Well, on one hand, it's tough to smile at a 2-4 road trip. On the other hand, it's the American League Central, and any week that includes two wins is a positive thing.
July 27: Texas 5, Detroit 2 — Tommy Hunter, I'm pretty sure, is a person from a Bon Jovi song. He also pitches for the Rangers. The Tigers had no such person in their lineup, and as such Armando Galarraga failed to hold a 1-0 lead, which came off Curtis Granderson's 19th career leadoff home run.
July 28: Texas 7, Detroit 3 — What the heck is it with Rangers pitchers and musical names? Doug Mathis allowed a three-run second inning to Detroit (courtesy of the sub-.200-hitting Dusty Ryan? Really?) but, yet again, the lead disappeared into the vapors in the bottom half of the inning. I blame the humidity. Luke French got the loss, and I said to myself, "I hope he gets traded to Seattle for a veteran left-handed arm." The game winner was Jason Grilli, whom I've heard of before. That's Texas mud in your eye.
July 29: Detroit 13, Texas 5 — Finally, a non-foreboding Curtis Granderson leadoff home run. (His 20th of his career. Just 62 more and he catches Rickey!) D-Town actually scored in each of the first seven innings, which was a sight to see, as Scott Feldman — ANOTHER 80s name — didn't make it out of the third inning alive. (In a baseball sense. No actual death was involved.) Because Justin Verlander doesn't always need 13 runs of support a night, he took his time with his enemy, striking out 13 of the 28 batters he faced.
And with that win, the Tigers took a day off, and they had to make it count, because they had 17 straight games. Finishing these games quickly would be vital to staying fresh and ...
July 31: Cleveland 6, Detroit 5, 13 innings — ...or you could do that. Actually, smooth Carlos Guillen bashed a two-run homer in the ninth that at least gave them a chance to win. But batting 3-for-13 with RISP, combined with using the bullpen for eight innings, is a great way to start off 17 in a row! But, hey, that's okay. As long as they just quickly make it through tomorrow's...
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