So are the Tigers (in other words Miguel Cabrera) over their night game funk? It certainly seems like it after last night. On the other hand, other than Gose and Cespedes the bats seemed to be full of NyQuil until the 7th inning, so maybe it was more a St. Louis Blowpen issue than kicking the night-game stupor. At any rate, it’s incredible how often that scenario happens: Cabrera gets a big hit, then the rest of the team suddenly starts hitting.

For 2/3 of the game, it was looking like a Cespedes home run and a Gose triple were going to have to be enough to win the game, and maybe would. Greene was cruising along and doing so well that he felt all tingly. Oh, actually, that was an ulnar nerve, which is why he left at only 70-some odd pitches. File under: never good news without some bad news.

I was thinking in the 5th inning or so, when it looked like the Cespedes blast might be the big hit of the game, that this is how teams run up a lot of wins in a season. Cespedes was the only guy in the starting lineup yesterday without a hit, and one of only two without multiple hits, and here he is with the big blast today.

When guys in a lineup take turns getting hot it seems to result in a lot more wins than when you have one or two guys with MVP seasons and a bunch of slugs. I don’t think we’re going to get anything like consistency from Cespedes. But if he is hot while the others are cold, that will work. No matter, I’ll take the 23 runs in two days.

Miggy’s home run, by the way was #399, which is statistically significant for two important reasons: his next home run puts him past Mr. Tiger himself, Al Kaline, and the Venezuelan home run king, Andres Galarraga, who Cabrera grew up idolizing. (The link was an interesting read; the reverence for Galarraga from Cabrera and Sanchez makes you realize how much he meant to Venezuelans).

Random impression: McCann’s got some wheels. His first double was a real hustle double; his second was a single that he stretched into a double, in a way a 220 pound catcher shouldn’t be able to do.

Other, less random impression: it’s National League baseball, so you might not have noticed the Hernan Perez at bat, because it looked like the standard pitcher at bat. There is a reason Hernan is still on the team–he was highly regarded, and is out of options, which means they can’t just send him back to Toledo without risking him being claimed. I suspect we’ll see a lot more of Perez in coming weeks, and if he continues to look as lost at the plate, that sometime after that we’ll not see any of him at all.

Let’s end on a good impression: last 4 games for JD Martinez:

• 1-for-4, RBI
• 2-for-2
• 2-for-4
• 2-for-5, RBI

That adds up to 7-for-15 (.467), the last two games of which had the added pressure of hitting in the cleanup spot. And this after an 0-for-weeks slump. JD may actually end up being an even better hitter for this slump experience.

Today’s OK, NOW Go Back to That Day/Night Thing Lineup:

1. Rajai Davis, CF
2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. JD Martinez, RF
5. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
7. James McCann, C
8. Jose Iglesias, SS
9. David Price, P