The last time Ramon Santiago homered, the Tigers were en route to 119 losses in a season.  Yeah, it was way back in 2003, August 1 to be exact.  And after calling Santiago probably the worst hitter in all of baseball, he’s added yet another thing to the long list of things I’ve been proven wrong about with a strong start to the season.  He’s 7 for 15 and he has four RBIs after driving three today.  His homer in the third capped off an inning in which two other Tigers went yard.  Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera hit back to back jacks earlier in the inning.

It was also nice to see Justin Verlander get back on track.  He improved to 1-3 and he gave up one run on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts in six innings.  Jason Grilli closed out the game with a shutout ninth while Bobby Seay struck out two in 1 1/3 shutout frames.

The Indians look like they’re going to win so the Tigers will have to sit in last place at least one more day.  Kenny Rogers gets the start tomorrow while Luis Mendoza gets the nod for the Rangers.

And in case you missed, Francisco Cruceta looked awesome in his minor league debut.  He struck out six and didn’t give up a hit in three innings for Toledo tonight.  More bullpen help is on the way.

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