The many different ways in which the Detroit Tigers continue to lose games has become terribly vexing.  Tonight, it looked to be working in the road team's favor, as the Tigers got to Zack Greinke early and made him throw enough pitches (100) that he had to leave after six innings.  Meanwhile, Nate Robertson gave up 10 hits in seven innings, but only allowed two runs, making this his best start of the season.

And any night in which Billy Butler, normally a sweet-swinging Tiger Killer, goes 0-for-3 has to be considered a success for the Detroit pitching staff. 

So how did they lose this game?

For one thing, the Tigers didn't capitalize when Greinke gave the ball to his bullpen.  Ramon Ramirez, Leo Nunez, and Joakim Soria didn't allow a hit, let alone a run, in the remaining three innings of the game.  The only scoring threat Detroit posed was when Ramirez threw consecutive walks to Miguel Cabrera and Gary Sheffield, putting a runner on second base.  But neither Matt Joyce nor Edgar Renteria could bring the runner home.

And since I just mentioned him, let's talk about Renteria because he made the bonehead play that ultimately gave the game to the Royals.  In the bottom of the eighth, Mark Teahen hit a ball up the middle that looked like a base hit, but Renteria made a great play in snagging it behind second base to prevent a run from scoring.  Unfortunately, the Tigers' shortstop then did the baseball equivalent of going for a 360-degree dunk in a tied ballgame when a simple lay-up would've given his team the lead. 

Renteria tried to get a force out at second by attempting a no-look, backhand flip to Placido Polanco, who not only wasn't expecting a throw, but was also moving in the opposite direction.  The ball dribbled back toward the pitching mound, allowing Esteban German to score the go-ahead run. 

The Tigers literally threw a game - one they had every chance of winning - away.  Just when you think this team has lost in every conceivable manner, they invent frustratingly, painfully new.  (By the way, Curtis Granderson ended the night with another 0-for-5.  He's gone 1-for-21 over his last five games.)  And once again, they're seven games under .500, which was supposed to be rock bottom.

Jets vs. Sharks.  Capulets vs. Montagues.  Spartans vs. Persians.  Warriors vs. Riffs.  Batman vs. The Joker.  Burgundy vs. Mantooth.  These are but a handful of legendary feuds we have witnessed in history and mythology over the centuries.  Two sides that just plain don't like each other.  Now, thanks to ESPN The Magazine, we know of another clash to add to these fabled conflicts: Edgar Renteria vs. Orlando Cabrera.

"I won't accept dealing with him.  I think he's disrespected so many baseball people in Colombia who have been working to improve the sport.  And that's not something I can accept, even with an apology from him."

And you thought the Detroit Tigers-Chicago White Sox rivalry was already interesting (albeit rather one-sided lately).  Geography and different leagues have kept Renteria and Cabrera apart for 10 years, but now they're not only some 280 miles away from each other, they're in the same division, opposed face-to-face for 18 games a season.  What is the central point of their conflict?  It's mostly over business and rival baseball academies that each player has tried to establish in their home country.  But it's also much more complicated than that.

Jorge Arangure, Jr. (whose work as the Orioles' beat writer for the Washington Post I often enjoyed) found himself a story of class warfare, of paranoia and mistrust that develops over years in particular environments, of a culture whose etiquette we might not understand in the United States.  In my opinion, Cabrera comes off as the more sympathetic figure in the feature, as someone who's grown up with a perhaps justifiable chip on his shoulder.  But that might be a result of Cabrera giving more access to Arangure.  Besides, I should let you make your own judgments after reading what's a pretty fascinating story.

In my handful of years in sports blogging, there have been a few times when I've joked about a big win (especially one that ends a losing streak) making food taste better, the sun shine brighter, and filling me with enough inspiration to just kiss any woman I encounter on the street.  There will hopefully be much bigger and more special wins this season for the Detroit Tigers.  But I'm not sure any of them will bring the relief, the great exhale, that tonight's 7-2 win over the Red Sox did.  And I don't think you can argue that this one wasn't important. 

No more worries about this streak reaching double digits.  No more wondering if I have to start doing some research on the 1988 Baltimore Orioles.  No more derisive chuckles and e-mails.  Even my mother asked me yesterday, "What do you write about the Tigers when they keep losing?"  Enough of that stuff.  

For the first time in eight games, watching baseball was fun if you're a Tigers fan.  This is the team that we all signed on to watch.  Big hits, and lots of 'em.  Especially in the fourth inning.  Edgar Renteria (who went 3-for-4 on the night) drove in two runs with a double, tying the game and making it look like the Tigers were going to put up a fight.  And then the next batter, Marcus Thames, swung his big boi bat and gave Detroit what felt like the first lead it's had this season with a two-run homer over the Green Monster.  Brandon Inge blew the game open with a single that brought in two more runs.  And Carlos Guillen made sure no grand slam would tie this game when he hit a solo home run in the ninth.

Perhaps more impressive, however, was the pitching.  Jeremy Bonderman toughed out five innings, giving up only one earned run.  And if we're going to dump on the bullpen when it's terrible - and oh, has it been terrible - we have to praise the relievers when they do their job and do it well.  Four innings of scoreless baseball.  Bobby Seay and Francis Beltran protected a two-run lead in the sixth and seventh innings.  Denny Bautista faced the heart of the Red Sox order (though Sean Casey subbed for the injured Mike Lowell) and sent 'em back to the dugout.  And Todd Jones... well, he loaded the bases in the ninth, but didn't that bring a sense of normalcy back to the type of Detroit Tigers baseball we've grown accustomed to seeing?

Yes, this now leaves your Detroit Tigers at 1-7 for the season.  And every other team in the majors has at least two wins.  But as Zack de la Rocha whispered at the end of "Guerilla Radio": It has to start somewhere.  It has to start sometime.  What better place than here?  What better time than now?

Wait a minute.  Was this supposed to happen?  0 and 2?  Yes, it's only two games.  No panic in Detroit.  That would be silly.  But it is, shall we say, a bit of a concern that this Superfriends lineup hasn't really flexed its muscles yet.

A big reason for that is surely the two pitchers the Tigers have faced in these firest two games..  Gil Meche and Brian Bannister are going to make a lot of batting orders look bad this year and should keep the Royals competitive throughout the season.  But could today's game been the first example of what Don Mattingly warned Jim Leyland about in the offseason?

With so many gifted hitters, Leyland recalls Mattingly explaining, can come a tendency from players to believe that if they don't drive in the run or reach base to put someone in position to score them, the star hitter behind them will do it.

Maybe that's exactly what we saw today.  As the game wore on, with that zero still on the scoreboard, each hitter in the lineup began to press.  Who's going to get on base?  Who's going to get a hit?  And the Royals' pitching staff capitalized on that anxiety.

Other Players Are Allowed to Get Hits, Too:

The box score from today's game might make you want to rub your eyes before taking another look at it.  But you didn't see things.  Only one Tigers batter got a hit today.  All three hits were by leadoff batter Edgar Renteria.  Everyone else had a donut in the hit column today.  Renteria got on base like you'd prefer your leadoff hitter to do (though like all of the Tigers' hitters, he didn't work Bannister nearly hard enough), setting the table for the lineup's big bats, but no one could move him along, let alone drive him in. 

Feel Free to Take a Pitch, Fellas:

Rod Allen said during the FSN Detroit broadcast that both teams were swinging like it was getaway day.  Maybe both lineups knew each pitcher likes to work fast and throw strikes (hat tip to Billfer) right away, so they had to jump on the hittable stuff early in the count.  But the Royals eventually settled down after the first three innings, while the Tigers stayed aggressive impulsive.  Bannister threw just 85 pitches in seven innings and didn't walk anyone.

Who Has What Role in the Bullpen?

Leyland's use of his relievers in the first two games has me kind of baffled.  In Monday's opener, he brings in Jason Grilli - the presumed "long man" of the bullpen - into a tied ballgame with runners on first and third.  If Zach Miner or Denny Bautista are your set-up guys, why not bring one of them in?  Isn't that why you have them in those roles?  (Especially Bautista, who seems to be the one guy with swing-and-miss stuff.) 

Then today, with the Tigers down 2-0 in the 7th, Leyland brings in Miner.  Well, you say, he brought in his best guy to try and make sure the Royals didn't score any more runs.  Okay, I agree with that.  Plus, Miner needed to get some work in.  But why leave him in for two innings?  Did Leyland figure Miner was pitching well (he only threw nine pitches in the 7th) and wanted him to face the top hitters in the Royals' lineup? 

I'm completely speculating here, and shouldn't really pretend that I understand how a pitcher's mind works, but it seems to me that if you tell Miner during Spring Training that he's going to be a one-inning set-up man and train him for that expressed role, that's exactly what he's conditioned himself to do.  So if Miner figures he's done his job in his one inning of work, and then you ask him to go back out there the next inning, maybe that messes him up a bit.  Anyone else have thoughts on the matter?  Do I have any idea what I'm talking about?