Detroit finally wins a road series: Tigers 13, White Sox 8

First off, a big thank you to White Sox outfielder Andruw Jones. Without his looking so lost in the eighth inning, this series victory may not have been possible.

Now about that. Series victory. OK, not just series victory. Road series victory. We haven't used those words in a positive manner since winning a pair of games in Oakland on May 19-20. Before that the Tigers only won two series: at Kansas City to open the season and at Texas in late April. So  three season victories on the road this year (and a few splits). Wow. That's pretty much awful.

The Tigers looked like they snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory after they blew a 5-1 lead. Fortunately they managed to score eight runs in the final three innings, and victimized U of Michigan product J.J. Putz for a second consecutive day. That makes me doubly happy.

Johnny Damon's triple and Brandon Inge's single in the eighth  put Detroit ahead when Jones flailed about in the outfield. The Tigers added another four runs in the ninth, including a home run by Jhonny Peralta. Apparently he only homers in pairs. The last time he went long in a game was July 30, when he hit two in his Tigers debut.

But of course, we have to look at a bit more negative. Armando Galarraga went from effectively mediocre to ineffectively mediocre in allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks. Despite a perfect game earlier this season, he just seems to lack any real belief in his stuff. And today, he got into a shoving confrontation with catcher Alex Avila. Just heat of the moment stuff they say. Really nothing to make a big deal out of, I agree.

Robbie Weinhardt continued his inconsistent existence, too. He allowed three runs, including a home run, in an inning. His ERA is now a sky-high 7.79. After a nice start, he seems to allow runs every other game in August. 

But hey, the Tigers beat the Sox in late innings two days in a row. With the division title realistically out of the question, that's probably the most fun thing you could ask for.

In other news:

• Jeff Frazier was optioned to Triple-A Toledo. Reliever Daniel Schlereth was called up. The main reason for that is that the bullpen seems to be getting worn out again, which is probably behind a few of their problems this weekend. With all the lefty bats in New York, Schlereth makes sense. As long as he has his command, anyway. Closer Jose Valverde had an ab strain and missed the weekend. 
• The Tigers didn't sign any of their first-year player draft picks over the weekend. Looks like the top picks will be announced on the final day. (If they sign, but it's pretty expected that they will.)
• Some non-Tigers updates for you. Wojo is now on twitter: @@bobwojnowski.
  
• A new Tigers blog is on the block: Where Have You Gone School Boy Rowe? On Twitter, they are @SBRTigers