Detroit Tigers (72-72) at Texas Rangers (80-63)

My apologies as I have been away from the blog due to a death in my family, followed by only what I could describe as an extended grieving period. I did stay busy, though, as I have some new ideas on revamping this look a little bit more. I hope you like the changes so far, I do have some more adjustments in mind to make.

Anyway, the Rangers just swept the Yankees, and you can pretty well guess how I feel about that... :-) The magic number is now at twelve games. I would say that the Rangers will clinch the division in Oakland, and my guess would be the first game of that series on September 23rd. I am not sure if Cliff Lee will be pitching on the four days rest the rest of the way as the original plan was for him to do that, but if that is the case, he would end up missing the Oakland series completely, pitching in the last game against the Angels (on the 22nd). Lee's last regular season start would place him on October 1st, which would mean he would be able to start with four days rest on October 6th, which would be game one against someone, with game two the following day. The schedule for the playoffs goes as follows:

• Game One of ALDS on October 6th
• Game Two on October 7th
• Game Three on October 9th
• Game Four (if needed) on October 10th
• Game Five (If needed) on October 12th

 Just a thought to see how this plays out as Lee missing Oakland could pose to be a big deal, not crucial, but you would want him to pitch in that series.

Derek Holland vs. Jeremy Bonderman for tonights game. This is a two game series, with Lewis against Porcello in game two (which, right off the bat, I'm thinking the Rangers take that one). Let's look at this one.
Holland is 3-3 with a 4.31 ERA, but has a 2-0 record and a 2.45 ERA at home. Starting in June, Holland has pitched in four games, three of which were starts. During that time, he is 1-2, winning his last start against Toronto. I will note that he was taken out of a game in which he had the lead and Alexi blew it, giving the loss to Holland, so he could have easily been 2-1 over the same stretch. Looking at his return to the Majors, Holland's ERA is actually better, posting a 4.21 ERA over his last 21.1 innings.

Holland has never pitched against Detroit and has faced only one Tiger, Johnny Damon, who is 0-4 with three strikeouts. Damon went 1-8 against Baltimore with a walk and two runs scored.

This year, Bonderman is 2-5 on the road with a 6.61 ERA. Against the Rangers, it gets worse. He has no record in two starts, but has a 7.36 ERA ERA (that's nine runs in eleven innings), coughing up fifteen hits, two HRs, and three walks. That's a 1.63 WHIP while the Rangers slap him with a .319 batting average. YUCK for him, great for the Rangers. Now, here's a concerning trend, Bonderman has a 2.93 ERA this month, along with a 1-0 record in two starts. Still, that's only two starts, with one of those coming against Kansas City, so you almost can't even count that one... although he did ace out the White Sox, which is very notable. Overall, he has a 5.03 ERA with a 8-9 record.

Digging through things, Bonderman didn't pitch against the Rangers in 2009, and pitched one game in 2008, throwing 4.2 innings giving up two runs off two hits, but walked SEVEN batters in that time. Bonderman somehow managed to get a no-decision in that game, too.

Going back to 2007, Bonderman finally got a decision against the Rangers and not all that surprised, it was a loss. He pitched seven innings, posting a 2.57 ERA, but gave up four runs, two earned. He fanned nine while walking four and giving out seven hits.

Rangers Against Tigers (RAT, for short):

• Vlad: 5-26 (.192) against Bonderman, so it would be wise to play him off the bench. One double and three RBIs, it would be good to have a strong bat come off the bench, albeit, a DH.
• Michael Young: 8-23 (.348) against Bonderman. He has two HRs and five RBIs.
• Cristian Guzman: 6-16 (.375) against Bonderman. He's only played two games over the last week, but there are no notes on an injury that I can find. I would play him, start him, against Bonderman if he is available.
• Josh Hamilton: 4-9 (.444) against Bonderman. One HR. Two RBIs. Will he get his groove on tonight? He has numbers to indicate he will...
• Ian Kinsler: 4-7 (.571) against Bonderman. A Double. A HR. Four RBIs. Nuf Said.
• Julio Borbon: 1-5 against Bonderman. I note him as he has been showing some stick of late, so even though he is .200 against Bonderman, I still expect him to show up.

Forecast: Well, it shouldn't be a surprise that I like the Rangers for this one. The numbers really speak for themselves. The Rangers just about own Bonderman. What I don't understand is how this guy manages to squeek out of the game without taking a loss. He should be 0-2 this year, 0-1 in 2008... etc. against the Rangers. This guy just might be the luckiest pitcher in a Tiger uniform. Despite his awkward luck, I still say he will take the loss, although, it might be decided by the bullpen in a strange turn of events, at least for the Tigers. I like Holland, simply as he has pitched four games in his return, one at home, and has done better than before he went down... So, if Bonderman pitches like Bonderman should and Holland pitches like Holland should, hands down a Ranger win. I don't really expect everything to fall into place, but with considering the intangibles, I still say Rangers win it. Score (on a conservative side) will be 6-4, (but can realistically be more like 9-3, Rangers).