This may have been the worst performance by the Tigers this year. Nate Robertson threw five scoreless innings before running into trouble in the fifth. Then when the bullpen came in, the flood gates opened and a 3-1 lead turned into a 6-3 deficit in a hurry. Then to see the Tigers come back to tie it in the eighth and then have the Rangers blast Todd Jones in the ninth made this a pretty disappointing game to watch.
Robertson lasted 5 1/3 and he gave up one run on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Jason Grilli and Tim Byrdak were the primary offenders in the five run seventh inning and then Jones gave up the three runs in the ninth, all with two two outs.Â
Sean Casey had a great day at the plate in the 9-6 loss. He went three for four with a double and three RBIs. It was funny seeing him round second on his double thinking about trying to stretch it into a triple. Fortunatey he held but the Tigers couldn’t punch him home that inning. He’s now just a touch under .300 with a .297 batting average.
Curtis Granderson belted his tenth homerun and he scored two runs in the game. The last player to have 10 homeruns, doubles and triples in a season was Carlos Guillen back in his first year with the Tigers in 2004. Prior to Guillen, you have to go all the way back to 1984 when Kirk Gibson did it.
In what turned out to be a very timely move, Fernando Rodney hit the disabled list just in time for Nate Robertson to come off of it. Having Rodney out puts even more strain on the bullpen but the way the other Tigers have looked coming off of the DL (Robertson and Kenny Rogers), it may not be all bad if Rodney comes back with his arm and head on straight.
The Tigers play back to back afternoon games which is kind of an odd scheduling quirk. I should have gone down for the game but it’s supposed to be a pretty toasty day and there’s a chance for some thundershowers. In fact I hear thunder outside right now. Anyway, Kenny Rogers makes his second start since coming off of the DL and he’ll go up against Kevin Millwood.