Rick Porcello dropped the appeal of his five-game suspension. Factoring into the decision was Armando Galarraga's scratched start last night. Galarraga will now pitch in Porcello's original turn on Sunday, and Kid Rick's next start will be Tuesday night vs. Seattle.
So should we all thank Ken Griffey, Jr. for helping the Tigers maintain their two-game lead over the White Sox in the AL Central? You can do so personally next week, when the Mariners return to Detroit. Griffey's single off Tony Pena in the 14th inning drove home the game-winning (and only) run.
Okay, seriously - who in the Tigers' organization ticked off Lynn Henning? He's been cranky all season, and the second-to-last paragraph of this blog post is his latest example of fist-shaking. Maybe it's Jim Leyland who put out a cigarette in Henning's coffee (figuratively speaking), judging from what's written here.
That's not to say Henning doesn't bring up a good point in asking what really happened on Porcello's pitch to Kevin Youkilis on Tuesday night. But expecting Leyland to potentially call out his rookie pitcher is a bit much. (What ultimately surprises me is that Henning didn't somehow manage to add this to his argument that the Tigers should release Magglio Ordonez.)
Mark your calendars: One week from tomorrow, Joel Zumaya will undergo shoulder surgery. The procedure will take place in Florida, and be performed by one Dr. James Andrews ("the most valuable player in sports").
Jayson Stark has some interesting trivia surrounding the 100th career home run that Marcus Thames hit last weekend. Thames reached that milestone in fewer games than many of baseball's all-time sluggers. However, to join them in home run immortality, he'd have to play a long time. A very long time.
If you missed it yesterday, the Milwaukee Brewers released Bill Hall. (Just over a week ago, some blogger was suggesting the Tigers should try to pick him up.)
Any need for Hall might not be quite as great now, as Brandon Inge seems to be dealing with his knee injury better. And another right-handed hitting outfielder would probably just complicate matters at this point. But we're just saying: he's out there and will probably be cheap.
Wouldn't it be funny if the Tigers were one of the teams that put in a waiver claim on Gary Sheffield? It's a moot point, however, as the Mets pulled Sheff back off waivers, negating any possible trade.