The Gist: The Tigers mounted a ninth-inning rally against the Mariners' J.J. Putz to take a 7-3 lead. Todd Jones gave back two in the bottom half but the Tigers held on to win 7-5 and take the series. Jeremy Bonderman was solid despite giving up 12 hits in seven innings; he struck out five, walked none and allowed only three runs. The ninth-inning was fueled by a Brandon Inge one-out walk. Curtis Granderson singled him to third and the next hitter, Placido Polanco, dropped a bloop single into right to give the Tigers a 4-3 lead. Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera followed with a single and double, respectively, to pad the lead which, thanks to Jones allowing a moon-shot homer to Raul Ibanez, the Tigers ended up needing.

The Quote: "I was wondering why they went to him." -- Granderson on the Mariners' decision to bring in Putz in a non-save situation.

The Stat: 9. The number of balls hit to Carlos Guillen all of which he handled with relative ease.

Up Next: Tigers @ Athletics

Kenny Rogers (4-4, 5.88) vs Rich Harden (3-0, 2.60)

ESPN highlights available here.

The Gist: Mariners 5, Tigers 0, the ninth shutout of the year for Detroit. Sometimes you've got to tip the cap to the other team's pitcher. How else can you explain the Tigers inability to score gobs of runs on consecutive days -- against Seattle, of all teams. Today we choose to give all the credit to Felix Hernandez who gave up two hits in seven innings and struck out seven to boot. Justin Verlander drops to 2-8 on the season.

The Quote: "[Silence.]" -- Tigers bats

The Stat: 3. The number of consecutive losing months for the Tigers in 2008 (counting the 0-1 month of March). At the end of April the Tigers were two games under .500; at the end of May they are nine games under. That's hardly making progress.

Up Next: Tigers @ Mariners

Jeremy Bonderman (3-4, 4.34) vs. Miguel Batista (3-6, 5.98)

Editor's Note: Ian's return is nigh, which means your Tigers Game Recaps will be much more thoughtful and quality focused. You can still find me over at The Daily Fungo and The Detroit Tigers Podcast. Thanks, too, to my substitute-blogger-in-crime Big Al for helping keep the bar high here at BYB.

 The Gist: The Tigers scored seven first-inning runs -- but couldn't pile on -- but Nate Robertson pitched good enough to beat the Mariners 7-4. Curtis Granderson and Miguel Cabrera each has three hits, Granderson had two in the first inning along, and Brandon Inge drove in a pair of runs.

The Quote: "So I'm going to change some things around here and see what happens. I think that's important. As I said, I don't know if it's going to work. I don't know if it's going to make people angry, but that's the way it goes." -- Jim Leyland on changes coming to the Tigers lineup, roster and, perhaps, post-game meals.

The Stat: 16. The number of hits Carlos Silva has given up to the Tigers in 4.2 innings pitched -- in just the past 11 days. Runner-up: 14. The number of runs, all earned, surrendered by Silva in those same two starts.

My Two Cents: Are you as frustrated as we are that the Tigers can't seem to tack on additional runs after an early onslaught? Watching the game on Friday night gave us flashbacks to the nightmare that was a 7-6 loss to the Twins earlier this month.

Up Next: Tigers @ Mariners

Justin Verlander (2-7, 5.16) vs. Felix Hernandez (2-5, 3.60)

Sorry for the delay in getting this one posted...

The Gist: Armando Galarraga was all that again and the Tigers bats awoke in time to avoid a sweep in Anaheim. The 6-2 win gives the 4-2 Galarraga four more wins than Dontrelle Willis, double the win total of Justin Verlander and Nate Robertson, and one more than Jeremy Bonderman -- and it's almost June 1. Bygones. New full-time left fielder Marcus Thames went yard twice and drove in four runs and Magglio Ordonez knocked a pair of hits. Curtis Granderson led off the game with only his second hit of the year off a left hander.

The Quote: "I don't try to hit home runs, even though everybody thinks I'm a home run hitter." -- Thames The Stat: 2:35 - Wednesday's time of game, darned snappy for an American League contest.

My Two Cents: Looking at the lineup from Wednesday's game, I thought that particular configuration, with possible exception of Edgar Renteria and definite exception of Miguel Cabrera, is the Tigers' best defensive team.

Up Next: Tigers @ Mariners

Nate Robertson (2-5) vs. Carlos Silva (3-4)

The Gist: Let's see, Jeremy Bonderman pitched an outstanding game and Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run homer -- enough to win the game. Monday's game. Neither performance was good enough to fuel a Tigers win in Anaheim because, stop me if you've heard this one, Detroit could muster only two other hits and the bullpen did its thing. Angels 3, Tigers 2. Oh, and the Tigers are now assured of losing another series.

The Quote: "He has hemorrhoids so bad, he probably shouldn't have been out there." -- Jim Leyland on Carlos Guillen. Given the awful performance Guillen gave on Monday night's loss (two errors), one has to wonder why Brandon Inge wasn't at third base as he was on Tuesday night.

The Stat: 28. The number of games the Tigers have lost in 2008 when scoring less than four runs. Brutal.

Up Next: Tigers @ Angels

Armando Galarraga (3-2, 3.70) vs. Joe Saunders (8-1, 2.31)

ESPN highlights available here. 

The Gist: Kenny Rogers was outstanding -- seven innings, five hits, one walk, no runs. But, of course, the Tigers can't hit when it counts nor can Bobby Seay throw a single strike when it counts and they lose 1-0 to the Angels. I was tempted to call this a heartbreaker but it wasn't; this loss was more like a remote-control breaker, which is what I wanted to do when Seay walked Garret Anderson.

The Quote: "The thing that is frustrating for me tonight is that there were two or three times we didn’t need a hit to score - all we needed was a fly ball." -- The Gospel according to Jim Leyland. The Stat: 83-79. That's the Tigers record over their past 162 games. Smells awfully mediocre to me.

My Two Cents: Bobby Seay's four pitches weren't that far off the plate and I was surprised that home plate umpire Adrian Johnson didn't stretch the strike zone a tad.

Up Next: Tigers @ Angels

Jeremy Bonderman (3-4, 4.58) vs. Ervin Santana (6-2, 3.24)

For more on the Tigers, visit my Bless You Boys-approved blog, The Daily Fungo .

The Gist: The real Justin Verlander returned but the real Francisco Cruceta undid all of Verlander's stellar work in the Tigers' 6-1 loss to the Twins on Sunday. Verlander's line: seven innings of work, one run, five hits, three strikeouts and four walks. Carlos Guillen was three for four with a double and his fifth homer of the year. The coup de grâce was Cruceta grooving a 3-2, bases-loaded heater that Jason Kubel sat on and drilled for a grand slam. Infuriating.

The Quote: "[Expletive]!" -- Mike McClary when Cruceta served Kubel a meatball.

The Stat: 1.8. Follow me on this one: Seven times this year the Tigers have lost a game following one in which they scored 8+ runs and won -- such as Satuday's 19-3 win followed by Sunday's 6-1 loss. In the seven games they've lost, they've scored 13 runs -- or an average of 1.8 runs. That, folks, is what you call feast or famine.

Up Next: Tigers @ Angels

Kenny Rogers (4-4, 6.66) vs. Jon Garland (5-3, 4.34)

ESPN highlights available here.

The Gist: Magglio Ordonez drove in six runs on a three-for-three, two-homer night and Nate Robertson struck out four and allowed all three runs in 6-1/3 innings in the Tigers' 19-3 blowout of the Twins. Placido Polanco inched closer to the .300 mark with four hits in five at bats, and Gary Sheffield drove in three on a pair of hits. Aquilino Lopez quietly continued his solid 2008 season with 2-2/3 innings of one-hit relief.

The Quote: "They just whacked everything he threw up there and we couldn't really do much about it." — Twins manager Ron Gardenhire

The Stat: 10. The number of two-out RBI produced by Tigers hitters. Ordonez and Matt Joyce each had a pair.

Up Next

Sunday: Justin Verlander (2-7, 5.61) vs. Glen Perkins (1-1, 3.44)

The Gist: Armando Galarraga walked five, struck out five, gave up five earned runs and seven hits in six innings pitched. Not a Quality Start. Dontrelle Willis replaced Galarraga and in one inning game up four ones: hit, run, earned run, and a balk. And, of course, he walked a pair. Of his 28 pitches, only 13 were strikes. The result? Twins 9, Tigers 4.

The Tigers looked to be making another Comerica Park comeback against the Twins when, in the bottom of the seventh, they cut a 5-0 deficit to 5-4. Gary Sheffield's homer could've been tied at five if Marcus Thames hadn't strayed about a total of 50 feet off two different bases during the same play. The bullpen immediately gave back three runs in the top of the eighth. Jim Leyland got the thumb in the top of the seventh.

The Quote: Whatever Leyland said to get ejected.

The Stat: 0. The number of strikeouts by Willis, opposed to the 11 walks. In other words, he has more balks than strikeouts. Oy vey.

My Two Cents: I have a question for you, is it too soon to declare that this team has no heart? I'm just asking.

Up Next:

Saturday: Nate Robertson (1-5, 6.08) vs. Boof Bonser (2-5, 5.25)

The Gist: Hey now! Jeremy Bonderman earns a quality start -- and a win -- after a six-inning, eight-hit outing against the Mariners. And what do you know? The Tigers beat the Mariners 9-2 to sweep the series. Freddy Dolsi was lights-out over three innings of no-hit relief. The Tigers banged out 13 hits (43 for the series), including three from Gary Sheffield (to raise his average to .202), two from Matt Joyce and a three-run jack from Brandon Inge.

The Quote: "They want me to run on and off the mound. I smoke three packs a day." -- Jim Leyland on MLB's efforts to accelerate games.

The Stat: .281 - Placido Polanco's average, despite an 0 for 4 day on Thursday. Talk about flying under the radar.

Up Next: Twins @ Tigers

• Friday: Armando Galarraga (3-1, 3.06) vs. Kevin Slowey (0-4, 5.49)
• Saturday: Nate Robertson (1-5, 6.08) vs. Boof Bonser (2-5, 5.25)
• Sunday: Justin Verlander (2-7, 5.61) vs. Glen Perkins (1-1, 3.44)

For more on the Tigers, visit my Bless You Boys-approved blog, The Daily Fungo.

The Gist: Kenny Rogers pitched good enough to win -- only if the offense provides nine runs, of course -- and Marcus Thames hit a grand slam to lead the Tigers to a soggy on the outside, sunny on the inside, second-consectuive win over the Mariners, 9-4.

The Quote: "The political answer is I'm rooting for the guy who signs the checks." -- Pittsburgh-resident Jim Leyland on his rooting interest in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Stat: 31. The number of hits the Tigers have collected in the past two games. They tallied 19 in the three-game weekend series against the Diamondbacks. Go figure.

My Two Cents: Yeah, yeah. The Tigers are thumping the Mariners. They also took the Rangers to the woodshed last month and that little roll didn't last. If the offense continues to motor through the weekend series against the Twins, maybe I'll be more optimistic.

Did you know...? The Tigers have yet to win on Sunday in the 2008 season? Yep, they're 0 and 6. Counting tonight's win, the Tigers are 6-2 on Wednesdays, by far their winningest day of the week.

For more on the Tigers, visit my Bless You Boys-approved blog, The Daily Fungo .

The Gist: Armando Galarraga continues to wow and the Tigers' Curtis Granderson, Placido Polanco and Magglio Ordoñez each knocked two hits in a 6-4 win over the Angels. Galarraga took a no-hitter into the sixth but ended up without a decision. He allowed three runs (one earned), three hits and two walks in six-plus innings. Aquilino Lopez, who's been nothing short of nails so far this year -- try a 0.49 ERA -- got the W.

The Quote: "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." -- Jim Leyland on the fate of Galarraga when Dontrelle Willis comes off the DL.

The Stat: 102.4%. That's how full Comerica Park was on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. start time that coincided with the Wings/Avalanche game at Joe Louis.

Up Next: Angels at Tigers -- Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN

Justin Verlander (1-3, 5.93) vs. Jered Weaver (1-3, 4.95)

The Gist: The Tigers lost 4-3 to the Angels in one of the best baseball games the Tigers have played this year -- i.e., both teams played well. Nate Robertson gave up four runs in the Angels fourth and the Tigers chipped away but couldn't overcome Ervin Santana. Curtis Granderson went yard for the second straight game.

The Quote: ""I really don't know what to say about him -- he's a freak of nature." -- Robertson on Vladimir Guerrero, who hit yet another bad-ball rocket shot.

The Stat: 15.26. Santana's ERA in Detroit heading into Friday night's game.

The Gist: Magglio Ordonez goes deep twice, Jeremy Bonderman continues to frustrate and Jacque Jones is added to the injury list, yet the Tigers finally reach double digits in wins, defeating the Rangers 8-2. What else?

• Curtis Granderson led off the Tigers half of the first with a home run
• Zach Miner continues his Jekyll and Hyde act with a solid 3.1 hitless innings pitched, one walk and three strikeouts
• Ryan Raburn sort of slammed his first homer of the year (replays show that it could very well have been touched by a fan in right)
• Placido Polanco returns but still struggles at the plate, going 0 for 3 with a walk. He's hitting .140 on the year.

The Quote: "I felt like I owed the starters at least one game like that." -- Zach Miner

The Stat: 111. The number of pitches thrown by Bonderman in a mere 4.1 innings pitched.

Up Next: Angels at Tigers

Nate Robertson (0-2, 7.48) vs. Ervin Santana (3-0, 2.67)

The Gist: One night after Tigers' TV analyst Rod Allen predicted that Detroit would put 20 runs on the board in a game this year, the Tigers got darned close in crushing the Rangers, 19-6.  Kenny Rogers was nothing short of dreadful in his 3.1 innings pitched: nine hits, six runs (all earned), three walks and a wild pitch.  On the opposite end of the spectrum was winning pitcher Clay Rapada: 1.2 scoreless innings of work, no hits, no walks and two strikeouts.  Soon-to-be-erstwhile-first baseman Carlos Guillen went 3 for 4 plus a walk and five RBI.  And how about Curtis Granderson?  In his season debut he went 2 for 4 with a pair of RBI, three runs scored and two walks.

The Quote: "Our pitchers took a serious beating tonight." -- Rangers manager Ron Washington.

The Stat: 223. The number of pitches thrown by six Rangers pitchers (just slightly more than half of which were strikes) and 77 more than Tigers pitchers. Runner Up Stat: 10. The number of walks allowed by Texas.

Up Next: Rangers at Tigers

Jeremy Bonderman (1-2, 4.37) vs. Scott Feldman* (0-0, 4.50)

*Jason Jennings was scheduled to start on Thursday but, according to the Dallas Morning News' Rangers blog, it'll be Feldman.

--

For more insight worthy of Ian's Bless You Boys Seal of Approval, visit The Daily Fungo .

The Gist: When Ramon Santiago goes yard, that's gotta be a good sign for the Tigers, right? It certainly was on Tuesday night when the Tigers' second baseman drove in three runs and Justin Verlander finally put together the start we'd been waiting for: six innings pitched, six hits, one earned run. Mix it all together and you've got a 10-2 win over the Rangers. Jacque Jones also showed some life at the dish with a double and a triple.

The Quote: "I wasn't expecting to hit one that far." -- Santiago on his 380-foot blast.

The Stat: 39. That's the uniform number of Santiago, who deserves a nod on his big night at the plate.

Up Next: Rangers at Tigers

Kenny Rogers (1-3, 6.33) vs. Luis Mendoza (0-2, 9.00)

--

For more insight worthy of Ian's Bless You Boys Seal of Approval, visit The Daily Fungo.

The Gist: While he wasn't as sharp as his Tigers debut in Cleveland last week, Armando Galarraga gave the Tigers another solid outing in the finale at SkyDome -- or whatever -- 5-1, to earn a split against the Blue Jays. The bullpen was superb though Todd Jones allowed a ninth-inning home run, of course, to spoil the shutout. Ryan Raburn knocked in two runs in the Tigers' three-run second, and Edgar Renteria hit another homer, a solo shot in the sixth.

The Quote: "If we were really going good like we thought we would be at this time and went to Cleveland and Toronto and came home [3-3], we'd be pretty happy. But with our record the way it is, it doesn't look too good." -- Jim Leyland, in the Tigers.com game story.

The Stat: .667 - Pudge Rodriguez's average in the four-gamer in Toronto. Here's his line: Friday, 3 for 3; Saturday: 3 for 3; Sunday: 0 for 4; Today: 4 for 5. And what do you know? Pudge is now hitting .271 for the season.

Up Next: Rangers at Tigers Justin Verlander (0-3, 7.03) vs. Vicente Padilla (2-1, 3.12)

--

For more insight worthy of Ian's Bless You Boys Seal of Approval, visit The Daily Fungo.

The Gist: The Tigers lost 5-3 to the Toronto Blue Jays Sunday at Rogers Centre. Nate Robertson showed no sign of turning the corner for the Tigers and allowed five runs on eight hits in five innings of work to take the loss. Clete Thomas led the Tigers offense with three hits and two RBI, while Miguel Cabrera added a double and a RBI. The Blue Jays' David Eckstein, a thorn in the Tigers' side during the 2006 World Series, hit a three-run homer which proved to be the difference. So much for hoping the Frank Thomas Saga would distract the Blue Jays.

The Quote: "We just need to graduate from this little funk." -- Nate Robertson.

The Stat: 7. The Tigers' rank in American League team hitting. Last week the Tigers were circling the drain with a team batting average of .235ish. Starting play on Monday, Detroit is hitting .258 as a team.

Up Next: Tigers at Blue Jays

Armando Galarraga (1-0, 2.70) vs. Shaun Marcum (2-0, 2.61)

---

For more insight worthy of Ian's Bless You Boys Seal of Approval, visit The Daily Fungo.

The Gist: Jeremy Bonderman gave up just enough runs and the Tigers couldn't capitalize on the few opportunities they had against Dustin McGowan and lost Saturday afternoon 3-2. In five innings of work, Bonderman allowed five hits, six walks (two intentional) and three runs (two earned). Pudge Rodriguez had a three-for-three day with an RBI, and Carlos Guillen continued his torrid pace: three for four to raise his average to .379 -- good for second in the American League behind Baltimore's Luke Scott (.386).

The Quote: "I'm not going to lie. I didn't have much." -- Bonderman, after the game.

The Stat: 191. The number of times the Tigers have lost to the Blue Jays since Toronto entered the American League in 1977. The Tigers have won 161 times.

Up Next: Tigers at Blue Jays

Nate Robertson (0-1, 7.02) vs. A.J. Burnett (1-1, 7.27)

---

For more insight worthy of Ian's Bless You Boys Seal of Approval, visit The Daily Fungo.

The Gist: After squandering more than a few chances early in the game, Tigers hitters teed off in the sixth and seventh innings for six runs on their way to an 8-4 win over the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Kenny Rogers pitched 6.2 innings allowing only three hits and four earned runs for his first win since July of last season. Edgar Renteria went yard in the seventh with a three-run homer. Gary Sheffield's woes continue: he left five men on base.

The Quote: "Taking a major plunge this week are the two AL Central favorites: Detroit (to No. 27) and Cleveland (to No. 23). But with only 16 games down and 146 left to play, who really cares, right?" -- From ESPN.com's Power Rankings for April 18.

The Stat: 7. The number of walks allowed by Toronto starter David Purcey -- none of which turned into Detroit runs. (Purcey was sent down to Triple-A Syracuse after the game.) Another stat worth noting: 6.43. The average ERA of the Tigers' five starters. Tops: Jeremy Bonderman, 4.58. Pits: Dontrelle Willis: 7.20. Yikes.

I'm Just Sayin': When Denny Bautista struck out Frank Thomas looking for the last out in the seventh, I wondered when the last time he'd gotten a hit against the Tigers -- his disappearing act in the 2006 ALCS still fresh in my mind. Reading the game preview on BlueJays.com I found this tidbit:

Including the American League Division Series against the Tigers in 2006, when Thomas was with the A's, he's hit just .165 (11-for-67) versus Detroit over the past two years.

And there you have it.

Up Next: Tigers at Blue Jays

Jeremy Bonderman (1-1, 4.58) vs. Dustin McGowan (0-1, 3.71)

---

For more insight worthy of Ian's Bless You Boys Seal of Approval, visit The Daily Fungo.

ESPN highlights available here.

The Gist: Justin Verlander got lit up. Again. This time the Tigers' 0-3 ace allowed five runs on seven hits in five innings to take the loss. The 11-1 loss to the Indians, leaves the Tigers with a Lions-esque record of 5 and 11. The Tigers had Cleveland starter Fausto Carmona on the ropes in the first inning but couldn't push across a run.

The Quote: "We let it get out of hand." Jim Leyland.

The Stat: The prominent number in Zach Miner's pitching line from Thursday night: 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER -- all in just one inning.

For more insight worthy of Ian's Bless You Boys Seal of Approval, visit The Daily Fungo.

ESPN highlights available here.

The Gist: The Tigers won their third game in a row -- and in a route -- over the Indians, 13-2. Where to start? How about with the pitching of Armando Galarraga? Two runs and only one hit over 6.2 innings.

And then there's Miguel Cabrera who, as recently as Sunday, couldn't buy a hit. On Tuesday he went three for five with five RBI. His infield neighbor, Edgar Renteria (who played the first few innings with his shirt untucked), hit a grand slam in Detroit's seven-run fifth when they chased Indians' starter C.C. Sabathia.

The Quote: "He's a big boy." -- Magglio Ordonez on Cabrera.

The Stat: 10. The number of men left on base by Pudge Rodriguez on an 0-for-6 night. In all, the Tigers left 29 men on base.

Up Next: Tigers at Indians

Justin Verlander (0-2, 6.52) vs. Fausto Carmona (1-1, 2.20)