Pudge plays, but Inge out

Hopefully the all righty lineup has a degree of success against this guy.

Good game yesterday--nice to see a few guys reach the fence with men on. The walks this year so far have really helped to put men on that otherwise wouldn't be there.

Top 4 guys in the lineup at Toledo are hitting .300

Vasquez struck out 9 guys in 5 innings yesterday and Byrdak has yet to be scored upon this year in his 5 appearances.

Glad to hear that the Tigers mentioned Virginia Tech student Brian Bluhm during the moment of silence this evening. I had been following his story since last night, and it was very sad, such a shame. I also know of a certain Tiger player who should be given a medal for his thoughtfulness.

--Rich

Meant to make these comments after 8. Now I feel compelled to.
Why not leave Zumaya pitcht the 9th? Threw very few pitches in his one inning of work and there is a day off tomorrow. NO JL in his infinite wisdom/stubborness saw this as as his dream... setup 8th innning and 9th inning save scenario for Jones. My gosh don't let Zumaya assert himself and take a save away from Jones!

Sheffield and Casey are hitting so poorly right now that they are could be considered a liability. Both of them hit harmless popups with men on 2nd and 3rd in the 6th but were picked up C-Mo.

Whatever happens this game, win or lose and with Rodney in I think the latter some damage was done to the mentality of our fine starting staff. How good can Jeremy feel about things right now?

or more importantly, how can JL continue to allow rodney to throw a ball. in ANY situation. he'd blow a 10 run lead. once again, he's involved in another loss.... 1/2 the teams losses happen when that guy pitches. my grandma could throw the ball better, and she's been dead for years....

Yikes! Well al lthe cheerleaders will say that we have wond our share of games that we should have lost and things even out. I say that you have to win every game you play and if you don't you have to be pi$$ed off about it. Maroth (without the "help" of Ledezma) could be 3-0 right now. And he is not fooling anybody. Bondo pitches like Cy Young candidate and has nothing, in terms of a won/loss record, to show for it.

The veteran hitters we picked within the last year to help out are not helping. The veteran reliever we picked up to shore up the bullpen is not helping. The record this year is very misleading in that it is not indicative of the problems the club has. There are forces in motion right now that can lead the team on the wrong path. I hope Sheffield remains humble (he should after all) and keeps his mouth shut and I hope the incredible efforts we have seen from the top 3 starters are not contaminated by lack of run support.

Does anyone here think that Todd Jones was going to save 100% of his games this year? Didn't think so. So he had an off day. He didn't look like himself right from the start. It happens. He'll get the next one. Or the next ten. He's an excellent closer.

I don't really think the starters' psyche can be damaged that easily. If so, they shouldn't be in the big leagues.

Fernando Rodney, no further comment.

What has got me stumped is Sheffield. Yes, I'm finally saying something. I looked at his complete stats and he's not prone to slow starts. In fact, this guy has the most consistent splits I've ever seen. So what is going on here?

Jones was due for a blown save but it still stings because of how Bondo pitched.

Rodney, please blow your back out sneezing or something because you're hurting us more than helping.

What a major downer this game was. I feel so bad for Jeremy he has really gotten the short end of the stick, when frankly he or anyone couldn't pitch any better. It is just a crying shame.

I think regarding Jones, it was a tuff break, I mean is that Dejesus a pain in the butt or what, that guy kills us. He got the hit he wanted to get the double play, but it was just a fraction of a second to late because of Guillen having to tag 2nd himself. Thats the breaks. But you are right he cannot save every game, no one can. It is just a shame mostly for Bondo.

I don't uderstand what is going on with Fernando Rodney. Like I have said before he can be just awesome or he can be this, something is out of whack with him. Jose Mesa don't get me started. The pen is killing us.

As far as the batters, Sheffield oh my god what is up with that guy. I swear Stienbrenner must be paying him to bat poorly, because he doesn't want the Tigers to do well. (ha ha) I have no other explaination. This is not the guys record, it isn't like he hasn't gone to other new towns with lofty expectations placed upon him. Although I did see that a lot of the top run producers in the league are not doing well ie. Puljos, Giambi, etc.. Lets just hope it gets better fast, the other guys seem to be coming around the last few days.

GO TIGERS

Jason, nice article on Brian Bluhm that you wrote late last night. Thanks for that.

The strangest thing with Sheff is, it's the middle of the third week, he's hitting about .135, and he's rarely even made good contact yet. I would have bet the house this could have never happened. Well, if he's to get back to his normal numbers, we're in store for one heck of a hitting tear.

since i live in CA and dont have the MLB package... lol, i'll check in every so often, and today, i saw the game tied in the 10th, and rodney on the mound.. and i immediately closed the window cuz there was no chance for the tigers to win with that man throwing the ball.

that being said. i can't wait to see them play in anahiem monday night. weather shouldn't be a factor in that game, so hopefully they'll bring their bats, and hopefully leave rodney at home in detroit, to think about what he's done. lol

........GO TIGERS.......

Well I didn't ever think that Jones will save every game. Far from it. My point is that they could have let Zumaya finis the game off. There was no need to go to Jones--- just because. Zumaya was in good form, throwing strikes and a day off for everyone tomorrow. I think Leyland has written a prescription for how his bullpen completes the game and can't help but folow it even if it isn't necessary.

And this is not hindsight- this was the way I felt about things after the 8th inning.

Before this year is through we will see Zumaya become the closer on this team. Unfortunately, that will put a lot of pressure on the new "setup" guys.

I suppose JL will keep throwing Rodney on the fire in order to prove himself right but Rodney (and I must say his stuff has potential) lacks the temperment for the job. Jones has it and Zumaya has it. Rodney doesn't.

I beg to differ, I think that you are wrong about Zumaya closing this year unless something happens to Todd Jones. I say this because as of late the bull pen has been inconsistent at best except for Zumaya and Jones. I don't think that they can afford to move Zumaya out of his role at least at this point. Besides Todd is doing pretty darn good.