The only thing worse, was seeing Zach Miner come in and toss batting practice to the Indians. He gave up the cycle in one inning of work. Yes, that’s correct – a home run, triple, double, single and even a walk. Good job Zach.

The Tigers won their 3rd win in a row, crushing Cleveland 13-2. 2007 Cy Young winner C.C. Sabathia, and ultimate Tiger nemesis from last year, was rocked from start to finish by Tiger bats that have seemingly come alive.

But that’s not the real story behind this game. That’s not what made this game so special. What made this game so special was a man named Armando Galarraga. Who? Yeah – that’s what I thought. I figured the Tigers just threw in some schlep off the streets to get them by until Dontrelle Willis comes back from the DL. Well, shows what I know.

I don’t want to get too carried away. It was his first start, and I’m sure that once Big League hitters see some tape on this guy, he’ll become more hittable. But after retiring 17 batters in a row, what’s not to like? Seeing Willis go to the DL may be the best thing that ever happened to this team.

Giving up one hit in 6 2/3 inning, with 6 strikeouts and no walks, is a very good thing. And the home run that he gave up early was actually a helluva pitch that Delucci just golfed out. I can’t say enough about what this could mean if Armando Galarraga continues pitching like this. For now, patience. Dontrelle will still be on the DL when his spot comes up again in the rotation, probably against Toronto. This will give us another chance to get a longer look at Armando Galarraga, and him a chance to earn a permanent spot on a rotation that could surely use some consistent, quality innings from its starters.

Sean Casey is the most over paid lump in baseball. I can’t wait until The Tigers pull the trigger on that. I’m sure they can get something useful in return, and they’ve got Marcus Thames to replace him.

Granderson is slumping at the wrong time. He and Casey combined to go 1 for 10 leaving 7 runners on base. This isn’t your Eight and Nine hitters either. This is One and Three. When those guys don’t get on base, it makes Magglio less dangerous. When the 7, 8 and 9 hitters get on, and Granderson and Casey leave them stranded, well – that’s just not good. Detroit is not playing playoff caliber baseball. Even if the Indians manage to play worse down the stretch, and the Tigers slip in, they won’t do much damage. The Angels or The Red Sox would wipe the floor with them. Time is running out to get it together.

They hit well. Magglio as always. Guillen. Maybin had a couple of hits including a key double to lead off the ninth, but alas – it was not to be. They made a valiant effort, but when the other team scores 11 runs, well, you generally don’t win.

To really put a damper on things, Sheffield is likely to miss the rest of August with recurring shoulder problems from his collision with Placido Polanco a few weeks back. He took as much cortisone as allowed, but the shoulder is worse than ever, so he’s out for awhile.

Without his bat in the line-up, Detroit looks alot less dangerous. They should still be able to beat Cleveland tomorrow (unless they give up 11 runs), but facing the Yankees minus Sheffield is certainly not an ideal situation.

Detroit desperately needs to win tomorrow with Nate Robertson on the mound. Then they better hope they can at least split with the Yankees, or it’s gonna be a long uphill climb by this time next week.

Jair Jurrjens flat out pitched today. True enough – the Indians haven’t exactly been an offensive powerhouse lately, but they are in first, and we needed the win. Badly. What Jurrjens did today was nothing short of a true quality start. He gave up the one hit, albeit a homer by Jhonny Peralta, but he did what Tiger starters have so often failed to do lately – give a quality start that leads to a win.

As much as I hate to say it, Jurrjens performance was actually overshadowed by a pitcher that only faced one batter…

Joel Zumaya Is Back…

Joel Zumaya is back. He topped out at 99 mph, but the guy only threw 5 pitches. He didn’t get the strikeout, but he got the out. It looks like Leyland just wanted to let him get his feet wet. After all, the guy just missed about 4 months of baseball. But he did look good, and that’s what matters. Rodney looked great, as did Jones. It really feels like the pieces of the puzzle are coming back together, and just in time. With two more against Cleveland and 4 against the Yankees, it couldn’t wait any longer.