You know what I’m talking about. When you’re a kid you know that no matter how scary the outside world is, as long as you keep your entire body underneath your blanket you will be protected (Some of us still treat blankets this way).

And that’s what sports do for us. They protect us from a very scary world, albeit momentarily. During a week where it didn’t seem like things could get worse (yet they did) Tigers baseball was a great blanket. But within the blanket, there can be dreams and nightmares. And tonight’s 2-1 win over Seattle was both.

For eight innings it was a baseball fan’s dream. Two strikeout hurlers abused the strike zone and threw pitches as if there wasn’t even a batter in the box. Two runs barely scored in a proverbial game of chicken. Not one, not two, but THREE turned double plays got the Tigers out of a jam.
But then the nightmares started.

The Tigers lineup stalled well after Felix Hernandez retired in the 8th. Jim Leyland sent out Octovio Dotel and kept in Phil Coke to face a righthander before giving the ball to Brayan Villarreal. After Villarreal got himself out of a self-created jam, Leyland handed the ball to Darin Downs who struck out his lone hitter to leave a runner in scoring position stranded. That was just in the 9th and 10th innings. Stuff horror movies are made of.

And there were still four more innings left to play.

Most of the remaining innings were an exercise in futility. Whether it was good pitching or bad hitting (or both) a game that had started out so entertaining was now reaching the point where “the end” was more desirable than “a win.”

Finally came the top of the 14th. A single. A walk. An ill-advised defensive play. And then a ground out to finally score a run and end everything.

Or so we thought.

Sometimes you think you’ve woken up only to realize you’re still lost in your nightmare.

Especially when Dustin Ackley smoked a two-out line drive double into right field and Justin Smoak came rumbling down the third base line.

But the ball got to the plate before Smoak and Brayan Pena held on to it after the collision and everyone could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The metaphorical blanket could finally be shed for the comfort of a real one.

That’s what the Tigers gave us. That’s what sports gives us. A chance to pull ourselves under the covers and away from all the bad news, even before we go to sleep.

Bullets

• Both teams combined for 40 strikeouts in 14 innings. The Major League record for combined strikeouts was 43. That happened in a 20-inning game.
• At times in this series Prince Fielder has looked like he doesn’t remember how to hit. This is worth repeating: sometimes it’s best to just move beyond a bad streak and not even bother figuring out what went wrong.
• The bullpen situation was nightmarish but based on how the hitters performed; Leyland made all the right moves.
• Seriously, three double plays? Really?
• Victor Martinez’s single to lead off the 14th eventually led to the game-winning run. It was a well-earned hit considering how many times he’s hit the ball square only for it to find someone’s glove. It looks like his swing is there. He just needs some more breaks.
• Also of note: Martinez was the only starter in the game not to strikeout.
• This bares repeating: there were 40 strikeouts combined in this game.

With the bases loaded Austin Jackson was in an 0-2 hole. He had already fouled off three pitches while facing 0-2 and it felt inevitable that the inning would end with a “Tigers threaten but do not score.”

But Jackson took ball one. Ok. Bobby LaFromboise had essentially thrown five straight strikes, so a waste pitch out of the strike zone was bound to happen. Still it was 1-2.

Jackson took ball two. Now hope, which had already dissipated, slowly returns. Jackson is no longer in a hole. The count is even. Jackson has new life. The pressure is now on LaFromboise, who has nowhere else to put Jackson with the bases loaded.

Jackson took ball three. Well now we’re invested as fans. What was a meaningless at bat bound for a tragic ending is now the most important at bat of the entire game. It will all come down to one pitch (a slight exaggeration but when you’re in the moment everything feels this important).

Ball four.

Jackson takes his base and an uncomfortable two-run lead becomes a slightly more comfortable three-run lead with the bullpen ready to take over the game.

Considering how well the Tigers pitchers performed, Jackson’s at bat wasn’t a turning point in the game nor was it the moment Detroit clinched this one.

But it’s a great example of how much better Jackson has become as a hitter. He opened the game facing an 0-2 count and that at bat ended in a triple and he eventually scored.

Jackson has come a long way from the player who struck out 170 times in his rookie season only to follow that up with 181 strikeouts in his sophomore year. And if he continues to improve on this transformation into a more patient hitter, Jackson could very well be the consensus No. 1 hitter in the league.

Not a bad player to have setting the table when Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder and Victor Martinez are the ones coming to dinner on a nightly basis.

Bullets

• The bullpen may be a concern of ours for a while, but it’s clear that when it comes starting games, the Tigers have no problems. It’ll be interesting to see if Detroit can continue it’s run of scoring first (and scoring in the first inning) all year.
• Prince Fielder needs to take the tape of this game and just burn it. There’s nothing you can learn from watching yourself strike out four times in a game. Sometimes it’s best to just forget about the day and move on.
• I like Al Alburqurque. I’ve been in love with that slider ever since I first saw it. And I know he walks guys way more than a closer should. But why not try him as a closer?
• What more can be said about Miguel Cabrera? At this point he needs to start not hitting for us to write more about him. He’s become as predictable (in a great way) as the sun rising and setting. Never change Miggy.
• If Alex Avila continues to struggle at the plate the way he has been (.195/.233/.341 with 12 Ks in 10 games before tonight) the Tigers will essentially have 0 catchers for the entire season. Fortunately his defense hasn’t been this bad.

• The good: Torii Hunter and Omar Infante.
• The bad: The bullpen
• The ugly: Marty Foster’s called third strike against the Rays.

MCB Detroit Tigers Podcast #5: Debuting ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’

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