Detroit Tigers: 52-43, 1st Place (1.5 ahead of Cleveland). 

Do the Tigers need a little jump start?

They came back from the break cold as could be–the offensive highlights of the game were two warning track flies to center by Torii Hunter and Miguel Cabrera.

Perhaps they do need a spark; accordingly, Jim Leyland is sending a message and sending out a lineup that is…the same as last night.

You know I will go out on a limb and say that while there are certain topics that invite criticism, Leyland is not really doing a bad job of playing the hand that he has been dealt. And it IS the hand that he has been dealt–he does not have a magical ability to make better players materialize from the the bowels of Comerica Park.

It is not so hard to see the Tigers’ weaknesses. They have great starting pitching; the bullpen? Cross your fingers. They have a great offense–with arguably the best hitter in the game– but one that either bombs the other team into submission, or makes the likes of Ervin Santana look like an All-Star Game snub, with not much in-between. It is easy to see that the Tigers are not so good at the low-scoring, let’s-manufacture-a-run type of game, but harder to see what to do about that, managerially. Leyland does try: last night after Andy Dirks got a rare hit, he was sent with Avila batting, which got them a 3rd out. He only has so much to work with.

Not that there is no room for criticism. Pinch-hitting Don Kelly for Ramon Santiago? Really? Because there actually was a guy on the bench who could have tied the game with one swing. Unfortunately, he swings from the wrong side of the plate, so he could not have possibly done better than Ramon Santiago or Don Kelly, right?

*****

Before the season started there was much discussion about how the Tigers needed a right-handed bat. What they really need, it seems, is a left-handed one. Andy Dirks and Alex Avila we won’t discuss. But also Prince Fielder is not really panning out in that respect. He may want to skip the hard work of taking BP against lefties and just focus on crushing righties. Also he could use a day or two off, which will never happen, and will become increasingly more annoying as his Tiger tenure continues. He currently has a meager .798 OPS against right-handers (.253 BA), which is just a tick better than Don Kelly (.763). This is not what Mr. Illitch paid for. Oh, and by the way, Tuiasosopo’s OPS against RHP is a mere 1.134.

*****

This team is desperately missing Omar Infante. The worst thing about the lineup is their inexplicable inability to do anything after the 6th inning. The one exception is Infante, who has been the late-inning star, with across-the-board standout numbers: a .337 BA (Cabrera is 2nd with a lukewarm .260), and an OPS of .897 (Cabrera again 2nd at .808, Tuiasosopo 3rd at .788). Martinez may as well leave early and let Don Kelly take over, with late-inning numbers of .180/.489.

*****

Not that there was nothing good about last night’s game. In the weekend before the All-Star break, Bruce Rondon seemed to have what may have been a breakout performance, retiring Texas in the 7th with 2 strikeouts and a groundout–all on 0-2 pitches (and added another out in the 8th).  Last night Rondon came in in the 7th and got Billy Butler, and then followed up with a quick 1-2-3 8th inning. This is two in a row for Rondon, and his emergence, if that what it is, could end up being the biggest story of July for Detroit, who I suspect is trying really hard not to pay way too much (in trade or otherwise) for bullpen help.

*****

The White Sox have been struggling mightily, and finally manager Robin Ventura decided he had had enough. Alex Rios was removed from the game after failing to run out a grounder (on which he may have been safe).  I have always been a bit skeptical about the actual value of “sending a message” like this. On the other hand the White Sox are currently bombing the Braves 9-4, and Rios is 3-for-4 with a grand slam. Food for thought.

*****

Stat of the Day: Anibal Sanchez is an even 7-7. In each of his 7 wins, the Tigers have scored 6 or more runs. In each of his losses, they have scored 3 runs or fewer.

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Justin Verlander, in case the lineup bats like yesterday.

Today’s Same as Yesterday Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Peralta, SS
7. Dirks, LF
8. Avila, C
9. Santiago, 2B

Detroit Tigers: 52-42, 1st Place (1.5 ahead of Cleveland). 

Baseball is back!

The Tigers head into Kansas City to kick off the 2nd half of the season (which, with only 68 games remaining, is actually almost 60% over). Which also means we have less than 2 weeks remaining before the July 31 trade deadline. The Tigers, who seem to have lost Octavio Dotel, have jettisoned Jose Valverde, and have watched Bryan Villarreal and Al Alburquerque struggle, would seem to be prime players in the relief pitcher market.

There were murmurings that the Tigers may be pursuing Tim Lincecum: not as a starter, but to do a Smoltz and make a closer out of him. Lincecum’s no-hitter and subsequent praise by the Giants General Manager make it unlikely they will move him anywhere, although if they do, there would be a very short list of teams willing to take on his contract ($22 million this season).

Whatever trade rumors are brewing though, be assured Mad Max will be on top of it all. Scherzer says, somewhat redundantly, that he is a “pretty fanatical fan” of the MLB Trade Rumors web site, which he reads almost every day.

*****

Also of note as the second half of the season begins: it is beginning without Omar Infante. Infante’s injury was originally deemed minor enough that he was not even put on the disabled list: now it is beginning to look increasingly bad (it is not the shin contusion that is the problem, but the accompanying sore ankle). At any rate Infante is still down in Lakeland and will join the team Saturday for a medical re-evaluation.

*****

It’s yesterday’s news now, but the Tigers shone in the All-Star game, which resulted in AL home field advantage for this year’s World Series. Scherzer pitched one perfect inning; Fielder tripled, Cabrera doubled and made some nice plays at third, Peralta singled, and even Torii Hunter, who hit into a DP, contributed by making the AL pre-game speech. Good job, guys!

*****

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Prince Fielder. Prince has finally caught his breath from his All-Star Game triple, and is ready to start the 2nd half with a bang.

Today’s Oh My No Omar Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Peralta, SS
7. Dirks, LF
8. Avila, C
9. Santiago, 2B

51-42, 1st place, 1.5 games ahead of Cleveland.

OK, that didn’t go so well. I look at it as Scherzer losing 4-1, let down considerably by his teammates. (Is Alburquerque even worth mentioning? No.) The bright spots would seem to be Phil Coke (the inevitable response to being singled out for criticism in a game post – guess we need to keep it up, guys) and an RBI from Hernan Perez. Not much to write home about, as they say. Still a good chance for a series win, especially with Justin the (Ahem) Infallible on the mound.

So where were we at this time (Game 93) last year? It was after the break, and the Tigers were 49-44 (2nd place, 1.5 back of the Wrong Sox) and in the midst of the incredible 13-2 run that put them back on the map. Max Scherzer had just gone to 9-5 (with 4.61 ERA) by shutting down the Angels as Detroit took the home series 3-1 despite one 13-0 drubbing. Quintin Berry was doing an admirable job of filling in for Andy Dirks, as he had doing the same for Austin Jackson. Who could have known Miguel Cabrera was headed for a Triple Crown with such paltry (ha ha) stats as .326, 21 HR, 76 RBI? DH Delmon Young was sitting at .270, 10 HR, 40 RBI, and Alex Avila at .245, 6 HR, 27 RBI, and both were undoubtedly being groused about (who knew?). 2B was being (under)manned by Ramon Santiago and Danny Worth; ironically, at this time there was also no Omar Infante but soon would be.

Does it not strain belief that the 2013 Tigers are only 2 games up on the 2012 Tigers? With the best starting rotation in the AL?? With Torii Hunter in place of Brennan Boesch? With Miguel Greenberg and Hank Cabrera both in the lineup in one person? With Victor Martinez in place of Delmon Young? I can think of only one solution:

Bring Valverde back. One thing I can tell you: He’s done it before, and he’s not afraid.

Mwah ha ha ha ha.

Today’s “Here There Be Tygers” lineup:

CF Jackson
RF Hunter
3B Cabrera
1B Fielder
DH Martinez
SS Peralta
LF Tuiasosopo
C Avila
2B Perez

51-41, 1st place, 2.5 games ahead of Cleveland.

Very good win last night. Only a couple things marred the enjoyment: 1. Will someone please explain why Miggy didn’t catch the foul ball that dropped 10 feet away from him, and am I making too big a deal out of it? 2. What Ortiz did to the Tigers in relief of Grimm would have been less amusing without a 7-2 lead.

Torii Hunter, aptly described by M. Impemba as the wily veteran, constantly amuses us with Wily Veteran Things, most recently two clever, heads-up slides that avoided outs and scored a run. I was high on Hunter to begin with, and he started the year at a torriid pace, but his stock dropped with me after that. I was seeing “solid” numbers that weren’t really translating into W’s. Obviously, he’s been back on track for a while now. I’m acknowledging it.

Bruce Rondon just pitched 4/3 innings like the phenom he was supposed to be. Coleman voiced what many of us were thinking – we might have just witnessed the start of something big. The Tigers Volunteer Fire Department might be about to upgrade from a couple of fire extinguishers and a bunch of leaky buckets to a by golly fire truck.

Prince Fielder legging out that IF single last night is but one of many reasons you can’t get too down on the guy for an extended slump. If the dude in the following paragraph could get down to 1B like that, I would have held my tongue about sitting him. Actually, the way he can play 1B, maybe I should have. He can’t help being a DH and having limited opportunities.

Now that Victor Martinez is starting to silence us critics, we turn our attention to a few other things set to low heat on the debate stove.

Left field. Andy Dirks is a plus defender in LF and can play all over the OF. He was a good hitter with a model swing as recently as early in the season. I like him, don’t really get what’s going on with him at the plate. On the other hand, I was enthralled by Matt Tuiasosopo from the beginning, even before he started to hit in ST. I liked his demeanor and his hustle. He also reminded me of Freddie Mercury, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Not only can Tui hit, but even more impressively, he’s been able to do what he does off the bench, and consistently, and even upon returning from a DL stint. I consider that mighty impressive. Tuiasosopo is average in LF, with a good arm. On the bases, well, he’s certainly not Dirks’s equal. Overall, logically, statistically, it looks like LF should be a timeshare unaffected by silly platoon crap that doesn’t apply. Right? Well, you know how things work in LeylandWorld. It’s hard to win a job, and it’s hard to lose a job, and a position that doesn’t get settled by a trade or free agent signing tends to remain unsettled. Clearly, LF isn’t going to be handed to Tuiasosopo any time soon, and who’s to say that it should be? But man, can that guy hit, and here’s the thing: Aside from Cabrera, Detroit simply doesn’t have that kind of power from the right side (or aside from Fielder, anywhere else). So why the fascination with any LHB LF (without similar power) for “balance”? Does AJax need a lefty for balance? Incidentally, when was the last time there was a fixture in LF for the Tigers? Certainly not during the Leyland Years. The muddle may continue through 2014 or 2015 or…

Ramon Santiago. Why? Hernan Perez, make yourself at home. Oh wait – that’s in my world.

Phil Coke. I like the guy. Don’t really want to see him pitch any more, at least not for the Tigers. Could he maybe become assistant to the bench coach, or something? He’s a very entertaining figure, don’t want to throw away all the talent. Where’s Jose Ortega? Is Evan Reed gone yet?

Tonight it’s Max Scherzer on the hilly mound toeing the rubbery slab, and how can you not have a good feeling about that? Is it jinxing it to say 14-0? I don’t think so. It’s what we’re all thinking. The Rangers missed Scherzer last time around, and this only adds to my good feeling. The last time out against Holland was a loss, a wild one, but he was hammered. It was Miguel’s 3-HR game, and Matt Tuiasosopo drew 4 walks (which I suspect is nearly as rare as a 3-HR game). I like Tigers chances. Kevin aptly points out the importance of perspective in that Rangers fans have “fear of Tigers” much as we suffer from “fear of Rangers.” Let’s continue to shift the balance of fear in a southwesterly direction. Max!!!!

National game tonight, which means radio for us TV-less MLB.tv folk.

Tonight’s “Hammer Time, Der Kommisar Scherzer’s In Town” lineup (stolen from Vince below, who beat me to “stealing” it from Jason Beck by 18 minutes):

1. Austin Jackson, cf
2. Torii Hunter, rf
3. Miguel Cabrera, 3b
4. Prince Fielder, 1b
5. Victor Martinez, dh
6. Jhonny Peralta, ss
7. Matt Tuiasosopo, lf
8. Brayan Pena, c
9. Hernan Perez, 2b

50-41, 1st place, 2.5 ahead of Cleveland.

Onward and upward after a series against the White Sox that was, shall we say, insulting. Now come the Texas Rangers, a formidable opponent that matches up favorably (in their favor, that is) against the Tigers just about any way you look at it. The optimist’s view would be that this is one of those rise to the occasion opportunities.

Ah, the bullpen. When will that third trustworthy arm emerge?

But wait, there’s good news to cheer about. Miguel Cabrera. Max Scherzer. Matt Tuiasosopo. Victor Martinez. Torii Hunter. Yes, the Detroit Tigers are a good team. As frustrating as it can be when the offense is in a funk, or the starting pitching gets a bit soft, or when a bit of defensive or baserunning clown show darkens our view of a team rather average in these respects, the Tigers are a good team. The only thing standing between them and October baseball, aside from catastrophic injuries, is 71 more games with that bullpen. If you think Sanchez was left in too long, all that amounts to is saying that you wish Alburquerque or Coke or Putkonen or (had he been available) Downs would have given up the slam instead. That’s one way of encapsulating the bullpen situation. Another is: Evan Reed. Evan Reed?

Big series ahead. Let’s start it off right. Time for Doug Fister to shake off those first-inning blues and for Justin Grimm to be brought down to earth at Comerica.

Lineup to come, unless the ever-adroit Coleman or new challenger Vince beat me to it.

Tonight’s Bacon Hat lineup:

CF Jackson
RF Hunter
3B Cabrera
1B Fielder
DH Martinez
SS Peralta
LF Dirks
C Avila
2B Santiago

50-40, 1st place, 3.5 games up.

Last night’s win was about as ho-hum as an 8 -5 win gets. Porcello got the W by pitching well enough. Cabrera, Fielder and VMart each collected 3 hits, but only 1 XBH (a fielder HR) among them. And I gotta say, it’s a little disappointing when Cabrera only gets 1 RBI. Smyly was incredible and Benoit avoided trouble after 2 walks for his 8th save (is that in 8 chances?). Rondon makes me believe that we’ll have a new closer in here in the next 20 days.

This afternoon the Tigers face Chris Sale, who has established himself as one of the best lefties in the AL. His 5-8 record is purely a reflection of a complete lack of run support, as his stats paint him as one of the elite in the AL. Check this out (AL Rank in parenthesis):

ERA: 2.78 (4th)
WHIP: .96 (2nd)
BAA: .202 (3rd)
K/9: 9.77 (3rd)
brWAR: 4.5 (1st)

13 of his 16 starts have been quality, and he’s lost 4 games when he allowed 2 or less ER over 7+ innings. Thus, we need Sanchez to be sharp today.

Look, friends. We have to win this afternoon. You shouldn’t lose series at home, especially against the White Sox. The Rangers are coming into town tomorrow, so we’ll have our work cut out for us leading up to the AS break.

Today’s Series Winning Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Peralta, SS
7. Tuiasosopo. LF
8. Pena, C
9. Perez, 2B

49-40, 1st place, 2.5 games up.

Last night’s game left me with little motivation to write up anything today.

All I know is that we need to win to have a shot at winning the series.

Lineup coming later.

49-39, 1st place, 3.5 games up on Cle.

The Tigers head home for 6 against the White Sox and Rangers after a successful 7-4 road trip that ended with the club taking 3 of 4 from Cle. The White Sox are not good. We gotta win the series.

A few stars from last night’s game, other than VMart.

1) Brayan Pena. Pena made one of the smartest plays you’ll see all season. In case you missed it, Swisher hit a nubber down the 3rd place line to lead off the 8th. He watched it roll foul, assumed that was it, and turned towards the dugout to get ready for the next pitch. Pena watched it like a hawk and snatched it up when it rolled back fair, and then raced over to tag a bewildered, and embarrassed, Nick Swisher.

2) Drew Smyly. Wow. Other than Miguel Cabrera, has anyone been more valuable than Drew Smyly this season? He entered in the 9th after Rondon gave up a leadoff single. A Pena passed ball put a runner on 2nd with no outs. That’s a run expectancy of 1.06. Smyly then gets a fly out, a K, and a fly out. A well deserved W. On the season – batters are hitting .198 off of him, and he’s posting a 2.04 ERA and .98 WHIP.

3) The late inning walk. Seems like we are constantly burned by them; well, VMart made two count in the top of the 10th.

A few notes:

– Victor Martinez’s last 10 games: .390/.538/.928. No home runs, but I can live with the double brothers hitting 5 and 6 in this lineup.

– Prince Fielder’s splits: .314/.398/.520 ** .243/.346/.431. Man, lefties are killing him…except that those splits are the other way. His OPS v. lefties is .918, and it’s .777 v. righties. I’m expecting a monster 2nd half from him.

– Infante to the DL, retroactive to the 4th. I wonder if Colby Rasmus will send a card. 22 year old prospect Hernan Perez up and in the lineup.

– Are the Tigers eyeing someone from the Brewers’ bullpen?

– Could Miggy be joining Prince in the HR derby?

Tonight’s Series Opening Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Peralta, SS
7. Tuiasosopoa, LF
8. Perez, 2B
9. Avila, C

Detroit Tigers: 48-39, 1st Place (2.5 ahead of Cleveland). 

Well the Tigers made what looked like a potential blowout game interesting, only to have a bullpen fail that left them a few runs short. The 11 runners left on base didn’t help, former Indian Jhonny Peralta being the biggest offender (6).

At any rate, the Tigers still have an 8-3 lead in the season series, and have a chance to win the road series with a victory tonight, which would bring them to a very nice 7-4 on what looked to be a difficult 11-game road trip.

Tonight Magic Max looks to round off his charmed first half with a perfect 14-0 on his way to being the All-Star game starting pitcher (if I may make a wild prediction). The record, by the way, for consecutive wins to start a season is 15-0, set by Cleveland’s Johnny Allen in 1937 and tied by Baltimore’s Dave McNally in 1969.

*****

The Home Run Derby teams will be chosen tonight, too late for this post. I will be shocked if reigning champ Prince Fielder is not on the AL team. No word on whether Brandon Inge will get an invitation for the NL team.

****

I mentioned yesterday that this season will be Miguel Cabrera’s first All-Star game start. Since someone asked me who the starters were on the other years he went, I figured I would list them:

• 2004 NL RF Sammy Sosa
• 2005 NL LF Carlos Beltran
• 2006 NL 3B David Wright
• 2007 NL 3B David Wright
• 2010 AL 1B Justin Morneau*
• 2011 AL 1B Adrian Gonzalez
• 2012 AL 3B Adrian Beltre

*Cabrera actually started the game, since Morneau was scratched with a concussion.

You’ll note the gap in 2008-2009, which goes to show the difficulties in adjusting to a new league, if only in reputation–Cabrera’s numbers were actually quite good, even in the first half:

• 2008 first half .284/.837, 16 HR 57 RBI
• 2009 first half .321/.926, 18 HR 50 RBI

2009 of course is the famous season when Brandon Inge made the All-Star team and Miguel Cabrera did not.

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Torii Hunter. Torii is heading into the All-Star game in style: he is on a 7-game hitting streak in which he is batting .419.

Today’s Mash-For-Max Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Peralta, SS
7. Tuiasosopo, LF
8. Pena, C
9. Santiago, 2B

Detroit Tigers: 48-38, 1st Place (3.5 ahead of Cleveland). 

Detroit continued its dominance of the division rival Cleveland Indians last night, with a 9-4 win which featured a good 5-inning return by Anibal Sanchez. The Tigers have now taken 7 in a row from the Tribe, and 8-of-10 for the season. The Tigers have already outscored Cleveland 16-4 in this series, and 49-22 over the 7-game run, which led the Indians to hold a players meeting after the game. Manager Terry Francona promised “we’ll show up tomorrow.”

The All-Star rosters were announced, and the Tigers have at least 6 players going. Miguel Cabrera finally landed a starting spot at 3rd base, and the pitching staff features Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander (manager’s pick…Leyland preemptively defends his pick). Jhonny Peralta, Torii Hunter, and Prince Fielder all made the team as reserves (I am mildly surprised about Fielder).

One more Tiger has a chance to make the team: this year’s AL Final Vote contest for the last spot uniquely features all relief pitchers, including Tiger Joaquin Benoit. Are you an MLB.TV subscriber? No? Then if you vote in the Final Vote you are eligible for a free 14-day MLB.TV trial.

Random stat of the day: Torii Hunter had a double, triple, and home run last night for Detroit. The 37-year old Hunter is the oldest player to do that since 39-year old Dave Winfield did it back in 1991. But you knew that.

In bullpen news, Darin Downs has been placed on the 15-day DL with left rotator cuff tendinitis, and has been replaced on the roster by Evan “White Flag” Reed.

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Austin Jackson. AJax sets the table for the 3 All-Stars hitting behind him.

Today’s Same As Yesterday Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Peralta, SS
7. Dirks, LF
8. Avila, C
9. Santiago, 2B

Detroit Tigers: 47-38, 1st Place (2.5 ahead of Cleveland). 

Yes, it’s that time of the season, that 4th of July lull where DTW game threads only draw a couple of comments and places like ESPN resort to discussing topics such as the All-Star game snubs before the teams are actually named. Snub predictions, I guess.

Anyway, despite the lulliness of the week the Tigers are in gear to put some space in between themselves and Cleveland before the break, after a 7-0 series opener.  That makes it 6 games in a row now that the Tigers have taken from the Indians, which should give Indians fans serious pause when considering their playoff contention hopes, as should the Cleveland record of 18-29 vs. teams with a winning record.

For the Tigers, aside from gaining a game in the standings, the win over the Indians was encouraging because of how well Rick Porcello pitched. Jason Beck notes that Rick Porcello has started doing something that Max Scherzer has been doing all season–increasing his use of the curve, especially against left-handed hitters. In fact, Porcello got 5 outs against lefties in the first 4 innings of last night’s game with the curveball. Can we get a +1 for the coaching staff?

Tonight’s game features the much-anticipated return of Anibal Sanchez to the starting lineup. Anibal will be on a limited pitch-count, so the bullpen should get plenty of work.

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Victor Martinez. Martinez continues to hit his ex-teams well. Yesterday’s performance leaves him with a 2013 average of .382 against Cleveland (.954 OPS), and a career BA of .364 (.995). He also hits Boston well (.318, .920). Strangely, the one team Martinez never hit well was Detroit, only putting up .244/.722. I would expect that to change if he ever becomes an ex-Tiger, based on the above.

Today’s Hit the Ball for Anibal Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Peralta, SS
7. Dirks, LF
8. Avila, C
9. Santiago, 2B

Detroit Tigers: 46-38, 1st Place (1.5 ahead of Cleveland).

Somehow the Tigers have pulled the Bengal-Bus into Cleveland in first place, and even-up on the road trip, pulling 3 of 4 from the previously-hot Blue Jays despite the lack of Cabrera and Infante in the Independence-Day-in-a-Foreign-Land-Finale.

(Although I will go on record here as saying that Kansas City will turn out to be the real division rival, despite the Franconized Indians).

In fact, the bench…OK, let’s have some respect here: The Bench…excelled: Santiago and Kelly were a combined 5-for-9, Jackson, Dirks, and Hunter followed up with a top of the order binge, and Justin Verlander remembered who he was. Perhaps he realized that he has to work harder, now that he is getting old and all, as Jack Morris says

Tonight Cleveland sends out the Other Justin, Justin Masterson, to face The Appealing Rick Porcello.

Jose Valverde is working hard too. In fact his minor league stint should only last a couple of weeks. The Potato will surely rise again after the All-Star break, n’est-ce pas?

Max Scherzer,  on the other hand, needs to work a bit harder. According to SI, if the Cy Young were to be handed out today, he would have to be happy with the Bronze.

Oh, and you will notice this is game 85 already. There are those out there who will be talking about the halfway point of the season “approaching.” Here, we realize that point has passed a few days ago. Nonetheless, it will be worth looking at the various halfway-point (even though the halfway-point is long gone) assessments. For example, did you realize that the Tigers could actually be doing better?

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Don Kelly. The Donkey has now raised his batting average to .240. I have a hunch that Kelly will follow up on his big game yesterday with a hit or two today.

Today’s Oh, No Omar Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Dirks, LF
3. Hunter, RF
4. Cabrera, 3B
5. Fielder, 1B
6. Martinez, DH
7. Peralta, SS
8. Kelly, RF
9. Avila, C
10. Santiago, 2B