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Detroit Tigers Notes And Quotes 7-4-11

--RHP Rick Porcello might have gotten a message to throw inside a little more. He hit three batters and unleashed three wild pitches while pitching seven decent innings. Porcello now has seven wins but it was his first since June 7. He allowed three runs but just five hits and had six strikeouts. He kept the ball down more, which Jim Leyland mentioned as something he needs to do, but also threw up in the strike zone at appropriate times.

--LF Brennan Boesch drove a home run, his second of the week, off the foul pole in right. He had Giants' broadcasters buzzing about some changes he's made in his stance that have helped him stay back on the ball and still generate considerable power. He doubled and scored in the sixth also.

--LHP Charlie Furbush will make his first major league start Monday night in Anaheim against the Los Angeles Angels. Furbush was swapped out of the bullpen for starter Phil Coke, who returns to relief. Furbush has a nice assortment of pitches he throws for strikes.

--1B Miguel Cabrera was named to his sixth All-Star team as a result of player balloting. Cabrera had a single to left that resulted in Detroit's second run, which scored as the result of an error by LF Cody Ross. Cabrera is enjoying the presence of Victor Martinez hitting behind him as his intentional walk rate is way down over the last two months.

--C Alex Avila was surprised at overtaking C Russell Martin of the New York Yankees for the starting spot on the AL All-Star team. "I had a feeling I was going to make (the team)," Avila said. "But I was shocked to find out I was starting. I had a lot of votes to make up." Teammate RHP Justin Verlander, also an All-Star, launched a Twitter campaign in the last couple of weeks to draw attention to his teammate. "The organization got pretty involved too," he said.

--RHP Jose Valverde converted his 20th save opportunity in 20 chances, closing out the ninth inning of RHP Rick Porcello's seventh win. It wasn't without incident, however, as Valverde gave up a walk and a single. His key out was a fly to right that didn't score the runner from third with one out.

--RHP Justin Verlander was named one of the All-Star game pitchers but will be replaced on the game roster because he'll be ineligible to pitch. Verlander is on track to start the final game before the break and the first game out of the break as Detroit seeks to end post All-Star Game slumps that have plagued it the last two years. Verlander will attend the game and participate in the festivities.

--UT Don Kelly has now played every position on the diamond in his time in the majors after catching six innings Saturday night and pitching to one batter Wednesday. "There may be somebody more talented," manager Jim Leyland said, "but for a 25th player, I wouldn't rather have anybody in baseball than Donnie Kelly. Nobody. There's not a better 25th player in baseball that I would take." Kelly is the 56th player to both pitch and catch in the same season. "I have such a new appreciation for both," Kelly said. "Pitching with what Justin (Verlander) can do going out there, a no-hitter with 27 outs, and then the catchers too. They're both tough, and to go out there, and I think it was just the concentration level, every pitch you're into a game. I never caught in high school or college or anything. I caught a couple of simulated innings in spring training this year, but that was the first time in a real game. I thought I'd catch before I pitched. It worked out the other way, but definitely one of my goals was to play all of them."

--LHP Adam Wilk was recalled by the Tigers to help their bullpen. Wilk had been starting for Class AAA Toledo. He is making his third trip to Detroit and in four total games had a 5.91 ERA in 10 2/3 innings.

--RHP Brayan Villarreal was optioned back to Class AAA Toledo following Saturday night's game. Villarreal was only able to get one batter out of the five he faced and one of the two hits he allowed was a grand slam. He was brought up July 1 because the Tigers needed a fresh bullpen arm and pitched in two games. He will return to starting for the Mud Hens to let him work on his offspeed pitches.

BY THE NUMBERS
9 -- Positions played by UT Don Kelly during his major league career. Kelly completed the feat July 2, catching six innings, after pitching for the first time June 29, retiring the only batter he faced.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"We're very thankful for what Rick has done for the organization. We just have not pitched as well as we're capable of. I'm not putting it all on him, but I just feel we can be better. It's just something we felt needed to be done." -- GM Dave Dombrowski, after the Sunday firing of pitching coach Rick Knapp.

Copyright (C) 2011 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.

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