A good sign for the first West Coast road trip is that the Tigers came away above .500 for the trip at 4-3, bringing their season road record up to 6-7. If they keep it up they may be able to improve on their dismal road record from last year when they went 29-52 on the road. The next two road trips to the West coast are not until June and July with the last trip to California in mid-September against the Oakland A's.
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| Enrique Gonzalez.....walks. |
Good signs and bad signs from the trip? Mostly bad, with Tiger hitting struggling against good Oakland pitching, and then Tiger pitching struggling against bad Seattle hitting. Good sign? The Tigers have Ryan Perry back in the bullpen and optioned right-hander Enrique Gonzalez to AAA Toledo after a disastrous 4-walk outing in an attempt to salvage a 4-walk game started by Phil Coke against the Mariners. Another good sign? Rick Porcello showed some of his ground-ball out inducing stuff against the Mariners in the last game of the road trip.
Next up are the Chicago White Sox in the Tigers return to Comerica Park this weekend. The White Sox hitting has struggled lately, but they have good pitching. Let's see if the Tiger bats can come alive back home at Comerica Park and keep the Tigers ahead of the White Sox in the Central Division. This would be a good weekend for Tiger Pitchers to put together 3 good games. The Tigers are 4 games out of the lead in the division, but only half a game ahead of Chicago. Should be a good match-up.
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| Will Rhymes |
Tiger hitters improving during the West Coast road trip were a small group. Brennan Boesch and Miguel Cabrerra were the most notable, and until he went on the DL with a groin sprain, Victor Martinez was starting to hit. (See Hitter Trends) Boesch steadily got his bat going during the trip that started April 14th, including bucking the odds with a 2 RBI hit against a left-handed pitcher. A bit unnoticed while Cabrerra and Boesch were hitting were improvements by Don Kelly and Will Rhymes. They are both still below .240, but Kelly improved his average with more playing time while on the road. Rhymes has been steadily improving since the home opener on April 8th, but has fallen victim to some hard hit balls failing to drop for hits. Look for that to change. Another fickle hitter has been Ryan Raburn. Raburn went a good portion of the road trip struggling, and then found some hitting while in the 2nd spot behind Austin Jackson, giving Rick Porcello a 1-run lead early in the last game against Seattle. Look for his bat to heat up in the spaciousness of Comerica Park for the home stand.
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| Ryan Perry is back in action. |
Pitching is a story unto itself. (See Season Stats, Pitcher Trends) Justin Verlander had a good outing, but the Tigers couldn't get the win against good Oakland pitching (best in the American League). When the Tigers needed the last game of the series to avoid a split, Brad Penny looked like he had it under control for the 1st 4 innings before giving up 3 runs to Oakland in the 5th. In the next series, the pitching was good enough for 2 of 3 against Seattle, but the way Phil Coke and the relievers after him gave up 11 bases on balls to the weak hitting Mariners in the 2nd game of the series is cause for concern. Having Ryan Perry back should plug some of the problems in the middle relief. Perry and the new young arms in Villarreal and Alberquerque should be able to hold the middle together enough for the Tiger bats to get going. The good hitters on the Chicago White Sox team will test them this weekend. As will the good pitchers on the White Sox staff test the Tiger hitters.
The Tigers are home now, and at home the bats don't stay silent for long.
GO TIGERS! ---Rob
Photo Credits:
Enrique Gonzalez and Ryan Perry by John T. Greilick - Detroit News
Will Rhymes by Robin Buckson - Detroit News
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