Detroit Tigers Doing Work Out West

The Tigers have won 67 games this season, but two of the biggest wins have been the past two days out on the West Coast. 

Detroit came into this three game series with the Los Angeles Angels, having lost two of three to the lowly Oakland Athletics. The Tigers struggled to put runs on the board against Oakland's shaky pitching staff and the offense was even worse.

Who saw a turn around coming as the competition got stiffer?

Detroit has taken the first two games against the Angels in pretty impressive fashion. Justin Verlander and Jarrod Washburn were both rough around the edges, but managed to keep it together to pick up the wins. 

Sure, Zach Miner and Brandon Lyon almost gave us heart attacks but ol’ Fernando Rodney saved the day both times against the best offense in the American League.

Best of all though has been the Tigers' offense. Everyone has seemingly contributed over the first two games (with the exception of Aubrey Huff).

**For those of you that think I hate the Tigers, pay special attention here**

Curtis Granderson hit a homer and a triple after looking lost in his first two at-bats of the game last night. Meanwhile, Miguel Cabrera continues to be an absolute monster. He makes the game look incredibly easy and is entering the "Albert Pujols Zone" right now. He’s been that good. In his last three games, Cabrera is 9-14 with three doubles, three home runs, and nine RBI. Yikes.

Helping in this offensive resurgence has been Magglio Ordonez and Placido Polanco. Both players have struggled this season and will likely still fall far short of their career standards.  However, Polanco tripled in Granderson last night, while Ordonez added a double and later drove in the Tigers' fifth and final run on a sacrifice fly.

The Tigers got some great defense from both Brandon Inge and Clete Thomas last night.  Inge made a diving snare at third early in the game that started a double play. Thomas came on for Magglio late in the game as a defensive replacement and made a real nice play out there to help keep the Angels at bay.

That’s one thing I’ll admit about both of those players: In spite of their other short-comings, players almost never slump on defense and they are both very good in the field. Now please, stop the mean e-mails!

You know what would be the real cherry on top here: If the Tigers can out this afternoon and sweep the Angels. 

Edwin Jackson is starting for Detroit against Joe Saunders, so the Tigers certainly have the advantage. The Angels still have the second best record in the American League and a series sweep in their building would certainly work as a morale builder for everyone involved in Detroit baseball.

Don’t forget: Today’s game starts at 4:05 PM.