Cody Ross hit his 14th bomb of the season of newly acquired Sean Burnett.  Ross is slugging .633 vs. left handed pitching this season. 

Josh Johnson left the game after only 3.1 innings.  No injury, just a rain delay and 4 walks to go with a rising pitch count.

Ricky Romero continues to impress.  He's stranding over 85% of runners and his FIP is a run higher than his ERA before his start yesterday.  Walks and the AL East are my concerns, but he's definitely a guy worth rostering right now.  He's only owned in 33% of Yahoo! leagues.

Brad Bergesen impressed against the Red Sox.  He's not going to strikeout a ton of guys, but he's keeping the ball on the ground and keeping the walks to a minimum.  His next start comes against the Mariners.  If you need a spot start, he's worth another go.

Yovani Gallardo struck out a career high 12 in 7 IP against the Mets.  If Gallardo can reduce his walk rate, he's basically Lincecum light.

Gil Meche, coming off a "dead arm" period, threw 121 pitches in only 6 innings.  His arm looked fine with a fastball sitting in the mid 90's, but minor injuries have been an issue this season.  If I'm A Meche owner (or a Royals fan) I'm not happy about the pitch count at all. 

Billy Butler, 4-4, continues to outperform James Loney, but it seems no one is paying attention. 

Jason Hammel has been pitching well for the Rockies lately.  He's not quite the ground ball pitcher Aaron Cooks is, but he is getting enough groundballs and limiting walks to be an NL-only add.

Troy Tulowitzki got cold just as fast as he got hot two weeks ago.  I think he'll finish with an AVG around .270.

Jimmy Rollins took another o'fer, but so did most of the Phillies against Jair Jurjjens who only allowed 1 hit. 

Justin Verlander was touched up last night.  That makes two less than spectacular starts in a row.  I'm not reading much into it.

Jose Contreras has struck out 8 batters in 3 of his last 4 starts.

Randy Wells pitched well again and got his third straight win.  I'd start him again at home vs the Braves in his next start. 

Johnny Cueto brought back the strikeout last night against the D-Backs.  Of course the D-Backs are second only to the Marlins in team strikeouts. 

Kevin Millwood and Jered Weaver squared off in a battle of the "sell highs".  Neither faired particularly well and neither are likely to repeat their first half numbers in the second half.

Nelson Cruz left with a back injury.  It didn't sound serious, but I never like to hear about back problems.  Keep an eye on the situation.

Albert Pujols did not hit a homerun, but he did go 2-2 with a stolen base.  Can he go 60/20!!?  Not likely, but this is just amazing to watch.

Matt Cain continues to strand runners like crazy.  8 Cardinals left on base and only 3 strikeouts. 

Adam Wainwright struck out a career high 12 in 9 innings.  He's throwing a curveball or slider on nearly 40% of his pitches.  That combined with only 132 innings pitched last season raises a bit of a red flag for potential time missed later this season. 

It looked like the Mud Hens and Clippers played the IL's only game and Toledo won, 12-4. As you'd expect from that score, a lot of guys had a big night but nobody's was better than Brent Dlugach (3 for 4, 2b, 2 HR). He went deep in the first to put the Hens up, 1-0, and again in the sixth to help them ice it. Wilkin Ramirez (2 for 4, HR, BB) was the other Hen to go deep, but you don't have to hit a lot of homers to have a big night. After all, the three long balls only accounted for four of the runs. 

Dlugach's and Ramirez's in the first and second innings gave the Hens a 2-0 lead, but they went into the fifth down, 3-2. The Clippers got to Scot Drucker (6 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 2 K) a bit, but he would get bailed out soon enough. The Hens ended up scoring six in the fifth, three more in the sixth and another in the seventh.

Scott Sizemore (2 for 4, BB), Brent Clevlen (2 for 5), Jeff Frazier (2 for 5) and Ryan Roberson (2 for 5, 2b) all had two hits in addition to Ramirez and Dlugach. So Drucker quickly found himself with a big lead and ended up with the win despite a less than stellar line on the night.

Matt Rusch (3 IP, H) certainly finished it off well for him, though. With the big lead, he came out pumping strikes and apparently pitching to contact. All ten batters he faced put the ball in play and only one of them fell in for a hit. There was a lot of good fortune there, because a lot fly balls and line drives fell harmlessly into a Mud Hen glove. 

Erie

The SeaWolves started the good kind of streak with a second consecutive 5-3 win over Trenton. Four of Erie's five runs came via the long ball as Cale Iorg (2 for 3, HR), Alex Avila (1 for 3, HR, BB) and Ronnie Bourquin (1 for 4, HR) all went deep. Bourquin's came first, tying the game in the third. Avila's was a two run job that put the Wolves up 3-1 in the fifth. After the Thunder had pulled back within a run, Iorg's long ball and an RBI triple by Brennan Boesch (2 for 4, 2b, 3b) gave Erie some breathing room. Boesch's triple scored Ryan Strieby (1 for 4, 2b), who had followed up Iorg's homer with a double. 

It was a good thing they tacked on those runs, too, because Trenton took Jon Kibler (7.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 6 K) deep for the second time in the top of the eighth. Kibler, who had easily one of his best Double A starts even with the two homers, was pulled at that point for Zach Simons (1.1 IP, H, 2 K) who finished the eighth and came back out for the ninth. After giving up a leadoff double and a wild pitch, Simons coaxed a popup from the next batter and struck out the last two to end the game. Plenty of kudos to go around in this one. 

Lakeland

Two games called due to rain. One cancelled, one postponed.

West Michigan

The Whitecaps took a page out of the Hens' book and pounded South Bend, 11-4. They racked up 21 hits in the process, so you know we'll have a laundry list of hitters to mention. In fact, everybody in the lineup either picked up at least a hit or a run and eight of them had at least one hit on the night. Billy Nowlin (4 for 6, 2b, 3b) and Bryan Pounds (4 for 5, 2b) each had four and Nowlin was a homer shy of the cycle. Mike Gosse (3 for 5, 2b) was the only one with three, but Gustavo Nunez (2 for 6, 2b), Brent Wyatt (2 for 4, 2 BB), Jordan Lennerton (2 for 6, HR), and Angel Flores (2 for 5) all had two. Lennerton was the only one to go yard with a solo shot in the sixth, his seventh homer. 

So it was certainly a long night for the Silver Hawk pitchers, who found themselves down 6-0 in the second and 8-0 after four. Brayan Villarreal (6 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 7 K) was the starter making sure all the runs meant a blowout and not a slugfest. This was just his fourth start of the season, but he's been fantastic as a swingman/long reliever. His ERA was 0.74 coming into this game and he had struck out 45 in 36.2 innings while allowing just 22 hits, none of which cleared the fence. He kept up a great season with this quality start, but things got a little rocky for his bullpen.

Erik Crichton (1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 BB, K) gave up a couple runs in his second inning of work, to the point where Nick Cassavechia (0.1 IP) was brought in to get the inning's final out. Once they were clear of the eighth, Tyler Stohr (1 IP, H, BB, 2 K) worked a scoreless ninth despite allowing a couple of baserunners. 

Oneonta

The Tigers had four pitchers team up to spin a shutout as Oneonta beat Aberdeen, 3-0, in a rain-shortened game. Adam Wilk (3 IP, 4 H, BB, 4 K), Clemente Mendoza (1.1 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 2 K), Mike LaLuna (2.2 IP, 2 H, BB, 4 K) and Wade Kapteyn (0.1 IP, BB) each had a part in the shutout. LaLuna was particularly impressive. He stepped to the mound in the fifth with bases loaded and one out. An infield popup and a ground out later, the threat was over and the shutout intact. The next inning, he worked out of a minor jam of his own making and in his third inning on the mound he struck out the side after a leadoff double. That's the kind of day that will get you noticed. 

On the offensive side of things, all the damage came in the third. Chris Sedon (1 for 3, SB) led off with a single and stole second. Jamie Johnson (2 for 3, BB) singled him over to third and when Jimmy Gulliver (0 for 3, BB) reached on an error, Sedon scored. A passed ball put Gulliver and Johnson on second and third, allowing each to score on a ground out by Wade Gaynor (0 for 4) and a sac fly by Rawley Bishop (2 for 2, BB). So even the big inning in this game would hardly strike fear in the heart of opposing pitchers. That's the way it's been for Oneonta so far, though. The runs, they don't come easy.

GCL Tigers

As you'd expect from the Lakeland news, their doubleheader was cancelled as well. 

Bad game, good game, stupidly bad game. What have we learned from this series? Nothing except for the fact that Jason Giambi is loathsome, which we already knew, and that it is always funny to see Cabrera guarding first base while Cabrera is the runner at first base.

So have a look at that image up top. Guess what came in the mail today? It should not be hard to guess because there it is.

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC BASEBALL CARDS

I tore open the box like a junkie and what is the first thing I see? A Fu-Te Ni Chinese Taipei baseball card. I did a literal dance of happiness. Feet movin' and everything. It was a perfect moment, a moment in which all was right. It was like Topps was calling out to me, "Yes, you have been rewarded for your love! Here is a Tiger you would never in a million years otherwise expect to see at the top of your baseball card pile! Just for yooouuuuuu!"

And what was right beneath him? A YU DARVISH CARD. And then Miggy! And then Yulieski Gourriel!

Basically I am a happy happy cat right now, because you know what I love? Baseball cards. And you know what else I love? The World Baseball Classic. And not even Dallas Braden's stupid Tiger-baffling fastball can take that away from me.

Just a couple other things today:

--ALBERT PUJOLS IS THE GODFATHER TO PLACIDO POLANCO'S CHILDREN. They are, according to Rod, "that close". I... I love it.

--Magglio had the high socks today. He went 0-for-4. Stick with it, Magglio! High socks for great justice!

--Nate Robertson's surgery was successful and he 'should' be throwing in about a month. They're calling the offending bits "muscle masses" now. I still think we might have a freak teratoma situation on our hands.

--Brandon Inge had today off, and everyone will have tomorrow off. His knee has been wonked since he had that baserunning hiccup on Sunday, and the next series will be on the famously knee-hating turf in Minnesota, so this was a reasonable move.

"That son of a gun -- he'll be mad," Leyland joked. "No, he won't be mad. ... I need him for the long haul. I was going to DH him. I slept on it last night, woke up and said, 'You know what, when he gets on base, he's got to run the bases.' Thought he could use the day off."

Adam Loberstein, MLB.com

Only Jim Leyland would unironically utter the phrase "that son of a gun".

--Happy Canada Day!

Shirley Wang discussed this issue in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal.

It's good to see baseball acknowledging its players can suffer from psychological illness. That's a step in the right direction to getting treatment for players who suffer such illnesses. It's better to have it out there than to have a player suffer in silence and lose his career. These men aren't superhuman simply because they can do things many of us can't with a piece of lumber or a baseball. Knowing that baseball players can suffer psychological illness may help a regular person seek treatment if they know the same issue has befallen a baseball player.

It's pretty late and I am pretty tired. Luckily for you, I took notes on this one. Instead of synthesizing them into some sort of paragraph system I am just going to throw them in here as-is and you are going to deal with it.

--Gio Gonzalez started this game for the A's. Edgar Gonzalez finished it. In between they had three innings of non-Gonzalezes, so this was a mostly Gonzalez-pitched game on the Athletic's side of things.

--Armando was rockin' the one long sleeve early. His throwing arm was sleeved, his glove arm was bare. Jacoby Ellsbury did that a lot last year. Later in the game Armando dropped the other sleeve so that he was sleevily balanced.

--Ryan Raburn got an error because he dropped a ball in foul territory. I know why that's an error, but still, harsh.

--NOMAR! I forget about him sometimes, take my Red Sox fan card away immediately. And Orlando Cabrera is on the same team, in the very same lineup, oh my goodness, I did not realize that. How awkward. Do you think Orlando Cabrera sometimes starts telling a story to his teammates and he says, "So back in 2004 in Boston..." and then he kind of awkwardly trails off and everyone tries to not look at Nomar? Do you think that happens? I think it does. That '04 team was the kind of team that would have a lot of stories in it.

Also for some reason it is hilarious to me that Nomar is wearing number 1 now.

--Such a good game for Placido Polanco. He was 2-for-5 with 3 RBI and a run scored, including his first inning two-run homer. Polanco homeruns are like little freaks of nature, so it is always nice to see them supplemented with other solid hitting.

He has the exact same batting average as Curtis Granderson does right now (.259), which freaks me out for some reason... shouldn't Curtis be higher, with the kind of year Polanco has had? PANICKY PANIC. Curtis' OPS is a lot higher, though (.704 vs .821).

--Armando has been having Bondo-esque first innings. This is especially evident since tonight he settled down so nicely after that first inning. I almost want to have him talk it out with Bondo, except clearly that will not work because a) Bondo never really worked out his mental pitching issues and b) Bondo does not communicate well, or sometimes at all.

Armando also walked six guys today (in 6.1 innings... he only struck out five), which is not good. Not good at all. But he did get his second consecutive win, which IS good, considering how long he went between wins prior to that last one.

--Every time Adam Everett takes off his helmet I am struck anew by how glorious his hair is. That is some serious blonde-streaked fluff he's got up there. He has, like, volume and bounce and other things that people desperately try to get out of their shampoos.

--Rod Allen says that Matt Holliday has "no body fat". He says it with relish.

--I am so heartily sick of those Foundation for a Better Life ads. I don't particularly enjoy having 'behavioral values' shoveled into my face while I'm trying to watch a baseball game. To be quite honest I find the whole thing skeevy, partly because its founder/funder is skeevy, and partly because I just object to the tone of the whole campaign itself. I'm a fan of a baseball team that employs Fernando Rodney, I am not going to get excited over someone cloyingly insisting that I take "optimism" and "pass it on," you moose-lickers.

--A shot of Fu-Te Ni on the bullpen bench. He appeared to be either talking to himself, or singing to himself. Freddy Dolsi was sitting next to him. They were not speaking to one another.

--They have got to get a new font for the on-screen player stats, Rod Allen can't read them half the time. Today he couldn't tell if Zoom had allowed 16 or 18 walks because the 6 looked ambiguous (it was 16 before the game).

--Magglio didn't look so hot at the plate tonight, he was taking some bad swings, didn't seem to be seeing the ball well at all. His one hit was pretty bloopy, if I may use that word. So clearly cutting off the hair was not some sort of panacea, THINK ABOUT THAT NEXT TIME, MAGGLIO.

--Zoom had to momentarily hold things up in the 8th so that he could take his glove off and properly bite a loose bit of fingernail or skin or something off of his throwing hand. He was shaking his hand a ton, and after the inning ended he had a huge crowd of Tigers and Tigers trainers staring at his thumb in the dugout. Inge was all over his shoulder.

No word as of right now what it was, a blister or a hangnail or what. I would imagine there probably will be in an hour or so, but screw you guys, I'm going to sleep as soon as I post this.

--No hitting at all yesterday, so much hitting today. Whatever, Tigers. Clearly I don't understand you and you don't want me to understand. Be that way.

--In the 9th inning, Miguel Cabrera swung so hard that he let go of the bat and it went flying... but he made contact. The ball ended up being caught by the second baseman, who backpedaled out to the outfield grass, but Miggy was watching the bat and didn't move from home. What if it had landed, or the fielder had dropped it? So weird. I can't remember the last time I saw a player lose his bat and make contact, usually it happens on wild misses.

--Someone in the crowd near the end of the game was screaming like a loon during Tigers pitcher windups.

--FERNANDO. This was a textbook example of What He Does in his ongoing Attempts to Kill Us All.

Polanco had singled in a run in the top of the 9th, so the score going into the bottom of the inning was 5-1 Tigers and, thus, no longer a save situation. Fernando was all warmed up, though, so Leyland put him in. Rod and Mario say a bunch of things about him having a quick, clean inning so that he could pitch in tomorrow's day game if needed.

He immediately walks Nomar on five pitches. I begin grinding my teeth. Jack Cust flies out to left. I temporarily cease dental destruction. I even dare to think something along the lines of, "It's late, maybe he will just finish the game and I can go to sleep."

So of course (OF COURSE) he throws a few pitches to Mark Ellis and then Ellis hits a two-run homer to make it 5-3. And then Adam Kennedy singles. Why? Why prolong the agony? Because this is what Fernando Rodney does. THIS IS WHAT HE DOES. You have probably already looked at the boxscore for this game and so you know that we turned a double play to get out of the inning and did not lose, but Fernando had to come in and give up a walk and two hits and two runs. He basically forced Leyland to get Brandon Lyon warm in the bullpen, in case things got even more epically dire.

He only (?) threw 19 pitches, so it's at least theoretically possible that he would be available in the Wednesday afternoon game, but even if there were no actual negative impacts to the Tigers' record, this was still an infuriating performance. He drives me clean out of my mind. WHY DOES HE DO THIS? I ALREADY LIVED THROUGH TODD JONES, OK, I THOUGHT THAT TIME WAS OVER.

--Twice in the first two innings, the Tigers had a man caught out between third base and home. TWICE! That's unacceptable. If it's bad to make an out at third, it's even worse to make an out halfway to home. I don't want to see those sorts of shenanigans again.

I bring this up because there's another catcher from the 2008 draft who was recently announced as a participant in the Futures Game. The Houston Astros took Jason Castro with the tenth pick of the first round, and like Avila the pick raised some eyebrows. It wasn't because of any relations to the Astros front office, though. Justin Smoak was available when they picked and considered to be an elite hitter, while Castro was a nice catching prospect who was merely thought to be a first round talent. 

A year later, if you've watched you may have noticed a few stories about how the Astros just may know what they're doing regardless of what the critics think. After all, Castro hit .275/.383/.384 in 138 at bats for the Tri-City ValleyCats of the NY-Penn League last season. Then, this season he thumped the California League to the tune of a .309/.399/517 line with the Lancaster JetHawks before his success convinced the Astros to bump him up to the Double A Corpus Christi Hooks of the Texas League. He's struggled a bit with the Hooks, hitting just .288/.317/.356 in 56 at bats, but it's just 16 games and he just turned 22. He's still progressing well. 

That's fine, and I kind of like when moves that are considered head-slappers on draft day turn out okay or better. You know, like Joe Mauer being considered an affordability pick over Mark Prior. Or the Twins also being nuts for popping Ben Revere with the 28th pick of the 2007 Draft. Or if you don't mind my switching over to football, the Texans being fools for taking Mario Williams over Reggie Bush. 

But every time I see a story about Castro, I can't help but think of what the Tigers have in Alex Avila. Despite his being relatively new to catching - he played third base for most of his Alabama career - he received an aggressive assignment last season as the West Michigan Whitecaps' primary backstop. Interestingly, his .305/.383/.385 line in 213 at bats there is remarkably similar to what Castro put up in the NY-Penn League. 

There were some questions with the numbers, though. People were a little worried about the lack of power and the .305 average came on the back of a .374 BABIP. The Tigers certainly saw something they liked, though, because they let him skip Lakeland and bumped him up to Erie to start the 2009 season. 

So far this season, in a very similar number of plate appearances to what he had last year in West Michigan, you could argue Avila is doing better despite the much tougher league. His batting average has slipped to .287 but he's hitting with much more power (a .176 ISO in Erie compared to .080 with the Caps) and he's even walking a tad more often (12.9% to 11.3%). The fact that he's striking out in slightly more than a fifth of his plate appearances could be seen as a bit of a problem, but it's not an excessive amount considering he's 22 and only a year out of college. 

Getting back to the comparison, you could look at these two side by side and really have trouble deciding which one was a fifth round pick and which one went tenth overall. If anything, with the numbers and the difference in assignments, you'd probably guess Avila was the one getting the seven figure bonus as an early first rounder. 

Of course, this comparison is ignoring the most important part of being a catcher and that's what they do on the field. Without being at the games or talking to people with firsthand knowledge, we don't really have a way of comparing the two in terms of dealing with their pitchers or helping them figure out an approach to the opposing team's lineup. 

All we can really quantify with box scores are passed balls and their ability to throw out runners. Even then, it's difficult to tell whether passed balls should really have been wild pitches or if the pitchers are helping or hurting regarding the running game. 

For what it's worth, Avila had a good start in preventing passed balls but they seem to be creeping up on him lately and one last week gave him nine on the season. He's actually been quite good at controlling the running game, nailing about 45 percent of the baserunners so far. Castro has six passed balls between Lancaster and Corpus Christi and was really strangling the running game in Lancaster (35 of 59 CS) before the callup. In Corpus Christi, he's only caught 3 of the 12 who have run on him. 

That would seem to give Castro some value back on the defensive side of things, but we have to remember these defensive stats for catchers are a little iffy. We also have to remember numbers certainly don't tell the whole tale for minor leaguers - especially those who are only a year out of college. You have to consider things like their scouting reports and their respective ceilings. Believe me, you can look pretty silly trying to make confident statements in comparing two players without a good understanding of what skills they bring to the ballpark. 

As you may have already guessed, this post was inspired by Castro's placement on the Futures Game. I saw that and remembered some of the numbers mentioned in features on him. When I had read the features I thought Avila compared favorably and when I saw his name on the roster it made me go ahead and do the comparison. I can't help but wonder if the Tigers have done the same. Do they see Castro's name and smile because they think they got his equal 153 picks later in the draft at less than a tenth of Castro's cost? As a Tiger fan, it'd certainly be satisfying to know they did. 

Fangraphs.com is quickly becoming one of the best baseball sites on the web, and it was very helpful in putting this piece together. Of course, I should also mention MiLB.com and Baseball-reference.com's minor league page, which is the only place I could easily find the catchers' defensive stats. 

The Mud Hens snapped out of their funk with a 9-7 win over Indianapolis. By the middle of the fourth, they were up 6-0. Imagine their surprise, then, when the game was tied at seven after five innings. That was the result of things falling apart for Chris Lambert (5 IP, 10 H, 7 R, BB, 6 K), who ended up with twice as many hits allowed as innings pitched. None of them left the yard, though, so I suspect there was some bad luck mixed in with some sharply hit balls. With one of the runs being unearned, you can probably add some shaky "D" to the mix.

Of course, when a game is tied at seven, it's not all bad news. Your team has to have hit the ball, too. The Hens scored theirs with at least a run in each of the first five innings. In the first, it was a Scott Sizemore (3 for 4, HR) homer. In the second, Brent Dlugach (2 for 4, BB) singled, took third on a Mike Hessman (2 for 4, 2 2b, BB) double and scored on an error. Will Rhymes (2 for 5, 2 2b) doubled to lead off the third and scored after a bunt and a balk. It was three runs in the fourth when Max St. Pierre (2 for 4) singled in one run and Sizemore batted in Wilkin Ramirez (0 for 5) and St. Pierre for two more. The seventh run came in the fifth when Jeff Larish (1 for 5, 2b) doubled and came around on a bunt single by Dlugach and a sac fly for Ramirez. 

The Hens actually led 7-2 at that point, but the Indians dropped a five spot on Lambert and things were suddenly very interesting. Thankfully, the Hen bullpen had no interest in keeping things interesting. Jay Sborz (2 IP, 3 K) threw two perfect innings in relief of Lambert. Clay Rapada (1 IP, BB) shook off a leadoff walk in the eighth by picking the runner off and retiring the next two batters. In the ninth, Ryan Perry (1 IP, 2 BB, K) struck out the first batter before issuing a couple walks. So things did get a little interesting. After a visit from the pitching coach, though, he was able to settle down enough to get the final two outs with no harm done. 

Obviously, I left out a key piece of information in that retelling. The Hens scored two in the top of the eighth. With one out, a St. Pierre single was followed up by a Rhymes  double that allowed St. Pierre to score from first. With Rhymes on second, Sizemore came to the plate with a chance to drive in his fourth run of the night and came through with a base knock. Rhymes scored from second to give the Hens' bullpen their two run lead to protect.

Erie

The SeaWolves finally snapped their losing streak with a 5-3 win over Trenton. After Pat Stanley (6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 3 K) gave up three runs in the first four innings to drop them to a 3-0 deficit, they must have dug in. Stanley ended up spinning a quality start and his bullpen didn't give up so much as a hit - much less a run - in their three innings of work. It's nice to see Robbie Weinhardt (2 IP, 2 BB, 3 K) pick up where he left off in Lakeland, except for the fact that he walked a couple. It's also nice to see Brett Jensen (1 IP, K) close this one out in the midst of the kind of losing streak that can shake your confidence in his ability to do so. 

But it wasn't just the pitchers and defense bearing down. The offense had to get to work as well. Ronnie Bourquin (2 for 3, HR, BB) hit his first Double A homer in the fifth to pull the Wolves within two. The next inning, Ryan Strieby (1 for 3, BB) led off with a single and was followed with back-to-back doubles from Casper Wells (1 for 3, 2b, BB, SB) and Alex Avila (1 for 2, 2b, 2 BB). Avila's drove in two runs to tie it and he then took third on a wild pitch. He scored on a single by Andy Dirks (1 for 4), who came around as well after a couple singles by Bourquin and Danny Worth (2 for 5, 2b).

That put the Wolves ahead, 5-3, and that's where the score would stay. See what happens when Ryan Strieby is in the lineup? I kid, of course, considering the major contributors in this one, but it's certainly nice to see him back. 

Lakeland

Rained out.

West Michigan

The Whitecaps were beaten by South Bend, 4-1. The Silver Hawks opened the scoring in the second but the Caps answered with one of their own in the fourth. Jordan Lennerton's (1 for 4) two out single was followed by a walk to Bryan Pounds (0 for 3, BB) and an RBI base hit for Joe Bowen (1 for 4). The tie game wouldn't last long, though. Brandon Hamilton (5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K) was touched for two more runs in his fifth and final inning, when he gave up a single, a triple and a double consecutively. The Caps would not climb out of that hole and South Bend added a run off reliever, Victor Larez (3 IP, 3 H, R, 3 K).

There wasn't much West Michigan offense to speak of tonight. Avisail Garcia (2 for 4, 2b) had two hits and the only extra base hit and Billy Nowlin (2 for 4) picked up a couple singles. 

Oneonta

Rained out.

GCL Tigers

Rained out.

"The Knee Jerks", my weekly Blog Talk Radio gabfest with Big Al from The Wayne Fontes Experience, made its return last night after a five-week hiatus due to Al recovering from major (and more painful that he thought) back surgery.

Al's stamina was impressive. After initially indicating that he wanted to do a 35-40 minute show, he stayed with me until 12:15 -- a full 75 minutes after we started.

You can hear us rehash the Red Wings' Stanley Cup run (including my experiences being at the Finals as a member of the media); listen to us talk about the team's future -- both on the ice and in terms of which building they'll play in; wring our hands over Magglio Ordonez; and talk glowingly about the Lions' new regime (no, it's not Kool-Aid sipping, promise!) if you click below.

We are now back on schedule -- every Monday night live at 11 PM ET. Click here for more details about upcoming episodes, including our special guest -- former Detroit broadcaster Bob Page -- on July 13.

You can go here for a direct MP3 download, or to our show page to listen to a streaming version.

This is an honest question. Instead of me writing a blog today since I am super busy at work, I want to know what you think has happened to the Tigers bats? Pratically shutout by some no-name stiff and the bullpen in Oakland last night. Handcuffed by mediocre pitching all weekend in Houston and we did not exactly light up the Cubs either.

With the Twins on the horizon something needs to give. Can anyone explain to me why the bats have gone silent? We hav enot exactly been lighting it up for much of the year either but lately scoring has been a challenge. Magglio's hair cut does not seem to be helping either as he has looked lost, almost searching for an answer why. Maybe it is just THAT time for him, who knows?

Lets turn it around and build that lead back up....

The Hens lost to Indianapolis, 6-5, never quite able to recover from a four run first for the Indians. They certainly made a valiant effort, though. After Eddie Bonine (4.2 IP, 10 H, 6 R, BB, 4 K) gave up the big first, the Hens scored a run in the second when Wilkin Ramirez (1 for 3, BB) followed a Mike Hessman (2 for 4, 2b, 3b) triple with a base hit. Two more scored in the third when Scott Sizemore (3 for 5, 2b) doubled in Will Rhymes (2 for 4, BB) and then came around on a couple "productive" outs. 

With the Hens back in the game, the Indians distanced themselves with a couple more runs off Bonine in the fifth and he was taken out for Matt Rusch (2.1 IP, 2 H, 2 K) with two outs. Rusch and Casey Fien (1 IP, K) kept them off the board the rest of the way, but it was up to the lineup to make up the three runs. They only got two back, though. Walks to Ramirez and Dane Sardinha (0 for 3, BB) were followed by singles from Rhymes and Sizemore. That meant the bases were loaded with no outs, but after a Clete Thomas (1 for 5, SB) ground out scored Sardinha, Jeff Larish (1 for 4, BB) grounded into a double play and the Hens' best shot at eking this one out was lost. 

Erie

The Wolves lost in eleven innings to Harrisburg, 6-5, meaning they have lost seven in a row and suffered a five game sweep at the hands of a team that is still ten games below .500. It wasn't a lack of offense, though. Deik Scram (2 for 5, BB, SB) scored a run in the first and Casper Wells' (2 for 5, HR, BB) two run homer in the fourth scored two more. That put them up, 3-0, but Luis Marte (7 IP, 6 H, 4 R, BB, 4 K) coughed up three long balls and an unearned run in seven innings of work to give up the lead. 

The Wolves fought back with a run in each of the eighth and ninth innings to take back the lead. Scram walked, took second on a Wells single, third on a Danny Worth (2 for 5, SB) bunt and scored on a Jeff Kunkel (1 for 4, 2b) sac fly. In the ninth, Brennan Boesch (1 for 5) moved around the bases in a similar way. It went single by him, another by Alex Avila (2 for 6), wild pitch, intentional walk and then an unintentional walk to Ronnie Bourquin (0 for 3, 2 BB). That would have been an odd way to win, but Cody Satterwhite (3 IP, 2 H, R, BB, K) gave up a run in the ninth to tie it. He threw another inning before Josh Kite (0.2 IP, 2 H, R, 2 BB) came out in the eleventh and gave up the game-winning run.

Lakeland

The Flying Tigers were beaten up by Fort Myers, 5-1. Both squads scored in the second inning, with Lakeland's run coming on a Josh Workman (1 for 4, 2b) double that scored Audy Ciriaco (2 for 4). For his part, Charlie Furbush (5.2 IP, 5 H, R, 4 K) only allowed a single unearned run but couldn't get out of the sixth. Lester Oliveros (0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, BB, 2 K) relieved him by getting the final out in the sixth but then only got one more before giving up three runs in the seventh. 

Chad Linder (1.1 IP, H, R, BB) finished that inning before giving up the final run in the next, and Brendan Wise (1.1 IP, 2 H, K) came out for the final four outs. There wasn't a great deal of offense to speak of, other than what was already mentioned. Santo De Leon (2 for 4, 2b) did pick up a couple hits, though he didn't figure in the scoring. 

West Michigan

Day off.

Oneonta

The Tigers were shutout by the Lowell Spinners, 5-0. Nate Newman (3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K), Kevan Hess (2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 3 K), Mike Torrealba (2 IP, 2 BB, 2 K) and Jose Ortega (2 IP, H, R, 3 BB) were the pitchers and only Torrealba escaped without giving up a run. The Tigers on the other hand, couldn't manage even a single run despite seven hits and two walks. It didn't help that all the hits were singles. John Murrian (2 for 4) was the only Tiger with two hits. 

GCL Tigers

Game 1, Tigers 2, Blue Jays 3

The Tigers outhit the Jays and had four of their seven hits go for doubles, but only managed two runs. Hernan Perez (3 for 4, 2 2b) had three of the hits and two of the doubles. The other two extra base hits came from Keith Hernandez (1 for 4, 2b) and Francisco Martinez (1 for 3, 2b, BB), who also knocked in one of the runs. Jose Diaz (3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, K) and Jose Siso (3 IP, BB, 2 K) split the six innings and Diaz gave up all three runs. 

Game 2, Blue Jays 3, Tigers 0

The Tigers were blanked in the second game with four singles, three walks and a double. They only had two at bats with runners in scoring position the whole game. Ramon Lebron (3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 5 BB, 5 K) started for the Tigers and gave up just two hits but walked five, which led to most of the damage he suffered. Richard Zumaya (2 IP, H, 3 K), Michael Manus (1 IP, H, R, K) and Melvin Mercedes (1 IP, H, K) picked up the final four innings.

The nice thing about this game was that, because it was in Oakland, I did not have to sit through 9 full innings. That's about the only nice thing, though.

--So you know how yesterday I said that we should get to see Fu-Te Ni fairly soon, since the Tigers go through bullpen pitchers like a house cat goes through kitty litter? Yeah. That happened.

In his big league debut, Fu-Te Ni pitched 1.2 innings, coming on in the 5th in relief of a struggling Rick Porcello. Ni allowed only one hit, but this was most unfortunately a homerun off the bat of Ryan "Not Mark" Sweeney. The Tigers were down 5-1 before the homer and 6-1 after it. As those are almost equally impossible deficits for the Tigs to make up, it wasn't a big deal. Ni also struck out 3 and didn't walk anyone. It took him 27 pitches to get through 6 batters, which is not bad at all.

He didn't look like he was overtly freaking out. FSND had a shot of him in the dugout afterwards, doing an elaborate pantomime with Gerald Laird, which seemed to have something to do with keeping pitches down and making sure to follow through on the pitching motion. At least the language barrier is being cheerfully tackled with grappling hooks, even if no one's exactly vaulting lustily over it just yet.

Overall it was an encouraging first appearance. I for one look hopefully forward to a productive career for Fu-Te Ni, filled with Monty Python jokes.

--Raburn moved from left to first in the bottom of the 8th, and was using Miguel Cabrera's glove. I don't know if this is because he doesn't have a first baseman's glove of his own (or he didn't bring it on the road), or because he just felt like using Miggy's glove, perhaps as a sort of safety blanket. I would understand that.

--There's a Curtis Granderson Q&A thing over at the Big Stew right now. How amazing would it be to see Granderson on an episode of Psych? Holy cats. I might die of Amazing Overdose if that were to happen.

I agree with him that the Lowell Spinners' ballpark is really nice. And his statements about ballplayer book readin' (lack thereof) are very sad. The response to the last question is A+, though, you should check it out just for that.

--Magglio stole a base today. Many lulz. Inge also stole a base, on his gimpy leg.

--Basically terrible hitting from the Tigers in this one. How? Why? Who knows. This team is so damn inconsistent, not to get all Joe Morgan-y on you or anything. FSND had a shot of Jim Leyland and Lloyd McClendon in the dugout. Here is Rod's take on the scene:

"Jim's askin' Lloyd what happened, and he can't say nothin', just shakes his head... that's a beautiful shot. He couldn't say nothin'. Just shook his head."

It was a very sad, disbelieving shake of the head. Most eloquent.

--Mario: This might be the smallest crowd the Tigers have played in front of this year.
Rod: And a lot of them are Tigers fans too...

The official attendance tally for this game was 10,563, and the actual number may well have been less than that.

--The Tigers starting rotation right now has an average age of 24. The youngest member of the rotation is Rick Porcello, at the tender (under)age of 20, and the oldest pitcher is Armando Galarraga, a veritable geezer at the advanced age of 27. Just think about that for a while.

--Nate is having surgery on Tuesday. Now the mass is being described as "fibrous", so... yeah, I still have no idea what it actually is. How crazy would it be if it was a teratoma and there were, like, teeth and hair and eyeballs growing in Nate's arm? Let's believe that it is until we hear otherwise.

--I keep forgetting that Jason Giambi is still in baseball. So grotesque. I wish there was a way to watch this series without accidentally seeing his face sometimes when I look at the TV screen.