The Tigers lost on Friday but then won this afternoon.  The problem is at this point, .500 isn’t going to cut it especially against a team that’s pretty much out of it.  With the Indians winning eight straight, the Tigers find themselves down by 5 1/2 games.  Things are a little better for the Wild Card, but they still trail the Yankees by three games and the Mariner by one.  Even if the Yankees go .500 the rest of the way, the Tigers would have to 16-10 the rest of the way just to force a tie.  And this is a team that has gone 21-29 since the All Star Break.  Anyway, sorry to sound so grim but things aren’t looking good.  The Tigers need to put together an extended winning streak and they need to do it now.

Justin Verlander threw a career high 128 pitches and it’ll be interesting to see how he does the next couple of starts.  He did strikeout ten in a solid start and he improved to 15-5.  I was asked in an interview whether Verlander would win 15 this season and I said no thinking he’d run out of gas and finish with 13 or 14.  As is sometimes the case, it can be good to be wrong.

Curtis Granderson belted his 19th step closer, and that puts him one long ball short of a historic season.  He finished the day four for five with two RBIs and three runs while Timo Perez went three for four with two runs.

It’ll be Nate Robertson going up against Dallas Braden.  Then it’s back home for three against the White Sox.  In looking at the Tigers schedule, it’s odd that they have so many days off in September.   In fact this Thursday’s game against the White Sox is their last Thursday game of the year barring a postponement.

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