Let us take a moment to reflect upon the moundsmanship (a word I seem to have made up, just now) Justin Verlander’s thrown in our direction of late. Here’s JV’s line–that’s what they call him, you know, JV–starting with his May 7 no-hitter in Toronto and running through his win over the Rockies yesterday:

GS	W	L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	BA
9	7	0	72.2	39	14	14	9	59	5	1.73	.157

Not bad, eh?  The number I like best there is 59 strikeouts and 9 walks.  Or, actually, maybe the number I like best is 7-0.

In hockey you often hear the phrase “men v. boys” to describe a mismatch and it so happens that that is the best way to describe Verlander’s pitching for the past month and a half.  But no matter what you choose to call it, I can tell you that I cannot recall watching a Detroit pitcher since the Denny McClain of 1968 and 1969 or the Mark Fydrich of 1976 who overwhelmed the opponent the way Verlander has of late.  I perk up every time his turn in the rotation comes around because I know I am going to see something memorable.

Here’s the funny thing.  I don’t know if you remember this, I didn’t until I looked it up, but through May 2, Verlander was 2-3 and the Tigers were 2-5 in games he’d started.  And on May 2, the Detroit Tigers were 8 games out of first place.  Here’s another phrase you often hear in hockey which is applicable to the current discussion:  ”You figure it out.”

All right, then.  I’ve been thinking about what Jim Leyland was talking about late last week in a couple of those press gaggles he conducts in his office three and a half hours before game time.  When he talks at these things, it’s sort of like trying to decipher what the head of the Federal Reserve really means when he speaks publicly.  Leyland was saying things like, “I am not one of those managers who thinks that you automatically get your job back when you get back from being hurt.”  And, “I’m not talking about [Brandon] Inge.”  And, “You guys are going to have a field day pretty soon.  We’ve got some tough decisions to make when Inge comes back.  You guys will have plenty to write about.”

So, who’s gonna go to make room for Inge?  Will it be Andy Dirks or Ryan Raburn or Danny Worth or Don Kelly or Casper Wells?  Or will it be Inge himself?  Or somebody else?

All of us in the press box love Dirks’ glove, and Leyland might too, but he’s not wild about his bat: (.263 BA/3HR/10RBI).

Nobody is wild about Raburn’s bat, .207/6/25, but Leyland stands up for him with comments like, “Look at what he was hitting in early June last year.” So I did look.  Raburn was .188/1/13 at this time a year ago in about half the at bats he’s had this season.  My thought is that when Leyland says to look at where Raburn was a year ago, what he’s really saying is to look at the fact that he hit .315 after the break last year with 13 HR and 46 RBI.  I’m thinking Leyland’s thinking the same thing could happen this year, and if it does, it would do the Tigers no good if Raburn were doing it in Toledo.

Worth would seem to make sense.  He’s only played 23 games.  But he is hitting over .400.  Kelly has played a lot of third since Inge has been out.  He’s versatile.  Wells is an extra outfielder, a guy you can bring in late to upgrade the defense when you’ve got the lead.

What about Inge himself?  He’s hitting .211 with but a single homer and only 11 RBI, but he is far and away the best glove the Tigers have in the infield.

But, remember what Leyland said about now getting your job back just because you are back from an injury?  He said he wasn’t talking about Inge. Besides, Leyland likes defense.

What about Magglio Ordonez?  He was hitting .172 when he went on the DL.  He’s hitting .215 since returning on 3×14–all singles.  Leyland complained about how the Tigers blew the game Friday in part because they got only one run out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the first.  Ordonez was up with everybody on and one out and he failed to hit it out of the infield.  (And then some reporter asked Leyland after the game if he thought Ordonez was coming around because he got a couple of singles later in the game.  I’ll bet you whatever you want to bet that Leyland didn’t give a hoot about those hits.  He wanted a hit when a hit would have meant something.  That’s why he brought up Detroit’s first-inning failure in the first place.) And you saw that pinch-hit at-bat Ordonez had Saturday night with the tying run on second in the sixth.  It was sad.  That’s the only way to describe it.  I don’t think Mags came within a foot and a half of hitting the ball. Leyland was steaming, I’m sure of it.  He didn’t play Ordonez yesterday.  Now, Ordonez is back in the Detroit line-up tonight, but I’m pretty sure that he’d better start hitting and he’d better start hitting soon because I think he is running out of time.  Inge is slated to re-join the Tigers when they come home from the road trip.  That means Friday.  That means somebody who is a Tiger today won’t be by weeks end.  Somebody has to go. I think Leyland was trying to tell us something last week.  I think he was trying to tell us that the somebody is going to be a big name guy.  Somebody like Magglio Ordonez.

Tonight’s game notes:

Detroit Tigers Game Information.

Los Angeles Dodgers Notes.

10:10 (Eastern) for first pitch.  We’ll be back with you then.

10:33 Well, Ordonez took a called third in the first, eh?  Maybe it’s not his fault.  Clayton Kershaw, easily LA’s best pitcher, has fanned four of the first six hitters he’s faced tonight, all of them Detroit Tigers.  And I hope you read the LA Notes.  They predicted the HR by Juan Uribe.  They really did:  TAMING THE TIGERS – According to the law of averages, Casey Blake and Juan Uribe, who have both spent significaant time plaaying in the AL Central, should go deep during he three-game series against Detroit…  

The note points out that Uribe homers once every 17.80 at-bats against Detroit, 9th-highest of any active player.  Blake, for the record, is 5th in the same category, homering every 14.83 ABs against the Tigers.  Betcha the Dodgers PR Staff were high-fiving each other over that one.  b-2: Detroit 0, Dodgers 1.

10:52 Raburn puts a new wrinkle on the never make the third out of an inning at third as he’s picked off third by LA catcher Dioner Navarro.  Nice.  He was the tying run, 90 feet from home plate and he gets picked off.  This is not, if you happen to just be learning the game, good baseball. Oh, and for the record, it’s pronounced “Dee-owner”.  I did not know that.  I thought it was “de-oh-NEAR.” b-3: Detroit 0, Dodgers 1.

11:02 Brad Penny actually walks the opposing pitcher which is bad enough, but he’s also the lead-off man in the third.  Kershaw gets to third but dies there which is really, really good news for Penny because walking the other pitcher is sort of like, oh, I don’t know, getting picked off third.  I’m listening to the LA radio broadcast which is a simulcast featuring Vin Scully for the first three innings but he’s been replaced now by Charlie Steiner and Rick Monday.  Too bad.  Next to Ernie Harwell, Vin Scully is the best there ever was.  I’m watching the Marlins-Angels game and they just showed new Florida manager Jack McKeon.  Dude looks like he’s 80!  Hanley Ramirez, the best player the Marlins have, is not playing tonight.  He was late to a meeting and McKeon told him to “take a hike, son.”  Ramirez is grabbing some bench tonight.  t-4: Detroit 0, Dodgers 1.

11:11 The homer Miguel Cqabrera hit yesterday was his first in 13 games.  Is that bad?  I dunno.  His batting average in those 13 games was .378.  So, you tell me.  The LA radio broadcast is cute.  They advertise between innings for people to take a train from downtown LA when they go to Dodger Stadium. To beat the traffic.  I wonder why we don’t do that here in Detroit.  Oh, yeah.  No train.  b-4 Detroit 0, Dodgers 1.

11:18  I can’t get over the train thing.  I’ve been to Dodger Stadium twenty or so times and it’s a b-word getting in and out of that place.  The stadium is located in a place called Chavez Ravine and while I don’t know what a Chavez is, a ravine is a valley in between mountains and because of those mountains, there is only one road in and out of  the place.  The train must be somewhat new.  It was not an option all those times I went to take in a Dodgers game and I’d always allot an hour or more to get there, and more than that to get home.  If you ever go, don’t forget to get a Dodger Dog!  Might be the best hot dog in Organized Ball.  Clayton Kershaw’s up with the bases loaded and it could be trouble for Penny and the Tigers but it isn’t.  Kershaw–according to the Dodgers Notes–is tied for the Major League lead among pitchers with 9 hits.  Penny strikes him out to end the inning though, and the Dodgers leave three on base.  t-5: Detroit 0, Dodgers 1.

11:32  Here’s the problem with baseball in a National League park, from the Tigers perspective.  Worth just bounced into a Fielders Choice to end the fifth, which means that Brad Penny will lead off the sixth for Detroit.  He’s pitched well tonight, but he will probably have to be pinch hit for in this situation.  We shall see.  It’s not like Leyland hasn’t been in this situation before.  He’s in his twentieth season as a big league manager, all but the six he’s spent here in Detroit coming in the NL.  b-5: Detroit 0, Dodgers 1.

11:43 I say Penny hits.  He’s only thrown 82 pitches and the Tigers a only down a run.  We’ll know in a moment.  The Tigers ended the LA fifth with a nice 5-4-3 (Worth-to-Raburn-to-Cabrera) double play.  Penny does hit.  Hey, I could manage this club…t-6 Detroit 0, Dodgers 1.

11:46 Penny may have hurt himself taking a swing while he grounded out to second, breaking his bat in the process.  The problem appears to be with Penney’s knee.  He has gone straight to the clubhouse.  t-6 Detroit 0, Dodgers 1.

11:49 Kershaw is thru six with seven K’s and only 2 hits allowed.  Tampa has defeated Milwaukee 8-4 and now this is the only game going on in the majors. A few minutes ago, the Angels finished off a 2-1 win at Florida, so McKeon loses his debut.  b-6 Detroit 0, Dodgers 1.

11:51 Well, Penny has come out to start the sixth.  He must not have been badly hurt in his attempt to swing a baseball bat.  b-6: Detroit 0, Dodgers 1.

12:30 The Dodgers got a couple of doubles for a run in the sixth and Kershaw has retired ten in a row and the Tigers are down to their last 3 outs.  They’ve only gotten two hits tonight.  Their season low, for the record, is four.  Steiner, the LA radio guy, pronounces Daniel Schlereth differently than we do here back east.  He calls him “schler-ETH.”  I’ve always heard SCHLER-eth.  It sounds better his way, but now I’m going to have to ask somebody. Probably Schlereth.  He’d probably know best.  The Tigers got caught defensively and wound up with nobody covering third after a pickoff attempt by Victor Martinez on a throw to second.  Martinez gets a throwing error and the Dodgers get runners at second and third with nobody out.  The Dodgers are 1×10 with RISP tonight and are hitting .114 with runners in scoring position on their current homestand, which goes a long way towards explaining why they are 1-5 during it.  Jamie Carroll grounds into a force at home, so now the Dodgers are 1×11 with RISP.  That’s now way to win a ballgame, but they do have the lead late.  The Tigers were this close to getting out of it but, wouldn’t you know, Kershaw gets a grounder to go through the hole between first and second and just like that the Dodgers have twice as many runs as they did before the Dodgers pitcher came to the plate and Kershaw takes the MLB lead for hits by a pitcher this year with 10.  Damn you, Dodgers Notes.  That’s twice they’ve burned the Tigers tonight.  b-8: Detroit 0, Dodgers 4.

1:48  Jeesh.  I got wrapped up in preparing my material for the radio station I forgot to finish this.  Kershaw finished off the Tigers by striking out the side in the ninth.  So he struck out 11 and retired the last 13 Detroit hitters as the Tigers are shutout for only the third time this season.

We began the day writing about Justin Verlander. We end the night knowing how it feels to go up against a pitcher who is as hot as he is.  Kershaw, 23, was dominant.  Same two teams tomorrow at 10:10 Eastern, then a day game Wednesday to wrap up the road trip.  The Tigers need to win them both to claim a .500 record on the trip.  FINAL: Detroit 0, Dodgers 4.