Same ol’, same ol’…

The Tigers blow up for nineteen runs, and then score one in the next game.  Yes, they scored twleve, nine and nine against the Mariners last week, but after scoring nineteen by the fifth inning, they couldn’t score but one in the next twelve.

There are still good things to take away from this one.  The pitching was great.  Justin Verlander went seven strong, gave up only the one run, and left with a tie game after seven innings.  He also threw 120 pitches, which means he is finally likely stretched out and ready to have an amazing June.

Unfortunately, Francisco Cruceta was horrible and the Tigers lost the game.  The Tigers are starting to show the need for Joel Zumaya and Fernado Rodney now more than ever.  The starting pitching has been pretty good for the last thirteen or fourteen games, but, in their losses, either they don’t score, or the bullpen gives it away, or both.

The problem, now, seems to be the problem that everyone thought they were going to have at the start of the season.  Gary Sheffield went 2 for 4, and has brought his batting average to an almost-respectable .216.   The starting pitching has been good.  The hitting seems a bit on-again, off-again, but you can’t be too upset at 54 runs in six games.  What really could end up being this team’s Achilles heel is it’s bullpen.

Clay Rapada hit the DL, Denny Bautista hit the DL.  Add in Rodney and Zumaya, and you’ve got trouble.  Bobby Seay didn’t look good in his last outing, and when a team has Dontrelle Willis in the bullpen, something must be going on…

On a good note, Freddy Dolsi looks solid, but so did Bautista and Rapada and Seay and Lopez, but they don’t have enough innings under their belts to really be able to believe in them.  If Zumaya and Rodney can come back and Bautista and Rapada can again be healthy and Jim Leyland can pick and choose his bullpen, it may be a godsend.

The best thing about this season is all the experience a bunch of young pitchers are getting, especially Francisco Cruceta, Bautista, Dolsi and Armando Galarraga.  Seay will have to step it up as the left handed specialist because of the Rapada departure to the DL, but when all cylinders start firing for this bullpen, leads should be safe.

And the leads should be getting bigger as the hitters are starting to do their jobs.  Sheffield has raised his batting average 42 points in a week and he still only has one home run this month.  If the Tigers can continue to hit, get the starting pitching they have been getting and the bullpen gets to where it could be in a month, they can win some games and get back into this race.

If they would just stop meeting teams that are peaking…  Tonight, of course, it’s the first place Angels…