the ramifications of two very bad Tiger games

Daniel Schlereth gave up 6 runs in 1.1 innings of work in Tuesday's game. Phil Coke got shelled in yet another start on Wednesday, to fall to 1-8 on the season. By no means were they the only pitchers to have bad days on those two days, but for them it's been a recurring theme.

Daniel Schlereth was sent down to Toledo to get his command back. Brayan Villerreal, who was on the roster to start the season, was called back up.

For Coke the seemingly inevitable move back to the bullpen came. I figured this would happen at some point. He was too good in the pen last year and has struggled too much as a starter this season. Charlie Furbush has been moved in the starting rotation, in what could be an early look at 2012 since nobody really expects Brad Penny to be back with the Tigers next season, having only signed a 1 year deal at a pretty cheap price.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Detroit make some move for another pitcher at the trading deadline, unless Furbush and his potentially dominating stuff makes a better transition than Coke, and he catches lightning in a bottle.

series recap: Mets at Tigers

The Tigers got pounded in the first two games of the three game set, before Justin Verlander restored some order.

On Tuesday night the Mets broke a grand slam drought that dates back to the 2009 season and lasted 339 games by hitting grand slams in consecutive innings. For good measure they added a bases loaded triple in the game. The result was a 14-3 rout. Rick Porcello gave up 7 runs on 11 hits in 3.2 innings of work. He fell to 6-6 on the season.

Daniel Schlereth gave up another 6 runs in 1.1 innings of work.

Austin Jackson hit a 2 run homer for Detroit. It was his 4th of the season. Andy Dirks also added his 4th.

Saturday was a slugfest, but the Mets topped 10 runs for the 4th straight game, and topped 14 in 3 of those as they outslugged Detroit 16-9.

Detroit hit 5 homers to the Mets 0. It was the first time since 2007 that a team outhomered its opponent by at least 5 but still lost.


Phil Coke gave up 8 runs, 7 earned, in 4 innings of work to drop to 1-8 on the season.

Every Tiger pitcher but one gave up at least one run, though Ryan Perry at least pitched 2.1 innings of 1 run ball. The one pitcher who didn't? Don Kelly, who got the final out of the 9th. He does everything else, why not pitch? It was the first appearance by a Detroit position player since 2007.

For Detroit Miguel Cabrera was 2-4 with home runs 16 and 17 on the year and 4 RBIs. Ryan Raburn was 2-3 with his 7th homer of the season, a double, and 2 RBIs. Jhonny Peralta was 2-4 with his 13th homer of the season. Andy Dirks hit a pinch hit homer, his 5th of the year and second in two games, and had 2 RBIs. In fact, 8 of Detroit's 10 hits were doubles or home runs. But just when it looked like Detroit might slug itself back into the game, the Mets added another big inning.

In the series finale, Justin Verlander finally cooled off the Met bats. He allowed 1 run in 7 innings, that on a solo home run. Brennan Boesch helped him out in the 7th as it looked like he was tiring at about 110 pitchers or so, by throwing out a runner at home trying to score on a sac fly. The inning quickly went from runner at 3rd and nobody out in a 5-1 game to none on two outs, and Verlander closed out the inning.

Joaquin Benoit gave up a solo homer in the 8th but handed things over to Jose Valverde in the 9th who finished for his 19th save. Verlander upped his record to 11-3 on the season, and tied CC Sabathia for the Major League lead in wins.

Andy Dirks was 2-3 with a homer for his third straight game. He now has 6. Ramon Santiago was 2-4 with an RBI. Austin Jackson and Alex Avila also drove in runs. Brennan Boesch was 2-5. Detroit won 5-2 to salvage a game from the series.

Russell Wilson will be a Wisconsin Badger

Russell Wilson has decided to use is one year of football eligibility at Wisconsin. He left the Asheville Tourists on Monday, meaning that is baseball career is on hold for sure for at least a year. Colorado is keeping his draft rights however.

I wish Wilson the best. He's going to add a dynamic element to an already talented Wisconsin team. I'll be sad to see him torment Michigan next year.

I'd say with the fall of Ohio State, Wisconsin is probably the favorite in the Big Ten now, and this may elevate them to a national championship contender.

Tigers stage another late rally to beat the Blue Jays last night

Toronto visited Detroit last night to make up a rainout from their earlier series last month. Detroit won 4-2, scoring 2 runs in the 8th. Jhonny Peralta delivered an RBI triple. Ryan Raburn grounded out to score Peralta and add an insurance run.

Max Scherzer allowed 2 runs on 6 hits while striking out 9 in 7 innings. But he wasn't around by the time the offense arrived. Joaquin Benoit earned the win, pitching a hitless 8th. He improved his record to 2-3 on the season. Jose Valverde pitched the 9th for his 18th save of the season. He put runners on the corners with 2 outs but induced a game ending double play.

Victor Martinez was 2-4 with an RBI double and an RBI single. Brennan Boesch was 2-4 with a double. Miguel Cabrera, Magglio Ordonez, and Peralta were also 2-4.

I'd thought it was the Giants coming to town next but it's actually the Mets. That series starts tonight. Detroit is going to play games on 17 straight days after last Thursday's off-day, in part because of games being scheduled into previous off-days to makeup rainouts, like last night.

Tigers explode in the 8th inning to take the series versus the Diamondbacks

Miguel Cabrera hit a 2-run single with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th inning to give Detroit a 3-2 lead. That led to an explosion. By the time 8 straight Tigers had reached base, and 9 of 10, Detroit was up 8-2. The 8th inning turned into a 7 run landslide, all with 2 outs. Prior to that Detroit had managed 1 run on Jhonny Peralta's 12th home run of the season, and 4 hits.

Victor Martinez followed with an RBI single. Jhonny Peralta then had an RBI single. Brennan Boesch loaded the bases back up with an infield single. Brandon Inge then delivered a 2 run single. An error on a Don Kelly grounder scored Boesch. That was Kelly's second at-bat of the inning. He had a pinch hit single earlier in the inning to get the rally started. Austin Jackson had 2 of the 3 outs in the inning, both on strikeouts. He Ked four times on the day. Tough day for Jackson.

Al Alburquerque pitched 1.1 scoreless innings in relief of Brad Penny. His win upped his record to 5-1 on the year. Arizona scored a run with 2 outs in the top of the 9th but Jose Valverde got the final out.

Penny gave up 2 runs on 6.2 innings, but the offensive explosion came after he departed.

Jhonny Peralta was 3-4 on the day and Cabrera was 2-4.

The win, combined with Cleveland getting swept by San Francisco, put Detroit back on top of the AL Central. The Giants come to town next, so hopefully Detroit can cool them off. I think they'll miss Justin Verlander. In the last two turns through the rotation only Verlander and Max Scherzer have earned wins as starters. Al Alburquerque earned the other 2 wins. Penny has pitched well with no wins to show for it three straight outings, but Rick Porcello and Phil Coke are going to have to step it up.

Detroit earned a big come from behind win on the day when they retired Sparky Anderson's jersey before the game. His name and number went up on the outfield wall in a pre-game ceremony that brought a number of members of the 1984 World Series champions and members of Sparky's family on the field. Kirk Gibson and Alan Trammell also watched from the Arizona dugout.

the last two days: Arizona at Detroit

Arizona's visit to Detroit for an interleague series is marked by returns. Kirk Gibson is the Diamondback's manager. Alan Trammell is Gibson's bench coach. In addition to their days playing for Detroit together Gibson had been on Trammell's s staff while he was the Tigers manager before Jim Leyland.

There were some Tigers returns as well. Brandon Inge returned from a DL trip caused by mononucleosis. Ryan Perry returned from a DL visit. Danny Worth and Adam Wilk were sent down.

Game 1 went to the Diamondbacks. Phil Coke got more than 3 runs of support for the first start all season. But he gave up 6 runs, 5 earned in 4.2 innings pitched. He couldn't quite get to first fast enough for a putout that could have ended the 5th with him in the lead. Instead he got beaten to the bag for an infield hit, then was chased by a 2 run double that cost him the lead.

David Purcey took the loss when he gave up a mammoth home run to Willy Mo Pena. Pena hadn't been in the Majors since 2008 until a recent call up. He can hit the ball a mile but when he's not doing that he hasn't doing much, thus his previous stints in the majors turned into being in the minors the last 2 years. But he got ahold of Purcey's offering for a 454 foot bomb to left, that was the third longest home run in the history of Comerica Park.

Purcey fell to 1-1 on the season.

Casper Wells was 2-4 with a double and his 4th home run for the Tigers and had 2 RBIs. Jhonny Peralta was 2-4 with an 2-run double. Magglio Ordonez had an RBI double. Victor Martinez also drove in a run.

Tonight was all Justin Verlander on the mound and all Alex Avila at the plate. Verlander struck out a career 14 batters. He walked 1 and allowed 4 hits in 8 shutout innings. He won for the 10th time, and his 6th straight decision, to improve to 10-3 on the season and tie the Yankees CC Sabathia for the AL lead in wins.

Alex Avila was 3-4 with a three run homer and a double, and 4 RBIs. The homer was his 10th of the year.

Victor Martinez was 2-4 with an RBI and Jhonny Peralta had an RBI double. Miguel Cabrera was also 2-3.

All-Star voting

I just cast my All-Star ballot. Man, a couple positions didn't make it easy. Not because there were so many guys having a great season, but because so many weren't.

I know my ballot is going to look like a big homer, since the ballot asks who your favorite team is, but I voted for Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta, and Alex Avila. Two of my other 3 votes that weren't Yankees are former Tigers, Curtis Granderson and Matt Joyce. But it's an honestly non-biased ballot.

In fact my bias at shortstop was initially to give Derek Jeter one more starting nod in the season that he will collect his 3000th hit and officially cross into baseball immortality. But I had to go with Peralta who has had a great season and as far as I know has never been to an All-Star Game.

Plenty of other people will vote for Jeter though, so his start is pretty much ensured. I just hope the players pick Peralta when they choose the reserves.

Tigers at Dodgers

After Denver Detroit took their No DH show to LA to battle the Dodgers. Brad Penny made his return to Chavez Ravine.

Game 1 was no Tiger offense. Literally. They got shut out 4-0 on 2 hits. Penny gave up 2 runs on 6 hits in 6 innings pitched but took another tough luck loss. He fell to 5-6 on the season.

On Tuesday, Detroit fell 6-1. Max Scherzer gave up 6 runs in 6 innings pitched to fall to 9-3 on the season.

Victor Martinez had 2 of Detroit's 6 hits and drove in the run.

In the series finale today the Tiger offense finally showed up. Detroit hit 4 home runs and won 7-5.

Magglio Ordonez hit his 2nd home run of the season and had 2 RBIs. Casper Wells hit his 3rd home run of the season. Don Kelly hit a pinch hit home run, his 2nd. Miguel Cabrera was 2-3 with his 15th homer of the season and 2 RBIs.

Victor Martinez was 2-3 with an RBI. Brennan Boesch was 2-5 with a double.

Rick Porcello got roughed up again, giving up 5 runs on 9 hits in 4.2 innings pitched. The bullpen regained control though. Al Alburquerque earned the win, with 2.1 hitless innings. He struck out 4 and improved his record to 4-1.

Jose Valverde pitched the 9th to earn his 17th save. He walked 1 and allowed 2 hits and can give Austin Jackson a save as well. Jackson came in as a defensive replacement and made an over the shoulder catch on the dead run near the warning track to end the game with the bases loaded. If he doesn't catch that the bases clear and the Dodgers win the game. Huge catch by Jackson.

over the weekend: Tigers at Rockies

Detroit traveled to the Land of the National League...Colorado for a weekend series. On Friday the Tigers' pitching apparently got left behind in Detroit.

Detroit fell behind 13-1 as Rick Porcello got battered for 8 runs on 9 hits in 3 innings pitched.

They made a tiny comeback as Jhonny Peralta hit a grand slam, his 11th homer of the season. Victor Martinez was 2-4 with an RBI. Alex Aliva drew a bases loaded walk.

Avila started at third base in this game so Detroit could have both Avila and Martinez in the lineup in the National League park. I'm not sure it will be a common manuever. Avila had 1 RBI on a bases loaded walk. But he committed 1 error in his 2 fielding chances, which led to 2 unearned runs.

The final was 13-6. Porcello fell to 6-5 on the season.

Saturday night Detroit lost 5-4. Jhonny Peralta was 2-4 with a double and an RBI. Ryan Raburn had a bases loaded double that scored 2, but Peralta was thrown out at the plate. He was one of two Tigers gunned down at the plate in the game.

Phil Coke gave up a 2-run single Ubaldo Jiminez, the pitcher. NL pitchers may hit better than their AL counterparts but letting the pitcher delivery a 2-run hit is a recipe for a loss. Coke gave up 4 runs in 5 innings pitched, to fall to 1-7 on the season

On Sunday Justin Verlander righted the ship. He went the distance for the second straight game, allowing one run. His 9th win tied Max Scherzer for the AL lead.

Detroit cruised 9-1 to salvage one game in Denver. Brennan Boesch was 3-4 and hit his 10th home run of the season. Miguel Cabrera was 2-4 with a double and his 14th home run of the season. Alex Avila was 2-4 with 2 RBIs. Don Kelly was 2-5 with an RBI triple. Andy Dirks and Ryan Raburn also drove in runs.

Tigers beat Cleveland in the rubber game to regain sole possession of first place

Jhonny Peralta and Ryan Raburn hit back-to-back home runs with 2 outs in the 4th inning to break a 2-2 tie. For Peralta it was his 10th, to join Miguel Cabrera in double figures. For Raburn it was his 6th as he tries to duplicate his frequent summertime offensive surge.

Max Scherzer allowed 2 runs on 4 hits in 5.2 innings pitched. He gave up back to back triples in the top of the first to fall behind 2-0 but settled down. He got into a bit of a jam in the 6th but Al Alburquerque got the final out with the bases loaded to put out the fire and keep Detroit up 6-2. He went 1.1 innings overall, then gave way to Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde. Power arms. And they slammed the door, allowing only 1 hit while striking out 4 in their combined 3.1 innings of work.

Scherzer improved his record to 9-2 on the season.

Jhonny Peralta was 2-4 with his homer. Victor Martinez delivered an RBI single and a sac fly to drive in 2. Miguel Cabrera was 2-3 with an RBI. Don Kelly was 2-4 with an RBI and scored twice. Brennan Boesch was also 3-4. Detroit had 13 hits and would have scored more but they hit into 3 double plays to snuff out rallies.

Tigers fall back into a first place tie with Cleveland

Detroit jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Cleveland in the top of the first, but Cleveland came roaring back. They claimed a 6-4 win. Brad Penny lasted only 3.1 innings. He gave up 4 runs on 8 hits. Charlie Furbush gave up a run in 1.2 innings of work. He ended up taking his first Major League loss. He's 1-1 on the season.

Brennan Boesch hit his 9th homer of the season and had 2 RBIs. Alex Avila was 2-2 with 2 walks and 2 RBIs.

Victor Martinez was 2-4 with 2 doubles. Magglio Ordonez was 1-3 for his first hit since he returned from the DL.

It looks like Boston can start stretching out their Cup hoistin' muscles

Boston scored 2 goals in the second period, one a short handed goal, at Vancouver to extend their lead to 3-0 over Vancouver in Game 7.

Vancouver has looked great for 3 games and pretty terrible for 4. Jekyl and Hyde series for them, which is apparently going to come up one game short. If so, Vancouver's Stanley Cup shutout continues and Boston's drought since 1972 will end. That means that all four major Boston franchises have won a title since 2004, assuming Boston doesn't surrender 4 goals in the next 14 and a half minutes.

Tigers take sole possession of first place behind another dominant Justin Verlander outing

Justin Verlander took a no hitter into the 8th inning before surrendering a one out single. He finished up a 4-0 win over Cleveland with a complete game 2-hitter. The second hit came with 2 outs in the 9th. Verlander walked one and set a season high for strikeouts for the second straight start, with 12. He upped his record to 8-3 on the season. His ERA now sits at a nifty 2.66 on the season.

Andy Dirks was 3-4 with 2 RBIs. He also stole a base. Alex Avila and Miguel Cabrera also added sac flies. Austin Jackson was 2-4 and added his 10th stolen base of the season. His batting average is approaching .260 after the horrendous early season slump.

This was the first game all season in which Detroit didn't have an extra base hit. They strung together 11 singles. The win of course is much more important. First place means nothing with 96 games left to play, but it's a solid confidence boost given that this season has had some ups and downs so far. Still though Detroit sits at 36-30. On paper before the season the second half of the schedule looked alot easier than the first half, so the hope was that the team could stay afloat as the younger hitters and the starting rotation gelled, then turn it on in the second half.

I personally still expect things to be a dogfight. They have cooled off after a hot start but Cleveland has looked good this year and I certainly don't expect them to collapse, even if they have cooled off from their major league best start. Chicago has a lot of talent. No matter how far down they are Minnesota is still Minnesota and I don't ever count them out until game 162 has ended.

the last 4 days Detroit has won 2 and lost 2

On Friday evening Detroit lost to Seattle 3-2. Brad Penny allowed 3 runs on 8 hits in 7 innings pitched but took the hard luck loss. Two home runs allowed did him in. Penny fell to 5-5 on the season. Victor Martinez supplied all the offense for Detroit with a 2-run homer, his 6th of the year.

Saturday night Detroit cruised 8-1 behind Max Scherzer. This was Scherzer's best outing in about a month. He had earned a win in his last start, but that was more due to strong offensive support he got. On Saturday though he took a no-hitter into the 5th inning and allowed 1 run on 4 hits in 7 innings pitched. He improved to 8-2 on the season.

Jhonny Peralta hit his 9th homer of the season, a 2-run shot. Austin Jackson was 3-5 with 2 triples and 2 RBIs. Victor Martinez was 3-4 with a double and 2 RBIs. Don Kelly also drove in a run.

Brennan Boesch was 3-4 on the night as well, adding to his recent hot hitting.

On Sunday Detroit was shut down by Felix Hernandex. That's why King Felix may be the best pitcher in the American League right now, though Justin Verlander is making his case.

Seattle scored 2 in the 8th and 2 in the 9th to break open a tight game and send Rick Porcello to the loss. Porcello went 7 and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits. He fell to 6-4 on the season.

Alex Avila was 2-4 with 2 RBIs. Victor Martinez was 2-3 with an RBI, but Detroit fell 7-3. Seattle and Detroit split the 4 game series.

Last night Tampa came to town to make up an earlier rain out. Ramon Santiago tripled home Victor Martinez with 1 out in the bottom of the 10th to win it for Detroit 2-1. David Purcey was the 6th Tiger pitcher and earned his first win of the season. Joaquin Benoit allowed the tying run in the 8th to deny Phil Coke his elusive 2nd win of the season.

Of bigger significance was the fact that Phil Coke pitched 6.1 scoreless innings, allowing 4 hits. His best outing since returning from the DL. Magglio Ordonez also returned from the DL. He played right field. He was 0-2 but threw out a runner at the plate, which was big in a tight game.

Victor Martinez was 2-5 with the other Tiger RBI. Alex Avila was 2-4 with a double and Austin Jackson was 2-5. Jackson has now pushed his batting average over .250

Detroit is now percentage points behind Cleveland in the Central, and start a series with them tonight.

The Tigers return to their winning ways hosting Seattle

Detroit beat Seattle 4-1 in the series opener. Justin Verlander was dominant. He allowed 1 run, that on a wild pitch during a strikeout in the first, on 5 hits in 8 innings pitched. He walked one and struck out then. He upped his record to 7-3.

Jose Valverde closed out the 9th to earn his 16th save.

The red hot Brennan Boesch was 2-4 with a 2-run homer, his 9th, and a double.

Alex Avila was 2-2 with 2 triples and an RBI.

Don Kelly was 2-4 with an RBI.

Detroit's recent hot streak takes a night off

Phil Coke made his return from the DL, but he wasn't sharp. He allowed 6 runs, 4 earned, on 10 hits in 5 innings pitched. He fell to 1-6 on the season.

Don Kelly hit his first home run of the season in the first inning, and ended up with 2 RBIs on the night. But after behind 1-0 out of the gate, Texas scored the next 7 runs.

Austin Jackson had an RBI double in the 9th. Detroit scored 2 in the 9th but there was no big explosion tonight, and they fell 7-3.

Alexi Ogando allowed 6 hits in 7.2 innings for Texas to improve his record to 7-0 on the season. He's the first pitcher to win his first 7 decisions of a season since Jared Weaver started 9-0 for the Angels in 2006.

Tigers stage another offensive outburst tonight

One night after a season high 18 hits against the Rangers, Detroit surpassed that by pummeling Texas pitching for 20 hits. They didn't have a 5-6 outburst or 4 home runs but they still plated 8 runs in support of Rick Porcello.

For the second straight night, every Tiger starter had at least one hit. Seven players had multi-hit games. Four had 3-hit games. Austin Jackson was 3-6 with 3 RBIs. Ryan Raburn was 2-4 with 2 RBIs. Casper Wells was 3-6 with 2 doubles and an RBI. Miguel Cabrera was 2-5 with an RBI and Jhonny Peralta had an RBI single.

Alex Avila was also 3-5 with 2 doubles and 2 runs scored. Victor Martinez was 3-5 with a double and 2 runs scored. Brennan Boesch was 2-4.

That was more than enough for Porcello, who allowed 1 run on 6 hits in 6 innings pitched. He upped his record to 6-3 on the season. He joins Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander in the "at least 6 wins" club. Great balance in the rotation so far. David Purcey returned from paternity leave to pitch 2 innings and Daniel Schlereth closed out the 9th. With the easy victory Detroit was able to rest Benoit and Valverde for the battles ahead.

In an interesting quirk this was the first game that Detroit has won in which they had at least 20 hits but scored fewer than 10 runs since they beat the White Sox 9-8 on August 17, 1957. 15 of the 20 hits were singles, and no home runs, so they strung together lots of rallies, unlike the way they exploded last night.

From the NCAA X-Files

The NCAA went to Los Angeles yesterday and took USC's 2006 National Championship in football back with them, and stored it away in the same room with Memphis's recent Final Four and national championship game appearance, Reggie Bush's Heisman Trophy from 2006, and other trophies and awards from events that didn't really happen. As a result of Bush playing while he should have been ineligible USC's BCS Championship was vacated.

I feel that's pretty much a pointless gesture. It takes away the hard work and the reward that many innocent players achieved. For some backups, maybe a 3rd string punter, or 3rd string long snapper who was a walk-on maybe that was the highlight of their athletic career with that ring they earned. I'll grant a football superpower like USC likely isn't bringing in the walk-ons like Duke or someone, but there are still players who had no NFL aspirations, who's sports highlight was their contribution in practice or on special teams for a National Champion. Now they don't have that.

But I think it's likely that the NCAA dusted off a spot on the shelf next to that championship to stick some Ohio State Big Ten titles and bowl victories in the very near future.

Between USC and Ohio State keeping the NCAA busy there is no telling what John Calipari is getting away with at Kentucky right now while the NCAA has its back turned.

from the Files of the Incredibly Expected...

In the least unexpected news since I had to make a Run for the Toilet shortly after making a late night Run for the Border, Terrelle Pryor announced that he is not going to return for his senior season at Ohio State.

His plan is to try for the NFL Supplemental Draft or perhaps the Canadian Football League depending on how the lockout progresses. Pryor can take his trail of destruction to its next destination after leaving Columbus, Ohio in ruins.

I'm not sure what his NFL prospects are really. I think the Arena Football League can start printing out those Terrelle Pryor: Coming to an Arena Football Arena Near You! banners.

Tigers busted out the boomsticks tonight

Detroit visited Texas for the start of a series. The Rangers can score some runs, so wisdom would say that Detroit needs to be able to score some runs to stay in games. As expected Texas did score 7 tonight.

But Detroit scored more. They busted out a season high 13 runs and 18 hits, led by Brennan Boesch's career night. Boesch was 5-6 with 5 RBIs. He hit his 6th and 7th home runs of the season and added an RBI double. Boesch set career highs for hits, RBIs and added his first ever multi-homer game.

Andy Dirks hit a 2-run homer, his 3rd of the season. Alex Avila added his 9th of the season.

Danny worth entered the game as a pinch hitter and delivered a 2 out RBI single. In his next at bat he hit a 2-run double. So Worth was a very efficient 2-2 with his first 3 RBIs of the season.

Miguel Cabrera had an RBI double and Victor Martinez had an RBI sac fly. Austin Jackson was also 3-5 with 3 runs scored. Every Tiger starter had at least 1 hit, and Worth added his 2 off the bench.

Max Scherzer struggled again as he works to find his early season form. He allowed 5 runs on 8 hits in 5 innings of work, but the run support got him his 7th win of the season. It's his first win in almost a month. He's now 7-2. It was the second straight game that the starter wasn't really effective but the offense was able to pick them up for a change and get them a win.

Charlie Furbush surrendered a 2-run home run in 3 otherwise solid innings of relief. Daniel Schlereth got the first 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th and Joaquin Benoit came in to strike out the final batter after Schlereth got in some trouble. So Detroit finally was able to give Valverde a day off.

The Tigers have won 5 of 6 and are now a season high 5 games over .500 and have closed to within 1.5 games of division leading Cleveland.

Tigers beat the White Sox on WGN today

Ryan Raburn hit a 2-out grand slam to highlight a 6 run 4th inning. It was Raburn's 5th home run of the season and first in awhile. His name hasn't come up in any game recaps in quite awhile, other than observations of him playing second base, as Detroit tries to stabilize that position. Andy Dirks also had a 2 out RBI double in the inning.

Prior to the inning, which Austin Jackson led off with a single, Detroit hadn't had a baserunner. Then the floodgates opened.

Victor Martinez had a bases loaded sac fly in the 4th. He hit the ball hard but on a line that was caught near the wall. If he'd have elevated the ball just a bit more he'd have had a grand slam himself.

Miguel Cabrera later added his 12th home run of the season.

The offensive explosion was enough to earn a win for Brad Penny. Penny labored through 5 innings. He allowed 3 runs on 8 hits. He did strike out 5 and worked out of a couple jams to stay in it. Not his best outing, but he improved to 5-4 on the season.

Al Alburquerque pitched the 6th and 7th. It was my first look at him. Impressive arm, impressive stuff. If he can stay consistent he can be dominating, like Joel Zumaya was in 2006.

Joaquin Benoit pitched the 8th and Jose Valverde the 9th. With a 4 run lead it could have been nice to give Valverde an off-day since Detroit has had a lot of save situations lately. Unless the offense starts generating a bit more pop Detroit is likely to play in a whole bunch of close games. But right now I don't know if they have that totally reliable 4th reliever who could have pitched the 6th when the starter goes only 5. Daniel Schlereth was sharp for awhile but has been shaky lately. Ditto for Ryan Perry, who's now in Triple A to work out his delivery problems.

But Detroit rebounded to take 2 of 3 on the road in Chicago. They're now 31-27 on the season, 2.5 games behind division leading Cleveland.

In Game Observation - Tigers vs. White Sox

Man it's always better when it's on WGN against the Sox. Ryan Raburn just hit a grand slam to put the exclamation point on a 6 run inning. Ken Harrelson now sounds like he ate a turd. Suck it Hawk!

Tigers beat the White Sox in clutch fashion last night

Miguel Cabrera hit a 2-run home run with 2 outs in the top of the 9th inning to snap a 2-2 tie. It was his 12th home run of the season.

That propelled Justin Verlander to his 6th win of the season. Verlander gave up 2 runs in 8 innings pitched. He allowed 7 hits and struck out 7. Verlander improved his record to 6-3 on the season. Jose Valverde came in to pitch the 9th and earned his 15th save of the season.

Brennan Boesch also had a 2-run homer to account for the other runs. It was his 5th of the year.

Austin Jackson was 3-5 with a triple and his 9th stolen base of the season. He was on base for both of the 2-run homers.

Tigers fell to the White Sox in their series opener

The White Sox jumped on Andy Oliver, who lasted only 3.2 innings. He fell to 0-1 on the season. Charlie Furbush surrendered his first run in 2.2 innings of relief.

Detroit tried to come back but couldn't quite get over the hump. Casper Wells hit a 3-run home run, his 2nd of the season. Alex Avila drove in a run with a bases loaded sac fly, and didn't miss a grand slam by much.

Detroit had 13 hits, but 12 singles and the homer, so they couldn't really string things together. Brennan Boesch, Victor Martiniez, and Jhonny Peralta all had multiple hits. Peralta had 3.

apparently MBL players recently engaged in their own snark

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1106/mlb-players-poll-most-overrated-player/content.1.html

According to a poll of 185 Major League players, the top 3 most overrated players are all Yankees. Alex Rodriguez, Joba Chamberlain, and Derek Jeter. Add in Nick Swisher and 4 of the top 6 are Yankees. Toss in AJ Burnett and 5 of the 16 players in the article are Yankees.

That says one of two things (or maybe both)

1) Yankees players get overhyped because they play for the largest media market in the country and the most legendary franchise in baseball, if not all of sports.

2) There were a lot of Boston Red Sox and/or AL East players polled.

But the top three are worth commenting on.

1) Alex Rodriguez. I don't know that he's overrated. The guy has had a huge career and is still putting up highly productive numbers. There are probably a dozen guys in the league putting up better numbers that you don't hear about every day, a couple of them on his own team. A-Rod has been tainted a bit by his steroid admission and has a reputation as a diva. Neither of those helped in the voting by his peers I'm sure.

2) Joba Chamberlain. This one I WHOLE HEARTEDLY agree with. I'd have put him at #1 on my list. I'm tired of hearing about him. He's supposed to be the second coming of whatever. But at this point he's a middle reliever with a 3.88 ERA. Average. Hitters hit .248 off of him. Average. He's blown more saves than he's earned in the limited opportunities he's received. He's only 26 so he has time. But he's not going to be replacing Mariano Rivera as Yankees closer for probably a couple years. I think Rivera comes back next season barring injury as he's still his productive self. He'll retire when Jeter does. Chamberlain is no better than either Jose Valverde or Joaquin Benoit for the Tigers. Probably not even as good. But he has a ton of hype and has for years. Some people whisper that the velocity on his fastball is already in decline. That is what he's been most known for.

3) Speaking of Derek Jeter, he's number 3. I agree with this placement just in the sense that Jeter generates the same hype that he did 4 or 5 years ago. He's not the same player that he was 4 or 5 years ago. Still decent. Still clutch. He's a great leader. He'll go down, quite legitimately, as one of the great shortstops in baseball history and one of the all-time great Yankees. He'll have 3000 hits. The first Yankee to ever reach 3000 hits while in their uniform, and he earned all of them while in their uniform. 5 World Series rings. Enough said. But he's not the superstar in terms of the day to day production that he once was. He earned the reputation from years of being that guy, much like Cal Ripken and some other guys who became more average late in their career then their "buzz" indicated. I can respect that. But I can also see how he earned #3 on this list.

Before Red Sox Nation snickers too loudly, Jonathon Papelbon, David Ortiz, and JD Drew are all on the 16 player list. Papelbon and Ortiz both suffer to a degree of not being the players they were in their prime, just like Jeter. Though neither was in the class that Jeter was in their prime.

So Long Shaq

Shaquille O'Neil announced his retirement today, via a social media application ironically, after 19 NBA seasons. He ends his career with 1 MVP award. He won 4 NBA Titles and was the MVP in 3 of those series. His career averages are 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.3 blocks per game on 58.2 percent shooting.

He ends his career as the 5th all-time leading scorer and 12th all-time leading rebounder.

Tigers sweep the Twins

Miguel Cabrera hit a 3-run home run, his 11th of the year. Alex Avila added an RBI single. That was enough support for Rick Porcello, who surrendered only a 2-run home run and 6 hits in 6.2 innings pitched. He improved his record to 5-3 on the season.

Al Alburquerque got the final out of the 7th with a strikeout. The recently rock solid Joaquin Benoit pitched a perfect 8th. Jose Valverde was a little shaky in the 9th, and intentionally walked Justin Morneau to bring the go ahead run to the plate rather than letting Morneau tie it. But Valverde induced a game ending groundout to third to seal his 14th save of the season.

Alburquerque to Benoit to Valverde is a nasty series of late game power arms if they can stay dominant. If the starters keep going at least 6 innings like they have been, the Tigers will be in a lot of games. Carl Furbush is also showing himself to be another power arm in whatever spot they put him, if they even decide to keep him with the big league team to get only sporadic innings. He or Jacob Turner could also be the 5th starter next season so there is benefit to sending Furbush down to get regular starting work and seasoning. We'll see. But for all the bullpen shakiness there is also the potential that it could all gel into a dominant relief corp as well.

Detroit has now won 4 straight games. I think this is their fourth winning streak of at least 4 games this season. They've countered that with I believe four losing streaks of at least 4 as well.

Twins-Tigers: In-game observation

Wow, Detroit intentionally walked Justin Morneau with 2 outs in the top of the 9th to bring the go ahead run to the plate rather than have Jose Valverde face him. Even with Morneau being 0-3 on the game. He's warming up now and he traditionally destroys Detroit though. That's some Barry Bonds level respect.

Edit: It worked. Michael Cuddyer grounded out to third to end the game.