Yes, the Detroit Tigers lost to the Boston Red Sox. Rick Porcello lost for the first time in his last six starts, not even making it through the fifth inning as he struggled with his breaking pitches. (In particular, he hung a slider to Jason Bay that was blasted over the Detroit bullpen for a two-run homer.) Ryan Perry added his worst outing of the season, giving up two runs and three walks (the final one with the bases loaded. And the Tigers lineup let Daisuke Matsuzaka off the hook by failing to drive runners in from scoring position in the second and fifth innings.
But really, the story of the game was between the second and third innings. And if you watched the game on TV, you know what we're talking about. The squirrel. A little furry guy ran onto the field, and provided most of the evening's entertainment for the home crowd, eluding groundskeepers as he dashed along the warning track, and then into the outfield. Actually, Jason Beck's description on Twitter was much better:
Squirrel went from RF into LF, down behind 3B, into double play depth at 2B, back to RF, now to CF again.
Red Sox beat writers Amalie Benjamin and Ian Browne also provided some enjoyable commentary, if you're interested. (Meanwhile, the Freep's John Lowe completely ignored the hijinks and hilarity. It's all baseball with him.)
Like any of us might after a long run, the squirrel eventually decided to lie down and rest in a choice spot among the shrubbery in centerfield. And oh, yes - we have a picture. (If I was going to accomplish one thing tonight, this was going to be it.)
If the Red Sox can put seats atop the Green Monster at Fenway Park, I think the Tigers might want to look into some loungers in centerfield. What a vantage point! And probably quite cool, underneath the fountains. The squirrel certainly made it look comfortable. I know I was envious from my armchair.
And yes, we should probably consider that the Tigers might have blown their best chance to win a game in this series tonight. Armando Galarraga and Dontrelle Willis haven't exactly inspired confidence lately. But if the squirrel comes back to run around the field, maybe it won't seem so bad. At the very least, we should follow the example he set for us this evening. Get it all out of your system, then just kick back in a cool place and watch some baseball.
We leave you with a post-game quote from Boston's Dustin Pedroia, courtesy of Ms. Benjamin:
"Our hunting guys on our team, they were licking their chops."
How dare you, Pedroia? That squirrel is like the high, inside fastball to you, pal. You can't handle it. Try, and we'll take you down worse than Kevin Butler, Director of Game Accuracy did in that MLB '09 commercial.