 on home runs and 30 on doubles. Placido Polanco plated 32 runs on singles in 2007.

The big slugger last year? Carlos Guillen, who turned his 21 homers into 43 RBIs.

Those are some of the struggles against which they find themselves facing the Royals in the middle game of their three-game series at Kauffman Stadium. The more pressing issue for the Tigers is to get a solid performance out of ace Justin Verlander, whose last two outings have come down to a couple pitches in bad locations that were punished for big RBIs.

Pitching matchup

DET: RHP Justin Verlander (1-6, 6.43 ERA)
Not since the Tigers' 119-loss season of 2003 has a Detroit starting pitcher gotten off to as bad a start in wins and losses as Verlander, who gave up a three-run rally on singles in his last start against Boston before Kevin Youkilis took him deep for a two-run homer to put the game away. Leyland says it's execution, not stuff or velocity, that's hurting Verlander right now, and Verlander spent his time between starts trying to fix a mechanical flaw he and pitching coach Chuck Hernandez spotted. If he's going to start a turnaround, there's nowhere better than Kansas City, where he's 3-0 with a 1.33 ERA in four career starts.

KC: RHP Luke Hochevar (2-2, 4.94 ERA)
Hochevar had another strong outing last Thursday night, going seven innings in a 4-1 loss to the Orioles. Manager Trey Hillman didn't think he was as sharp as in his previous outing and he often fell behind in the count. The rookie walked just two but, sure enough, both runners scored and he floated a high changeup that Nick Markakis smashed for a three-run homer. Even so, Hochevar hasn't seemed overmatched in his four starts since being recalled from Omaha. He's at his best when he attacks with his sinking fastball.


Tidbits

The Tigers are second in the American League in unearned runs with 21. ... Gary Sheffield became the 26th player in Major League history with at least 1,400 walks, reaching that mark in the eighth inning Tuesday. ... Top prospect Rick Porcello was named the Florida State League's Pitcher of the Week on Monday. The 19-year-old right-hander, Detroit's top pick in last summer's First-Year Player Draft, tossed 11 innings without an earned run over two starts, both of them victories. He's 3-4 with a 1.74 ERA with Class A Lakeland this year. ... Class A West Michigan left-hander Ramon Garcia was named Midwest League Pitcher of the Week after his three-hit shutout last Thurday at Lansing.

On the Internet

MLB.TV
Gameday Audio
• Gameday
• Official game notes

On television
• FSND

On radio
• 1270AM

Up next

• Thur., May 15: Tigers (LHP Kenny Rogers (3-3, 5.82 ERA)) at Royals (RHP Gil Meche (2-5, 6.31 ERA), 2:10 p.m. ET

• Fri., May 16: Tigers (RHP Jeremy Bonderman (2-4, 4.80 ERA)) at Diamondbacks (RHP Dan Haren (4-2, 3.04 ERA)), 9:40 p.m. ET

• Sat., May 17: Tigers (RHP Armando Galarraga (2-1, 3.07 ERA)) at Diamondbacks (RHP Max Scherzer (0-1, 3.14)), 8:10 p.m. ET

• Sun., May 18: Tigers (TBD) at Diamondbacks (LHP Randy Johnson (3-1, 5.40 ERA)), 4:10 p.m. ET

Tonight's Starting Lineups:

Detroit AVG
:curtis: Granderson, CF .229
:placido: Polanco, 2B .274
Guillen, 3B .294
Ordonez, RF .306
Cabrera, 1B .262
:joyce: Joyce, LF .333
:thames: Thames, DH .260
:edgar: Renteria, SS .266
:pudge: Rodriguez, C .278

Kansas City AVG
DeJesus, LF .311
Grudzielanek, 2B .328
Gordon, 3B .274
Guillen, DH .216
Butler, 1B .279
Teahen, RF .270
Buck, C .268
Pena, SS .165
Gathright, CF .250

Stat of the day: Justin Verlander's career ERA at Kauffman Stadium...1.33.

bobrob2004 wrote:

Stat of the day: Justin Verlander's career ERA at Kauffman Stadium...1.33.

Now that's a positive way to start the game! Thanks brob!

Tigers going to win! And I'm going babysitting until 8

bobrob2004 wrote:

Stat of the day: Justin Verlander's career ERA at Kauffman Stadium...1.33.

Yeah but has he pitched there yet this year?

Countdown until Verlander's ERA is less than 6.00.....

I got out of babysitting early! Meaning I get to see the game

Nowhere better than KC! GET IT ROLLIN' GUYS!!!

Go Red Wings!!! Oh yeah, and Tigers!


Speaking of Tigers, I'm leaving for Arizona tomorrow to see the Tigers!

Since I'm terrified of LA morning rush hour traffic I'm leaving at 1:00 PM tomorrow and staying near Palm Springs :haha:

Lets go

1 away Poor :curtis: is really struggling

Hochevar sucks!

Who names their kid Luke anyways

Polly out

Nothing that inning.

C'mon You're due for a good game

1-2-3 that was quick

catbox_9 wrote:

Hochevar sucks!

Who names their kid Luke anyways

Mr. and Mrs. Skywalker? (starwars... i don't know how to spell the last name, haha. And no, I have never seen starwars.)

DeJesus sucks!

Who names their kid David anyways

TigersGirl wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

Hochevar sucks!

Who names their kid Luke anyways

Mr. and Mrs. Skywalker? (starwars... i don't know how to spell the last name, haha. And no, I have never seen starwars.)

That's the correct spelling. You've NEVER seen that movie? Not even the first one


Gr.... sucks!

And who names their kid Mark

(In case you can't tell I'm making fun of all Royals....luckily none are named Ryan)

catbox_9 wrote:

Go Red Wings!!! Oh yeah, and Tigers!


Speaking of Tigers, I'm leaving for Arizona tomorrow to see the Tigers!

Since I'm terrified of LA morning rush hour traffic I'm leaving at 1:00 PM tomorrow and staying near Palm Springs :haha:

Have a great time at the game! My m-i-l will be at the game on Sat. Mrs Rabelo tried to convince her grandma to take her too. But no luck!

Gordon sucks!

And who names their kid Alex anyways

EDIT: That joke got old fast. That's enough of that

catbox_9 wrote:

TigersGirl wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

Hochevar sucks!

Who names their kid Luke anyways

Mr. and Mrs. Skywalker? (starwars... i don't know how to spell the last name, haha. And no, I have never seen starwars.)

That's the correct spelling. You've NEVER seen that movie? Not even the first one

nope. Tried to watch it once. Got 10 minutes into it and got bored...

Casey21 wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

Go Red Wings!!! Oh yeah, and Tigers!


Speaking of Tigers, I'm leaving for Arizona tomorrow to see the Tigers!

Since I'm terrified of LA morning rush hour traffic I'm leaving at 1:00 PM tomorrow and staying near Palm Springs :haha:

Have a great time at the game! My m-i-l will be at the game on Sat. Mrs Rabelo tried to convince her grandma to take her too. But no luck!

Thanks!

LOL - mrsrabelo told me that story. I'll take lots of pictures - it'll be just like being there only different.

TigersGirl wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

TigersGirl wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

Hochevar sucks!

Who names their kid Luke anyways

Mr. and Mrs. Skywalker? (starwars... i don't know how to spell the last name, haha. And no, I have never seen starwars.)

That's the correct spelling. You've NEVER seen that movie? Not even the first one

nope. Tried to watch it once. Got 10 minutes into it and got bored...

10 minutes!!?!?!?!?!? If I shut off every movie that bored me after 10 minutes I'd have missed some real good ones. Also, Star Wars has no credits in the beginning. That takes like 10 minutes alone on most movies.

catbox_9 wrote:

TigersGirl wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

TigersGirl wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

Hochevar sucks!

Who names their kid Luke anyways

Mr. and Mrs. Skywalker? (starwars... i don't know how to spell the last name, haha. And no, I have never seen starwars.)

That's the correct spelling. You've NEVER seen that movie? Not even the first one

nope. Tried to watch it once. Got 10 minutes into it and got bored...

10 minutes!!?!?!?!?!? If I shut off every movie that bored me after 10 minutes I'd have missed some real good ones. Also, Star Wars has no credits in the beginning. That takes like 10 minutes alone on most movies.

Yah... but it wasn't interesting it was just like okay, I'm done with this. I'm going walking... lol

Maggs finally gets a single!

Have fun walking....lol.

You sound like my sister and her friend. They got so mad at me when I made them watch Vertigo. They kept complaining that nothing was happening. Something was happening...it was setting up the movie

calling the "high" strike today?

catbox_9 wrote:

Have fun walking....lol.

You sound like my sister and her friend. They got so mad at me when I made them watch Vertigo. They kept complaining that nothing was happening. Something was happening...it was setting up the movie

haha. I don't watch many movies..... I get too easily distracted, and talk through them

There's a K