The Tigers defense was stellar last night, as it turned every ball in play into an out.  Unfortunatley 5 balls found the seats and the Tigers came up short and lost to the Yankees.
 
I’m finally back, after I decided to take an extended All Star break, just in time for the Tigers’ latest biggest series of the year.  Because this series is against the Yankees, and because the Tigers have been playing well enough to have people excited, the Tigers are selling out (or coming awfully close) each game of the 4 game series.  The Tigers have an opportunity to really put on a show in front of a full house, which is why this series is so important. 
 
They need to at least split the series, and play good baseball to sustain this good will.  Last night’s loss, while disappointing, wasn’t a bad loss.  It wasn’t blown by bad relief pitching, or shoddy fielding.  The Tigers just got beat, which is okay.  Jose Contreras was dominating.  He absolutely destroyed Eric Munson, who has been hitting well lately.
 
I’m heading down to the game tonight and hopefully they can bounce back.  Mike Maroth started out real strong in his last outing against the Twins.  But then in the 7th, his defense let him down and he was forced to try and get 5 outs that inning, and the Twins capitalized and turned his outing upside down.
 
Injury Notes:  Greg Norton is 4 for 30 in 8 games on his rehab assignment.  Nate Cornejo’s rehab was suspended because of soreness in his shoulder.  Danny Patterson began his rehab assignment last night.