Justin Verlander had another solid start he just made one big mistake when he served up a home run to Ichiro.  The two run blast turned a 1-0 deficit into a three run deficit that the Tigers never recovered from. It also didn’t help that the Tigers made Ian Snell look like a Cy Young candidate.  Magglio Ordonez had three of the Tigers six hits (all singles from Ordonez) and the lone run came on a solo shot by Carlos Guillen.   Carlos has an .873 OPS with five home runs since returning from the disabled list so he has provided a bit of a boost.  Now it’d be nice if Aubrey Huff (one for eight since joining the Tigers) did what the Tigers were hoping for when they dealt for him.

Verlander struck out ten and that was the sixth time he got into double figures in strikeouts  It also brings his season total up to 204.  The last time a Tiger struck out 200 was Jeremy Bonderman in 2006 but Bonderman had just 202 in 34 starts while Verlander has 204 in 26 starts.  300 is probably out of reach but 223 would put him into the top ten for the Tigers in a single season (Jack Morris in 1986).  250  is a possiblity and the last time a Tigers did that was back in 1972 when Mickey Lolich did it.

The White Sox and Twins both won so the Tigers lead is back down to two.  This afternoon it’ll be Jarrod Washburn against Ryan Rowland-Smith.

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