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Detroit Tigers Clips Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Detroit Free Press 3, Kansas City 2: Victory, at last, for (Lowe) Playlist: What music motivates your Tiger? (Byrne) On a night of complete drama, Tigers' Justin Verlander really was (Lowe) Austin Jackson gets things started vs. Royals the right way (Lowe) Tigers 3, Royals 2: Notes, quotes from Monday's win over Royals (Lowe) supporters traveling to Kansas City (Lowe) Tigers broadcaster to miss Kansas City series with infection (Lowe) Detroit Tigers 3, Kansas City 2: Justin Verlander hurls in Tigers' win (Fenech) Justin Verlander fastball saves choking man in new commercial (Jahnke) Justin Verlander seeks finishing touch tonight vs. Royals (Windsor)

The Detroit News Tigers ace Justin Verlander fans nine, wraps up first win (Gage) Tiger’s center fielder Austin Jackson is faster to first base, too (Gage) , Justin Verlander star for Tigers in victory over Royals (Gage) Tigers' Doug Fister throws off mound (Gage) No second guessing, Tigers' Ramon Santiago quietly does his job (Henning)

MLive.com MLive.com MLB Power Rankings, Week 2: Detroit Tigers lose top spot to (Schmehl) Justin Verlander gives Detroit Tigers teammate Brandon Inge credit for victory (Iott) Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander on gutsy ninth: 'I had some demons to exorcise' (Iott) Justin Verlander strikes out nine, Brandon Inge hits two- homer for Detroit Tigers in 3-2 win (Iott) Ex-Tiger honors Detroit Tigers fan on Virginia Tech shooting anniversary (Schmehl) Detroit Tigers' Doug Fister feels 'pretty good' after throwing 10 pitches off mound (Iott) Detroit Tigers' Justin Verlander takes mound, Brandon Inge makes season debut at second base (Schmehl) Royals start series against Detroit Tigers with pair of left-handed starters, depleted bullpen (Iott) Detroit Tigers' : Those who doubt White Sox 'know nothing about ' (Iott) Inside the Detroit Tigers: Four-game series with Rangers should make for interesting weekend (Iott)

MLB.com Verlander hangs on for complete-game win (Falkoff) Jackson bringing action to Tigers' offense (Falkoff) Laird, Dotel to receive rings on Sunday (Falkoff) Fister throws on Monday with no setbacks (Falkoff) Nighttime is the right time for Leyland (Falkoff) Smyly, Chen both seeking season's first win (Roberts)

Associated Press Verlander goes the distance in win over Royals (Staff)

ESPN.com Verlander still greatest show on earth (Schoenfield) Verlander brings heat, crowns Royals (Staff)

CBSSports.com Justin Verlander's 131st pitch was 100 miles per hour (Snyder) Daily Transactions

2 Detroit Tigers 3, Kansas City 2: Victory, at last, for Justin Verlander Ace throws 131 pitches in complete game April 17, 2012 By John Lowe / Detroit Free Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- After the eighth inning Monday night, Justin Verlander had thrown 104 pitches. He had a two-run lead. He told Tigers manager Jim Leyland he felt fine. Leyland said he dispatched Verlander back to the mound for the ninth with these words: "It's your game. You're going to walk off a winner or a loser." With two out in the ninth, Verlander walked to send the potential tying run to second. Verlander's pitch count had climbed to 125, one of his highest ever. Leyland went to the mound. Verlander said his manager told him, "You're going to get me fired" -- for letting his ace throw so many pitches. Six pitches later -- including one that a batter to load the bases -- Verlander unleashed his 131st pitch of the night. It was a 100 m.p.h. fastball. On a 2-2 count, took it for the game-ending strike three. After this 3-2 win -- his first of the season after the season a year ago -- Verlander issued this statement that should free Leyland of any worry about his job: "I had plenty left in the tank." Verlander said this after he finished within one pitch of his career high. Just as Leyland stuck with Verlander for the ninth, he has stuck with Brandon Inge for this season. He has installed Inge as the against left-handed pitching, and on this night, Inge took a high fifth- inning pitch from left-hander and hit the tie-breaking, game-winning, two-run homer. "Great -- fantastic -- I couldn't be happier," Verlander said of Inge. "No matter what the situation, he's going to give you everything he's possibly got to win a game." In Verlander's last start, he also took a two-run lead to the ninth, then gave up four runs in the inning and lost to Tampa Bay. "That's another hurdle he's climbed now," Leyland said. "I think he'll know how to close them out a little better from now on." Verlander said: "I had some demons to exorcise. I wanted that thing. I wanted the ball. I wanted to go back out there and shut those guys down." Verlander was asked what he thought when Leyland told him, "You're going to get me fired." "That's just the way he is," Verlander said. "He's relaxed. He might be panicking on the inside, but he never shows it." Verlander won 24 times last season. This season, he's had to make three starts -- in which he gave up a combined one run before the ninth inning -- to get his first win. "A lot of those last year came pretty easy," he said. "I just fell into a few of them. I've always known it's not that easy to win a major-league baseball game. That's why I was cautious this off-season in telling everybody, 'My goal is to be a better , not to have better numbers.' I know I might pitch better and not have more wins and have a lower ERA." But perhaps none will be harder than this one. Perhaps that's what Verlander meant when he said he told Leyland after the game: "Sorry for getting your blood pressure up. Now that that's out of the way, the rest will be easy."

3 Playlist: What music motivates your Tiger? April 17, 2012 By Steve Byrne / Detroit Free Press

Searching for the music that the Detroit Tigers use for motivation? The Free Press has your bases covered. The arrival of the baseball season brought some new sounds to — the songs that players chose to blast over the park’s loudspeakers to announce their arrival at the plate or the mound. We’ve built many of their choices into easy-to-listen-to playlists on YouTube and the music-listening service Spotify, so you can check out the tunes that make the Tigers tick. Looked at as a whole, the selections cross a wide swath of popular music, from the Puerto Rican reggaeton choices of Jhonny Peralta to the country music of and the hip-hop and hard rock favored by many of the team’s stars. As Tigers promotions director Eli Bayless put it, the eclectic batch of songs speaks “directly to the wonderful diversity of the players on our team.” Bayless says, in most cases, players will use a song or two for the entire season. “It’s safe to say that many of our players take their music selections just as seriously as many of our fans when they select music for working out at the gym, riding their bike or getting in their daily run,” Bayless says. “The right music selections can certainly influence your state of mind in a very positive way.”  Note to playlist listeners: Because of song-availability issues, the YouTube and Spotify playlists are not identical, and they do not include every song in the list below. Note #2: Only snippets of the songs are played at Comerica Park. In some cases, the full versions contain explicit language or adult themes. We haven’t included many of those songs in the playlists we’ve created, but listeners should still be aware that there are potential language issues here. Tigers' theme songs : Black Keys, “I Got Mine” : Kendrick Lamar featuring Gunplay, “Cartoon & Cereal” Austin Jackson: Young , “Ballin’”; , “Hustle Hard” Brennan Boesch: AWOLNation, “Sail”; , “We’ll Be Fine” : , “King of Diamonds” : T.I. featuring Eminem, “That’s All She Wrote” : Jay-Z & , “N***** In Paris”; featuring Kevin Cossom, “Feeling Myself” Rick Porcello: Curtis Stigers & the Forest Rangers, “This Life” (theme from “Sons of Anarchy”) Don Kelly: Kings of Leon, “Use Somebody” Jhonny Peralta: Don Omar featuring Lucenzo, “Danza Kuduro”; Alexis & Fido, “Energia” Ryan Raburn: Jason Aldean, “She’s Country”; Jason Aldean, “Hicktown” : Nickelback, “Burn it to the Ground” Daniel Schlereth: Korn, “Earache My Eye”; Metallica (live with San Francisco Symphony), “Minus Human”; Pantera, “Where You Come From” Jose Valverde: Metallica, “The End of the Line” Justin Verlander: Eminem featuring Nate Dogg, “Till I Collapse”

4 On a night of complete drama, Tigers' Justin Verlander really was Cy Young April 17, 2012 By John Lowe / Detroit Free Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Cy Young started 815 games. He completed 749. In his era, in the early days of baseball, the starter was expected to finish what he started. Young and his contemporaries like and Christy Mathewson would have seen nothing unusual in what Justin Verlander did at Kauffman Stadium Monday night. And Verlander, the defending winner of the award bearing Young’s name, showed again that perhaps pitch count is an irrelevant statistic with him because indeed his tank might be bottomless. He threw his 131st and final pitch of the night at 100 MPH. “Incredible,” pitching coach said. When Verlander put on a high-speed display like this in Boston beyond the 120-pitch mark a few years ago, a witness was Hall of Fame pitcher . After Verlander got done that day, Eckersley said with unabashed admiration, “What sets him apart is that he throws hard the whole game.” Just as Verlander’s can bring to mind Sandy Koufax and , so too can the endurance of his overwhelming velocity. Koufax struck out the last six hitters of his . Ryan threw two no-hitters after he turned 43. Monday night was one more sign that Verlander is their heir. He can go as long as necessary. And he loves doing so. For all that, manager Jim Leyland felt compelled to defend his decision to send Verlander back out for the ninth inning. Perhaps that’s how far into the bullpen era we are -- that unless a starter has a no-hitter, he’s expected to give way to the closer for the ninth inning of a close game. “He came in after the eighth and said he felt great,” Leyland said. “I told him, ‘It’s your game. I’m not going to take you out. You’re going to walk off the mound -- you’re either going to win it or lose it.’ “He won it. Pretty good.” Leyland knew Verlander wanted to atone for his last start, when he went out for the ninth with a one-hitter and a 2-0 lead and lost to Tampa Bay. “To pull him (tonight) and not let him try to go through that when he said he felt great would have been a huge mistake on my part,” Leyland said. “I think he’s the best pitcher in baseball. “It was a no-brainer. There wasn’t a lot of effort in some of the pitches tonight. So it wasn’t real stressful. He was throwing a lot of 92 and 93, down and away pretty easy. . . “I didn’t really want (the pitch count) to get as high as it did tonight. But we can always give him an extra day’s rest. But he felt really comfortable after the game because he said a lot of his pitches tonight were effortless.” Leyland made clear he wouldn’t have let Verlander pitch forever. Closer Jose Valverde began to warm up with none out in the ninth and a runner on first. A moment later, during the same at-bat, left-hander Phil Coke joined him. “If it had gotten to astronomical pitches, I’d have gotten him out,” Leyland said. Cy Young would have asked, “Why were those guys warming up?”

5 Austin Jackson gets things started vs. Royals the right way He leads off versus the Royals with his second homer of the season April 17, 2012 By John Lowe / Detroit Free Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Austin Jackson looks like he can't wait to hit. Three hours before Monday night's game, he was swinging a bat in the Tigers' clubhouse. Then he led off the game by driving left-hander Danny Duffy's 3-1 pitch over the fence in left. If Jackson's high batting average (.412 entering Monday) doesn't tell enough about how hot he is, then his power numbers do. • The lead-off blow Monday was his second homer of the season, in the Tigers' 10th game. He didn't hit his second homer last season until the Tigers' 35th game. • This was Jackson's sixth extra-base hit of April. He didn't get his sixth extra-base hit of last season until May. No suspense: Justin Verlander gave up a run in the first inning Monday night, and that meant there'd be no repeat of the exasperating scenario that marked his first two starts. In each of those two games, Verlander threw shutout ball for the first eight innings -- and didn't win. He was the first big-league pitcher to do that in nine years, according to research by the major leagues' official statistician, the Elias Sports Bureau. The last to do it before Verlander was San Diego right-hander Brian Lawrence in 2003. In the first of his two gems, he gave up three runs in the ninth to surrender a 2-0 lead. In the second he took a 1-0 lead to the ninth and gave up three runs to ... the Tigers, who that year lost 119 games, one short of the Mets' modern record. So, all other things being equal, if the Tigers hadn't rallied to beat Lawrence in that game, they would have matched the Mets' mark of 120 losses. The last American Leaguer before Verlander to have fruitless back-to-back eight-inning shutouts was right- hander Chad Durbin. It happened in 2001, when he was with the Royals. In both games, he departed with the score 0-0 after eight innings. Durbin later pitched for the Tigers and now is with Atlanta. No big inning: Visiting Cleveland batted around in each game of its weekend three-game sweep of Kansas City. It looked like the Tigers might bat around in the first inning Monday night. After Jackson homered, Brennan Boesch singled and Miguel Cabrera walked. The Tigers had runners at first and second with none out. Then Prince Fielder grounded into a play. That put Boesch at third with two out. He was stranded when Delmon Young lined to left.

6 Tigers 3, Royals 2: Notes, quotes from Monday's win over Royals April 17, 2012 By John Lowe / Detroit Free Press

AT KAUFFMAN STADIUM, KANSAS CITY, MO. WHAT HAPPENED: Justin Verlander capped a 131-pitch complete game by striking out Alex Gordon looking on a 100 m.p.h. fastball on a 2-2 count with the bases loaded and two out in the ninth. Brandon Inge's two-run homer -- his first hit of the season -- broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth and put the Tigers ahead to stay. The Royals got within 3-2 in the ninth on Humberto Quintero's two-out RBI , then loaded the bases for Gordon on a walk and hit batter. THIS TIME A HIT: Last August, Gordon led off the first off Verlander with a drive to deep center. Austin Jackson made a leaping catch to deny him a homer. Monday night, Gordon found a way to lead off the first with a hit off Verlander -- he lined a double into the rightfield corner. Moments later, Billy Butler's bloop single brought him home. That run offset Jackson's leadoff homer in the Tigers' first. ROYAL DOMINANCE: Verlander once again pitched strongly against K.C. He raised his career record against the Royals to 14-2. MIGGY AND RBIS: Miguel Cabrera grounded out with a runner on second in the eighth in his one at-bat in the game with a runner in scoring position. Cabrera has gone five straight games without an RBI, one short of his longest such streak last season. MOW 'EM DOWN INNING: You know the old line about how the hitters start to get to the pitcher the second time around? With Royals starter Danny Duffy, it was the reverse. The left-hander opened the third by fanning Jackson and Brennan Boesch on three pitches apiece, then got Cabrera to ground out on 0-1. He retired the side on eight pitches, all strikes. SENSATIONAL CATCH: Immediately after Inge's go-ahead two-run homer in the fifth, Gordon made a diving, head-jarring catch on Jackson's looper to short left. He received a standing ovation. THREE STARS: 1. Verlander, 2. Inge, 3. Jackson.

7 Drew Smyly supporters traveling to Kansas City April 17, 2012 By John Lowe / Detroit Free Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Tigers left-hander Drew Smyly will have home-state support tonight as he seeks his first major league win. The rookie said his uncle and some friends are coming to watch. They'll come from his hometown of Little Rock, Ark. (about a seven-hour drive from Kansas City) and his college town of Fayetteville, Ark. (about a four-hour drive from Kansas City). Smyly pitched for three years at the University of Arkansas. In Smyly's big league debut Thursday, he allowed one run in four innings in a no-decision against Tampa Bay. The Rays loaded the bases with none out in the first, but Smyly got out of the jam without allowing a run. Smyly's opponent tonight will be left-hander Bruce Chen, who has beaten the Tigers in his last three times against them. He's 34, in his 14th season and is doing some of the best pitching of his career. He was the Royals' Opening Day starter. FISTER THROWS: Right-hander Doug Fister played long catch Monday and threw 10 pitches off the mound, pitching coach Jeff Jones said. Jones said that if Fister feels good today -- with no bad after-effects from Monday -- his next step will be to repeat his Monday workout. Fister is on the 15-day disabled list as he recovers from a strained side. The earliest he's eligible to pitch again for the Tigers is a week from today, although there's no indication yet when he'll pitch again. Contact John Lowe: 313-223-4053 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @freeptigers. More Details: Tonight: Royals Matchup: Tigers at Kansas City, 8:10 p.m. TV/radio: FS Plus; WXYT-AM (1270). Starting : Detroit -- LH Drew Smyly (0-0, 2.25 ERA); Kansas City -- LH Bruce Chen (0-0, 1.64).

8 Tigers broadcaster Jim Price to miss Kansas City series with infection April 17, 2012 By John Lowe / Detroit Free Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Jim Price, the analyst on Detroit Tigers radio broadcasts, said today he’ll be back in the booth Thursday, when the team opens a home stand. Price is missing the three-game series in Kansas City that starts tonight because of what he describes as an infection. “I had cancer surgery in January, and my immune system is not real strong,” Price said in a telephone interview today. The infection hit Price full force before Saturday’s game. He didn’t work the Saturday nor Sunday games in Chicago. Price spent Saturday night in a hospital in Chicago. “I drove home (Sunday), and I feel better today,” Price said. Price, 70, said he had the cancer surgery in January to have his adrenal glands removed. He said that, two years ago, he had a kidney removed because of a cancerous hernia inside the kidney. Price is a former Tigers who played on the club’s 1968 world championship team. He’s in his 14th full season as a Tigers radio broadcaster and his 20th season overall on Tigers broadcasts. Former Tigers pitcher will substitute for Price alongside play-by-play man for the Kansas City series. The Tigers return home Thursday, against Texas. “I’ll be ready Thursday,” Price said.

9 Detroit Tigers 3, Kansas City 2: Justin Verlander hurls complete game in Tigers' win April 17, 2012 By Anthony Fenech / Detroit Free Press

The third time was the charm for Justin Verlander. After a win blown in the ninth by his teammate and another by himself, the Tigers’ right-hander took matters into his own hands on Monday night with a 3-2 win over the Royals. Verlander allowed an early run then settled down to pitch eight scoreless innings in earning his first complete game of the season. Sitting at 104 pitches heading into the ninth inning, Verlander pitched into then out of a bases-loaded jam, striking out Alex Gordon looking on a 100 mph fastball, for his ninth of the game on his 131st pitch. In the ninth, Billy Butler led off with a single, followed by a pair of groundouts. Humberto Quintero then singled home pinch-runner Jason Bourgeois, Verlander walked Novi’s Mitch Maier and hit to load the bases before striking out Gordon. Verlander was backed by a two-run from Brandon Inge in the fifth inning, which broke a 1-1 tie and gave Verlander all the offense he needed. He allowed two runs on seven hits and walked two. His only blemish on the day was an early Billy Butler single to score Alex Gordon, who doubled to lead-off the game. Leading off the game for the Tigers was Austin Jackson, who parked a pull-field home run into the left-field bleachers for his second home run of the young season. Jackson didn't hit his second home run last season until May 8. Inge’s fifth-inning home run came to center field off Royals starter Danny Duffy, who pitched 6.2 innings of three-run baseball. Duffy struck out seven and walked one.

10 Justin Verlander fastball saves choking man in new commercial April 17, 2012 By James Jahnke / Detroit Free Press

Justin Verlander, ace pitcher and busy actor, has yet another new commercial out. This one is for Livonia-based Fathead. Hey, where's Kate Upton?

11 Justin Verlander seeks finishing touch tonight vs. Royals April 17, 2012 By Shawn Windsor / Detroit Free Press

CHICAGO -- Justin Verlander will make his third start tonight when he faces Kansas City left-hander Danny Duffy at Kauffman Stadium. Verlander's first two outings -- a no-decision and a loss -- were electric. The loss was particularly memorable. According to Elias Sports Bureau, the loss was not just memorable, but rare. Verlander was the first pitcher to do the following in nearly 23 years: Enter the ninth inning with his team leading; start and pitch at least eight full innings; allow no runs and either no hits or one hit through those eight innings; get the loss in the game anyway. The last pitcher to meet all four of these criteria was Mark Langston of the 1989 Mariners. Langston took a 2-0 lead and a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Blue Jays on May 10 of that season. The Blue Jays scored three runs on four hits off Langston and Mike Schooler in the bottom of the ninth to beat Seattle (and Langston, who got the loss), 3-2. Essentially all of this means is that eight innings of one-hit, shutout pitching almost never leads to defeat.

12 Tigers ace Justin Verlander fans nine, wraps up first win April 17, 2012 By / The Detroit News

Kansas City, Mo.— Stunned? It's a question covering both sides of what went right for the Tigers in their 3-2 victory Monday over the . Namely, that Brandon Inge's two-run home run was the offensive difference for the Tigers — and that Justin Verlander was the one who finished it by striking out Alex Gordon with the bases loaded in the ninth — on his 131st pitch. The Inge home run first. He's hit them before, you know. It's not as if Inge introduced himself to home runs when his two-run blast to center became the key hit of the Tigers' victory. But it's true, and a source of considerable irony as well, that in his first game at second base for the Tigers, Inge re-introduced himself to home runs. As the object of never-ending discussion on Twitter, on talk shows, just about everywhere fans discuss the Tigers, Inge's role — even the fact he has a roster spot — has been hashed and mashed more than most potatoes. He has supporters. He has detractors. There seems to be no middle ground about Inge. But it was his moment to shine when his 409-foot home run off Royals starter Danny Duffy sailed over the fence at Kauffman Stadium. When asked if he was happy for Inge, manager Jim Leyland said he was, but that "I'm also happy for me." The rest of the game was Verlander's time to shine, though. After allowing a run in the first, offsetting Austin Jackson's leadoff home run, Verlander (1-1) clamped down to blank the Royals until they scored a run with two outs in the ninth. Verlander had plenty left, however — including three 100 mph fastballs in the ninth. "It wasn't easy," said Leyland, who, according to Verlander, kidded his starter at the mound in the ninth, "You're going to get me fired. "When he came off the mound in the eighth, though, he said he felt great," said Leyland, "and I told him then, 'Well, it's your game. I'm not coming out there to take you out. "When you walk off the mound, you're either going to win it or lose it, but I'm not going to take you out. And he won it. "To pull him when he said he felt fine would have been a huge mistake. He's the best pitcher in baseball." Verlander said he had to "exorcise some demons" after letting his last start slip from a victory to a loss in the ninth against Tampa Bay. "I wanted the ball," said Verlander, "and when it came right down to it, I made the pitch (to Gordon) when I needed to make it." After the first inning, though, the pitches that weren't at their best in the opening inning were either at their best, or close enough, later. It was another vintage Verlander performance after the first inning, his first victory of the season. Vintage Verlander is nothing new, however. You saw it a lot last year. Vintage Inge has been missing, though. "I couldn't be happier for him," Verlander said. "He gives you everything he's got to win a ballgame." That said, as mentioned, Inge has hit home runs before. In his long career with the Tigers, Inge has hit 140 home runs, good for 22nd place on the Tigers' list. In fact, this blast broke a tie with Rocky Colavito, who really was a home run hitter. One more Inge home run will tie him with . , who also was known as a home run hitter. It's not about home runs, however, when the subject turns to Inge — even though he's hit 27 of them in two different seasons in the majors. 13 It's about the fact that he hit .197 last year, has struggled with his batting average for years, yet continues to re- surface — as he's done again this year after a stint on the disabled list because of a sore groin. Manager Jim Leyland was adamant about Inge's role at the end of , though, despite Inge's .180 batting average in Florida. He will start at second base against left-handed starting pitchers. Leyland, when saying Inge would start at second base against left-handers, never predicted he'd be hitting two- run home runs. There was nothing mentioned, as a prediction, about starting and hitting two-run home runs against left-handed starting pitchers. But that's what happened Monday night.

14 Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson is faster to first base, too April 17, 2012 By Tom Gage / The Detroit News

Kansas City, Mo.— Have you noticed the added benefit of Austin Jackson's new stance at the plate? Added, that is, to the fact that he went into Monday night's 3-2 victory over the Royals having reached base safely at least once in each of the Tigers' first nine games, had scored at least one run in seven of the nine games, was second in the with a .512 on-base percentage, and was tied for second with 10 runs scored. Want more? Jackson also was third in the AL with a .412 batting average, fourth with seven walks, tied for fifth with 14 hits and was eighth with a .647 slugging percentage. Plus, he sweetened most of the above stats by hitting a leadoff home run against the Royals. The added benefit to all this — which is bound to enhance all that, by the way — is that Jackson without the higher leg kick of his old stance is faster out of the batter's box. And, therefore, faster to first base. "I've noticed it," first-base coach Tom Brookens said. "I definitely think he is." "I can't say for sure I am," said Jackson, "but it feels like I am." With his old stance, Jackson was so slow out of the box, it occasionally negated the blazing speed he frequently showed while advancing, for instance, from first to third on a single. Or from second to home. "When he gets on base, we're more exciting than normal," manager Jim Leyland said. "He's pretty much a catalyst for us. "We're not a real exciting team, to be honest with you. We're more of a in-the-gap, hit-it-over-the-fence team. "When he gets on, we're a little more exciting." Getting to first faster means Jackson should get on base more often. And, therefore, add to the on-base excitement that Leyland means. Forward for Fister Being able to throw 10 fastballs off the mound represented progress on Monday for Doug Fister . But throwing only 10 pitches a week before you can come off the disabled list probably means you aren't going to. Not as soon as you are eligible, that is. The left rib muscle strain that landed Fister on the DL after one start this season has been a stubborn ache so far. Fister started April 7 against Boston, went on the DL on April 8, and Monday's brief session was his first off the mound since his start. But the fact it went well, that he didn't feel anything other than the stiffness he expected to feel, and that nothing took place to undermine his next session of throwing off the mound were all good signs. That said, it's not as if Fister is within a day or two of coming back to the rotation. "He threw off the mound and felt good," said Leyland. A big step for him? "I guess," Leyland said. "It's a process. He felt good, but what that means I don't really know." For one thing, it means Fister's no longer just sitting and waiting to throw. For another, it points the process in a more clearly defined direction. "We're just taking it day-by-day and not really projecting too much," Fister said. "Today was a case of just getting a feel for it. "It was a little tight, a little stiff, but not bad for being 8-10 days out, whatever it is. Obviously I'd rather be pitching, but this is just a bump in the road." Around the horn Adam Wilk , despite a bruised left shoulder, remains on target to start Thursday night against Texas at Comerica Park. … Now that the Tigers' stretch of nine consecutive day games is over, Leyland is thankful that all of them were able to be played. 15 "I like going out to dinner like a normal person, but I don't really prefer nine straight day games," he said. "… (But) we played all nine, which is pretty good for this time of year." Tigers at Royals First pitch: 8:10 tonight, Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Mo. TV/radio: FSD+/1270 Scouting report Drew Smyly, Tigers (0-0, 2.25 ERA): Lefty should be over the early jitters he showed in his debut. Then again, it looked like he got over them during that debut. Bruce Chen, Royals (0-0, 1.64): Left-hander has 4-3 career record against the Tigers with a 5.95 ERA, but was 2-0 against them last year with a 2.45 ERA.

16 Brandon Inge, Justin Verlander star for Tigers in victory over Royals April 17, 2012 By Tom Gage / The Detroit News

Kansas City, Mo. — Stunned? He's hit them before, you know. It's not as if Brandon Inge introduced himself to home runs on Monday night when his two-run blast to center became the key hit of the Tigers' 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals. But it's true, and a source of considerable irony as well, that in his first game at second base for the Tigers, Inge reintroduced himself to home runs. As the object of never-ending discussion on Twitter, on talk shows, just about everywhere fans discuss the Tigers, Inge's role — even the fact he has a roster spot — has been hashed and mashed more than most potatoes. He has supporters. He has detractors. There seems to be no middle ground about Inge. But it was his moment to shine when his 409-foot home run off Royals starter Danny Duffy sailed over the fence at Kauffman Stadium. The rest of the game was Justin Verlander's time to shine, though. After allowing a run in the first, offsetting Austin Jackson's leadoff home run, Verlander (1-1) clamped down to blank the Royals until they scored a run with two outs in the ninth. With a pitch count of 131, however, Verlander finished his complete-game performance by striking out Alex Gordon with the bases loaded The pitches that weren't at their best in the first were either at their best, or close enough, later. It was another vintage Verlander performance after the first inning, his first victory of the season. Vintage Verlander is nothing new, however. You saw it a lot last year. Vintage Inge has been missing, though. That said, as mentioned, he has hit home runs before. In his long career with the Tigers, Inge has hit 140 home runs, good for 22nd place on the Tigers' list. In fact, this blast broke a tie with Rocky Colavito, who really was a home run hitter. One more Inge home run will tie him with Darrell Evans, who also was known as a home run hitter. It's not about home runs, however, when the subject turns to Inge — even though he's hit 27 of them in two different seasons. It's about the fact that he hit .197 last year, has struggled with his batting average for years, yet continues to re- surface — as he's done again this year after a stint on the disabled list because of a sore groin. Manager Jim Leyland was adamant about Inge's role at the end of spring training, though, despite Inge's .180 batting average in Florida. He will start at second base against left-handed starting pitchers. There was nothing mentioned, as a prediction, about starting and hitting two-run home runs against left-handed starting pitchers. But that's what happened Monday night.

17 Tigers' Doug Fister throws off mound April 17, 2012 By Tom Gage / The Detroit News

Kansas City, Mo.— Being able to throw 10 fastballs off the mound represented progress Monday for Doug Fister. But throwing only 10 pitches a week before you can come off the disabled list probably means you aren't going to. Not as soon as you are eligible, that is. The left rib muscle strain that landed Fister on the DL after one start this season has been a stubborn ache so far. Fister started April 7 against Boston, went on the DL on April 8, and Monday's brief session was his first off the mound since his start. But the fact it went well, that he didn't feel anything other than the stiffness he expected to feel, and that nothing took place to undermine his next session of throwing off the mound were all good signs. That said, it's not as if Fister is within a day or two of coming back. "He threw off the mound and felt good," said manager Jim Leyland. Big step for him? "I guess," said Leyland. "It's a process. He felt good, but what that means I don't really know." For one thing, it means he's no longer just sitting and waiting to throw. For another, it points the process in a more clearly defined direction. "We're just taking it day-by-day and not really projecting too much," said Fister. "Today was a case of just getting a feel for it. "It was a little tight, a little stiff, but not bad for being 8-10 days out, whatever it is. Obviously I'd rather be pitching, but this is just a bump in the road."

18 No second guessing, Tigers' Ramon Santiago quietly does his job April 17, 2012 By Lynn Henning / The Detroit News

Detroit — As a measure of appreciation for Ramon Santiago, the Tigers should ponder a special tribute, given in his name, to the occasional saint listed on their roster. Call it: The Guy Who Does His Job And Shuts His Mouth Even When He Has Reason To Scream Award. No, it can't be a word or two briefer, because paying full appreciation to Santiago for what he's dealing with in 2012 is more worthy of a legislative resolution rather than any plaque or trophy. This second-base situation the Tigers are attempting to handle by way of consortium is a doozy. It is challenging, and quite an exception to an otherwise elegantly equipped team. It will also be the most likely area of attention in July when Tigers front-office commando begins hot-lining his cohorts in Dombrowski's annual bid to make a trade-deadline deal that can put a contender closer to a . Ryan Raburn was supposed to have straightened out his yearly tendencies to treat the first half of a season like spring break. But after setting afire the Grapefruit League during those early weeks in Florida, Raburn hasn't hit for most of the past month. Raburn will bash the ball like Joe DiMaggio once your Fourth of July picnic convenes, but until then, history tells us it could be chilly in Raburnland. Brandon Inge got a reprieve via his $6 million contract and made a roster he otherwise wouldn't have cracked. But in considering past Tigers who kept their jobs by way of contract — Damion Easley, Bobby Higginson (2005), Dontrelle Willis, Nate Robertson — it always has been a brief matter of time until those contracts were bought out or moved and other, more deserving people, were employed. That, almost assuredly, will be Inge's fate in 2012. The question is when. And the tea leaves, as well as big- league baseball's business cycle, suggest it will be sometime in July. Turn then to Santiago, who is the steadiest of the above trio, defensively and offensively. No, he is not the answer at second base. The Tigers have every right to believe he won't hold up as an everyday player. In fact, other scouts and clubs made the same determination during the past offseason when Santiago hit free agency. But the lesson Santiago brings to the Tigers is astonishing. He has as much professional and personal pride as any player on the team. And yet he does not pout, does not talk behind his bosses' backs, does not display resentment toward Raburn, or Inge, or when Worth is in the mix. Nor does he hold any grudges against anyone on planet Earth, from all that can be discerned six years into his tenure in Detroit. That's an admirable and enduring ethic. It's also a personal testimonial and has little to do with the Tigers' fundamental obligation to strengthen second base. Not easy, finding a second baseman who can field and who can pump necessary offense into a lineup that would truly be a locomotive if it had that typical, spray-hitting, gap-poking second baseman who embodies everyone's top-of-the-order ideal at a critical position. That player is not presently available. But by July, he could be. The pretenders will begin making their 2013 plans in as little as eight weeks when currently untouchable players move closer to the fire-sale's flames. The Tigers will have trade chips, beginning with left-handed pitching that will have become more marketable in summer than it is in early spring. One of their excess organizational will also be appealing to a trade partner that typically has only one less item on the shelf than pitching: players who can reliably catch and hit. Fans still irked because of Placido Polanco's surprising exit from Detroit, which came with everything but an exhortation to not let the door hit him in the back pocket, will not forget that the very player the Tigers seek at second base is the same player on which they wouldn't risk a single year of arbitration salary in 2010. I always believed that decision was consistent with a business plan that had abruptly been scaled back in the autumn of 2009. It was the only defensible or plausible reason for sending away Polanco, without any chance at retaining him, without any means to acquire the first-round draft pick Philadelphia would have turned over when it signed him to a three-year contract. I've since learned from trusted higher-ups that money wasn't the issue there. And that's all anyone will say. I don't take that as innuendo -- not from those whose integrity is resolute. I take it as the truth. I simply don't have details. 19 But what it set in motion, that decision to not retain Polanco — and more relevantly, the team's unwise decision to jettison — is this conundrum manager Jim Leyland still faces at second base. I'm sure Santiago has a solution there. But he won't offer it. He'll do his job, and do it well, as the Tigers no doubt hunt for a mid-season remedy to their ongoing position headache.

20 MLive.com MLB Power Rankings, Week 2: Detroit Tigers lose top spot to Texas Rangers April 17, 2012 By James Schmehl / MLive.com

DETROIT -- So much for a perfect 162-0 record. After a 4-0 start to the season, the Detroit Tigers showed they were human -- losing one to the and two of three to the *gasp* . As a result, the Tigers won't be spending all 26 weeks atop the MLive.com MLB Power Rankings as they gave way to the 8-2 Texas Rangers. Both teams are scheduled to meet each other in a four-game showdown starting Thursday, so the true No. 1 could emerge. For the sake of comparison, here are the Week 1 rankings. Care to disagree with the Week 2 rankings? Be my guest: 1. Texas Rangers (8-2), up one: Texas' is coming off its first series sweep in Minnesota since 1999. Sure, it's against the lowly Twins, but prior to Monday, the Rangers were riding a four-game win streak and owned an AL-best 8-2 record. 2. Detroit Tigers (6-3), down one: The Tigers lost two of three after opening 5-1 and things could get worse with the Rangers coming to town Thursday for a four-game set. More concerning? Miguel Cabrera is hitless in his last 21 at-bats. 3. (5-4), up one: The Yankees took two of three against the Angels in an early series between high-priced teams expected to challenge for the American League pennant. The Yankees have won five of six after opening 0-3. Yeah, they're back. 4. (7-3), up five: The Nationals had won five straight before Sunday's extra-innings loss. The reason? Their starters own a 1.75 ERA, leading the by two-thirds of a run. Not at all surprising, considering their offseason investments. 5. St. Louis Cardinals (7-3), up one: The Cardinals are banged up -- but it's hard to tell by their record. Rookie Matt Carpenter is batting .409 with 10 RBIs in 22 at-bats this spring, filling in for an injured , who could be back Tuesday when the Cardinals open a three-game series against the Reds. 6. Los Angeles Dodgers (9-1), up four: The Dodgers own the top record in the majors and are off to their best start since 1981. Remember 1981? It's the year they won their last World Series title. 7. (6-3), up one: If can pitch the whole season like he did in his Diamondbacks' debut Sunday, Arizona shouldn't have trouble keeping up with the Dodgers in the NL West. 8. (4-5), up three: The Phillies' offense has struggled. But without All-Stars Ryan Howard and Chase Ultey in the mix, it was almost to be expected. Prior to Sunday's win over the , the Phillies had lost five of their first eight while scoring only 20 runs. 9. (3-6), down five: has gone nine games without a home run, his longest drought to start a season. A sign of things to come? 10. Toronto Blue Jays (5-4), up two: Toronto avoided Sunday what would have been its first three-game sweep by Baltimore since April 2005. Didn't hurt much as it appears the Blue Jays are stuck in a division that has yet to see any team pull away from mediocrity. 11. (4-6), up three: Forget their less-than-medicore record, the Red Sox are already dealing with clubhouse drama after manager Bobby Valentine publicly questioned ' commitment to the game. Ouch. 12. Chicago White Sox (5-4), up 13: Perhaps we may have underestimated the White Sox, eh? They begin a 10- game stretch against the lowly Orioles, Mariners and A's that could push them into first place before April concludes. 13. Tampa Bay Rays (4-5), down 10: After a series-opening sweep of the New York Yankees, the Rays have lost five of their last seven. They're down 10 spots from last week -- the largest drop among all teams. 14. Cincinnati Reds (4-6), down seven: It required extra innings, but the Reds avoided a four-game sweep Sunday. Prior to the game, they had scored just 10 runs in losing five of six. That ain't gonna cut it.

21 15. (4-4), same: So much for that slow offense, huh? For the first time in the Indians' 111- year history, Cleveland has scored at least eight runs in its first three road games of a season. This coming three days after the club signed veteran a minor league contract to add a much-needed bat. 16. (4-6), down three: The Brewers are coming off a three-game sweep and now open a home series against the red-hot Dodgers on Tuesday night in a surefire pitching duel between Yovanni Gallardo and . 17. Kansas City Royals (3-6), down one: The Royals might have a potent offense, but their pitching staff is struggling -- giving up seven home runs, 17 extra-base hits and 32 runs in the three games against the Cleveland Indians. 18. (4-6), down five: Without Ozzie Guillen managing from the dugout, the Marlins were able to take two of three against the Astros. Guillen returns Tuesday, but the Marlins might prefer he say something stupid again to draw another five-game suspension. 19. (5-4), down two: After winning only five road series all of last season, the Orioles came close to sweeping their first road series against the Blue Jays. They continue their defining 10-game road trip with four-game set against the Chicago White Sox. 20. New York Mets (6-3), same: The Mets had a chance to pull off a three-game sweep over Phillies in Philadelphia for the first time since June 13-15, 2006. They fell short, but their 6-3 record to start the season against the Braves, Nationals and Phillies is nonetheless impressive. 21. (4-5), down three: The Giants lost their All-Star closer Brian Wilson to season-ending surgery last week and now there's questions about Tim Lincecum's well-being after the two-time NL Cy Young winner has mightily struggled in his first two starts. 22. (5-4), same: After starting the season 0-4, the Braves entered Monday riding a five-game win streak, including three straight wins since 18-year veteran returned to the lineup. 23. (4-5), down four: How quickly things have changed. Houston starters have posted a 5.88 ERA in the last five games, en route to a 1-4 record. This coming after the Astros starting rotation recorded a 1.71 ERA during the team's 3-1 start. 24. (6-5), down one: It's tough to gauge how well the Mariners will be this season, considering five of their first nine games have been against the Athletics. But here's what I do know: Seattle is better than Oakland. 25. Colorado Rockies (4-5), down one: Prior to Monday's game against the , Colorado starters had worked a total of 11 innings in the past three games. Their bullpen has pitched 35 innings in nine games. Give 'em a rest already. 26. (3-6), down five: The Pirates are batting .188 as a team and averaging 2.0 runs to start the season. They should be jumping for joy with the three wins they have -- should be worse. 27. Oakland A’s (4-6), up one: In an effort to revive Oakland's silent bats, manager has used eight different lineups in 10 games. So far, nothing is working. The Athletics are hitting .201 overall and .148 with runners in scoring position. 28. Chicago Cubs (3-7), down two: The Tigers, as a team, have committed only one in 10 games. Starlin Castro, the Cubs' prized shortstop, has already committed four by himself. And, you were worried about Miguel Cabrera? 29. San Diego Padres (2-8), same: San Diego is a major league-worst 2-8, but six of those losses have come to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are a major league-best 9-1. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and keep them out of the last spot -- for now. 30. (2-7), same: The Twins were swept by the two-time defending AL champion Texas Rangers. Now they embark on a four-game series against the New York Yankees in New York. Oh, and then they travel to Tampa before hosting a three-game set against Boston. The gift that keeps giving.

22 Justin Verlander gives Detroit Tigers teammate Brandon Inge credit for victory April 17, 2012 By Chris Iott / MLive.com

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The outing Justin Verlander had Monday night in a 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals made it easy to forget who had the biggest hit in the game. But Verlander didn't forget. In fact, he gave Detroit Tigers second baseman Brandon Inge credit for winning the game. The much-maligned Inge hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning to break a tie and give the Tigers a 3-1 lead. Those were the only runs the Tigers scored Monday night after Austin Jackson led off the game with a home run. "I couldn't be happier," Verlander said. "No matter what the situation is, he's going to give you everything he's possibly got to win a ballgame, whether it's from the bench or from second or from third or at the plate. There's never any question in what he's out there to do. To have him come through today and win us the ballgame, it's great. I'm real excited for him." Inge made his first major league start at second base in the game and was hitless in four at-bats this season when he stepped to the plate to face left-hander Danny Duffy in the fifth. After taking ball one, Inge hit a 95- mph fastball from Duffy an estimated 409 feet to right-center. Inge hit .197 with three home runs and 23 RBIs last season, then hit .180 in Grapefruit League action this spring before heading to the disabled list with a left groin strain. He went 1-for-9 in a rehabilitation stint in -A Toledo last week before being recalled from the disabled list Saturday.

23 Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander on gutsy ninth: 'I had some demons to exorcise' April 17, 2012 By Chris Iott / MLive.com

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The small crowd at Kauffman Stadium was going nuts. The Kansas City Royals had scored a run moments earlier to cut their deficit to 3-2. Detroit Tigers starter Justin Verlander had just walked Mitch Maier to put the potential winning run on base while moving the potential tying run into scoring position. Ball four to Maier was also pitch No. 125 for Verlander, who had not thrown more pitches than that in a game since July 21 of last season. Jose Valverde was already warm in the bullpen. Tigers manager Jim Leyland walked to the mound. What did Leyland say to Verlander when he got there? "In the ninth?" Verlander asked, then cracked a grin and laughed. "He said, 'You're going to get me fired.' " It has been an interesting ride this season for Verlander, who has one win, one loss and one no-decision despite some ridiculous numbers. His ERA stands at 2.13. Opposing batters are hitting .146 against him. His WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) is a ridiculous 0.63. All those numbers are lower than the numbers he posted in 2011, when he won 24 games and took home the American League Cy Young and MVP awards. But Verlander would be 0-2 at this point if he had allowed a base hit to Alex Gordon with two outs in the ninth and the bases loaded. Instead he blew him away in a memorable showdown and put the finishing touches on a 3-2 victory for the Tigers. After Leyland joked with Verlander about getting him fired, he left his ace in the game. Verlander responded by hitting Alcides Escobar with the next pitch -- No. 126 of the game -- to load the bases. That put the winning run in scoring position. Gordon, who had doubled off Verlander to lead off the first inning, came to the plate. Verlander's pitch sequence for pitches 127 through 131: fastball, fastball, fastball, , fastball. The radar readings: 100, 100, 100, 88, 100. Pitch No. 131 was a called strike three, and Verlander headed to the dugout with his first victory of the season. Leyland said Verlander told him after eight innings that he felt fine. He also said that the game was not as "stressful" as others have been, that a lot of the pitches Verlander threw against the Royals were free and easy. But the ninth inning was stressful, just as the ninth inning had been in each of Verlander's previous starts. In Verlander's start on Opening Day, Leyland removed him after eight innings and 104 pitches with the Tigers leading 2-0. Valverde blew the , but the Tigers pulled out a 3-2 victory in the bottom of the ninth, leaving Verlander with a no-decision. In Verlander's second start, Leyland left Verlander in to start the ninth inning with a 2-0 lead. Verlander had allowed just one hit and had thrown just 81 pitches to that point, but he struggled in the ninth inning and eventually suffered the loss. "Skip can't win for losing," Verlander said. "He takes me out, we (fall into a tie). He leaves me in, we lose. Tonight he'll get questioned because I threw 131 pitches." But both the pitcher and the manager said it was important for Verlander to finish the job after what happened in his last outing. "I had some demons to exorcise," Verlander said. "I wanted that thing. I wanted the ball. I wanted to go back out there and shut those guys down. Obviously, it didn't go the way I would have liked, but when it came down to it I made the pitch that I needed to." Leyland said he considered how his ace's previous outing went when deciding to let him go the distance. "I really think that that's something he would have to get over," Leyland said. "To pull him and not 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. That's another hurdle he's climbed now. I think he'll know how to close them out from now on." Verlander agreed.

24 "I told Skip," Verlander said, "I said, 'Sorry for getting your blood pressure up. Now that that's out of the way the rest of them will be easy.' "

25 Justin Verlander strikes out nine, Brandon Inge hits two-run homer for Detroit Tigers in 3-2 win April 17, 2012 By Chris Iott / MLive.com

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The most celebrated Detroit Tigers player pitched an absolute gem. The most criticized Tigers player made it stand up. Justin Verlander threw a complete game and Brandon Inge hit a two-run home run Monday night as the Tigers held on for a 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals. The Royals cut the deficit to 3-2 on a run-scoring single by Humberto Quintero with two outs in the ninth and loaded the bases before Verlander struck out Alex Gordon to end the game. Verlander threw 131 pitches. His 127th, 128th and 129th pitches -- all to Gordon -- were clocked at 100 mph. Inge returned from the disabled list Saturday after suffering a left groin strain near the end of spring training. He was hitless in his first four at-bats for the season before stepping to the plate with one out in the bottom of the fifth against Royals left-hander Danny Duffy. But Inge hit a 95-mph fastball from Duffy an estimated 409 feet to right-center to break a 1-1 tie. Inge, who hit .180 in Grapefruit League action this spring, played second base for the first time in the majors. The home run gave the Tigers two much-needed runs in what shaped up to be a pitchers' duel from the first. Both teams scored a run in the first inning, but Verlander and Duffy settled in and dominated from that point until Inge gave the Tigers the lead. Verlander (1-1) picked up the victory and improved to 14-2 in 20 career starts against the Royals. He entered the game 8-2 with a 1.82 ERA in starts at Kauffman Stadium. Verlander allowed two runs on seven hits and two walks. He has pitched at least eight innings in each of his three starts this season. Austin Jackson gave the Tigers a quick 1-0 lead when he hit the fifth pitch of the ballgame from Duffy an estimated 402 feet to left for a home run. The Royals bounced right back in the bottom of the inning. Alex Gordon led off the inning with a double to the corner in right. drew a one-out walk, and cleanup hitter Billy Butler hit a pop-up down the line in right that was just out of reach of a diving Brennan Boesch to tie the game 1-1. Three of the first four batters Verlander faced reached base, but he struck out Jeff Francouer and Mike Moustakas to end the first inning, which started a string of 11 consecutive hitters retired by Verlander. Duffy allowed three runs on seven hits and one walk in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out seven. Peralta had three of the seven hits against Duffy, two doubles and a single.

26 Ex-Tiger Curtis Granderson honors Detroit Tigers fan on Virginia Tech shooting anniversary April 17, 2012 By James Schmehl / MLive.com

Former Detroit Tigers Curtis Granderson remembered a baseball legend Sunday when he wore customized cleats in honor of . He offered a similar tribute Monday night -- only this time, he honored a man that wasn’t as recognizable outside of the Detroit Tigers online community. Granderson wore a special pair of cleats and a wristband Monday in the New York Yankees' game against Minnesota in remembrance of Brian Bluhm, a longtime Detroit Tigers fan. In his first at-bat against the Twins, he belted a home run to deep right. Bluhm was among 32 people gunned down by a mentally ill student at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007. Monday marked the fifth-year anniversary of the rampage. Only a few weeks away from graduating with a Master's Degree in civil engineering before the shooting, Bluhm was a friend and regular to many local Tigers websites, including MLive.com. Former MLive.com Tigers beat writer Danny Knobler remembered the 25-year-old Bluhm as an intelligent reader that offered insightful commentary and constant praise for Granderson, his favorite player. "I heard Bluhm's story from other Tiger fans who knew him through chats and posts on the web," Knobler wrote early Monday. "I covered the Tigers then for Booth Newspapers, and I remembered Brian from the intelligent questions he would ask. Granderson heard about him, too." Granderson and Bluhm first got in touch on the two-time All-Star’s MySpace page, which eventually evolved into Bluhm sending emails through Granderson's public relations representative. The steady exchanges between the two seemingly left a lasting impression on Granderson, who replaced his avatar on his official Twitter account Monday with a picture of Bluhm wearing a Tigers cap. Bluhm couldn't witness Granderson’s classy gesture Monday, but the tribute was another example of the appreciation Granderson has for his fans and helped further explain why Bluhm called the former Tiger his favorite player.

27 Detroit Tigers' Doug Fister feels 'pretty good' after throwing 10 pitches off mound April 17, 2012 By Chris Iott / MLive.com

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Doug Fister does not know when he will pitch in a game for the Detroit Tigers. But he said it felt good to get back on the mound again. Fister threw about 10 pitches off the mound Monday afternoon. It marked the first time he has thrown off the mound since going on the disabled list April 8 with a left costochondral strain. "Not bad," Fister said when asked how it went. "I just wanted to get up there and kind of feel how it is off the mound again, just kind of get the feel of the slope again." Fister said he had no discomfort in the area of the injury. "I'm feeling pretty good," he said. "A little tight, a little stiff, but everything's pretty good." Fister said he had a good long-toss session before throwing about 10 fastballs off the mound. He is eligible to return from the disabled list in a week, but he said he doesn't know what the timeframe is for his return. "Just taking it day-by-day and not projecting too much," he said. "Obviously, I want to be pitching, but it's just a bump in the road." Fister allowed three hits in 3 2/3 scoreless innings April 7 in his first start of the season before coming out of the game due to the injury.

28 Detroit Tigers' Justin Verlander takes mound, Brandon Inge makes season debut at second base April 17, 2012 By James Schmehl / MLive.com

Detroit Tigers Brandon Inge is slated to make his regular-season debut at second base Monday when the visiting Tigers open a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals. Brandon Inge is back in the lineup Monday -- but not at DH. With a left-handed pitcher slated to start for Kansas City, Inge will make his regular-season debut at second base for the Detroit Tigers in their first night game this year. He's batting ninth. Inge was tabbed as the club’s Sunday in the series finale against the Chicago White Sox, a day after being activated from the 15-disabled list. It was only the second time in his career that Inge has started at DH. And, with another left-handed starter scheduled to pitch Tuesday, it’s possible Inge could be penciled in the lineup for a third straight day. Manager Jim Leyland said Sunday’s lineup decision was made in response to Brennan Boesch receiving a day of rest -- his first this season. As a result, Ryan Raburn started in right field and Delmon Young remained in left. Raburn will start in left field Monday with Young making his second start at DH this season in the club's series opener against the host Royals. Ramon Santiago, a switch-hitter, started at second Sunday in place of Inge in an effort to protect Johnny Peralta and prevent the club from giving up its DH spot. If Santiago was named DH and needed to replace Peralta at shortstop, the Tigers would lose the designated hitter, forcing the pitcher to bat. With Boesch back in the lineup Monday in right field, Leyland will start Raburn in left field and make Young the designated hitter. Justin Verlander will make his third start this season, opposite Kansas City left-hander Danny Duffy. Despite limiting batters to a league-leading .109 batting average, Verlander is still seeking his first win this season. He threw eight scoreless innings of one-hit ball in his last start before allowing four runs to score in his final one-third of an inning. Here’s today’s starting lineups: DETROIT TIGERS 1. Austin Jackson, CF 2. Brennan Boesch, RF 3. Miguel Cabrera, 3B 4. Prince Fielder, 1B 5. Delmon Young, DH 6. Ryan Raburn, LF 7. Jhonny Peralta, SS 8. Alex Avila, C 9. Brandon Inge, 2B RHP Justin Verlander, P. KANSAS CITY ROYALS 1. Alex Gordon, LF 2. Chris Getz, 2B 3. Eric Hosmer, 1B 4. Billy Butler, DH 5. Jeff Francoeur, RF 6. Mike Moustakas, 3B 7. Humberto Quintero, C 29 8. Mitch Maier, CF 9. Alcides Escobar, SS LHP Danny Duffy, P. Here's the Tigers' pitching probables for the next two games: Tuesday at Kansas City Detroit: LHP Drew Smyly (0-0, 2.25 ERA) Kansas City: LHP Bruce Chen (0-0, 1.64 ERA) Wednesday at Kansas City Detroit: RHP Max Scherzer (0-1, 10.38 ERA) Kansas City: TBA.

30 Royals start series against Detroit Tigers with pair of left-handed starters, depleted bullpen April 17, 2012 By Chris Iott / MLive.com

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- In their first two games against the Kansas City Royals, the Detroit Tigers will face a pair of left-handers who have pitched well this season. The key for the Tigers could lie in how fast they can get to the Royals bullpen. The Royals were forced to go to the bullpen early and often over the weekend while being swept at home in three games against the Cleveland Indians. The Royals used seven pitchers in their 11-9 loss Saturday night in a game that went 10 innings. The Royals recalled right-hander Louis Coleman from Triple-A Omaha prior to their game Sunday to help bolster their tired bullpen. "We need pitching," Royals manager Ned Yost told the Kansas City Star on Sunday. "The way we’ve gone the last couple days …we’re short down there (in the bullpen)." Royals relievers combined to pitch 17 1/3 of 28 innings in the series. No Royals starter went more than four innings against the Indians. Despite allowing 32 runs in the three games against the Indians, the Royals still rank in the middle of the pack (ninth) in the American League in team ERA. That is in part because Danny Duffy and Bruce Chen -- the two left-handers slated to start the first two games of the series against the Tigers -- have combined to allow just two runs while striking out 15 in 17 . Duffy allowed just one hit in six shutout innings in his only start this season. Chen (1.64 ERA) has allowed two earned runs in 11 innings in two starts.

31 Detroit Tigers' Jim Leyland: Those who doubt White Sox 'know nothing about baseball' April 17, 2012 By Chris Iott / MLive.com

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Detroit Tigers will not be back in Chicago until May 14. But manager Jim Leyland doesn't expect the White Sox to go anywhere. The White Sox took two of three from the Tigers in a weekend series and took over first place Saturday before falling a half-game back Sunday afternoon following their 5-2 loss to the Tigers. Leyland appeared agitated when a Chicago radio broadcaster asked him what he thought of the White Sox in light of the fact that many predicted during spring training that the Tigers would run away with the division and the White Sox would be "also-rans." "The people who said that, they don't know anything about baseball," Leyland said. "The people who made those picks, they know nothing about baseball. Trust me. If they think the Chicago White Sox are not going to be in the thick of this, they're crazy. They don't know anything about baseball, people who make picks like that. They know nothing about baseball. Nothing." He continued. "Since 2006, when I got here, this team's been one of the best teams in the league every year," he said. "And they'll be right there. They picked us fourth last year. We won 95 games, so don't pay attention to those people. They just make a pick and they talk, but they don't know what they're talking about." Another broadcaster asked a follow-up question relating to left-hander , who started for the White Sox on Sunday. "Look at the pitching staff," Leyland said. "Look at the arms they throw out there. Look at the arms they bring out of the bullpen. 's one of the best hitters in baseball. You know Adam Dunn's going to do a lot better than he did last year. He got a couple hits today. This is a good team. (Alexei) Ramirez is one of the best in the league. This is a real good team. (A.J.) Pierzynski's one of the best catchers, gets a lot of big hits." Leyland continued. "I don't know why everybody would not pick these guys as a solid, solid contender. We've got a good team. Don't get me wrong. So do they. They've proven that. People that make those picks, I don't pay any attention to that." At this point, the broadcaster thanked Leyland for his time and a group of media members started to leave his office. But Leyland continued. "They just like to talk," he said. "They like to hear themselves talk. They don't know (expletive)." While the Tigers are all but unanimous picks to win the Central Division this season, prognosticators disagreed on where the other four teams in the Central will finish. For example, of the four MLive.com writers who predicted the order of finish in the Central, one had the White Sox second, another third, another fourth and another fifth. The White Sox finished 79-83 last season, 16 games behind the division champion Tigers.

32 Inside the Detroit Tigers: Four-game series with Rangers should make for interesting weekend April 17, 2012 By Chris Iott / MLive.com

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A look back at the past week, a look ahead at the upcoming week for the Detroit Tigers: Who's hot: Rick Porcello has turned in two stellar outings in the past week. He has a 1.84 ERA, the best among the five starters currently in the rotation, and on Sunday -- in the ninth game of the season -- became the first Tigers starter to earn a victory. Who's not: Yes, Ryan Raburn is struggling (.074, 2-for-27), but so is Miguel Cabrera who is hitless in his last 18 at-bats heading into the series opener Monday night against the Kansas City Royals. Cabrera has seen his average fall to .242 in the process. Pitching line of the week: Justin Verlander in his first eight innings Wednesday: 1H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 7K. Justin Verlander in his final one-third of an inning: 3H, 4R, 4ER, 1BB, 0K. Hitting line of the week: Brennan Boesch on Thursday: 2-for-4 with four RBIs. Defensive plays of the week: Raburn made an excellent sliding catch on a pop fly near the foul line in right field Saturday, and Cabrera made a great diving stab toward the line at third base the next day. Justin Verlander Mug.jpgJustin Verlander Matchup of the week: Tigers fans should get to see Justin Verlander face Texas Rangers right-hander Neftali Feliz square off in a day game Saturday at Comerica Park. Feliz allowed just four hits in seven innings of shutout ball Tuesday in his first major league start and had another strong outing Sunday after earning a combined 72 saves the past two seasons as the closer for the Rangers. The four-game weekend series between last year’s American League Championship Series teams is chock full of interesting pitching matchups that will include starts by rookies , Adam Wilk and Drew Smyly. Doug-Fister-mug-3-12-12.jpgDoug Fister Injury update: Luis Marte (left hamstring strain) could be the next Tigers player to return from the disabled list, but the big question is: When will Doug Fister be back? Fister (left costochondral strain) is not eligible to return until April 23, but there still does not appear to be a solid timeframe for his return. Marte is eligible to return Friday, but he could find himself on the outside looking in when he does, assuming continues to pitch effectively out of the bullpen. The only other two players on the disabled list: Al Alburquerque (right elbow surgery) and Victor Martinez (left knee surgery). It will be a while before the next major update on those two. Schedule: Tigers at Royals, 8:10 p.m. Monday (Justin Verlander vs. Danny Duffy, FSD); Tigers at Royals, 8:10 p.m. Tuesday (Drew Smyly vs. Bruce Chen, FSD); Tigers at Royals, 8:10 p.m. Wednesday (Max Scherzer vs. or TBD, FSD); Tigers vs. Rangers, 7:05 p.m. Thursday (Adam Wilk vs. Matt Harrison, FSD); Tigers vs. Rangers, 7:05 p.m. Friday (Rick Porcello vs. Yu Darvish, FSD); Tigers vs. Rangers, 1:05 p.m. Saturday (Justin Verlander vs. Neftali Feliz, FSD); Tigers vs. Rangers, 1:05 p.m. Sunday (Drew Smyly vs. Colby Lewis, FSD). Analysis: Many believed that six teams would compete for the five playoff spots in the American League (Tigers, Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, Angels, Rangers). But as of Monday morning just three of those six teams were above .500, and among those teams only the Rangers have a better record than the Tigers. There should be plenty of excitement in the air at Comerica Park this weekend for the four-game series between the two teams.

33 Verlander hangs on for complete-game win Bases-loaded strikeout seals MVP's first victory of season April 17, 2012 By Robert Falkoff / Special to MLB.com

KANSAS CITY -- Pure and simple, it was Justin Verlander's game to win or lose. Closer? Never mind. Verlander wanted to finish what he had started and Tigers manager Jim Leyland wasn't in a mood to object. Leyland's trust in Verlander was ultimately rewarded on Monday night, when Verlander fired strike three past Alex Gordon with the bases loaded to preserve a 3-2 Tigers victory at Kauffman Stadium. Verlander's 131st pitch was a labor of love for a competitor who wanted to make amends after losing a ninth inning two-run lead in his previous start against Tampa Bay. "I had some demons to exorcise," Verlander said. The demons disappeared with this complete-game victory as closer Jose Valverde looked on from the bullpen. Verlander told Leyland after the eighth inning he was fine to finish the game with a 3-1 lead, but the Royals hitters proved stubborn. With a run in and the bases loaded, it came down to Verlander versus Gordon. "Skip can't win for losing," Verlander said. "He takes me out [in Verlander's first start] and we lose [the lead]. He leaves me in and we lose. And tonight, he'll get questioned about me throwing 130 pitches." Those questions might have been louder if Gordon had come through. But all's well that ends well for Verlander. "I wanted the ball," Verlander said. "I wanted to go back out there and shut those guys down. Obviously, it didn't go the way I would have liked. But when it came down to it, I made the pitch I needed to make." Verlander is now 14-2 lifetime in 20 starts against the Royals. After 24 wins last year, getting No. 1 this year turned out to be an arduous task in the late going. "It was pretty much an identical situation [to Tampa Bay], with a two-run lead in the ninth," Verlander said. "I told Skip, 'Sorry for getting your blood pressure up.'" Leyland did visit the mound in the ninth, but said it was only to slow Verlander down. The game was tied at 1-1 in the fifth when Brandon Inge delivered a two-run homer to right-center. It was Inge's first road homer since Oct. 3, 2010 at Baltimore. "Fantastic," Verlander said. "I couldn't be happier. That guy is going to be out there giving everything he's possibly got to win a ballgame." Austin Jackson also homered off Kansas City starter Danny Duffy, but the two homers were all the offense the Tigers could manage. "He's got a great arm," Inge said. "He's going to be a good pitcher. He already is, but he'll be really good down the road." Gordon said Verlander began to pound him inside on the make-or-break matchup in the ninth. The last pitch was in, and Gordon decided to take it. "The last one, I guess, he just painted [the corner] inside," Gordon said. "Give him credit. He made a pitch when he had to." Leyland mentioned that many of Verlander's pitches early in the game weren't high-stress deliveries. "I told him, 'It's your game. I'm not coming out there to take you out,'" Leyland said. "'You're going to walk off the mound and you're either going to win it or lose it.' I didn't really want the pitch count to get as high as it did tonight, but he felt really comfortable. It wasn't like he was muscling up in the first inning." Billy Butler started the ninth with a single, but Verlander got the next two hitters on groundouts. Then, Humberto Quintero singled in a run and Mitch Maier walked. When Alcides Escobar was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Verlander had stretched it to the max. What did Leyland say when he came out to the mound for that ninth-inning conference? "He said 'You're going to get me fired,'" Verlander said. In the end, Verlander took care of team and personal business. "The last out is the hardest to get in baseball," Verlander said. "You've got to have a lot of respect for those closers." 34 Jackson bringing action to Tigers' offense April 17, 2012 By Robert Falkoff / Special to MLB.com

KANSAS CITY -- Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder rightfully get a lot of attention for the power they bring to the Tigers' lineup. But leadoff hitter Austin Jackson also deserves a lot of credit for what he is bringing to the offense. Jackson, who went 1-for-3 with a leadoff homer in Monday's 3-2 victory over the Royals, leads the American League with an on-base percentage of .511. Jackson is tied for first in runs scored (11) and is tied for second in batting average (.405). "When [Jackson] gets on base, we're a little more exciting than normal," Tigers manager Jim 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."

35 Laird, Dotel to receive rings on Sunday April 17, 2012 By Robert Falkoff / MLB.com

KANSAS CITY -- Catcher Gerald Laird is feeling the excitement and anticipation usually reserved for Christmas morning -- and will be Laird's personal Santa Claus. Laird and reliever , who played for the World Series champion Cardinals last year, are scheduled to receive their championship rings on Sunday, with their former manager coming to Detroit for a special delivery presentation. "I heard [the ring] is really nice," Laird said. "It's going to be fun." After retiring as manager of the Cardinals, La Russa has the time to catch up with those players who left the Cardinals after the 2011 season. In addition to Laird and Dotel, the ex-Cards include Albert Pujols with the Angels and with the Red Sox. "Tony will probably take Albert's ring to Anaheim, Nick's to Boston and me and Dotel [in Detroit]," said Laird. "I can't wait to try it on."

36 Fister throws on Monday with no setbacks April 17, 2012 By Robert Falkoff / MLB.com

KANSAS CITY -- So far, so good for Doug Fister. The Tigers right-hander, who has been on the disabled list since April 8 with a left costochondral strain in his rib cage, threw 10 fastballs of a mound at Kauffman Stadium on Monday with no setbacks. "He threw today and felt good," manager Jim Leyland said. "A little stiff, but he felt good. It's just a process."

37 Nighttime is the right time for Leyland April 17, 2012 By Robert Falkoff / MLB.com

KANSAS CITY -- After two weeks of exclusive daytime baseball, which limited the effects of harsh weather, the Tigers are settling into a normal routine, with three consecutive night games on the road against the Royals. It's a routine that best suits manager Jim Leyland. "As we sit here today, we can consider ourselves fortunate that we played them all [the nine day games]," Leyland said. "We got 'em all in. But I do like night games, getting up in the morning, having coffee, walking around a little bit." The Tigers will continue their night stretch at home on Thursday and Friday against the Rangers before returning to day baseball on Saturday and Sunday.

38 Smyly, Chen both seeking season's first win April 17, 2012 By Quinn Roberts / MLB.com

While Drew Smyly is making his first road start of the season for the Tigers on Tuesday, it could feel more like a home game against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. That's because the Arkansas native will have loads of friends and family attending the game, only his second Major League start. Smyly lasted four innings in his Major League debut last Thursday against the Rays, giving up just one run on four hits in the no-decision, striking out four and walking three. He escaped a bases loaded, no-out jam in the first inning, with a solo home run by Carlos Pena in the third marking the only run he surrendered. Trying to get that first Major League win under his belt, Smyly will be up against veteran Bruce Chen. While Chen has had two solid starts this season, he's still looking for his first win. Starting off the season with six shutout innings against the Angels, the left-hander followed that up with a five- inning outing against the A's, giving up two earned runs on four hits. He also struck out three in a game the Royals lost, 5-4, in 12 innings. "Guys had some good at-bats, but it was a bit of an odd game," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "It looked for a while there we had it lined up." Tigers: Fister throws with no setbacks Right-hander Doug Fister, who has been on the disabled list since April 8 with a left costochondral strain in his rib cage, threw 10 fastballs of a mound at Kauffman Stadium Monday with no setbacks. "He threw today and felt good," manager Jim Leyland said. "A little stiff, but he felt good. It's just a process." • Catcher Gerald Laird and reliever Octavio Dotel, who played for the World Series champion Cardinals last year, are scheduled to receive their championship rings on Sunday, with their former manager Tony La Russa coming to Detroit for a special delivery presentation. "I heard [the ring] is really nice," Laird said. "It's going to be fun." Royals: Gordon tabbed as spokesperson It was announced by on Monday that Alex Gordon has been tabbed as this year's spokesperson for the MLB All-Star FanFest that will be held July 6-10 at the Kansas City Convention Center/Bartle Hall. "I'm honored and privileged to do it," Gordon said. "I think is doing something, too, and we're all excited the All-Star Game is in Kansas City, so whatever I can do to help out with the community and the team, I'm happy to do it." George Brett, the Royals' Hall of Famer, is the All-Star Ambassador for Kansas City's third All-Star Game, its first since 1973. Worth Noting • The Tigers have won 11 of the club's last 16 games against the Royals, dating back to May 13, 2011. • Since Leyland took over as manager of the Tigers in 2006, Detroit has posted a 63-46 record against the Royals, including a 36-19 record at Kauffman Stadium. • Miguel Cabrera is 9-for-18 against Chen with two doubles, three home runs and seven RBIs.

39 Verlander goes the distance in win over Royals April 17, 2012 By Staff / Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Jim Leyland had already decided after the eighth inning Monday night that he was sticking with Justin Verlander in the ninth, no matter what happened against the Kansas City Royals. So when the crusty Detroit manager ambled out to the mound, with two on and two out in a 3-2 game, his message for his ace was simple: "You're going to get me fired." "Seriously," Verlander said afterward. "That's what he told me." Leyland's heart must have really been racing when he headed back to the dugout and watched Verlander plunk Alcides Escobar to load the bases. And the relaxation must have been just as quick to come when the reigning Cy Young winner struck out Alex Gordon to preserve the victory. "He came in after the eighth and said, `I feel great,'" Leyland said. "I said, `Well, it's your game. You're either going to win it or lose it. I'm not taking you out.'" So what was Verlander's response when Leyland had to visit the mound? "Sorry," Verlander said. "That's just the way he is," added Verlander, who used 131 pitches to improve to 14-2 in his career against the Royals. "He's relaxed in a situation where a lot of guys might be panicking. And he might be panicking on the inside, but he doesn't show it." Austin Jackson hit a leadoff homer and Brandon Inge added a two-run shot in the fifth for the Tigers, giving Verlander (1-1) just enough support in a pitcher's duel against Danny Duffy. The young left-hander kept the Tigers' potent attack at bay most of the game, allowing three runs on seven hits and a walk in a 6 1-3 innings. Duffy (1-1) also struck out seven. Detroit nearly added to Jackson's homer when Brennan Boesch singled and Miguel Cabrera worked a walk in the first inning. Prince Fielder grounded into a , though, and Delmon Young flied out to end the threat and keep Kansas City within striking distance. Gordon eventually matched the run when he doubled in the bottom half of the inning, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Billy Butler's base hit. That was just about all the Royals could muster until the ninth inning, when Butler led off with a single. Pinch runner Jason Bourgeois eventually scored, setting up the dramatic ending. Verlander changed speeds and took advantage of the corners to flummox the young Kansas City lineup most of the night. He retired 11 straight at one point and struck out nine overall. Of course, his dominance was nothing new to folks in Kansas City. The right-hander has made a mockery of the Royals in recent years, especially at Kauffman Stadium, where he improved to 9-2 and has allowed only 18 earned runs in 88 1-3 innings. "It was a big task facing Verlander," said Royals manager Ned Yost, whose club has lost five straight. "We gave him a good game, but it's not the way we wanted it to end." Verlander finally had something to show for his third consecutive strong start. He he allowed four runs over 8 1-3 innings in a 4-2 defeat to Tampa Bay, and received no decision despite allowing a pair of hits over eight scoreless innings against Boston -- making those 24 wins he piled up last season look all the more impressive. "A lot of those last year came pretty easy," he said. "I told everyone my goal this season is to be a better pitcher, even if my numbers might not be as good." Duffy did his best to make Monday night another fruitless outing. The young left-hander, who went six scoreless innings against Oakland his first time out, used his overpowering fastball to blow through most of the Detroit lineup. Alex Avila struck out twice against Duffy, and Fielder and Cabrera also went down at the plate. His only major mistakes were to Jackson in the first inning and Inge in the fifth. It was all that Verlander needed. "It was a big, see-saw battle, back and forth," Yost said. "A lot of excitement at the end."

40 NOTES: Two of Verlander's 15 complete games have come against Kansas City. .... Gordon, who was made the spokesman for the All-Star FanFest earlier in the day, earned a round of applause with a face-planting grab on a sinking fly ball to LF in the fifth. ... Detroit LHP Drew Smyly takes the mound Tuesday night against LHP Bruce Chen.

41 Verlander still greatest show on earth April 17, 2012 By David Schoenfield / ESPN.com

For his next act, I half expect Justin Verlander to string a tightrope over the Detroit River and walk across it while carrying Prince Fielder on his back or maybe careen down Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel. Or maybe just eat fire. That's certainly what comes out of his hand when he pitches and it's certainly hard to deny that Verlander is the greatest pitching show on earth on right now, a get-your-money's-worth entertainment package complete with suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat dramatic finishes. On Monday night in Kansas City, Verlander threw another dominating eight innings, leading 3-1 with a comfortable five-hitter in his back pocket. He had retired 12 of the 13 previous hitters and appeared ready to finish off his first victory of the year. Before we get to the exciting conclusion, remember his first two starts. On Opening Day, Verlander threw eight shutout innings against Boston only to see Jose Valverde blow the lead in the ninth when Jim Leyland removed Verlander after 104 pitches. Last week against Tampa Bay, he took another 2-0 lead into the ninth, cruising along on 82 pitches. But he gave up three singles and a walk, the Rays tied the game, Leyland took him out after 105 pitches and Valverde gave up a two-run, go-ahead single. "Once a couple guys got on, really the first time I've cranked it up like that -- and lost a little bit of my consistency that I'd had all day," Verlander said after the loss. "It's inexcusable. This loss rests solely on my shoulders today." With that game in mind, that's why it was surprising the same thing happened again. Verlander cranked up the fastball and the Royals started reaching base. Billy Butler singled. With two outs, Verlander fell behind Humberto Quintero 3-0 and then Quintero lined a 3-1, 98-mph fastball off the glove of Prince Fielder for an RBI single. Verlander walked Mitch Maier on five pitches. Leyland visited the mound. Verlander repeated Leyland's message to him after the game: "You're going to get me fired." Verlander then drilled Alcides Escobar on a 98-mph fastball that rode in and hit Escobar's back elbow, somehow not shattering it into 98 bone fragments. Fired? How about a heart attack. Leyland may have to give up smoking on days Verlander pitches. That set the stage for the final act. Verlander versus Alex Gordon, Kansas City's left fielder who hit .303 a season ago but entered the at-bat hitting .132. Verlander had thrown 125 pitches. Valverde? Nowhere to be seen after throwing 21 pitches on Sunday. This would be Verlander's game. His shoulders. Pitch No. 127: 100 mph, fouled back. Pitch No. 128: 100 mph, up high. Pitch No. 129: 100 mph, inside. Pitch No. 130: An 88-mph changeup that tailed back across the inside corner for a strike, a pitch that made grown men cry and children recoil in horror. At least if they were rooting for the Royals. Pitch No. 131: 100 mph, inside corner or probably a little inside, Gordon can't pull the trigger, home-plate ump Wally Bell rings him up. Exhale. Or throw up, depending on your team of choice. The 131 pitches were the second-highest total of Verlander's career. His four hardest pitches of the game all came against the final batter. Look, it was a tough pitch for Gordon to take. It was interesting to see two different tweets from Royals fans -- Craig Brown, who writes our Royals Authority blog; and Rany Jazayerli, who writes the Rany on the Royals blog. Can't blame Gordon on that SO looking. Sometimes a pitch is in a spot where the hitter can't pull the trigger. It happens. -- Craig Brown (@royalsauthority) April 17, 2012 It's just one at-bat-an incredibly crucial at-bat-but that was the old Gordon. Unable to pull the trigger on a borderline 2-strike pitch.

42 -- Rany Jazayerli (@jazayerli) April 17, 2012Which side are you on? There's the old axiom of protecting the plate with two strikes, although I'm not sure that axiom was created with 100-mph fastballs in mind. Bell's strike zone had been shaky all night, however, something Gordon should have been aware of. But Gordon is hardly the first batter to fail against Verlander with two strikes. As Katie Sharp of ESPN Stats & Information pointed out, hitters are .073 (3-for-41) against Verlander this season with two strikes. A year ago they hit .134 with two strikes in 566 plate appearances. So I guess I'm willing to cut Gordon some slack on this one. I'm also willing to watch Verlander's next start: Saturday afternoon against the Rangers. I believe he'll provide the fire once again.

43 Verlander brings heat, crowns Royals April 17, 2012 By ESPN Stats & Information | ESPN.com

Justin Verlander found himself in a familiar position after the eighth inning with a two-run lead on Monday night against the Kansas City Royals. Unlike his two previous starts when he and the Detroit Tigers bullpen blew leads in the ninth inning, Verlander went the distance this time and made sure he got his first win of the season. Verlander threw 131 pitches, one shy of his career high, and now has an MLB-best 33 120-pitch games since 2010. Verlander this season has allowed one in the first eight innings of his three starts, and five earned runs in the ninth inning. Prior to this year, he had allowed just one earned run in the ninth inning in his first seven seasons combined. 9th Inning Fastball Avg Velocity Starting Pitchers, Since 2009 MPH Justin Verlander 96.1 Josh Johnson 96.0 95.4 Ubaldo Jimenez 95.0 Verlander cranked up the heat in the final frame, averaging 97.5 mph with his fastball. He threw four heaters to Alex Gordon in the last at-bat, and each one hit 100 on the radar gun. Those were the four fastest pitches he threw the entire game. Since 2009, Justin Verlander has the highest average fastball velocity for any starter in the ninth inning. He is the only starter in that time frame to throw a pitch over 100 mph in the ninth inning. Verlander also had success getting ahead and finishing off the Royals batters. He allowed just one hit in 17 at- bats that reached a two-strike count, and this season opponents are now hitting .073 (3-41) with two strikes against Verlander. Big Game shuts out Red Sox James “Big Game” Shields lived up to his nickname on Patriots Day in Boston, tossing 8⅓ scoreless innings as the Tampa Bay Rays avoided the sweep against the Boston Red Sox with a 1-0 win this afternoon. James Shields Shields allowed just four hits – all singles – as he shut down a Red Sox offense that had averaged more than 10 runs per game in the first three games of the series. This was just the third 1-0 shutout by the Rays over the Red Sox and all three have come at Fenway Park. Shields heavily featured his slider against Boston, throwing it 41 times, and using it to get 10 outs. Both of those are his most in any start over the last three seasons. He had thrown just 28 sliders in his first two outings this season and recorded only five outs in nine at-bats with the pitch. Around the Diamond • The Minnesota Twins beat the New York Yankees for just the sixth time in 34 regular-season games in the Bronx since Ron Gardenhire’s first season as Twins manager in 2002. Justin Morneau homered and now has five home runs in 11 career games at the new Yankee Stadium. He has five homers in 80 games at . • Dillon Gee pitched seven innings of one-run ball as the New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 6-1. Gee recorded 11 groundball outs, one shy of his career-best, and induced grounders on 65 percent of balls hit into play, the highest groundball rate in a game in his career.

44 Justin Verlander's 131st pitch was 100 miles per hour April 17, 2012 By Matt Snyder / CBSSports.com

The Tigers barely held on for the 3-2 win against the Royals in the ninth inning Monday night. Justin Verlander had already allowed one run in the inning and then loaded the bases before Alex Gordon stepped to the plate with two outs. Verlander struck out Gordon with his 131st pitch on the night. And as Verlander tends to do, he saved his best for last. His 129th pitch was 100.3 miles per hour, his fastest of the night. His 131st -- and final -- pitch of the night hit exactly 100 miles per hour. Now, surely questions will be raised about Verlander's 131-pitch workload in his third outing of the season. His season-high last year was 132, which didn't come until May 9 and that was the only game he topped 130 pitches. Still, it's hard to question leaving him in when he's hitting triple digits on the gun. Check out the pitch-speed graph, courtesy of BrooksBaseball.net.

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Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Team Player Transaction

Milwaukee Brewers Alex Gonzalez Reinstated from Paternity Leave List

Monday, April 16, 2012

Team Player Transaction

Milwaukee Brewers Eric Farris Sent to Minors

Philadelphia Phillies Jose Contreras Removed From 15-Day DL, (Recovery from right elbow surgery)

San Diego Padres Mark Kotsay Removed From 15-Day DL, (Right calf strain)

San Diego Padres Brad Brach Sent to Minors

San Diego Padres Mark Kotsay Recalled From Minors, Rehab Assignment

San Francisco Giants Madison Bumgarner Signed, ( 2013-2017; Opt 2018-2019)(five-year extension)

Tampa Bay Rays Alex Cobb Sent to Minors

Tampa Bay Rays Brandon Gomes Called Up from Minors

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Team Player Transaction

Boston Red Sox Michael Bowden Designated for Assignment

Boston Red Sox Nate Spears Purchased From Minors

Boston Red Sox Jason Repko Purchased From Minors

Cleveland Indians Ubaldo Jimenez Reinstated From League Suspension

Colorado Rockies Drew Pomeranz Called Up from Minors

Colorado Rockies Jordan Pacheco Sent to Minors

Kansas City Royals Louis Coleman Called Up from Minors

Kansas City Royals Jarrod Dyson Sent to Minors

Los Angeles Angels Jerome Williams Removed From 15-Day DL, (Strained left hamstring)

Philadelphia Phillies Joe Savery Sent to Minors

46 San Francisco Giants Brian Wilson Placed on 15-Day DL, (Right elbow sprain)

San Francisco Giants Ryan Vogelsong Removed From 15-Day DL, (Lower back spasms)

San Francisco Giants Ryan Vogelsong Recalled From Minors, Rehab Assignment

St. Louis Cardinals Sent to Minors, For Rehabilitation

Tampa Bay Rays Alex Cobb Called Up from Minors

Tampa Bay Rays Sam Fuld Transferred to 60-Day DL, (Right wrist surgery - out 4-5 months)

Tampa Bay Rays Chris Gimenez Purchased From Minors

Tampa Bay Rays Jose Lobaton Placed on 15-Day DL, (Right shoulder soreness)

Toronto Blue Jays Sergio Santos Reinstated from Paternity Leave List

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