Detroit Tigers Notes And Quotes 9-19-11
--RHP Justin Verlander set a franchise record with his 12th win in 12 starts, pitching eight innings of three-hit shutout ball. "Justin was terrific again," manager Jim Leyland said. "He had good command of all his pitches," C Alex Avila said. "The key was he was able to get a lot of one-pitch, two-pitch outs. It was typical Verlander this year." Ready for the playoffs? "I think he was playoff ready out of spring training," Avila said. Verlander never allowed Oakland more than one runner in an inning and none advanced to second base. Verlander has one more start and could reach 25 wins this season.
--CF Austin Jackson took some extra hitting practice to get rid of a bad habit that may have been contributing to a slump and it seemed to help. Jackson extended his hitless streak to 17 at-bats but then hit a home run leading off the sixth for Detroit's first hit and breaking a scoreless tie. "You close your eyes and you get lucky once in a while," Jackson smiled. He and hitting coach Lloyd McClendon were working before the game on Jackson getting his front foot down a little quicker, something that plagued him early in the season. "I was just trying to get my foot down," Jackson said. "I think I've been late the last couple of games." Jackson lined a single to center his next at-bat -- and scored from first on a one-hop double off the left-field fence by PH/3B Brandon Inge. "We definitely have got to get him going," manager Jim Leyland said. "That's a big key for us. He motivates us a lot offensively, he energizes us offensively."
--RHP Jose Valverde took another step toward his stated goal of 50 saves this season by closing out RHP Justin Verlander's 24th victory for his 46th save in a row this year. Valverde faced just three batters and stayed primarily with his fastball again. He's taken to using a sinking fastball at the urging of DH/C Victor Martinez.
--2B Carlos Guillen was bitten by the injury bug again, coming out of the game in the fourth inning with a right calf injury suffered jogging toward first base on a comebacker to the pitcher. "It just grabbed him," manager Jim Leyland said. "I don't know the severity of it." The injury puts his presence on Detroit's playoff roster in jeopardy.
--RHP Al Alburquerque will need to start pitching soon or Detroit may not be able to carry him on its postseason roster. Alburquerque was held out of action in Detroit's four games at Oakland due to a sore right hip but it apparently is still bothering him. Detroit has just eight games left. "We just have to make a decision: Is it good enough to pitch in the postseason?" manager Jim Leyland said. "That's pretty simple, really. There's no secret to it." He has pitched just three times since Aug. 9, missing more than two weeks with a concussion. "At some point, you've got to get out there," Leyland said. "You can't keep saying, 'Well, we've got time. We've got time.' We don't have that much time in his situation. I don't want it to come out wrong, because I don't want him to start saying, 'Oh, I've got to pitch right now or I'm not going to be on.' That's not what I'm saying. But at some point, you run out of time." Leyland hopes he'll be able to go in Kansas City.
--RF Magglio Ordonez will take the longest current hitting streak in the majors, 14 games, into Tuesday night's game in Kansas City. Ordonez had 20 hits in his last 50 at-bats, including three Saturday.
--SS Ramon Santiago laid down a difficult one-out suicide-squeeze bunt in the ninth inning to give Detroit an extra run in its 3-0 victory at Oakland. Santiago gave no indication of bunting on the first two pitches, then reached up to bunt a pitch high over his head with C Alex Avila steaming toward the plate. He scored easily and Santiago was put out at first.
BY THE NUMBERS
0 -- Detroit pitchers who had won 12 straight starts until RHP Justin Verlander made it 12 wins in 12 starts Sunday, pitching eight innings of shutout ball.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"You always have issues. As sweet as it was (clinching), I'll soon be telling someone they're not on the (playoff) roster. That's just your job as a manager. Somebody's going to be upset. Someone's going to be mad at me. But I'm a big boy. Like I knew there were some fans who wanted me fired this year. I'm just glad we did our job." -- Manager Jim Leyland, on turning his focus from getting to the playoffs to finalizing plans for the postseason.
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