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.