I’ll be the first one to admit that I couldn’t believe that it took this long. However, the big rant by a flustered Jimmy Leyland seems to have had quite an effect on the Tigers. That, combined with a match-up with the lowly underachieving Seattle Mariners seemed to be just the right medicine for the ailing Tiger bats.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve just about had ENOUGH!
A coming out party in a big series opener, followed by a near sequel in Wednesdays’ tilt, along with a similar offensive afternoon performance, the Tigers henchmen seem alive again. Halt all of you bandwagon jumpers, in no way is this an indication that the World Series parade can again resume its’ planning. We need not sip on the same champagne that was popped when the Tigers romped another West Divisional team (the Texas Rangers) in a 3-game slaughter bashing in 37 runs. Remember how quickly that went flat once the Rangers left town.
Lots of high fives, as the Tigers scored plenty of runs The Tigers hitters were pumping out the hits no doubt, but they honestly lucked out in their match-ups by not having to face the “haves” of the Mariners starting rotation. I’m of course speaking “King Felix” and Canadian great Erik Bedard, who just happened to pitch just prior to the opener of this series. Give them credit though, as they took advantage of facing the bottom three of the M’s staff by knocking around 17 hits off of Silva and company in the opener, followed by 14 against lefty Jarrod Washburn and crew, and rounded out a smoking hot 72 hours by punching out 13 big hits against Miguel Batista and what has to be an exhausted bullpen. 
Washburn and the rest of the M’s starting staff was knocked around pretty hard, and they just couldn’t get up!How would a team that is built to manufacture runs, and have the potential for huge innings turn the switch on and off so abruptly? I mean, for the past 2+ weeks, they have struggled to have more than four runners cross the plate in a nine inning battle, and then the cash in an average of 10 runs over the course of one series?
What exactly contributed to this? Was it Leyland’s anger/naughty word laced diatribe? Is it just time for this team to perhaps stop pointing fingers and looking for the next guy to come through? Being an outsider, I’ll never know, but I truly feel that it may be the fact that the energy has been pumped through their veins, a sense of pride in feeling as if they now realize what size of a hole they have dug into.The arms weren’t by any stretch of the imagination perfect, but we can’t have it all I suppose. At least Justin Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman were able to put together a pair of quality starts. Even though Kenny Rogers was able to get the win in the middle game, he unfortunately continued to display signs of struggle. This only added to boggling the minds of many Tiger fans wondering if it was the right decision to re-sign “The Gambler” to the one-year deal prior to the ’08 season.
Maybe he should put some of that mysterious brown stuff back on his hand?
I’m not trying to be a harsh critic, because the crafty veteran has given this team a lot, but it looks as if he is having a tough time keeping his stuff in check. With Dontrelle Willis returning to the big club, although he has joined the bullpen for now, it will be interesting to see what the Tigers decide to do moving forward. With Gallaraga performing well, what will Leyland decide to do with that fifth rotation spot? If Kenny continues to struggle, it may be a tough decision to toss him into the ‘pen, but he may be the best candidate. He has shown fatigue as games go on and has pretty much displayed that he is a five inning pitcher, maybe six if his pitch count is low enough. That may be a nice complement to the relief staff, whereas messing up the psyche of a younger starter could hinder their development. I’m not paid to make these multi-million dollar decisions, but realize that the time is starting to countdown as to when a final decision must be made.
Who will Willis ultimately replace in the rotation? I say “The Gambler” Regardless, with Minnesota coming to town for a three game weekend tilt, the Tigers attempt to continue their climb to .500. And with a record of 20-27, they certainly have lots of room for improvement. Considering that it’s been few and far between that we can cheer something for more than a few minutes with this team, let’s enjoy this run for what it is and hope to see some more signs that indicate that they are growing out of the early season funk. More importantly, let’s hope that they can continue to keep the sizzle in their bats, because it sure is fun to watch! 
Get it? Sizzling bat? YIKES…Sorry ’bout that one!
