stringer bell

And now we woke up Delmon!

Tigers have the best hitter in Miggy and the best pitcher in Verlander. They have a couple of other good hitters, but the key guy might be Jackson. He looked bad going 0-2 twice and ended up with a double and triple, scoring both times.

I think I like Prince Fielder less and less as time goes by.

I doubt Robertson gets Prince this time.

Incredible that this game is getting away given how many chances they had.

Another fine outing for Diamond. He now has thrown 79 innings. Only three innings short of qualifying for ERA honors.

Carroll going through his roughest stretch since the start of the season.

DeMuth's zone seems to have gotten bigger. Third guy tagged out at home.

I wish he would get it going so he had some trade value!

I wouldn't be surprised if all they get is three runs. This has been one wierd game.

Roy Smalley is harping about Plouffe going after high fastballs. He is absolutely right!

Only ahead by two when outhitting them by 10. Time to put up a screen in front of the pitchers?

I thought at least a half dozen pitches called balls were strikes.

Ouch! That's gotta hurt.

Sure thought it was a fair ball. Meanwhile more interesting plays in the infield. Span gets one off Porcello's glove for an RBI infield single.

You will enjoy the bunt play. Totally ironic that Laird got leveled by his own player after standing tall for two home plate tags.

Both plays put pressure on a shaky Tiger defense. The Tigers executed perfectly on both plays. I don't fault Liddle for sending either guy. I'm upset that they aren't ahead 3-0 or more with their opportunities.

I didn't notice Dozier's turn. I did notice that Raburn was very shallow. By the time the ump called Dozier out Raburn was in the infield.

Joe Mauer no longer runs well, not even for a catcher.

LOL. Me too.

Attaberry (sp) said that Willingham has a sore wrist. Possibly the reason why he isn't going today.

It is outs vs bases. Outs are usually much more important than bases. Once in awhile the extra base really matters, but most of the time the difference is negligiible. The flip side of this is stolen bases--taking an extra base while sometimes giving an out. Most think that base stealers need to be successful at least 70-75% of the time to take that extra base. It would figure that if Revere yields an extra base occasionally while getting several more outs that he is a defensive asset.

While Cabrera and Verlander were probably too much by themselves for the Twins to overcome, if the Twins had made some plays they should make, this would have been a close game. Span froze on Prince's short fly ball and Carroll made two misplays. Those mistakes made a possible 2-1 game into a 5-1 defeat.

Duensing had pretty good success as a starter until last year, when he was brutal against RH batters. He was better vs. RHers out of the 'pen this year and it really is too soon to tell if that will carry over as a starter. Certainly tonight, he well could have held the Tigers scoreless if either they had turned the easy DP or if Span had not misplayed Prince's Texas Leaguer. Let's hope he isn't out longterm with the leg injury.

Morneau and Dozier out of the lineup tonight. Casilla and Parmelee in, last chance for Parm to impress before a trip to Rochester?