A nice turnaround.

Tigers 4, Indians 1

After a few rough days, the Tigers got things back on track thanks to two in early runs in the first, one in 3rd, and one in 4th, paired with a nice day from Alfredo Simon (4 GS, 27.1 IP, 1.35 ERA, 3.03 FIP). In addition, Cabrera was walked intentionally three times and once normally for good measure. The team will look to take the series behind Kyle Lobstein (2 GS, 11 IP, 3.27 ERA, 3.58 FIP) on Sunday. 

The Moment: Victor Martinez pushes a single through the right side to give the Tigers an early lead.

Brutal.

Indians 13, Tigers 1

So, listen. This was very bad. Shane Greene (4 GS, 27 IP, 3.00 ERA, 2.94 FIP) got tagged. Alex Wilson gave up a dinger and then was fine, but then Al Alburquerque came in and made it even worse. The Tigers couldn’t must much offense against Danny Salazar, but they had a few good swings and Nick obliterated a pitch in the 2nd. The story of this was the poor performance by the pitching staff with 8 runs from Greene and another 5 from he bullpen. These games are going to happen, but they’re never a lot of fun while they’re in progress. Hopefully Alfredo Simon (3 GS, 20.2 IP, 1.74 ERA, 2.96 FIP) can do his thing on Saturday.

The Moment: Nick Castellanos crushes one to right center field.

An evening out.

Yankees 2, Tigers 1

After a rocking 6-0 start, the Tigers are now 5-5 in their last 10 after falling to the Yankees on Thursday. While the record is starting to normalize, the big positive today was that Anibal Sanchez (4 GS, 22.2 IP, 5.96 ERA, 4.79) looked much more like himself. The Tigers couldn’t get a ton going offensively and when they did, they couldn’t cash in the big runs. After an awful pitching display on Wednesday, that part of the roster did their job when the bats didn’t. The club will welcome the Indians to town behind Shane Greene (3 GS, 23 IP, 0.39 ERA, 2.76 FIP) on Friday.

The Moment: VMart knocks in Gose in the 1st.

Bad, and it should feel bad.

Yankees 13, Tigers 4

So this was a giant mess. David Price (4 GS, 24.2 IP, 3.28 ERA, 2.91 FIP) couldn’t get a grip on the ball and was wild and got rocked from the start. After a six run 1st, all looked lost, but the Tigers bats actually rallied back for four in the bottom half to make it a ballgame. Unfortunately, the Yanks grabbed two more in the 2nd and kept adding on against the hapless Tiger pen. The weather was a mess, the pitching was poor, and the defense was suspect. You can’t hate the offensive output overall, but after applying pressure early they failed to close as the game wore on. Let’s all agree to forget this one and turn around for Anibal Sanchez (3 GS, 16.1 IP, 7.71 ERA, 5.71 FIP) Thursday afternoon.

The Moment: The Tigers grab four in the 1st to give the team some early hope.

The downside.

Yankees 5, Tigers 2

The Tigers got a nice start from Kyle Lobstein (2 GS, 11 IP, 3.27 ERA, 3.57 FIP) who offered six innings of one run baseball, but Eovaldi danced into and out of problem, holding the Tigers to just a single run as well. The difference in this game were the bullpens, as the Yankees shut the Tigers down and the Tigers, by way of Krol, Gorzelanny, Alburquerque, and Hardy allowed four runs in three innings of work on dingers and walks and all sorts of bullpen nonsense. The Tigers had their chances but bounced into a few double plays along the way, but they really turned the heat up in the 9th, loading the bases and pushing across a run before Iglesias finally struck out, sending them to loss number three. They’ll give the ball to their ace, David Price (3 GS, 22.1 IP, 0.40 ERA, 2.48 FIP), on Wednesday evening.

The Moment: Tigers load them up in the 9th to make it interesting.

Flashy.

Tigers 2, Yankees 1

Alfredo Simon (3 GS 20.2 IP, 1.74 ERA, 2.91 FIP) surrendered an early home run, but he settled in well after Teix took him deep and wound up pitching into the 8th inning. The Tigers bats were slow to develop, but they only needed a pair of runs thanks to some amazing defense from two of their youngsters. After the Yankees outfield stole hits from the Tigers in the 5th, James McCann cut down Jacoby Ellsbury trying to steal second and then Iglesias robbed Gardner of an infield hit. The got their runs thanks to a hit and a good base running play from Davis, a walk to Martinez, and then singles from JD and Cespedes in the 7th and then Joba and Soria combined to collect the final five outs. The Tigers have 11 wins in 13 tries and will give the ball to the young lefty, Kyle Lobstein (1 GS, 5 IP, 5.40 ERA, 3.01 FIP), on Tuesday.

The Moment: McCann and Iglesias make sterling defense plays in the 6th.

A punishing. 

Tigers 9, White Sox 1

After yesterday’s thumping, the Tigers got everything straightened out quickly on Sunday. Shane Greene (3 GS, 23 IP, 0.39 ERA, 2.69 FIP) did more Shane Greene things over seven innings of one run baseball and the offense exploded courtesy of two massive Yoenis Cespedes home runs in the first and third innings that delivered six of the team’s nine runs. Victor Martinez also have three his including his first extra base knock of the year as the Tigers cruised passed White Sox for their fourth straight series win to start the 2015 season. They’ll welcome the Yankees to town on Monday with Alfredo Simon (2 GS, 13.1 IP, 2.03 ERA, 2.92 FIP) looking to build on his strong start in Pittsburgh.

The Moment: Cespedes launches a first inning grand slam.

Ugly.

White Sox 12, Tigers 3

After starting 9-1, the Tigers were due for a clunker, but that didn’t make this one any more pleasant, especially because of the way he Sox teed off on Anibal Sanchez (3 GS, 16.1 IP, 7.71 ERA, 5.61 FIP). He wasn’t dominate in the first two innings, but got the job done, and you could argue a bad play in center in the third exacerbated the the the four run 3rd inning. Yet two doubles, a walk, and a bomb in the 4th removed any doubt that Sanchez wasn’t fooling anyone on this day. The Tigers bats drew a tough assignment in Chris Sale and gathered a pair of runs off him in 6 innings, which is better than the average team performs against him. Blaine Hardy was also tagged in relief to turn it into a laugher and everyone just got some work in as the game wound down. The Tigers will still have a shot to win their four straight series on Sunday behind Shane Greene (2 GS, 16 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2.16 FIP).

The Moment: Miguel Cabrera singles after a nine pitch first inning AB.

Ig-credible.

Tigers 2, White Sox 1

For most of the day, the Tigers were putting runners on base and failing to cash them in, but a solo bomb from Yoenis Cespedes bailed out David Price (3 GS, 22.1 IP, 0.40 ERA, 2.45 FIP) and the home run he allowed to Avi Garcia. Aside from the homers, the pitchers dueled for eight innings, with Price racking up nine punchouts and six base runners as he got stronger as the game went on. Castellanos ripped one to right to start the 9th and when Garcia bobbled the ball he went for two. Castellanos was tagged at second, but the ump called him safe and Ventura failed to challenge, giving Avila a chance to bunt the pinch runner to third. Iglesias stepped in and slapped a single to right center to plate the winning run and pushed the Tigers to 9-1. Anibal Sanchez (2 GS, 13 IP, 3.46 ERA, 4.14 FIP) takes on Chris Sale on Saturday.

The Moment: Iglesias punches one through to collect the walk off win.

Efficient. 

Tigers 1, Pirates 0

Looking to take their third straight series, the Tigers turned to Alfredo Simon (2 GS, 13.1 IP, 2.03 ERA, 2.89 FIP) to get them off on the right foot and he did not disappoint. The new Tiger allowed just two hits and no walks over 8 innings and held the Pirates to zero runs. In those situations, you don’t need much offense and the Tigers didn’t waste any energy, scoring a single run on a Rajai Davis solo homer in the 6th. If you were worried about the game being a little too ordinary, in the 9th inning, somehow the Jerry Lane caught a ball in the mask, knocking him out of the game while no one really knew if Cabrera fouled off a pitch or walk. They said he walked, but we’ll never really know what happened. Joakim Soria got the 9th and handled it as if it were his job. They’ll take the day of Thursday before welcoming the Sox on Friday behind David Price (2 GS, 14.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2.06 FIP).

The Moment: Davis launches one over the left field fence.