It's been a while since we've had a Tigers game thread. Today is a fairly big game. Win and its a 3-1 road series win. Lose and its a 2-2 series tie. The Tigers have been dominant in the central and I think it's important to keep that going.
A couple things for discussion; today's lineup:
| A. Jackson CF | 0-1 | |
| B. Boesch LF | 1-1 | |
| M. Ordonez DH | 0-1 | |
| M. Cabrera 1B | 0-0 | |
| V. Martinez C | 0-0 | |
| J. Peralta SS | 0-0 | |
| R. Raburn RF | 0-0 | |
| W. Betemit 3B | 0-0 | |
| R. Santiago 2B | 0-0 |
Leyland always catches slack for his lineups and who he rests and when. Today he's resting two: Avila and Guillen. I actually like this lineup. We know Avila was going to rest for a day game after a night game. SOP. With Ordonez back it gives the flexibility of giving Avila the full day off instead of DH'ing. This lets Raburn stay in the lineup - we know of his second half streaks and after a homer two days ago, I like getting him in the lineup. Santiago for Guillen is a fairly seemless move. We lose the big bat, but Santiago may be able to play some small ball in the nine hole and will be a defensive upgrade.
In short: I thought it was worth commending Leyland's lineup today, since most people bash it routinely.
Anyway, Porcello needs a good start. Tigers get a couple on in the first, but nothing doing.
Cleveland lost today which will help a little bit and this could extend our lead and in this division we need every win.