2012 DETROIT TIGER SCHEDULE AND RESULTS

Verlander handed rare third straight loss

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 6/3/2012 6:45 PM ET

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DETROIT -- The last time Justin Verlander lost three consecutive starts, he ended up leading the American League in losses. That was 2008, when he was still learning to harness his talent as a pitcher. That won't happen this year.

That was the same season the Tigers fell too far back in the AL Central race by late summer to contend at the end, finishing with a disappointing campaign. They're not anywhere near that point yet, even after dropping their seventh series out of nine with Sunday's 5-1 loss to the Yankees. Still, right now, the Tigers are surviving more than they are contending.

Detroit's roster has been sapped by injuries to the point that it had to make a move to get a second player on the bench on Sunday, with Matt Young replacing injured outfielder Andy Dirks. The Tigers' starting catcher, second baseman and center fielder on Sunday all have more plate appearances at Triple-A Toledo than at Detroit so far this year, and the catcher and center fielder are injury replacements.

Verlander is the least of manager Jim Leyland's worries, but he's also the pitcher whose days on the mound give the Tigers the best chance to win. The offense behind Verlander against Yankees starter Phil Hughes, on the other hand, wasn't what Leyland was hoping for.

"Hughes was good, but we knew that ahead of time," Leyland said. "I'm disappointed in the offense today, [and] mostly left-handed hitters. He's been doing the same thing. Left-handed hitters haven't been hitting him."

The last time Hughes pitched a regular-season game at Comerica Park, in 2010, he tossed seven scoreless innings and struck out eight in a winning effort. The year before that, he tossed six scoreless innings on two hits with six strikeouts and won. By contrast, the Tigers roughed him up last year at Yankee Stadium.

Prince Fielder's tape-measure home run on Sunday was the first run Hughes had allowed here in 18 innings since 2007. It was also the only run he allowed in Sunday's complete-game four-hitter.

Brennan Boesch started against Hughes in that 2010 game. He said Hughes was the best he has seen him on Sunday.

"He was throwing inside early in the game, and then later he was throwing everything away," Boesch said. "It was a pretty good game plan for him, and he was ahead of us on adjustments."

Leyland wasn't frustrated about it, he said, but he was disappointed. If there was an emotion in the home clubhouse, it was more frustration.

Verlander seemed foremost among the frustrated, mainly about his own outing.

"It's not always going to be great," Verlander said, "but I've just got to do a better job. Obviously, you know it's going to happen every now and again, but I still don't ever expect it. I'm never happy about it."

Verlander lost a pitchers' duel in Cleveland a week and a half ago and took a beating at Fenway Park on Tuesday. The Yankees continued their recent success off him with a two-run first inning and two big hits after that.

Derek Jeter's leadoff shot was the 27th leadoff homer of his career and his third this season, and Verlander seemingly struggled to recover. He gave up back-to-back walks to Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez, then crossed up catcher Omir Santos on a passed ball that moved Granderson into position to score on a Robinson Cano sacrifice fly.

Verlander used up 26 pitches in the opening inning. Leyland said that a slightly delayed start due to Magglio Ordonez's retirement ceremony might have been a factor. The fact that Santos had never caught Verlander in a game, too, might have played a role, the manager added.

"I'm not worried about him at all," Leyland said. "He's fine. He's absolutely fine. You could see he was definitely out of sync. You can always see it with him."

Verlander didn't cite it.

"The pitches that I practice in the bullpen and the pitches that I always practice weren't, I guess, quite there," Verlander said. "I had to resort to some different things, trying to pitch differently than I normally do, trying to throw the ball over a lot of the plate. And that's a recipe for disaster."

Verlander used a double play to escape damage in the second, but he had to challenge Rodriguez after falling behind, 3-1, in the third. Rodriguez sent the 96-mph fastball off the brick wall behind left-field, an estimated 447-foot drive, for a solo homer.

Granderson's double in the fifth set up one final blow, this one a Cano drive deep to right-center that cleared Quintin Berry after the center fielder seemingly strayed too far in on his route. Cano rolled into third with a triple before Danny Worth's throw to third short-hopped Miguel Cabrera and eluded Verlander, who was late to back up Cabrera behind third base. Once the ball rolled into the home dugout, Cano trotted home.

Verlander lasted 6 1/3 innings, stretching his streak of consecutive starts with at least six innings to 54. He gave up five runs in back-to-back outings, however, for the first time since September 2009.

That coincided with the Tigers' late-season struggles that cost them a division title and a postseason berth. They're not far enough into the season to worry about that right now. It's the overall play that worries the club, as it tries to contend in the first place.

For now, the Tigers are surviving.

"Not good at all," Verlander said of the way they've played so far.

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 fizzle against Ubaldo, Indians
Miggy drives in lone run off Tribe starter; late rally not in cards

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 6/5/2012 9:48 PM ET

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DETROIT -- Tigers manager Jim Leyland tried to take some of the blame off his hitters Tuesday afternoon. It seemed to make little difference when they stepped to the plate Tuesday night.

For the second consecutive game, a pitcher with an ERA over 5.00 coming into Comerica Park held Detroit's talented but inconsistent offense to a lone run. This time, it was Indians ace Ubaldo Jimenez, who limited the Tigers to a run on five hits over 6 2/3 innings to help a trio of RBI triples stand for a 4-2 Detroit loss at Comerica Park.

The Tigers' sixth loss in their last eight games also marked the seventh game in that span in which they were held to four runs or fewer. It came after Leyland shared responsibility for the offensive struggles.

"We know what Jimenez does," Leyland said before the game. "Every player out there will have a report. Every player knows what he's done to him in the past. It's a matter of execution. It's a matter of doing it."

Jimenez executed a well-planned game for his second-best outing in terms of damage and by far his best outing in terms of command. After walking 42 batters over 56 innings heading into the night, he didn't walk a Tigers hitter until his last batter, when Ramon Santiago drew the pass with two outs in the seventh.

Jimenez retired 16 of 17 Tigers from the first inning into the sixth, with Santiago's third-inning bunt single accounting for the lone baserunner in that stretch. He held Detroit scoreless after Miguel Cabrera's first-inning double scored Quintin Berry to put Detroit up first.

Cabrera accounted for two of the five hits off Jimenez. He and Prince Fielder fueled a sixth-inning rally with back-to-back two-out singles, but Jimenez induced Delmon Young to fly out to right on his next pitch.

Some of the issues come from an injury-shortened lineup. Matt Young, just called up from Triple-A Toledo after Andy Dirks went on the disabled list, struck out four times in his first start. Alex Avila went 0-for-2 before leaving with an aggravation of his right hamstring injury.

Still, other issues continue to leave Leyland and others puzzled.

"Right now, the only thing that I take offense to on my own behalf is, it's my responsibility to get the team clicking, and we haven't got it clicking," Leyland said before the game. "And I scratch my head.

"I know there are several reasons why. If you look at the numbers, it explains some things. But I'm still responsible for that. So you have to take your heat. I don't have any problem with that."

Rookie left-hander Drew Smyly took the loss after allowing four runs on six hits over six innings. Three of those runs scored on triples, with another set up by one.

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 enjoys first win as Tigers tame Tribe
Miggy's homer helps offense back lefty in the series finale

By Anthony Odoardi / MLB.com | 6/7/2012 6:45 PM ET

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DETROIT -- A smile isn't something seen in the Tigers' clubhouse too often as of late. But after picking up his first career victory Thursday afternoon, rookie Casey Crosby wore one from ear to ear.

"It's the best feeling in the world," said Crosby, who was drenched from head to toe after receiving a beer shower from the veterans -- a tradition when a rookie earns his first win -- following the Tigers' 7-5 win over the Indians in the series finale.

The 23-year-old Crosby fired 5 1/3 innings, yielding three runs on five hits and three walks versus Cleveland in his second big league start. Although it wasn't his best outing, it was enough to put the Tigers in position to win, which they did, in front of a sellout crowd of 40,851 at Comerica Park.

After allowing six runs in 3 1/3 innings in his debut against the Yankees, Crosby credited Thursday's success to having experienced a few extra days in the Majors.

"I knew what to expect," Crosby said. "When I got up last time I got in and didn't even get to go to the clubhouse at all or the dugout or anything. This time I was a little more familiar with the big leagues."

For the Tigers, the win carried a little bit extra. Entering Thursday's game, Detroit was riding a three-game losing streak and had lost seven of the previous nine contests. In addition, the Tigers were six games under .500 and hadn't been able to defeat the Indians in five previous tries.

Crosby's victory over Cleveland was something Rick Porcello, Doug Fister, Max Scherzer, Drew Smyly and even Justin Verlander had been unable to do this season -- although Crosby got seven runs of support from his offense.

"Even though I got the win, you're not going to expect to get seven runs every outing from the team," Crosby said. "It's great when it does, this team's capable of doing it every night, but you want to help them out as much as you can."

The 6-foot-5 left-hander said he had much better control of his breaking ball, which took him through five innings having allowed one run on an RBI double from Indians third baseman Jose Lopez. However, by that point, Crosby had a six-run lead to work with.

Four of those runs came in the first inning. Prince Fielder, Delmon Young and Don Kelly all had RBI singles and Fielder scored from third base on a wild pitch to make it 4-0.

In the bottom half of the fourth, Brennan Boesch, who manager Jim Leyland moved up to the two-hole in an attempt to wake up his bat, got the green light on a 3-0 pitch and laced an RBI ground-rule double over the center fielder's head.

"If it hadn't worked you'd have been a fool because we got [Miguel] Cabrera on deck," Leyland said of letting Boesch swing away on a 3-0 count. "But we just felt like we got to try to get [Boesch] going, get him a little confidence. And he took a real good hack."

Cabrera stepped up next and lofted a two-run home run into the right-field gate, his 13th of the season, to increase the lead to six.

After Cabrera's homer, the Tigers went hitless in their next 11 at-bats and allowed the Indians to creep back into the game. Cleveland cut the lead to two off relievers Brayan Villarreal and Phil Coke and had the tying runs in scoring position against Joaqiun Benoit in the eighth.

With two outs, Lopez drove a 2-2 fastball to deep center that forced Berry to do a 360 before tracking it down.

"It wasn't that high, so I thought it had a chance to go over his head," manager Manny Acta said. "But, Berry, he's very athletic and fast back there. He can make up ground pretty quick. He recovered pretty good and made the catch. This is a very spacious center field."

It was the last opportunity the Tribe had to tack on runs as Jose Valverde shut the door with a hitless ninth inning to record his 10th save.

"It's all must-win time," Berry said. "It's time to get things rolling. The way we came out today was a good sign for this road trip. We came out swinging and Crosby threw a heck of a game."

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

Tigers fall in 10 after erasing early deficit

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 6/9/2012 12:25 AM ET

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CINCINNATI -- Tigers manager Jim Leyland hates the feeling when he calls a squeeze bunt and has to wait and see it executed. Enough what-ifs run through his mind that everything moves in agonizingly slow motion.

The feeling of watching one get executed on him looked just as bad as he talked about Wilson Valdez's 10th-inning pinch-hit safety squeeze that earned the Reds the 6-5 win on Friday at Great American Ball Park. It wasn't just the sudden end. It was everything that built up to it.

The Tigers' first visit ever to Great American Ball Park left them with a familiar result. Yet they haven't had a loss like this during their recent woes.

They've played far worse games than this during their skid of eight losses in their last 11 games. If anything, they had more things go right on their way back from a 4-0 deficit after three innings than they did during their wins over the skid. Yet the ending left them with one of the worst feelings they've had this year.

"I don't know what to say," catcher Gerald Laird. "It's just one of those you have to build off of. I mean, we did a lot of things good tonight -- came back. We played a pretty good, solid baseball game. We made some good plays, turned some double plays. We got some timely hitting. It's one of those games you need to win, but it was tough."

To say they're not trying after a game like this is foolish, considering how they made their way back. To say they're simply not good is overly simplistic, and defeats the first argument. To say they're snakebitten, while it has evidence in all the injuries -- now including right-handed reliever Octavio Dotel with right elbow inflammation -- also sounds like an excuse.

To say they're searching might be better.

"Everybody's grinding," said starter Rick Porcello after one of his most frustrating outings of the year. "But the other teams are fighting, too. It's not just us. Myself and us as a club, we have to find a way to get it done consistently, day in and day out."

Porcello was still beating himself up over the hanging changeup he threw to Joey Votto, whose 429-foot drive off the batting eye in straightaway center field provided a three-run homer with an exclamation point.

It also dictated a pinch-hit move when Porcello's spot in the batting order came up to lead off the sixth. Leyland needed a deeper outing from his starter on a night when he was short in his bullpen. He said before the game that he would not pitch Joaquin Benoit after 42 pitches over the previous two days.

Leyland did not say anything before the game about Dotel, likely hoping to keep his injury quiet for as long as he could. Dotel hadn't pitched in a game since last Saturday against the Yankees, which is when he says he felt elbow pain, but the Tigers hadn't had a late-inning lead for him -- or anybody in their late-inning bullpen -- until Thursday against an Indians lineup with no shortage of lefties.

With Benoit and Dotel out, Leyland made the surprising move to Jose Ortega for his Major League debut with the potential tying run on second base in the eighth inning. However, Todd Frazier's .327 career average against left-handed pitching -- including four homers in 55 at-bats -- suggested going away from Duane Below or Phil Coke.

Leyland didn't want to use Coke unless he had to, because Coke had thrown the previous two days. Once Chris Heisey's infield single put Frazier on third as the potential go-ahead run for Votto, he had no choice.

Coke sat Votto nearly as quickly as he ran in from the bullpen to face him, striking out the former National League MVP on three pitches, mainly breaking balls.

"The last at-bat, I knew we got him with two fastballs," Laird said. "He threw a lot of good [breaking balls]. He threw a good outing. It was just tough that he couldn't get the win."

Coke retired the middle-third of the order in the ninth to send it to extra innings. With closer Jose Valverde and Brayan Villarreal the last relievers standing, Leyland decided to keep riding Coke. Miguel Cairo's line-drive to right rattled around in the outfield corner for a leadoff triple in the 10th, promptly putting him in trouble.

Coke got a ground ball from Ryan Hanigan to keep Cairo at third, but Valdez's slow roller sent the Tigers' infield charging and Leyland's stomach churning like a lunch at Skyline Chili.

"We thought that it was certainly a possibility," Leyland said. "It was more of a safety squeeze, it was not an all-out suicide squeeze. I did not put the pitchout on, obviously. Had I, we probably would not have had the guy, since it was more of a safety squeeze. But we were certainly aware of it."

Fielder scooped the ball rather quickly, but his toss left Laird with no time to tag Cairo as he slid in behind him.

"It hit the grass and kind of died," Laird said. "I mean, I was looking and where I was, he was already by me by the time I reached back. It's a good play, and they executed it right there. It's one of those things where you have to tip your cap. They made a good execution and it worked out for them."

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.

Fielder delivers big hit after Verlander battles
Ace labors through six innings, dialing up 100-mph heaters

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 6/9/2012 9:35 PM ET

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CINCINNATI -- Justin Verlander's winless streak stretched to four games Saturday. He didn't particularly care.

The line from Verlander's Saturday afternoon at Great American Ball Park will show six innings of two-run ball on six hits with three walks and nine strikeouts, a good but not great outing for him. The Tigers' 3-2 win over the Reds goes to Brayan Villarreal, the reliever who pitched after Verlander.

That's fine with him, because he knew how badly they needed this game.

"We came through," Verlander said of Prince Fielder's go-ahead RBI single to cap a two-out, eighth-inning rally. "If we're going to be a good ballclub, like I think we will be, we're going to have to win these types, these one-run, 3-2, 2-1 type games. Hopefully today gets us on a roll."

The line will show the 127 pitches he threw for his second-highest pitch count of the season, and how he needed every one of them to last six innings for the 55th consecutive outing. It won't show the 34 foul balls Reds hitters used to prolong their at-bats, six of them on the 12-pitch walk to Brandon Phillips that extended his fifth inning to 37 pitches.

The line won't show the 17 pitches Verlander threw trying to get the third out of the fourth inning after Delmon Young's misplay on a ball in the sun left Joey Votto with a double and Verlander with runners on second and third with nobody out.

It also won't show the eight pitches he threw of at least 100 mph in that inning -- four of them to strike out Jay Bruce and take away a sacrifice-fly opportunity, three of them to Todd Frazier before he connected on a 101-mph fastball. It won't show the look on Verlander's face as Frazier flared the ball into right field for an opposite-field, two-run single and a 2-2 game, nullifying solo home runs from Fielder and Ramon Santiago to open Detroit's lead.

Verlander gets credit for six quality innings. He doesn't necessarily get credit for the kind of innings they were. Manager Jim Leyland will give him credit for it, as will an amazingly large gathering of Tigers fans who made the trip.

When they talk about the heat in this game, it won't be about the 85-degree temperature at first pitch.

"Six innings on some days is one thing, and six innings on another day is another thing. And that's what I mean by another thing," Leyland said. "What you saw today was another thing. That wasn't just a normal six innings. That was an exertion."

That was a throwback outing to Verlander's younger days, when his pitch count would climb like the numbers on a gas pump and he would crank up his fastball early, trying to strike out everyone while hitters fouled back his best pitches. He doesn't like to throw that hard that early anymore. But the way this team has struggled, he wasn't messing around when Chris Heisey's single and Votto's sun-aided double created the Reds' best opportunity.

"I don't like having to do that, simply because it's kind of hard to back it back down," Verlander said. "But I've kind of learned over the years how to do it."

He also wasn't forgetting the second-inning situation when Bruce might have been stealing signs from second base after his one-out double, the only hit off Verlander out of the first 10 batters.

"That's between us and them," Verlander said about the meeting at the mound on a 3-2 pitch with Bruce on second and Ryan Ludwick up in that second inning.

By the time Verlander followed Frazier's game-tying single by striking out Ryan Hanigan in a 10-pitch duel, his pitch count had soared from 46 after three innings to 76 after four. He has those every now and then, but he rarely has them in back-to-back innings, as he did with the 37-pitch fifth.

"We made him work," Bruce said. "We put him on the ropes a couple of times. We couldn't deliver that knockout. He made pitches when he needed to. We couldn't pull it out. We had chances and we didn't capitalize on [them], me in particular a couple of times."

He'd get out of those in his younger days, but he wouldn't last long after them until he learned how to conserve pitches. That's how he became the pitcher he is now.

Had the Tigers rallied in the top of the sixth to bring up Verlander's spot, he would've been out after five innings and 113 pitches. But the Tigers went down in order, and Verlander bargained his way into 15 more pitches from Leyland. He used 14 of them, the last nine to strike out Hanigan.

"We just obviously couldn't go any longer," Leyland said, "but he did a great job of keeping us in there and really pitching through that one inning was tough."

Verlander's pitch count dwarfed Bronson Arroyo's 87 pitches over seven innings of five-hit ball. Aside from the home runs, the only trouble Arroyo encountered was stranding runners on second and third in the fifth inning with an Austin Jackson flyout. For a change, however, the Tigers pounced on the bullpen once Arroyo left.

Lefty Sean Marshall, a friend of Verlander's from their school days in Virginia, was seemingly headed towards an easy inning until Brennan Boesch drove a fly ball off the center-field fence for a two-out double. Marshall intentionally walked Miguel Cabrera to set up the lefty-lefty matchup with Fielder, who was 5-for-23 with 10 strikeouts off Marshall for his career.

Fielder jumped on a first-pitch slider and lofted it through the middle and into shallow center field, soft enough to allow Boesch to beat the throw home. It marked his second go-ahead hit for the Tigers in the eighth inning or later.

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 rise up in eighth to steal win in Cincy
Winning run scores on wild pitch; Jackson homers, plates three

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 6/10/2012 11:45 PM ET

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CINCINNATI -- The Tigers had six innings to cover with an injury-depleted bullpen Sunday night once Drew Smyly left with a blister. The Reds had Aroldis Chapman fresh to try for a six-out save with a three-run lead, and they had a home crowd behind him.

Everything suddenly flipped in the eighth inning on national television.

By the time Chapman recorded an out, the Tigers had taken the lead, capped by Austin Jackson's two-run double, jumping on a 99-mph Chapman fastball. And the many Tigers fans who gathered in Cincinnati for the weekend and stuck around for the finale made Great American Ball Park sound more like Comerica Park, cheering the Tigers on their way to a 7-6 comeback victory.

If the Tigers were in need of a spark to reverse their injury-plagued and inconsistent fortunes, this could be it. They'll get an off-day Monday to gather themselves in Chicago after three tight games in the Queen City and recuperate some injured players. One way or another, though, they won't soon forget this game.

Four RBIs from Todd Frazier, who drove in seven of Cincinnati's 14 runs on the series, and solo homers from Zack Cozart and Devin Mesoraco powered the Reds to a 6-2 lead after six innings. That, plus Smyly's early exit, had taken its toll on a bullpen.

Prince Fielder's RBI single whittled the lead to three in a seventh inning that saw Dusty Baker go to his bullpen three different times. Once Ramon Santiago's four-pitch walk and Gerald Laird's bloop single off Logan Ondrusek brought the potential tying run to the plate with nobody out in the eighth, Baker bypassed his remaining relievers and went straight to his closer.

Chapman hadn't pitched since the Pirates beat him with two 10th-inning doubles Thursday night. He was well-rested and aggressive with his 100-mph fastball, but the Tigers were ready.

Pinch-hitter Brennan Boesch, scratched from the starting lineup with a sprained right ankle, turned on a 99-mph heater and grounded it through the right side to load the bases. Matt Young swung and missed at two fastballs before Chapman nicked him with a 1-2 pitch to drive in a run.

Jackson, who just returned from the disabled list Saturday, sent a line drive over Frazier's head at third and just inside the left-field line to score two. A four-pitch walk to Quintin Berry loaded the bases and set up a matchup between Chapman and reigning American League batting champ Miguel Cabrera.

The Tigers didn't need it. A wild pitch sent Young home with the go-ahead run. Chapman retired the middle of the Tigers' lineup from there, but the damage was complete.

Brayan Villarreal picked up the win. Joaquin Benoit preserved the lead in the eighth for Jose Valverde, who picked up his 12th 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.

After rallying, defensive miscues cost Tigers

By Rowan Kavner / MLB.com | 6/13/2012 1:45 AM ET

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CHICAGO -- Two pivotal close calls going against Jhonny Peralta led to the Tigers thwarting their own comeback attempt after the club rallied in the late innings for the second time in as many games in a 4-3 loss to the Cubs on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.

Peralta fielded a grounder by Cubs center fielder Tony Campana with two outs in the eighth inning and threw high to second base, pulling Ramon Santiago off the bag to load the bases.

"The first guy hitting, Campana, he's a good runner, so I tried to go to second base," Peralta said. "I saw Santiago a little bit away from the base. I tried to make a good throw."

The Tigers' shortstop committed his second error of the inning on the next play, as Peralta's throw to first base on a grounder by Starlin Castro forced Prince Fielder to lean to his right. It appeared Fielder's foot may have still been on the bag on a bang-bang play, but Castro was ruled safe at first as the Cubs scored the go-ahead run.

Reliever Phil Coke (1-3) took the loss, pitching two innings and allowing just the one unearned run.

"I was pretty confident that Santiago not only beat the runner to the bag, but the throw beat the runner to the bag at second base, and I guess we could go look at the replay and see what it says," Coke said. "I knew for a fact [Castro] was out at first base, because there's no way that [Fielder's] body came off the bag with the ball not in his glove.

"There's no way. He's pushing off of the bag to get to the ball. ... I'm not saying anything ill toward anybody, I want to be very clear about that. It is what it is."

After scoring four runs in the eighth inning on Sunday to win by one run, the Tigers scored three runs on two run-scoring hits off reliever Casey Coleman to tie the game at 3 in the seventh inning on Tuesday.

The inning began on a double by Delmon Young on another close play at second base, where it appeared Darwin Barney may have made the tag.

"I had my back turned and I kind of went right in front of [the umpire's] line of sight and threw myself in front of the bag," Barney said. "It looked like I got him."

A walk by Peralta chased Cubs starter Paul Maholm, who struck out a season-high seven, and brought in Coleman, who allowed an RBI single to pinch-hitter Santiago and a two-run single to Austin Jackson.

"We gave ourselves a chance," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland. "It's a tough way to lose when they don't hit a ball out of the infield and you lose the game. That's all part of it. [Campana's] got real good speed; he can create some problems for you."

The Tigers managed to get hits off Maholm throughout the game, with singles in the second, third, fourth and sixth innings, but failed to string any together until he left in the seventh.

Fielder and third baseman Miguel Cabrera both hit deep flies against Maholm that were pushed back into the park with the wind blowing in.

"That's Wrigley Field," Leyland said. "Some days it blows out, some days it blows in. Thursday afternoon it could be blowing out. That's part of the game."

Tigers starter Max Scherzer kept the game within striking distance, allowing three runs and fanning eight in six innings. He said it was difficult to helplessly watch the eighth inning unfold.

"The umpires have a tough job," Scherzer said. "We're asking them to be perfect. I wish there was a way we could have review, I wish there was a way something like that could be corrected. That's an extremely tough call."

Scherzer struggled with his command at times, walking five, including one intentionally. The three Cubs who scored in the first six innings all reached base via walks. Scherzer had allowed more than three walks only one other time this season.

"For the most part, I was working both sides of the plate," Scherzer said. "I walked too many batters there, besides the intentional walk. My job is to not give those free passes out. Other than that, I thought I was attacking the zone."

The loss snapped Detroit's seven-game winning streak against the Cubs and dropped the Tigers to 4-3 in Interleague Play this season.

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

Tigers ride four-run sixth to comeback victory
Boesch 4-for-5 with homer, Peralta triple shy of cycle at Wrigley

By Rowan Kavner / MLB.com | 6/14/2012 12:46 AM ET

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CHICAGO -- No lead seems insurmountable for a Detroit offense that's scored at least three runs in an inning to tie or take the lead late in each of its last three games.

Detroit's comeback Wednesday night in an 8-4 victory marked redemption for shortstop Jhonny Peralta, whose two errors on close calls Tuesday night ended the Tigers' hopes for a come-from-behind attempt.

Peralta went 3-for-4 and finished a home run short of the cycle, knocking in two runs on a game-tying double as part of a four-run sixth inning for the Tigers, who trailed 4-1 entering the frame.

"He's a professional," right fielder Brennan Boesch said of Peralta. "He put it behind him. We even talked about it, yesterday was yesterday, and he came out and had a huge game for us."

Peralta's day at the plate could only be surpassed by Boesch's stellar hitting performance. The right fielder finished 4-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs, increasing his hitting streak to six games.

Boesch is hitting .252, after finishing May with a .238 batting average. He already has three multihit games in June, after just five in all of May. "There's ups and downs in a season," Boesch said. "My start happened to not be the way I wanted, but I never panicked and worked hard and I'm continuing to work hard. It's a long season. You continue to keep going."

Detroit couldn't get much going off Cubs starter Matt Garza in the early innings. Boesch's single in the sixth marked Detroit's first hit since his single in the third.

The sixth-inning single sparked the four-run rally for the Tigers, after Miguel Cabrera followed with a grounder that was booted by Cubs third baseman Joe Mather.

"I just missed it," Mather said. "I think it was the turning point in the game. Garza got out of trouble right there -- he was in a little bit of trouble and he got out of it. I feel bad that's what started it all."

An RBI single by Delmon Young scored Boesch and put Detroit's second run on the board. Following Peralta's game-tying double, catcher Gerald Laird then laid down a bunt single down the third-base line.

"That's playing the game the way you're supposed to play the game," Leyland said. "You take something, you see it, it's available, you take it. That was huge."

Peralta scored the go-ahead run when second baseman Ramon Santiago sent a scorching grounder back to Cubs starter Matt Garza, whose only play was to first base.

"We're not giving up," Boesch said. "We're scratching and clawing for every win. That builds a lot of character in this clubhouse."

Boesch added a solo home run in the seventh on an 0-2 pitch, the first time he'd hit a homer on that count in his career. He notched his fourth hit of the game with an RBI single in the eighth.

Boesch also contributed defensively, robbing the Cubs' David DeJesus of extra bases with a diving snag to his right in the seventh.

Center fielder Austin Jackson added the final defensive gem with a leaping catch against the ivy in left-center field with two runners on in the ninth to end the game.

"You've just got to get used to that," Leyland said. "He's been doing that for a few years since we've had him now."

Detroit pitcher Rick Porcello snapped a six-start winless skid by recording his first win (4-4) since May 6 in his first career start at Wrigley Field.

Porcello allowed nine hits, surrendering two runs in both the second and fifth innings.

"The second inning, left a couple pitches up, which they hit hard," Porcello said. "After that, I was able to settle back down."

The bullpen backed him up with four scoreless frames from relievers Brayan Villareal, Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde. Villareal and Benoit allowed no hits and struck out a combined four batters.

Detroit's bullpen has allowed just 19 earned runs in its past 76 innings since May 17.

"I think Benoit's about as good as it gets in that setup role," Leyland said. "He seems to get lost in the shuffle all the time. Nobody ever seems to mention him, but I think quietly he's one of the best in the business at what he does."

If not for late-inning comebacks, the Tigers would have dropped their series against the Reds and would have already lost the series against the Cubs. Instead, Detroit could capture both road series with a win Thursday afternoon.

"It was a good win for us," Leyland said. "Tomorrow's a big game. We won the series in Cincinnati, now we've got to work real hard to try to win the series tomorrow."

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

Verlander finds groove to get back in win column
Righty improves to 17-2 in Interleague Play with eight solid innings

By Rowan Kavner / MLB.com | 6/14/2012 6:47 PM ET

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CHICAGO -- Manager Jim Leyland described baseball at Wrigley Field as more of a happening than a game. The audible Detroit fans contributed more than a portion of the largest mid-week attendance ever in a three-game series at Wrigley, loudly cheering the Tigers to their second consecutive road series win.

Even four-time All-Star pitcher Justin Verlander couldn't believe the intensity of the crowd as he began warming up before tossing eight innings to earn his first win since May 18 against Pittsburgh in a 5-3 victory Thursday afternoon.

"The fans were incredible," Verlander said. "I got chills out in the outfield running when I was warming up. I just jogged out to center and back, and they went nuts. The whole outfield bleachers was really loud."

Verlander admitted the Thursday crowd of 42,292 -- the largest of the season at Wrigley Field -- may have fired him up too much before he grounded into a fielder's choice in his first at-bat.

After allowing two runs in the second inning, Verlander settled down on the mound and at the dish. He didn't allow another Cubs player to reach scoring position over the next six innings, and placed down two perfect sacrifice bunts, the second moving Ryan Raburn into scoring position in the seventh inning.

Verlander was content remaining hitless in 22 career Major League at-bats.

"I said, 'I hope I go 0-for-0 with four sac bunts,'" Verlander said. "In reality, it's fun to swing the bat, but I want guys on base and I want our team to have the opportunity to score runs."

That attitude allowed center fielder Austin Jackson to break a 2-2 tie by knocking Raburn in on the next at-bat with an RBI single to left field for his second hit of the game, giving the Tigers a lead they would not relinquish.

Jackson knocked in two essential runs in the ninth inning on his seventh home run of the season to increase the Tigers' lead to 5-2, scoring pinch-hitter Don Kelly, who reached on a triple past a diving Tony Campana in center. The win provided the insurance Detroit needed, as Jose Valverde allowed one run in the ninth inning before striking out Alfonso Soriano to earn his 13th save.

"It's a lot more fun when you have fans cheering you on, when you hear that, 'Let's go, Tigers,' chant on the road," Jackson said. "It's a really good feeling."

The rival chants between the three-game combined total of 124,782 Cubs and Tigers fans continued throughout the series.

"All you had to do was look," Leyland said. "There was so much orange around the ballpark. It was really a neat atmosphere."

Verlander earned his first win in five starts to give the Tigers the series victory. He had suffered a loss in his three previous decisions before Thursday, marking the first three-game losing streak he's had since September 2008.

A trip to Wrigley Field against the last-place Cubs is just what Verlander needed, as he improved to 17-2 in 23 career games Interleague Play.

"You don't take anybody for granted at this level," Verlander said. "They've got a lot of pieces. They've got that little scrappy leadoff guy [Campana]. He gets on base and wreaks havoc. That's the guy, for me, today, that I focused on."

Campana went 0-for-3 off Verlander before doubling and scoring off Valverde.

"My first at-bat, he was throwing it seemed like [batting practice] fastballs, they were like 90 miles an hour," Campana said. "Sometimes you look up at the board and he was throwing 97. Adding and subtracting, that keeps us off balance -- that's good pitching."

The Tigers spotted their starter two runs in the first two innings on RBI doubles by first baseman Prince Fielder and second baseman Raburn. Fielder entered the game hitting .545 with runners in scoring position since May 25.

Detroit grounded into three double plays in the next four innings before taking the lead in the seventh. The most double plays turned against the Tigers this season was four, by Minnesota on May 26.

Raburn made his first appearance at Wrigley Field, joining the club from Triple-A Toledo for the series finale when the Tigers sent pitcher Drew Smyly to the 15-day disabled list. He added an infield single in the seventh inning, scoring the go-ahead run on Jackson's single.

"It's really a good game for your team," Leyland said. "It wasn't like the big guys just carried you this trip. You can't expect them to carry you all the time."

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

Valverde's error opens floodgates in extras

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 6/16/2012 12:53 AM ET

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DETROIT -- Hours after Tigers manager Jim Leyland talked about his team badly needing a right-handed hitter, the reason behind recalling Ryan Raburn from Triple-A Toledo, they got their share of runs off Rockies lefty Jeff Francis. They didn't get enough, considering it was the Colorado bullpen that gave them fits.

The same could not be said of the Tigers bullpen once closer Jose Valverde entered in the 10th inning. By the time back-to-back home runs from Carlos Gonzalez and Michael Cuddyer off Luis Marte all but sealed the Tigers' 12-4 loss Friday night, the back-and-forth battle that preceded the eight-run 10th was unrecognizable.

"It's a funny game. It was a great game for nine innings," Leyland said.

Once Wilin Rosario's chopper bounced over shortstop Jhonny Peralta's glove and into left field to score two runs, Leyland said, "Really, all heck broke loose."

The one identifiable piece left from the previously tied game was the throwing error on Valverde, whose high-arcing toss to first on Eric Young's sacrifice bunt carried Prince Fielder off the bag. Ironically, it was the only truly wild throw Valverde had all night. The miscue meant that only one of the six runs off Valverde (3-2) were earned.

One was all they needed, the way the Rockies' bullpen shut down Detroit's batters. The rest left little doubt.

By the time Colorado closer Rafael Betancourt finished off the bottom of the 10th in a non-save situation, the chances Detroit had to win it were distant memories. After rookie catcher Bryan Holaday had singled and scored to tie the game in the sixth, the Tigers had the bases loaded on walks and Delmon Young fouling off pitches from Rockies lefty Rex Brothers to keep it alive.

Young battled for nine pitches before chasing a pitch in the dirt to end the threat. Brothers, Matt Belisle (3-2) and Betancourt held Detroit to only one baserunner the rest of the way, retiring 13 of the final 14 Tigers.

Detroit did the same until Valverde.

"They did a great job," Leyland said. "So did our guys. [Duane] Below, [Brayan] Villarreal, [Phil] Coke and [Joaquin] Benoit all did pretty darn good, and their guys did pretty good. That happens. Valverde's been fantastic lately, absolutely fantastic. But we didn't score. We just didn't score enough runs. We're supposed to score more runs than that."

Leyland has mentioned that before. Against left-handed starting pitchers, though, it seems to have particular poignance.

It wasn't long ago that the Tigers would pummel lefties with a lineup that featured Miguel Cabrera batting behind Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Guillen in the mix when healthy, and other right-handed hitters sprinkled in. They spent several years, in fact, looking for productive left-handed hitters to balance out the order.

They have their balance, able to alternate left- and right-handed batters throughout a lineup. However, while they're 23-22 in games started by right-handed pitchers, they're now 7-12 against lefty starters, including 2-5 at home.

The Tigers arguably have their right-handed hitters. Right now, though, they're struggling to get big hits out of the ones behind their All-Stars.

Francis posted a 2.31 ERA against the Tigers in three starts last year in his lone season with the Royals, so he knew how to approach them. A three-run third inning accounted for the bulk of Detroit's runs, with RBI doubles from Austin Jackson and Cabrera ahead of Fielder's run-scoring single.

Back-to-back groundouts from Young and Peralta ended it there. Raburn's double leading off the next inning went unrewarded once Francis worked Holaday into a groundout to third and then, after walking Jackson, getting a called third strike on Brennan Boesch.

"They had some people out there and they're going to have some people out there," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said, "because they're a very solid offensive club."

Holaday did more than his share, with two hits and two runs. His one-out single on an 0-2 pitch in the sixth was the hit that chased Francis from the game. Once a wild pitch and Boesch's groundout scored a run to tie the game again, Francis' line was complete at four runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings.

Essentially, Francis and Tigers rookie lefty Casey Crosby dueled to a draw. With Crosby's fourth-inning exit, though, the Tigers' bullpen had more innings to cover. They did their part until the 10th.

Valverde has struggled in the past with tie games in extra innings. And if Leyland had Octavio Dotel or another experienced arm available, he said, he might have used him there. But the way the Tigers bullpen is right now, it was either Valverde or rookies Marte or Luke Putkonen.

"Valverde's been fantastic lately, absolutely fantastic," Leyland said.

It wasn't command that undid the closer. All three hits he allowed came with two strikes, including Rosario's go-ahead single on an 0-2 pitch and Marco Scutaro's RBI single on the same count to chase him.

Once Gonzalez sent Marte's pitch deep to right, the close battle was hard to see.

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.

Fister dazzles in return, earns first win of season

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 6/16/2012 8:52 PM ET

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DETROIT -- Jim Leyland looked at the state of his Tigers bullpen Friday night, with Doug Fister set to make his first start in three weeks, and openly worried.

"We've got major problems," the manager said at that point.

Less than 24 hours later, he had six scoreless innings from Fister and three solid innings of relief from Phil Coke and Joaquin Benoit. He had a much brighter outlook, well beyond the 4-1 win over the Rockies on Saturday afternoon before a sellout crowd of 41,800 at Comerica Park.

Leyland can see the injury problems, which had been taking up seven lines of the Tigers' pregame media notes, finally dwindling. He can see the team he was supposed to have finally coming back. It's not there yet, but it's in sight.

"I've never had so many moves in my managerial career as we've had this year," Leyland said. "In and out, there's something going on every day. There's freaking roster moves, getting a guy on, outrighting a guy, I've never been through this [much] in all the years I've managed. ...

"We're not doing real good, but we are doing a pretty good job of weathering the storm. And if we get everybody back, shame on us if we don't do something."

Getting Fister back, and in the form he had last year, could be the biggest return of all. For someone who hadn't pitched in a game in nearly three weeks, and who really hadn't pitched much all season, Fister looked like he was in his old form. He hid the rust well until the sixth inning, but the pitches he threw looked polished.

Fister (1-3) not only earned his first win of the year in seven tries, he may well have saved the Tigers' pitching staff. Three of the six Detroit relievers available -- Luis Marte, Luke Putkonen and just-recalled Thad Weber -- had fewer than 15 innings of Major League work on their resumes. Two others, Coke and Duane Below, are left-handers. Benoit was initially expected to be out, but was available for an inning with Jose Valverde unavailable after his six-run appearance in the 10th inning Friday night.

In other words, Coke and Benoit were the only regulars among their late-inning relief corps who were available. By the time Fister was pulled, the Tigers had a three-run lead to hand over to Coke as he entered to bridge the seventh and eighth innings for Benoit, who gave up a run in the ninth.

Under normal circumstances, Fister could have gone at least another inning. As it was, having missed nearly three weeks, his 82 pitches were enough. His 54 strikes out of them explained a lot about his efficiency.

"For me, it was really just a focus on going out there and executing," Fister said. "That's the kind of execution that I go for every time I go out there and pitch. Let's get these guys to make bad contact within the first three pitches, and if that takes me farther into the game, then it takes me farther into the game."

Other than a fastball in the upper 80s, much as it was at the start of the season, Fister looked about as close to his 2011 season as he did when he blanked Seattle for seven innings on May 7. His curveball, the pitch that became so critical for him down the stretch last year after his trade to Detroit, was heavy and effective, helping him rack up four strikeouts out of the first 10 batters.

"I had never faced him before, so he was new to me," Rockies leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler said. "He had some deception, he throws across his body, so that was a little tough to pick up."

Fister retired Colorado's first 11 batters before Carlos Gonzalez hit a single down the third-base line in the fourth. Miguel Cabrera stopped it with a dive toward the bag, but had no chance at throwing out his fellow Venezuelan superstar.

"It was great seeing Dougie back out there on the mound," Coke said. "For a minute there, I was thinking he was going to do something really special. ... His offspeed and fastball and sinker were ridiculous. He was working guys in and out, top of the zone, bottom of the zone. He was just showing them how to do it. It was fun to watch."

So was their offense, such as it was. While the Tigers struggled to break out their offense against a left-handed starter for the second game in a row, they took what they could get. In Saturday's case, they were handed a couple runs off talented prospect Christian Friedrich.

Miguel Cabrera's first-inning home run, an opposite-field shot for his 14th of the year, was actually the Tigers' lone run-scoring hit. It was, however, the first of two laps around the bases for him. The other was more hectic.

Off the bat, Cabrera's fifth-inning comebacker looked like an out until it bounced off Friedrich's glove. He still had a chance at throwing out Cabrera until he threw wildly to first, sending Cabrera on a mad dash. Once catcher Wilin Rosario tried to throw out Cabrera at third and missed Jordan Pacheco, Cabrera was speeding up again and heading home.

"That's the old Sandlot, Little League home run," Leyland said. "That was fun to see."

Austin Jackson's bases-loaded walk in the fourth, the second of four walks for him, accounted for the other run off Friedrich. Jackson's third-walk and Cabrera's ensuing single set up Prince Fielder's sacrifice fly in the seventh.

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 fans 12 as Tigers blank Rox in finale

By Anthony Odoardi / MLB.com | 6/17/2012 7:09 PM ET

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DETROIT -- With two outs in the fourth inning, the rain began pouring down on a sold-out Father's Day crowd of 40,619 at Comerica Park. It delayed the game for 53 minutes, but unfortunately for the Rockies the hiatus wasn't long enough to have Max Scherzer pulled from the game.

Scherzer returned from the delay to complete eight innings and strike out 12 batters as Detroit defeated Colorado, 5-0, to win three straight series for the first time in 2012.

The outing impressed Rockies manager Jim Tracy so much that he had a few new names for the fireballer after the game.

"It just seemed like after we came back out, everything got better," Tracy said. "His fastball got livelier. His slider and changeup were definitely a lot crisper. ... To come back out there and finish eight innings and throw 122 pitches, I think that would connotate a warrior, a stud."

The right-hander was through 3 2/3 innings when the skies opened and the umpires called for the tarp. While the rest of the team retreated to the clubhouse, Scherzer hit the batting cages, where he sat away from his teammates, throwing balls into the net to keep loose.

Manager Jim Leyland said the cutoff for his starter would've been about an hour, although he might've stretched it because of a taxed bullpen. Scherzer, however, said he was coming back out no matter when play resumed."

"I wanted to stay in that game," he said. "Otherwise, I was flipping chairs."

Luckily, the decision never had to be made, as the game started seven minutes prior to Leyland's limit. And from that point, Scherzer cruised.

The right-hander allowed five hits before the rain delay and returned to retire 12 of the final 14 batters he faced. It was only the second time in his career that he went eight-plus innings with double-digits K's -- the only other time come on Sept. 17, 2010.

"When the rain ended, it was nice and humid," he said. "It made even better conditions for me. That's the way I like it."

In the seventh inning, Scherzer allowed a hit to Wil Nieves before striking out the side to notch his 100th K, moving him into a tie for second place in the Majors, three back of Justin Verlander.

As much as he loves piling up the strikeouts, it wasn't the favorite part of his day.

"Something that I take a lot of pride in is filling up the zone, never giving in, never giving the hitters the credit that always comes through on the walks," he said. "For me, to go out there and not allow any walks, that's what allowed me to go eight innings."

Although the Tigers have squandered some quality outings (see: Doug Fister), they backed their pitcher Sunday.

Behind a career-high five hits from Quintin Berry, who started only his second game since Austin Jackson's return from the disabled list on June 9, the team tallied 15 hits.

Berry's five-hit game was also the first of the year for a Tigers hitter and the first since Brennan Boesch did it against the Rangers on June 6, 2011.

"He had a great day," Leyland said. "Line drives, too. I'm not talking about fluke hits. Every one of them was hit hard. ... He laid the bat on the ball. The legs were there, obviously. He gives us a different dimension when he plays."

The 27-year-old outfielder also began the rally in the third inning that broke the game open. Berry singled and came around to score on a ball that Prince Fielder poked into right-center field for an RBI double. Three batters later, Ramon Santiago hit a bases-loaded, two-run single up the middle to extend Detroit's lead to 4-0.

All nine batters came to the plate and, after the delay, it ended the game for Rockies starter Jeremy Guthrie. The Tigers added one more in the sixth when Cabrera doubled to plate Jackson.

Although happy about helping win a third consecutive series, Scherzer said the team isn't letting its guard down, as it's stilling battling back from a sub-.500 record.

"You can never sit here and feel good about yourself, because you've got to play your A-game every single night," Scherzer said. "It's nice to win three series, but we've got to keep it going. We've got to keep churning out the series wins."

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

Gritty when needed, Verlander provides win
With just three strikeouts, ace manages to hold down Cards

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 6/20/2012 12:43 AM ET

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DETROIT -- Jim Leyland wants more of a mean streak out of his Tigers. At least once every five games, he doesn't have to look beyond the pitchers' mound for it.

If he's looking for a "dirtball" in terms of a player who can do the little things in a game to make plays, he had his candidates Tuesday night.

Yet in the end, whatever he says about personalities and attitudes, Leyland is looking for wins. And with Tuesday's 6-3 win over the Cardinals at Comerica Park, his team has its first three-game winning streak since its Memorial Day weekend sweep of the Twins, and just its third three-game winning streak since the season-opening homestand.

They'll go into Wednesday with a chance to reach the .500 mark for the first time since May 15. That date also was the last time they were within two games over the division lead until Tuesday, when three straight Tigers wins and three straight White Sox losses put Cleveland in first place and Detroit within sight.

Leyland still couldn't enjoy it, because he had to worry about closer Jose Valverde's health after he injured his wrist warming up in the bottom of the eighth inning, forcing Phil Coke to close out the ninth. But he'll take it.

"You try to win as many games as you can, because that's the only salvation," Leyland said.

It's tough for a pitcher to play the mean role on a team, because they're not everyday players. But as mean streaks go, it's tough to find stronger ones than Justin Verlander in a jam. He has had meaner nights than Tuesday, when he fanned three Cardinals over seven innings. Still, as stinginess in the clutch goes, there might not be any better.

"As a starting pitcher, you can have somebody who competes and [is a jerk] on the mound," Verlander said. "And I think that's me."

It took a while for the Cardinals to get it out of him. He spent most of the night quietly getting through on early contact, retiring 10 straight batters from the first inning through the fourth, with only one strikeout in the bunch.

It wasn't flashy, but it was efficient. His first turn through the Cardinals' lineup lasted just 28 pitches, including 10-pitch innings in the first and second. He came into the sixth inning with just 60 pitches, 42 of them for strikes.

"I was trying to be economical," Verlander said. "That's why you saw a lot of 91-92 [mph fastballs]. My guys gave me a four-, five-run lead. I'm not trying to go out there and strike out anybody. I'm just trying to get some quick innings and allow myself to get deeper in the game and prepare us for the rest of the series."

Verlander didn't really have to turn it up until the seventh. Four Cardinals walks out of his final 10 batters brought it out of him.

"We put a little pressure on him late, but couldn't get the big hit," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "We fought him."

Yet when Verlander needed to dial up his fastball to triple digits as the Cards rallied in the seventh, helped in part by Quintin Berry's two-base error in left field, he had it.

Once Allen Craig geared up for the fastball as the potential go-ahead run with the bases loaded in the seventh, Verlander gave him the changeup. When Craig fouled that off, Verlander came back with the slider as Craig swung and missed.

Mean or not, it was nasty.

"One of the best sliders I've thrown. Ever," Verlander said.

The 28-pitch seventh finished Verlander for the night. The runs produced while he was cruising earlier provided the cushion to make him a winner.

Two RBI singles from Delmon Young and a two-run double from Austin Jackson fueled Detroit's outburst off Lance Lynn, whose five runs allowed over five innings marked the worst outing of his breakout 2012 season.

If there was a dirtball in the bunch, though, it was Ramon Santiago, the veteran utility infielder who has taken back the majority share of the starts at second base. When Brennan Boesch and Jhonny Peralta started the second-inning rally with back-to-back singles, Santiago's bunt single loaded the bases.

The goal was to simply advance the runners when Leyland called for it. Santiago, who had struggled with bunts all season, pushed a bunt to third that had David Freese scrambling to the bag and Lynn with nothing more than an off-balance throw.

"He bunted it further than I thought," Freese said. "It's obviously a ball that I have to read better and go get. There's a lot of factors with it, but it's definitely a ball, when you look back on it, that was critical."

Jackson's double came two batters later.

Santiago scored the Tigers' final run in the sixth after taking an 0-2 pitch off his elbow to lead off the inning.

If Leyland wanted role players, he had them. More importantly, he wanted the win.

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.

Porcello outdueled as Tigers fall to Cards
Offense falls flat as righty Westbrook spins complete-game effort

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 6/20/2012 11:50 PM ET

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DETROIT -- Rick Porcello was a freshman in high school in the spring of 2004, when Jake Westbrook crashed the Cleveland rotation in no small part by confounding the Tigers. Porcello had just graduated high school and gone pro into the Tigers' system the summer that Westbrook helped the Indians pass the Tigers for the 2007 American League Central title.

If Porcello needed an example of how a sinkerball pitcher with consistency and some in-game adjustments can shut down a lineup of aggressive hitters, all he had to do was look out from his dugout Wednesday night and watch Westbrook go to work on Detroit in a 3-1 Tigers loss to the Cardinals, his current club.

Essentially, he took a lineup of hitters largely looking to crush him and let them pound the ball into the ground.

"Tonight's one of those nights, really, I just tip my hat to Westbrook," manager Jim Leyland said. "He was terrific."

Porcello couldn't watch much, of course, because he was busy trying to keep pace. He couldn't, and with a couple misplays from the Tigers defense, it wasn't entirely his fault that he didn't. But this might be an example he can look back on.

"Jake's been around for a long time. He's been very successful," Tigers pitching coach Jeff Jones said. "Ricky's a very similar pitcher. I think Ricky's going to be around for a long time also and be very successful."

Statistically, Westbrook had a dominant performance, a complete-game five-hitter with an unearned run, one walk and five strikeouts. The 34-year-old went the distance in a game for the first time in two years, and he did it eight years after tossing 16 innings of two-hit ball over back-to-back outings against the Tigers as an injury fill-in.

Shutting down that Tigers' lineup, with Ivan Rodriguez and Carlos Guillen as its only hitters in their primes, was one thing. Doing something similar to this lineup, with Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder, is another, even with the offensive inconsistencies the Tigers have posted all season.

Yet the way the Tigers attacked him became a lesson for a sinkerballer: Sometimes it's less about getting hitters out, than it is setting up hitters to get themselves out. They grounded out 15 times off Westbrook on Wednesday, and they had Austin Jackson's RBI double in the third inning to look back on as one of just two extra-base hits.

"You can't just kind of throw sinkers in there," Westbrook said. "You have to use [their aggressiveness] to your advantage and mix up your pitches to where it's not just center-cut where they can do some damage."

Westbrook's catcher, Yadier Molina, seconded that.

"I noticed that they were chasing everything down and away and inside, too," he said. "When you have a pitcher like Westbrook, where the ball moves a lot, that's an advantage for him."

Good sinkerball pitchers like Westbrook use that. If it was a rarity, then guys like him wouldn't last in the league as long as the good ones do.

"He had a great sinker, and then he went to the cutter and a few breaking balls later in the game," Leyland said. "He's a smart veteran."

It isn't glamorous, but it gets the job done. And if Porcello is going to make it in this league, no matter how others perceive, he's going to have to pitch in that fashion.

Wednesday night wasn't quite that. It was better than he had been lately.

Porcello gave up 10 hits over seven innings of two-run ball. Matt Holliday's sixth-inning double down the left-field line was the only one that went for extra bases, which fittingly set up the go-ahead run. Porcello's 11 ground-ball outs, compared to just two flyouts, stook in stark contrast to his previous two outings at Great American Ball Park and Wrigley Field.

He could live with the singles. So could the Tigers, who hammered home the point about keeping his pitches down on a night when the first-pitch temperature was 92 degrees.

"What we talked about coming into this game was making sure that the majority of your sinkers are from the knees down," Jones said. "That was the big focus tonight. I thought he threw the ball well. He got a lot of ground balls.

"They got some hits. That's a pretty good hitting team. He did exactly what he was supposed to do, keep us in the game. He kept us in for seven innings."

Holliday's double put the eventual go-ahead run on base before Allen Craig's ensuing line-drive single moved him to third with nobody out.

Porcello induced a double-play grounder from Molina, but that was enough to score Holliday. That was pretty much the ballgame, though Jhonny Peralta dropped a Molina line drive for an error to score an unearned insurance run off Brayan Villarreal in the eighth.

On many nights, those sinkers would earn Porcello a victory. The way the Tigers were swinging off Westbrook, though, was a lesson.

"Everything was working," Ramon Santiago said. "His ball got good sink, good movement, he kept it low. He didn't make any mistakes in the middle of the plate."

That's what sinkerballers do. That's what the Tigers hope Porcello eventually does.

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.

Berry nice: Tigers walk off in 10th, win series
Outfielder savors first game-winner; Turner solid in season debut

By Anthony Odoardi / MLB.com | 6/21/2012 6:49 PM ET

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DETROIT -- It was supposed to be all about Jacob Turner, one of Major League Baseball's top prospects who made his 2012 debut for the Tigers against the defending World Series champion Cardinals. But Quintin Berry found a way to steal the show again.

With the bases loaded in the 10th inning, Berry came to the plate and slapped a walk-off single up the middle to give Detroit a 2-1 victory over St. Louis and its fourth straight series win for the first time since the playoff drive last September.

"This is my first one ever," Berry said. "I've never had a walk-off before. ... I think that's why I was so excited about it. That's probably the best feeling. I always wondered what it felt like."

Ramon Santiago and Jhonny Peralta hit back-to-back singles off Cardinals reliever Victor Marte, who then hit Austin Jackson to load the bases with one out.

Berry, whose speed drew the Cardinals infield in rather than staying back for a double play, didn't want to wait to experience the thrill of a walk-off hit. He swung at the first pitch to drive the winning run home, and the celebration began.

"I showed it out there jumping around and acting crazy," said Berry. "You don't know what to do with yourself. I was just flailing around, everything I got. It's amazing."

The 27-year-old outfielder has been with four different organizations, and now he's the team leader in stolen bases, the only Tiger with a five-hit game, and owns a walk-off hit against the World Series champs.

His track record indicates he won't be able to keep up the pace -- he's hitting .315 and has never hit higher than .284 above A ball. But Berry isn't too concerned about track records.

"I'm just glad that things are rolling and going the way that they normally don't in those situations," Berry said.

Turner's path is quite different. He is regarded as one of the top prospects in baseball, ranked No. 10 in the league and No. 1 in the Tigers' system by MLB.com.

On Thursday, he made his fourth career start in front of a sold-out crowd of 40,776 at Comerica Park against the team he grew up rooting for.

"That was kind of just a crazy coincidence, knowing it had to be in Interleague Play and we don't play them every year," Turner said. "So that was exciting for me."

Turner fired five innings and yielded only one run on four hits. However, he uncharacteristically allowed five walks, which helped keep him from his first Major League win.

He entered the fifth inning having only allowed three hits and two walks, but the Cardinals earned three free passes in the inning, one of which came around to score the game-tying run on Matt Holliday's sacrifice fly. Right fielder Don Kelly made the catch on Holliday's ball in foul territory and hit his left knee on the railing while falling into the stands. He's day to day with a bruise.

"Obviously they're big league hitters, so they have a real good approach at the plate," Turner said. "But it just comes back to getting ahead early, getting 0-1, 0-2 and not 2-0."

Manager Jim Leyland said he wasn't sure if the outing earned Turner another start. It likely depends on the availability of Drew Smyly the next time the rotation comes around on Tuesday.

Regardless, catcher Alex Avila believes the 21-year-old has a promising career ahead of him.

"One of the reasons why I think he's going to be a great pitcher is everybody always talks about when Ricky [Porcello] came up real young, how composed he is," Avila said. "Jacob's the same way. He really puts everything he has into his pitching. It's great to work with him."

Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse held the Tigers to one run on four hits in seven innings. He made only one costly mistake.

In the fourth inning, Lohse left a 3-2 curveball hanging to Prince Fielder, and the Tigers slugger powered a solo shot 425 feet into the right-field seats. It was Detroit's only run until its extra-inning rally.

"It was one pitch you wish you could have back," Lohse said. "I was trying to bounce it, and I was about four feet away from bouncing it."

Leyland talked again about his team finding an edge and playing with grit. He told the media to take Thursday's game as an example. A rookie fought through five innings against one of baseball's best teams, Berry gutted out another huge hit, and the bullpen worked five scoreless innings to help move the Tigers within 2 1/2 games of the division lead and within a game of .500.

"The way we're playing, we're fighting for everything we get," Phil Coke said. "But instead of coming up short, it's kind of swinging in our favor now. We're winning multiple series now. Every game we go out, strap up and rock and roll."

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

Fister, defense falter in series-opening loss to Bucs

By Mark Emery / MLB.com | 6/22/2012 11:29 PM ET

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PITTSBURGH -- The hole that Doug Fister burrowed into on Friday night turned out to be too deep.

The right-hander allowed two runs in each of the first two innings, and the offense never bailed him out. Seeking to gain some momentum and string together a little winning streak, Fister instead picked up his fourth loss of the year after the Tigers fell to the Pirates, 4-1.

Fister went six innings, surrendering eight hits and four runs, only two of which were earned. He struck out seven, issued one intentional walk and threw one wild pitch.

"It comes down to executing, and I did a poor job of that tonight," Fister said. "I just wasn't together today. I need to do a better job."

Pirates left fielder Alex Presley led off with a double, which was followed by a run-scoring single from Neil Walker. Fister induced a double play two batters later, but Walker scored from third.

After limiting the damage to those two first-inning runs, Fister did himself no favors in the second. Pirates starter A.J. Burnett went to the plate with one out and men on first and second, looking to bunt them over. Fister fielded the bunt and threw it to third. Actually, near third is probably more accurate.

Fister's throw sailed past the outstretched glove of Miguel Cabrera, allowing Pedro Alvarez to score from second. Pirates catcher Rod Barajas, running from first base, soon followed when Delmon Young misplayed the ball in foul territory.

Two errors by the Tigers. Two runs for the Pirates.

"The throwing error, that's unacceptable," Fister said. "That's going to be addressed."

Added manager Jim Leyland: "They jumped on us right away, and then we gave them a couple of cookies to add on to it. That pretty much spells the game."

All this came on a night when Fister (1-4, 2.72 ERA) needed to be at his best in order to put Detroit in a position to win. His counterpart, Burnett, pitched well enough to win his seventh straight start, something no Pirate had done since Dock Ellis in 1974.

Burnett (8-2, 3.24 ERA) didn't surrender a hit until the fourth inning, when Young laced a single into center field with two outs. Burnett gave up only one more, a leadoff single to Austin Jackson in the sixth.

Burnett lasted six innings and picked up the victory. He struck out four and walked three.

"He was able to slow things down and rely on his experience and his catcher," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "He found a way to make pitches when he had to."

Jackson's single in the sixth could have spelled big things for the Tigers. The next batter, Quintin Berry, walked, setting up Cabrera with two on and none out, but Cabrera hit a ground ball to shortstop for a rally-killing double play.

"I felt like I was beating [Cabrera] here and there with the fastball, so I stuck with it," Burnett said. "I was throwing two- and four-seamers and had him leaning over the plate, so I was able to get one in on him [for the double-play ball]. Bottom line, I was able to make a pitch when I needed to."

Even so, that put Prince Fielder at the dish with a runner on third. But Fielder, the former Brewer who was booed incessantly by the PNC Park crowd during every plate appearance, hit an inning-ending popup to shallow left field.

Detroit's two biggest boppers finished the game a combined 0-for-8. Overall, the Tigers stranded six runners.

"You get spoiled. You expect those big guys to do it every night," Leyland said. "That's not going to happen. That's not fair."

The Tigers scored their lone run in the seventh inning, when Ramon Santiago doubled in Jhonny Peralta, who had hit a double of his own in the previous at-bat. But it wasn't enough for Detroit, which is 4-3 over the last seven games. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, is 5-2 during that same stretch.

"We just didn't muster much offense tonight," Leyland said. "And that's been the case in several games this year."

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

Tigers drop game, set to Bucs after bats quieted

By Mark Emery / MLB.com | 6/23/2012 9:14 PM ET

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PITTSBURGH -- Three runs doesn't exactly seem like an insurmountable deficit, but with the way Detroit's hitters have performed lately, it might has well have been 30.

For the fourth game in a row, the Tigers could not muster more than two runs, and they made Pirates starter Brad Lincoln -- who had gone 0-2 with a 10.03 ERA in his last three starts -- look downright extraordinary. Detroit didn't even register a hit until the sixth inning, losing in Pittsburgh for the second day in a row, 4-1, on Saturday.

"You've got to give them credit. Their pitching has been stellar," catcher Alex Avila said. "Their guy, Lincoln, today was unbelievable. Their bullpen has been great all season. Definitely hard to get some runs."

Thanks to a strong start from Max Scherzer (6-5), the Tigers had a fighting chance right up until the fourth inning. That's when Scherzer faltered, serving up an 0-2 pitch to Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen, who belted the ball into the left-field seats for a three-run homer.

"I thought Max did a heck of a job," manager Jim Leyland said. "I'm sure he'd like to have one pitch back. He was trying to go down and away on Andrew, and he got it in -- up a little bit, and in, obviously -- for the three-run homer. Other than that I thought he did a terrific job.

"The story line, basically, is no runs. We haven't been scoring any runs lately -- very few runs in the last four or five ballgames, really."

Scherzer made the start after spending time away from the Tigers earlier this week following the death of his brother, Alex, who passed away on Thursday. He was unavailable for comment.

"It's hard to imagine. It's hard to put into words what he's feeling right now," Avila said. "He's a tough guy. We're all here for him."

Detroit's only run came in the top of the seventh, when Miguel Cabrera led off with a laser over the fence in right-center. That led to the removal of Lincoln (4-2) by Pirates manager Clint Hurdle, who turned over the game to Juan Cruz and a Pirates bullpen that is among the best in the National League.

Prince Fielder followed Cabrera's bomb with an opposite-field double but would advance no farther than third base. Delmon Young and Avila grounded out, and Jhonny Peralta ended the inning with a deep shot to center that died on the warning track.

Though he acknowledged Lincoln's effectiveness, Leyland said, "You can't keep crediting opposing pitchers every night."

Detroit had a fine scoring chance in the sixth, as well. Ramon Santiago led off with a sharply hit single through the right side, breaking up Lincoln's no-no. The next batter, Scherzer, did his part by advancing Santiago with a bunt, but neither Austin Jackson nor Brennan Boesch could drive in Santiago from second.

It wasn't just that the Tigers didn't hit in timely situations. They barely hit at all. Saturday's game marked the 19th time this year that they scored two runs or fewer.

"We have to get some more consistency throughout the lineup, one through nine," Leyland said. "We just have to have a little more depth throughout the lineup, and if we do that, we'll put runs on the board like we're supposed to, but we haven't done that very consistently this year."

Pittsburgh pushed its lead back to three runs in the bottom of the seventh, with Phil Coke in to replace Scherzer. Coke gave up a double and two singles before making way for Octavio Dotel. The damage might have been worse for Detroit had the Pirates not botched a suicide-squeeze attempt with men on the corners and one out.

Still, the home team entered the ninth with a three-run lead, and Pirates closer Joel Hanrahan locked down his 19th save after setting down Avila on strikes for the final out.

"There's no place like home. Our pitchers have pitched well here," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "They have a comfort zone here, [are] able to aggressively attack the strike zone."

In no way should the loss fall entirely on Scherzer's shoulders. He made the mistake against McCutchen in the fourth inning, but overall his start was more than serviceable. He left the game after six innings, having allowed three runs on three hits. He struck out seven and walked just one.

Lincoln gave up two hits and one run in six-plus innings. He also struck out seven and walked one. As with Scherzer, the runs he allowed scored via the long ball.

The loss ends Detroit's streak of series wins at four. The Tigers' record against the Pirates this year is 2-3.

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

Verlander goes distance to continue NL mastery

By Mark Emery / MLB.com | 6/24/2012 6:14 PM ET

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PITTSBURGH -- Justin Verlander couldn't have hoped for much run support as he prepared to pitch Sunday, not after the five total runs he had seen Detroit's offense produce over the previous four games from his spot on the bench.

But as it turned out, the ace right-hander would toe the slab at PNC Park against the Pirates backed by an early two-run lead, thanks to a first-inning homer from Quintin Berry. That went a long way in supporting No. 35, who went the distance at PNC Park, allowing five hits and striking out seven in the Tigers' 3-2 victory.

With the win, Verlander moved to 4-0 in five starts against the National League this season. The right-hander's career record against the NL is 19-2.

"We had the horse going, and he pitched like the horse is supposed to pitch," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "Guys that throw it 98-100 [mph], they're usually more mentally tough than guys that throw it 88."

Verlander (8-4) never actually dialed up the velocity that high Sunday, topping out in the ninth inning at 97 mph. When he reached back for extra heat, he said it didn't come as easily as he's used to.

"I actually didn't feel particularly great, but at least my location was there," Verlander said. "I got a lot of weak contact because of that. I didn't have the flashy fastball or anything, but I was able to pitch and go nine innings."

After Verlander nearly no-hit the Pirates in May, any no-no watch evaporated practically instantly in this one, as Alex Presley led off the bottom of the first inning with a bunt single. Verlander retired the next six batters, though, not allowing another baserunner until the third, when catcher Michael McKenry reached on an infield hit.

"I wasn't too happy about the first two hits they had," Verlander said. "It's kind of like [Presley] was trying to make a statement: 'Here's our first hit.' But it was a bunt. Heck of a statement.

"But, it's early in the game, and that's part of his game plan ... It worked out, didn't it? I'm just glad he didn't score."

Through six, those two hits were it for Pittsburgh, and neither of them came close to reaching the outfield grass. For the majority of the afternoon, the Pirates looked as lost at the plate as they did at the season's start. It seems that Verlander tends to have that effect on opposing lineups.

Everything changed in the seventh inning, however. After retiring Casey McGehee for the first out, Verlander yielded a line-drive single to Pedro Alvarez. It was the first hit by the home team that left the infield, and it was followed by a game-tying, two-run blast when Garrett Jones took advantage of an ill-advised changeup.

"Stupid pitch," Verlander said, "Bad location. Stupid pitch. All of the above."

"He seemed to be throwing a lot more offspeed stuff," Jones said. "I was geared up for the fastball, and he gave me the good changeup that hung a little bit. I was able to stay through it and get the barrel on it."

Just like that, Detroit was back at square one.

The Tigers wouldn't wait very long to regain the lead, though. Berry reached on a walk in the eighth inning and promptly stole second. He scored when Delmon Young singled through the right side two batters later.

Berry, a rookie, was the offensive catalyst for the Tigers on Sunday. After Austin Jackson led off the game with a sharply-hit single, Berry hit the third pitch he saw into the right-field seats. The big fly was the first of Berry's Major League career, and it came on a day when the 27-year-old was instrumental to a Tigers victory.

"I willed that thing out, ever since it went up in the air," Berry said. "I was trying to push it out with everything I had. I was excited when I finally saw some fans grab it and stuff like that, because I knew it was official."

The home run came as a surprise to Verlander, who was watching the game from the tunnel and thought Berry popped up. He was shocked to learn that the ball landed over the fence.

Still, he was happy to have it, especially on a day when Detroit's offense underwhelmed -- again. The Tigers finished with seven hits on the afternoon. Berry's homer was the only one that went for extra bases. Prince Fielder, Alex Avila and Jhonny Peralta went a combined 0-for-11.

But because of Verlander, three runs were enough to win, as the Tigers finished Interleague Play with an 11-7 record.

"This was a big one for us. You can't afford to come in here and get swept," Verlander said. "We won today. Hopefully, we win tomorrow."

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

Buoyed by bats, Porcello sinks Rangers
After Tigers plate five in first, starter steps up big to earn win

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 6/26/2012 1:17 AM ET

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ARLINGTON -- Argue all you want about whether there's such a thing as a big pitch with an eight-run lead. When it involves Rick Porcello, the Texas Rangers and triple-digit temperatures in the cozy confines of The Ballpark in Arlington, there is such a thing.

If Porcello believes in it, it is a huge pitch, even though the Rangers eventually broke up his scoreless outing in an 8-2 Tigers win Monday night.

"I know for myself, I needed to get out of one of those jams and just come out of this outing feeling pretty good," Porcello said. "I think it was a big pitch in more than one way."

The Tigers certainly hope so.

It was a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning, and it was a full-count pitch to Mike Napoli. It was also the same maddening pattern that had flustered the Tigers more than once this year with Porcello, who followed a strikeout of Nelson Cruz for the second out with a four-pitch walk to David Murphy.

Even a grand slam would merely cut Detroit's lead in half, but it wasn't the point. Porcello had Napoli in an 0-2 hole before missing on three consecutive pitches to run the count full.

Porcello had missed with a fastball inside for Ball 2, then high with a fastball for Ball 3. Napoli was going to make him throw a strike. Porcello and catcher Gerald Laird went back to the fastball, this time over the plate. If he was going down in this outing, he was at least going to challenge the likely All-Star catcher.

When Napoli swung and missed at the 92-mph fastball, Laird had a bigger fist pump than did Porcello.

"I was pumped up, too," Porcello said. "It was a big pitch in more than one way, not only as far as the game goes. If they get a big hit there, if he hits a home run or something like that, then the game's changed and they're back in it. It was a big pitch in that regard, and I think for myself, to get out of that jam."

His manager's was a more muted reaction, but it wasn't for failure to grasp the importance.

"He threw him a good one, boy," Jim Leyland said. "That was a big situation. Things happen fast, particularly in this ballpark. I mean, look how fast we got five."

If not for Porcello's performance, that outburst would have been the story of the game. The Tigers hadn't scored more than three runs in a game since last Tuesday, totaling eight runs over their past five contests. They had scored more than five runs in a game once since June 13.

The Tigers had a favorable matchup Monday with Justin Grimm, making his second Major League start, filling in on the injury-depleted Rangers rotation, but Detroit had struggled to hit similar pitchers before. Brad Lincoln's six innings of one-run ball against the Tigers on Saturday seemed to fit the profile.

Detroit never allowed Grimm to fall into the rhythm that Lincoln found. Austin Jackson's double leading off the game was the first of seven Tigers hits in a 20-minute top half of the first that took 40 pitches out of Grimm. None of them went for more than a double -- Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run two bagger in the inning and finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs in the game -- but the cumulative effect put Detroit in command from the outset.

Just as important, they put Porcello -- who lost a 3-1 decision to the Cardinals his last time out despite throwing seven innings of two-run ball -- in a position of leverage.

"We came out swinging early, put some runs on the board and let Ricky relax," Leyland said.

Yet that relaxation has a limit. Forget the Tigers' last visit here during the ALCS, when the Rangers showed how easily they could manufacture runs late. This is the same team that put up an eight-run first inning against Porcello two months ago on a chilly afternoon at Comerica Park.

Porcello had given up three runs over 14 2/3 innings in his previous two starts before that disaster. Opponents had been batting .337 off him since.

"I was trying to keep the mindset that it was a 0-0 game," Porcello said. "For me, if I start thinking otherwise, start thinking that I have a cushion to work with, you tend to get complacent, maybe not be as aggressive in the strike zone, execute the pitches that I need to execute. I've fallen into that trap before."

Between six hits and three walks, he had that opportunity again. Porcello pitched with runners on in all but one of his first six innings. However, he avoided the big hit that has plagued him on other nights, continuing a trend he established in his previous start. His two extra-base hits allowed were doubles down the left-field line, and they both came with nobody on base.

With his name being mentioned in rumors as a possible trading piece for other clubs at the July 31 Trade Deadline, Porcello (5-5) held the Rangers to 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, including three of his seven strikeouts. The last of them was to Napoli.

"They had that big first inning, and at that point he was commanding his sinker," Rangers first baseman Michael Young said. "He worked ahead, threw strikes and forced us to make contact. He did a good job."


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 again unable to get back to .500 mark

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 6/27/2012 1:57 AM ET

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ARLINGTON -- It's not a hump, that .500 mark for the Tigers. It's more like a road bump, the way they see it.

Still, as many times as they've come close, it's growing in stature. On Tuesday, depending on your view of Miguel Cabrera's eighth-inning drive, they came within feet of potentially breaking it. The fact that his potential game-tying shot fell short merely adds to the stature.

"We'll get there eventually," Alex Avila said after Tuesday night's 7-5 loss to the Rangers scuttled the latest chance.

The Tigers have stood within a game of .500 seven times since they were last at the break-even point on May 15. Tuesday was the seventh time they've lost.

Quintin Berry wasn't even on the team the last time the Tigers were at the .500 mark. He has been with the team for five weeks.

"It's frustrating," Berry said. "You know you're getting closer and closer, then you foul one back. Then you get a couple steps up, and you foul one back."

Avila not only expects the Tigers to get there, he expects it to happen by the time Detroit gets back home. That's the goal, at least.

"I think we all have a pretty good feeling," Avila said. "I think our goal is to get to .500 or above .500 by the end of the road trip. That's what we want to do. We're in a good position to do that."

The Tigers began this three-city, 10-game road trip at a game under .500, so they would have to win four of their next five to finish at 6-4. That would give them a winning record for the first time since May 10, when they were in their stretch of alternating wins and losses.

They were two games in back of the division lead on May 10. Even with Tuesday's loss, the fact that they remain three games in back of the first-place White Sox through all this says volumes about the American League Central.

"It's just a matter of winning games," manager Jim Leyland said. "We're all floundering around a little bit, and we're floundering around a little worse than the two teams in front of us. It looks like there's a good chance that this thing's going to turn out somewhat like it did last year. Somebody's going to get real hot and reel off 12 out of 15 or 16, and they'll probably have a five- or six-game lead."

The Tigers will have Doug Fister going in Wednesday's series finale, then Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander starting off the four-game set at the Rays. If they're going to have a chance, that's their shot.

They're better matchups than Tuesday, which is why Monday's series opener was a game the Tigers felt they had to win. They still had a chance on Tuesday.

They had Drew Smyly pitching in his hometown before nearly two dozen family and friends, but they had Yu Darvish pitching for the home team on a roll. He was effectively wild when he held Detroit to a run over 6 1/3 innings at Comerica Park on April 19. He has been much more composed in his last three outings, racking up 29 strikeouts against five walks over 23 innings.

Ten of those strikeouts came over seven innings on Tuesday.

"Detroit's lineup is one of the top, high-level lineups in the league," Darvish said. "I was really looking forward to facing them. I really enjoyed facing them and the challenge."

The challenge seemed more on the Tigers' side.

"He's got a good fastball, sneaky in his delivery, so you have to be ready for it," Berry said. "Then he has a plethora of different pitches he can use. He's got good stuff. They paid the guy for a reason."

Said Avila: "He definitely made some adjustments after the first couple innings, throwing more strikes. The thing is, when he's throwing that curveball over for a strike, it's really hard, because it's a huge speed difference. You go from 70 to 94 mph. That's a big speed difference. Then he has all of his other pitches, and he made the adjustments to be able to throw strikes with everything he had after his first couple innings."

The one guy who seemed to hit him was Prince Fielder, who followed his two-run double in the opening inning with a fourth-inning solo homer. All it took was a little comebacker for the Rangers to put together their big inning to sink Smyly.

The way the Rangers picked apart Smyly in their four-run fourth inning suggested Smyly might have run out of gas in his first start in 16 days after a stint on the disabled list. The 103-degree first-pitch temperature might have contributed. However, Smyly maintained his velocity on his fastball.

What he lost was his grip on the ball as he whirled to throw in front of the mound on an infield single by Adrian Beltre. Michael Young tripled on Smyly's next pitch and scored on Nelson Cruz's bloop single. Two more singles from Yorvit Torrealba and Brandon Snyder put Texas, which was trailing 3-1 heading into the inning, ahead for good.

Smyly (2-3) hadn't given up more than four runs in a game in his first 12 Major League starts. He allowed six runs on eight hits over 4 2/3 innings on Tuesday, walking two and striking out three.

"You could see he got frustrated after the bloop hits," Leyland said.

Detroit, though, had Cabrera and Fielder up as the potential tying run in the eighth against Mike Adams. Cabrera's shot sent Josh Hamilton to the fence in straightaway center before it stayed in the park. Two batters later, Delmon Young sent David Murphy to the warning track in left for the inning-ending out.

They were that close to .500. They expect to get back there again.

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 can't overcome Fister's rough night

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 6/28/2012 1:30 AM ET

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ARLINGTON -- This was the kind of crazy performance the Tigers have come to expect over the years of hot nights in Texas. It wasn't anything like what they've come to expect from Doug Fister.

Take your pick of sights in Wednesday's 13-9 loss to the Rangers, from the potential tying run on base in the eighth inning of a game Detroit trailed by five runs two different times, to Prince Fielder getting out of a rundown in one inning and tackling Rangers pitching prospect Martin Perez covering first base in another.

They had a popup to second base fall just where Ryan Raburn should have been, only he was in shallow center field before the wind blew it in. They had Quintin Berry speeding around second base as Miguel Cabrera's fly ball was falling into center fielder Leonys Martin's glove to start an inning-ending double play.

They had Brennan Boesch put a solid swing on a breaking ball for an RBI single in the fourth inning, then reach base swinging and missing at a breaking ball in the dirt in the ninth.

It was a midsummer game in Texas. It was interesting, but it wasn't pretty.

"There's some bright signs, but just an ugly game," manager Jim Leyland said. "We just pitched really bad. We just didn't play good."

The one constant is how difficult it is for the Tigers to overcome a rough start. Though two add-on runs off Duane Below in the fifth and sixth innings and a defensive mess of an eighth frame were the deciding tallies, the nine runs off Fister provided the obstacle the Tigers couldn't overcome.

There's no reason to believe Fister was injured, as he was during his previously roughest outing a month ago. He lasted 96 pitches, albeit over just 4 1/3 innings, and showed no sign of discomfort, and he said he had none afterwards. Even though he wasn't hurt, he was hit, to the point where it was obvious he was off.

"He just wasn't real sharp," Leyland said. "That pretty much sums up his outing."

The three home runs Wednesday nearly matched his total from his other eight outings, not to mention the 11 outings he made last season after coming over from Seattle. The nine runs he allowed set a new high for his Major League career, not just in Detroit.

"He was doing the same things that he always does," Ian Kinsler said. "He was throwing sinkers and cutters and working the strike zone. I think we were able to work him a little bit more, as far as laying off some pitches that maybe we normally don't."

More important than the numbers, though, was the feel of the game. Fister threw nearly 70 percent strikes and got ahead of hitters, but he struggled to get the outs he needed. He didn't have a lot of help, but he didn't recover well, either.

"I threw a lot of strikes. I did a poor job of commanding the zone," Fister said. "I threw strikes, but I didn't throw them where I needed to at the right times. They obviously made me pay for that and it's going to be a focus in the bullpen [session between starts]."

He needed those strikes down. Three that didn't get there ended up going out.

One three-batter stretch of the second inning summed up his night. Fister put up consecutive two-strike counts against Michael Young, Nelson Cruz and David Murphy. Young got a curveball up and lined it into center field to put two runners on with nobody out. Cruz hit a ground ball to third that Miguel Cabrera tried to throw on the run and fired wide of Prince Fielder at first, allowing Adrian Beltre to score and setting the tone for the Tigers' sloppy defensive game.

"We didn't pitch very well, and we gave them too many outs," Leyland said. "You can't give a good team like that that many outs, and that's what we did."

Murphy provided the crushing blow on his 0-2 pitch, sending a three-run shot to right field for the first of his two homers and four hits on the night.

"I was working away from him a little bit, tried to get in on him a little bit and left it over the plate," Fister said. "He's a good hitter and he made me pay for my mistake."

With that, the Rangers had built a 4-0 lead and were seemingly on their way to an easy win. The Tigers pummeled former free-agent target Roy Oswalt for 13 hits over six innings, yet he left with a 10-5 lead thanks to two timely double plays and some big outs at the plate. Once Texas turned to highly touted pitching prospect Martin Perez for the eighth, however, Detroit mounted its comeback with RBI singles from Austin Jackson, Delmon Young and Alex Avila, plus a throwing error from second baseman Kinsler that left Fielder colliding with Perez at first base.

Nonetheless, Oswalt became the second pitcher in the last 30 years to give up 13 hits and earn a win for the Rangers, according to research on baseball-reference.com. The Tigers, meanwhile, put up 17 hits and lost for just the second time since 1998, and the first time ever in Texas.

Even here, this was something.

"I think what you do is turn the page," Leyland said. "This is an ugly one. You turn the page and go to the next town."

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.

With help, Scherzer digs deep to beat Rays

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 6/29/2012 12:07 AM ET

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ST. PETERSBURG -- For the second consecutive night, the Tigers put up more than a dozen hits and set a career high against their opposing starter. Unlike the previous night, however, the resulting 5-2 win over the Rays was far from a slugfest.

That's where Max Scherzer came in Thursday. That's where Scherzer wanted to be.

When he took the mound last weekend in Pittsburgh, he was there for his family, helping them -- and himself -- cope with the death of his younger brother. Thursday was a little closer to normalcy or at least as close as he can hope for these days. He wanted to be there for his team.

When he fell behind in counts early, he thought about the fastball he wanted at the knees to get back into the count. When the Rays threatened to put together a potential game-tying rally in the fifth inning, he thought about the out he needed against Carlos Pena.

He was his typical self-critic, calling himself "effectively wild" over his six-plus innings of two-run ball, but the effectiveness part was the difference for the Tigers. He was able to enjoy that a little bit.

"Today, I'm in a better emotional spot than I was five days ago," Scherzer said. "I've had a chance to grieve with my family. I'm emotionally stronger at this point in time, to the point where obviously I'm not over what happened, but I'm able to go out there and compete in the game and think about winning a ballgame."

It was Scherzer's fifth win in his past seven decisions, and his fourth straight quality start with at least seven strikeouts. It was yet another sign that the Tigers might have their clear-cut second starter emerging behind Justin Verlander.

In terms of strikeouts, Scherzer actually has emerged ahead of Verlander for the American League strikeout lead, albeit temporarily since Verlander will start on Friday night. When he fanned Pena on his full-count delivery in the in the fifth inning to strand Elliot Johnson on second, he not only preserved Detroit's 3-1 lead, he moved ahead of Verlander with his 114th strikeout.

Scherzer came back from a 3-1 count in that at-bat with back-to-back fastballs -- one at 96 mph that Pena fouled off, the other at 97 that Pena swung through. It was one of several hitters' counts where Scherzer put the effective in effectively wild.

"I really wasn't hitting my spots the way I typically want to," Scherzer said. "I thought I made some big 3-2 pitches throughout the game to keep from having a walk, and getting an outing in that situation. I know I can hit my spots better, but to have good results is a good thing."

Scherzer fell behind on 2-0 and 3-0 counts seven times out of the 24 batters he faced. He had three other 3-1 counts. He gave up two walks and an infield single out of the bunch, while coming back to rack up two strikeouts.

"I was able to keep my fastball down," Scherzer said. "I know I wasn't quite hitting the spot where I wanted to, but I think I got some contact in those counts when they were being aggressive and the ball went at some people."

Said catcher Alex Avila: "That just shows you how good his stuff is, that he can be behind in the count and still get outs. When he's ahead in the count, that's how difficult he is to hit."

That was arguably the difference between a well-pitched game and a frustrating no-decision. Moreover, that's the difference between Scherzer's pitching now and Scherzer's pitching earlier this season.

"One [factor], I think he's using his fastball a little more," Avila said. "The other is his slider has been more consistent. He's always had the great changeup, but being able to throw that slider to lefties has been important to him, and being able to throw it for strikes."

The last time the Tigers visited St. Pete, they won three out of four last August in what arguably loomed as their biggest series of the season, giving them the infusion of confidence needed to take over the American League Central from there. It's too early to put the same weight on this four-game set, with the season not even at its halfway point. However, it could be the catalyst Detroit needs for a surge into the All-Star break.

The first two games arguably stand as the toughest of the series, with Shields and David Price trying to hold down Detroit. Shields entered the night with a 5-0 career record in eight meetings with the Tigers, including eight innings of six-hit, two-run ball in April at Comerica Park.

The Tigers made the All-Star look hittable, thanks in large part to the top third of their order. Austin Jackson and Miguel Cabrera accounted for half of the 14 hits off Shields. Both ended up with four-hit nights, capped by Jackson's eighth-inning triple and Cabrera's ninth-inning solo homer, his 16th of the year.

The one at-bat in which Cabrera didn't hit Shields, ironically, was the inning in which they took command. Jeff Keppinger's lunging grab doubled off Austin Jackson for an unassisted third-inning double play, but Prince Fielder, Delmon Young and Avila chipped in with consecutive base hits to help the Tigers build a 2-0 lead.

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 burned by trio of solo blasts in loss

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 6/30/2012 12:54 AM ET

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ST. PETERSBURG -- The Tigers took three out of four games from the Rays at Tropicana Field last August in part because Brad Penny outpitched David Price on a crazy night. Friday night's showdown with Justin Verlander might have been the payback.

"Two outstanding pitchers, two of the best in the league obviously, went at it," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said after the Tigers' 4-2 loss. "Tonight, their guy got the best of it, and our guy's command just wasn't what he wanted it to be. We knew runs would be hard to come by, but that's all part of it."

The showdown wasn't exactly a knockout, considering it took a perfect ninth inning from former Tigers closer Fernando Rodney to keep Miguel Cabrera from stepping to the plate as the potential tying run. Still, three shots out of the park killed Verlander's chances of pulling this out. It took a stiff back to knock Price out, but his seven innings of two-run ball had already made his point.

So had two home runs from Rays leadoff man Desmond Jennings.

"The old saying that solo homers don't hurt you does not apply to tonight, not when you give up three of them," Verlander said. "Just fell behind some guys and put them in fastball counts, and they were able to take advantage of it."

It's not just that Verlander hadn't allowed a three-homer game in nearly a year and a half since the White Sox did it at Comerica Park on April 22, 2011. He had allowed seven home runs all season going into Friday, and four of them came in a pair of starts against the Yankees. He had allowed just two home runs in four previous starts at Tropicana Field, covering 28 innings.

Verlander allowed a home run in three straight innings Friday. If the Tigers were facing a different pitcher, he might have gotten credit for limiting the damage and keeping them solo shots. But he knew coming in that he wouldn't have that margin.

His fastball command wouldn't allow it.

"It was kind of like walking a tightrope, because against a guy like Price, you know you're not going to get many runs," Verlander said. "But at the same time, I was trying to be economical so that I could at least go six, seven innings. It was tough."

Tampa Bay milked 29 pitches out of Verlander in an opening inning that featured two singles, a walk and a run, and 20 more pitches when he struck out the side in order in the second. Nine of those pitches went to ninth batter and former Tiger Will Rhymes.

Verlander still got his strikeouts, eight of them over six innings, but even those at-bats took a toll on him. At one point, he had nearly as many strikeouts (seven) as balls put in play (eight), but two balls left the park.

The first came from Jennings moments after he ran down Quintin Berry's foul ball with a tumbling catch into the seats down the left-field line. He led off the third with Verlander looking for a quick inning, having started the frame with 49 pitches.

Verlander looked to get ahead with an easy fastball at 91 mph and missed on his location.

"That's what I was talking about trying to be economical, trying to get some quick outs," Verlander said. "And that was not a quick out. It was a quick something, but not a quick out."

It was a quick reaction from Jennings.

"Verlander throws his fastball a lot, and you know he's going to throw it," Jennings said. "I got into fastball counts and put a good swing on a couple balls."

Verlander actually threw more offspeed pitches, especially once he found his changeup was moving better than it had been in a couple months. When Jennings had a 3-1 count in the fifth, right after an 11-pitch battle from Rhymes, he readied for the fastball and got it at 96 mph. It was lower than the first, Verlander said, but still over the plate.

"He's just dead-red fastball, and I split the plate with it," Verlander said. "So he's probably going to hit it hard somewhere."

Add a Ben Zobrist home run leading off the fourth, and Verlander (8-5) had a 4-1 deficit.

"He just seemed out of sync," Tigers catcher Gerald Laird said. "Usually he's really good with command, and his ball just kind of leaked back to the middle of the plate. Usually his four-seamer away stays away, and they just kept coming back to the plate. When that happens, it tends to find the barrel."

Price (11-4) held the lead there as long as his back allowed, becoming the American League's first 11-game winner in the process. Former Ray Delmon Young had two of Detroit's five hits, including a solo homer in the fifth. Ramon Santiago doubled and came around on back-to-back groundouts in the seventh.

"He was using the strike zone to his advantage and making pitches," Laird said of Price. "He's got tremendous stuff. He had electric stuff and he mixed it up pretty good tonight."

Left-hander Jake McGee replaced Price to start the eighth and retired the Tigers in order to hand the lead to Rodney, who earned his 22nd 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.

Porcello hurls gem to carry Tigers past Rays
Righty needs just 87 pitches to complete seven scoreless innings

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 7/1/2012 12:37 AM ET

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ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays held a throwback night to 1979, nearly a decade before Rick Porcello was born. Porcello threw back to his May 2011 outing, the last time he looked this good on the mound.

It was a changeup for the Rays. Actually, Porcello had a lot of changeups for them. But to him, his seven scoreless innings while throwing 87 pitches should be more of the expected, to some extent. In Saturday's case, it was the difference in the Tigers' 6-2 win at Tropicana Field.

"I mean, I think being a contact pitcher and throwing strikes and keeping the ball down in the zone, I should be able to have these types of outings where I can go deep into the game without throwing too many pitches," he said. "As long as everything's sinking down and I'm locating my pitches, at least I feel like that's where I should be. Obviously, some games are going to be different."

That's what sinkerball pitchers do when they're on. Yet as good as his sinker was working Saturday, his mixing of pitches might have been his best job changing speeds in his four-year Major League career.

Considering he was pitching in a 1-0 game for most of the night, every one of those pitches meant something.

"That's obviously what we needed," manager Jim Leyland said. "He did more than you could ask for."

The only other thing the Tigers could want from the 23-year-old is consistency, and he's showing strong signs of building that.

It was the third win in Porcello's last four outings, but it was his best single performance since he one-hit the Pirates for eight innings on May 22, 2011. Fittingly, that's also the last stretch in which he pitched this effectively.

Add up Saturday's performance with Porcello's previous two outings, and the 23-year-old has allowed three runs over his last 20 innings, lowering his ERA from 5.18 to 4.35. He might well have strengthened his rotation spot in the process on a team rumored to be in the market for pitching help as the non-waiver Trade Deadline nears.

"This is probably one of his better outings," catcher Alex Avila said. "And he's shown he can be that consistent. For him, it's all about making sure he's getting that sinker down in the zone, getting ground balls like he was doing today. He's going to have games like that. There's going to be games where those ground balls get through the hole, but that comes with being a sinkerball pitcher."

Porcello had his sinker working on his way to nine ground-ball outs. It worked in part because his offspeed pitches -- specifically, his ability to locate them where he wanted and when he needed them -- kept Rays hitters off-balance.

He threw a combination of 31 changeups and sliders, according to data from MLB.com's Gameday application and brooksbaseball.net, and 29 sinkers. The result was a mix that never allowed hitters to get comfortable, something that had become a problem when Porcello fired sinkers all the time earlier in the year.

It's something that was in the game plan specifically for this team and its left-handed hitters like Carlos Pena and Luke Scott.

"They're a very aggressive team, and everybody knows that Rick has a great sinker, and you have to be able to throw your other pitches to keep them off that pitch," Avila said. "Ricky did a really nice job today being able to mix that in there, throw the slider in there, especially to lefties -- back them off the plate a little bit. Just threw a ton of strikes today."

Porcello (6-5) retired 16 of Tampa Bay's first 17 batters. The only baserunner for the first 5 1/3 innings was Elliot Johnson, and he reached with a bunt single on an 0-2 pitch. Six Rays grounded out in that stretch, and three struck out.

His former Tigers teammate, Will Rhymes, broke up Porcello's groove with a one-out single in the sixth that sparked the only rally the Rays put together against him. Even then, the ensuing hits -- a Desmond Jennings ground ball through the left side, and a Pena chopper that seemingly died on the turf in front of home plate as Porcello charged -- weren't all that damaging.

Nonetheless, they left Porcello staring at a bases-loaded, sixth-inning jam for the second straight outing. He wasn't facing the same lineup he did in Texas, but he had only one out and the heart of the Rays' lineup due up.

He needed just two pitches to escape it. B.J. Upton popped up the first to deep shortstop to take away the sacrifice fly opportunity. Luke Scott grounded out to second on the next one as Porcello bounced into the dugout.

"Obviously, when I got into trouble, I went to my sinker against Upton and Scott," Porcello said. "We were able to get two balls that weren't hit very hard. That's a plus for sure."

At that point, Porcello was protecting a 1-0 lead built when Prince Fielder smacked a third-inning, bases-loaded comebacker off the right shin of Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson, scoring Austin Jackson. Hellickson had to leave the game, but the Rays' bullpen held down Detroit for the next four frames.

Not until a Joel Peralta pitch off Ramon Santiago's shoulder could the Tigers capitalize. Santiago's fifth hit-by-pitch this season extended the eighth inning for Jackson, who sent a Peralta fastball deep to left field for his eighth home 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.

Tigers take three of four from Rays

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 7/1/2012 8:03 PM ET

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ST. PETERSBURG -- The Tigers didn't get back to .500 for the season, as they had hoped by the end of their three-city, 10-game road trip, but they did get closer.

Considering the way the journey started, getting back to .500 for the trip itself was a minor feat.

"This series is over. Whether it helps us continue to play good baseball, I don't know," catcher Alex Avila said after Sunday's 5-3 victory over the Rays earned them three out of four at Tropicana Field for the second time in as many years. "I know we want to finish strong going into the break and at least be over .500 by the time we get to the break. Obviously, [that means] we have to win the next two series."

Time will tell whether this year's series victory over the Rays has that impact like their four-game series here last year, which they later said gave them the confidence for their late-season run. However, the close, low-scoring games they played once again showed the kind of baseball they haven't played often this season.

Three of the four games were decided by three runs or less, and the four-run win they posted Saturday night was a 1-0 game until the eighth inning. Detroit's starting pitchers combined to allow nine runs over 24 innings, with four of the runs coming off of ace Justin Verlander. The lone runs off of Detroit's bullpen were two solo homers off of Joaquin Benoit on Saturday night.

The combined effort salvaged a 5-5 record for the trip, their best mark out of a three-city trek since last September's division-clinching trip to Chicago, Oakland and Kansas City, when they went 6-3, though this year's trip may be more impressive considering all of their opponents had winning records.

"To be on the road and play Pittsburgh, Texas and the Rays, it was big to come out .500," said rookie left-hander Drew Smyly (3-3), whose five innings carried the finale to the bullpen. "This was a good series for us. Going home for seven games, hopefully we can get on a roll and finish strong before the All-Star break."

With the Twins and Royals coming up, they have an excellent opportunity to get on a roll if they can continue playing like this.

"It's not a time to back off, just because we're headed towards that break," said Austin Jackson. "I think this is the time to really push and try to come out on top for the first half."

Smyly arguably pitched better than his numbers would indicate, as he retired 12 straight batters after Desmond Jennings led off the game with a walk that set up B.J. Upton's sacrifice fly.

He had a 1-1 game with a no-hitter going through four innings before back-to-back sacrifice flies from Delmon Young and Avila pulled Detroit ahead in the top of the fifth. Three fifth-inning hits, capped by Jose Molina's game-tying RBI double, gave Tampa Bay a new game.

Jackson, snubbed earlier in the day when All-Star rosters were announced, fueled the go-ahead rally in the sixth by driving in Don Kelly, and he scored on Prince Fielder's two-out RBI single up the middle.

Detroit's bullpen took it from there, as four relievers fired four scoreless innings and struck out six, starting with Brayan Villarreal fanning the side in the sixth, and ending with a perfect ninth from Jose Valverde for his 15th save.

"I think the whole bullpen is doing what they want us to do," Benoit said. "I think we are basically set. I don't think there's any open space from the sixth on."

Phil Coke, Benoit and Valverde excelled in their roles. Villarreal is arguably forging his. When he first came up, he was essentially an injury replacement. When they promoted him to shorter, close-game situations, he was filling in as well. His improved control has turned him into a piece that fills out the group.

"What [Quintin] Berry's been for us as far as the offense, Villarreal's been like that pitching," Avila said. "He kind of brings a different dynamic. When he went down to the Minor Leagues, he made the adjustments he needed to make, knowing that his stuff is electric. He was lights-out being able to bridge that gap between Smyly going five today and that sixth and seventh, knowing you have Benoit and Valverde and also [Octavio] Dotel."

If he can stay that way, the Tigers bullpen has the chance to go six deep in late-inning arms when Al Alburquerque returns sometime after the break. If the Tigers keep playing this way, they'll have plenty of chances to use them, probably in a playoff race.

They're three games back, the same spot where they stood a week ago. They're a game under .500, the same spot they stood six days ago, and six other times since they last owned a break-even record in mid-May. More important, they're confident, perhaps more than they've been in weeks.

"We battled on this road trip," Jackson said. "And that just says a lot about the team, just coming out of the funk a little bit."

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.

A third of the way, Fister strong, but then fades

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 7/3/2012 12:48 AM ET

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DETROIT -- Doug Fister had no-hit stuff for 3 1/3 innings and seemingly had the foundation to flirt with history. Then he went from potential no-hitter to eminently hittable.

The resulting 6-4 loss to the Twins on a hot summer evening at Comerica Park was a fitting one-night microcosm for the Tigers' fortunes over the last month and a half.

Minnesota was the team that pushed the Tigers under .500 by winning a two-game series here in mid-May. Eight times since, the Tigers have crept to within a game of the break-even point. Eight times, they've lost. Monday was the latest.

With the Twins and Royals in town this week, the Tigers have a solid opportunity to head into the break with a winning record. But as Minnesota showed Tuesday -- really, as Minnesota showed in May -- it's not automatic.

Now, the Tigers will need to win four of their next six to head into the All-Star break at .500. Five out of six will send them to the break with a winning record and a wave of momentum.

They'll have to play very good baseball to get there. For three innings or so Monday, they did. Once the pitches rose on Fister, or once the shadows fell across the entire infield, the bottom dropped out on his outing.

Which fits better is a difference of opinion on both sides.

"I really just didn't execute there in the fourth inning," Fister said. "I felt good the first three, and then the ball got up on me a little bit and they capitalized on it."

Fister (1-6) faced the minimum 10 batters through 3 1/3 innings. The only Twin to reach base safely was Ryan Doumit on a hit-by-pitch, but Brian Dozier's double-play grounder erased him. Before that, Fister struck out four of Minnesota's first five hitters, including the top three in order on called third strikes in the opening inning.

Once the top of the order came back around for the fourth, the results practically flipped. Leadoff man Denard Span worked the count full before lining out to third baseman Miguel Cabrera, then six of Minnesota's next seven batters singled.

None of them were hit particularly hard, but all of them found holes through the Tigers' infield, leading to four fourth-inning runs. Trevor Plouffe drove in two with a ground ball through the left side to put Minnesota on top for good.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and his players said they started seeing the ball better after the first few innings, once the sun was lower in the sky.

"I don't want to blame it on a backdrop, but it's tough to see here the first couple of innings," Doumit said. "The last couple of times we've played here, the first three innings, with the way everything's shining back there, [it's tough].

"That's not taking anything away from him. He had good stuff the first three innings, we just made adjustments."

Fister put more of the blame on himself.

"I'm sure that they made adjustments," he said, "but it's a lack of execution on my part. It's a big difference between just below the knee and just above the knee, and I left the ball up a little bit and they made me pay for it."

Fister's struggles in his previous start last Wednesday support his point. He went from retiring the top third of the Rangers' order in the opening inning to giving up two singles and a three-run homer in a four-run second. He retired six straight Rangers to get through the third before serving up two homers in the fourth.

Fister made adjustments between starts, he said, but they clearly didn't stick.

"I think it's just a matter of fine-tuning it, just focusing on getting on top of the ball and driving through it," he said, "instead of trying to get on the side of it and trying to make it do too much."

The Tigers buy what he's saying, but they also point out that he missed about a month and a half over two different stints on the disabled list. He hasn't had a rhythm to get consistent yet, they argue.

"To be honest with you, Doug's doing his best out there," catcher Alex Avila said. "It's something that you have to be patient with him about, because he came off the DL and just started pitching. This is like Spring Training for him. ... These last couple of starts, it's almost like his rehab starts."

Add in a walk and two more singles to begin the fifth inning, and Fister allowed nine of the last 11 Twins he faced to reach base safely. Yet none of the eight hits he allowed over four-plus innings went for extra bases, making him just the third Tigers pitcher to do that in such a short outing since 2000. Brad Penny did it last June 15, while Nate Cornejo did it on July 4, 2003.

All 13 hits for the Twins on the night, in fact, were singles. The only extra-base hit for either side was Cabrera's two-run double in a three-run fifth inning to chase Twins starter Liam Hendriks, who watched his 6-1 lead nearly unravel.

"We're only down two runs," Avila said. "That's a bloop and a blast right there."

That's where it stayed. Anthony Swarzak (2-4) tossed 2 2/3 innings to pace five scoreless innings of Twins relief, keeping the Tigers under .500 for at least another couple of days.

"It's just a number right now," Austin Jackson said. "I think we're really focusing on just going out there and putting up the effort. If we keep doing that, we'll be all right."

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.

Power display unable to bail out Below, Tigers
Boesch, Jackson go yard, but Twins come on strong in Detroit

By Anthony Odoardi / MLB.com | 7/4/2012 2:31 AM ET

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DETROIT -- The last time Duane Below was scheduled to make a spot start -- on April 30 against the Royals -- the Tigers had what still stands as their only rainout of the season. On Tuesday, Mother Nature nearly washed away another one.

After an hour and a half delay before the start of the game, Below finally took the mound for his 2012 debut as a starter. It didn't go quite as planned, as the Tigers lost, 8-6, to the Twins.

"It's not really the start I wanted to have," said Below, who lasted only 2 2/3 innings in place of an injured Max Scherzer. "I wanted to pick up the team and help Max out."

The Twins pegged the lefty for five runs on five hits, although only a first-inning run was earned. Ben Revere and Joe Mauer hit back-to-back singles, and manager Ron Gardenhire called for the double steal, which put both runners in scoring position. Left fielder Josh Willingham hit a sacrifice fly to left to score the game's first run.

Revere went 2-for-2 with two runs and a stolen base against Below, and he also forced a balk that started a rally in the third inning. Revere's speed appeared to get in Below's head and certainly made a difference in the game.

"I faced [Revere] in Double-A," Below said. "Even last year, he's ready to go any time. He always continues to go and I knew he was going to go at some point. ... I needed to do a better job of holding him on."

The Tigers' offense backed their starter with a three-run second inning off Twins starter Nick Blackburn. Prince Fielder and Alex Avila singled before Ryan Raburn hit a game-tying RBI double.

Brennan Boesch, who recorded only one RBI in his previous 13 games, followed with a two-run single.

"I definitely was consciously trying to get a good pitch," Boesch said. "I just wanted to make sure today that I wasn't going to give any at-bats away. ... I'm fighting and doing everything I can to try to hit the ball."

The two-run lead proved to be temporary as the wheels fell off Below's outing in the third. He recorded two quick outs before a single by Revere, a balk and an error by Ramon Santiago put runners at the corners. A two-run shot off the bat of Willingham made it a 4-3 game.

Santiago came into the day with only two errors on the season, but his total doubled in the game. Although it was marked as Santiago's fault, Below blamed himself.

"I should've made that play. That was a one-hopper over my head," he said. "That's a tough play for Santiago to make having to cover that hole."

Jose Ortega, recalled from Triple-A Toledo for Tuesday's game, took over and served Trevor Plouffe's 19th homer of the season, handing Minnesota a three-run lead.

The Tigers battled back off Blackburn in the bottom of the fourth with a pair of their own homers. Boesch hit an opposite-field solo shot, his first since June 13, and two batters later, Austin Jackson went deep to tie the game.

"I can't do anything right right now," Blackburn said. "The fourth inning I go out and give up the home runs; that's been the story of the season for me so far."

While Blackburn will try to forget Tuesday's game, Boesch will try repeating his success. In his last 52 at-bats, Boesch had only seven hits. He busted out of his slump, finishing 3-for-4 with three RBIs.

"Anytime you get three hits and a home run, it's momentum to build," he said. "Can't really enjoy it for too long, but you can bring it into the next day and use it as momentum to try to get some consistency."

Brayan Villarreal replaced Ortega following 2 1/3 innings of one-hit, one-run ball. He loaded the bases in the seventh inning on two doubles and an intentional walk. Ryan Doumit hit the go-ahead sacrifice fly to center field with one out.

Mauer tacked on an insurance run with his fifth home run of the year off Joaquin Benoit in the ninth inning.

The Tigers are back to three games under .500, and they'll need to win their next five games to finish above .500 at the All-Star break. And with tonight marking game No. 81, the Tigers own sub-.500 record at the halfway point for the first time under manager Jim Leyland.

"We all want it. We're all want to win," Below said. "It's not like we're showing up and just going through the motions. Everyone comes here every day and wants to play hard and win. Yeah, it's halfway point, but we're only 4 1/2 [games] back [in the American League Central], so that's the good thing about it. As soon as we get hot, we're a team that is going to be scary."

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

Miggy hits two HRs as Verlander goes distance
Right-hander hurls fifth complete game of the season

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 7/5/2012 2:04 AM ET

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DETROIT -- Justin Verlander doesn't want to be awarded an All-Star start next week based on last season.

"You're not owed anything in this game," he said. "Whoever's the best pitcher at this point is owed that."

As auditions go, his closing argument that he's still the best option for the American League in Tuesday's Midsummer Classic went pretty well.

As Tigers remedies go, Verlander's latest streak-stopper, a complete-game four-hitter in a 5-1 win over the Twins on Wednesday night at Comerica Park, might have been as meaningful as any start he made over the first half.

Detroit needed a win over Minnesota after back-to-back losses to start the series, not to mention a two-game series sweep at home against the Twins in May. At the same time, the Tigers needed to rest a bullpen taxed by 15 1/3 innings of relief over the previous three games.

The way Verlander put up one quick inning after another, the only work the Tigers' bullpen saw was a handful of warmup tosses from closer Jose Valverde in the ninth once Verlander's pitch count crossed over 110 with his longtime nemesis, Joe Mauer, up to the plate.

Mauer, whose 20 hits in 55 at-bats against Verlander are the most of anyone in the game, flew out to left to complete an 0-for-4 night. Once Ryan Raburn completed a basket catch, Verlander had his fifth complete game of the season.

And on a stormy night when Verlander's first pitch didn't come until 9:30 p.m. ET, he finished off the game in barely more time (two hours, 33 minutes) than the rain delayed it (two hours, 26 minutes).

"That's just what we needed," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "We needed a lot of innings, and we got nine of them. I didn't expect that many, but that's a blessing for us."

It wasn't a masterpiece, not by Verlander's standards. His changeup isn't where he wants it to be; it really wasn't where he wanted on the 402-foot drive by Chris Parmelee for Minnesota's lone run. His curveball required a mid-game adjustment, he said, leading to all three of his called strikeouts and a swinging strikeout from Josh Willingham.

Yet it was quiet, cool -- demeanor, not temperature -- efficiency.

"It ended up being a good game," Verlander said. "It's not where I want to be. ... still need to make some adjustments, but it's still nice to have some balls hit right at people sometimes."

On a normal turn, he'd start going about those tweaks on Thursday or Friday, preparing for a start in five days. This isn't a normal turn. Verlander will take a couple days off, then start his routine for an inning or two in the All-Star Game, something he couldn't do last year because he had pitched the Tigers' final game before the break.

Whether he's preparing for a start is another question. He'll have to wait until AL manager Ron Washington selects his starter. Washington will somehow have to choose from a field that includes AL ERA leader Jered Weaver and Chris Sale, who owns a 10-2 record and 2.19 ERA, as well as 11-game winners David Price and Matt Harrison, plus equally dominant lefty C.J. Wilson.

Verlander (9-5) can't match them in wins or ERA, but he owns the AL strikeout lead, having retaken it from another All-Star, Felix Hernandez. And with a curveball he was spotting in any count, to go with a fastball that consistently hit the mid-90s on the ballpark radar before hitting 99 in the ninth inning, he again showed arguably the nastiest stuff in the league.

"Yeah, it would be nice. It would be fantastic," Verlander said. "But I know there are some other guys out there having exceptional years. In my opinion, the All-Star Game is year-to-year. This is the halfway point of 2012, not the end of 2011."

In other words, he doesn't expect to be awarded anything on past accomplishments.

"Yeah, I had a good year last year, but I shouldn't be warranted for that," he continued. "If I get to start in the All-Star Game, I want to know it's because I've been the best pitcher up to this point."

The way he pitched Wednesday, his opposing manager Wednesday was putting him in another category.

"You've got to have the great arm and you've got to have the mentality to get there. It's a Jack Morris-type thing -- finish the game, nine innings," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "That's a Verlander, and that's putting him in a lofty status as far as I'm concerned. Jack Morris belongs in the Hall of Fame and he was one of the grittiest pitchers I've ever been on the field with."

Seven years to the day after Verlander made his Major League debut, he retired the Twins lineup in order through the first three innings before Denard Span singled leading off the fourth. Verlander escaped the inning on a double play from Mauer, and he had faced the minimum through 4 1/3 innings until Parmelee's homer.

That was it for the damage. Trevor Plouffe singled after Parmelee's homer, before Ryan Doumit grounded into an inning-ending play. Span bunted his way on in the sixth, and a Jamey Carroll walk gave Minnesota one more baserunner before Verlander spotted a breaking ball on Alexi Castilla 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.

Prince's power caps Tigers' rally in win over Twins
Three-run shot seals eighth-inning comeback to help Detroit split series

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 7/5/2012 7:30 PM ET

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DETROIT -- The Twins had their 12th hit Thursday afternoon before the Tigers had their first. The Tigers made the most of their last hits.

"We dodged some bullets," manager Jim Leyland said.

Then Prince Fielder launched a crushing shot.

"What happened to them is kind of what's happened to us this year," Leyland said of the Twins after Fielder's three-run homer powered a five-run eighth inning that capped off seven unanswered Tigers runs in a 7-3 win. "They got a bunch of hits and couldn't get that killer one, and in the end, they paid for it."

Not since at least 1918, as far back as the records go, had the Tigers given up 15 hits in a game and escaped with just three runs allowed. Not in that same span, according to baseball-reference.com, had a Major League pitcher given up 12 hits in less than four innings and allowed just three runs, as happened to Rick Porcello on Thursday.

All but one of those hits were singles, including the Ryan Doumit comebacker that hit Porcello on his right biceps and prompted Leyland to pull him from the game with two outs and the bases loaded in the fourth. Three of those hits in the fourth stayed in the infield.

By contrast, Fielder's 13th home run of the year was a no-doubt shot off the bat that landed well into the right-field seats as Twins lefty reliever Tyler Robertson asked for a new ball. It was just the second multi-run homer of the year for Fielder, and the first to put the Tigers in front in the fifth inning or later.

That's the kind of instant impact the Tigers were hoping from their lineup. It took a lot of damage control, three innings of shutout relief from Darin Downs, and a little rally to get there.

Fielder didn't want to think about the struggles of the first half, or what's coming up ahead, as he talked after the game. He wanted to stay in the moment.

"I think we should just enjoy right now," he said. "Just enjoy this feeling, because tomorrow's not here yet. So let's enjoy this."

Among those enjoying it was Porcello, who had the kind of day that allows sinkerballers to give managers gray hairs and give box scores that crowded look.

"At this point in my career, I don't really pay attention to my box score after a game," Porcello said, allowing himself a slight chuckle. "The type of pitcher I am, I'm going to give up hits. That doesn't always look great, but the bottom line is we went out there and won the game. That's the most important thing. To split this series and keep us within range of the teams ahead of us."

Only one Tigers pitcher in the last 50 years had allowed that many hits without getting out of the fourth, that being Wil Ledezma during the infamous 2003 season. He gave up seven runs that game, thanks in no small part to three White Sox homers.

Porcello left some sinkers up in the strike zone, but didn't get the ball up in kind except for Doumit's double to the fence with nobody on and two out in the third inning. Add in two runners thrown out at the plate on back-to-back pitches, the second on a Ryan Raburn strike from left field to give Gerald Laird a chance to tag Brian Dozier on the head, and a three-man collision on a popup bunt, and even Leyland called it a "weird game."

Said Porcello: "I'm not going to say it was a bad start. I threw some good pitches that found some holes, that sort of thing. There's not a lot you can do about that. The biggest thing was not getting the bottom half of the order out. Four right-handed hitters in the bottom half of the order should be consistent outs for me."

Meanwhile, Twins starter Scott Diamond held the Tigers hitless the first time through the order, erasing his second-inning walk with a double play. Austin Jackson doubled and scored to open Detroit's offense in the fourth inning before Brennan Boesch doubled in Jhonny Peralta in the fifth.

At that point, the Tigers had less than a third of Minnesota's hit total, but stood within a big hit of tying it. Diamond wouldn't give it to them, retiring nine of his final 10 batters to last seven innings and hand the lead to what had been a surprisingly effective Twins bullpen this series.

Once Jackson snuck a ground ball inside the right-field line for a one-out triple in the eighth off setup man Alex Burnett (2-1), however, the bullpen fell apart. Burnett played to the game plan and tried to get Quintin Berry to chase a breaking balls, throwing five of them in a six-pitch at-bat, but Berry took them all for a walk that put the go-ahead run on base

It also brought up Miguel Cabrera, whom the Twins couldn't contain all series.

"I knew he was the one under pressure, not me," Berry said. "He had to try to make some good pitches to me. He came out flipping stuff up there that luckily was out of the zone, and I was able to lay off it."

Cabrera sent a ground ball through the middle for his seventh hit of the series (and second RBI of the day) to tie the game and bring up Fielder. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire lifted Burnett to bring in the left-handed Robertson, whose second slider hung up, allowing Fielder to drive it into the right-field seats.

"I just hung a slider to him and he did with it what he's supposed to," Robertson said.

Delmon Young added a solo shot -- ruled so after replay overturned the original call of a double -- two pitches later for an insurance 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.

Smyly fans career-high 10 as Tigers top KC
Young's go-ahead homer helps Detroit climb back to .500 mark

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 7/7/2012 12:02 AM ET

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DETROIT -- For this Tigers team with lofty expectations, .500 is a milepost, not a goal.

For rookie left-hander Drew Smyly, so is the outing that got Detroit back to the break-even mark for the first time in seven weeks.

"I'm learning a crazy amount every time out," he said after his career-high 10 strikeouts over six innings in a 4-2 win over the Royals Friday night at Comerica Park.

The Tigers, in turn, are learning quite a bit about him.

"At some point, this guy's got a chance to really be good," manager Jim Leyland said. "He's left-handed, he's got good control and he's got a feel for the hitters, a little better feel for how to pitch hitters. He's got a chance to be a good one."

Smyly isn't going to get there this year, Leyland emphasizes, not as a rookie in his second pro season. But considering where he was a week and a half ago, with his spot in the rotation seemingly getting shaky with his escalating ERA, Smyly has shown a lot of fight trying to get out of a midseason slump.

His win over the Rays was a good step for him. Friday's outing was bigger.

"It's a lot to take in from trying to get Major League hitters out and just little mechanical things, what pitches to throw in certain situations," Smyly said. "I've gotten myself in trouble a good amount of times, got out of it some. I've had my good games, had my bad games.

"Tonight, my curveball was better than it's been all year. When you have your pitches going, it makes it easy."

When your curveball used to act more like a slider, it makes a big difference. It's a different pitch than the Royals saw from him in mid-April, and it showed in each swing and miss they took at his breaking ball as it dove for the dirt.

"It's a sharp-breaker that was dipping down," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "It was hard to see in the first few innings, but he mixes his pitches well."

It took the Royals five innings to catch up to Smyly, who hadn't struck out more than seven in a game in his brief Major League career -- and his three seven-strikeout efforts all came in his first five starts. The lefty reached that mark 11 batters into the game, then breezed past it on his way to fanning nine of Kansas City's first 13 hitters.

Smyly struck out Alex Gordon in each of his first two at-bats, the second time starting a stretch of four consecutive strikeouts that also claimed Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler.

Eight of Smyly's 10 strikeouts came on the slurve, or curve, or whatever you want to call it.

"That's the best I've seen him," Leyland said of his 22-year-old lefty. "That's the best I've seen his breaking stuff."

Combine the fact that his control was as good as usual, and the result was historic. Not since 1918 had a Tiger rookie struck out 10 batters without allowing a walk in an outing. However, Eric Erickson had 16 innings to do it, fanning 12 Washington Senators.

Leyland doesn't expect more of that, obviously.

"I just want him to keep making progress and keep us in games," Leyland said. "If he can keep us in games on a consistent basis for six innings, I would absolutely be thrilled. That's all I need him to do this year."

That's precisely what he did Friday, to the point that Leyland stretched him for a sixth inning to give him a test after the Royals tied it in the fifth.

The only Royals that didn't strike out were the bottom two hitters in the order, and they powered Kansas City's game-tying rally. Brayan Pena doubled in Mike Moustakas, then scored on Jason Bourgeois' ground ball through the middle.

Smyly (4-3) retired Gordon on a ground ball to first to hold it there, then stranded runners at second and third with a seven-pitch battle against Moustakas, who grounded out on Smyly's career-high 106th and final pitch of the night to end the top of the sixth.

It was another breaking ball, but it wasn't his best.

"He made a bad pitch to Moustakas that he grounded to Prince [Fielder]," Leyland said. "He was lucky it didn't go in the seats. It was a hanger, maybe too bad of a hanger."

At that point, the Tigers were struggling to handle Royals starter Jonathan Sanchez, who kept his walk total down and induced seven groundouts over the first five innings. However, he paid in the sixth for falling behind on Fielder and Young.

Fielder lined a single through the middle of Kansas City's infield shift for a single. Once Sanchez fell behind on a 3-0 count to Young, he challenged him with back-to-back fastballs. Young took the first, then saw Sanchez (1-5) hang the second and drove it deep to left for his second home run in as many days.

With that, they were on their way toward to .500, even if they weren't celebrating it.

"It means we've been winning," Young said. "We look a lot better on paper at .500 in a pennant race than five games below .500 and three games out. We want to continue the trend and try to win this series before the All-Star break and set ourselves up to go play in Baltimore after the break."

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.