I was ready to begin this recap with a picture depicting rage, because it's infuriating to see this Tigers lineup unable to push a single run across the board.  But since we had something of a Big Lebowski theme going on in tonight's GameThread, we have The Dude.  And he minds.  This will not stand, man.

I don't know how Justin Verlander didn't absolutely erupt in the dugout when he left the game down 2-0, giving up just six hits.  (And the big hit, if you even want to call it that, was a single that Joey Gathright flipped over a drawn-in Carlos Guillen at third base.)  Maybe that's called being a professional.  I think some Gatorade barrels, space heaters, and baseball bats should've been fearing for their lives.

To revise a point I posted before tonight's game , the Detroit Tigers have scored just four runs in Verlander's last four starts.  Four runs.  Total.  No starting pitcher is going to overcome such an utter lack of offense.  It's obscene for Verlander to be dragging along a 1-7 record.  No way is he pitching that badly.  I don't know how his teammates can look him in the eye right now.  At the very least, somebody in the Tigers' clubhouse should be taking him to Arthur Bryant's for some barbecue.  Let him mask the pain with a pulled pork-induced food coma.

And chew on this: This is the sixth time the Tigers have been shut out in 40 games.  Some runs would really tie this team together.  Luke Hochevar is good, but Detroit made him look like an ace tonight.  Four base hits.  All singles.  That's all the Tigers could manage.  The bums will always lose.

Roll Call

Well, despite the result, we had some fun in the comments tonight.  And we have The Big Lebowski to thank for it.  Who do we blame for that, by the way?  rock n rye?  (Apologies to those who hadn't seen the movie and left to wonder what the hell we were talking about.  Hey, you could rent it for Monday's off-day.)

Strong men also cry.  These guys are shedding tears for abysmal baseball tonight: spotstarters, Zappatista, pfuhrmeister, ThaWalrus9, Grant E., HavocRox, rock n rye, Tigsfan, ahtrap, cherub_daemon, Tony K, and bradm.

  Besides the recent posts by Billfer and Lee regarding Jeremy Bonderman's struggles, my arch-enemy Samara expressed major concern over Bondo's apparent attempt to grow a mustache.  I missed Saturday's game, so didn't see the growth above Bondo's upper lip.  But I can see why some might believe it had an adverse affect on his performance that day.

I have a bit of a different take on the subject, however.  If Bondo is really going to grow a mustache (which is presuming that he's indeed capable of sprouting a representative strip of hair on his face), then he should really follow through on the effort and try to own it.  Baseball is full of great mustaches.  Goose Gossage, Rollie Fingers, Al Hrabosky are but a few of them.  Bondo needs look no further than to his left in the Tigers clubhouse, where Todd Jones sports a 'stache that leaves opposing lineups shivering.  (That is, until those hitters realize that Jonesy can't strike them out and begin to tee off.)

  The vultures seem to be circling around the next scapegoat for the Tigers' troubles.  Kind of like a boxer dancing and shuffling around the ring, sizing up his opponent before cocking his arm and letting a punch fly.  Pitching coach Chuck Hernandez appears to be the next target of booing and disdain from Tiger Town, and Kurt looks at whether or not that's warranted over at Mack Avenue Tigers.

  If you're like Mike McClary and currently grappling with buyer's remorse over the Miguel Cabrera deal, you might not want to read this Toledo Blade profile of Burke Badenhop, one of the pitchers the Tigers traded to Florida in return. 

  Dan Berlin of sportsnet.ca thinks Justin Verlander should consider talking to Roy Halladay about struggling in the third year of a major league pitching career.  Halladay was throwing so badly (4-7, 10.64 the previous season) that the Blue Jays sent him down to Single-A to pull himself together.  One interesting difference between the two is that Halladay fixed himself by lowering his arm angle, while Verlander seems to have improved after raising his.

  If you haven't already read this NY Times article on Tiger Stadium's demolition battle, there's a quote from the New York Mets' chief operating officer, Jeff Wilpon, who so loved the old right field overhang that he insisted it be part of the Mets' new ballpark.  I've written about this before , but it drives me crazy that people in other cities valued the quirks of Tiger Stadium more than the Tigers themselves did when John McHale, Jr. and company designed Comerica Park.

  Remember when Michael Young's five-year, $80 million contract with the Texas Rangers suddenly set the market for shortstops, including Carlos Guillen?  Isn't it interesting that by next year, neither of those two guys could be playing shortstop?

  Where do you lean on the resentment scale when you see how well Troy Percival is pitching these days?  He has nine saves, a 1.93 ERA, and 13 strikeouts in 14 innings for those pesky Tampa Bay Rays.  Or maybe you're bigger than that, and don't begrudge Percival for collecting $12 million for 25 innings of work from 2005-2006.  Injuries happen, after all.  And his Tigers teammates thought enough of him to vote him a AL championship ring and full playoff share in '06.

Given how the Tigers have been playing recently, I'm usually too fed up with baseball by the time Baseball Tonight comes on.  So I don't know if ESPN has been doing this with several players or not.  But it was kind of a surprise to see Justin Verlander telling us to stay tuned for the evening's Web Gems.

We're with you, Leather.  Next time, maybe Verlander can also hold up a sign that says "Please Give Me Some Runs."

(Thanks again to Eric Seidman for the video clip.)

A picture of someone vomiting might have been more appropriate for tonight's recap.  Although the act of vomiting is rather violent.  And though some Tigers fans might feel that way right now (Watch out, small animals!), this game seemed to inspire more of an arms-folded disgust.

Was it entirely predictable that the Tigers would follow up a game in which they scored 10 runs and knocked 18 hits with a flaccid one-run, six-hit performance?  I'm not saying that this lineup should've done more against Josh Beckett, because he was quite good tonight, striking out eight batters.  What I am saying is that more - much more - is expected.

Justin Verlander didn't throw a very good game.  You're just not going to beat many teams giving up five runs and nine hits.  But how about scoring some runs for the guy?  Verlander deserves to be under .500 with the way he's pitched this season.  But if he gets any kind of run support, he's not dragging around a 1-6 record.  Maybe that's irrelevant tonight, but don't you wonder if the tiny margin of error his team provides is getting to him?  I imagine Verlander sometimes feels as if he has to throw the ball through a toilet paper tube.

By the way, has Kevin Youkilis officially been fitted for his Tigers Killer jacket?  Because he's definitely in the club now, after hitting yet another home run against Detroit.

Curtis Granderson is 0-for-10 over the last two games, with seven strikeouts.  He batted 2-for-18 in this series, striking out in eight of those at-bats.  Miguel Cabrera batted 2-for-14.  (And we'll have more on him tomorrow, though The Daily Fungo has a head start on us.)  Magglio Ordonez hit 4-for-16 with one RBI.

While enduring his weekly conversation with Rob Parker, the Detroit News' Tom Gage brought up Sparky Anderson's old adage that you couldn't judge a team until it's played 40 games.  Well, the Tigers have played 36 of them and are five games under .500.  Bear with me because I was an English major, but even if the Tigers win their next four (and how confident do you feel about that?), they'll be one game under .500 at the 40-game mark.

Maybe we should save ourselves the trouble and pass judgment now.

Roll Call

The Tigers didn't make it worthwhile to see this game through, but here are those who chimed in before it just became a slog.

Thanks to BigAl, pfuhrmeister, ThaWalrus9, miggy4mvp, rock n rye, LosTigres, tbliggins, Tigsfan, dettigionswings'stons, Matt in Toledo, and Tony K for being willing to have their hopes crushed.

Yesterday, former Tigers pitcher Jack Morris chimed in on why he thought Justin Verlander was struggling with a 1-5 record and 6.28 ERA, while striking out just 4.9 batters per nine innings. 

Via Tom Gage in the Detroit News:

"His shoulder," Morris said before Sunday's 7-6 sweep-clinching victory by the Twins.  "There's something wrong with his shoulder.  I know because I've been there with that bursitis I had.  dYou can see it in the way he's throwing.  He's over-compensating for not being able to extend his arm."

As you might expect, Verlander disagreed with Morris's diagnosis, saying that his shoulder feels fine.  And when you're talking about baseball injuries, you should probably be talking to Baseball Prospectus' Will Carroll, and in his "Under the Knife" ($$$) column today, he writes his support for Verlander. 

I guess the mid-90's velocity and solid performance (albeit in a losing effort) against the Twins didn't convince [Morris].  I watched the tape of that game and Verlander's previous two starts, and compared them to a performance from last year (albeit only highlights).  I don't see a significant difference.

All this talk might go away, of course, if Verlander started winning some games and - more importantly - his lineup began to score a decent amount of runs for him.

After 11 games, the Detroit Tigers have lost in so many different ways that cliches seem to the only recourse in describing their latest downfall.  One step forward, two steps back.  Games in which both the offense and pitching come together are still rare for this club.  Following the kind of comeback effort that could arguably fuel a team-rallying turnaround, the Tigers managed almost no offense against Gavin Floyd under admittedly brutal conditions for baseball.  If he wasn't there already, Floyd joins the ranks of those who have the Tigers' number, who just present an insurmountable obstacle.

Rather than wonder yet again why Detroit's lineup still can't generate the run production that we all expected (Carlos Guillen's absence most certainly didn't help matters), I'll use this recap to focus on what had to be the turning point of the game, one highlighted by commenters in yesterday's Game Thread.

Bring in the Southpaw, Skipper!

Ever since Tim Byrdak was released in Spring Training, the presumption has been that Jim Leyland wanted a second left-hander in his bullpen to go along with Bobby Seay.  (Leyland has said as much himself.)  That finally happened when Clay Rapada was brought up from Toledo on Friday, and one would have to assume that both of these pitchers would be utilized against dangerous left-handed hitters in late-inning situations.  The White Sox have three such hitters in Nick Swisher, Jim Thome, and A.J. Pierzynski. 

Verlander was tapped out by the eighth inning.  And by pitching that far into the game, he had accomplished perhaps the most important task of the day, which was to save the bullpen after they had to throw nine innings the night before.  By that point in the game, the weather conditions had made it difficult for Verlander to control the ball, made frighteningly apparent with his pitch to the head of Orlando Cabrera.

I understand Leyland's desire to stick with the guy who had pitched a hell of game, almost matching Floyd's brilliance inning for inning.  If Leyland wanted to reward him for that effort, he could've at least tried to ensure Verlander didn't take the loss.  Besides being the designated situational left-hander, Seay has been the Tigers' best reliever this season, having not allowed a run in four appearances.  Verlander had hit two batters to load the bases and bring in another run, and Pierzynski was next up.  Situations like this are why Seay is on the team.

Sure, Seay could've given up a single to Pierzynski, as well.  There's no guarantee he wouldn't have.  And if that happened, maybe we'd all be saying that Leyland should've left Verlander in, as he'd pitched well enough to deserve finishing the inning.  Fair enough.  He had two strikes on Pierzynski.  But I'll repeat what I said two paragraphs ago: Verlander was gassed.  I'll also repeat what I said three paragraphs ago: Leyland had two left-handers in his bullpen.  Why have these players if you're not going to use them?

(Image from "Heart of the City" © 2006 Mark Tatulli)

You don't really want to read a recap of that game, do you?  Because I sure as hell don't feel like writing it.

Just two pitches in, it became clear what kind of night it was going to be for the Tigers when Nick Swisher blasted a Justin Verlander pitch down the right field line.  And even though Detroit came back to tie the game, it was all downhill from there.  The White Sox blew the game open in the sixth after Carlos Guillen (future Gold Glove first baseman, according to Joe Morgan) dropped the ball at first base (and again on Carlos Quentin's three-run triple in the ninth), but the tone was set from the very beginning.  Right away, the Tigers had to play catch up, just as they have throughout these first six games of the season.

Oh, and they hit into five double plays.  Nothing like helping Mark Buehrle - the type of soft-tossing lefty the Tigers pounded last year - look like a pitching magician.  And if not for a couple of Joe Crede errors, he might have thrown a shutout.

This team definitely need an off-day and a road trip right now.  Get away from the booing fans and home crowd expectations.  Huddle up together, without the comforts of home and family.  Have the routine shaken up, and maybe it'll make these guys a little mean and cranky. 

Is that wishful thinking?  Probably, but after that kind of nationally televised humiliation, there's not much else to work with.

With today being the traditional day-after-Opening-Day off-day in Detroit (What will we do with our afternoon?), I figured I'd post the second part of my belated season preview.  Which teams will be the division and wild card winners?  Who will get the shiny awards for their trophy cases?  And who will be the last two teams standing in October?

You can read the rationale for my AL Central predictions here, but I included my picks with the other division winners below.  And yes, I think the Wild Card winner will come from the Central, as the Tigers and Indians will be among the top three teams in the American League.  Who will join them in the postseason?

American League

●  AL East:  Boston Red Sox
●  AL Central:  Detroit Tigers
●  AL West:  Seattle Mariners

●  Wild Card:  Cleveland Indians

As I said on Sunday, it baffles me how several writers think the Yankees' offense will carry them to the playoffs, compensating for what looks to me like a pretty mediocre (and potentially creaky) starting rotation.  As imposing as their lineup should be, the Red Sox and Blue Jays just have better pitching.  The Jays' offense might keep them from overtaking the Yankees this year, but their pitching could keep them close.

In the West, the Angels have some impressive pitching depth in their organization, but how many teams could sustain losing their their top two starters, along with their best set-up man, and persevere to a division title?  I also think they'll regret not adding a big infield bat.  The Angels were going to be in a dogfight with the Mariners anyway, but Seattle just looks like a stronger team right now with the pitching they added in the offseason.

National League

●  NL East:  Atlanta Braves
●  NL Central:  Chicago Cubs
●  NL West:  Arizona Diamondbacks

●  Wild Card:  New York Mets

Not picking the Mets to win the NL East might be crazy talk, but I see some holes in their lineup (corner outfield and first base) right now, and if Omar Minaya can't patch those up during the season, the Braves should take first place.  But if you're a believer in offense carrying a team to the playoffs, the Phillies probably stand a good chance, as well.

Of course, you can't judge an entire season on one game, but I think yesterday's Brewers-Cubs result might be a precursor to the NL Central race.  Despite a strong lineup, Milwaukee's pitching (especially its bullpen) is going to cost them some wins.  The Cubs, meanwhile, might have the best staff in the division, with depth to cover any injuries that might occur.

Out west, I didn't follow my instinct to pick the Diamondbacks last year, which would've shown more conviction than picking them in 2008.  I don't think the Dodgers are quite ready for prime time, though if their young talent develops like Arizona's did last year, they could make a big jump.  Am I underestimating the defending NL champion Rockies?  Probably.

The Post-Season

For the AL playoffs, the Red Sox and Tigers will prevail, thus creating an ALCS that could make Samara Pearlstein's head explode (either with angst or delight).  Who wins this clash of AL titans?  Well, if the Tigers' bullpen hasn't already cost them during the regular season and divisional playoffs, it will catch up to them here if the relief corps hasn't gotten healthy or Dave Dombrowski hasn't acquired some upgrades.  (Look at all that wiggle room I gave myself!) 

In the NL, it's going to be the "Win It For Willie" story, as the Mets will be fueled by the aggravation of hearing about last season's collapse and whether or not Willie Randolph is on the hot seat.  They'll face off against the Braves again in the NLCS, and though their lineup might not have been enough to win the NL East, the Mets' pitching makes up for it in a seven-game series.

So we'll have a rematch of the 1986 World Series, and 75% of the country will resent seeing an all-east coast Fall Classic with the same two markets that were in this year's Super Bowl.  But what will drive people more crazy, seeing the Red Sox win a second straight World Series or a championship going to New York?  I think you'll have to deal with your New York grudge, as the Mets close Shea Stadium in the best way possible.

Most Valuable Player

●  AL:  Manny Ramirez
●  NL:  David Wright

Manny Ramirez has already shown that he has no intention of posting disappointing numbers again, and will return to the ranks of .320/.440/.610 with 30 homers and 120 RBIs.  He also stands to cash in magnificently with a good year, either by the Red Sox picking up his 2009 option or on the free agent market.  It'll be Manny Being Money.

In the NL, David Wright arguably should've won last year's NL MVP, but the Mets' collapse and Phillies' rise seriously influenced the final vote totals.  As great as the Mets' pitching looks to be, it won't be enough to make the postseason if Wright doesn't have a great year.  I don't think that's going to be a problem for him.

Cy Young Award

●  AL:  Justin Verlander
●  NL:  Brandon Webb

Justin Verlander is more than good enough to win the Cy Young Award on his own merits, but having two of the AL's best pitchers - Johan Santana and Dan Haren - get traded to the other league certainly doesn't hurt his chances.  We've already seen Josh Beckett break down, and I think C.C. Sabathia's massive workload last year will catch up with him.  This is the natural next step in what's already been a sterling young career for Verlander.

Santana seems like a natural pick in the NL, but greatness is already expected from him.  Brandon Webb has been one of the league's best pitchers over the last two years, and Haren joining him in the D-Backs' rotation will push him to even greater heights this season.  And this time, people will notice.

Rookie of the Year

●  AL:  Joba Chamberlain
●  NL:  Kosuke Fukudome

Both winners here might win their awards by default.  Tampa Bay's short-sighted (though perhaps sound business) decision to put Evan Longoria in Triple-A to begin the season might end up costing him.  Beginning the season in the minors didn't hurt Ryan Braun last year, but the Brewers were also in the NL Central race at the time.  Longoria won't have the same benefit.  Chamberlain, however, will play a big role for the Yankees this year. 

I've said before that veteran Japanese players shouldn't be eligible for this award, but with Andy LaRoche's thumb injury likely to keep him out for at least two months, Fukudome becomes the highest profile new player in the National League.  And he's already gotten some major spotlight with the home run he hit off Eric Gagne yesterday.