Max Scherzer had an outing to remember as well, as he didn’t allow a hit through 5.2 innings either, until Matt Joyce delivered a grand slam to break the game wide open. The Rays managed just three hits all night, but two of them left the yard (or concrete bowl with a lid, I guess)… (more after the jump)

Is it just me or does Gerald Laird get called for interference more often than any catcher in baseball history? I can’t recall ever seeing a catcher get in the way more often than Laird and the runners he puts on seemingly always score…

You know what was unnecessary? When FSD “flashedback” to the Galarraga/Jason Donald play from June 2. They did this with two outs in the ninth. It was as if they were saying “hey, are you not embarrassed enough by the fact that your team is getting no-hit tonight? Does that make you sad? Well here’s something that will make you feel worse! Enjoy! Bwahahahaha.” Not cool at all….

Jim Leyland was ejected in the third inning when Laird threw out B.J. Upton trying to steal but the umpire missed the call because he was too far behind the runner to see the tag. Ump said Leyland spat on him, which is just silly. Memo to umpires: If you miss a call, DO NOT compound the error by then tossing the manager when he is right and you are wrong. Just man up and take your yelling at, or spitting, whichever. Jim Joyce didn’t toss Cabrera after he missed the call on June 2, since we already had to be reminded of that…

Carl Crawford is a free agent after the year and the Tigers have about $79 million coming off the books. Just saying is all, but go sign him, please…

For all the talk about needing another starter, the Tigers have actually been quite good in that area lately. Despite winning just three of the 12 games since the break, four of the five starters for Detroit have been excellent.

In fact if you remove Jeremy Bonderman’s two starts (and Andy Oliver’s one), the rest of the rotation has thrown 60 innings since the break and posted a 3.15 ERA during that time. Bonderman has worked just 11 innings in his two starts with a 7.36 ERA. Of course it’s tough to win if you can’t score…

The Rangers collected three runs before an out was recorded in the second inning. The Tigers didn’t manage their first hit until the fourth. Texas piled on late, but even at 3-0 Rangers, this game was already over.

Armando Galarraga was knocked around early, seemingly every ball was hit hard, even the outs were caught near the wall. At one point, he did settle in and retire 10 in a row, but the damage was already done. Gags’ final line doesn’t look all that bad, but the offense never showed up to help. 7.1 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 6 K.

Of course when the bottom four in your lineup include the name Raburn, Avila, Kelly, and Worth, how many runs can you expect to score? I guess the answer is zero. The Tigers got two hits from Miguel Cabrera, one from Don Kelly (who also played very well at third base), and one from Austin Jackson. That’s it.

Wondering about Brennan Boesch? He took another 0-for-3 and is just 3-for-25 since the all-star break, all three hits being singles.

(Leyland’s reaction after the jump)

After the game, in the Tigers clubhouse, I was hoping to see some fire from Jim Leyland. Instead I got the usual dose of the manager stuffing his mouth on the post-game spread and mumbling something quietly about the team not playing good enough. The same crap we’ve heard from Leyland for four years.

He mentioned that he wasn’t big on team meetings, that they’re all professionals and they know they need to play better. Perhaps I’m just grasping for answers here, but where’s the fire? Leyland puts together a lineup that features no fewer than four rookies plus Kelly and then mumbles that they didn’t play very good. No kidding? They’re all good teams in the major leagues, he said, some just have better seasons than others. He sure does make it sound like a random occurrence that any team wins any game. Has nothing to do with the players, only how well they play.

Memo to Leyland: Good players play better than bad players.

Then again, looking at the roster he has been given, it’s not as if there are great players sitting on the bench, either.

I guess that’s the frustrating part. The division is open. The Tigers could seize control and run away with this thing, they just don’t have the roster to do it. Maybe Leyland is resigned to the fact that the Tigers are really just a third place team. If they get hot, maybe they could win the Central, if not they’ll finish third. There probably isn’t much he can do either way. Seems like he could try, though. Shouldn’t that be part of his job?

The writing’s on the wall, people, this ship is sinking. Time to sell off a veteran hitter or two, time to trade away a pitcher or two, it’s time to sell at the deadline.

And next year, perhaps it’s time to find a skipper with a bit more fire. Maybe, just maybe, a new voice is needed in the Tigers clubhouse to go along with some new players.

Laird thwarted his manager’s attempts with an RBI single last night, finishing his day at 1-for-5 and raising his batting average to .181. Leyland, who has long been known for using Triple-A hitters in the three-spot, has apparently not been satisfied in destroying the sanctity of the lineup, and has aimed his assault on the second hitter.

As Jeremy Bonderman is scheduled to pitch this evening, and without the comforts of the designated hitter to stave him off, Leyland is considering using Bonderman (1-for-38 career) to bat second.

If he is successful, Leyland will finally be able to show the world that using a poor hitter at the top of the order if far more effective at destroying his team’s chances than batting the pitcher eighth, a move made popular by Leyland’s long-time friend, Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa. (a return to normalcy after the jump)************************

As you might have guessed, the above portion of this post was written entirely in jest. It is my hope that not even in the crazy, smoke-filled mind of Jim Leyland could the skipper dare to use a guy with an .038 career average in the two-hole.

I realize that there is a school of thought that says lineups are vastly overrated. I respectfully disagree. In my humble opinion, a good lineup would feature a high-OBP guy with speed at the top, followed by Placido Polanco (or a reasonable facsimile anyway), your best overall hitter batting third, a good power threat at four and five, then descend to the bottom with gradually less effective batters.

Over the course of a season, it can be assumed that the number two hitter will make roughly 75 more plate appearances than the number eight guy. In any given game, there is the likelihood that the top of your order will bat one more time that the bottom. Therefore, it is my contention that you would want a more effective hitter batting in the top of the order than the bottom.

Leyland apparently does not see things my way, as shown not only by his blatant use of Clete Thomas as a number three hitter last season, but then his use of Laird in the two-spot last night.

Obviously, Laird couldn’t handle the pressure, as while he did come through with one hit, he also allowed three stolen bases against him, two coming without so much as a throw. I’m blaming Leyland for that one; obviously Laird’s mind was so overwhelmed about his promotion in the batting order that he could not be expected to contribute anything defensively.

Please God, bring the DH to both leagues so Leyland is no longer tempted to destroy the game of baseball with his absurd lineups. At least just for the rest of this road trip?

Fortunately, Leyland kept things a bit more sane with tonight’s lineup.

• CF- Johnny Damon
• SS- Ramon Santiago
• RF- Magglio Ordonez
• 1B- Miguel Cabrera
• LF- Brennan Boesch
• 2B- Carlos Guillen
• 3B- Brandon Inge
• C- Alex Avila