Last night was all about the return of Dontrelle Willis to Detroit. The D-backs newest southpaw displayed the same wildness, and much the same results he found while pitching for the Tigers.

Detroit jumped out to an early 4-0 lead thanks to Willis’ wildness and some timely hitting. Willis walked the first batter of the game, a common occurrence for him, and two batters later, Magglio Ordonez crushed a two-run homer to the deepest part of the yard. In the second inning, Brandon Inge doubled to start the frame and rode home on a double by Danny Worth. Ryan Raburn then brought in another run with a sacrifice fly.

But for all of his struggles early, Willis settled in a bit and allowed just one more Tiger to cross the plate. His teammates battled back and tied the score at 4-4 in the fifth against Tigers starter Armando Galarraga. Galarraga was solid early, but wore down due to the oppressive heat and humidity, he said as much after the game.

Arizona got a homer from Miguel Montero in the fourth, then scored three times in the fifth before Galarraga was lifted from the game. After Detroit took the lead again in the bottom of the inning, Brad Thomas couldn’t hold it and the two teams were square at five headed to the eighth.

With a major storm threatening the game, Brandon Inge centered a Chad Qualls fastball and drove it over the head of Chris Young in center for a triple, scoring Brennan Boesch from first. Alex Avila then brought Inge home with an important insurance run. Jose Valverde, a former Diamondback, sat down the side in order in the ninth, picking up his 15th save of the year. (…)

Cheers for

• Brandon Inge- Inge collected a season-high three hits, falling a home run shy of the cycle. He scored twice and drove in the winning run with his eighth inning triple. He has risen his batting average all the way up to .264, by batting .397 (25-for-63) over his last 17 games.
• Danny Worth- As much as I was disappointed by seeing Worth’s name in the lineup, he delivered last night. After collecting just one hit in 16 at bats since being recalled, Worth came through by reaching base three times, including two hits.
• Magglio Ordonez- Last year, Maggs managed just nine home runs, and it took him until game 163 to do that. This year, in just 57 games, Ordonez has matched that total thanks to his two-run shot last night. He’s batting .333 and already has 45 runs batted in.
• Eddie Bonine- Bonine entered the game and immediately shut down the D-backs. He worked two full innings, allowing just one hit, keeping the game tied until the Tigers could scratch out some runs.

Jeers for

• Brad Thomas- Thomas has been good for Detroit this year, especially recently, but he was ineffective in his one inning of work last night. After allowing an inherited runner to tie the game in the fifth, he gave up one of his own to re-tie the game in the sixth.
• Armando Galarraga- He wasn’t nearly as good as he has been, but this wasn’t as bad as his numbers indicate, either. Galarraga had trouble with a lineup that featured seven left handed bats, neutralizing his slider and forcing him to nibble at the outside corner. Galarraga is much better when he’s attacking the zone, but he didn’t do that very often last night.

The Tigers will see another former teammate on the mound tonight, in the person of Edwin Jackson. EJax won 13 games and made the all-star team for the Tigers last season, but has struggled in his first campaign in the desert, posting a 5.18 ERA thus far.

Detroit will send another struggling right hander to the hill to oppose him in Rick Porcello, who was skipped over in his last turn through the rotation. For the Tigers to have success tonight, they’ll need Porcello to get his sinker down, and for Jackson to get his up.  To see the opposing view, check out Venom Strikes.

The Tigers have closed to within a half game of first-place Minnesota, thanks to some favorable interleague scheduling. The Twins face off again with the Phillies today.

Willis was traded to the D-backs two weeks ago after being designated for assignment by the Tigers. Detroit is still paying Willis the overwhelming majority of his money this year, so hopefully he feels the need to repay the organization by being his usual generous self, and handing out free bases to a whole bunch of Tigers.

The Tigers lineup was released this afternoon, while I was being bombarded on twitter by a couple of fine Tigers writers who have much stronger feelings about soccer than I do. It is as follows (after the jump).

• CF- Ryan Raburn
• DH- Johnny Damon
• RF- Magglio Ordonez
• 1B- Miguel Cabrera
• LF- Brennan Boesch
• 2B- Carlos Guillen
• 3B- Brandon Inge
• C- Gerald Laird
• SS- Danny Worth
• SP- Armando Galarraga

That’s correct, there is no mention of Ramon Santiago. Santiago, a switch-hitter, racked up a career-high four hits in yesterday’s game. How does his manager respond to such a big day? By returning Santiago to the bench today in favor of Worth, who happens to be 1-for-16 since being recalled. Good move, Jimmy.

Another missing name once again is that of Austin Jackson. Jackson hasn’t seen the field since Sunday, missing the past six games due to back spasms. Sure seems like it must be more serious than the Tigers are letting on.

Regardless of who is or isn’t playing tonight, the Tigers that do face Willis must do so with an extreme amount of patience. We’ve seen too many times over the past few seasons that Willis will walk you if you let him. He has walked 10 batters in his 10 innings since joining the D-backs, including six in four frames in his last start.

Sure, he can be tough to hit when he’s around the plate, but more often than not, he falls behind. Let him walk you, he will.

Galarraga, on the other hand, has been quite good since taking over for Willis in the Tigers rotation. In his last three starts, Galarraga has worked 21.2 innings and allowed just four runs and 14 hits.

Galarraga is pitching with a strong sense of confidence since being given a starting job. It’s easy to recall how terribly ineffective he was for most of 2009, but in the first month of that season he was the Tigers best pitcher, just as he had been in 2008.

If he can maintain his confidence, there’s no reason to think he cannot become again what he was. Here’s hoping.

By Scott Allen

Pitching Probables:

Friday – Dontrelle Wills, 2-2, 4.39 ERA. (1-0, 1.80 in Arizona). The reunion tour in Detroit continues for former Tigers. Only two weeks removed from leaving Detroit, Willis has has a couple of starts in Arizona. He’s been wild, to say the least. He’s walked 10 batters in only 10 innings. He left his last start a week ago Thursday against the Atlanta Braves after only four innings.

Saturday – Edwin Jackson, 3-6, 5.18 ERA. Jackson has struggled somewhat since leaving Detroit for Phoenix in the off-season. He gave up a lot of runs in April and early May and has been working to lower his ERA ever since. He still doesn’t look completely comfortable in Arizona yet.

Sunday – Ian Kennedy, 3-4, 3.57 ERA. His ERA took a small hit this past Tuesday at Fenway against the Boston Red Sox, in a 6-3 loss. Kennedy though overall, has been a pleasant surprise. Given up for dead by the New York Yankees, Kennedy has been able to keep many hitters off balance. His ERA leads all starters.

Hot: Chris Young – He has risen from a miserable 2009 season. He is the best shot right now for being the Dbacks representative at the All-Star Game. He is 9 for his last 24 in his past 8 games after Wednesday night’s game in Boston. He has 21 total bases, 3 Home Runs, including a walk-off shot against the St. Louis Cardinals this past Sunday, and a slugging percentage of .905 in his last 8.

Not: Overall….the whole team. Recently, on an individual basis, Stephen Drew. Once the team leader in batting average, he has really taken a dip the past two weeks. In his last 8 games, he is 4-21. He’s leaving batters on base in crucial situations.

Name to remember: Another tough one. Most of the Dbacks have been anything but memorable so far this season. I can’t even promise who I name here will still be a part of this team come Friday when the series starts. The Dbacks started what many think will be a fire sale the other day when they traded fan favorite Conor Jackson for pitcher Sam Demel from the Oakland A’s. I will say Sam Demel is your name to remember. He debuted on Wednesday night with a perfect 8th inning against Boston, including 1 strikeout. Demel is almost sure to still be a part of this team on Friday night.