After seeing the Tigers lose the first two to Chicago, I'm thrilled to get one of the series. Marcus Thames hit a 2-run homer with 2 outs in the 9th to force extra innings today and Placido Polanco won it with a single in the 12th.
On the down side, Detroit is still struggling with the bats and the bullpen continues to be shaky. Thames, Craig Monroe, Sean Casey, Brandon Inge and Gary Sheffield all are hitting below .187. The pen's ERA is 4.78 and fourth-worst in the bigs.
On the bright side, the Tigs are 10-8 despite these woes. Detroit has won four games this season in which it trailed in the 9th. Only one loss has been by more than 2 runs and the Tigers have led or been tied after 6 inning in each of their last five setbacks. The starters, for the most part, have been solid to outstanding.
If the bats come to life, which would seem a reasonable expectation, and the pen, particularly Fernando Rodney, regains its form, Detroit will be in excellent shape. Rodney's woes have been blamed, in part, on a sore neck.
Maybe the Tigers are lucky to be 10-8 when they easily could be 6-12. Maybe the AL Central is lucky they're struggling when they could be 15-3. They're not playing like a top team right now, but they're grinding out wins, and that's probably the biggest positive so far.
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