A series win for the Detroit Tigers? On a Sunday? On the road? Against the Minnesota Twins? In the Metrodome? This calls for a celebration! If only there were a song written that truly captured that feeling. Hey, wait a minute...
You know, that almost sounds fresh, here on the blog, as opposed to a stadium. Or a wedding. Doesn't it? Or is that just me? Stay with me now. The Tigers gave Detroit more than its "professional" football team did today. How fast did the Lions ruin your early afternoon?
For the second straight game, the Tigers brought their big boi bats to the ballpark. (Not to discount what Marcus Thames did on Friday, of course. And he added two crucial RBIs today. Country Strong!) After wowing observers and teammates with his titanic batting practice shot to the Charlie Gehringer statue in left-center field on Tuesday, Dusty Ryan made a quick impression in his first major league start with a two-run homer in the second inning. Later, Miguel Cabrera continued his late-season surge with a home run of his own. Magglio Ordonez also added his second homer in as many days.
All that offense was enough to give Chris Lambert his first major league win. Lambert was hardly great, allowing four runs (three earned) in five innings, but he was sufficient - especially with the run support his lineup gave him. Hanging tough until the bullpen took over might be enough to keep him in the Tigers' starting rotation. We'll see about that.
Thanks to a White Sox loss today, the Twins remain 2 1/2 games behind for the AL Central lead. Playing the role of spoiler is something no one envisioned for the Tigers this season. And it's a bittersweet consolation, at best. Winning games once the end of the season is all but a formality only reminds us of what should've been. But finishing with a record above .500 is still an attainable goal. Maybe that's just enough motivation for this team to show some pride.