I remember a time going into New Comiskey (whatever they're calling it these days doesn't matter) spelled disaster for the Tigers.
Actually that was probably last year. But I have a short memory.
It looked like the trend might continue until the seventh inning when the Bad News Bears took the field for Chicago and Detroit put six runs on the board in pretty quick succession.
That led to the only stat that matters tonight: The Tigers beat the White Sox for the 1,000th time in history.
Of course the White Sox have 999 wins in that series. But it's important to get to the fourth digit first. And on Hawk Harrelson Night none-the-less.
No, but seriously it was very nice of the White Sox fans to give Armando Galarraga a standing ovation when he took the mound in the first inning for his first start since the (near) perfection of last Wednesday.
After getting 28 outs in 28 attempts that time without allowing a base runner ... the drama was over fast against Chicago when the leadoff hitter got a hit. Galarraga finished the night having allowed seven hits, two walks and two runs in five innings.
Meanwhile the Tigers' offense, with Magglio Ordonez a late scratch due to a sore oblique, struggled. Never fear: Starting in his place Ryan Raburn had two hits, two runs and an RBI double. A White Sox error led to Raburn moving to third base and a second run scoring for the 3-2 lead.
Adding some excitement, Brennan Boesch and Carlos Guillen had back-to-back home runs a couple of at-bats later. And the rout was on.
Finally, some other notes:
- At the top of the lineup, Austin Jackson went 0-for-5 again, falling to just one hit in his last 21 at-bats. And it was 2-1 after the game hit the two-thirds mark.
- Starting at shortstop now that Adam Everett has been officially designated for assignment, Ramon Santiago had two hits.
- Jose Valverde's ERA is ... 0.37. Zero. Point. Three. Seven. That strikes me as low.