Game 105: Tigers at Indians
By Blake VandeBunte • Jul 28th, 2008 • Category: 2008 season, Kenny RogersAfter a semi-disappointing weekend, the Tigers will get right back at it with a series against the new look Cleveland Indians. The Indians have unloaded Casey Blake and CC Sabathia recently as they have come to accept that 2008 is not their year.
The Tigers may have felt that earlier this season but are only 6.5 games out of a playoff spot. A big series in Cleveland could push them even closer.
In game one of the four game set tonight the Tigers will start Kenny Rogers. Rogers has been better lately and actually has a winning record (8-6) for the season. Since May 26 The Gambler is 3-2 with an ERA of 3.04, decent numbers for a 43 year old lefty.
Taking the hill for the home team will be Paul Byrd who has not looked very good recently. Since May 21st, Byrd is 2-7 with an ERA of 6.60. He has also given up 13 homers over his last 11 starts. However, Byrd has been decent against the Tigers this season giving up only five earned runs over 13 innings.
The Tigers bullpen got a serious workout yesterday against the White Sox and it’s looking to be close to a lock that we will not see Fernando Rodney or Joel Zumaya tonight. So, adding all of that up, if the Tigers have a lead in the ninth inning we could see Todd Jones in there to try and pick up the save. Don’t panic though, it’s just because Rodney threw over 40 pitches yesterday.
The Indians have been playing a bit better baseball lately but are still only 45-58 this year. The Tigers lead the season series 5 games to 3.
Game time is set for 7:05pm.
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