Why Vasquez?

I think it is a good choice. Vasquez has been throiwng really well and at the AAA level. You have a lot of major league calibre swingers in AAA so to pitch well at that level means something.
De la Cruz seems like he will be next and certainly will be called up in August.

Besides----the logistics are made for it---Toledo is just down the road from Comerica!

I hope the game is televised in my area of British Columbia, as I always like to watch the Tigers but am particularly interested in seeing a "new guy".

Granderson seemed to handle Santana not too badly last night. I know one at bat he fouled a few off before walking and to go head to head against Santana's stuff and not strike out is a plus.

Nice to see Inge coming around and he came close to his 5th straight multi hit game if he hadn't of been robbed by Kubel.

Maroth did a nice job yesterday especially after having a rough beginning. Sure wish Rodney would bring the whole package to the park though. You just never know what to expect when he comes out. He seems to be lacking confidence and intensity. I know his personality does not lend itself to the latter but you gotta have it somewhere inside if not exhibiting it for all to see like Zumaya.

It was very cool to see Rabelo come through and get the good natured "treatment" from his mates. This is part and parcel of why the Tigers are a good club.

They need to get rid of Mesa. He's to old and blows it to much. Give Vasquez a try. Rabelo is certianly doing better at hitting and catching.

I think if you are Jim Leyland you want to give the old pro a little time to acclimate himself. Mesa was hurt too. He knows how to pitch and if he can get himself dialed in he could be a huge help with Zoomer out.

"SeaWolves starting pitcher Andrew Miller was stellar in his Double-A debut but got a no-decision in the game. Miller went eight innings, allowing just one unearned run off of six hits. He struck out seven without issuing walk. It was the second consecutive night that a SeaWolves starter went eight innings."

Dan, I bet Tiger opponents just love to hear that. 23-12 with Rogers and Zumaya coming back at some point, and pitchers like Miller in the minors.

True, I don't think we've gotten much chance at all to see what Mesa can or can't do. I did think it was a good pickup at the time, and for just this reason (injuries). Let's hope the ol' vet can put up some effective innings.

So tonight on the "world stage", the Tigers go for a sweep in the Dome. Looking ahead, I think a split at Fenway would be a positive. Anything more than that would be gravy.

Well that must not have been very pretty. Maybe it was a blessing that I was blacked out on mlb.com. I don't get ESPN either. Forced to listen and watch Game Day neither of which seems to be in real time and obviously not in sync. So I have no idea just how bad they looked. I feel badly for Vasquez but none of the other Tiger pitchers could hold the Twins, and it seemed like the farther behind the Tigers got, the poorer the quality of their own at bats got. That's usually the way it happens. The Twins had to give their fans something to cheer about...but too little too late. The Tigers still won the series. Looking for a positive, here's another game that Zumaya would not have made a difference in. So far the Tiger games have not been that close since his injury. At the beginning of this road trip I was thinking that 3-4 would be a mild but acceptable disappointment and 4-3 would be great. By just avoiding a sweep in Boston, they can go 3-4 and with a split 4-3. They're all going to be tired with the long game and late flight but Robertson, Rodney, Jones, and Seay are fresh so tonight would be the game they could steal, especially given the unlikely victory Boston stole from Baltimore yesterday. That may be just enough of a distraction. Guess we'll see.