# 2006 Detroit Tigers season

The 2006 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 106th season. They won the ALCS. They represented the American League in the World Series before falling to the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 1. The season was their 106th since they entered the AL in 1901. It was their seventh season since opening Comerica Park in 2000, and the first since 1993 where the team finished with a winning record and made the playoffs for the first time since 1987.

## Regular season

The Detroit Tigers were baseball's surprise success story of 2006. After years of futility, including 12 consecutive losing seasons and an AL-record 119 losses in 2003, the season had the Tigers surging to the top of the major league standings in May, a position they did not relinquish until the final day of the season. The play of veterans like Kenny Rogers and Todd Jones, the emergence of previously unestablished players Curtis Granderson, Brandon Inge, Craig Monroe and Marcus Thames, and significant production from erstwhile All-Stars Iván Rodríguez, Magglio Ordóñez and Carlos Guillén all contributed to the team's success.
A great deal of credit was also given to manager Jim Leyland. On April 17, after an uninspiring 10–2 loss at home to the Cleveland Indians dropped the team's record to 7–6, the manager launched into a tirade against the team about its lack of effort, telling the media, "We stunk. They [the players] were already on the plane to Oakland." It appeared to light a fire under the players, spurring them on to a stretch in which they won 28 of 35 games. Leyland consistently emphasized the importance of playing with intensity throughout all nine innings, a philosophy embraced not only in the players' words but also demonstrated by the team's knack for late-inning clutch hits, rallies, and comebacks.
Statistically, the biggest factor in the team's success was its pitching, which led the major leagues in ERA and shutouts. Rookie Justin Verlander won the AL Rookie of the Year Award, and fellow starters Kenny Rogers, Jeremy Bonderman and Nate Robertson, as well as rookie reliever Joel Zumaya, all had noteworthy seasons. There was concern when starter Mike Maroth—who had lost 20 games in 2003, but had since rebounded—had to undergo surgery early in the season, but his replacement Zach Miner proved to be adequate.
The Tigers' newfound success attracted a new generation of fans, many of whom who had never seen winning baseball in Detroit. Detroit hit 16 home runs in their first four games, the most ever by any team in their first four games of the season. Tigers fans traveled to road games in large numbers, most notably at the interleague series with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field from June 16–18. The crowd could be heard chanting "Let's Go Tigers!" throughout all three games, all of which were Detroit victories.
The major doubt many fans and pundits had was whether the Tigers could compete against other top-tier American League teams. Early in the season, the team lost series to the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, and lost five of six games to the reigning World Series champion (and AL Central rival) Chicago White Sox. However, on July 20, at a game which featured a particularly stirring rendition of the national anthem by local opera singer Eugene Zweig, and a standing-room-only crowd that included actor Tom Hanks and director Ron Howard, the Tigers beat White Sox pitching ace José Contreras to take the series two games to one from the White Sox, the team's first series victory against an upper-echelon AL team in 2006. In their next two series, against the AL West division-leading Oakland Athletics, and the red-hot Minnesota Twins, who were 34–8 over their previous 42 games, the Tigers also won two out of three.
On July 31, Tigers management traded minor-league pitcher Brian Rogers to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for left-handed hitting and three-time All Star first baseman Sean Casey. The move added a left-handed bat to the lineup, especially necessary after Dmitri Young was released in September.
By August 7, the Tigers were an astonishing 40 games above .500 (76–36) and cruising. They would lose their next five games, sixteen of their next 22, and the last six weeks of the season were punctuated by a nosedive, as a suddenly silent offense led to a 19–31 record in the last 50 games of the season. Perhaps the biggest loss the team suffered was not a singular game, but one of their best all-around players, Plácido Polanco, who separated his shoulder making a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch in Fenway Park against the Red Sox on August 15.
Only the big cushion built in the summer saved the Tigers from what would have been baseball's most statistically infamous collapse, as they clinched a playoff berth on September 24 with an 11–4 win over the Kansas City Royals. But even that cushion couldn't save a division title. On October 1, despite a rare relief appearance from Kenny Rogers, the Tigers fell out of the top spot in the American League Central with a 10–8 extra-inning loss to the 100-loss Royals in their last regular season game.
Detroit lost their last five regular season games, all at home, against the Toronto Blue Jays and the Royals. The final loss gave the Twins the AL Central title, and made the Tigers the American League wild card entrant in the postseason. Their opening-round opponent would be the New York Yankees.
The Tigers ended the regular season with a 95–67 record, marking the team's first winning season since 1993 and their most wins since 1987. They were the only team outside the American League East to win the AL Wild Card between 2003 and 2011.

### Highlights

There were many memorable moments during the regular season. Some of the highlights:
* On April 16, Chris Shelton became the fastest player to eight home runs in American League history, and the Tigers won a 1–0 game behind a sparkling three-hitter by Mike Maroth and one-hit relief by Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney.
* On April 20, the Tigers came into the ninth down 3–1, but clutch hits tied the game, and Brandon Inge's resolute 15-pitch walk (Jim Leyland called it a "1½ Marlboro" at-bat, in reference to his noted chain-smoking when in the dugout) forced in the winning run.
* On May 3, in the eighth inning of a tense pitching duel, Brandon Inge beat a throw to second to avoid a double play, then Alexis Gómez singled him in for a 2–1 comeback victory.
* Oy May 14, the Tigers swept the Indians in a three-game series with a 3–2 victory, the first time Detroit swept a series from the Indians in Cleveland since 1990.
* On May 20, Cincinnati's Ken Griffey Jr. hit a grand slam that put the Reds up, 6–5, but with two outs in the ninth inning, Curtis Granderson hit a home run that tied the game, and the Tigers won in extra innings.
* On June 1, hits by Ivan Rodríguez and Magglio Ordóñez (and gum-chewing by Nate Robertson) set up Carlos Guillén's game-winning ("walk-off") single, completing a five-run comeback and defeating the Yankees.
* On June 18, Kenny Rogers won his 200th game, becoming only the 26th left-hander in baseball history to do so; Detroit hit eight home runs to set a club record.
* On June 27, Roger Clemens hurled a three-hitter, but Nate Robertson outpitched him and the Tigers won, 4–0.
* On July 11, the 2006 All-Star Game featured three Tigers—Rodríguez, Kenny Rogers and Ordóñez—for the first time since 1987. Rodríguez was voted as a starter, while Rogers was named the starting pitcher. The battery combination of Rogers and Rodríguez was the first time a Tigers pitcher threw to a Tigers catcher to start the Mid-Summer Classic since Denny McLain threw to Bill Freehan in 1966.
* On July 14, in a tie game, with two out and two on in the top of the ninth, reliever Todd Jones faced dangerous slugger Mark Teahen, who had already hit two home runs in the game. Jones threw Teahen every pitch he could, and Teahen repeatedly fouled each pitch off. Finally Jim Leyland walked to the mound—where he told Jones his visit was a ruse, designed to fool Teahen into thinking Jones would be throwing anything but a fastball. Leyland walked off the field, Jones threw a fastball, and Teahen swung and missed for strike three. Then, in the bottom of the ninth, Carlos Guillén hit the Tigers' first walk-off home run of the season for the victory. After the game, Jones said of Leyland's visit to the mound: "I thought, 'Wow, you're a really good manager.'"
* On July 19, Craig Monroe hit a grand slam in a Tigers victory over the Chicago White Sox.
* On July 20 (see above), the Tigers essentially beat the White Sox on a Marcus Thames slide into second. The slide broke up a seemingly sure double play, which allowed the winning run to score later that inning.
* On July 24, the Tigers became the first team since the 1891 St. Louis Cardinals to score 5 runs or more in the first inning in three consecutive games.
* On July 28, the Tigers weathered 12 strikeouts by rookie Twins phenom Francisco Liriano, and won another tight game with a 10th-inning single by Craig Monroe.
* On August 1, Carlos Guillén hit for the cycle, becoming the first Tiger since Damion Easley did it in 2001, and the third since 1950, to do so.
* On August 5, Iván Rodríguez hit a walk-off home run with two outs in the ninth inning to complete a comeback against the Cleveland Indians.
* On August 27, a 7–1 victory over the Cleveland Indians secured the Tigers an 82nd victory—and their first winning season since 1993.
* On August 30, with two outs in the top of the ninth, Craig Monroe hit a dramatic three-run home run, erasing a one-run deficit, stunning the crowd at Yankee Stadium, and giving the Tigers a 5–3 come-from-behind victory over the Yankees.
* On September 12, Craig Monroe tied a club record with three outfield assists, including throwing two runners out at the plate, and Carlos Guillén hit two home runs, one from each side of the plate, the second being a walk-off in the bottom of the ninth that won the game, 3–2, over the Texas Rangers.
* On September 23, the Tigers scored ten runs in the first inning in a 15–4 victory over the Kansas City Royals. The game marked Plácido Polanco's return from the disabled list; he had three hits.
* On September 24, the Tigers scored nine runs in the second inning en route to an 11–4 victory. The win secured their first playoff appearance since 1987.

### Season standings

vteAL Central :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Minnesota Twins | 96 | 66 | .593 | — | 54‍–‍27 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Detroit Tigers | 95 | 67 | .586 | 1 | 46‍–‍35 | 49‍–‍32 |
| Chicago White Sox | 90 | 72 | .556 | 6 | 49‍–‍32 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Cleveland Indians | 78 | 84 | .481 | 18 | 44‍–‍37 | 34‍–‍47 |
| Kansas City Royals | 62 | 100 | .383 | 34 | 34‍–‍47 | 28‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

2006 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | LAA | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TB | TEX | TOR | NL |
| Baltimore | — | 3–15 | 2–5 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 4–6 | 3–6 | 7–12 | 2–4 | 4–6 | 13–6 | 3–6 | 8–11 | 9–9 |
| Boston | 15–3 | — | 4–2 | 3–4 | 3–3 | 4–5 | 3–3 | 1–5 | 8–11 | 3–7 | 4–6 | 10–9 | 5–4 | 7–12 | 16–2 |
| Chicago | 5–2 | 2–4 | — | 8–11 | 12–7 | 11–8 | 6–3 | 9–10 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 5–4 | 3–3 | 5–5 | 5–4 | 14–4 |
| Cleveland | 2–4 | 4–3 | 11–8 | — | 6–13 | 10–8 | 4–5 | 8–11 | 3–4 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 6–1 | 5–4 | 4–2 | 8–10 |
| Detroit | 3–3 | 3–3 | 7–12 | 13–6 | — | 14–4 | 3–5 | 11–8 | 2–5 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 5–3 | 5–5 | 3–3 | 15–3 |
| Kansas City | 1–5 | 5–4 | 8–11 | 8–10 | 4–14 | — | 3–7 | 7–12 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 3–5 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 3–4 | 10–8 |
| Los Angeles | 6–4 | 3–3 | 3–6 | 5–4 | 5–3 | 7–3 | — | 4–2 | 6–4 | 11–8 | 10–9 | 7–2 | 11–8 | 4–6 | 7–11 |
| Minnesota | 6–3 | 5–1 | 10–9 | 11–8 | 8–11 | 12–7 | 2–4 | — | 3–3 | 6–4 | 5–3 | 6–1 | 4–5 | 2–5 | 16–2 |
| New York | 12–7 | 11–8 | 4–2 | 4–3 | 5–2 | 7–2 | 4–6 | 3–3 | — | 3–6 | 3–3 | 13–5 | 8–2 | 10–8 | 10–8 |
| Oakland | 4–2 | 7–3 | 3–3 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 8–11 | 4–6 | 6–3 | — | 17–2 | 6–3 | 9–10 | 6–4 | 8–10 |
| Seattle | 6–4 | 6–4 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 3–6 | 5–3 | 9–10 | 3–5 | 3–3 | 2–17 | — | 6–3 | 8–11 | 4–5 | 14–4 |
| Tampa Bay | 6–13 | 9–10 | 3–3 | 1–6 | 3–5 | 5–1 | 2–7 | 1–6 | 5–13 | 3–6 | 3–6 | — | 3–6 | 6–12 | 11–7 |
| Texas | 6–3 | 4–5 | 5–5 | 4–5 | 5–5 | 3–3 | 8–11 | 5–4 | 2–8 | 10–9 | 11–8 | 6–3 | — | 4–2 | 7–11 |
| Toronto | 11–8 | 12–7 | 4–5 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 4–3 | 6–4 | 5–2 | 8–10 | 4–6 | 5–4 | 12–6 | 2–4 | — | 9–9 |

### Roster

2006 Game Log: 95–67 (Home: 46–35; Away: 49–32) :
April: 16–9 (Home: 5–5; Away: 11–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
1April 3@ Royals3–1Rogers (1–0)Elarton (0–1)Rodney (1)41,0541–0W1
2April 5@ Royals14–3Bonderman (1–0)Mays (0–1)11,2652–0W2
3April 6@ Rangers10–6Robertson (1–0)Dickey (0–1)21,7133–0W3
4April 7@ Rangers5–2Maroth (1–0)Koronka (0–1)Rodney (2)21,1554–0W4
5April 8@ Rangers7–0Verlander (1–0)Millwood (0–2)35,0665–0W5
6April 9@ Rangers5–3Padilla (2–0)Rogers (1–1)Cordero (1)31,0325–1L1
7April 10White Sox5–3Garcia (1–1)Bonderman (1–1)Jenks (2)44,1795–2L2
8April 12White Sox4–3Contreras (1–0)Robertson (1–1)Jenks (3)12,6015–3L3
9April 13White Sox13–9Garland (1–1)Verlander (1–1)14,0275–4L4
10April 14Indians5–1Rogers (2–1)Westbrook (2–1)27,3586–4W1
11April 15Indians7–2Carmona (1–0)Bonderman (1–2)30,1076–5L1
12April 16Indians1–0Maroth (2–0)Lee (1–1)Rodney (3)14,3037–5W1
13April 17Indians10–2Byrd (2–1)Robertson (1–2)19,1267–6L1
14April 18@ Athletics4–3Duchscherer (1–0)Verlander (1–2)Street (4)16,8577–7L2
15April 19@ Athletics11–4Rogers (3–1)Blanton (1–2)18,3098–7W1
16April 20@ Athletics4–3Rodney (1–0)Duchscherer (1–1)15,4899–7W2
17April 21@ Mariners2–1Maroth (3–0)Washburn (1–3)Jones (1)35,23710–7W3
18April 22@ Mariners2–0Robertson (2–2)Meche (1–1)Rodney (4)27,89311–7W4
19April 23@ Mariners6–4Verlander (2–2)Hernandez (0–3)Jones (2)28,65912–7W5
20April 24@ Angels3–0Santana (2–0)Rogers (3–2)Rodriguez (8)39,77612–8L1
21April 25@ Angels5–2Bonderman (2–2)Carrasco (0–1)Jones (3)40,00713–8W1
22April 26@ Angels4–0Lackey (3–1)Maroth (3–1)37,53213–9L1
23April 28Twins9–0Robertson (3–2)Radke (2–3)23,26314–9W1
24April 29Twins18–1Verlander (3–2)Silva (1–4)24,25815–9W2
25April 30Twins6–0Rogers (4–2)Lohse (1–2)24,32316–9W3 :
May: 19–9 (Home: 10–6; Away: 9–3)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
26May 1Kansas City3–2Bonderman (3–2)Hernandez (1–1)Jones (4)9,59717–9W4
27May 2Kansas City4–1Maroth (4–1)Redman (0–2)Jones (5)12,41518–9W5
28May 3LA Angels2–1Zumaya (1–0)Weaver (1–4)Rodney (5)17,17119–9W6
29May 4LA Angels7–2Gregg (2–0)Verlander (3–3)24,87919–10L1
30May 5at Minnesota9–6Rogers (5–2)Lohse (1–3)Jones (6)23,89220–10W1
31May 6at Minnesota7–6Rincon (2–0)Jones (0–1)20,90720–11L1
32May 7at Minnesota4–2Santana (3–3)Maroth (4–2)Nathan (4)20,54820–12L2
33May 9at Baltimore7–6Hawkins (1–1)Rodney (1–1)Ray (8)16,56620–13L3
34May 10at Baltimore6–3Verlander (4–3)Lopez (1–5)Jones (7)15,54821–13W1
35May 12at Cleveland5–4Rogers (6–2)Lee (2–4)Jones (8)23,58822–13W2
36May 13at Cleveland3–0Bonderman (4–2)Sabathia (2–1)Jones (9)24,05123–13W3
37May 14at Cleveland3–2Maroth (5–2)Johnson (2–3)Rodney (6)21,87524–13W4
38May 16Minnesota7–4Robertson (4–2)Lohse (2–4)Jones (10)18,11525–13W5
39May 17Minnesota2–0Verlander (5–3)Santana (4–4)Jones (11)16,66926–13W6
40May 18Minnesota5–3Rogers (7–2)Radke (4–5)Jones (12)26,73227–13W7
41May 19Cincinnati9–4Claussen (3–4)Bonderman (4–3)26,93327–14L1
42May 20Cincinnati7–6Rodney (2–1)Weathers (1–2)43,12828–14W1
43May 21Cincinnati1–0Rodney (3–1)Harang (5–3)Jones (13)31,51529–14W2
44May 22at Kansas City8–0Verlander (6–3)Affeldt (2–4)9,74630–14W3
45May 23at Kansas City8–5Zumaya (2–0)Dessens (2–4)Jones (14)15,55631–14W4
46May 24at Kansas City6–3Bonderman (5–3)Gobble (0–1)Jones (15)10,74532–14W5
47May 25at Kansas City13–8Zumaya (3–0)Dessens (2–5)11,48833–14W6
48May 26Cleveland8–3Robertson (5–2)Westbrook (4–3)31,24134–14W7
49May 27Cleveland3–1Verlander (7–3)Byrd (4–4)Jones (16)37,10235–14W8
50May 28Cleveland9–0Johnson (3–4)Rogers (7–3)37,90835–15L1
51May 29NY Yankees4–0Johnson (7–4)Bonderman (5–4)39,75935–16L2
52May 30NY Yankees11–6Rivera (3–3)Jones (0–2)24,76535–17L3
53May 31NY Yankees6–1Mussina (7–1)Robertson (5–3)23,75735–18L4 :
June: 20–7 (Home: 11–3; Away: 9–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
54June 1NY Yankees7–6Rodney (4–1)Farnsworth (1–3)27,23136–18W1
55June 2Boston3–2Seanez (1–0)Jones (0–3)Papelbon (20)35,53136–19L1
56June 3Boston6–2Bonderman (6–4)Wakefield (4–7)Rodney (7)40,87237–19W1
57June 4Boston8–3Clement (5–4)Miner (0–1)35,76437–20L1
58June 6at Chicago Sox4–3McCarthy (3–3)Rodney (4–2)Jenks (16)37,19237–21L2
59June 7at Chicago Sox4–3Contreras (6–0)Verlander (7–4)Jenks (17)37,61237–22L3
60June 8at Chicago Sox6–2Rogers (8–3)Garland (4–3)37,35438–22W1
61June 9at Toronto10–5Frasor (2–1)Jones (0–4)21,42538–23L1
62June 10at Toronto5–3Miner (1–1)Lilly (5–7)Jones (17)27,02139–23W1
63June 11at Toronto10–5Robertson (6–3)Taubenheim (0–3)Zumaya (1)30,40440–23W2
64June 12Tampa Bay4–3Jones (1–4)Meadows (1–1)16,30241–23W3
65June 13Tampa Bay7–1Rogers (9–3)McClung (2–9)20,93542–23W4
66June 14Tampa Bay5–1Meadows (2–1)Jones (1–5)25,26542–24L1
67June 15Tampa Bay6–2Miner (2–1)Fossum (2–3)28,26943–24W1
68June 16at Chicago Cubs5–3Robertson (7–3)Rusch (2–7)Jones (18)40,68344–24W2
69June 17at Chicago Cubs9–3Verlander (8–4)Marmol (1–1)41,45945–24W3
70June 18at Chicago Cubs12–3Rogers (10–3)Prior (0–1)39,93846–24W4
71June 19at Milwaukee3–1Bonderman (7–4)Wise (4–4)Jones (19)29,62347–24W5
72June 20at Milwaukee10–1Miner (3–1)Helling (0–1)33,11948–24W6
73June 21at Milwaukee4–3Capuano (8–4)Zumaya (3–1)Turnbow (21)31,22248–25L1
74June 23St. Louis10–6Verlander (9–4)Carpenter (6–4)42,23849–25W1
75June 24St. Louis7–6Zumaya (4–1)Johnson (0–1)42,53550–25W2
76June 25St. Louis4–1Ledezma (1–0)Ponson (4–3)Jones (20)40,64451–25W3
77June 26Houston10–4Miner (4–1)Rodriguez (8–5)24,28552–25W4
78June 27Houston4–0Robertson (8–3)Clemens (0–2)39,85253–25W5
79June 28Houston5–0Verlander (10–4)Pettitte (6–9)29,24954–25W6
80June 30at Pittsburgh7–6Colon (1–0)Wells (0–3)Jones (21)27,31855–25W7 :
July: 15–10 (Home: 7–3; Away: 8–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
81July 1at Pittsburgh9–2Capps (3–1)Grilli (0–1)37,11155–26L1
82July 2at Pittsburgh9–8Miner (5–1)Snell (7–6)Jones (22)28,13656–26W1
83July 3at Oakland5–3Blanton (8–7)Robertson (8–4)Street (19)35,07756–27L1
84July 4at Oakland2–1Gaudin (1–2)Rodney (4–3)21,09656–28L2
85July 5at Oakland10–4Rogers (11–3)Saarloos (3–5)Colon (1)22,21057–28W1
86July 7at Seattle6–1Bonderman (8–4)Pineiro (6–8)31,72758–28W2
87July 8at Seattle2–1Miner (6–1)Washburn (4–9)Jones (23)32,40459–28W3
88July 9at Seattle3–2Meche (8–4)Robertson (8–5)Putz (16)37,36459–29L1
89July 13Kansas City6–4Bonderman (9–4)Duckworth (1–2)Jones (24)31,96760–29W1
90July 14Kansas City10–9Jones (2–5)Affeldt (4–6)38,44261–29W2
91July 15Kansas City6–0Verlander (11–4)Gobble (3–3)40,21062–29W3
92July 16Kansas City9–6Elarton (4–9)Miner (6–2)MacDougal (1)37,89362–30L1
93July 18Chicago Sox7–1Garland (9–3)Robertson (8–6)39,15362–31L2
94July 19Chicago Sox5–2Bonderman (10–4)Vazquez (9–5)39,59363–31W1
95July 20Chicago Sox2–1Zumaya (5–1)Contreras (9–2)Jones (25)41,07564–31W2
96July 21Oakland7–4Verlander (12–4)Haren (6–9)40,68765–31W3
97July 22Oakland9–5Blanton (10–8)Ledezma (1–1)38,92365–32L1
98July 23Oakland8–4Robertson (9–6)Loaiza (4–6)40,35566–32W1
99July 24at Cleveland9–7Bonderman (11–4)Lee (9–8)Jones (26)19,04567–32W2
100July 25at Cleveland12–7Davis (3–1)Rogers (11–4)28,08567–33L1
101July 26at Cleveland4–1Verlander (13–4)Sabathia (7–7)Jones (27)31,22068–33W1
102July 28at Minnesota3–2Rodney (5–3)Rincon (3–1)Jones (28)45,47869–33W2
103July 29at Minnesota8–6Robertson (10–6)Radke (9–8)Jones (29)45,49670–33W3
104July 30at Minnesota6–4Neshek (1–0)Bonderman (11–5)Nathan (22)43,20470–34L1
105July 31at Tampa Bay7–3Fossum (5–4)Rogers (11–5)15,06570–35L2 :
August: 13–16 (Home: 7–7; Away: 6–9)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
106August 1at Tampa Bay10–4Verlander (14–4)Howell (0–1)13,80871–35W1
107August 2at Tampa Bay8–3Grilli (1–1)Switzer (2–2)13,12672–35W2
108August 3at Tampa Bay2–1McClung (3–10)Robertson (10–7)Meadows (7)12,66572–36L1
109August 4Cleveland7–6Colon (2–0)Cabrera (1–2)Jones (30)41,50273–36W1
110August 5Cleveland4–3Zumaya (6–1)Carmona (1–7)43,01574–36W2
111August 6Cleveland1–0Ledezma (2–1)Sabathia (8–8)Jones (31)39,17875–36W3
112August 7Minnesota9–3Miner (7–2)Liriano (12–3)34,87076–36W4
113August 8Minnesota4–2Radke (11–8)Robertson (10–8)Nathan (24)35,62476–37L1
114August 9Minnesota4–3Santana (13–5)Zumaya (6–2)Nathan (25)36,33976–38L2
115August 11at Chicago Sox5–0Contreras (11–4)Verlander (14–5)39,37876–39L3
116August 12at Chicago Sox4–3MacDougal (1–0)Rogers (11–6)Jenks (32)38,87376–40L4
117August 13at Chicago Sox7–3Garcia (11–7)Miner (7–3)Jenks (33)38,93176–41L5
118August 14at Boston7–4Robertson (11–8)Beckett (13–7)Jones (32)36,39277–41W1
119August 15at Boston3–2Rodney (6–3)Timlin (5–2)Jones (33)36,17978–41W2
120August 16at Boston6–4Wells (2–2)Verlander (14–6)Papelbon (32)36,30478–42L1
121August 17Texas4–2Rogers (12–6)Volquez (1–2)Jones (34)34,75679–42W1
122August 18Texas2–1Millwood (12–8)Miner (7–4)Otsuka (24)39,32779–43L1
123August 19Texas3–1Tejeda (2–3)Robertson (11–9)Otsuka (25)41,64379–44L2
124August 20Texas7–6Benoit (1–1)Grilli (1–2)Otsuka (26)39,07179–45L3
125August 21Chicago Sox7–1Verlander (15–6)Contreras (11–6)39,27880–45W1
126August 22Chicago Sox4–0Rogers (13–6)Buehrle (10–11)39,36181–45W2
127August 23Chicago Sox7–5Garcia (12–8)Miner (7–5)Jenks (36)40,18781–46L1
128August 24Chicago Sox10–0Garland (15–4)Robertson (11–10)41,56581–47L2
129August 25at Cleveland4–2Sowers (6–3)Bonderman (11–6)Betancourt (1)33,41681–48L3
130August 26at Cleveland8–5Westbrook (11–8)Verlander (15–7)Mastny (3)29,13881–49L4
131August 27at Cleveland7–1Rogers (14–6)Lee (10–10)28,34282–49W1
132August 29at NY Yankees2–0Wang (16–5)Robertson (11–11)Rivera (32)52,58582–50L1
133August 30at NY Yankees5–3Grilli (2–2)Proctor (5–4)Jones (35)54,50983–50W1
134August 31at NY Yankees6–4Johnson (15–10)Bonderman (11–7)Rivera (33)54,77183–51L1 :
September/October: 12–16 (Home: 6–11; Away: 6–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
135September 1LA Angels9–0Rogers (15–6)Santana (13–7)37,50984–51W1
136September 2LA Angels7–2Rodriguez (2–2)Jones (2–6)37,82684–52L1
137September 3LA Angels2–1Escobar (10–12)Ledezma (2–2)Rodriguez (38)38,68884–53L2
138September 4Seattle6–2Robertson (12–11)Washburn (8–13)32,94885–53W1
139September 5Seattle4–3Pineiro (8–11)Miller (0–1)Putz (30)23,58385–54L1
140September 6Seattle5–4Huber (1–0)Zumaya (6–3)Putz (31)23,06685–55L2
141September 7at Minnesota7–2Verlander (16–7)Baker (4–8)21,22986–55W1
142September 8at Minnesota9–5Neshek (4–1)Ledezma (2–3)29,04286–56L1
143September 9at Minnesota2–1Bonser (5–5)Robertson (12–12)Nathan (30)39,16086–57L2
144September 10at Minnesota12–1Santana (18–5)Bonderman (11–8)40,15886–58L3
145September 12Texas3–2Rodney (7–3)Mahay (1–3)24,19687–58W1
146September 13Texas11–3Millwood (15–10)Verlander (16–8)24,67287–59L1
147September 15Baltimore17–2Bonderman (12–8)Penn (0–3)38,26188–59W1
148September 16Baltimore2–0Robertson (13–12)Benson (10–11)Jones (36)39,03089–59W2
149September 17Baltimore12–8Ray (3–4)Grilli (2–3)37,46489–60L1
150September 18at Chicago Sox8–2Rogers (16–6)Buehrle (12–13)39,42790–60W1
151September 19at Chicago Sox7–0Garcia (15–9)Verlander (16–9)38,85090–61L1
152September 20at Chicago Sox6–2Bonderman (13–8)Garland (17–6)38,97191–61W1
153September 21at Baltimore4–3Benson (11–11)Rodney (7–4)Ray (33)17,87791–62L1
154September 22at Kansas City7–3Ledezma (3–3)Hudson (7–6)13,15192–62W1
155September 23at Kansas City15–4Rogers (17–6)Redman (10–10)15,45993–62W2
156September 24at Kansas City11–4Verlander (17–9)Hernandez (6–10)10,92294–62W3
157September 26Toronto4–3Bonderman (14–8)McGowan (1–2)Jones (37)27,90895–62W4
158September 27Toronto7–4Lilly (15–13)Robertson (13–13)Ryan (36)26,43095–63L1
159September 28Toronto8–6Burnett (10–8)Rogers (17–7)Ryan (37)28,67095–64L2
160September 29Kansas City9–7Greinke (1–0)Walker (0–1)Peralta (1)37,24395–65L3
161September 30Kansas City9–6Wellemeyer (1–2)Miner (7–6)Gobble (2)40,07195–66L4
162October 1Kansas City10–8Gobble (4–6)Rogers (17–8)40,15595–67L5 :

## Player stats
### Batting

Note: Pos = Position, G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, Avg. = Batting average, HR = Home runs, RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | Pos | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Carlos Guillén | SS | 153 | 543 | 174 | .320 | 19 | 85 |
| Iván Rodríguez | C | 136 | 547 | 164 | .300 | 13 | 69 |
| Magglio Ordóñez | RF | 155 | 593 | 177 | .298 | 24 | 104 |
| Plácido Polanco | 2B | 110 | 461 | 136 | .295 | 4 | 52 |
| Vance Wilson | C | 56 | 152 | 43 | .283 | 5 | 18 |
| Brent Clevlen | OF | 31 | 39 | 11 | .282 | 3 | 6 |
| Omar Infante | 2B | 78 | 224 | 62 | .277 | 4 | 25 |
| Chris Shelton | 1B | 115 | 373 | 102 | .273 | 16 | 47 |
| Alexis Gómez | LF | 62 | 103 | 28 | .272 | 1 | 6 |
| Curtis Granderson | CF | 159 | 596 | 155 | .260 | 19 | 68 |
| Marcus Thames | LF | 110 | 348 | 89 | .256 | 26 | 60 |
| Craig Monroe | LF | 147 | 541 | 138 | .255 | 28 | 92 |
| Brandon Inge | 3B | 159 | 542 | 137 | .253 | 27 | 83 |
| Dmitri Young | DH | 48 | 172 | 43 | .250 | 7 | 23 |
| Sean Casey | 1B | 53 | 184 | 45 | .245 | 5 | 30 |
| Matt Stairs | DH | 14 | 41 | 10 | .244 | 2 | 8 |
| Ramón Santiago | SS | 43 | 80 | 18 | .225 | 0 | 3 |
| Neifi Pérez | 2B | 21 | 65 | 13 | .200 | 0 | 5 |
| Jack Hannahan | 1B | 3 | 9 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Kevin Hooper | 2B | 8 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Rabelo | DH | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Pitcher Totals | — | 162 | 25 | 3 | .120 | 0 | 1 |
| Team Totals | — | 162 | 5642 | 1548 | .274 | 203 | 785 |
Note: Individual pitchers' batting statistics not included

### Pitching
#### Starting and other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched, IP = Innings pitched, W = Wins, L = Losses, ERA = Earned run average, SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Wil Ledezma (2 HLD) | 24 | 60.1 | 3 | 3 | 3.58 | 39 |
| Justin Verlander | 30 | 186.0 | 17 | 9 | 3.63 | 124 |
| Kenny Rogers | 34 | 204.0 | 17 | 8 | 3.84 | 99 |
| Nate Robertson | 32 | 208.2 | 13 | 13 | 3.84 | 137 |
| Jeremy Bonderman | 34 | 214.0 | 14 | 8 | 4.08 | 202 |
| Mike Maroth | 13 | 53.2 | 5 | 2 | 4.19 | 24 |
| Zach Miner (1 HLD) | 27 | 93.0 | 7 | 6 | 4.84 | 59 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched, IP = Innings Pitched; W = Wins, L = Losses, SV = Saves, HLD = Holds, ERA = Earned run average, SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | HLD | ERA | SO |
| Chad Durbin | 3 | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.50 | 3 |
| Joel Zumaya | 62 | 83.1 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 30 | 1.94 | 97 |
| Jamie Walker | 56 | 48.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2.81 | 37 |
| Colby Lewis | 2 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 5 |
| Chris Spurling | 9 | 11.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.18 | 4 |
| Fernando Rodney | 63 | 71.2 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 18 | 3.52 | 65 |
| Todd Jones | 62 | 64.0 | 2 | 6 | 37 | 0 | 3.94 | 28 |
| Jason Grilli | 51 | 62.0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 4.21 | 31 |
| Román Colón | 20 | 38.2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4.89 | 25 |
| Andrew Miller | 8 | 10.1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.10 | 6 |
| Jordan Tata | 8 | 14.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.14 | 6 |
| Bobby Seay | 14 | 15.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.46 | 12 |
| Team Pitching Totals | 162 | 1448.0 | 95 | 67 | 46 | 75 | 3.84 | 1003 |

## Playoffs
### American League Division Series

The New York Yankees were heavy favorites over the Tigers to win the series because of their "modern-day Murderers' Row" lineup. All nine batters were current or former All-Stars. The Yankees won the first game, 8–4.
In Game 2, the Tigers took an early 1–0 lead before Johnny Damon hit a three-run homer for New York in the 4th inning. The Tigers came back with single runs in the 5th, 6th, and 7th, including a game-tying home run by Carlos Guillén and a go-ahead RBI triple by Curtis Granderson, to come from behind to win, 4–3.
In Game 3, which was the first postseason game played in Detroit since 1987 (and the first ever at Comerica Park), the Tigers shut out the Yankees, 6–0. Kenny Rogers pitched 7+2⁄3 scoreless innings and struck out eight in winning for the first time in his postseason career and defeated the Yankees for the first time since 1993.
In Game 4, the Tigers defeated the Yankees 8–3 to win the American League Division Series, 3 games to 1. Jeremy Bonderman threw a perfect game through five innings, and allowed just one run on five singles over his 8+1⁄3 innings in giving the Tigers a second straight dominating starting pitching performance. It gave the Tigers their first Postseason series victory since 1984
The final out kicked off a joyous celebration of players and fans throughout Comerica Park and Downtown Detroit. The celebration even included Kenny Rogers pouring champagne over a Detroit Police officer's head. In the process of winning the final three games, the Tigers held the fearsome Yankees lineup scoreless for 20+2⁄3 consecutive innings (from the 4th inning of Game 2 until the 7th inning of Game 4) while scoring 17 runs in that span.

### American League Championship Series

The Tigers faced the Oakland Athletics, winners of the American League Western Division, marking their first postseason matchup since 1972.
The A's had defeated the Twins in a three-game sweep in the ALDS.
The Tigers won Game 1, 5–1, as Nate Robertson scattered six hits and three walks over his five shutout innings. In the fourth inning, with men on second and third and nobody out, Robertson memorably struck out the side to preserve his own victory.
Detroit won Game 2, 8–5. Oakland had an early two-run lead before the Tigers' four-run fourth inning gave them the lead for good. Seldom-used outfielder Alexis Gómez got the surprise start as the designated hitter. Gómez hit a homer and drove in four runs, providing another example of Jim Leyland pushing all the right buttons this season.
Returning to Comerica Park for Game 3, the Tigers shut out the A's, 3–0 behind Rogers who allowed only two singles and ran his scoreless streak to 15 innings. The A's did not get a hit off relievers Fernando Rodney and Todd Jones. The two hits were the fewest allowed in a postseason game in franchise history.
In Game 4, with Detroit looking for the sweep, Oakland jumped out to an early 3–0 lead. The Tigers fought back with two runs in the fifth inning, on RBI doubles by Granderson and Monroe, before Magglio Ordóñez tied it with a solo home run in the sixth.
In the bottom of the ninth with the game still tied, two outs and Polanco and Monroe on first and second base respectively, Ordóñez hit his second home run of the night, a three-run walk-off home run off of A's closer Huston Street that sent the Tigers to their first World Series since 1984. The Pennant was the 10th in Tigers history, and the ALCS was won on a walk-off home run for only the third time ever.
Both prior instances were by the Yankees: in 1976 when Chris Chambliss homered to defeat Kansas City and in 2003 when Aaron Boone hit a 10th inning home run to beat the Boston Red Sox.

### World Series

Regardless of the outcome for the 2006 World Series, one manager would join Sparky Anderson as the only skippers in history to manage teams from both the AL and NL to a title. Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who considers Anderson his mentor, won the 1989 World Series with the Athletics, while Tigers manager Jim Leyland had won the 1997 World Series with the Marlins.
The Cardinals won the first game of the World Series in Detroit 7–2, behind excellent pitching from unheralded Cardinals starter Anthony Reyes.
In Game Two, Kenny Rogers continued his astounding postseason, allowing two hits and no runs through eight innings, as the Tigers triumphed 3–1.
But the Tigers lost the next three games. They were shut out 5–0 in game three by Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter; they lost a 5–4 heartbreaker in game four; and in game 5, the Tigers committed two costly errors, lost a 2–1 lead, and fell 4–2. In the first inning rookie pitcher Justin Verlander threw two wild pitches, tying the Series record (AP); this was in sharp contrast to the five total that he had thrown in all of his previous games. Verlander would go on to commit a throwing error in the fourth inning, allowing the tying run to score.
In the series, the Tigers committed eight errors, five by the pitching staff alone, the most in World Series history.
The Tigers would not return to the postseason until 2011 and they would not appear in the Fall Classic again until 2012

### Postseason player stats
#### Batting

Note: G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, Avg. = Batting average, HR = Home runs, RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Sean Casey | 10 | 37 | 16 | .432 | 2 | 9 |
| Carlos Guillén | 13 | 47 | 17 | .362 | 1 | 4 |
| Alexis Gómez | 6 | 12 | 4 | .333 | 1 | 4 |
| Omar Infante | 2 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
| Plácido Polanco | 13 | 51 | 16 | .314 | 0 | 4 |
| Brandon Inge | 13 | 44 | 12 | .273 | 1 | 4 |
| Craig Monroe | 13 | 50 | 12 | .240 | 5 | 9 |
| Marcus Thames | 8 | 21 | 5 | .238 | 0 | 1 |
| Curtis Granderson | 13 | 53 | 12 | .226 | 3 | 7 |
| Magglio Ordóñez | 13 | 51 | 10 | .196 | 3 | 8 |
| Iván Rodríguez | 13 | 48 | 8 | .167 | 1 | 5 |
| Ramón Santiago | 6 | 12 | 1 | .083 | 0 | 0 |
| Neifi Pérez | 3 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jeremy Bonderman | 3 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Justin Verlander | 4 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |

#### Pitching
##### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched, IP = Innings pitched, W = Wins, L = Losses, ERA = Earned run average, SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Kenny Rogers | 3 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0.00 | 19 |
| Jeremy Bonderman | 3 | 20+1⁄3 | 1 | 0 | 3.10 | 11 |
| Nate Robertson | 3 | 15+2⁄3 | 1 | 2 | 5.17 | 8 |
| Justin Verlander | 4 | 21+2⁄3 | 1 | 2 | 5.82 | 23 |

##### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched, W = Wins, L = Losses, SV = Saves, HLD = Holds, ERA = Earned run average, SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | HLD | ERA | SO |
| Todd Jones | 7 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 |
| Jason Grilli | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 1 |
| Zach Miner | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
| Wilfredo Ledezma | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2.25 | 2 |
| Fernando Rodney | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2.35 | 9 |
| Joel Zumaya | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.00 | 6 |
| Jamie Walker | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.15 | 3 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Toledo Mud Hens | International League | Larry Parrish |
| AA | Erie SeaWolves | Eastern League | Duffy Dyer |
| A | Lakeland Tigers | Florida State League | Mike Rojas |
| A | West Michigan Whitecaps | Midwest League | Matt Walbeck |
| A-Short Season | Oneonta Tigers | New York–Penn League | Tom Brookens |
| Rookie | GCL Tigers | Gulf Coast League | Kevin Bradshaw |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Toledo, West Michigan