Looked Like We Were In For Nasty Weather

The 41K sheeple ... er, Tigers fans, who waited through tonight's two and a half hours or rain and wind and lightning to see baseball deserve a pass. Justin Verlander was pitching, and when he takes the ball, anything can happen. The Tigers might even win. 

Win they did, 5-1, led by Cabrera's two homers and double, and Austin Jackson's 3 for 3.

Jackson, still The Man, third in the American League in hitting with a .329 average,  is arguably the most deserving AL player who isn't going to next week's All-Star game. Third in OPS, seventh in slugging, leads in triples, plays Gold Glove defense, not good enough even with a 34 man roster. But Me Tarzan Yu Darvish gets to go, voted in by the sheeple as player #34. Eight Texas Rangers being better than seven, I guess, and do they really need 13 pitchers on the squad?

AUSTIN JACKSON HE'S THE MAN !!!

Top ninth, Kosuke Fukudome on third, Jason Donald on second, score 8-7 Tigers, Matt LaPorta hit a fly to short center.

Fukudome tagged. (They're not gonna send him, are they?)

They did, and he was OWWWWWWWT at the plate! Austin Jackson getting the assist on a game-ending double play.

Forty-three thousand fans stood, as the home team exchanged high fives, and roared; a walkoff standing O for the young man from Denton, Texas who saved the game and gave the Tigers a sweep in Big Series 2. 

What an ending. Usually, the team at bat gets the big bang walkoff win.

Jackson's throw, and Alex Avila's tag, also kept some Tiger pitchers out of the cornfield. 

Rick Porcello couldn't hold a seven run lead. He gave up five in the fourth, right after the Tigers plated seven off Ubaldo Jiminez in a 46 pitch third inning. Duane Below gave up two hits and walked two, and allowed the sixth Tribe run. Daniel Schlereth allowed two hits and the seventh run.

Even Fernando Valverde wasn't exempt from Anthony's wrath. Papa Lead-Off Walk walked Fukudome to start the ninth, and hit Donald with an 0-2 pitch to put the go-ahead run on.

Everything worked out for the best, though; and all is well in Tigertown. The broom brigades --

-- got their sweep, the Tigers moved to a season high ten games over .500, and equaled their season high lead of 4 1-2 games over the Indians.