2012 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS

Boesch's late heroics aren't enough vs. KC

By Anthony Odoardi / MLB.com | 5/2/2012 4:20 PM ET

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DETROIT -- The Tigers couldn't quite pull off the late come-from-behind victory on Wednesday afternoon.

Behind a two-run home run from Brennan Boesch in the bottom of the eighth, the Tigers rallied from a two-run deficit. However, a Chris Getz infield single off Joaquin Benoit in the top of the ninth gave the Royals a 3-2 win in the series finale at Comerica Park.

Through seven innings, the Tigers had been held to two hits and no runs. Tigers ace Justin Verlander, despite allowing only two runs on six hits with seven strikeouts in eight strong frames, seemed well on his way to a tough-luck loss. The Tigers showed some life in the eighth, as Verlander avoided his first loss since September 2009.

Mike Moustakas hit a one-out double, advanced to third on a ground ball, and scored on the Getz single to take back the lead.

A leadoff walk to Jarrod Dyson to begin the game plagued Verlander. Dyson stole second and scored on an RBI double by Eric Hosmer to give the Royals an early 1-0 lead.

In the top of the sixth, Verlander encountered some control issues. He walked Alex Gordon to start the inning and hit Billy Butler with a pitch. Gordon advanced to third and scored on a fielder's choice as the Royals took a 2-0 lead.

Royals starter Jonathan Sanchez threw only 82 pitches in five innings before handing it over to the bullpen. The left-hander's short outing was effective, as he yielded one hit and two walks.

Detroit finally got to Sanchez in the bottom of the fifth inning. Alex Avila's double -- the Tigers' first hit of the game -- and two walks loaded the bases. Austin Jackson, who tallied four hits on Tuesday, grounded out to shortstop to end the threat.

The Tigers put runners on second and third with a Brad Eldred double in the second, but failed to come up with a timely hit. Royals closer Jonathan Broxton took over in the bottom of the ninth and threw a scoreless inning to pick up the save.

Detroit is now 2-7 in its past nine home games.

Anthony Odoardi is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Peralta's walk-off HR erases Tigers' home struggles
Ninth-inning blast with one out turns around one-run deficit

By Anthony Odoardi / MLB.com | 5/4/2012 10:04 PM ET

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DETROIT -- Jhonny Peralta hit his first home run of the season in dramatic fashion with a walk-off two-run shot on an 0-2 pitch as the Tigers stunned the visiting White Sox, 5-4, on Friday night at Comerica Park.

Alex Avila, who crushed White Sox pitching all night, singled in the at-bat prior to Peralta, who completed the Tigers' third walk-off this season at Comerica Park.

White Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham hit a 2-1 pitch from Octavio Dotel over the left-field fence to give Chicago a 4-2 lead in the top of the seventh inning. The lead seemed like it would hold, until the Tigers put together a late rally.

The Tigers pulled within run one in the bottom of the eighth inning as Miguel Cabrera plated a third run on Jake Peavy's 122nd pitch -- the first time in a White Sox uniform that the former National League Cy Young Award winner reached 120 pitches.

Rookie left-hander Drew Smyly had another solid outing, allowing two runs on seven hits and matching his career high of seven strikeouts for the third time this season. He took his fourth no-decision in five starts.

However, Peavy, the American League Pitcher of the Month of April, pitched another gem. He didn't get a complete game as he had the previous two starts, but outlasted his 22-year-old counterpart.

Peralta's home run off relief pitcher Matt Thornton erased anything Peavy had done. Peralta received four straight fastballs and took the fourth one out of the park.

Avila, who was integral in the win, put together his second straight multihit game. He doubled to right in the bottom of the second inning, moved to third on a single from Peralta and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Raburn to make the score 1-0.

Avila again attacked the opposite field in the bottom of the fourth, but this time he placed the ball on the other side of the fence for his fourth home run.

The Tigers' one-run lead held until the sixth when Alexei Ramirez led off the inning with a triple past a diving Austin Jackson in center field. Adam Dunn hit a sacrifice fly to right field and knotted the game at 2. Beckham's home run two innings later left him a triple short of the cycle, as was Avila.

Anthony Odoardi is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Valverde, Tigers stung by Dunn homer in ninth
Closer surrenders two-run shot for second blown save

By Anthony Odoardi / MLB.com | 5/5/2012 6:47 PM ET

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DETROIT -- Jose Valverde's struggles continued Saturday, as he came in to protect a one-run lead in the ninth and got charged with his second blown save and first loss.

Adam Dunn delivered the blow with a 422-foot two-run bomb to right field as the White Sox got some payback against the Tigers with a 3-2 win.

The home run erased the work Max Scherzer did in the first seven innings. Coming off an outing against the Yankees in which he allowed a career-high seven walks, Scherzer corrected his command issues and didn't issue a single free pass to the White Sox.

The only damage the White Sox could do against the right-hander was a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning off the bat of Paul Konerko. Konerko hit the first pitch over the left-field wall to cut the Tigers' lead to one.

The Tigers scored two early runs off White Sox pitcher Gavin Floyd in the second inning off four hits -- all singles. Andy Dirks drove in Alex Avila with a well-placed ground ball between the shortstop and third baseman. Austin Jackson attacked the same gap two batters later to plate Jhonny Peralta for a 2-0 lead.

Floyd regrouped, yielding only two hits the rest of the way. He pitched seven strong innings, but was outdone by Scherzer.

The Tigers' 27-year-old right-hander struck out nine in seven innings of work, yielding four hits and one run. Scherzer acknowledged watching video of his 6-0 start from 2011 to search for any mechanical issues.

It was easily Scherzer's best start of the season. He was perfect until Dunn singled on a first-pitch changeup with two outs in the fourth. He threw 97 pitches and lowered his ERA from 7.77 to 6.32.

However, Dunn's long ball shocked the Tigers. After going a perfect 49-for-49 in save opportunities last season, Valverde has blown two already and his ERA sits at 6.17.

Anthony Odoardi is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Trio of solo home runs powers Tigers in finale win
Jackson, Fielder and Dirks go deep; Porcello earns third win

By Anthony Odoardi / MLB.com | 5/6/2012 4:20 PM ET

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DETROIT -- Prince Fielder ended his Comerica Park home run drought, Austin Jackson continued his red-hot start and the Tigers overcame a first-inning blast from Adam Dunn to defeat the White Sox, 3-1, in Sunday's series finale.

Rick Porcello picked up his third win as he survived the early damage by Dunn and fired 6 1/3 innings of four-hit, one-run ball.

Dunn's home run was his second in as many at-bats. On a 1-2 pitch, Porcello threw a hanging changeup that the White Sox slugger took just over the gate above the right-field wall to give Chicago a 1-0 lead.

But the Tigers would quickly respond in the bottom of the frame. After striking out in Saturday night's game with the tying and winning runs in scoring position, Jackson homered in his first at-bat Sunday.

It was his fourth home run and the sixth leadoff home run of his career. Jackson's 2-for-4 day at the plate pushed his batting average to .311.

Fielder, who hadn't homered in Comerica Park since April 7, when he hit two against the Red Sox, launched one to right-center in the third inning to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.

Porcello was pulled with runners on first and second in the top of the seventh inning after 103 pitches. Octavio Dotel, who served up a long ball to Gordon Beckham on Friday, struck the second baseman out and Phil Coke forced a soft line drive from Alejandro De Aza to end the threat.

Andy Dirks added a third solo shot in the eighth inning against White Sox reliever Hector Santiago.

After suffering his first loss and second blown save Saturday, closer Jose Valverde rebounded to throw a scoreless ninth inning for his fifth save. Valverde allowed a hit and a walk and struck out two in closing out the win.

Anthony Odoardi is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Dotel's hiccup costs Tigers in Seattle

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 5/8/2012 3:00 AM ET

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SEATTLE -- If anyone had earned the trust to babysit a ninth-inning lead for the Tigers, it was Octavio Dotel. So it stands to reason that manager Jim Leyland sat in his office with the look of a parent from one of those 1980s teen movies who comes home to find the remnants of a bad house party on his lawn and his car at the bottom of the pool.

Yes, he had the advantage of watching it all unfold. He could've pulled the plug at some point while what had been a shutout in the making unraveled into another loss to the Mariners, this one a 3-2 decision on Monday. But Dotel was the guy they signed to help provide another veteran presence in the bullpen.

Dotel has saved 108 games for eight teams over his 14-year Major League career. He was a full-time closer as recently as two years ago. He pitched 8 2/3 innings of four-hit ball with 10 strikeouts before giving up his first run this year.

He came in Monday and looked like a wild-eyed rookie.

"I was throwing all my pitches well in the bullpen," Dotel said. "Everything was good. Everything just wasn't where I want to be. I came into the game, and I can't find the strike zone."

Debate if you want the value of resting Joaquin Benoit after he pitched the previous two days, though there was no way closer Jose Valverde was going to pitch after three straight appearances and 55 pitches over the weekend. Leyland wasn't going to use either of them under any circumstances.

"I made up my mind I wasn't going to pitch those two big boys down there," Leyland said. "I wasn't going to get greedy."

He played the matchups and used Phil Coke to retire three straight left-handed hitters in the eighth inning. He had Ichiro Suzuki looming in the ninth, but Ichiro was 1-for-10 with five strikeouts lifetime off Dotel.

Under those circumstances, then: If not Dotel, then who?

"When you put it all together, here's a guy who was a big league closer, very effective at one time and obviously pitched in a World Series last year in big pressure situations," Leyland said. "For whatever reason tonight, he didn't throw strikes. That's part of the game. That happens. He wasn't trying to throw balls. He just had a hard time throwing the ball over the plate."

As a result, instead of recording a save for his ninth different club, Dotel has a blown save with eight. And the Tigers, who went 83-0 when leading after eight innings last season, have four losses in those same situations through 28 games this year.

They were 77-0 when leading after seven innings in 2011. They're 10-6 in those situations in 2012. They lost on a walk-off passed ball their last road trip, but that was a rookie reliever with a history of command problems. That had nothing on this.

In fairness, Leyland pointed out, the Tigers had chances to add on runs but couldn't, including a bases-loaded opportunity with two outs in the seventh as former Tigers reliever Charlie Furbush struggled to find the strike zone.

The Tigers went 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position, yet still left seven runners on base. They had a scorched liner up the middle from Miguel Cabrera turn into an inning-ending double play in the third inning when the ball hit off starter Blake Beavan's right elbow and ricocheted sharply to third baseman Kyle Seager.

They had games like that last year and pulled them out, even when their chances at holding onto the lead seemed slip. Games like this might just be the payback.

"I'm not upset with Octavio Dotel one bit," Leyland said. "I had to ask him to do something tonight that we don't ask him to do often on this club. I was shocked that he walked them. That was the killer."

Dotel missed the strike zone with 11 of his first 12 pitches. Not only did he walk .147-hitting Brendan Ryan on five pitches and Suzuki on four while falling to a 3-0 count to Jesus Montero, but a wild pitch and passed ball allowed both baserunners to move up.

Everything Dotel threw, he said, was darting inside against right-handed hitters, outside on lefties.

By the time the Mariners put a ball in play against him, they had the tying run 90 feet away. Montero's double off the center-field fence on a full-count pitch brought in Ichiro and set up the winning tally.

"That at-bat I was trying to get the right pitch," Montero said. "He was throwing ball, ball, ball, ball. You got to look for the right pitch, and thank God that I found that right pitch. It was good."

Duane Below replaced Dotel, but had little chance. Kyle Seager's sacrifice bunt moved pinch-runner Munenori Kawasaki to third, and Kawasaki came home on John Jaso's sacrifice fly.

The loss not only spoiled Doug Fister's return to Seattle to face the club that traded him last summer, but the way it happened -- low run support, late-inning lead squandered -- had to make him feel like he never left.

Fister hadn't faced Major League competition since his first start of the season, April 7 against the Red Sox, but he showed no rust in picking apart his old team for seven scoreless innings on four hits with no walks.

"He was fantastic today," catcher Alex Avila said. "It was a lot of fun to catch him. He threw great."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Dirks' three RBIs back Verlander in Seattle

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 5/9/2012 1:17 AM ET

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SEATTLE -- Tigers manager Jim Leyland didn't survive a contentious third inning with home-plate umpire Brian Knight. Fortunately, his ace did.

In the end, Justin Verlander's six innings against the Mariners weren't dominant, but they were good enough to let the Detroit's early outburst off Mariners starter Kevin Millwood stand for a 6-4 victory on Tuesday night at Safeco Field.

The victory ended the Tigers' five-game losing streak to the Mariners and took some of the sting out of Seattle's ninth-inning comeback the previous night.

For Verlander (3-1), the win extended his road unbeaten streak to 11 straight decisions since July, continuing the longest such streak by a Tigers starter since Denny McLain in 1968. Yet, it marked his first win at Safeco Field since 2008, when he led the American League in losses.

Verlander had lost his last three starts here, including two in 2010. He missed out on pitching here during the Tigers' only visit last year, denying a chance to see what he could do against what ended up being an anemic Seattle offense.

The retooled version of the Mariners has had its struggles, too, but not against Detroit. Despite a 5-0 Tigers lead after an inning and a half, Seattle had its chances against Verlander, whose pitch count escalated in a hurry thanks to several long at-bats early.

Three RBIs in two at-bats for Andy Dirks paced the Tigers' early onslaught, marking Verlander's largest lead of the season. Three straight singles from the top of the Mariners' order not only put Seattle on the scoreboard, it put Detroit on edge for an interesting inning.

Ichiro Suzuki's RBI single came on an 0-2 pitch below his knees, plating Dustin Ackley. By contrast, Verlander fell behind Kyle Seager on some close pitches before Seager smacked a two-run single to right-center field.

Once Verlander didn't get a called third strike on a 1-2 curveball to John Jaso, Leyland's critique of Knight's strike zone earned the skipper his first ejection of the year. Verlander also had words for Knight after a 98-mph fastball at the knees, but recovered to strike out Jaso and hold the Mariners there.

Verlander was already at 68 pitches by that point. He finished with 113 pitches over six innings, handing the lead over to a Tigers bullpen that had taken Detroit's last three losses but had a three-run lead restored thanks to Prince Fielder's seventh-inning solo homer.

Phil Coke gave up a run in the seventh, but retired Ichiro and Jesus Montero to strand the potential tying run at the plate. Joaquin Benoit worked the eighth to set up Jose Valverde for his sixth save.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Smyly's tough luck continues in Seattle

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 5/10/2012 12:30 AM ET

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SEATTLE -- Once again, Drew Smyly had a borderline dominant stint with a no-decision to show for it. And the Tigers have another loss to show for another close game with the Mariners.

The good news for the Tigers is that they're done with the Mariners for the season after five losses in six meetings. But that does little to ease the damage of a three-game series that featured two Mariners wins secured in their final trip to the plate. The second of them came Wednesday, when John Jaso's eighth-inning RBI single brought in Michael Saunders and sent Detroit to a 2-1 loss at Safeco Field.

It marked Detroit's third one-run loss to Seattle this year. Probably more painful, though, was the two-hit, one-run performance squandered from Smyly, who continued to show he can do better than hold his own in the fifth spot in the rotation.

Smyly didn't allow a base hit outside of the fourth inning, when Ichiro Suzuki went to the opposite field on a one-out single and Kyle Seager sent a line drive off the right-field fence for a two-out RBI double. A pair of walks comprised the other two baserunners off the rookie left-hander.

Smyly lasted six innings with 93 pitches, close to the 100-pitch count the Tigers have in mind for him. Fellow rookie Luke Putkonen (0-1) replaced him in his first outing in 10 days and sent down the Mariners in order in the seventh before Saunders pinch-hit for ex-Tiger Casper Wells and doubled down the left-field line leading off the eighth.

Chone Figgins' sacrifice bunt moved Saunders into position for Jaso, who sent a liner into left off left-hander Duane Below.

On most nights, Smyly's outing would've given the Tigers' bullpen a lead to protect. However, Detroit's offensive struggles continued against Seattle starter Jason Vargas (4-2), who tossed eight innings of five-hit ball with six strikeouts.

Detroit's run came from the bottom of its order after backup catcher Gerald Laird led off the sixth inning with a double. Danny Worth's failed sacrifice bunt attempts became moot when he singled Laird over to third for Austin Jackson's sacrifice fly. Brennan Boesch's single moved Worth to second before Miguel Cabrera hit into an inning-ending double play.

In no other inning did the Tigers have a runner in scoring position. Jackson tried to get one more rally going with a leadoff walk in the ninth, but Brennan Boesch hit into a double play off closer Brandon League.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Miggy turns in A-plus effort as Tigers knock off A's

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 5/11/2012 1:20 AM ET

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OAKLAND -- Of course manager Jim Leyland predicted Thursday his team was going to hit. He didn't necessarily mean that night, but he'll take it.

By the time the Tigers were done batting around in the third inning against A's starter Bartolo Colon and Jordan Norberto, they had put up as many runs in three innings as they did their previous three nights in Seattle. The outburst made for a relatively easy night for Max Scherzer to end his three-game winless streak in a 10-6 victory.

Whether it's enough to spark the Tigers on the winning streak they've been trying to build for the past few weeks will be seen this weekend. For now, it continued their stretch of alternating wins and losses to 12 games, but it was their most decisive win in that stretch.

Two days after Leyland said his team was chasing pitches outside the strike zone and not giving itself a chance, and one night after Leyland compared his team's offensive struggles to a broken record, the Tigers had four members of their starting lineup at the ballpark early for extra batting practice.

"We'll be fine," Leyland forecast before the game, "but we won't be fine just talking about it. We'll be fine by working at it, working at it and grinding it out, doing what we do. We will definitely come out of it."

Hours later, everybody got their swings in against Colon, who attacked the strike zone and paid for it with eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits over 2 1/3 innings. Nearly a third of Colon's 31 strikes thrown were struck for base hits.

Andy Dirks homered and singled off Colon for his fifth straight multihit game. Miguel Cabrera, who came to town in an 0-for-14 slump, singled and homered off Colon before adding two more singles against Oakland's bullpen for a season-high four hits. Alex Avila ended his 0-for-11 skid with a single and a two-run double off Colon (3-3).

The slumps fell almost as quickly as the hits did. Every Tiger except Prince Fielder and Ryan Raburn had a base hit by the end of the third.

It was a welcome outburst for Scherzer, who had received just 14 runs of support over his previous five outings combined. He recovered from Kila Ka'aihue's second-inning two-run homer to retire nine of Oakland's next 11 batters. Those were the only runs Scherzer would allow, as he scattered five hit and notched nine strikeouts over 6 1/3 frames.

After going hitless in his first three at-bats against his former club, Brandon Inge blasted an eighth-inning grand slam to pull Oakland within four runs.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tigers unable to cool off Inge in loss to A's

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 5/12/2012 1:10 AM ET

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OAKLAND -- The Tigers found the form they'd been looking for out of Brandon Inge ever since last summer. It just came in the wrong uniform for them, even if it has become the right situation for Inge.

Realistically, the Tigers were already on their way to defeat by the time Inge delivered his three-run homer off Duane Below for his second homer in as many days off his old pitching staff. Still, as punctuation marks go, it was a pretty good exclamation point to turn what had been a three-run game into what ended up being an 11-4 loss Friday night.

The statement game for Inge continued the string of alternating wins and losses for the Tigers, who have been hovering at .500 or a game above it every day since April 26 -- ironically, the day they released Inge.

While the deciding plays have been different each day, their past six losses have come with two runs or less scored from their lineup. Friday continued their recent struggles against left-handers, with seven strong innings from Oakland southpaw Tommy Milone (5-2).

Most days, those offensive struggles spoiled some well-pitched games. Friday wasn't one of them, not with four extra-base hits on a night when Rick Porcello (3-3) had trouble keeping the ball low in the strike zone and the A's made him pay early.

While Inge added to his reunion numbers with an RBI single in the opening inning, the bulk of the damage came right above him in the lineup. Kila Ka'aihue continued to defy Detroit's game plan with a pair of hard-hit doubles to the outfield fences, and Josh Reddick had five RBIs with two home runs, including a leadoff shot in the third to put the A's on top for good at 3-2.

Porcello's four runs on nine hits over five innings ended the Tigers' streak of nine consecutive quality starts. Below, who had been used as a left-handed specialist over his previous couple outings, gave up a walk and a stolen base to Jemile Weeks ahead of Reddick's RBI single in the sixth.

Seth Smith's two-out blooper into short left field brought up Inge, who got a 2-1 fastball from Below and drove it deep into the left-field seats. It marked his fourth home run in 10 games with the Athletics, matching his total as a Tiger since the start of last season.

Add in Inge's grand slam in Thursday's series opener, and he has driven in eight runs over the past two games against his former team. Once Reddick homered again in the seventh, he put Oakland into double digits.

Inge has said multiple times since the Tigers' release that he had no hard feelings against his former employer, who ate the bulk of his remaining salary for the year to make the move. He said Thursday he didn't think he'd be having this kind of success if he was still in Detroit, citing the regular at-bats he has been getting in Oakland as a major difference.

The Tigers, meanwhile, have been happy for him to find a place where he could get regular at-bats. After the last two nights, obviously, they've been wishing those at-bats weren't going so well.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tigers slip under .500 after loss to A's

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 5/12/2012 10:47 PM ET

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OAKLAND -- After alternating wins and losses for two weeks, the Tigers finally have a streak going. It's not on the side they wanted.

Brandon McCarthy's 10-strikeout, four-hit performance made Detroit's powerful lineup look helpless against his change of speeds and Saturday's 3-1 loss to the A's made the Tigers a sub-.500 team for the first time since last May 29.

Detroit, which has now lost two straight, had hovered between .500 and one-game over for the previous 13 games, getting a different result every day. The one relative constant had been their offensive struggles in their defeats. They had scored two runs or less in their previous five losses until a pair of late-inning runs Friday night broke the string.

Still, for all the hiccups of this formidable lineup, Detroit still hasn't been shut out since Edwin Jackson tossed a complete-game blanking of his former teammates last July 16, a span of 101 games. But the way McCarthy pitched over seven innings, he could've gone seven more without giving Detroit a chance.

Two singles from Brennan Boesch and two bloopers from Don Kelly and Andy Dirks were all the Tigers managed against McCarthy, who changed speeds and deceived with the shadows of Oakland Coliseum hanging over his mound.

Just as important was the line McCarthy (3-3) posted on the Tigers' power-hitting trio of Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder and Delmon Young. They combined to go 0-for-9 off McCarthy with six strikeouts, half of them by Young.

Tigers starter Doug Fister (0-1) tried to keep pace as best he could in his second start back from the disabled list, recovering from a first-inning run on three singles to take a 1-0 game through six. Two add-on runs against Phil Coke in the seventh gave the A's some insurance.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Verlander delivers as Tigers split series with A's
Reigning MVP allows one run on two hits over seven innings

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 5/13/2012 7:06 PM ET

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OAKLAND -- Justin Verlander can't hit for the Tigers to help break them out of their offensive struggles, at least not until Interleague Play. The way he pitched on Sunday, the Tigers didn't need a hit to get him the lead he needed.

Though Miguel Cabrera's two-out RBI single put the Tigers on the scoreboard, a trio of two-out walks in the sixth inning put Detroit on top for good.

The last of them capped an eight-pitch duel between Austin Jackson and Grant Balfour, ending with a bases-loaded walk that drove in Brennan Boesch for the difference in a 3-1 Tigers victory to split a four-game series against the A's.

With an A's lineup that was missing four regulars -- Jemile Weeks, Kurt Suzuki, Kila Ka'aihue and Brandon Inge -- due to injuries, Verlander seemed poised to take a no-hit bid into the late innings. He retired Oakland's first 11 batters without much trouble, including four strikeouts from the first eight hitters, until Josh Reddick fought off an inside fastball and hit a jam-shot into shallow center field for a two-out single in the fourth.

Jackson's one-out single in the fifth set up the Tigers to give Verlander a lead, once Jackson stole second and took third on a wild pitch. Cabrera entered the day batting .282 on the season, but .455 (5-for-11) with runners in scoring position and two outs, and he built on that by grounding a Jarrod Parker pitch back through the middle for a 1-0 lead.

Verlander's lead lasted exactly three pitches. Seth Smith sent his 2-0 fastball leading off the bottom of the fifth up the Oakland Coliseum stairs behind the right-field corner for a solo homer -- his sixth hit of the series -- to tie the score at 1-1.

It was new life for A's rookie Jarrod Parker, who had kept himself in a duel with the reigning AL Cy Young winner and MVP by stranding two runners in the opening inning and leaving the bases loaded in the second.

Parker retired eight straight Tigers after that and sent down the first two batters in the sixth on stellar defensive plays by Daric Barton and Eric Sogard before Brennan Boesch's liner fell just in short of Collin Cowgill's diving attempt in center.

Boesch never hesitated around first base, turning it into a double for his fourth hit in two days. The Tigers had left him in scoring position the preivous three times. Parker's wildness and Balfour's struggles as Oakland's deposed closer helped get Boesch around this time.

Jhonny Peralta walked on five pitches, then struggling Ryan Raburn walked on four pitches to chase Parker from the game. Balfour fell behind 2-0 to Jackson, brought it back full and watched Jackson foul off three straight fastballs before Balfour's third try at the payoff pitch missed the outside corner for ball four.

That was enough for Verlander, who regrouped to retire nine of his final 10 batters after Smith's home run to finish with seven innings of two-hit ball. Joaquin Benoit replaced him for the eighth ahead of Jose Valverde's seventh save.

The Tigers added an insurance run in the ninth, as Cabrera singled home Jackson for a second time.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Pair of three-run leads evaporate for Tigers
Early offense fades; Fielder, Cabrera each knock three hits

By Cash Kruth / MLB.com | 5/14/2012 11:15 PM ET

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CHICAGO -- The Tigers solved part of the equation Monday night in attempting to break out of their season-long offensive funk. As for the next steps -- scoring runs and getting the big hit -- well, it's still a work in progress.

Because of that, the Tigers (17-18) are back below .500.

The Tigers pounded out 10 hits, but left 11 men on base, and reliever Luke Putkonen allowed three runs in the sixth inning in a 7-5 loss to the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.

White Sox left fielder Dayan Viciedo drove in a career-high four runs, including the go-ahead, two-run single in the sixth, to hand the Tigers their third loss in the last four games.

Detroit was playing from behind in part because of its lack of execution and also because of Viciedo's ability to step up in the clutch.

After Chicago's Alex Rios and A.J. Pierzynski began the sixth inning with consecutive singles off Putkonen, he then walked Alexei Ramirez -- prompting a mound visit from pitching coach Jeff Jones. On the very next pitch, Viciedo singled up the middle to score Rios and Pierzynski. Brent Morel then plated Ramirez for the final run.

The Tigers put two on with one out in the seventh inning before going down in order, and Miguel Cabrera singled with one out in the eighth before Prince Fielder grounded into an inning-ending double play.

The Tigers got an early lead thanks in large part to a wild outing by White Sox left-hander John Danks, who worked only three-plus innings.

The Tigers jumped out front in the first when Fielder's two-run double scored Andy Dirks and Cabrera, who walked and singled, respectively. The double was Fielder's first hit in his last 22 at-bats, a career-long drought for the first baseman, who finished 3-for-5. Delmon Young's double scored Fielder.

Detroit added two more runs in the third, as Danks continued to struggle with his command. With one out and the bases loaded, the lefty walked Peralta to plate Young before Ryan Raburn scored on Gerald's Laird's sacrifice fly. Danks issued his fourth free pass to Austin Jackson to once again load the bases, but escaped the inning without any further damage.

The Tigers could've gotten to Danks even more in the second with runners on first and second, but a hard grounder down the third-base line by Cabrera that appeared to be fair was waved foul by third-base umpire Gerry Davis.

Danks was removed in the fourth inning after allowing consecutive singles without recording an out as three White Sox relievers combined to shut out Detroit the rest of the way.

Tigers left-hander Drew Smyly turned in just his second non-quality start of the season, giving up a pair of two-run home runs to Adam Dunn and Viciedo in the first and fifth innings, respectively. Dunn's homer was his 12th of the year after hitting 11 all of last season and his first off a lefty since Aug. 6, 2010, when he hit two off the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw.

Cash Kruth is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @cashkruth. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tigers roar past White Sox with eight-run sixth
Cabrera, Raburn and Jackson homer in decisive frame

By Cash Kruth / MLB.com | 5/15/2012 5:55 PM ET

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CHICAGO -- That's more like the Tigers offense everyone expected.

After struggling for much of the season to score runs, the Tigers put their offensive power on full display Tuesday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field.

Miguel Cabrera, Ryan Raburn and Austin Jackson each homered as part of an eight-run sixth inning, as the Tigers stormed back from six down to beat the White Sox, 10-8.

Raburn had his second straight two-hit performance and drove in four runs, while Prince Fielder went 3-for-4 as the Tigers (18-18) split the two-game set in Chicago to climb back to .500.

After being shut out by American League ERA leader Jake Peavy through the game's first five innings, Detroit exploded for eight runs in the sixth off Peavy and White Sox reliever Will Ohman.

After Andy Dirks led off with a single, Cabrera started the power display with a two-run shot that nearly landed on the left-field concourse.

Fielder followed with a double and Peavy hit Brennan Boesch to bring up Raburn, who went deep for the first time this season with a three-run shot to bring the Tigers within one.

Peavy was removed after walking Jhonny Peralta and, after hitting Don Kelly, Ohman (0-2) served up a three-run homer to Jackson to complete Detroit's comeback.

The eight-run inning tied a season high for most runs in an inning for the Tigers, who also scored eight runs in Thursday's third inning against Oakland. The three sixth-inning homers are the most by the Tigers in a single frame this season.

Detroit added two more runs in the seventh on RBI singles by Raburn and Peralta, while four relievers combined to hold the White Sox scoreless the rest of the way.

The Tigers were forced to play catch-up after starter Max Scherzer allowed six runs (five earned) while throwing 99 pitches in only four-plus innings. It was just the second non-quality start in 11 career outings against the White Sox for Scherzer, who entered Tuesday with the most strikeouts and second-lowest ERA (2.39) against the White Sox among all Major League starters since 2010.

The White Sox and catcher A.J. Pierzynski (5-for-5) ended that trend quickly, scoring two in the first when Pierzynski hit a soft liner into left to score Alejandro De Aza. Tigers left fielder Don Kelly charged the ball and bobbled it, allowing Gordon Beckham to score.

The White Sox added two more in the third on a solo home run by Paul Konerko and an RBI single by Dayan Viciedo. Pierzynski had a single in the fifth inning to plate Chicago's final two runs.

Tigers closer Jose Valverde exited with an unknown injury in the ninth after getting two outs and giving up two hits. He was also charged with a walk.

Alexei Ramirez drove in two runs off Octavio Dotel with a double before Dotel closed out the win.

Cash Kruth is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @cashkruth. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Leads slip away for Tigers in loss to Twins
Quartet of errors from infield detrimental as Porcello struggles

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 5/16/2012 10:39 PM ET

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DETROIT -- After a couple weeks of pitching without much offense, the Tigers have spent the last few days using offense to overcome pitching. They overcame another early deficit Wednesday against the Twins, but they couldn't hold on once they pulled ahead.

The Tigers had two leads they couldn't preserve. The resulting 11-7 loss left them again alternating wins and losses, and sitting back at a game under .500. Yet after worrying for close to a month about their formidable offense, their last few games created more concerns about pitching.

One night after Max Scherzer struggled to try to get past the fourth inning, using 99 pitches, the Twins chased Rick Porcello after four innings and 100 pitches. A defense that erred around the horn didn't help him, putting the first runner on in a two-run opening inning before extending the second inning for Brian Dozier's three-run homer.

Still, while the errors provided extra outs and baserunners, the runs all scored on hits, including Dozier's second Major League home run three pitches after a Ryan Raburn error in the second.

Four of the six hits off Porcello went for extra bases, including a Josh Willingham double off the top of the right-field fence leadoff off the third and setting up Minnesota's tying run after the Tigers had taken a 6-5 lead.

The high pitch count was even more unusual for Porcello. For that matter, it was a relative rarity in baseball. According to research on baseball-reference.com, Porcello was just the third Major League pitcher since at least 1988 to last just four innings with 100 pitches without allowing a walk.

While the Twins put together the kind of big hits one would expect from the Tigers, Detroit's outburst off Twins starter Nick Blackburn came without an extra-base hit. Prince Fielder had sacrifice flies in each of his first two at-bats, the latter following a one-out walk and five consecutive singles in the second inning.

The Tigers knocked out Blackburn after two innings and 53 pitches. Minnesota's bullpen limited Detroit to a run over the final seven innings, that coming on a Miguel Cabrera RBI double that briefly put the Tigers in front again before Jamey Carroll's two-run double in the next inning off Duane Below put the Twins in front for good.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Miscues, missed chances spell defeat for Tigers

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 5/17/2012 3:44 PM ET

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DETROIT -- Doug Fister's path back to the dominance he enjoyed in the Tigers' rotation down the stretch last year took a wild turn Thursday. So did the Tigers' recovery at home.

While an uncharacteristically hittable Fister gave up back-to-back home runs in a three-run third inning, it was a Prince Fielder error at first base that set up the eventual deciding run in a 4-3 Detroit loss to Minnesota on Thursday afternoon at Comerica Park.

The Tigers' fifth loss in their last seven games not only sealed a two-game series sweep for the last-place Twins, it dropped Detroit to two games under .500 for the first time this season. More importantly, it continued an early-season stretch in which the Tigers haven't put together good pitching with good hitting for a consistent stretch.

Detroit was decent in both facets on Thursday, but not good enough. All three of the Tigers' runs came on solo homers by left-handed hitters off rookie starter P.J. Walters (1-1), who had a no-hitter going before Brennan Boesch led off the fifth with a home run to right.

Andy Dirks and Prince Fielder added solo shots in the sixth, setting up the Tigers with two chances to tie or take the lead with less than two outs. Both times, Twins relievers escaped with inning-ending double plays.

The latter of those chances in the eighth inning featured left-hander Glen Perkins missing the strike zone with 11 of his first 12 pitches, walking Dirks and Miguel Cabrera before falling behind on a 2-0 count to Fielder. Perkins recovered to strike out Fielder on his next three pitches before Delmon Young grounded sharply to Jamey Carroll to end the threat.

That sent Fister (0-2) to defeat despite a decent recovery that saw him salvage six quality innings, a possibility that looked remote after eight Twins hits and two walks over the first three frames. The last two of those hits provided the scoring damage with back-to-back home runs from Justin Morneau and Trevor Plouffe.

Fister stranded two runners in the fourth with a running catch from left fielder Dirks, but he couldn't avoid an add-on run once Fielder missed his throw to first on Josh Willingham's comebacker. Willingham ended up on third base on the Fielder error, his second in as many days and the Tigers' eighth in three games. Morneau's ensuing groundout drove Willingham in for the decisive run.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Verlander loses shot at third no-no in ninth

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 5/18/2012 11:41 PM ET

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DETROIT -- Sure, the Perfect Game club is probably nice. But the three no-hitter club is more exclusive. Justin Verlander was knocking on the door Friday night.

With one flailing two-strike swing and one shattered bat, Pirates leadoff hitter Josh Harrison slammed the door shut and chained the lock.

"That's why throwing no-hitters is so difficult," Verlander said. "It doesn't take a hard one, it just takes the right placement."

And with that, Friday's 6-0 Tigers win joined the many near no-hitters Verlander has thrown over the last two years, ending with his first one-hitter. It's the first no-hit bid he has lost in the ninth inning.

It was close enough that just about everybody in the sellout crowd of 41,661 not wearing a Pittsburgh uniform at Comerica Park thought he was going to get it.

"I think it's a little bit more surprising to me that I didn't than [if] I did," Verlander did.

It was also an example why many expect Verlander to eventually join Nolan Ryan, Sandy Koufax, Bob Feller, Cy Young and Larry Corcoran with his third.

Many in the crowd might have had a feeling early. While Verlander was entering the time of the year when he always seems to be at his toughest, the Pirates came to town with the lowest offensive numbers in baseball.

The way Verlander dropped curveballs on the plate, sent changeups at Pittsburgh's aggressive young hitters and spotted fastballs on the corner, few hitters around the league would've stood a chance. At the end, he had Harrison swinging badly at what might be his fourth-best pitch.

"I've wanted to be a part of Tigers history since I was a little kid, and I almost was," said Pirates manager and Michigan native Clint Hurdle. "For my money, it was a thing of beauty to watch. That's a master craftsman with a power tool. He can take you places you don't want to go."

He always has that potential. This always seems to be the time of year he puts it together, almost as regular as the seagulls that flock to the ballpark every year around this time to feast on bugs.

Verlander's second no-hitter came last May, holding the Blue Jays to an eighth-inning walk in Toronto. His first no-hitter, in 2007, came during Interleague Play against a Brewers team that featured a young slugging first baseman named Prince Fielder.

"They've always happened to me," Fielder joked later. "I've never been a part of it."

His catcher had a pretty strong feeling around the fourth inning. Alex Avila caught that no-hitter in Toronto last May, when Verlander used sliders and changeups to baffle a formidable Jays lineup. Friday's pitching, Avila said, was better.

Most teams start leaving pitchers with a no-hit going alone around the middle innings. Avila said he didn't talk to Verlander after the third. They simply had nothing to discuss.

"His stuff today, everything was nasty," Avila said after Verlander's 12-strikeout, two-walk performance. "Everything was working great. Changeup, curveball, slider, fastball, we were getting outs with every single one. He felt comfortable throwing every single one of them."

In what has become classic Verlander form, he mixed those pitches early while saving his upper-90s fastball for the seventh inning, when the lineup came back around to the more seasoned Pirate batters.

Rarer than the baserunners -- Neil Walker drew a walk as the second batter of the game, as did Andrew McCutchen in the seventh inning -- were the times the Pirates came close to a hit. They hit just three balls out of the infield through the first eight innings, two of them from Harrison.

The second of those nearly spared the drama and broke up the no-hitter in the sixth with a drive to deep left-center field that sent Don Kelly sprinting toward one of the deepest parts of the ballpark. Kelly was filling in for center fielder Austin Jackson, who missed the game with an abdominal strain.

"We were playing him the other way," Kelly said. "When he hit it, I didn't know at first how long it was going to hang up. Once saw it kind of go up more than a line drive, I knew I had a chance."

Had Verlander gotten the no-hitter, Kelly's running catch would've been the defensive gem that became the highlight. Nothing else was close to requiring extraordinary effort.

Once Verlander got through the middle of the order in the seventh, walking McCutchen after a full count but spotting a curveball for a called third strike on Garrett Jones, the watch was on. He geared up his fastball and struck out the Pirates in order in the eighth -- Casey McGehee watching a 98-mph fastball, Nate McLouth missing a 99-mph heater and Clint Barmes swinging at a slider in the dirt.

"Once the seventh comes, I'm not going to let them get a hit on something that's not my best stuff," Verlander said. "So I gave it all I've got the last three innings."

Once Mike McKenry grounded out to short leading off the ninth, that slider made Harrison look silly with two ugly swings for an 0-2 count. Harrison fouled off another, then took a curveball off the plate for ball one.

"I was too amped up. I was ready for the fastball, and I swung at the first two without really seeing them," Harrison said. "So I tried to slow everything down."

Harrison's deciding swing wasn't much prettier than his first two, and it shattered his bat. Still, he got enough to line it over Verlander's head and past shortstop Jhonny Peralta for a single.

"The first two he swung at were down in the dirt," Verlander said, "and this one was off the plate where he was able to just kind of stick his bat out there and hit it up the middle."

Said Avila: "His bat died a winner."

The Tigers were still winners. But they came close to so much more.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Prince, Smyly not enough against Pirates

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 5/19/2012 7:19 PM ET

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DETROIT -- How long does the momentum of a near no-hitter last, you ask? Not that long.

The momentum A.J. Burnett has built in his recent outings against the Tigers, on the other hand, has some legs to it.

While Drew Smyly arguably held his own, the combination of Josh Harrison and Andrew McCutchen got him twice for a pair of two-run homers. That was enough for Burnett, whose six innings of two-run ball continued his success at Comerica Park and halted Detroit's momentum in a 4-3 Tigers loss Saturday afternoon.

Burnett, once wined and dined by the Tigers as a free agent, had plenty of trouble against them in his first few years as an American Leaguer with Toronto, living up to his reputation for inconsistent command. Since leaving the Jays for the Yankees in 2009, however, he has fared surprisingly well against the Tabbies, splitting a pair of regular-season outings last regular season before turning one of the biggest surprises of last year's Division Series with 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball in Detroit in Game 4.

Now with a fresh start in Pittsburgh, Burnett isn't dominant, but he's effective. He had his chances to turn wild and fall apart Saturday, but didn't fall into his old struggles.

Burnett had runners on base with two outs in each of his six innings and stranded them all. None were more tense than the second inning, when he went from two outs and nobody on to bases loaded and a full count to Don Kelly. Pedro Alvarez leaned into the third-base stands to take back Kelly's foul pop-up and get Burnett out of his jam.

Burnett (2-2) repaid him by not coming close to another jam the rest of the afternoon. His only scoring damage was Prince Fielder's 394-foot line drive into the right-field seats.

Meanwhile, Harrison continued to pester the Tigers after breaking up Justin Verlander's no-hit bid in the ninth inning Friday night. The problem for Smyly Saturday was that those troubles came directly in front of McCutchen, by far the most dangerous hitter in Pittsburgh's league-worst offense.

Harrison bunted his way on with a well-placed roller to the first-base side of the mound in the opening inning. McCutchen turned on a 92 mph fastball from Smyly and sent it 416 feet to left field for his sixth home run of the year.

Smyly recovered from a two-out walk to Harrison with a McCutchen fly out near the warning track in right field to strand the bases loaded in the third inning. After Smyly's 0-2 pitch hit Harrison in the fifth, McCutchen hit seemingly the exact same type of opposite-field fly ball, but it stayed fair and carried out for a 354-foot homer to give Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead.

Though a Rod Barajas passed ball allowed Miguel Cabrera to score and whittle the lead to one, the Tigers couldn't rally from there. Former Tigers reliever Jason Grilli struck out Alex Avila to strand a runner on second in the seventh, then Ramon Santiago lined sharply to first baseman Casey McGehee for a double play to end the eighth.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Scherzer sets career high with 15 K's
Flamethrower fans most batters by Detroit hurler in 40 years

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 5/20/2012 6:20 PM ET


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DETROIT -- This is the Max Scherzer the Tigers have been waiting to see. It took a lot of work to get him there.

"I've worked really hard over the past two or three weeks on identifying this," he said.

Or as manager Jim Leyland said, "He responded to the challenge."

The result Sunday was the kind of strikeout total nobody had seen from a Tiger in 40 years. Once Alex Avila's go-ahead, two-run single rolled past the mound and shortstop Clint Barmes in the seventh inning, the result was also a Tigers' 4-3 victory.

He just missed the franchise record for a high-strikeout game. He'll take the victory instead.

"I want to be somebody on this team that can step up and help this team win," Scherzer said. "I know I'm capable of it on a consistent basis."

He did that Sunday about as well as anybody has for the Tigers this year, this side of Justin Verlander. He never pitched with a lead, but he pitched with the determination to give them every opportunity to win.

More importantly, he pitched with a fastball that seemingly exploded on hitters.

"This is hard to believe," manager Jim Leyland said in an attempt to explain, "but sometimes 95 [mph] and 95 are different. There's a 95 that's [whoosh] and there's a 95 that's [zip]. Today he had that at the right moment -- right in the hitting zone, just before it got to the plate."

Scherzer's performance brought back memories of his Memorial Day weekend performance two years ago, when he returned from Triple-A Toledo to strike out 14 Athletics. That started him on a dominant run of pitching for the rest of the season.

Leyland referenced that roll earlier this week. Sunday was even better than his 2010 version. For high-strikeout, high-velocity pitching, it was arguably his best outing ever.

Scherzer already led the league in strikeouts per nine innings, including two nine-strikeout performances over his previous three starts and an 11-strikeout gem in April. But he also had a seven-walk debacle over 4 2/3 innings in April at Yankee Stadium, and a 99-pitch, four-inning no-decision to the White Sox earlier this week.

Scherzer was trying to tweak his mechanics, but couldn't get it consistent. As pitching coach Jeff Jones put it, he was trying to "get everything on line, basically, keep everything going to the target."

Today, Scherzer had that, and he had a Pirates lineup ready to challenge him. Once Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen, arguably Pittsburgh's best two hitters, went down swinging on 0-2 pitches to end the opening inning, the roll was on.

"He was aggressive. They were swinging," Leyland said. "He was aggressive in the strike zone."

The Pirates swung and missed on all 15 strikeouts.

"For the most part, I was just working in the zone to try and get quick outs," Scherzer said, "but I wasn't able to do it because they were fouling off or swinging and missing. So I think that's why the strikeouts ended up happening."

Scherzer (3-3) struck out 12 of the 18 batters he faced over the first five innings. Six came against the Pirates' run-production trio of Walker, McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez. Some chased high fastballs. Others, he set up for devastating changeups. Some got one of each.

McCutchen, who homered twice to lead Pittsburgh to victory a day earlier, struck out three times, each time at an offspeed offering.

"My changeup was really working well today," Scherzer said. "I was able to throw it to both lefties and righties, and I was able to generate swings and misses out of it."

Scherzer's 15 strikeouts fell one short of the team record held by Mickey Lolich, who did it twice in a three-week span in 1969. Lolich was also the last Tiger to fan 15, doing so against the Red Sox on Oct. 2, 1972. Scherzer tied Paul Foytack for the team record for a right-handed pitcher.

"I've seen this guy pitch quite a bit," said Pirates manager Clint Hurdle, the former manager of the Rockies when Scherzer was with the D-backs, "and he's got a big arm. When he gets his breaking ball in play like today, he's tough. Matching someone like Lolich ... that's good stuff."

Just seven balls were put in play against Scherzer over the first six innings. The fact that two cleared the fences nearly set up his downfall. Rod Barajas came up after Scherzer had struck out Pittsburgh's previous five batters and jumped a first-pitch fastball for his fourth homer of the year in the top of the fifth.

After Jhonny Peralta's second homer of the year tied it again in the bottom of the inning, Walker fouled off four two-strike fastballs before he got an offspeed pitch he could send out to right for his second homer of the season.

"Walker's at-bat was like a Ted Williams at-bat," Avila said. "We threw the kitchen sink at him."

Pirates starter Kevin Correia wasn't nearly so deceptive, but he was effective until Prince Fielder doubled and scored on a Delmon Young single to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh. A one-out walk to Peralta and a Barajas passed ball set up Avila, whose ground ball through a drawn-in infield eluded both reliever Tony Watson and shortstop Clint Barmes.

Once Joaquin Benoit worked the ninth in place of injured Jose Valverde, Scherzer and the Tigers had their win. That, Scherzer said, was the reward.

"We're in this business to win," Scherzer said. "That's the No. 1 thing why we're here. And whenever you can do something to really help the team win, it's a gratifying feeling for anybody in this clubhouse. For me to go out here today and get the series win, it puts a smile on my face."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Avila homers off Ubaldo in losing effort

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 5/22/2012 10:10 PM ET

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CLEVELAND -- While Ubaldo Jimenez scattered a half-dozen walks and lived to beat the Tigers Tuesday night, the Indians ran Rick Porcello into submission. In the process, Cleveland ran its division lead on Detroit to four games with a 5-3 win at Progressive Field.

The season's first matchup of last year's primary AL Central combatants looked a little like their first series last season, a three-game set the Indians swept by pulling ahead late. Instead of beating the Tigers' bullpen this time, however, the Tribe picked away at Porcello with help from taking extra bases until a two-run sixth pulled Cleveland ahead for good.

Porcello (3-4) has been a study in inconsistency, but he had a pattern to his twists and turns. He had alternated two quality starts with two rough ones through his first eight outings of the year, never turning success into a roll but also never allowing struggles to prolong into a full-on slump. Tuesday marked his third straight subpar start, yet it was different than any of his other losses this year.

Porcello hadn't struck out more than four batters in a game since last July, yet used a combination of fastballs and changeups effectively enough to fan six Indians over 5 1/3 innings Tuesday. His downfall was the efficiency with which the Tribe turned leadoff runners into runs.

Two stolen bases in as many attempts from leadoff batters put the Indians into position to score on the next base hit, including Michael Brantley on his go-ahead tally after a leadoff single in the sixth.

Shin-Soo Choo, who had turned into a leadoff menace atop the Indians' order over the past week, walked and scored in the third inning before his leadoff double in the fifth set up the tying run. Yet it was a wild pitch, a ball in the dirt that skipped past Alex Avila's block attempt, that moved him to third for Travis Hafner's sacrifice fly.

Add the eight hits and five runs, four earned, to Porcello's previous two starts, and the 23-year-old right-hander has allowed 15 runs, 10 earned, on 23 hits over 14 1/3 innings since tossing back-to-back gems in the first week of May.

With one more early rally from the Tigers' offense, Porcello might have been able to overcome it. However, all three Tigers runs off Jimenez came on Avila's first home run since May 4, a 406-foot drive just over the center-field fence for his first homer at Progressive Field. Jimenez walked at least one batter in each inning after that, two in the third, but stranded them all.

Jimenez (5-3) stranded two runners in both the third and fourth innings, overcoming two-out walks each time. His three runs over six innings gained a measure of revenge for three straight losses to the Tigers down the stretch last season.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Miscues, missed opportunities doom Tigers

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 5/23/2012 9:55 PM ET

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CLEVELAND -- For the second straight night, the Tigers had the situations they wanted. Again, the Indians bullpen shut them down, stranding the bases loaded twice before Asdrubal Cabrera's eighth-inning double set up the go-ahead run on a Prince Fielder errant throw home for a 4-2 Tigers loss Wednesday night at Progressive Field.

Quintin Berry's first Major League hit, a bunt double, led off a two-run sixth inning that gave the Tigers the lead in a pitching duel between Doug Fister -- last year's Indians nemesis after his July trade from Seattle -- and Zach McAllister. However, Travis Hafner's two-run homer in the bottom of the inning tied it, setting up a tight game for the rest of the night.

The Tigers loaded the bases in the seventh and eighth innings off Cleveland's bullpen. Reliever Joe Smith fell behind on a 3-0 count to Miguel Cabrera, but regrouped after a called strike on the outside corner -- bringing Cabrera back after he began to walk to first -- to escape with a groundout to second.

Cabrera exchanged words with first-base umpire and crew chief Gary Darling after the out, and hitting coach Lloyd McClendon was ejected in the next inning. However, the Tigers had another, better opportunity their next time up.

A Jason Kipnis error and back-to-back singles from Delmon Young and Brennan Boesch gave the Tigers another bases-loaded opportunity with nobody out in the eighth against Indians setup man Vinnie Pestano. He struck out Jhonny Peralta on three sliders for the first out, then induced a Ramon Santiago grounder that gave first baseman Casey Kotchman enough time to throw home and retire Fielder.

Once Pestano spotted a full-count offering on the outside corner to get pinch-hitter Alex Avila looking, Cleveland hurlers had stranded 10 Tigers on base for the night. They were rewarded after Kipnis' one-out infield single and Cabrera's double into the left-field corner put runners at second and third against Phil Coke in the eighth.

Hafner hit a ground ball to first that Fielder charged for a potential play at the plate. His throw, however, bounced in the dirt and past Avila for an error. Without the out, the Indians also still had the sacrifice-fly opportunity, which they promptly converted on Carlos Santana's fly ball to center.

Chris Perez pitched the ninth for his 15th save, sending the Tigers five games behind the Tribe in the American League Central. They'll try to avoid a series sweep Thursday afternoon with Justin Verlander on the mound.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Missed chances hurt Tigers in loss to Indians

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 5/24/2012 2:49 PM ET

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CLEVELAND -- For the second year in a row, the Indians swept the Tigers out of town in Detroit's first stop at Progressive Field. As a result, the Tigers again have some ground to make up in the American League Central if they're going to contend.

After three games of close contests and scoring opportunities, the Tigers never found the breakout rally they needed. On Thursday, that cost them an opportunity to salvage a win with another strong outing from Justin Verlander, taking a 2-1 loss that dropped them six games back in the AL Central.

It's the Tigers' largest deficit in the division since they were eight games back on the heels of their sweep here at the end of last April. That was also the last time they were four games under .500, another mark they reached on Thursday.

Verlander (5-2) wasn't as dominant as he was in his no-hit bid last Saturday, but he wasn't far off. He gave up a 454-foot home run to Shin-Soo Choo on his third pitch of the game but retired 11 of the next 12 batters before Michael Brantley blooped a two-out single into right field in the fourth.

That resulted in the deciding run thanks to a lack of of run manufacturing Detroit isn't accustomed to. Brantley took off on Verlander's next pitch and stole second base. Verlander then fell behind Jose Lopez but evened the count at 2-2 before firing a 99-mph fastball.

Lopez got just enough of it for a soft line drive to right, turning Brantley's steal into a go-ahead run that stood up thanks to Indians starter Justin Masterson (2-3) and some missed opportunities from Detroit's offense.

Detroit converted Quintin Berry's leadoff double in the third into a run thanks to back-to-back groundouts, giving the Tigers their run without a multihit inning or a home run since last Wednesday. But Masterson stranded two runners in the first and seventh innings, the latter after Andy Dirks could not get down a sacrifice bunt to create a sacrifice fly opportunity for Miguel Cabrera.

A leadoff double from Brennan Boesch in the second inning turned into an out at the plate when Alex Avila hit a sharp grounder to third, leaving Boesch with little choice but to try to charge home. A good drive from Delmon Young in the opening inning came up short in the depths of right-center field thanks to a running catch from Brantley.

Verlander went the distance for Detroit, giving up the two runs on six hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. The last strikeout came after pitches of 100 mph and 101 mph to Jason Kipnis.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tigers lineup comes together to down Twins

By Joe Kieser / Special to MLB.com | 5/25/2012 11:40 PM ET

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MINNEAPOLIS -- The first inning of Detroit's game with the Twins on Friday was typical of how the season has gone for the Tigers thus far, but the second inning was how the Tigers would like the season to go the rest of the way.

The Tigers' bats came alive in Detroit's 10-6 victory over the Twins. After scoring a total of six runs in three straight losses to Cleveland, the Tigers had seven runs after five innings against Minnesota.

In the second inning, Detroit scored four runs on five hits to erase an early 2-0 deficit.

Brennan Boesch and Alex Avila each collected doubles with runners in scoring position off Twins starter Anthony Swarzak. Both Boesch and Avila each had two doubles, while Avila was the main run producer, driving in a total of three. Detroit would add two more runs in the top of the fourth to chase Swarzak from the game. Boesch and Prince Fielder added three hits and each collected two RBIs.

Friday's run total for Detroit was the most since a 10-8 victory over Chicago May 15.

Drew Smyly threw 48 pitches in his first two innings of work, but got important outs when he needed, settled down and retired nine out of the next 10 batters he faced before leaving after five innings of work, giving way to reliever Brayan Villarreal.

Smyly threw 93 pitches, gave up four runs, three of which were earned, struck out two and walked two to earn the victory.

Despite getting the win, the Tigers were sloppy in the field. Detroit made just two official errors, but botched double plays, made errant pick-off attempts and bad throws. Two of Minnesota's six runs were unearned.

Joe Kieser is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tigers hit parade continues in win

By Joe Kieser / Special to MLB.com | 5/26/2012 7:22 PM ET


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MINNEAPOLIS -- The only thing that put a damper on the Tigers hitting display on Saturday at Target Field was the rain. Detroit had six runs and 11 hits before a second rain delay cooled things off in the bottom of the sixth inning. But the rain did not erase a Detroit victory, it only delayed it.

Detroit's hitting woes will not be a topic of conversation any longer if it keeps hitting the way it has on Friday and Saturday, as the Tigers pounded Twins pitching for a second consecutive day in earning a 6-3 victory.

Once again, Detroit hitters drove a Minnesota pitcher from the game in less than five innings, and the Tigers put up four runs in one inning.

"It was an interesting game with the rain delay," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "There were a lot of nice hits today. We came out and swung the bats pretty good again, we were ready to play."

The big blow came with one out in the top of the fifth, when six consecutive Detroit batters collected hits off of Carl Pavano, putting up four runs to break a 2-2 tie. All of the hits were singles, with the exception of an Andy Dirks double.

The Tigers offense was crisp early, as Dirks, Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder collected three consecutive hits in the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead.

Pavano said the Detroit lineup is just too good when you are not hitting your spots, something he said he did not do well in the first or fifth innings.

"I got us out on the wrong foot, giving up two runs. I've pitched against these guys enough to know they're aggressive. There was a stretch in the middle where I made some good pitches and got some outs, but that inning, it's just a game of inches. I looked back at the film and some of them got too much plate even though they were ground balls. So I could've done a better job in that inning, and I didn't do that."

Fielder collected four more hits, to go along with his three yesterday, giving him seven hits in his first nine plate appearances in the series. Dirks had a nice day at the plate too, as he accounted for two doubles.

"He's starting to get it going, I knew he would. He's got too good of a track record," Leyland said about Fielder.

Detroit starter Max Scherzer allowed two runs after facing the first five Minnesota batters, but zoned in after that to retire the next 13 hitters he faced, before the Twins bunched some hits together and the rain began to pour in the bottom of the sixth.

Scherzer's key to success was even though the Twins got some hits and runs off him, he didn't give them any extra base runners. "I didn't walk anybody. That's always a recipe for success. You don't make mistakes like that and give them extra runners. I am more happy about that than anything about this start."

Unfortunately, the delay meant the end of Scherzer's day, as he left after 5 1/3 innings of work with runners on the corners in the sixth inning before action was halted. Octavio Dotel took over for Scherzer and shut down the Twins rally in the sixth, and closed out the seventh, as he struck out four of the five batters he faced on 20 pitches.

Scherzer and Dotel teamed to strikeout 13 Minnesota batters, and Detroit pitchers struck out 16 Twins in all.

Scherzer said he wanted to return after the rain delay, but it was not his decision to make. "I always want to go back out, you have to have that mentality. I was ready to go out, but [Leyland] is the manager, he makes those decisions," Scherzer said.

Leyland said the rain delay only reduced the number of batters Scherzer would've faced by one, as he was due to face right-handed hitter Josh Willingham next and left-hander Justin Morneau after that in the sixth.

"I made a decision, 80 pitches this early in the season. He wasn't going to face Morneau any way. I just wasn't going to put Scherzer back in there," Leyland said.

Scherzer did allow two home runs, but also struck out nine Minnesota batters on his way to earning his fourth victory of the season.

Two separate rain delays put a stop to the action for a total of 63 minutes.

Joe Kieser is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Miggy's blast in ninth seals sweep of Twins

By Joe Kieser / Special to MLB.com | 5/27/2012 6:44 PM ET

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MINNEAPOLIS -- As they had done in the previous two games of the series with the Twins, the Tigers scored early in Sunday's finale, but it was some late heroics that carried the day in earning a sweep over the Twins.

With the Tigers trailing, 3-2, in the top of the ninth inning, Miguel Cabrera connected on a two-run homer to dead center field off Twins closer Matt Capps to give Detroit a 4-3 victory.

Capps said he was trying to go inside on Cabrera, whom he had down 0-2 in the count, but his next pitch caught too much of the plate.

"I faced [Cabrera] last night and he beat me offspeed away, so we were trying to go hard in. I didn't get it in there as well as I needed to," Capps said.

The Tigers were in danger of wondering what might've been before the Cabrera homer, as they continually failed to capitalize on scoring chances, leaving 10 men on base.

Detroit left the bases loaded twice, once when Don Kelly bounced into a double play in the fourth inning and another time when Brennan Boesch struck out in the fifth.

"I was having nightmares during that game, leaving those guys on out there," manager Jim Leyland said. "We came through finally. We just left too many guys, not very good situational hitting, but we ended up getting through it and ended up getting a big win."

The Twins didn't do a good job of situational hitting, either, as they stranded 11 runners on base.

"We had some chances there at the end," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We had some right guys up there but it just didn't work out for us. It's one of those knock the wind out of your sails [games]. So we're a little frustrated in the clubhouse."

Before the Cabrera blast, a bright spot for the Tigers was the continued hot hitting from Prince Fielder and Quintin Berry. Fielder collected five consecutive hits at one point in the series and Berry produced three hits Sunday. Berry has a hit in his first five games at the Major League level, a feat that hasn't been accomplished by a Detroit player since at least 1918.

Berry did it in the field, too, preserving a one-run deficit with a spectacular catch in the eighth inning. With a runner on third and two outs, Twins infielder Jamey Carroll drove a ball to center over the head of Berry, who was playing shallow. Berry raced back and dove backward, fully extended, to make the grab.

"He made a great catch that probably saved the game," Leyland said. "I know he can run, he slaps the ball around pretty good. He can create some stuff for you. He's exciting."

Fielder was an incredible 9-for-12 in the series and reached base eight consecutive times at one point, increasing his average to .317 this season. Berry is now hitting .381.

The Cabrera homer made up for an earlier play in which the Detroit All-Star got caught napping on the basepaths.

After producing a run-scoring single in the first inning, Cabrera was a little lackadaisical returning to first base as the ball was coming back to the infield. Twins second baseman Alexi Casilla took the ball, came up behind Cabrera and tagged his back before Cabrera could put his foot on first base.

Tigers starter Rick Porcello was not razor sharp on the mound, but pitched well enough to give Detroit a chance to win -- despite being visited by the Detroit trainer and Leyland three separate times for potential health reasons.

"Anybody could see I wasn't as sharp as I wanted to be again, but I was able to scratch through six innings, limiting them to three runs," Porcello said. "I have to look at that in a positive manner, we won the game, it was a great win for us."

Early in the game, Porcello came off the mound awkwardly after throwing a pitch, which facilitated the first visit from the training staff. In the third inning, he was visited again after Joe Mauer smashed a line drive off his leg, and one more time in the fourth when he dove headfirst toward first base on a putout of Fielder.

"It was kind of a weird game to be honest, a couple of freaky things going on, but we got through it and got the sweep," Leyland said.

After the game, Porcello said his leg was a little sore and bruised where the liner hit him, but that he should be fine moving forward.

Joe Kieser is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Fister yields six runs in ejection-marred loss

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 5/28/2012 4:30 PM ET


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BOSTON -- The Tigers' road trip of disagreement resumed Monday at Fenway Park. Unlike their arguments last week in Cleveland, however, they didn't have a close game by the time it was over.

Doug Fister was working a tie game when he thought he had racked up an inning-ending strikeout of Mike Aviles. By the time the inning actually ended, Aviles, Daniel Nava and Dustin Pedroia all had two-out RBI hits.

It wasn't the reason for the Tigers' 7-4 loss to the Red Sox on a Memorial Day matinee, not when Fister had one of his roughest outings with Detroit and the offense continued to struggle against left-handed pitchers. By game's end, it was more of a mood-setter.

Fister's six earned runs matched his total from his previous five starts this season and ranked as one of his two highest outputs given up since his trade to the Tigers last July, as did his 11 hits allowed. He threw strikes, but more hittable ones than usual, and he was hurt by at least three hits after 0-2 counts.

That said, he would've escaped half that damage if not for his 0-2 pitch in question to Aviles, who seemingly had swung and missed at a curveball. Home-plate umpire Jeff Nelson initially said Aviles struck out, but first-base umpire Bill Welke overruled the call, saying Aviles had tipped it into the dirt. Replays showed Aviles had missed the pitch and catcher Gerald Laird caught it.

Aviles' RBI single came two pitches later, scoring Mike Sweeney to pull Boston in front at 2-1. The next two RBI hits after that -- Nava's double off the center-field fence and Pedroia's single off Prince Fielder's glove at first -- turned out to have more of an impact in the outcome.

Before Jarrod Saltalamacchia added a third-inning solo homer off Fister, manager Jim Leyland and third-base coach Gene Lamont were gone before the frame began, having been ejected for arguing. Of greater impact, however, the Tigers' offense that had produced timely runs in Minnesota never got started.

The Tigers have struggled to hit left-handed pitchers, a vast difference over past seasons, and Felix Doubront continued the trend. Solo homers from Delmon Young and Laird comprised all the scoring damage off Doubront, who kept Detroit's other right-handed hitters contained.

Before the game, Leyland had said that Detroit need a spark from Ryan Raburn and Jhonny Peralta to get its offense going. Peralta hit a two-run homer in the ninth while Raburn struck out three times.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Verlander betrayed by 100-mph fastball
Ace allows season-high five earned runs, 10 hits in loss to Boston

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 5/29/2012 11:14 PM ET

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BOSTON -- Five days ago, Justin Verlander threw 100-mph fastballs in the eighth and turned in an inning to remember in defeat in Cleveland. On Tuesday, he threw a 100-mph payoff pitch in the fourth inning that cost him.

It was a full-count delivery with two outs and the bases loaded in a one-run game, and it was Verlander's best pitch under the circumstances. If the Tigers' ace was going to give up the lead, he was going to make Daniel Nava swing the bat and make contact. Nava sent the payoff pitch into left field off the Green Monster to clear the bases, and in the process sent Verlander on his way to his first five earned-run outing since the end of last season for a 6-3 loss to the Red Sox on Tuesday night at Fenway Park.

It was a vastly different outing for Verlander than his last time out, but it was same result. Together, they marked the first set of back-to-back losses since April 11-16 of last season. They also provided a reminder that just because Verlander has turned in so many victories after Tigers defeats over the last year and a half doesn't mean he's an automatic.

What Verlander provides is a chance, one the Tigers usually don't have to provide an offensive outburst to convert. They couldn't get more than a run for Verlander last Thursday off Justin Masterson and the Indians' bullpen. They found a couple extra runs Tuesday thanks to Prince Fielder's solo homer and RBI single after a Jhonny Peralta homer.

By then, though, the Red Sox had gotten their big inning off Verlander, whom Boston's hitters forced out of his routine of saving his top fastball for the later innings. By then hitting his top fastball, they ensured he didn't last into the later innings.

The Red Sox put their leadoff hitter on base against Verlander in four consecutive innings starting with David Ortiz's double in the second. Mike Aviles beat out a double-play ball to allow Ortiz to score, but Verlander fanned Nick Punto on three fastballs to keep it at that.

A leadoff walk to Nava in the third inning went for nada when Verlander retired the heart of the Red Sox's lineup from there, though he took an Ortiz comebacker off his leg to do it.

Three singles in the fourth, starting with Kevin Youkilis on an 0-2 changeup leading off the inning, put Verlander in a bind with one out. He had overpowered Punto on fastballs his previous time up, so he hit 98 mph on a 2-0 pitch to jam him into a soft liner to Peralta at shortstop and take away the sacrifice fly opportunity.

Up came Nava, who fouled off a 98-mph fastball before Verlander fired his first triple-digit fastball for ball one. After Verlander missed with a curveball, he hit 99 or better on three straight pitches.

The first at 99 missed for a 3-1 count. Nava swung and missed at the next to run the count full. Having missed with the curve already, Verlander went back to 100. It was a classic example of one of Verlander's favorite phrases: Here it is, hit it.

Nava hit it. It wasn't hard, but he got enough for an opposite-field double.

Verlander lasted six innings for the 53rd consecutive start, continuing the longest such streak by a Major League pitcher since Steve Carlton 30 years ago. However, Verlander gave up five runs for just the third time in his last 63 starts. He allowed 10 hits for the first time in 50 starts since the Twins had that many on Sept. 2, 2010.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tigers edged by Red Sox, skid hits three

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 5/30/2012 10:30 PM ET

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DETROIT -- Drew Smyly had a gem going with a three-run lead before four Red Sox batters and four swings put him behind. By contrast, the Tigers' downfall after they tied the game was the kind of torturous two-out rally that won't sit well with them.

The Tigers were a strike away from taking a tie game into the eighth inning against each of the top three batters in the Red Sox's lineup, but Detroit couldn't halt Boston's rally. Once Adrian Gonzalez sent a two-strike pitch from Phil Coke deep into right field for a go-ahead ground-rule double, the Tigers were on their way to a third straight defeat, this one a 6-4 decision Wednesday night at Fenway Park.

Until that rally, all four Red Sox runs had come in a four-batter span with two outs in the fourth inning off Smyly, who had faced the minimum 11 batters until then. Gonzalez's ground-rule double to right-center set up David Ortiz for a tape-measure drive to straightaway center, then a Kevin Youkilis blooper to right field did the same for Will Middlebrooks, who barely cleared the Green Monster.

That was the extent of the damage off Smyly, who gave up eight hits over six innings with four strikeouts and 86 pitches. He was in line for the loss until Andy Dirks' ground ball down the third-base line extended the seventh for Miguel Cabrera's blooper in front of a diving Gonzalez down the right-field line to score Gerald Laird.

A close call at second base on Alex Avila trying to leg out a leadoff double might well have cost them another run, but the drop on Cabrera's blooper for his fourth hit of the night still had them tied. Once Octavio Dotel struck out the first two batters he faced in the seventh, he seemed poised to keep it a tie ballgame.

Once Daniel Nava escaped a 1-2 count to draw a walk, the rally was on. Dotel nearly ended it by putting Mike Aviles into an 0-2 hole, but Aviles' ground ball on the next pitch got through the left side to bring up Gonzalez and force the relief change.

Enter Coke, a longtime Red Sox nemesis from his younger days with the Yankees. He threw three straight breaking balls to Gonzalez, who fouled off the first two before getting enough of the third to pull it over Brennan Boesch's head into the right-field corner.

Cabrera's four-hit effort paced Detroit's offense. Avila had two hits and a walk.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Hit and run: Berry sparks Tigers past Red Sox

Leadoff man notches three hits, two steals, fantastic grab in win
By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 6/1/2012 12:40 AM ET


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BOSTON -- Don't ask manager Jim Leyland what he's going to do with Quintin Berry once Austin Jackson returns, because he doesn't know. Leyland doesn't even know yet when Jackson's coming back from the disabled list.

Here's what Leyland and the Tigers know: They're a better team right now when Berry is running somewhere, because it means he's using his speed. It's an asset not only the Tigers lack, but most of baseball doesn't have to his degree.

Berry's speed helped turn an otherwise plodding three-hour, 23-minute battle for the Tigers at Fenway Park into a 7-3 win over the Red Sox. It helped turn what could've been a four-game series sweep into a salvaged win, and a potentially disastrous road trip into a 4-6 record.

Detroit's leadoff man didn't do everything; he had a lot of help behind him. But when the Tigers steal three bases for the third time this month after doing so only once last season, and Prince Fielder legs out his second triple since 2010, it's hard to argue Berry doesn't set a tone.

"It's a lot of fun. It's a high-energy piece that I'm allowed to bring to the game and to this team," Berry said. "You see your teammates get fired up when you do certain things, stretch first to third or first to home, steal a bag, everybody's behind you the whole way. It's exciting to have it and be able to help this team out any way I can."

It's an exciting asset that Tigers fans will have the chance to see at home for the first time Friday night. It's a skill the Red Sox will be glad to see out of their park and bothering the Yankees this weekend.

Berry took away what could've been a game-tying hit in the late innings for the Red Sox into a highlight catch in the depths of center field at Fenway. Daniel Nava, who usually struggles against lefties but centered the Phil Coke pitch in the seventh, had to question his luck when he saw it happen.

"He hit that ball real good," Leyland said, "and I wasn't too happy when I saw it go up, but Berry made a good catch."

Coke, who watched Adrian Gonzalez get him for the go-ahead run Wednesday night, thanked Berry on his way out of the clubhouse by mimicking a tip of the hat.

"It hung up there just enough, so I was able to get under it," Berry said. "I knew that wall shoots out there into right-center. It's definitely big out here."

Berry used all of that depth to protect a lead he helped build.

Berry had been an offensive catalyst upon arrival from Triple-A Toledo last week, helping the Tigers sweep the Twins in Minnesota last weekend, but he went 2-for-13 with nine strikeouts through the first three games of this series, including four strikeouts Wednesday.

After that game, he thought about his approach. Berry was 2-for-4 over those three games when he put the ball in play. His solution was to avoid a two-strike situation.

"The last two days, I've been getting behind in the count and struggling a little bit," Berry said, "so I definitely was going to be aggressive early, looking to get my pitch and not miss it."

Berry's first four at-bats totaled seven pitches. After grounding out on the first pitch of the night, he continued a third-inning barrage against Josh Beckett by lashing a 1-0 pitch into the gap in left-center field. The single not only scored Don Kelly, it moved Danny Worth into scoring position for a Brennan Boesch sacrifice fly.

Berry stole second on the first pitch to Boesch and then took off for third on Miguel Cabrera's flyout to center. Fielder rewarded Berry with an RBI single through the middle.

Kelly, Worth and Berry had three straight hits in just six Beckett pitches.

"You're going to have five pitches in a game that you're going to have to make, and I think I made three of them today," Beckett (4-5) said. "And the other two cost me three runs in one inning."

By contrast, Berry was patient in the fifth inning by waiting for a 1-1 pitch to lay down a bunt single in front of third baseman Kevin Youkilis. That, too, was an adjustment after he fouled off the previous pitch.

"[Youkilis] was playing tight on me," Berry said, "and I got ahead in the count and [Beckett] gave me a fastball. I took a pretty good swing on it and I saw Youkilis back up a little bit finally, gave me a little room. So then I decided to drop it down."

Again, Berry stole second on catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, whose second-inning solo homer and third-inning RBI single accounted for two of the three runs off Tigers starter Max Scherzer. Saltalamacchia's throw hit Berry in the arm and rolled, allowing Berry to take third ahead of Cabrera's one-out single for the go-ahead RBI.

Berry credited first-base coach and baserunning coach Tom Brookens for his aggressiveness on the basepaths.

"Me and Brookens went over the tapes earlier on Beckett, seeing how quick his move and how slow he is to the plate, really broke him down a little bit," Berry said. "I was definitely looking to get on base early and steal."

Berry's second three-hit game in five days bumped his hit total to 13 through his first nine Major League games, tied for fifth-highest for a Tigers player since at least 1918.

Scherzer (5-3) wasn't quite as dominant as his previous two starts, in which he had fanned 24 batters in 12 1/3 innings. Still, he retired nine straight batters from the fourth inning through the sixth, getting his hitters back to the plate quickly as they got going off Beckett.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Crosby's debut uneven as Tigers fall to Yanks
Lefty allows six earned runs over 3 1/3 innings in first big league start

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 6/1/2012 10:40 PM ET

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DETROIT -- Casey Crosby has the potential to become a very good pitcher for the Tigers someday soon, a potential that was on display Friday night in his Major League debut. But while he has the stuff to dominate big league hitters, he doesn't have the polish yet.

While Crosby struck out three Yankees over 3 1/3 innings, he paid for four walks with a five-run second inning, capped by a Curtis Granderson grand slam. CC Sabathia took it from there, with a quality start to end his winless stretch at Comerica Park, sending the Tigers to a 9-4 loss to the Yankees.

Until a couple of days ago, Crosby was slated to pitch Thursday for Triple-A Toledo, where he has been learning in his craft in his second season back from arm problems. He had fanned 16 batters in 15 innings over his previous two starts for the Mud Hens, walking only one.

He started out with that type of stuff Friday, racking up called-third strikes on Granderson and Alex Rodriguez after Derek Jeter singled to lead off the game. After Quintin Berry tripled and scored to give the Tigers the lead in the first, Crosby came back out and walked three of the next four Yankees, throwing seven consecutive balls at one point.

Crosby (0-1) took away the sacrifice-fly opportunity with a first-pitch flyout to left from ninth batter Chris Stewart, then came within a strike of an escape with a 1-2 count on Jeter. After he couldn't get Jeter to offer at a breaking ball, he missed with back-to-back fastballs and walked in a run.

Crosby also extended the inning for Granderson, who once hit a grand slam against the Yankees here at Comerica Park in 2009, his final season as a Tiger. He had a grand slam in each of his first two seasons in Yankee pinstripes, and added his 2012 slam when Crosby challenged him with a fastball.

Jayson Nix's double and run with one out in the fourth inning ended Crosby's night. He gave up six runs on four hits with four walks and three strikeouts.

That was a big boost for Sabathia (7-2), who had lost his last four starts in Detroit since 2007 thanks in part to six home runs. He gave up a Ramon Santiago homer leading off the third inning, and a two-out RBI single to Prince Fielder, but settled in from there to finish with seven quality innings.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Santos saves Tigers after Miggy sets tone

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 6/3/2012 1:30 AM ET

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DETROIT -- Miguel Cabrera hit somewhere around 900 feet worth of home runs to put the Tigers ahead.

The Yankees tied it in the ninth inning without a hit -- and without their hitting coach or their manager, for that matter, since both had been ejected.

The third and only available catcher on the roster drove in the winning run with nobody left on the Tigers' injury-depleted bench.

It was that kind of evening at Comerica Park.

"I don't think anybody can say, if they saw that game tonight, that everybody's not fighting their tails off -- because they are," manager Jim Leyland said after the Tigers' 4-3 walk-off win. "We may not be putting on the show they want us to put on, but we're not cheating them."

In Cabrera's case, they're not getting cheated at all. In the case of guys like Santos and Quintin Berry, they're getting surprised.

"Great team win," said Brennan Boesch, who came home on Santos' game-winning sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth. "Probably not the easiest one to watch for the skipper and everyone in the dugout and Tigers fans. It was an up-and-down kind of game, but it was a great win, and hopefully it can build some momentum for us."

In the mob scene that followed Santos off the field, Miguel Cabrera raced out of the dugout with two cups of Gatorade and poured them over Santos' head. The way Cabrera hit the ball all night, it probably should've been the other way around.

Cabrera's home runs counted for just two runs total, not nearly enough to win this game alone. Still, when people think about this game, they'll think about that.

Cabrera left quickly after the game ended to see his family, but his teammates spoke plenty for him.

"I've never seen anything like it," said Don Kelly, who provided his own highlight by taking away a Mark Teixeira home run with a catch over the left-field fence in the fourth inning. "I mean, really, you had to be here in the park to see what he did."

Cabrera's first home run traveled farther than the second, hitting the upper level of the center-field ivy off a fourth-inning slider from Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda. The drive traveled an estimated 433 feet, according to the Tigers' distance chart, but 466 feet according to ESPN's Hit Tracker Online.

Berry's RBI single an inning later padded the lead for starter Rick Porcello, whose six innings of one-run ball included runners stranded in scoring position in four innings. Joaquin Benoit stranded two Yankees by retiring Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez in the seventh, but when Rodriguez called a late timeout as Benoit had started his delivery, he tweaked something in his right forearm and sailed a ball to the backstop.

With Benoit out, Nick Swisher's two-out RBI single off Octavio Dotel in the top of the eighth tied it. Cabrera's second home run, this one with two outs off Cory Wade, untied it.

The ball landed in the center-field porch where the television cameras are stationed, where Eric Munson hit an estimated 457-foot drive in 2004.

"It's a 2-1 changeup down; it wasn't a bad pitch at all," Yankees catcher Russell Martin said. "That's impressive. Right there, you really can't do anything except tip your hat to that guy."

Or, as Boesch put it, "That's greatness in his prime, right there."

In the early years of Comerica Park, the Tigers kept a list of how many players had homered into the center-field shrubs. Just a few had done it more than once in their careers. Cabrera was the first to do it twice in a game.

The second one nearly stood up as the difference. Though closer Jose Valverde hit two batters and walked another to load the bases with one out, he nearly escaped. Robinson Cano popped out to short for the second out, and Teixeira had taken one strike and fouled off another to run the count full.

Valverde's payoff pitch in the dirt was anticlimactic, a fourth ball to bring in Dewayne Wise to tie the game. With the bottom half of the order due up, the Tigers seemed ticketed for extra innings.

Boesch was mired in an 0-for-13 slump when his ground ball through the right side started the rally in the bottom of the ninth off losing pitcher David Phelps (1-2). Jhonny Peralta was 0-for-11 before he lined a single into right field, moving Boesch to third.

Even so, the Tigers had their eighth and ninth hitters due up and Ramon Santiago as the lone position player on the bench. Once the Yankees turned to lefty Boone Logan to face Kelly, Leyland played his bench option and hit Santiago.

That ensured Santos would have to hit if his spot came up. The Tigers were not only out of healthy players, they were out of healthy catchers.

That's what Santos wanted.

"When they got Santi 2-0 and I saw [them decide to] walk him, I said, 'OK; I'm going to get it done,'" Santos said. "I mean, I was praying I'd get to the plate. I want that at-bat."

All Santos wanted, he said, was a pitch to get in the air. He passed on Logan's first-pitch slider for strike 1. He went at the 0-1 fastball and got it in the air, forcing Swisher to backpedal in right field as he caught it.

It didn't have Cabrera distance. It had enough.

"It was perfect," Boesch said.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.