Liftoff

Maybe last night’s dustup with the O’s will get the Tigers going this season. Cabrera might have awakened a sleeping giant.

Detroit is 14-11, and there’s nothing wrong with that. How they’ve gotten there, I have no idea. The late-game heroics certainly didn’t hurt.

The Tigers rank 9th in the AL in batting average, 9th in OBP and 7th in slugging, yet 3rd in runs. You would think that means a lot of homers, but they’re 8th in that department. The runs are misleading since 49 came in 5 games, which means 78 in the remaining 20.

The pitching ranks 7th in ERA, 7th in WHIP, 7th in BAA (.254) and 7th in OBA.

The team stats are utterly unremarkable. The individual stats are simply bizarre. Sheffield is having one of the great .200 seasons; he’s tied for 3rd in the AL in runs with 22. Maggs is 5th while Granderson, who is tied for 2nd in strikeouts, is tied for 7th. Granderson, Inge and Monroe have 28 strikeouts each, uniting them at No. 2 in the standings.

Polanco ranks 4th in BA and is joined by Maggs and Guillen in the top 20. Maggs is 2nd in RBI and Guillen is 10th. Sheff, Guillen, and Maggs are among the tops in walks.

So, maybe last night's ruckus and Sheff's big homer will get the team rolling like Leyland's tirade did last season.