Tigers Today, June 8, 2006

Moral victories are for losers, or so the Tigers might be thinking after consecutive close losses to the White Sox in Chicago.  In both games, the Tigers were done in by shortstop Alex Cintron’s late-game heroics—an eighth-inning, three-run homer on Tuesday and a run-scoring single in the bottom of the seventh off Jamie Walker yesterday.  Walker was in the game because Manager Jim Leyland did not want to thrust rookie Justin Verlander any deeper into the game. Faced with two lefties and a switch-hitter due up, Leyland lifted Verlander in the bottom of the seventh following the 23-year old’s 103rd pitch of the evening.  “That’s a golden arm,” Leyland said. “That’s a golden future, and I’ve got to be careful with that.” “It is tough,” Verlander said. “Obviously, we would like to get a win out of those heartbreaker losses. But we’re a team that’s going to continue to battle, and I think the fact that they were one-run games—even though at the moment it hurt a little more—that just shows how tough we’re playing.”

Detroit’s WDFN-AM Sports Radio 1130 is reporting that the DH Dmitri Young has checked himself into the Betty Ford Clinic, the renowned drug and alcohol treatment facility.  WDIV-TV sources have told them the same thing.  The Tigers are neither confirming nor denying the report.  Their sole comment continues to be that Young is “away from the club for personal reasons.” Young has been on the disabled list twice this season and missed several weeks of spring training with lingering quadriceps injuries. 

Craig Monroe had to be helped from the field after spraining his right ankle while leaping into the leftfield fence during yesterday’s game against the White Sox.  Monroe caught his right foot in the fence while chasing Scott Podsednik’s third-inning triple.  “I just remember seeing the ball and thinking I have to jump, because this looks like it’s going to be a home run.  So I jumped, and as I was coming down, my only thought was to maybe try to catch the wall [and hang there].” After the ankle “started burning a bit,” Monroe thought that he had broken it, but x-rays after the game suggest that there is no fracture.  He was lucky, according to ESPN’s Harold Reynolds, who said that the mishap was of the kind that could cause a femur to just snap.  The injury makes Detroit dangerously thin in the outfield.  For the time being, they have purchased the contract of Alexis Gomez from AAA Detroit, but when Marcus Thames is DHing their only outfield reserve is infielder Omar Infante.  Look for the Tigers to trade for a left-handed hitting outfielder.

Leyland held catcher Ivan Rodriguez out of Wednesday’s game after back spasms forced Rodriguez to leave the previous day’s contest. “He’s probably mad,” Leyland said of Rodriguez, “but I’m not going to play him. I’m not going to take a chance. That’s one thing I love about him. He wants to be in there.” Rodriguez has started 50 of Detroit’s 59 games this season. 

With the sixth pick in the amateur draft, the Tigers took 6’6”, 21-year old lefty Adam Miller out of the University of North Carolina.  Aside from a disturbing penchant for wearing his hat in a stupid fashion, Miller has everything that might make a scout drool.  Widely regarded as the best player available in the draft, Miller features a consistent mid-90s fastball and a quality slider.  His UNC coach expects that he will be able to develop a change up without too much difficulty.  After Kansas City decided that they couldn’t match Miller’s contract demands and the next four teams had already sewn up their picks, the pitcher fell all he way to the Tigers slot.  “It was shocking when we found out there was a chance he was going to get to our pick,” Tigers’ Scouting Director David Chadd said.  “I don’t know how the hell that happened,” Leyland said. “Last I read, he was going to be the No. 1 guy taken. Next thing I know, we got him at six. I thought it was a slam dunk he was going No. 1.”

Early Tuesday morning, Chicagoan Curtis Granderson was barraged by calls from family and friends looking for tickets to the Tigers series in Comiskey Park.  “I tried to tell people to contact me the day of, and they do, but they don’t realize that when they go to work, I go to sleep a lot later,” Granderson said. “People were giving me phone calls at 8:30 a.m.” And with the IRS now enforcing the laws that require a player to pay taxes on his complimentary tickets, Granderson has news for those to whom he gave tickets.  “It’s going to be costly,” he said. “I’m telling everybody these are their Christmas presents, so don’t try to come at me in December, trying to ask for something.” A native of south suburban Blue Island, Granderson also went to college locally at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC). 

One American League advance scout wondered aloud why teams are continuing to pitch to right fielder Magglio Ordonez. “It’s like pitching to (Chicago’s Paul) Konerko, with (Jermaine) Dye hitting behind him,’’ the scout said. “It’s like (Albert) Pujols.’’ Ordonez is hitting .315/.364/.546 on the season but he claims that he could do more.  “I could steal 20,’’ Ordonez said, even though he has stolen only one base in the last three years. 

Speaking of running, Leyland will have his team running more often in the future.  “If you want to win, you’d better be able to do more than hit solo home runs,” he said. “I’m talking about winning.  . . .  the fact of the matter is our offense is not hitting well in my opinion.” Can the Tigers leadfoots play this kind of baseball?  “I wouldn’t call them slow,” Leyland said. “We don’t have a lot of guys who can go from first to third. They’re running. We just don’t run very well.  We need to make some adjustments from within with what we’ve got and we probably need to add some things.” Hey Jim! Nook Logan was just activated from the DL by Toledo. “At this point,” said Leyland of Logan, “he’s not in any position to help us. But could he help us down the road? Depends on how he does.”

Transferred to the 60-day disabled list so Gomez could join team, lefty Mike Maroth claims that he will pitch again for the Tigers this season, despite recent surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow.  “I’ve been here through all the hard times,” he said. “The way the year’s going, it’s not something I want to miss.  I was here at the beginning. If I can’t be here in the middle, that’s OK, as long as I’m here at the end.”

MINOR NOTABLES—Tiger’s wunderkind Cameron Maybin has returned to Lo-A West Michigan after missing a month with a stretched ligament in his right index finder. . . . The Mud Hens put 1B Josh Phelps on the DL with a hip flexor . . . RHP Humberto Sanchez has been promoted from AA Erie after going 5-3 with a 1.76 ERA for the Sea Dogs.