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The Detroit Tigers don't need a dramatic, walk-off victory to turn their season around. They need calm, peaceful games like they got Saturday and Sunday against the Colorado Rockies.
Jim Leyland has talked all season about Detroit's struggle to find "good combinations" - games where the Tigers play well in every facet of the game. Those have been rare, hence the struggle to just play .500 baseball.
This weekend, though, they got those combinations. The offense scored nine runs, the defense played well, and most importantly, Doug Fister and Max Scherzer combined for 14 shutout innings.
For Fister, it was a huge step forward after a rib-cage strain had ruined the first half of his season. Injured in his first start of the year, he returned too quickly, and ended up back on the disabled list after a few outings where didn't look like the pitcher that had dominated the second half of 2011.
On Saturday, though, he was back to himself - working as fast as any pitcher in baseball and throwing every pitch where he wanted it.
On Sunday, it was Max Scherzer showing how dominant he can be when his complicated mechanics slip into rhythm. He dealt with a 53-minute rain delay like it was a drink break and ended up throwing eight scoreless innings. He struck out 12 without walking a batter and certainly earned the respect of Rockies manager Jim Tracy.
"He was better after the rain delay, and he ended up throwing 120-some pitches that we couldn't touch," Tracy said. "That's the performance of a warrior and a stud."
That's also the performance the Tigers need from Fister and Scherzer to complement Justin Verlander. If Rick Porcello also gets going, Leyland can spend a lot less time worrying about the pitching part of Detroit's combinations.
LAST WEEK:
Monday: No game.
Tuesday: CUBS 4, Tigers 3. Jhonny Peralta made back-to-back throwing errors - the Tigers felt the umpires missed both calls - as the Cubs scored the winning run in the eighth inning.
Wednesday: Tigers 8, CUBS 4. Detroit trailed 4-1 early, but Peralta, Brennan Boesch and Ramon Santiago all drove in two runs as the Tigers pulled away to win.
Thursday: Tigers 5, CUBS 3. Justin Verlander snaps his four-start winless streak, helped by Austin Jackson's homer and an incredible number of Tigers fans at packed Wrigley Field.
Friday: Rockies 12, TIGERS 4. Jose Valverde flames out in another non-save situation, as his own fielding mistake leads to Colorado's record-setting eight-run 10th inning.
Saturday: TIGERS 4, Rockies 1. Fister returns with six shutout innings, while Miguel Cabrera hits a normal homer and a Little League home run.
Sunday: TIGERS 5, Rockies 0. Scherzer is dominant, striking out 12, and rookie Quintin Berry goes 5-for-5.
WHO'S HOT:
Austin Jackson: Worries about how well A-Jax would return from his abdominal strain have been eased, as he hit .318 with seven walks, two doubles and a homer.
Ryan Raburn: Raburn has a long way to go to fix his 2012 season, but he's returned from Toledo with a .333 average in four games, including a a pair of doubles.
WHO'S NOT:
Casey Crosby: Crosby lost his rotation spot after allowing four runs in just 3 23 innings in Friday's loss to Colorado. As a replacement for Fister, he put up a 9.49 ERA in three starts, and it will be Jacob Turner who takes over for Drew Smyly, not Crosby.
Jose Valverde: In three games this week, opponents hit .462 against the Tigers closer, and his 6.75 ERA would have been much worse had it counted the five unearned runs caused by his own error.
THIS WEEK:
Monday: No game.
Tuesday: Cardinals (Lance Lynn) at Tigers (Justin Verlander), 7:05 p.m.
Wednesday: Cardinals (Jake Westbrook) at Tigers (Rick Porcello), 7:05 p.m.
Thursday: Cardinals (Kyle Lohse) at Tigers (Jacob Turner), 1:05 p.m.
Friday: Tigers (Doug Fister) at Pirates (A.J. Burnett), 7:05 p.m.
Saturday: Tigers (Max Scherzer) at Pirates (Brad Lincoln), 4:05 p.m.
Sunday: Tigers (Justin Verlander) at Pirates (Kevin Correia), 1:35 p.m.
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