The Streak Is Over!! Gerald Laird Leads Tigers to Win

Texas 1, Detroit 4 (box)

In the pre-game telecast, Rod Allen said that all Max Scherzer needed to do tonight to be successful was go ahead an toss a shutout. When the “scouting report” flashed on the screen just before Scherzer threw his first pitch, that sentiment was repeated. I guess Scherzer to the advice to heart because he did just that, holding the Rangers to just four hits and two walks over seven innings.

The offensive support came from perhaps the most unlikely of sources.

With a runner on and one out in the second inning, Gerald Laird jumped on a hanging breaking abll from Colby Lewis and just unloaded on it. The ball landed over 400 feet away, well beyond the bullpens in left. Laird was blowing bubbles with his gum as he trotted, quite an act of showmanship for a guy who just hit his third homer of the year. But regardless of his bravado, Laird stepped up tonight and lead the Tigers both with the bat and by leading Scherzer through a talented Rangers lineup unscathed.

Things got a bit hairy in the ninth, when Jose Valverde missed the zone with seven straight pitches, one of which hit Vladimir Guerrero in the shoulder. The Rangers managed a run after a Valverde wild pitch put runners on second and third with no one out, but Valverde recovered in time to seal the game for Detroit. (Fun Times after the jump!)

Cheers for

• Austin Jackson– AJax collected three hits and raised his average to .309 on the season. He has been quiet since a red-hot April, but Jackson is certainly showing himself to be a valuable and vital part of the future of the Tigers.
• Gerald Laird– Laird shouldn’t have even been in the lineup today, but it sure worked out well for Detroit. He’s still only hitting .190 on the season, even after his two hit night, but at least for today, he played well.
• Max Scherzer– All he needed to do was toss a shutout, so that’s all he did for seven strong innings. True story: This past winter, Dave Dombrowski turned down an Edwin Jackson for Scherzer deal straight up. That’s how Granderson and Coke and Schlereth got involved in that trade. No wonder Josh Byrnes got fired.

See how much more fun things are around here when the Tigers win? No more crazy-talk about firing Jim Leyland or trading away all the players. Okay, maybe I still think they should sell, but that might change depending on the outcome of the WhiteSox-Mariners game tonight.