Catching up

Detroit took 2 of 3 in Minnesota, which is plenty fine with me despite Sunday night’s nationally televised blowout. Virgil Vasquez got hammered and was returned to the minors. He started because Jeremy Bonderman is out with a blister-related cut finger. Vasquez was rated the Tigers’ 24th best prospect by Baseball America. He was 4-2 with a 2.88 ERA at Triple-A Toledo this year. He seems to hit batters frequently – 20 times last season and 4 this season (not counting last night).

The Tigers start a 4-game series in Boston tonight with Nate Robertson facing Dice-K. I think Detroit can score on Dice-K, but I also think they could whiff a bunch of times, too. Of course, the Red Sox have had their way with Nate over the years.

For the rest of the series, it will be Justin Verlander vs. Tim Wakefield, Mike Maroth vs. Julian Tavares and Chad Durbin vs. Curt Schilling. I haven’t been following Boston’s rotation closely, but I wonder if Wakefield’s success (1.79 ERA) this season is partially the result of following Dice-K.

Durbin is 3-0 with a 2.13 ERA over his last 4 starts. I wonder if Maroth watches Jamie Moyer pitch. If he doesn’t, he should.

Boston and Detroit are tied for No. 2 in runs in the AL, with 198, just 2 behind the Yankees. The Red Sox are batting .278 (No. 1) and the Tigs are hitting .272 (No. 4). The teams rank 1-2 in OPS, with Boston at .810 and Detroit at .787.

The Red Sox’s ERA is 3.27 (No. 2) and the Tigers is 4.45 (No. 6).

Brandon Inge is .450-1-5 over the last 7 games (best of all only 2 K). Magglio Ordonez is .389-2-6 while Craig Monroe is .368-1-2.