DET. TIGERS 2008 REG SEASON SCHEDULE & SCORES

laprimamirala wrote:

well, I wouldn't got that far....

Well, neither would I... but there are some pretty strange people out there....

I just wanna with most of 'em!

Haha. ing is always fun!

06/06/2008 11:59 PM ET

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Verlander solid, but Tigers fall to Tribe
Solo homers by Inge, Larish account for Detroit's runs
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

DETROIT -- When the Tigers were swept out of Oakland earlier this week, manager Jim Leyland felt his hitters were swinging at some balls and looking at some strikes. Facing a pitcher who threw plenty of strikes didn't seem to help.

"I liked pitching against them when I was with Kansas City," Paul Byrd said after his work helped the Indians send the Tigers to a 4-2 loss. "Kansas City was a larger ballpark and this is a larger ballpark. This park's always been tailored to my advantage."

The bats the Tigers added in the offseason, and the youngsters the Tigers have added in recent weeks, didn't change Byrd's liking -- nor the results.

"He does a good job mixing his pitches and just trying to throw your timing," rookie Jeff Larish said. "I think it showed tonight."

Larish and Brandon Inge hit solo homers off Byrd to keep the Tigers close, one of them Larish's first Major League homer, but that was the extent of the Tigers' scoring. Byrd scattered our hits over seven innings without a walk, and needed just 80 pitches to do it -- 55 of them strikes. It was a classic Byrd outing, and it helped continue the Tigers' unexpected struggles that have lasted for much of the season.

The homers helped Detroit avoid adding to its Major League-leading shutout total of nine, but the Tigers' low-scoring games have been an equal. According to Bill James Online, Friday was their 24th game scoring two runs or less, topping the big leagues. Not surprisingly, they're winless in those games.

Eight of those games have come in Justin Verlander's starts, accounting for all but one of his American League-leading nine defeats.

"Obviously, we really haven't swung the bats," manager Jim Leyland said. "I'm seeing it, but I'm not necessarily believing it. That's the way it is. You just have to keep grinding and keep grinding, and hopefully one day it starts and doesn't start. It's almost like a mystery to me, to be honest with you, that we really haven't scored more runs or hit the ball with more consistency than we have.

"I'm totally shocked that we haven't done better offensively, and that's probably putting it mildly."

Byrd (3-5) retired 10 straight Tigers in between Carlos Guillen's first-inning single and Miguel Cabrera's double leading off the sixth. Making things tougher, his outs were efficient; he reached just one three-ball count in his seven innings, and Magglio Ordonez lined the full-count delivery to second base to end the opening inning.

"It's almost like a mystery to me, to be honest with you, that we really haven't scored more runs or hit the ball with more consistency than we have."
-- Jim Leyland

Both home runs were on offspeed pitches left up in the zone. Inge lofted an 0-1 pitch deep to left leading off the bottom of the sixth for his fifth home run of the year. Byrd retired the side in order from there, then induced popouts from Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera to start the seventh before leaving a pitch up to Larish.

That's when Larish finally had a chance to flash the power that put him among the International League's best hitters at Triple-A Toledo. His drive to the depths of the gap in right-center cleared the out-of-town scoreboard and landed in the seats above.

"I believe it was a changeup, [he] just left it up in the zone," Larish said. "Obviously, results are a big part of this game, so when you have something like that to take the pressure off a little bit, it helps to do that. But it helps to do that anytime."

In this case, it helped bring the Tigers within striking distance, though Ryan Garko's homer off Denny Bautista leading off the eighth bumped the deficit back to two. Todd Jones' scoreless ninth kept it there, allowing Ordonez and Cabrera to step up as the potential tying run following Carlos Guillen's one-out single.

Closer Joe Borowski induced Ordonez into a first-pitch flyout to right, then put Cabrera in an 0-2 count before sending him down swinging at a cutter to end the game.

Verlander (2-9) traded zeroes with Byrd for the first few innings, striking out five of the first 11 hitters he faced, before the Indians made him labor through the fourth. Five straight Indians reached base safely, including walks to Garko and David Dellucci to load the bases for Blake.

Verlander put Blake in an 0-2 hole but just missed the outside corner on his next pitch. Blake lined the next offering to left before Gutierrez did the same.

"He's certainly pitched some good ballgames this year," Leyland said. "He probably hasn't been himself on a consistent basis, but he's certainly pitched some very, very good ballgames. Tonight, I thought he was good for the most part. He was in and out a little bit at times."

When he's been in, the Tigers' offense has generally been out. Verlander has quality starts in four of his last five starts, but has a win, two losses and a no-decision to show for it.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

The game has only been over for a little while.... these people must write very fast.

I think they write it during the game. They expand it later to add interviews and stuff.

oh that makes sense.

06/07/2008 6:45 PM ET

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Thames, Renteria homer in big eighth
Tigers score six late runs against Tribe to even series
By Scott McNeish / MLB.com

DETROIT -- The Tigers won the second game of a four-game series with the Indians, 8-4, on Saturday afternoon in front of a sellout crowd of 42,193 fans at Comerica Park.

The win snapped the Tigers' four-game losing streak. They improved to 8-4 this season against left-handed starters and won for just the second time this year when scoring four or fewer runs.

Down, 3-2, heading into the eighth inning, Marcus Thames homered off the left-field foul pole to tie the game. Magglio Ordonez followed with a double to center, and Miguel Cabrera knocked him in with a single to left, giving the Tigers the lead. In the same inning, they loaded the bases and, with two outs, Edgar Renteria hit his sixth career grand slam.

Tigers starter Kenny Rogers had an impressive outing, his third straight quality start. He allowed three runs -- only one earned -- on five hits in seven innings.

Detroit had two errors on the day, both of which led to Indians runs, including a score that gave the Indians the lead in the sixth.

With the score 2-2, Rogers, a former Gold Glove winner and usually slick fielder, dove off the mound to his right to field a Ben Francisco bunt. Rogers barrel-rolled toward first base, and as he did, the left-hander threw the ball far to the right of Cabrera and into right field. Francisco motored into third on the play and scored on a Ryan Garko sacrifice fly.

The Indians' other unearned run came in the second inning, when the they went up, 2-0. With runners on first and second, Franklin Gutierrez's grounder skipped under Cabrera's glove and a potential double-play ball turned into an Indians lead. They added another on Kelly Shoppach's ground-rule double to center.

Carlos Guillen's two-run home run to left, the 100th of his career, tied the game in the fourth.

Scott McNeish is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Wow, that was great for !!

Gotta love :rogers: :tjones: and :thames: and the star of the day :edgar: !!!

they finally came alive! I'll bet Bondo was cheerin' 'em on all the way!

Saturday, June 7, 2008
Tigers 8, Indians 4
Renteria's slam highlights Tigers' first victory in five games
David Goricki / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- The Stanley Cup celebration continued Saturday afternoon when Red Wings' Kris Draper and Brian Rafalski carried the Cup near the mound at Comerica Park before throwing out ceremonial first pitches.

Then, the Tigers went out and gave their own fans something to celebrate -- a dramatic 8-4 comeback victory over the Indians.

It helped ease the pain of a tough day for the Tigers, who earlier Saturday learned a blood clot likely will sideline starting pitcher Jeremy Bonderman for the rest of the season.

The Tigers scored six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to wipe out a 3-2 deficit. Marcus Thames got it started with a solo homer to left field off reliever Masa Kobayashi.

"I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit," Thames said. "I got a good swing in. When I hit it, the ball was fair by a lot, but the wind then carried it a little. I'm glad it hit the foul pole. I was just trying to give us a spark."

Magglio Ordonez followed with a double to chase Kobayashi.

Miguel Cabrera greeted Rafael Betancourt with a line single to left to score Ordonez for the go-ahead run. And later, Edgar Renteria put the finishing touches on the rally with a grand slam, his second bases-loaded homer of the season. Both have been against Cleveland.

"It's great fun to come back and win a game," Thames said. "Kenny (Rogers) pitched a great game. Hopefully this will give us a spark."

The rally helped the Tigers end their four-game losing streak. Still, they couldn't get the win for Rogers.

The veteran left-hander had his third straight quality start, but has no decisions each time. The Tigers ultimately went on to lose his previous two decisions -- to the Angels (1-0, 12 innings) and A's (3-2).

Rogers, who has allowed just three earned runs in the last three games (21 innings), gave up one earned run, five hits and one walk while hitting two batters against the Indians.

"We scored a few at the end which was great," Rogers said. "I'm more than happy with that."

Zach Miner (3-3) earned the win with Todd Jones picking up his ninth save.

Carlos Guillen hit his 100th career homer, a two-run shot in the third to pull the Tigers even at 2. Guillen also had a single in the eighth.

The Tigers also made their share of outstanding defensive plays, including Ryan Raburn's running catch to strand runners on second and third in the second.

Center fielder Brent Clevlen had a diving catch in the third.

"Kenny was tremendous," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "He's been real good lately. The defense was good. We could have been down a little bit more (early). Raburn and Clevlen made some good catches.

"We finally got some big hits. Marcus led off with the home run. Miguel Cabrera got a big one and then Renteria.

"I'm real happy for Miguel. He's tried real hard to please everybody and has put a lot of pressure on himself. He just needs to have some fun. He doesn't have to carry the team, just do his part."

Cabrera made up for his early game struggles with the single in the eighth. He finished 1-for-4 and still is hitting just .222 (10-for-45) in his last 12 games.

After striking out with a runner on second to end Friday night's 4-2 loss, Cabrera grounded out to second in the first inning Saturday to end an early threat.

Cabrera then made an error in the second, helping the Indians jump out to a 2-0 lead.

Still, Cabrera and the Tigers got over the mistakes and got some clutch hits in the eighth after leaving runners in scoring position in the first, fifth and seventh innings.

"It's a big game for us," Leyland said. "Any (win) is a big one to get the ship in the right direction."

You can reach David Goricki at david.goricki@detnews.com.

Woo hoo!

06/08/2008 4:15 PM ET

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Clutch hitting, Galarraga the difference
Tigers come through in clutch to take series edge vs. Tribe
By Scott McNeish / MLB.com

DETROIT -- The Tigers got it done at the plate with two outs in their 5-2 win over the Indians on Sunday afternoon in front of 39,941 fans at Comerica Park.

Not known for their two-out hitting, the Tigers scored four runs with two outs. The clutch hits came from Miguel Cabrera in the first, Curtis Granderson in the second and Placido Polanco in the fourth, giving the Tigers their second straight win after a four-game losing streak.

Granderson blasted a solo home run for his two-out hit, but Cabrera's RBI single and Polanco's two-run single came with runners in scoring position and two out.

Coming into Sunday's game, the Tigers had a .229 average in two-out situations, which ranked 10th out of 14 American League teams.

They also ranked ninth in hits and 10th in RBIs.

But their bad luck in those situations changed on Sunday, and starting pitcher Armando Galarraga took advantage. The big right-hander, pitching in place of injured starter Jeremy Bonderman, allowed two runs on four hits over 5 2/3 innings. His team improved to 7-2 in games in which he starts.

The Indians loaded the bases with one out in the seventh off reliever Zach Miner. But Freddy Dolsi struck out Jhonny Peralta and Ben Francisco with 97 mph fastballs to end the threat.

The Tigers claimed just their second Sunday win this season and first Sunday victory at home in nine tries.

Scott McNeish is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

The guys can rest easy with their families this evening, ready to get 'er done tomorrow!

Maybe they have decided that Spring Training is over!

hope so! It's been a long wait!

06/08/2008 6:35 PM ET

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Galarraga, Dolsi make difference
Tigers also get clutch hits to take series edge against Tribe
By Scott McNeish / MLB.com

DETROIT -- Freddy Dolsi jogged from the left-field bullpen into a situation that didn't look too promising for the Tigers. Their young reliever entered in the eighth inning with the bases loaded with one out.

The Tigers had a three-run lead as Dolsi, who never pitched above Double-A before this season, faced the potential winning run at the plate.

That, however, didn't stop him from challenging the Indians hitters.

"He has no fear," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.

First, he blew a 98-mph fastball past Jhonny Peralta. The fans roared. One out to go for the 25-year-old. It didn't take long. He struck out Ben Francisco looking on a well-placed 97-mph heater on the outside corner. The crowd of 39,941 at Comerica Park on Sunday afternoon erupted, catcher Ivan Rodriguez pumped his fist and the Tigers held on for a 5-2 win, their first Sunday win at home this season.

The Tigers now have a chance to win their first four-game series this season and first series against an American League Central team not named the Minnesota Twins.

"There's a lot of baseball left, but ... we have to do something about it at some point," Leyland said. "You have to start winning series. Win two out of three, three out of four. Winning series right now is huge. We really can't afford to split series."

Dolsi's dramatic strikeouts helped put the Tigers in a position to take this series.

He has come a long way since his Major League debut, when he served up a home run to Manny Ramirez on his first Major League pitch. Since that night, Dolsi has allowed two runs in 10 2/3 innings.

"He threw outstanding," Leyland said of Dolsi. "He threw hard. He located the ball pretty good. I don't know if he did it by design, but he did it. He's going to be a good one. He's a real prime-time prospect. He has no fear. That's one thing we really like about him. He's going to be a real good one. He's got a chance to pitch late in games."

Starter Armando Galarraga helped the Tigers earn their late lead with another strong performance. This time out, the right-hander barely missed a quality start by allowing two runs on four hits over 5 2/3 innings.

More importantly, the Tigers improved to 7-2 this season in games Galarraga starts. That includes two wins over the Indians.

"I always go confident when I go to the mound," Galarraga said. "I always believe in myself and believe in my team. And about, I'd say, 80 percent of the time, I've had good run support. So it's good for me and makes me feel more comfortable."

Rodriguez could see Galarraga grow more relaxed as the Tigers piled on runs.

"When you get run support, it makes things a lot easier," he said.

The run support came in clutch fashion. Four of the Tigers' runs came with two outs, an area where the Tigers have struggled this season. They came into Sunday's game hitting .229 with runners in scoring position and two outs. That ranks 10th out of 14 American League teams. They also ranked ninth in hits and 10th in RBIs -- head-scratching stats for a team with this much firepower.

But the Tigers bats excelled with two outs on Sunday. They forced Indians pitchers into high pitch counts by fouling off tough pitches. Indians starter Jeremy Sowers had 90 pitches in four innings.

"That's a credit to them as hitters," Sowers said. "They had a lot of foul balls throughout the whole game. Traditionally, they're a team that hacks, but today they did a good job of only hacking at pitches in the zone. They forced me to put the ball in the zone, and they took advantage of it."

In the first inning, after a Placido Polanco double and Marcus Thames walk, Miguel Cabrera drilled a two-out single to right. Curtis Granderson hit a two-out solo home run to left, his eighth of the season, in the second inning. Then in the fourth, following Rodriguez's RBI single to right, Polanco knocked a two-run, two-out single that made it 5-1.

The Tigers had important phases clicking on this day. The offense got key hits. Their starting pitcher had an impressive outing. And the bullpen came up with a clutch hold late in the game.

"We're playing better; everybody is working together," Galarraga said. "If we do that more, we can be real good."

Scott McNeish is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Sunday, June 8, 2008
Tigers 5, Indians 2
Granderson, Polanco lead Tigers past Indians
Lynn Henning / The Detroit News

Those folks trying to figure out the Tigers can probably begin with their bullpen. It hasn't made a lot of sense, either, as a once-scorned crew that has become the Tigers' godsend showed again Sunday in a 5-2 Tigers victory over the Indians at steamy Comerica Park.

The triumph gave manager Jim Leyland's team its first-back-to-back victories since May 21-22. It came on a miserably hot day when the mercury topped 90 degrees and the humidity was worse. Most of 39,941 who bought tickets Sunday put up with a 304-pitch, 3-hour, 8-minute game that was at least as excruciating as the heat index.

They also saw a pair of right-handed relievers on opposite ends of the age spectrum, Freddy Dolsi and Todd Jones, clamp down on the Indians in a game that could easily have been Cleveland's.

Dolsi rescued Zach Miner in the eighth, inheriting a based-loaded, one-out mess that he cleaned up with back-to-back strikeouts of Jhonny Peralta and Ben Francisco.

"He's gonna be a good one, he's a real prime-time prospect," Leyland said afterward, complimenting Dolsi, 25, who has a 2.13 earned-run average in 11 games for the Tigers since being called up only a few days after he was pitching at Class A Lakeland. "He has no fear. That's what we liked about him. He's not afraid."

Jones showed up in the ninth for a 1-2-3 closeout, courtesy of three quick ground-outs, good for his 10th save of the season and 311th career save, which tied him for 16th place on the all-time list with Tom Henke.

"Very un-roller-coaster-like," Jones quipped afterward, poking fun at the "Roller-coaster" moniker that came his way years ago after too many tense finales.

The Tigers scored five early runs off Indians starter Jeremy Sowers, one coming on an opposite-field home run by Curtis Granderson, who batted ninth against the left-handed Sowers.

Placido Polanco, who scored in the first following his double and Miguel Cabrera's single, knocked in the biggest two runs of the game in the third with a two-out, two-run single. Pudge Rodriguez also had a RBI single in the third, which scored Carlos Guillen, who had led off with a double.

As is the Tigers' custom, that was it for the offense, which produced only one more hit -- Cabrera's double in the eighth.

But with Armando Galarraga stitching together another solid start (5 2/3 innings, four hits, two runs), the frustrated Indians (28-35) did nothing against a bullpen that pulled a goal-line stand, beginning with left-hander Casey Fossum's 1 2/3 innings of spotless relief.

Dolsi's strikeouts were the most dramatic outs of the game and came at a point when the Tigers had to keep two dangerous hitters from putting anything in play. Dolsi is a possible closer-in-training for the Tigers, even if Joel Zumaya is likely a few days from rejoining the Tigers roster. Jones, for one, sees in Dolsi everything a ninth-inning reliever requires, even beyond Dolsi's 97-mph fastball.

"I think closers have a different look in their eyes," Jones said. "Chuck (Hernandez, Tigers pitching coach), says he goes out (to the mound) to check the look in a pitcher's eyes.

"Freddy's got that cold stare. Joel does, too. It's one of those intangibles you need. You kind of feel like the crazier you get, the calmer you get."

Dolsi, who was signed five years ago by the Tigers when he was pitching in his native Dominican Republic.

"To be honest with you, I was a little shocked," Leyland said of Dolsi's quick trip to the majors. "It looks to me as if somebody knew what they were doing. This kid's going to be a good one."

06/09/2008 11:13 PM ET

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Tigers drop rain-delayed game
Starter Willis struggles, lasts just 1 1/3 innings against Tribe
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

DETROIT -- Dontrelle Willis came into Monday night's start with a rotation spot secure, a chance for run support behind him and a potential building block towards reclaiming his season. He left with command issues, possibly more than ever.

Willis became just the third Major League pitcher since 1956 to allow eight runs with as few as three hits. He walked five of the 12 batters he faced and gave up a three-run home run to Ryan Garko along with a two-run homer to Kelly Shoppach, sending the Tigers on their way to an 8-2 loss and a four-game series split to the Indians Monday night at Comerica Park.

Willis, who returned to the Tigers rotation last week in a piggyback start with Armando Galarraga, was free to be stretched out. With Jeremy Bonderman likely out for the rest of the season, both are now being counted on to pick up the slack.

Instead, it was the start of a long night all around. Willis seemingly fell out of sync early and couldn't recover, consistently missing outside as he tried to bring his arm around on his delivery.

Willis retired Franklin Gutierrez on a popout to lead off the game, then threw seven consecutive balls out of the strike zone, walking Ben Francisco and eventually Victor Martinez. After a visit to the mound from pitching coach Chuck Hernandez, Willis fell behind on a 3-1 count to Garko, who drove the next pitch deep to left for his sixth home run of the season.

Willis put up back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning, but a five-pitch walk to Casey Blake led off the second before he fell behind on Shoppach. This time, manager Jim Leyland visited the mound to try to calm him down, but Shoppach took him deep for his second homer on the season and a 5-0 Indians lead.

At that point, Leyland seemed set to allow Willis to work out his issues on the mound. However, a one-out single from Gutierrez and another pair of back-to-back walks to Francisco and Martinez eventually brought out the manager to take out his starter. With the bases loaded, reliever Denny Bautista's first pitch hit Garko for an RBI before Jhonny Peralta singled in a run and a Shin-Soo Choo sacrifice fly plated.

Edgar Renteria and Placido Polanco drove in runs to put the Tigers on the scoreboard in the fourth, but not even a strong thunderstorm rolling through Detroit could stop Cleveland on this night. Indians starter Cliff Lee lasted through the 57-minute delay to go five innings, allowing him to become the American League's first 10-game winner.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Quote :

Starter Willis struggles

Gee...that's a mild understatement! Even I could have pitched better than that, and I haven't thrown a babseball since I was in little league! (unless you count "backyard baseball")

On another note about D-Railed...I'll be checking the Tigers Website 1st thing in the morning. I was listening to the game at work, and the Indians broadcasters (Tom Hamilton, specifically) was saying to expect to see Dontrell on the DL 1st thing in the morning...or some other roster move to get him out of the starting rotation. Hamilton said numorous times "You can't keep sending him out there pitching like that. Maybe his knee is still bothering him, and he just doesn't know it yet. Leyland will let him know that his knee is indeed still bothering him."

Tonight's Game Sucked

Yeah....that it did. But on the bright side (if there is one)...we didn't lose the series against the Injuns! I'll settle for a split than a loss...especially in a 4 game series!

We need to Sweep the White Sox


That would shut up those Sox Trolls on the other board


Nice we don't have that shit here

not so sure about the white s*x
they had their way with us last time! We just gotta catch 'em off guard and keep the damage to a minimum!

They had there way with the Twins this week too, sweeping them! Someone has to shut them done!

06/10/2008 11:50 PM ET

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Tigers roar to victory against White Sox
Detroit's bats come alive to back Robertson's strong outing
By Jason Beck / MLB.com


DETROIT -- The White Sox winning streak is now over. Whether this starts the Tigers' turnaround remains to be seen.

"We're behind the 8-ball," closer Todd Jones said after Detroit's 6-4 win Tuesday night. "We've got a lot of work to do."

There were no Tigers home runs in the victory that finally batted down the White Sox express, which had pretty much rolled over the Tigers this season. Nor was there a walkoff hit. Detroit, in fact, managed just two extra-base hits all night off starter Jose Contreras. Instead, Miguel Cabrera did his damage with singles -- three of them, including a go-ahead, two-run liner during a three-run fifth inning.

It's going to take a lot for the Tigers to make up their deficit to the White Sox, which stood at 11 games entering this series. The key to getting it down to 10 games was avoiding the feeling of having to do too much.

To manager Jim Leyland, not trying for too much goes especially for Cabrera. But after Cabrera seemed to be putting the weight of the Tigers on his shoulders, Leyland thinks Cabrera is settling down.

"I think Miguel's coming around," Leyland said. "I think he's starting to relax. I think he's starting to feel more comfortable. I think he's starting to understand that we just want him to be a part of the team. He doesn't have to do any more than anybody else. Just help out, do your part, and good concentration. He's working hard defensively, and I think there's a possibility he's starting to get on a roll.

"But I don't want him to put pressure on himself. I just want him to relax and play."

He wants Cabrera to relax at the same time that he needs his team to play with some urgency. He talked about the need to start winning series from here on out, but he also admitted they'll need some stumbling from the White Sox to get back into the division race. This series marks their only chance to directly make up ground against the White Sox in head-to-head meetings until they meet again in late July.

Considering Chicago took five of six from Detroit in April to send the Tigers on their way to a 2-10 start, however, their head-to-head matchups have hurt more than helped. Tuesday looked to be headed the same way after Jim Thome's second-inning solo homer and A.J. Pierzynski's RBI single in the third handed a 2-0 lead to Contreras, who held Detroit scoreless on two singles and a walk through the first three innings.

One of those singles was a broken-bat liner from Cabrera, who entered the night 4-for-7 in his career against Contreras. He came up again in the fourth and doubled on an opposite-field fly ball towards the right-field line before Jeff Larish singled him in to put the Tigers on the scoreboard.

"He does a great job," Larish said. "I think his track record proves that he's a great hitter and he's got a great approach."

Three consecutive singles in the fifth tied the game and set up the go-ahead tallies. Brent Clevlen led off the rally and scored when center fielder Nick Swisher mishandled Placido Polanco's single for an error. Carlos Guillen's sacrifice bunt moved Polanco and Curtis Granderson to second and third before Contreras erased a potential sacrifice fly situation with a shallow fly ball from Magglio Ordonez.

That brought up Cabrera, who was 1-for-8 with four strikeouts in situations with a runner on third and two outs this season. Like the double in his previous at-bat, Cabrera went after a first-pitch fastball. This time, he sent it into center field.

It wasn't play-of-the-night material, but it didn't have to be. Granderson and Polanco both scored, and the Tigers had a lead they never relinquished.

It's not that Leyland thought Cabrera was aiming for the fences earlier in the season, but he thought Cabrera might've been aiming to make a point and instead proving nothing.

"It takes time for all that [pressure] to blow over," Leyland said. "I really believe that. The whole talk, the whole trade, the whole contract, it takes time to get past all that for anybody. I don't care what anybody says. For the most part, when [a big trade] happens with anybody on any team, right away they go to a new team, put pressure on themselves to do good. People are talking about their contract. People are talking about the trade. That all just clogs the mind for a while.

"So I think that's starting to get out of there. I think he's starting to relax. He's a Tiger. He's going to be a Tiger for a long time. And I think he's going to be a really good Tiger for a long time."

Clevlen's RBI single in the sixth and Ordonez's run-scoring infield single in the seventh provided some much-needed cushion for starter Nate Robertson (4-6), whose three runs allowing over 6 1/3 innings marked his first quality start since May 24. But Clevlen's biggest contribution came in the field while the White Sox rallied in the eighth.

After Freddy Dolsi balked in a run when he stumbled on the mound, cutting the lead to two runs, he struck out Paul Konerko but stayed in the game to face the left-handed hitting Thome. With the Tigers bullpen short following Monday's loss, Leyland didn't have many options.

Thome hit a line drive to left, which should've put the potential tying run on base. However, Carlos Quentin rounded third and tried to score on the strong-armed Clevlen, who threw a liner back to home plate to easily retire Quentin at the plate.

"I had to make sure to field it cleanly first and [then] make sure I make a good throw," Clevlen said. "And I did both of those."

That's about as close to a heroic play as the Tigers had. But then, part of their problem this season has been trying for too many.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Maybe Mr. Ilitch had a talk with'em!

I KNOW LEYLAND WAS AFRAID TO TALK TO ILLICH!

I would not be surprised if the owner did have a conversation with Leyland and DD, and maybe even the team!