Congratulations.

Yay for wins! Hopefully, you can muster thirty-five or so more before the first week of October. I've really got nothing else to add other than I'm ready to head home and sunstroke is not a good idea.

The Winning Starts Today.

It's really easy to not care about the losing when you're not far away but perhaps a little mojo changing music is in order for today. Win today boys.

Anti-Samson.

This has nothing to do with the Red Sox but a couple of weeks ago (I could look it up but don't really feel like it) I put Magglio Ordonez *tilde implied* on my list of not-bad-looking ballplayers because of his hair. Today on the pre-game, they showed him hitting a home run and circling the bases and I yelled at my television "He cut his hair?!?" And this is just too gross to not pass along.

If you're really into Magglio's hair (much, much more than I was), then you can purchase his shorn locks. He's auctioning off his hair on e-bay (along with tickets to watch a game from his skybox at Comerica and an autographed bat) to raise money for charity. As of right this very moment, no bids have been placed on the mound of hair but hey! it comes with free shipping.

Tyger, Tyger, Burning Bright/ In the Forests of Detroit

Apologies to William Blake. Try as I might I couldn't come up with a more creative riff on Detroit or Tigers. Though, if you say it with a working-class London accent, it almost rhymes.

Rick Porcello, who pitches tonight for Detroit, is seriously hot stuff. He throws strikes with both a four-seam and a two-seam fastball, a really good low to mid-eighties change-up, a curveball, and a slider. Right-handed batters have been pretty much useless against him. Lefties, meanwhile, haven't had huge amounts of success but at least they stand a chance. He doesn't get a lot of strike outs but he makes up for it with a lot of weak grounders. When he does leave the ball up, on occasion, he can be made to pay. The Yankees hit him up for six runs on six hits in 3.2 innings. Because he's up a little bit earlier than most expected (common thought was that he wouldn't be ready until the All-Star Break at the earliest) he is on a strict pitch count and other than Ryan Perry and Joel Zumaya, Detroit's bullpen isn't much to write home about. In other words: Go Rangers!

Armando Galarraga is the scheduled pitcher for Wednesday's game. Last year he put together a pretty good season but that success seems to have eluded him thus far. Of course, assuming last year was all luck (.247 BABIP) and that this year will be a regression to the mean might prove to be fatal as E6 has moved on to San Fransisco and their infield defense is much improved. He throws a slider and a fastball to right-handed batters. He gets strike-outs on the slider mostly by fooling the batter. He'll also throw a change-up to left-handed batters. But while he can, mostly, command the fastball and the slider, the change-up is a different story. He also continues to have a home run problem.

Dontrelle Willis is probably the probable pitcher for Thursday afternoon's game. He's made four starts since being activated from the disabled list: 1 good one, 1 not so-terrible-one, and 2 yeesh-that-wasn't-pretty ones. He's very hittable, more so to lefties than righties. But he did baffle Texas: 2 walks, 5 strike outs, 1 hit, over six and one-third of an inning.

Offensively, Placido Polanco and Magglio Ordonez *tilde implied* are really struggling. Apart from Miguel Cabrera, (surprisingly) Brandon Inge-who has settled in nicely at third base, and Curtis Granderson, you're not going to see a lot of power from the lineup. They don't run and they don't walk a lot. They also don't strike out in drastic numbers.

They don't score a ton of runs and so they're winning on pitching and defense. Edwin Jackson, freed from the clutches of Jim Hickey in Tampa, is having a stunning year. Justin Verlander is turning back into the Verlander that he was a couple of years ago. And they can go get the ball with the best of them.

Moment 4: With this Ring...

April 8. Boston.

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining. The Tigers (who had gone 0-7 on the season) were glum in the visitor's dugout. The 2007 banner seemed reluctant to flutter down over the 2004 banner. In strolled Bruins, and Celtics, and Patriots, with their respective trophies. And out the Red Sox filed, to thunderous applause and strains of John Williams provided by the Boston Pops.

After the ensemble returned from raising the championship banner in centerfield, out of left field came Bill Buckner. A teary eyed Buckner threw out the first pitch to Dwight Evans and all was forgiven--more so on his end (I've already expounded upon my theory of New England Fatalism and Bill Buckner) than on the other.

And Daisuke Matsuzaka went on to get the win over the Tigers in a 0-5 victory.

Beckett v. Verlander (Game 37)

Another nice game by Josh Beckett. He made it through seven innings, throwing one hundred and two times. He gave up one run on six hits, didn't walk anyone, and struck out six batters. If he happened to almost get himself into trouble, he did so only after he'd already gotten a couple of outs. As much as I enjoy making fun of Josh Beckett, he really is very good at what he does.

Craig Hansen and Manny Del were tonight's relievers. Craig Hansen pitched the eighth inning and did a good job of it. On twelve pitches, he got two ground outs and a pop out. Manny Delcarmen pitched the ninth inning and had to have been pleased with his performance. He did give up a hit but he also got a strike out. On eleven pitches, he got the first batter to strike out, the second to ground out, the third hit a single to left, and the last batter flew out to Coco.

The Red Sox offense got started in the second inning. Mike Lowell hit a single and Drew followed that up with a single of his own. They both then moved up on a passed ball. Varitek knocked them both in with a single and then took second on the throw. Coco bunted. Lugo got hit by a pitch and then Ellsbury had a sacrifice fly to bring in Varitek for the first out of the inning. The inning ended with Pedroia flying out and Ortiz striking out.

The only other inning they scored in was the fifth. Ellsbury started it off with a single. Both Pedroia and Ortiz flied out to left behind him. Youkilis then hit a home run, to score two more runs. Lowell ended it by flying out to left.

Not to suggest that Theo and co. should think about moving Youkilis but-given the way he's performed at Comerica Park, the Tigers would be smart to consider moving hell and high water to get him for their team. He hit another home run tonight, his third in two days and his seventh of the season. Especially considering that they don't have a real first baseman.

Buchholz v. Galarraga (Game 36)

Buchholz didn't pitch well tonight. Tavarez didn't pitch well tonight. Aardsma didn't pitch terribly. Lopez was good. Okajima was lucky. Papelbon wasn't himself. But if you must blame someone for the loss, I would go with my Dad; life-long Red Sox fan, he moved to Florida in the winter of 2004 but is up for the weekend because of Mother's Day. Never one to watch losing games, he took off in the third inning but came back into the room right as Papelbon was taking the mound. He's bad luck. Admittedly, back when he went to games, he didn't go to too many a year (one, maybe two) but he never saw them win in person. He has since, mostly, stopped going (he did go to the Beckett start in Tampa with me late last month.)

Buchholz didn't have good command tonight and lasted only four innings as a result. He threw eighty-two pitches; thirty-one for balls and fifty-one for strikes. He walked only one batter, though. He struck out six be also gave up five runs on ten hits. He wasn't wild; it was just that, more often then not, his change-up stayed too high and was, therefore, hittable.

Francona began piecing together the rest of the night by calling on Julian Tavarez to pitch in the fifth inning. The same Julian Tavarez he hasn't had pitch since April 24. And it showed. He allowed the first two batters he faced to get base hits. The next batter got a sacrifice bunt. With one out and runners on second and third, he gave up a double to the next batter that scored two additional runs for Detroit. The runner moved to third on a fly out and came around to score on a single.

The next pitcher out of the 'pen was Aardsma. Aardsma continues to have trouble with throwing strikes not balls. But despite walking two men in his inning, he got out of it without anymore trouble from the Tigers. Javier Lopez continues to play his mind games with me. He pitched the eighth inning and threw only three pitches outside the strike zone to get his three outs (a ground out, a fly out, and a ground out.) What's more, he got his outs in fifteen pitches.

Okajima's performance tonight was a little bit shaky and the result of quite a bit of good karma coming his way. The first batter he saw flied out to left on the first pitch he threw. He then gave up a single to the each of the next two batters he saw. The runners were off on the three-two pitch (but in the case of Ordonez *tilde implied* not very hard), the batter struck out, Varitek then tossed to Lowell for the double play at third to end the inning.

The Papelbon who took the mound in the ninth is not the Papelbon one is used to seeing in these situations. He gave up two hits and didn't strike anyone out. His control didn't appear to be in existence (nearly tossing the ball over Varitek's almost fully extended reach at one point.) He gave up a base hit to the first batter and the second reached on an error by Lugo. The third batter was out on a sacrfice bunt and the fourth drove in the tying run by grounding out to second. The winning run came off the single of the last batter Papelbon faced.

Lugo had another good night offensively and rough night defensively. I don't have huge amounts of sympathy for him but it's tough to see him going from looking so smiley and carefree in the dugout to a combination of a little bit scared, quite a bit pissed-off, and very dangerous on the field after he makes an error. It's pretty clear that he's not trying to screw up. But he's probably pushing himself too hard and becoming sloppy because of it. Also, it's pretty clear that unless he gets a lot more practice, Jed Lowrie isn't going to be a second baseman.

The offense that the Red Sox put up was pretty impressive-especially considering that the came back from a 0-4 deficit in the third inning to lead 9-8 going into the ninth. Youkilis hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning and a solo home run in the sixth; Lowell hit a three-run in the seventh inning. They left a lot of men on base, though.

In the first inning, Ellsbury started things off by getting a base hit to center. Lowrie was batting next and hit into what should have been a fielder's choice but because he tripped over his own feet on his way out of the batter's box turned into a double play. Ortiz doubled (barely) but Manny flew out to end the inning.

The second inning consisted of three Red Sox batters retired in order on a line out, a strike out, and a ground out. In the third inning, Varitek struck out swinging but then Lugo hit a double to the base of the left field wall. Ellsbury struck out looking and Lowrie flied out to left to end the inning.

They finally scored some runs in the fourth inning. With two outs, Lowell singled to center. Then, Youkilis sent a home run to left field and the Red Sox had two. The last out came on a swinging strike out for Drew.

The fifth inning started off with Varitek drawing a walk and Lugo being hit by a pitch. Ellsbury hit into a fielder's choice and moved Varitek over to third. Ellsbury stole second and Lowrie hit a fly ball to left which allowed Varitek to come around and score. Ortiz then singled to left and Ellsbury came around to score another Red Sox run. In the sixth inning, the only hit the Red Sox had was Youkilis' home run.

Ellsbury started off the seventh inning by hitting a single and then stealing second. Lowrie grounded out to first and Ellsbury moved over to third. Manny walked and then Lowell hit his home run. The inning ended with a strike out by Youkilis that he was not at all happy about and nearly got himself thrown out of the game over.

In the eighth inning, Drew walked and eventually stole second. Varitek flied out and Lugo walked. Ellsbury struck out but then Pedroia pinch hit for Lowrie, got a single, and drove in the lead run of the game. Lowell had a double in the eighth inning but nothing came of it.

Wakefield v. Robertson (Game 35)

Nicely done by Timeehs.

Wakefield pitched eight scoreless innings, gave up only two hits, struck out six, and didn't walk anyone. Not a typical Wakefield start at all; plus, the game was under ten hours long (I don't remember the last time I was going to head to bed this early.) As much as I was attached to Dougie, it seems (from the post-game interview snippets) that Cash might have had a lot to do with bringing out the awesome-ness of Tim Wakefield tonight. In Wake's interview he said that Cash pointed out that he was stepping to the left side (and I don't know anything about pitching mechanics but apparently, working on not doing that somehow helped him pitch better tonight.) And in Cash's interview he seemed to be implying that he was calling for Wake to rely on the knuckleball less.

Mike Timlin pitched the ninth inning and did a decent job of it. He gave up a hit to the first batter he faced but got the second to ground into a double play. The last batter he pitched to flew out to left. He threw eleven pitches, eight of them for strikes. Given the state of the bullpen beyond Papelbon and Okajima, it was a pretty good outing.

The Red Sox only scored in the second and seventh innings. The second inning started off with a four-pitch walk to Mike Lowell. Youkilis quickly followed that up with a double and Lowell moved over to third. Drew hit a single to center-it knocked Lowell in and moved Youkilis over to third. Then, little Kevin Cash hit a double to center-Youkilis scored and Drew moved over to third. Lugo, probably in an attempt at a sacrifice, flew out to right-unfortunately, the ball didn't travel far enough and Drew stayed at third. It was then back to the top of the order for Coco, who grounded out to the short stop but did allow Drew to score. The inning ended when Pedroia grounded out.

The Red Sox capped off their offensive push in the seventh inning with two home runs. They came off the bats of Ortiz and Manny and were, literally, back-to-back home runs, i.e. they were hit off consecutive pitches. Ortiz worked himself to a full count and then shot a pitch to several rows back on the right side. It was his seventh on the season and briefly gave him the record for most Red Sox home runs in the 2008 season-it lasted just about as long as it took him to circle the bases. Manny, demanding the record be returned to him, put a beautiful swing on the first pitch he saw and sent 497 to straight-away center field, just beyond the four hundred and twenty feet mark.

Matsuzaka v. Bonderman (Game 34)

Oy.

I don't get how Daisuke does it. Any other pitcher who walked eight batters in five innings wouldn't get the win, they would probably be pummeled. What's more, he looks completely calm and collected while the rest of us are watching through our fingers. And yet, Daisuke leaves the game today with five wins and no losses on the season.

He threw one hundred and nine pitches through those five innings. In addition to the eight walks, he gave up one run on only two hits. I suppose it ended up lucky for him that, for the most part, he wasn't walking the lead-off batter. Except for in the third and the fourth innings, his walks were coming with one or two outs. In the third inning, the second batter grounded into a fielder's choice to get the lead-off runner. In the fourth, however, the lead-off batter would eventually come around to score the only run he would allow.

Craig Hansen took over in the sixth inning and did pretty well-he got three quick outs. He also started the seventh inning but struggled a little bit. He gave up two singles (one which just got by him) but then got a double play. Then he walked the next two batters to load the bases before handing the ball off to Okajima.

Okajima gave up a base hit on the first pitch he threw to the first batter he saw, that allowed two of Hansen's runners to score (possibly, a better throw from Manny could have gotten the second runner out at home.) That was it for damage in the seventh, though. He was back in form when he pitched the eighth inning-he got two ground outs and a fly out. Papelbon pitched the ninth inning and with three fly outs got his tenth save of the season.

The Tigers defense had a little bit of trouble tonight (with two errors at short) but they didn't prove to be costly mistakes. In fact, five of the six Red Sox runs that scored came as the direct result of home runs. It was a three home run night for the Red Sox offense-both Lowell and Youkilis hit two-run shots, and Ortiz had a solo home run.

Manny started things off in the second inning. He hit a ball to center field, an average runner would have had a triple, a speedster might have had an inside the park home run, but Manny settled for a double. (Don't get me wrong. I'm not criticizing him at all. I would rather have him be safe at second than called out at third trying to do something he isn't capable off.) Mike Lowell followed it up with a home run to left- his first of the year.

In the fourth inning, Lowell was the lead-off batter. He hit almost the exact same pitch in almost the exact same direction, except this one stayed within the confines of Comerica Park and only netted him a double. Youkilis was up next and sent a home run soaring to left, scoring both him and Lowell.

The Red Sox didn't score again until the seventh inning. With one out, Pedroia doubled to left center. Ortiz got a base hit and Pedroia came around to score. The last home run that scored came in the ninth courtesy of David Ortiz. He cranked a three and one count to a few rows back in right field.

Next Up: the Detroit Tigers.

The last time the Red Sox faced the Detroit Tigers, the Tigers got their first win of the season (they also got two more losses.) Daisuke and Wakefield pitched well, Lester did not. Poor defense on the Tigers part, coupled with the fact that they were not hitting at that point aided in the Red Sox wins. Though since then, their offense has clicked.

This time around they face Bonderman (on Monday), Robertson (on Tuesday), Galarraga (on Wednesday), and most likely Verlander (on Thursday.) Lester lost the game to Bonderman back in April but Bonderman didn't exactly sparkle in that performance. He issued a bases loaded walk to Ellsbury in the second inning. Nate Robertson didn't fair too well at Fenway back in April, either. During the course of that game the Red Sox had four doubles, nine singles, and walked nine times. It probably isn't fair to expect that poor of a performance again, however.

Armando Galarraga is a rookie pitcher who has made four major league starts (in which he has posted a two and one record with a 1.88 ERA.) He had a good strikeout rate throughout his minor league career but walks have always been a problem for him. He throws a low-nineties fastball with a good sinking action, a pretty good slider, and a change-up.

Justin Verlander has not gotten off to a good start this year. In the seven games he's started, he's gone one and five with a 6.28 ERA. Even though he's given up forty-two hits and thirty-five runs so far, he can still get his fastball to top out at ninety-nine miles per hour. He's also got the excellent curve ball and the very good change-up. So far this season he's never gone past seven innings and only once has he not given up a home run (in that game, however, he'd already given up six earned runs when they pulled him.) His walk rate is low, though. And his strike out rate is only slightly better.

As for offense, Carlos Guillen, Edgar Renteria, Ramon Santiago, Curtis Granderson, and Magglio Ordonez *tilde and all other accent marks implied*, have gotten their acts together. Their defense continues to struggle, though. Eleven of the runs that their starters have allowed have been unearned. Their infield has made fifteen errors (a third of those going to Miguel Cabrera) and their outfield has made four.

And the Moral of the Series (Detroit: Games 8-10) is...

The series was all over the place. Good pitching (and poor defense by the Tigers) won the first game, poor pitching lost the second game, and moving people across home plate won the third game. I suppose you could take away from that, that there are a couple of ways to win games but, barring sub-par defense, there is only one way to lose. Too many base runners and too many balls in play will come back to bite you.

The Good: Kevin Cash has shown that not only can he do a good job catching Wake but he can contribute offensively, as well. Lugo seems to have gotten his feet beneath him again. Drew and Manny are still swinging the bat well (and Manny seems to be having a hell of a lot of fun doing it.) Youkilis seems to remember how to play third base well.

The Bad: Ortiz still isn't swinging well. The bullpen remains a weak spot-perhaps the return of Timlin will terrify them back into shape. Lowell busted his thumb and won't be available until almost the Tampa series and Alex Cora may have injured himself as well.

Robertson v. Wakefield (Game 10)

Today's win is brought to you by the skill set of run production.



Not to take away anything from Wakefield's pitching (which was good) but the Red Sox won this game the old-fashioned way: They scored more runs that the Detroit Tigers. The story of this game was the ability of the Red Sox to get walks, swing their bats, and make it across home plate in spades. Doubles from Manny, Youkilis, Casey and Coco (which on a luckier day would have been a triple), base hits from Lugo, Coco, Casey, Cash, two from Pedroia, and three from Drew, and converting 9 walks into 8 runs, resulted in the win.

Wakefield pitched five innings and if he was any other pitcher his line would be worrisome. He faced twenty-five batters, got five out on strikes, walked five, allowed three hits, hit two batters with a pitch and allowed two runs (only one of which was earned.) He threw 108 pitches and got himself into and out of jams relatively unscathed. The knuckle ball was moving all over the place last night but Wake is a wily, old guy and he pitched the way he always does. (He'll keep the opponent's score low and you score some runs.) Cash put in a really good defensive performance, as well. When the bases were loaded he had really good control of that ball and prevented any extra runs.

When Wakefield came out of the game he was replaced by Manny Del. He pitched one and two thirds innings (starting in the sixth) and struck out one, didn't walk anybody, and gave up two hits-a base hit to Rodriguez and a home run to Ordonez. [aside: Magglio Ordonez looks like a curly-haired verstion of the good Johnny Damon.] Ordonez is a very good hitter. At some point the excuse that the runs Manny Del is allowing are coming off very good hitters may get old but I'm not worried about him yet. Okajima finished off the inning for him. With four pitches he induced a ground out and was done for the night.

Tavarez came out for the eighth inning and struggled with his command. He walked two, allowed three hits, a stolen base, and three runs before he even got an out. Luckily for him, Julio Lugo managed to start a double play on the next ball in put in play and so ended Tavarez' night. Papelbon finished the inning with a fly out. In the ninth inning he got a strike out, gave up a double, got a strike out, gave up a base hit, and got the force out at second to end the game.

Bonderman v. Lester (Game 9)

The story of this game was, once again, Lester's propensity for walking batters. He pitched five and a third innings and walked four without striking out a single batter. Although through the first three innings he gave up two walks and a hit, he managed to emerge unscathed. He was not as lucky, however, in the fourth inning. He got a put out at first for the first batter and then proceeded to walk two in a row. He followed that up by giving a double to tie the game and then a home run to put the Tigers up by two. Once the bases were cleared he ended the inning with two put outs at first.

His performance in the fifth inning was either not bad or lucky. He got a fly out, a put out, gave up a base hit, and then had a force out at second. In the sixth inning, he had a put out and gave up a double before he was pulled. When he left the game, the game was still manageable; in typical Jon Lester fashion, some timely hitting could have gotten Jon Lester the win.

David Aardsma came in to relieve Lester and while his performance didn't sparkle, it did its job. He pitched one and two thirds innings without allowing any runs. He did walk two but he also had the first Red Sox strike out of the night. Corey came in to replace him and didn't do nearly as well. He walked the first batter he faced, gave up a base hit to the second, got a put out at first on the third, and the fourth (and last) batter he faced hit a ground ball to center that allowed two additional runs to score. He was replaced by Julian Tavarez who gave up a base hit, hit a batter with a pitch, but then turned a very nice double play to end the inning and save a run (it went Tavarez to Varitek to Casey.) The last Red Sox pitcher of the night was Javier Lopez. He started off well-he got a put out at first and a strike out on the first two batters. In quick succession, though, he then gave up a home run, a walk, and a base hit, before getting the fly out.

The problems in the game weren't solely the fault of the lackluster pitching. There was a distinct lack of offensive production going on. The two runs that the Red Sox did score both came in the second inning; the first was off a bases loaded walk to Ellsbury and the second off a base hit by Lugo. In every inning after that, with the exception of the fifth, the Red Sox had at least one man on base. The Red Sox had a total of nine hits (three for extra bases) but didn't seem to be able to do much with them. Both Youkilis and Lugo were caught stealing (though Lugo was pretty much safe.)

Rogers v. Matsuzaka (Game 8) or Opening Day: Take 4

Daisuke to the rescue!

Another nice outing for Daisuke. He pitched six and two thirds scoreless innings and gave up only four hits and four walks. He struck out seven batters. He threw 108 pitches, sixty-two of them for strikes. He did load the bases with two outs in the sixth (on two base hits and a walk) but the next batter flew out to center for the third out.

Manny Del came in for an inning and a third and did much better than he had done against the Jays. He got two fly outs, two strike outs, and allowed a base hit. Okajima closed the game with a strike out, a fly out, and another strike out.

Offensively, Kevin Youkilis played really well today. In his five plate appearances, he had three hits (one of which was a double), a walk, and a sacrifice fly. Drew continues to play pretty well. He had a base hit, a strike out, and two walks. Dustin Pedroia, Jason Varitek, and Julio Lugo each had two base hits. Coco had a base hit and sacrifice fly. And then there was Manny. Manny had a double that, for some reason, he decided to try to leg it into a triple. He probably would have been out at third if it wasn't for a throwing error by Polanco. Instead, the ball ended up in Detroit's dugout and they gave Manny the base.

So that's how you win against the Tigers: You have excellent pitching to stymie their lineup, have very good defense to prevent any runs, get to their bullpen as quickly as you can, and hit the ball as often as you can because they struggle defensively.

Next Up: Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are in a tailspin. At some point they will get their act together, pull the throttle up and right themselves, before they smack into a barn (Forgive me. For some reason whenever I think flying metaphor I go back to my first flying experience: Barnstorming on Atari.)--it's not likely that they would finish 0-162--hopefully, though, Tuesday isn't their lucky day.

Kenny Rogers is a lefty with a lifetime win-loss record of 210-144. He's a ground ball pitcher who isn't afraid to run up the pitch count. He's very good at fielding (he's got five gold gloves) and has an excellent pickoff move. He also has a temper and was accused of cheating during the 2006 World Series. He missed a large portion of the last season due to having surgery for a blood clot but historically, has been a very good pitcher. He did pitch very well in his last outing. He went six innings and gave up hits and two runs. He struck out four and walked only one.

Jeremy Bonderman is a power pitcher who finished last year with a record of 11-9. His fast ball sits in the mid-nineties and he has a very nice slider; both of which he commands well. He doesn't walk a lot of batters (only 6% of the batters he faced last year) and he doesn't give up too many home runs (23 last year.) He got 145 batters to strike out last year (19.25%). His last outing was not a good one for Jeremy Bonderman. He went sixth and one third innings and gave up eight hits and four runs. He walked two, gave up two home runs, and only struck out one batter.

Nate Robertson is a lefty who went 9-13 last year. He's got low nineties fast ball and a good slider that he uses to get right-handed hitters out. He also tends to tire as he gets deeper into a game-his fastball comes up and gets hit hard. Defensively, he struggles a little. His concentration seems to wane as he gets deeper into a game. He's also easy to steal on. His last outing wasn't pretty. He went five innings, gave up seven hits, five runs-one of which was a home run, and he walked two. He did strike out five, though.

I don't know what is up with the Detroit line up. They should be fierce. From their catcher all the way around to their designated hitter, the only player without very good career averages is their third baseman, Brandon Inge-but he's been doing well so far this year. Gary Sheffield, Magglio Ordonez, and Miguel Cabrera are probably the best hitters on the team.

If they're down-trodden because of their lousy start, then it'd be a good thing. It should be a very difficult team to beat. The Royals did it-so it can be done-but it should be a couple of hard fought games.