MLB Team Report – Detroit Tigers – INSIDE PITCH
Jim Leyland is a by-the-book manager — except when he isn’t.
And the one time he uses his own version of the managerial book is when Justin Verlander is on the mound.
Conventional wisdom for 99.9 percent of managers is to lift the starting pitcher when his pitch count reaches triple digits. Especially with a closer who is as dependable as a new car, the way Jose Valverde was for Detroit last year.
Because 100 pitches is the convenient round-number limit for pitchers, removing a starter when he gets close to that figure takes the manager off the hook if things don’t work out.
“Hey,” the manager can say, “he was at 100 pitches. I had to take him out, to protect him.”
Verlander was above 100 pitches after closing out the eighth inning Monday at Kansas City, his team leading, 3-1.
“He came in the eighth said he felt great,” Leyland said. “I told him, ‘It’s your game, I’m not coming out there to take you out. If you’re gonna walk off the mound you’re either gonna win it or lose it.’
“To pull him and not try to let him go through that when he said he felt great I think would have been a huge mistake on my part. I think he’s the best pitcher in baseball. He said he was fine.”
Leyland let his ace go out for the ninth. He gave up a leadoff single, got two groundouts to second, then gave up an RBI single and a walk to prompt a visit by the manager.
“He said, ‘You’re going to get me fired,'” Verlander grinned.
Verlander hit the No. 9 hitter to load the bases but threw three straight 100 mph fastballs to Alex Gordon. Next came a changeup followed by another 100 mph fastball — his 131st pitch of the game — that was a game-ending called third strike.
“That’s another hurdle he’s climbed now,” Leyland said. “I think he’ll know better how to close them out from now on.”
“Skip can’t win for losing,” Verlander said. “He takes me out and we lose (first start). He leaves me in, we lose (second start). This time he’ll get questioned because I threw 130 pitches. I had some demons to exorcise. I wanted the game, I wanted the ball.”
“There wasn’t a lot of effort in some of the pitches,” Leyland said. “He was throwing a lot of pitches 92, 93 (mph) down and way, nice and easy. It wasn’t stressful.”
Third start of the season, one pitch shy of his career high for pitches in a game.
Not what you’d call by the book. Verlander won his first game of the season and Detroit improved to 7-3 with a 3-2 win at Kansas City.
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MLB Team Report – Detroit Tigers – NOTES, QUOTES
–RHP Justin Verlander came within one pitch of his personal high of 132 for a game Monday night but his 131st gained him his first win of the season. Verlander reached 100 mph on four of his five pitches to LF Alex Gordon, who took the last one for a game-ending called third strike. “He came in the eighth said he felt great,” manager Jim Leyland said. “I told him, ‘It’s your game, I’m not coming out there to take you out. If you’re gonna walk off the mound you’re either gonna win it or lose it.’ ” “Skip can’t win for losing,” Verlander said. “He takes me out and we lose (in my first start). He leaves me in, we lose (in my second). This time he’ll get questioned because I threw 130 pitches. I had some demons to exorcise. I wanted the game, I wanted the ball.” Verlander struck out nine and improved to 14-2 in 20 career starts at Kaufman Stadium.
–2B Brandon Inge got his first career start at second base Monday night and responded with what turned out to be the game-winning hit, a two-run home run in the fifth inning. “I shut my eyes and swung hard,” Inge said. “That’s pretty much what I do these days. (I was trying to) stay up the middle with the ball. I’m a lot stronger this year than I was last year, so I’m not trying to do too much with it. Early on I was trying to do too much with it because I felt stronger.”
–CF Austin Jackson has reached base in all 10 games this season as he continues his turnaround from a disappointing second season in the Majors. Jackson led off the game with his second home run of the season. “He’s got a shorter stroke now,” manager Jim Leyland said. “He’s seeing the ball better and he’s making more contact. You make more contact you’ll get more hits and everything else. That will include home runs. But I’m not worried about home runs.” His 11 runs rank among the league leaders, as does his on-base percentage which exceeds .500. “When (Jackson) gets on base, we’re a little more exciting than normal,” Leyland said. “We’re not a real exciting team, to be honest with you. We’re more of a ‘hit it over the fence’ team. But when he gets on, that changes it a little bit.”
–SS Jhonny Peralta collected three hits against a hard-throwing left-handed pitcher, Kansas City’s Danny Duffy. Peralta went the other way for a double in the second, doubled to left center in his second at-bat and lined a single to left for his third hit. He was a dead pull hitter in his time with Cleveland but has evolved into a hitter who uses the whole field since joining Detroit.
–RHP Doug Fister threw off a mound Monday for the first time since suffering a muscle strain in his left side April 7. But he was limited to 10 semi-fast fastballs. “He felt good,” manager Jim Leyland said, “but what that means I don’t really know.” “It was a little tight, a little stiff,” Fister said, “but not bad for being 8-10 days out, whatever it is.”
–RHP Max Scherzer will have everything in place for his start Wednesday in Kansas City — including his glove. Scherzer discovered a few minutes before going to warm up Saturday in Chicago that he’d left his glove back in Detroit, like thousands of kids from kid leagues to high school do every day. “I was panicking, like, ‘Whose glove am I going to use?’ ” Scherzer said. “(Justin) Verlander’s was closest to mine, and even then it wasn’t even comfortable pitching with his. None of them felt right. I felt naked.” He had his glove located and shipped to him immediately. “That’s never going to happen again,” he said.
BY THE NUMBERS: 4 — Pitches clocked at 100 mph of the final five RHP Justin Verlander threw in his 131-pitch 3-2 win over Kansas City on Monday. His final pitch was a called third strike that ended the game.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “You’re going to get me fired.” — Jim Leyland’s quip to RHP Justin Verlander, according to the pitcher, when the manager visited the mound with runners on first and second, two out and Detroit holding a 3-2 lead.
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MLB Team Report – Detroit Tigers – ROSTER REPORT
MEDICAL WATCH:
–LHP Adam Wilk (left shoulder) was injured April 14 when he was struck flush on the left shoulder by while sitting in the Tigers dugout. It is not expected to make him miss his next start.
–RHP Doug Fister (strained left ribcage muscle) went on the 15-day disabled list April 8. The timetable for his return is unknown.
–RHP Luis Marte (left hamstring strain) went on the 15-day disabled list April 3.
–RHP Al Alburquerque (right elbow surgery in December 2011) went on the 15-day disabled list April 3. He hopes to resume throwing in early April, but he won’t be back with the Tigers before midseason.
–C/DH Victor Martinez (microfracture left knee surgery in January 2012) went on the 60-day disabled list March 12. He will miss the entire season.
ROTATION:
RHP Justin Verlander
RHP Max Scherzer
RHP Rick Porcello
LHP Drew Smyly
LHP Adam Wilk
BULLPEN:
RHP Jose Valverde (closer)
RHP Joaquin Benoit
RHP Octavio Dotel
LHP Phil Coke
LHP Daniel Schlereth
RHP Collin Balester
LHP Duane Below
CATCHERS:
Alex Avila
Gerald Laird
INFIELDERS:
1B Prince Fielder
2B Ryan Raburn
SS Jhonny Peralta
3B Miguel Cabrera
INF Ramon Santiago
INF Brandon Inge
UT Don Kelly
OUTFIELDERS:
LF Delmon Young
CF Austin Jackson
RF Brennan Boesch
OF Andy Dirks
