Better late than never, right? As Justin Verlander said. Sometimes real life can annoy.

I can count on one hand the number of times I saw a team go into the bottom of the 1st with a 5-0 deficit, and have the question come up a few innings later: are they violating unwritten rules by stealing bases? (Anybody but Smilin’ Torii Hunter, and somebody is getting plunked).

Two quick observations: 1). The American League is just a lot better than the National League, especially the pitching. Really? Yes, really. Not just because of the inter league record (96-85 the last time I checked), but because of…je ne sais quois. As far as the pitching, well, I’m sure Moneybeane took this into account with the trade for Samardizija, but NL pitchers get one free out (often a K) every 9 batters, which has an effect greater than one ninth. I can actually quantify it, but that is expressly prohibited by my non-disclosure agreement. The second is 2). The better the team, the better the Tigers seem to play, which is frustrating, but encouraging for the postseason, right?

OK, 3rd thing: you know that thing the Tigers never do, where they bury a team when they have them down: they done did it!

This would seem to be an enjoyable game to do a post-game post on, but I have to wait. Apparently in the Pacific time zone, the Tigers are still batting.

Seriously though, it was an enjoyable game to watch considering it was a blowout, because Verlander didn’t quit pitching once the Tigers got down 5-0, and and the Tigers didn’t stop scoring runs once they got ahead (which was probably wise: see 1st inning). And we even got to see what I really really hope is Cabrera’s last triple of the season. He slid like a mountain bike that lost a tire. Playing hard and having fun though, that’s the way to go.

The Tigers, thanks to 9th inning heroics by Ian Kinsler, now have a chance to take the Astros series today, despite the Cabrera-Martinez heart of the order still being 0-for-Houston (0-for-18).

The game did not start promisingly, with Max being dinged for 2 runs in the first, but Max, along with Jeff Jones and Bryan Holaday, figured out they were sitting on his off-speed stuff and changed the game plan (Good camera work catching the confab, by the way). 6-innings later Scherzer had 13 strikeouts in his pocket and had the Tigers still in the game.

In a “that’s baseball” moment, I admit I was grumbling about Kinsler swinging for the fences, when a simple single would tie the game or give them the lead. Oh. Sometimes when you swing for the fences, they actually go over (413 ft.). And we needed the extra run, since Joe Nathan was a good sport and gave Houston a home run too.

Where would the Tigers be this season with an injured (or even uninjured) Prince Fielder instead of Ian Kinsler? If you are a believer in the WAR rating, Kinsler is the most valuable player on the Tigers this season. Of course, if you want to watch him this afternoon you are going to have to peek in the dugout (see below).

Lost in all of the excitement last night was the interesting move Bo Porter made in the 8th. With Cabrera-Martinez-Martinez due up, the Astros sent out their Closer, Chad Qualls, using the logic that he wanted his best guy pitching to Detroit’s best hitters. It didn’t work: while Qualls got through the 8th, Williams got beat in the 9th, but I like the move.  I wouldn’t have used it yesterday, since Cabrera and Martinez were struggling and all the action was coming from the bottom of the order, but under normal circumstances it might be a good move. They could have always left Qualls in for the 9th too, but two innings for a Closer is apparently still illegal.

Today’s Go Deep, Take a Seat Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V Martinez, DH
5. JD Martinez LF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Avila, C
8. Suarez, SS
9. Romine, 2B

Austin Jackson gets a shot at the leadoff spot…ah, the good ol’ days. Ian Kinsler gets to watch from the bench and contemplate last night’s game-winner, as a bag of lettuce roams his spot out at 2nd.

Drew Smyly takes the mound with a 1.44 ERA over his last 4 starts. Scott Feldman will try hard not to poke the sleeping Cabrera bear.

Postgame:

Well Feldman apparently did let sleeping bears lie, as Miguel Cabrera finished hibernating his way to a perfect 0-for-Houston. The rest of his cohorts at the top of the lineup didn’t do much better. For the series, the 1-4 spots in the lineup went a combined 7-for-49 (.143). And 5 of those 7 hits belonged to Ian Kinsler, who sat out today’s game (that adds up to 2-for-39, .051 with Kinsler’s numbers removed).  Ausmus tried Austin Jackson in the leadoff spot to “get him going” (yes, he really said that), and Jackson promptly ran off to the golden sombrero table at the local flea market.

It came out after the game that Drew Smyly was seriously ill yesterday, but said he was good to go today. He wasn’t. The illness explains the uncharacteristically quick hook by Ausmus.

Houston’s “8th Inning Guy” did so well against Ian Kinsler that Bo Porter let him pitch the 9th too, giving him a save of over 1 inning. Brad Ausmus filed an official protest for illegal use of relief pitchers.

The Tigers head back to Detroit to take on the Oakland A’s, otherwise known as the Best Team in Baseball.  With Oakland’s league-leading team ERA of 3.18, the Tigers could be in for a very long week if the top half of the order continues to struggle.

(Photo from The Golden Sombrero, who sadly stopped tracking golden sombreros in 2012).

Perhaps Jason Castro did the Tigers a favor last night with his walk off home run.  Four of the bullpen arms had been there and gone, and eventually someone was going to have to go multiple innings, and that fell to Blaine Hardy, who wasn’t quite up to the task.

Not that it mattered: the Tigers looked like they could have played another 9 without scoring, so maybe Castro saved the rest of the pen from being used up too. After Castellanos homered in the 4th, the Tigers managed only 1 hit in the next 7 innings; that’s 1-for-24 (.042) for those keeping score at home. Of course they could have hoped for another error-walk-error combo, but that could have taken a while.

And how about that Altuve guy? He either knocked in or scored the first 3 runs of the game, went 4-for-5, and stole 2 bases–including home when Alex Avila made an ill-advised pickoff attempt at first. Now there is some legitimate cap-tipping material (Altuve, not Avila).

We won’t discuss the Detroit base running. At least not today.

The Tigers get a break today, and face Brett Oberholtzer instead of the originally scheduled Dallas Keuchel. Oberholtzer is also a lefty, but not a Cy (2-6 4.76).

Today’s Yay, No Keuchel Lineup:

1. Davis, CF
2. Kinsler, 2B
3. Cabrera, DH
4. V Martinez, 1B
5. JD Martinez LF
6. Hunter, RF
7. Castellanos, 3B
8. Holaday, C
9. Suarez, SS

Holaday gets a start against the lefty after the long night for Avila behind the plate, Miggy gets a “rest”at DH, which usually doesn’t work so well, and maybe Davis can raise a little havoc on the bases. Tigers have been short on havoc lately.

The Tigers ride into Houston on the back of a 7-game winning streak, without a scrap of Zubaz on, according to Torii Hunter (via Only Tiger Fan in Mississippi). Because you can’t be streaking, if you’re wearing Zubazzes.

Anyway, here are the scheduled times/starters for the series:

Detroit Tigers (43-32) at Houston Astros (34-46)

• Fri 6/27   8:10 Justin Verlander (6-7 4.82) vs. Brad Peacock (2-4 4.50)
• Sat 6/28  4:10 Max Scherzer (9-3 3.71) vs. Dallas Keuchel (L) (8-5 2.78)
• Sun 6/29 2:10 Drew Smyly (4-6 3.19) vs. Scott Feldman (3-5 4.00)

Every game at a different time, so there’s something here for every time zone.

The Tigers have gone from a team struggling to stay out of last place to a team with an easy 4 1/2 game lead and the 2nd best record in the league, all in the time since my last turn in the Game Post rotation–primarily because of the Tiger rotation.

The last time the Tigers played Houston they took 3 of 4, all but the start of the dreaded Cy Keuchel, who turned out to be just starting a brilliant run which will likely land him in the All-Star game. 24-yr old Jose Altuve continues to develop into a legitimate star (.334, 30 stolen bases), and 24-yr old George Springer adds power (15 HR, 40 RBI). The Astros are giving the fans reason for optimism, despite their 34-46 record.

Today’s Streaking Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V Martinez, DH
5. JD Martinez LF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Jackson, CF
8. Avila, C
9. Suarez, SS

I have to admit it felt pretty good to win that one, especially since the game started for me with a creeping feeling that Danny Duffy was going to no-hit the Tigers.

As predicted, JD was the man of the hour again, hitting his 3rd home run of the series and providing the winning run. As Suarez’ flame has quietly dimmed, JD’s continues to burn, and he is the Another Guy of the hour. As in, there’s Cabrera and V-Mart, but we need Another Guy to hit.

Anibal Sanchez continúes to be the Ace of the staff, and Joba Chamberlain pitched a quick and efficient 8th, and Joe Nathan had a flashback 3-strikeout 9th inning. Billy Butler was impressed:

“That looked like the Joe Nathan I’ve faced for years,” Butler said. “All those times with the Twins and then with Texas — the one with a few hundred saves and all those All-Star games. He’s had some tough moments in his career, but that looked like the same guy today.

If just for an afternoon the Tigers looked like a team that was dominant from the mound.

*****

Maybe Miguel is breaking out of his slump. He hit a deep double to left-center that knocked in the first Tiger run. Unfortunately, he took the opportunity to stand and admire his not-a-home-run. Nevermind, there was no harm. Not until the next play when he got picked off from right field as he was walking back to 2nd with his head down. If you watched the replay, Victor stopped running about halfway to first and looked like he was trying to get Miggy’s attention. Hopefully Victor had a word or two with Miguel after the game; he’s probably the only one who could. Cabrera doesn’t look like his head is always in the game lately. And yes, I am holding him to a higher standard than other players.

*****

I was right in the pre-game: Bryan Holaday really doesn’t get no respect. Holaday was rung up on two consecutive ball four pitches, the second of which provided a Great Moment in Lip Reading. His last time up he bunted for a single, and ended up on 2nd when an attempt was unwisely made to get him at 1st. I’ll throw this one out there to the audience: who was the last Tiger who bunted as well as Holaday does?

So the Royals come into Comerica today with brooms in hand, as the Tigers try to get back that winning feeling. The Royals have actually already swept the series proper: today’s game is a makeup of an April rainout. Don’t you wish they’d played it then?

After today’s game the Tigers fly to Cleveland for a 3-game series. Brad Ausmus says “boy will our arms be tired!”

One guy who actually showed up for the Kansas City series is Julio Daniel Martinez, who has been banging it in the 5-spot. Here’s his cumulative line for the series:

11 AB 6 H 5 RBI .545 BA 1.564 OPS

With a lefty on the mound for KC, I don’t expect the JD Train to stop today.

*****

There is talk, as StorminNorman posted, that Alex Avila has been tipping pitches, namely by smacking his glove once before a fastball, twice before a breaking ball.  I’m going to go back and watch all the games and pitches to sees if that checks out (no, I’m not). In addition, Ray Fosse (A’s broadcaster and former catcher) says that Avila puts his right hand behind his back before a fastball, but not before a curve.  Either way, we won’t get to look for that today, since Bryan “Don’t Get No Respect” Holaday gets a start.

Today’s Win One for the Quipper Lineup:

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Jackson, CF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. V Martinez, DH
5. JD Martinez RF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Holaday, C
8. Suarez, SS
9. Davis, LF

“Ball keeps bouncing Royals’ way as Tigers fall. Unlucky ricochets, former Tiger Infante spoil Smyly’s solid seven-plus.”

Yeah, that’s the Tigers.com headline, more of the same. Just stop it. The Tigers are NOT on an extended unlucky streak right now, they just are not playing well. Their pitching has been failing hard and often, and when it isn’t, they can’t buy a hit.

Smyly’s outing was, actually, more than solid: 2 runs (and I don’t get how they were both earned) over 7 innings. More good news: JD Martinez had another good game, going 2 for 4. He now has an 8-game hitting streak, and has raised his average to .299. All for naught though: the rest of the Tiger lineup could do nothing against the Mighty Guthrie, fanning 9 times as Miguel Cabrera continued to look uninspiring and Victor Martinez (et tu, Victor?) joined the party with 2 strikeouts (there’s one for the Research Department: last time V-Mart struck out twice in a game).  I’m going to go all Lloyd McClendon here and say sometimes you have to stop tipping your cap and accept the fact that you were beaten by some pretty average stuff.

It would be pretty hard to top the story line of the Tigers’ rapid plummet down the Central standings, but Ol’ Smarty somehow managed to make himself the story today. Which is to say he really stepped in it. To recap: Ausmus was explaining how he tries to keep a positive attitude when dealing with the frustrations of the current Tiger skid. Then he was asked: “How are you when you go home?”

“I beat my wife,” Ausmus responded.

Oh my. Not funny.

Look, he obviously was joking, as he immediately pointed out, and repeated in his post-interview apology, and I can’t imagine anybody thinks otherwise. But that was just wrong in so many ways. This wasn’t a bar or locker room conversation. Ausmus is the face of the organization, in a professional setting which requires professional behavior. If this were, say, the NFL, he’d be hammered with a big fine. It’s MLB, so who knows. Either way, it’s disappointing and spoils the package we were sold of the intellectual, urbane young New School guy. The honeymoon was already over for Ausmus, this was the last thing he, or we, needed.