We're just gonna skip that three-game series in New York. NEVER HAPPENED. Let's move onto a more fun week, featuring three pairs of identical scores and a goofy-ass Monday night:
July 21: Detroit 9, Seattle 7 — Garrett Olson, you've been Tildecized! Magglio Ordoñez's epic slam gave the Tigers a comfy lead that the youngun Rick Porcello pissed away bit by bit, but just enough to make everyone sweat.
July 22: Seattle 2, Detroit 1 — The Tigers are 31-16 at home, one of the best records in the league. And yet they're 0-2 when I attend. Going to this game didn't help much (although it did allow me to unleash some anger at a tarpaulin.) But starting pitcher Armando Galarraga was a fiend in this game. I would've been happy with him leaving the game having surrendered three, maybe four runs. He went 7 1/3 innings, allowing a single run which only scored because Bobby Seay's fastball is one of the Russell Branyan household's favorite crudités.
July 23: Seattle 2, Detroit 1 — Oh, goody! I got to watch the previous night's game with a roof over my head. This was the same night Mark Buehrle threw his perfect game, bringing the Sox into a tie with the Tigers in the AL Central. July 23 was a much later date I had planned to give up all hope, especially with Chicago booming into Comerica Park for four games. That's an easy way to fall to third place quickly! Ah, but how little faith I had.
July 24, Game 1: Detroit 5, Chicago 1 — I didn't know there was this baseball tradition where a team who wins via a perfect game gives a gift to the next team they play. Three errors in a game. Just what they always wanted! Justin Verlander did his part too, working over the Sox like a squealer in the walk-in fridge of a restaurant with brass knuckles, hitting a season-high mark for pitches thrown (127) and keeping the bullpen minty fresh for the night festivities. The game was also the triumphant return of Carlos Guillen, who was back from a few months of eerie shoulder pain, and being removed from the disabled list made Josh Anderson the loser in the game of 25-Man Musical Chairs. Huh, and usually he's the first one to reach one, with all that sexy speed.
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