Detroit Tigers Notes And Quotes 8-5-11

--RHP Brad Penny wants to put a little daylight between himself and, well, day games. Penny made his 15th daytime start and it resulted in his ninth loss of the season. Penny, who has seven wins, gave up 10 singles and a triple in 6 2/3 innings. The good news is that his fastball is inching up, reaching 96 mph in recent games. "That's the best velocity I've seen him have," manager Jim Leyland said. "He could have mixed in a few more curves, but he and Victor (Martinez) were on the same page and they worked well together. He didn't get much to show for it and ran into a buzzsaw with (Alexi) Ogando." Penny, who hasn't started a night game since July 1, was initially scheduled to pitch Wednesday night, but saw his start pushed back a day following the acquisition of RHP Doug Fister. "It's just coincidence that it falls during the day," Penny said. "We made a trade and it pushed everyone back a day, so it just happened to work out that way." He dislikes getting up early and having a different routine than for night games. Penny was caught by C Victor Martinez but there was no recurrence of their on-field argument that marked the pitcher's last start.

--DH Miguel Cabrera got a day off via the designated hitter. Cabrera has been Detroit's designated hitter six times this season, his manager's way of giving him a day off yet keeping his productive bat in the lineup. Cabrera went 2-for-4, with singles his last two times up.

--RF/CF Ryan Raburn got a rare second straight start following a three-hit game that included a home run. He had another hit, an RBI single in the seventh that drove in the last of Detroit's two runs. "I feel good up there," Raburn said. "I've felt good the last couple weeks, so things are starting to click a little bit and balls are finding holes." He has played only occasionally since 2B Carlos Guillen returned to the roster, but is 10-for-28, which looks like the start of his annual second-half surge. "I have no idea," Raburn said when asked if he could explain it. "If I knew, I'd start in the beginning. It's just a battle every day. It's a long year. You can't really worry about what happened in the past, you just have to keep moving forward, and the way I look at it, it can't get any worse."

--RHP Al Alburquerque worked 1 1/3 innings, his first game action since July 24. Alburquerque was not placed on the disabled list yet did not pitch until getting the final four Texas outs of the Rangers' 5-2 win over Detroit. Alburquerque was sharp despite the layoff, throwing seven balls and 10 strikes. He walked a batter and struck out one.

--CF Andy Dirks gave CF Austin Jackson a game off. Jackson was one of several Detroit players hitless in their careers against Texas RHP Alexi Ogando. Dirks had a single in three at-bats before giving way to PH/RF Magglio Ordonez, who got in the game as soon as Ogando left in the seventh inning.

--C Alex Avila got a rest, as manager Jim Leyland intends to play him three straight games in the heat at Kansas City. "At this point in the year, we're in first place now and we have a couple months left in the season," Avila said. "You kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel. You can see it, you can almost taste it, and you want to do everything you can to help the team win and get to the playoffs. It's the time of year you work out for and you play for." Said Leyland: "You do have to learn how to play a lot as a catcher, but you're never not going to get tired. It doesn't matter what kind of shape you're in, who you are. You get tired. That's just the way it is."

--C Victor Martinez was behind the plate as manager Jim Leyland gave Alex Avila a game off. Martinez and RHP Brad Penny, the starter, were reunited after getting into an on-field shouting match in Penny's previous start. The flare-up, Penny said, was due to his habit of coming set while his catcher was giving signs. There were plenty of opportunities, too, as Texas had 10 singles and a triple with Penny on the mound. The Rangers stole a base in the first inning on the duo but none the rest of the game.

BY THE NUMBERS
15 -- Day games started by RHP Brad Penny this season in his 22 appearances. It equals the highest total of day game starts by a Detroit pitcher since 1974 (RHP Rick Porcello last year and LHP Mike Maroth in 2005).

QUOTE TO NOTE
"We finished with a 6-3 record against (Texas) for the year; that's pretty good. Most teams would take that against the defending champions." -- Manager Jim Leyland, after his Tigers saw their chances for a sweep of the Rangers go down, 5-2, in the last scheduled meeting of the year between the teams.

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