Sneaky Power!

Doug Fister threw 6 perfect innings to start the game.  Broken up in the 7th, and trailing by the end of the inning. 1-0, in what looked like might be a hard luck loss for the guy who has struggled mightily to get run support all season.

Magglio Ordonez, who has certainly lost a step or four and is at the twilight of his career, had a clutch, game tying single in the bottom of the 8th to tie the game at 1.  I will be quick to admit that I have said over and over, that Maggs shouldn't be in the lineup on a regular basis.  His offense AND defense are suffering.  But since Brennan Boesch is still nursing a thumb injury, we need him.  And he came through.  Then... Up came Ramon Santiago.

Ramon Santiago, walk off HR.

In the bottom of the tenth, in the game as a pinch runner in the 8th inning, connected off of Aaron Crow and sent the ball over the right field wall, sending 34,000 fans at Comerica Park home very happy.  His first career walk off home run, 4th HR of the year, 2-1 final score.

Great, because for a while it may have turned out to be one of the more egregious losses of the season.  Doug Fister pitched extremely well for his new ballclub, essentially making a mistake to leadoff batter Alex Gordon in the 7th inning, who drove Fister's first pitch into the gap in left center field, for the Royals first baserunner of the game.  He would score on a Billy Bulter sacrifice fly, and the way Royals starter Jeff Francis had started his game, it was looking like another flat performance from what is regarded to be a good offense.  The Royals pitching isn't special.  We saw that tonight, as Louis Coleman worked the 9th inning for Kansas City, walking the bases loaded with 2 outs.  Taking advantage of such an action was apparently a tall order, as Crow came in and struck out Wilson Betemit on 3 pitches to end the threat.

If it weren't for 2 clutch swings of the bat, we might be very angry with how this game could have or would have ended up.  Ultimately, the 2 bats that figured for a winning formula at Comerica tonight were probably the last 2 bats we all expected to clutch-up for the Tigers.  And for that, we thank Magglio, and Ramon... with the hopes that they contribute like that again down the stretch.

Everybody Panic! (Okay, Now Settle Down)

Last night, at least according to a couple of Twitter timelines, people were revisiting memories of a second-half collapse, when they really should have realized that they were beaten by a pretty good offensive team, on a night where Max Scherzer was downright terrible.

Perez (left) and Escobar following back-to back HRs (AP Photo)

Scherzer was flat and without command in the Royals 9-5 win over the Tigers last night.  Scherzer offered up 7 of those runs in just 3+ innings of work.  And while the Tigers offense ranks toward the top of the AL, so does the Royals offense.

After last night, the Tigers and the Royals both have a team batting average of .270.  The Tigers have only scored 16 more runs total than the Royals to this point, and the Royals have more hits than the Tigers.  All that would surprise most Tigers fans considering the Royals are sitting in the AL Central basement right now.  All that said, you can't blame the hitting for their woes, it's their pitching.  However, Luke Hochevar was good enough in last night's effort, giving up 4 runs and getting the Tigers to take some bad swings at offspeed pitches out of the zone.  That's going to happen once in a while, and fans really need to remember that.

So the Tigers need to either hit better, or pitch better in this series.  And since they didn't pitch all that well last night, we'll hope that Doug Fister goes out tonight and has himself the kind of start he did in his last outing vs. Tampa Bay.  And like the Tigers, the Royals won't always have a nasty offensive display like they did last night.  One game shouldn't turn fans against the team (or themselves), especially since they still have a 5 game lead over the White Sox in the Central.  Now I might have a different take if the Tigers get swept, but that's not going to happen.

I think...

Baseball Etiquette?

So you're mad. You just gave up a big home run. You decide to send a message.

That message was simple, throw at the next batter's head. This was done twice in three days. The cowards? Jered Weaver of the Angels, and Carlos Carrasco of the Indians.

Friday night, already down 3-0 to the Royals, Carrasco serves up a grand slam to Melky Cabrera, giving them a 7-0 lead, still in the top of the fourth inning. Billy Butler stands in, and the first pitch offered to him "buzzes the tower." Carrasco is immediately ejected for throwing at Butler's head, and the benches clear out with no further incident afterwards. Butler looked like he was ready to brawl after that pitch.

Fast forward to today's game between the Tigers and the Angels. Earlier in the game, Magglio Ordonez hits a 2-run homer off of Weaver. The ball would hook close to the line, and around the left field foul pole. The distance was there, but to Ordonez, it was a matter of fair vs foul. Because of that, he didn't take off for what would be a trot around the bases. This was twisted as a sign of showboating, something you'll never see Magglio do. Soon after Weaver would have some words with Miguel Cabrera in the ensuing at bat. In the seventh inning, Carlos Guillen hit about as much of a no-doubter as you can at Comerica Park. Unlike Ordonez, Guillen featured a pause, bat flip, and squared himself for a few shuffled steps toward Weaver, and began a nice slow trot around the bases. The home plate umpire was rather wise and issued warnings to both benches, seeing what was transpiring. No matter, as Alex Avila stepped in, on the very next pitch, threw at his head. Again, instant ejection. Angels manager Mike Scoscia is also ejected, a rule in place after warnings are issued for instances like this.

What Carrasco, Weaver, and to a certain degree Guillen did in these instances is beyond the unwritten rules of baseball. Guillen just needed to drop the bat and run. The showboating bit was not necessary, and might have saved Avila from being a headhunting victim. The two pitchers displayed absolute cowardice by throwing at opposing players heads. Clearly, if you REALY want to properly send a message, usually you're planting one of those fastballs in the batter's backside, or perhaps between the numbers. NEVER AT THE HEAD. Jered Weaver has pitched his way towards being an elite pitcher this season, but instead remembers he's a total knucklehead. What a shame, and I hope he enjoy's finishing second or third in the Cy Young voting.

And that Erik Aybar bunt in the eighth inning? Also "bush league", trying to bunt his way to a base hit in the hopes of breaking up (another) no-hit bid by Justin Verlander. It didn't work, sort of, as Verlander threw wildly to first and was charged with an error. In the end, Verlander gave up 2 runs, only 1 lousy hit, and reminded the rest of baseball who the best pitcher continues to be. If you're keeping score at home, that's three times this season he's taken a no-hitter into the eighth inning. Of course he has the one tallied vs Toronto, and we're anxiously awaiting his next one. It will happen.

But in the end, it's necessary to follow the unwritten rules. Although sometimes some people can be remembered for the times they break those rules. I'm sure Jered Weaver won't mind that.