Detroit Tigers News And Notes 8-19-11
--RHP Jose Valverde has four losses this season and each has come in the same circumstance. The defeats have come when Valverde entered a tie game in the ninth inning. His ERA in non-save situations is 5.40.
--3B Brandon Inge doesn't know what to expect when he returns to the Tigers on or before Sept. 1, and neither does his manager, Jim Leyland. "Hopefully, he'll be able to help us against left-handed pitching, for sure, and then also be a defensive replacement late in the game, no matter who you play," Leyland said. "I don't know if that's going to work out. That's just a possibility." Inge cleared waivers and agreed to be outrighted to the minors after his .177 batting average prompted Detroit to trade for more offense in the person of Wilson Betemit. Since then Betemit and Don Kelly have gotten most of the third base playing time. "He's provided some offense for us," Leyland said of Betemit. "That's what we got him for. He's got a loud sound in the bat. His swing's a little out of control at times. But he's already won us two or three games, or really helped us win two or three games, so that's pretty good."
--RHP Justin Verlander is stamping himself as the front-runner for the AL Cy Young award. Verlander has become the first league pitcher to reach 18 victories and 200 strikeouts before the end of August since RHP Pedro Martinez did it for Boston in 1999, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He is the first Detroit pitcher to do so since LHP Mickey Lolich in 1972. He is two victories away from becoming the first Detroit pitcher since RHP Bill Gullickson in 1991 to win 20 games.
--1B Miguel Cabrera took a 15-game hitting streak into the weekend series with Cleveland. Cabrera had two hits Wednesday. He was hitting .397 (25-for-63) during the streak with 12 RBI.
--RHP Al Alburquerque could return to Detroit's active roster this weekend if he passes tests related to the concussion he suffered last Friday in Baltimore. Alburquerque has been throwing off flat ground. He will return to the mound for bullpen sessions as soon as he's cleared, after which he probably will be activated by the Tigers.
BY THE NUMBERS
23 -- Consecutive batters retired in relief by LHP Duane Below until CF Ben Revere singled as the second Minnesota batter to face him. Below, who allowed a run in the next inning, spread the streak over four games.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"We're in the middle of a pennant race, and I'm loving it." -- C Alex Avila, who has caught the last 13 Detroit games because DH Victor Martinez can't get behind the plate due to a sore left knee.
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