Baseball's Finest Hour

Actually, a little less than a half hour,  from just past 11:30 to a few minutes after midnight.

The Cardinals put the Astros away early, and there was no need to follow that game. I started with Orioles-Red Sox on Gameday and Tigers-Indians on radio. 

Then it started raining in Baltimore. I switched to Braves-Philles. Meanwhile ... how'd that 6 get on the board for TB in the eighth? They were down 7-0 ... a three run homer by Evan Longoria? Wow ...

I tuned from WTAM to WCBS. On this first day of Rosh Hashana, Suzyn Waldman was off, and Constantino Martinez was on with John Sterling. He saw something that's only happened twice in 110 years of Yankee baseball: a seven run lead lost after seven innings. Daniel Johnson -- he of the .108 batting average -- with two outs in the ninth, the Rays down by one, 2-2 the count and nobody on, hit a line drive into the stands, he did, that brown-eyed handsome man!

Braves-Phillies went extra innings. In the top 13th, a dinker by Hunter Pence, that barely got to the outfield grass -- the kind of hit the Fighting Ferrets would string together to beat the Tigers -- scored Brian Schneider with the Phils' go-ahead run. In the bottom 13th, Freddie Freeman hit into a game-ending double play, and the Cardinals had the NL wild card. The umps looked at the clock, it was eleven four-oh, and they said time for you Braves to get up and go! Chipper Jones' inspirational pre-game speech (Win One For The Chipper) didn't work. 8 1-2 game wild card lead gone. Meltdown complete. Hahaha Braves! But worry not, Bravos fans; those foam tomahawk chop fingers they gave out tonight are still good ... for next season.

Play had resumed in Baltimore. With the Red Sox leading 3-2, bottom ninth and two out, Chris Davis doubled off Jonathan Papelbon, and Nolan Reimold doubled him in. Tie game. Sox nemesis Robert Andino hit a liner that Carl Crawford almost reached. He slid, the ball fell under his glove, and Reimold scored. Meltdown complete. The Red Sox looked at the clock, it was twelve-oh-two, and the final score said game's over for you!

Three minutes later, Longoria hit his second homer of the night to give the Rays an 8-7 walkoff win and the wild card.  I looked at the clock and it was twelve-oh-five, and the Red Sox didn't know if they were dead or alive! Their announcers hadn't even finished the post-game post mortem. No Red Sox Nation in the playoffs, no renewal of The Rivalry, hahaha! Carl Crawford, the Bill Buckner of the new century; they had to have him, and he took the money and ran. Now he gets to watch his former teammates go for the big October prize on TV (and I'm sure it's the biggest, most expensive big screen hi-def TV there is). 

Wasn't that something? John Sterling rhetorically asked his listeners. Indeed, it was. The Longoria homers, the Johnson homer, and everything else that happened tonight. 

The 2011 finish is already being compared to those of 1951 (Bobby Thomson), 1964 (the Phillies' collapse) and 1978 (Bucky Dent). But those meltdowns involved two teams. Tonight, four teams -- two in each league -- were playing for their lives. Well, yeah ... carve baseball up into enough divisions and make the second-place teams eligible to advance, and something like this is bound to happen sooner or later. But three of the four key games were decided on their respective final plays, and within a half hour of each other. They could have all been blowouts. They were not.

All evening, there were dramatic twists and turns, Diamond Gems and clutch hits that sent the plot in exactly the opposite direction from where the reader expected it to go. That's what makes great fiction great. But all this was real. And it helped clear the odor of Jose Reyes' backed-into batting title from the second floor baseball bunker. 

The Tigers were also playing for something, and won 5-4 on an eighth inning Peralta homer. The Rangers, however, didn't read the script and won 3-1 in Anaheim. So they play the wild card, T-Bay as it turns out, and the Tigers go to New York. Which might not be so bad after all. The D-Rays have Mo Mentum in uniform, and the Yankees have been beatable lately, as they were tonight -- 

A grown man going gaga over a bunch of baseball games ... (My editor has taken time out from preparing breakfast to proofread this final blog post of the regular season.)

Yes, my queen, but you were listening. And watching. And you're the one who said Longoria would be the night's hero -- 

Don't send that to Chuck Berry, she says. He'll sue you.

(Actually, he won't. He stole it from Wynonie Harris.) 

WTF ???

On this last day of the regular season -- a Wednesday -- four day games are scheduled, as they often are when Wednesday is a getaway day. But today, there's nowhere to go except home, and nothing to do after the game but go there (maybe that's the idea) or wait to see who you'll play in the Division Series. 

So I had the Mets game on. And Jose Reyes, leading the league with a .337 batting average, bunted for a hit in the first inning and came out of the game.  

Ryan Braun now needs a 3 for 5 night to catch him. 

Where IS Ted Williams when you need him? 

The casual fan might remember that, with one day left on the 1941 schedule, Ted was 179 for 448. That's a batting average of .39955, roundable up to .400. Red Sox manager Joe Cronin offered to sit him for the Sox' last two games, a doubleheader in Philadelphia against the Athletics, to protect his average. He said no -- no doubt with a few expletives added for emphasis -- went 6 for 8 in the two games and finished at .406.

But I guess the young people do things differently now.

His manager also deserves some of the credit / blame. Terry Collins could have said bleep no, this is a bleeping team game, you're part of the bleeping team, and you're bleeping playing, BLEEP your batting title. But Mrs. Collins went along with the plan, and even cried when expressing his feelings to the writers after the game. Which can only be expected, with baseball now a game played by nine young women, managed by one middle-aged woman and officiated by a crew of four middle-aged women, with the objective being to collect more feelings that the other team after nine innings of play. And cry if that will help.

One More Day

Who WAS that giving up runs?

I had Yankees-Rays on the radio, Orioles-Red Sox on Gameday, and tracked the other games on Gameday's scoreboard.  

The Tigers took an early 4-0 lead Then, runs kept appearing next to CLE on the board. One, one, two, TWO; the score was now 9-6 with two more at bats for the Indians. 

Max Scherzer allowed the first four, and Phil Coke the last TWO on one-third of an inning. 

Ben Wah and the villified Ryan Perry came in to restore order, and Val Verde got the save. 

Miguel Cabrera went 2 for 5, is hitting .343 and is one game away from becoming the American League batting champ. 

In Anaheim, the Rangers won to hang onto their one game edge for Division Series home field. 

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The Red Sox won 8-7, but the O's had the winning run at the plate in the ninth.

Rookie catcher Ryan Lavarnway, a September call-up playing for the injured Varitek and Salta La Macchia, homered twice, drove in four, and saved the Sox from the further embarrassment of falling one game bacj for the AL wild card. 

If the D-Rays do make it, one play will make it possible. 

In the sixth, with the score even at two, the Yankees loaded the bases with none out. They seemed ready to put the game out of reach. Russell Martin then grounded into an around-the-horn triple play. Inning over, game stays tied, and the D-Rays go on to win 5-3. 

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HAHAHA BRAVES !!!!

7-1 LOO-sers, at home to the Phillies, while the Cardinals spot the Astros five in Houston and come back to win 13-6. 

So both wild card races are tied with one day left. That's never happened before, in the Era Of Guaranteed Excitement. 

Wouldn't it be great if this happened every year? 

Well, it could, because baseball's Special Committee for On-Field Matters wants to add a second wild card team in each league and a one-game play-in between the two wild cards to determine each league's prettiest bridesmaid, and assure the fans of two Game 163s and TV of two must-see baseball games. But can it be done with the World Series still ending before November? (Not really, unless the regular season is shortened.) 

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Hate the Braves while we can, because the word from reliable media sources is that, once Chipper Jones retires, the Braves will be replaced on the list of teams that have to lose before a Carrie Jacobs Bond night can be entered in the record book. The adulterous Mr. Jones, with his stupid nickname and aw-shucks persona, and the tomahawk chop, were the two reason for hating the Braves. But he'll be gone some day, and every team has dumb sheeplike fans who do dumb things at games.

Bat Champ Cabrera / Wild Cards

One item has been lost, in the division clinch afterglow and and the stumble towards Division Series home-field advantage:

Miguel Cabrera is going to win the American League batting title. 

On the morning of the next-to-last day, he's hitting .341, three points better than the Rangers' Michael Young, and Red Sox Adrian Gonzalez who led most of the season.

M-Cab has done it by hitting .427 in September, stringing together games like tonight's 3 for 5 in the Silverdome, helping his Lion teammates defeated the Browns 14-0.

Quarterback Doug Fister cut through the Clevelanders like a knife through melted butter, allowing three runs and no walks while striking out nine.

Good thing too, since the Rangers won 4-3 in Anaheim and erased the Angels faint wild-card hopes while staying one game ahead for Division Series home-field. 

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Red Sox manager Terry Francona had a full head of hair when September started.

In the pic on MLB.com's home page, he's as bald as a cue ball.

A 6-19 September, and losing nine games in the standings, can do that to you.

The Red Sox meltdown is complete. Three weeks ago they had a nine game lead for the AL wild card. After play tonight, they and T-Bay are now tied for the bridesmaid prize with identical 89-71 records and two games left. 

Their undoing tonight at Camden Yards was a three-run inside the park homer by Robert Andino, in the yard with the league's smallest outfield and shortest home run distances.

Jacoby Ellsbury had the ball in is glove. It dropped when he hit the center field wall. He fell to the turf but had the presence of mind to lateral to JD Drew, who threw home. And they still almost got Andino.

The D-Rays defeated New York, New York before the usual small turnout at Tropicana. 18,772 announced, including one fan who came prepared, with a cell phone and a white board on which he wrote scoring updates from Baltimore, to hold up for his phone-less neighbors to see.

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Tonight's game was there for the taking, but the Cardinals passed. 

Second and third, two runs in -- on Lance Berkman's double -- one out, game newly tied at five, and no further scoring.

The Astros won in the 10th, on a double, an error by Cards pitcher Octavio Dotel, and a safety squeeze.

Dame Fortune smiled on the Redbirds, since the Braves also lost, 4-2 to the Phillies in Atlanta to stay one game up for the NL wild card. 

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The smart Tiger fan maybe should root for the Red Sox, in their current state of disarray, to advance, and not the surging D-Rays.

Here in the second floor baseball bunker, the conventional wisdom is: let the Red Sox nation stew in its own juices over the winter; no re-enactment of The Rivalry anywhere in post-season, we'll take our chances with the hitting-thin D-Rays in the Division Series.

The Last Sunday

Today is the last Sunday of the regular season, but it isn't the last day of the season.

I don't remember a baseball season whose last scheduled games were on a day other than Sunday. 

It's done this year to get the playoffs started earlier, and thus keep the World Series from running past Halloween and some still unknown hero from becoming Mr. November.

And they want to add yet another wild card in each league. (Sigh ...) 

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The Tiger fan would expect his team to do well against a starting pitcher -- the Orioles' Brian Matusz -- whose ERA resembles a street address uptown (10.86). A stat so off the page that, after six earned runs in five innings, it increased by only .03.

Three of the Matusz runs scored via homers (Cabrera 1 on, V-Mart 2 on). Donnie Kelly added a three run shot in the seventh, and Jhonny Peralta a solo homer, his 20th, in the eighth.

Final: 10-6 Tigers, but the Rangers also won to stay a game ahead in the race for home field advantage in the Division Series. 

The Rangers play their last three at Anaheim, while the Tigers host the Indians and will be rooting for Jared Weaver, to beat the Rangers in the season's final game. 

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Jim Thome got into what might be his last game in the town where his career started, Cleveland, as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning. He walked, and replaced Lonnie Chisenhall at third for one pitch before coming out to another thunderous standing O. 

His 2011 Strat-O-Matic card will now have a position, thirdbase-4 e48. Chisenhall, for the one pitch he played in left field, will be a leftfield-4 e25. 

Thome hadn't played third since 1996, on the same Jacobs Field infield. He hadn't played a defensive position since 2007 (one game at first for the White Sox) and didn't even own a glove. He borrowed Jack Hannahan's. 

It might be the end, but who knows? In the last half of the season, he didn't play like he was through. I'd bring him back, if only for the home runs he hit against the Tigers at Comerica.

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Cub starter Randy Wells went the distance and pitched wells enough to win. Solo home runs by Yadier Molina in the eighth and Rafael Furcal in the ninth gave him an L in the box score, and the Cardinals a 3-2 win. 

That win, and the Braves loss in DC, moved the Cardinals to within one game of the NL wild card; and now you know they wish they had that Mets' ninth inning back. 

The days have dwindled down to a precious three, and the Cards finish at Houston, while the Bravos -- hee hee -- host the best-record-in-baseball 99-60 Phillies. 

Only a 14th inning homer by Jacoby Ellsbury kept the Red Sox, now 6 for 18 in September, from falling into a tie with T-Bay for the AL wild card.

Ellsbury's shot, minutes before midnight, gave the Sox a split in today's makeup (all players wear makeup) day-night doubleheader in New York. 

T-Bay plays three with the Yankees at home, and will finish before a few fans and a lot of empty seats, even for a Yankee series. The Sox go to Baltimore, where the fan hopes they play as well as they did in Comerica, and against the rest of the league all September.

The Pretenders-Wild Cards-Game 200K

Since the 12 game winning streak ended, the Pretenders have played below .500 (4-5, winning exactly every other game), and at times an indifferent brand of ball against some bottom-feeders. While at home, the hot topics have been the post-season roster, what brand of champagne to order for the clinch parties, and what to wear to the victory parade.

How do you score from second on a wild pitch? 

The Orioles did, in the ninth inning tonight, and it cost the P's the game. 

Chris Davis singled off Daniel Schlereth. Kyle Hudson ran for him. Robert Andino struck out on a pitch in the dirt, that got away from Alex Avila. He couldn't find it, his pitcher didn't point to it, whatever; Hudson got to third. Matt Angle squeezed him in. Final: 6-5 Orioles. The 67-91, last place, 24 1-2 out Baltimore Orioles.

Who are 13-11 in September; nothing to really celebrate, but let's look at how they did it: split four with the Yankees, won two out of three against the D-Rays and Angels, won three out of four against the Red Sox. 

They're the ones playing like they want post-season. 

Oh yes ... Texas won, and the Pretenders are a game behind them in the race to avoid opening the Division Series in New York.

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They won 12 in a row. So? The "Moneyball" A's won 20 straight, in August and September of the movie. And they did win 12-11 after blowing an 11 run lead, on a walkoff pinch homer by Scott Hatteberg, who sounds like an Oakland Athletic.

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On September 4, the Cardinals were 9 1-2 out in the NL Central, and 8 1-2 out for the NL Wild Card. 

Catching the Brewers proved impossible, but today's walkoff win against the Cubs got them to within two games of the staggering Atlanta Braves for the NL Bridesmaid. 

And it was a classic Cubs giveaway: a bases loaded walk followed by a wild pitch, both issued by closer Carlos Marmol. Who should be thankful Carlos Zambrano is still "retired." 

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And the Red Sox LOST! Were in fact thrashed, 9-1 by the Yankees on the Fox game. While the D-Rays won in Toronto and moved to within 1 1-2 of the wild card. Hahahaha Red Sox !!! All these editorials, about the bleepin' Red Sox ... and the Yankees, and the Red Sox Nation, and the bleepin Rivalry, I'm sick of it! It's a disheartening bleepin' situation we're in right now ... 

And the G.I. Ants LOST! Were in fact thrashed, 15-1 in Arizona. No government issue insects in post-season. Vote early and often, for Kirk Gibson for NL Manager Of The Year. 

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If both New York teams hadn't been rained out last night, today's Red Sox-Yankees game had a shot at becoming the 200,000th major league game played since 1876. Another chapter in the history of professional sports' longest and most famous rivalry would have been written, and the writers would be searching Walt Whitman for undiscovered references to the American national pastime.

Rockies at Astros instead became the milestone game. Two manufactured teams playing in a whick-whacked ball park with a toy train on its outfield wall, and a fake hill in center field. How appropiate, after all.

Martinez, Perry, Denny, Brad Pitt

In tonight's 11th inning, with the score even at three, Ryan Perry allowed a leadoff double to Nolan Reimold, and walked Vladimir Guerrero. Miguel Cabrera then started a snappy 3-6-1 double play to get him out of trouble. 

V-Mart became the hero du nuit next inning, singling in pinch runner Danny Worth for a walkoff win.

The Rangers' win in Oakland keeps then even with the Tigers at 91-66 for home field advantage in the Division Series. 

Rare is the game whose winning pitcher is also wished into the cornfield. Ryan Perry earned the honor by again showing that he's the least reliable of Skipper Leyland's bullpen corps. And he may have pitched his way off the post-season roster. For his role -- long relief in lost games and as the occasional matchup guy -- I would take the veteran Brad Penny despite his equally toxic stats, and trust him more than Perry to get one or two right-handed hitters out.

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Denny McLain, poor man ... all he wanted to do, on his road trip through Port Huron, was to have breakfast at the Cracker Barrel.

You can see it from the freeway. But the exit -- Water Street, the last one before the bridge to Canada -- was closed.

You're way ahead of me. (Stop that!) He ended up on the bridge, and backtracked using the RETURN TO USA turnaround lane. 

However ... once you're Canada-bound, to return to the States you still have to clear US Customs. And that's where Denny was busted, for an outstanding Louisiana warrant. Buying scrap metal from someone but forgetting to pay them for it, after several reminders.

"A horrible misunderstanding," said baseball's last 30 game winner, whose arraignment date, down at the St. Clair County courthouse, is October 4. That would be something to see even if it means getting out of bed before noon.

Yes, it is with Denny. A misunderstanding. Someone else's fault. Baseball's Gilda Radner. It's always something. But there's a lesson in all this. Have breakfast BEFORE you leave home.

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It rained all morning. We couldn't go to the park. There were no games on. With Denny off our streets and "Moneyball" opening, we chose the cinema. Where the 15 bleeping percent who don't work hang out when there's no day baseball.

Maggie gaped at Brad Pitt. I looked at names on the backs of uniforms and on roster boards, and ball park scoreboards. The serious fan will have to watch it on DVD, and pause it to check out all the details. 

The Tigers were part of the story. They took Carlos Pena off Billy Beane's hands, which cleared a space at first for Scott Hatteberg. Whose name sounded like an Oakland Athletic, Beane / Pitt said. Through the years, the A's have managed to acquire a lot of players whose names sounded like no one else wanted them. It rubs off on guys who are traded there (Scott Sizemore, Jack Cust, even Hideki Matsui).

My likes: it starts not with a warm fuzzy exposition, but with the A's losing (Game Five of the 2001 Division Series), the absence of a cormy Roy Hobbs-like closing, and just enough sentiment to keep Pitt's female fans (yes, my queen) eager to see his next movie. 

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Tonight was Jim Thome Night at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Yes, he homered (number 604). Yes, the Indians won in Roy Hobbs fashion, on a first-pitch walkoff homer by Carlos Santana. When Hollywood makes the Jim Thome movie it'll be okay, since all of this really happened. It also clears the foul odor of Denny McLain from the second floor baseball bunker.

Staggering To The Finish Line

Since the twelve game winning streak ended a week ago, the Tigers have lost exactly every other day, four times out of seven, to the very beatable Athletics, Royals, and Orioles.

The O's have lost 90 games. Someone's beating them. It isn't us. 

Tonight, Jacob Turner again proved that he's not ready for the major leagues, allowing five runs and seven hits -- among them homers by Adam Jones and J.J. Hardy -- in three innings. 

Delmon Young homered with two on to tie the score, but the Orioles, dressed as Fighting Ferrets, manufactured a sixth inning run off David Pauley that proved to be the difference in a 6-5 loss.

 Tiger fans are used to stumbling September finishes. This year, they've already clinched the division. These last few games are still important. If they don't start winning, they'll lose home field advantage in the Division Series and have to play the Yankees, and the Texas Rangers will be the team opening at home.

Good fortune smiled on our team again, as the Rangers lost in Oakland to keep pace with the retreating Tigers. Both teams have 90-66 records with six to play and a lot still on the line.

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Good fortune laughed at the Cardinals, who were ready to close within one game of the Braves in the NL Wild Card race after being 10.5 out on September 3rd. 

In the eighth, a 6-2 lead over the Mets became an 8-6 deficit. Three two-run hits, by Justin Tuner, Jose Reyes, and Ruben Tejada, finished them off; for the night and maybe for the season.

The Versatile Miguel Cabrera

His pinch double in the eighth plated Ryan Raburn and gave the Tigers a 4-3 lead. Donnie Kelly then homered to give the Tigers a 6-3 win, and a split of the two games at KC.

Cabrera is now 1 for 2 as a pinch hitter this season. He's also 2 for 3 in steals. For such a handy guy, playing  third base for World Series games in the NL park should be a day at the beach.

The Rangers also won, 3-2 in Oakland, to stay even with the Tigers at 90-65 for the second best record / home field advantage in the Division Series. 

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Where there once was ennui, there is now suspense. 

In Boss Town, the Red Sox, 5-16 in September and once nine games up for the AL Wild Card, lost again but gained ground on T-Bay.

The D-Rays lost a day-night doubleheader in New York, falling 2 1-2 games behind the Sox into a tie for second with the Angels, who won in Toronto. 

When the older fan has a Cardinals game on and hears David Freese's name, he can't help but think of Gene Freese, National League third baseman from two generations ago and a regular on the 1961 NL pennant-winning Cincinnati Reds.

David Freese homered with two on tonight, to give Tony LaRussa's men -- written off as doomed two weeks ago -- a 6-5 win and move them a step closer to that big October dance.

The win move the Cards to within 1 1-2 games of the NL wild card leading Braves, who lost 4-0 in Florida.

The Tigers' Forgotten Man

The first Royals hitter Brad Penny faced -- Alex Gordon -- homered. 

In the fourth, Penny allowed four singles, a walk, and a three run homer to Eric Hosmer, and his night was over.

Final: 10-2 Royals; Tigers and Rangers now tied for the AL's second best record and home field advantage in the Division Series, with identical 89-65 records. I

In a five or seven game series, a fifth starter may not be needed. Penny won 10 this season and pitched well earlier, but that was then and the post-season is now, and his inability to go deep into games may make him the odd starter out when the roster is finalized.

If the Tigers are Rangers tie for second-best, the Tigers get home-field, having won the season's series six games to three. 

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The Tigers could have a Mickey Stanley up their post-season sleeves after all. 

If they do get to the World Series and lose the DH (Victor Martinez) in the NL park, V-Mart could play first, with Miguel Cabrera moving to third. 

M-Cab broke in with the Marlins in 2003 as an outfielder-third baseman. He played a full season at third with the Marlins in 2007 before becoming the American League's Albert Pujols with the Tigers; a slugging third baseman moved to first to possibly lengthen his career.

The NL has home field advantage in this year's Series. Move Cabrera to third for four games to make room for Martinez at first? No reason why not. 

Tigers Off, Red Sox Hear Footprints

Three weeks ago, they had a nine game lead over T-Bay in the American League wild card race, but have gone 5-14 in September.

In the opener of today's makeup day-night doubleheader (all players wear makeup) with the Orioles, Sox outfielder Darnell McDonald lost two fly balls in the sun. Two runs, one unearned, scored.

To atone for his fielding misadventures, he homered in his next at-bat. The Sox still lost 6-5, and their wild card lead was down to 1 1-2 games.

The loss reminded the fan of other ominous September losses that foreshadowed disaster; the Cubs-Mets black cat game of 1969, and when Chico Ruiz stole home against the Phillies. 

A two-part meltdown was averted in game two, which the Sox won 18-9. In the Sox' seven run seventh, Jacoby Ellsbury hit an inside-the-park homer, and Conor Jackson hit a grand slam. The two feats have the research department (me) curious, re teammates who may have hit an inside the parker and a slam in the same inning (an inside-the-park slam counting as both).

As with the knothole in the board fence out by the nudist camp, I will have to look into it.

You Can Look It Up

I had to, because I couldn't remember the last time Justin Verlander lost a game.

It was over two months ago, on the night of July 15, when the White Sox batted around against him, and the Comerica fans booed. Back then, they were still Pretenders, Raburn was Ryan Strangeglove, and Gov. Inge was batting .084. 

Since then, JV has won eleven straight starts, equalling a Tiger record set in 1930 by Earl Whitehill and tied in 1946 by Hal Newhouser.

Every game is a masterpiece. Like this afternoon's in Oakland: eight innings of three-hit shutout ball, with six strikeouts; his 24th win against five losses.

His 2011 season reminds the fan of Bob Gibson in 1968, when the Cardinal ace went 22-9 and posted a 1.12 ERA, the lowest since 1900 and probably forever. The fan wonders how either pitcher ever managed to lose a game.

Central Division Champs

The Indians already won, 7-6 at Minneapolis. If the Tigers were to end the night as champs, they needed a win in Oakland.

Doug Fister provided the pitching -- eight innings, one run, three hits -- and Donnie Kelly drove in three with a single and a two run homer. 

With the score 3-1 Tigers, good and wonderful things once again happened in the wee hours of an Eastern time zone morning. Papa Shut 'Em Down gave up a leadoff bloop double to Coco Crisp (sigh ...) but retired the next two. Then, Governor Inge speared Josh Willingham's grounder and threw him out, and the Tigers were 2011 American League Central Division champs.

They did it the right way, with a win and and the on-field celebration that winning their way in made possible.

Fister's numbers since he put on the Olde English "D" on July 31: six wins, 59 innings, 49 hits, 46 strikeouts, five (count 'em) walks, and a 2.12 ERA.

We knew he was good, but never expected him to becomes a second stopper in the starting rotation. 

Kelly's contribution highlights what's kept the Tigers in contention all season: Skipper Leyland's liberal use of his roster. No one rusted on the bench. They all put the yeast in. All 25 guys became part of something that, indeed, turned out to be special.

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The temptation was there, to enjoy a postcard-perfect mid-September day, the last Saturday of the calendar summer,  outdoors and leave the radios and baseball at home.

Then again ... there hasn't been a day-after-clinch game since 1984. In '87 and '06, their post-season fate (East winners in '87, wild card in '06) was decided on the last day of the season. And also in 2009 (going home after losing Game 163). The fan never got to watch, and listen, minus the need to wonder what the second place team was up to, and how the Tigers would either claw their way into first place or lose more of their lead. 

So they lost, 5-3; that's okay, it's been a long season and they partied like it was 2011 well into the morning. Rick Porcello allowed nine hits but only three runs in seven innings. Ryan Perry gave up two runs and three hits in the eighth. Without that, the Tigers tie it in the ninth; however, he's the last guy in the bullpen and may not see action in a short post-season series, and that can be more or less forgiven.

Maybe Tonight, The Right Way

Home runs proved to be Max Scherzer's undoing. 

David DeJesus homered with two on in the first, and Kurt Suzuki and Cliff Pennington added solo shots to account for the other Athletics' runs, as the East Bay men prevailed 5-1 to put the Tigers' division title celebration on hold. 

The Tribe loss still reduces the magic number to one, meaning the Tigers have clinched at least a tie for first. If they lose their remaining twelve games, and the Indians will all theirs, we'll have a game 163. The chances of that happening equal those of J-Lo appearing at my front door in a couple hours, takeout pizza in hand, eager to watch this afternoon's Cubs-Astros game with me. The Tigers are gonna win it, wishfully not by backing in.

The Indians, playing in Texas tonight, have a two hour head start on the Tigers. A Tribe loss in Texas would mean the Tigers could lose in Oakland and still clinch, and that isn't how it should happen.  

So tonight we go back to rooting for the Indians, to win so the Tigers have to win their way in.

This Could Be The Night

The Tigers' magic number to clinch the Central is two. Any combination of Tigers wins and Indians losses equaling two mean post-season for the first time since 2006. And the Indians, as I write, are losing, 6-1 at Texas after six innings.

The Tigers are playing at Oakland, and start in about an hour. 

Good and wonderful things, as they did earlier this season, may happen again in the wee small hours of the morning. 

Meanwhile, at Fenway, the D-Rays are showing the Red Sox how the game of baseball is played, leading 9-1 after seven. The Sox are 3-11 in September, their once-commanding wild-card lead has shrunk to three games, and Big Poppy says: push it --

Wasn't THAT Something?

In this day game after a night game, Skipper Leyland rested several of his regulars. Brad Penny's own throwing error led to four White Sox unearned runs in the second inning.

The Tigers stayed close, though, and the score stood five to two with but one inning more to play. 

Anyone who turned the game off at this point should have known better, because lately something good always happens when it's most needed.

Leyland sent up a succession of pinch hitters against Sox reliever Chris Sale. Peralta struck out. Raburn homered (5-3 Sox). Ordonez walked. Inge was announced.

Sox manager Ozzie Guillen brought in his righty closer, Sergio Santos. The left-handed hitting Alex Avila lurked on the bench. Guillen, however, chose Santos vs. Avila (.301) over Sale vs. Inge (.203). 

Avila, who was getting the day off, homered to tie the score.Put it on the board ... YEEEEEEESS !!!

By now, you knew they were going to win it.

In the bottom ninth, the Sox moved Juan P. Air to third with the winning run. Phil Coke got AJ Pierzynski to ground into a double play and send the game into extra innings.  

Still with the script, Victor Martinez doubled in the tenth, Will Rhymes ran for him and scored on Carlos Guillen's single, and Valverde struck out the side to post the save.  

The Thursday afternoon 11-8 get-it-out-of-your-systems loss to the Royals on September 1; that was the last time the Tigers lost. I had to look it up. Twelve is their longest win streak since late July and early August 1934, when Mickey Cochrane was a rookie manager and radios looked like this --

Now they look like this -- 

-- and the march continues. For the first time since 1984, and only the second in my lifetime, the Tigers are flattening all opposition on their way to post-season glory. (So this is how it felt to be a Yankee fan in the 50s, and a Braves fan in the 90s.) In 1987 they came from three out in the last week to with the East, and they backed into the 2006 World Series as the wild card after folding down the stretch.

Lose A Couple?

White Sox lefty Gavin Floyd is usually tough on the Tigers, and was again tonight, save for one pitch.

It was the one Victor Martinez hit for a three run homer, after Miguel Cabrera had been intentionally walked.

The homer turned a 1-0 game into 4-0 and, in the sixth inning with Justin Verlander pitching, the game's pretty much over. 

JV won his 23rd, the most recorded by a Tiger since Joe Coleman in 1973. He's won eleven straight starts, and even Denny McLain in his 31 win season of 1968 didn't do that.

The win extended the Tigers' streak to eleven, most since '68, and created a problem for their fans. 

If the Tigers keep rolling, they could clinch the division this Saturday in a game the Fox TV rules prevent them from televising locally. 

There's only one solution, then, if the home fans are to see the champagne corks popped: they'll have to start losing.

Everybody Have Fun Tonight

Each starter had at least one hit. Twenty-one total, as the Lions put away the Bears 14-4 in Week One of the Major League Football season. Their tenth straight win, and it's hard to believe that they haven't won that many in a row since 1968 (eleven, from September 9 to 21).

Peralta and Raburn homered. Seven singles, a hit batter, and a two-run double by Ramon Santiago produced six runs in the sixth inning.

Raburn finished the night a triple short of the cycle. Governor Inge went 3 for 5 to boost his average over the Mendoza Line (.204). As your baseball blogger writes, The Draft Inge For President 2012 Committee is printing flyers and making signs.  

The Tigers' division lead is 11.5 games, but they're still in a pennant race of sorts. Post season qualifiers with the first, and second, highest winning percentages have home-field advantage, and the Tigers are two games ahead of the Texas Rangers for the second spot. (MLB being always able to come up with more rewards for finishing the season second best in something.)

Baseball Chemistry

Two runs, one unearned, off Twins' starter Scott Diamond in the first inning, and Doug Fister made them hold up. 

Fister's gem: seven innings, no runs on three hits, two walks. He, Delmon Young, and Wilson Betemit have proved to be just what the doctor ordered when the prescription is veteran help late in the season.

Ben-Wah then holds 'em in the eighth, striking out two, and on comes Papa Shut 'Em Down. 

Leadoff walk (Mauer), single (Luke Hughes), out, RBI grounder (Kubel). Tying run goes to second. Rene Tosoni strikes out. For this, Fernando Valverde gets a save; his 43rd, a new Tiger single-season record.

Of those 43, without going back through the whole season, I'm guessing from memory that in at least a quarter of those -- actually closer to a third -- the tying run was on base at some point in the inning. That's why we call him Fernando. In memory of Fernando Rodney. He could pile up the saves too, but you'd need your rosary and prayer candles before he was finished --

Sigh ... (My number one first reader is in the room again.) 

Can't you be positive for a change? Division Series tickets went on sale today. They sold out in an hour. 

That's nice. (My queen's employer leases a suite at Comerica.) 

Okay ... I will start being positive. For the rest of the season, I'll be a sodium atom.

Criswell Nailed It!

One-one the count, two out, 2-2 the score and nobody on, and Brandon Inge hit a high fly into the stands. He rounded third and headed for home, having won the game, he did ...

At this point in the season, having won eight in a row and increased their lead to ten games over the White Sox, one expects heroics like this every day. 

We'll stop calling him "Hinge." For now. He's still at .194, not getting any younger, and signed through next season.

Max Scherzer went seven, allowing two runs and five hits to keep the Tigers in this well-pitched, well-played game. Anthony Swarzak silenced the hot Tiger bats, permitting two runs and four hits in his six innings. Matt Capps and Alex Burnett got the game to Glenn Perkins. "If you're thinking one swing of the bat ... Perkins has allowed one home run ... count 'em, one," noted Dan Dickerson seconds before Inge's blow. 

The win also drops the former Fighting Ferrets into last place, 25 games out. 

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The Braves and Mets also lost. Out west, the Dodgers beat the Giants and the Yankee lost in Anaheim, seconds apart. All of that makes September 10, 2011 the first Carrie Jacobs-Bond day in major league baseball in over two years. 

One can thus read the day's completed scoreboard with the serene feeling of inner peace that goes with the end of a perfect day.

Your baseball blogger has considered, if the Astros move to the American League, replacing one of the National League teams on the CJB Perfect Day list -- either the Mets or Braves, and probably the Braves -- with Osama bin Laden's favorite team, the White Sox. That would mean three teams from each league, and a more fair and equitable arrangement for everyone concerned.

The Era Of Good Feeling

Forty-four pitches for Brad Penny in the first inning; four runs for the Twins. 

The Tigers had them right where they wanted them. 

Homers by Avila (two on in the third), Santiago (one on in the fourth) and Delmon Young (solo in the fifth) got the Tigers back in the game, where we knew they would eventually be despite the bad first inning. 

Final: 8-4 Tigers. Penny went five and got the win.  

The Tigers have won 17 of their last 21 and are hitting over.300 as a team since mid-August, with just enough pitching from guys not named Justin Verlander to run away with the division.  The fan gets that feeling; that no matter how far behind they fall, however early, they'll find a way to win. 

It's also a nice to watch them add to a lead in September instead of lose it --

You stopped calling them the Pretenders. (Maggie is reading over my shoulder.) Or, what was your other name for them? The Heartbreakers?  

Yes, my queen. Back in May, when they were pretending to be contending, and breaking hearts all over the place -- 

And you stopped picking on Ryan Raburn. Good for you. I like him. He's cute. 

RR has also remembered what baseball bats are for, and, in this late season Era Of Good Feeling, the most villified of Tigers can be forgiven.

Speaking of Hinge: he is taking part in the fun, and could be elected governor right now, even with his .190 batting average. Over .200, and the Draft Inge Committee will go to work. Still lots of time left before the 2012 presidential election. 

 Criswell Predicts: Hinge is going to do something big in tomorrow's game.

Judy's Turn To Cry

Indians' reliever Frank Hermann gave up Bret Morel's second homer of the night, a three run shot in the seventh that widened the White Sox lead to 4-1. A walk, single and hit batter later, Josh Judy served up a grand slam to Paul Konerko. 8-1 Sox, game over.

Josh Judy is one of those rare players who has two first names, both starting with the same letter and having the same number of letters.  He's among a passel of players the Indians have shuttled between Cleveland and Columbus over the last several seasons, who we've come to like here in the second floor baseball bunker.Where we've rooted for the Indians, except when they played the Tigers and when they got too far ahead of the Tigers in the standings.

It hurts us when they get whacked; especially by the White Sox. Uniforms, ball park and its location, players, manager, fans, radio announcers; amng them there is precious little to like. If Osama bin Laden had been a baseball fan, he'd have been a White Sox fan. 

After the Tigers sweep, with the Tribe ten games out and one under .500 at 70-71, Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus are talking about next year. 

They weren't expected to do anything this year, but led for most of the first half and stayed in contention until September with a lot of key players on the DL. If they do limp home with a losing record, has it been a failed season? Of course not.

V-Mart For MVP

Add Shelley Duncan's name to the roll call of names to be written down and remembered. 

This afternoon, he did something only two other hitters have done in almost six seasons: homer twice in one game off Justin Verlander. 

Two two-run bombs, in fact; in the second giving the Indians a 4-2 lead.

But that's okay; Shelley Duncan is a favorite here in the second floor baseball bunker. He's the only major league player in my era named Shelley. His full name is David Shelley Duncan, but his dad is already Dave Duncan, and I remember him as a rookie catcher for the Kansas City Athletics way way back in the day.

And, the way the Tigers have been playing, one knew they'd eventually take the lead. 

That they did, on a seventh inning grand slam by Victor Martinez. They then held off the Indians to post an 8-6 win, and a sweep of the series the Tribe needed to sweep to have any shot at the division title.

JV's name has been mentioned when possible American League MVPs are discussed. The case can also be made for V-Mart. He's hit .300 from each side of the plate, driven in many a run with many a clutch hit, stayed relatively injury-free (one trip to the DL), and one wonders where the Tigers would be without him in the middle of the order.

Game Over Early

Fausto Carmona allowed seven runs on eight hits, while retiring four batters. Six of the hits, all singles, came with two out in the Tigers' five run first inning. 

With the Tigers up 8-0 after two and playing their best ball of the season, the game was pretty much over. 

Even with that big lead and the game in hand, Rick Porcello came out in the seventh after allowing a home run to Kosuke Fukudome, and then a single and walk.

With a bigger lead, 10-1 in the ninth, and one out to go, Skipper Leyland called for a new pitcher when Al Alburquerque issued two walks. 

Which is how the game should be managed. Throw strikes, get 'em out; they aren't the 1927 Yankees, and if you can't, we'll bring in someone else. Let's win the game. 

They did, and the lead is now 8 1-2 games heading into tomorrow afternoon's Battle Of The Justins (Verlander vs. Masterson). 

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Curtis Granderson has been named the American League Player Of The Month for August. 

Alex Avila meant more to the Tigers -- catching almost every day and boosting his average over .300 -- than Graderson did to the Yankees at the top of their powerpacked batting order. 

But Avila doesn't play for the Yankees. 

September Song

The days grow short when you reach September. And they dwindle down to a precious few for teams fighting to stay in their respective division races.

The Indians, barring a complete and total Tiger collapse, may have run out of days.

In game one of a series they had to sweep to have any serious thoughts of post-season, Doug Fister silenced their bats. 

Fister pitched the best game of his career, holding the Tribe to two runs and four hits through eight innings while striking out 13.

Ubaldo Jiminez also pitched well -- three runs and two hits in seven innings -- but made one mistake, that Victor Martinez hit for a three run homer in the fourth.

The win puts the Indians 7 1-2 out with 24 to play, and a ten game road trip to Chicago, Texas, and Minnesota coming up once the Tigers series is over.

Lions 18, Bears 2

Mark Buehrle was too surly, and they knocked him out way too early. In the fourth inning, with one out and seven runs in.  

With an 8 PM start time dictated by the ESPN television godz, and a day-night doubleheader tomorrow in Minneapolis, Sox manager Ozzie Guillen had to save his pen. Rookie Shane Lindsay thus stayed in, allowing all seven sixth inning Tiger runs.

By that time, with the score 16-0 and two at-bats left, and MLB having no mercy rule, the baseball fan hung around to see if they would get to twenty.  

Three of the most dramatic, memorable games in recent Tiger history have been played in the last two weeks. The walkoff double play at the plate game in Cleveland, yesterday's comeback storm game, and tonight's. 

Broadcasters and local writers are speculating re who the Tigers will play in the Division Series, and Skipper Leyland's roster, Ryan Raburn is hitting .307 since the All-Star break, Hinge is almost over the Mendoza Line, the rain has finally stopped, brown cows are giving chocolate milk, and all seems right with the world. 

The fan also remembers that, two years ago tomorrow, the Tigers had a seven game lead in the American League Central race; a lead they lost to the Twins who clinched the title in Game 163. 

This season, there are no Fighting Ferrets nipping at the Tigers' heels. The White Sox are sinking. The Indians have been starting five guys who played most of the season at Columbus. For much of the summer, it appeared that the streaky Tigers would finish first by default. 

Mo Mentum is now on the Tigers' side, and Jim Price's elusive friend Mojo is a regular member of the Tiger traveling party. They've got him working. And he's getting the job done.

It Was The Third Of September

The day I'll always remember. Yes, I will.

Brad Penny didn't have it. After four and a half innings, the Tigers were down 8-1. 

They began to peck away at the deficit. In the fifth, Austin Jackson tripled in Carlos Guillen. Delmon Young homered to score Jackson. 

Then the rains came, and did it pour, with thunder and lightning added for effect. Many of the 40,000 who came to Comerica in 95 degree heat went home. It rained hard here as well. Lightning bolts flashed in the front yard. Thunder shook the second floor baseball bunker, and the power went off.

Wilson Betemit homered in the seventh. Peralta singled in V-Mart in the eighth to make it 8-6 and, even though the Tigers were down to their last three outs, the fan had a feeling that something special might happen in the ninth.

With one out, Austin Jackson hit his second triple of the game. Ryan Raburn curled one around the pole in left. Score tied at eight. (Almost all is forgiven.)

Miguel Cabrera, on the first pitch White Sox closer Sergio Santos threw him, hit a high fly into the stands. He rounded third and headed for home, having won the game, that brown-eyed handsome man!

Those who braved the nasty weather were pleasantly rewarded. Those of us watching the Fox Saturday telecast were delighted that the Tigers went from chumps to heroes on national TV.

David Pauley and Luis Marte were as vital as Raburn and Cabrera to the win. Pauley pitched a scoreless sixth, seventh, and eighth, and Marte blanked the Sox in the ninth to post his first major league victory.

The fan also gets the feeling that this loss finished off the Sox for 2011. Not that they ever were a serious threat to the Tigers. They're 7 1-2 out, and struggled all season just to get over the .500 mark.

The Indians are still hanging around, having won tonight in KC to stay five and a half out, with Big Series #4 starting on the Monday Labor Day holiday in Cleveland.

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Austin Jackson, who is the man, had four hits today, is 13 for his last 19, and has brought his average up to .259. That's hard to do late in the season, after you were under .200 in May with a demotion to Toledo still very possible.

Tigers Win With Speed

In the first inning of Big Series #3 Game One, Delmon Young tripled in Austin Jackson. Miguel Cabrera singled in Young. 

Then, Cabrera took off for second; a blur on the base path, sliding in with his second stolen base of the year for a team last in the league in steals.

V-Mart singled him in, an indicator that it would be that kind of night for John Danks and the White Sox.

Cabrera's blazing speed turned the game around early and put Mo Mentum on the Tigers' side. 

Three runs were all Justin Verlander really needed, but a five-run fifth -- featuring a two-run homer by Jackson and a three-run double by Jhonny Peralta -- put the Sox away for the night. 

Final: Tigers 8 Sox 1. JV wins number 21; the Pale Hose are now 6 1-2 out and back in third place, one game behind the Indians who won 5-4 in Kansas City.

Get It Out Of Your Systems NOW

If you must lose 11-8 to the Kansas City Royals, today was the day to do it.

The White Sox were off, and the Indians lost. Both are thus tied for second, five and a half games back.

It was indeed an ugly game of Base Ball played this afternoon at Comerica.

At whom can we point fingers?

Jacob Turner, up from Toledo with the rosters expanded. Seven runs, six hits in four-plus innings. 

Losing pitcher Phil Coke, who's been good lately, but in the seventh: walk, double, single, a winnable 8-6 game becomes a tie game. 

Luis Marte, who allowed two of Coke's runs to score. Today was his major league debut, but that's no excuse.

The law firm of Betemit, Jackson, and Kelly, who made three outs on six pitches in the eighth.

The law firm of Young, Cabrera, and Martinez, who went down in order on eleven pitches in the ninth.

Wasted was Magglio's best day at the plate this season: two doubles and a solo homer, three RBIs. 

Big Series #3 won't be, as expected, against the Indians. It starts tomorrow night at Comerica, with the White Sox in town and JV starting, and clean, fresh air to replace the foul odors left behind by today's game.