Be Careful What You Wish For

Sigh. BOYS.

During the latter part of Monday night’s game, folks over at Bless You Boys were expressing their desire to see the benches clear (we hadn’t had one since the Sheffield-Carmona brawl last year). Well, they got one, and it probably screwed the Tigers royally. All the fireworks were pretty much over with by the time I got home (by the way, our lone Tiger fan pharmacist is being transferred to another store, so the odds of me getting on GameCast at work from now on are very, very slim). I did watch the re-airing on FS Detroit, right up until after the brawl. Hopefully Cabrera’s okay and will only miss a game or two at the most (especially since I’m going to the game on Saturday and I want to see him…he hit two home runs the last time I was at a game). Now, whether or not Porcello intentionally hit Youkilis or not is up for debate. He says it wasn’t intentional, but you’re not gonna say it was (something that does lend suspicion is that it was only Porcello’s second hit batter of the season, though I do find it amusing that both times, he hit Youkilis). I hope it wasn’t, because intentionally hitting someone to lead off the second inning with your team up 3-0 is not a smart thing to do, especially since the previous night’s starting pitcher only lasted four innings and the following night’s scheduled starter is sick as a dog (more on that later). If you’re gonna do that, it’d be a much better idea to do it in the sixth or seventh inning when you’re about ready to come out of the game anyways. At any rate, while the blogosphere cheered on Porcello’s takedown of Youkilis, it totally screwed up any chance the Tigers had at winning. First of all, it forced Chris Lambert into the game. Lambert has a real good ERA at Toledo, but whatever it is that’s working down here apparently does not work in the big leagues. Second, Mike Lowell took Youkilis’s spot in the lineup and made the Tigers pay. Meanwhile, after scoring three runs in the first inning, the Tigers really didn’t do anything else until the ninth, when Avila doubled and Granderson homered, but by then it was too late (and there were some really funky strike/checked swing calls there in the ninth inning; I guess the umpires just wanted to go home).

Okay, so when I got home last night, I obviously knew that Edwin Jackson had only pitched four innings on Monday, and I found out on the radio that Porcello had been ejected, so I knew that the bullpen was not in good shape at all. I did not find out about Galarraga until the rain delay. It was already shaping up to be a long night, with Galarraga coming off two shaky outings (though he did win his last one) and going up against a team that would probably give him problems even if he was in his April form (by the way, I am not the only one who suspects that he may be injured). Now he has the flu. There were serious doubts that he would even be able to start, but as of an hour ago, he was still the scheduled starter. Hopefully, if nothing else, this flu will buy him another start, as it would be somewhat unfair to bash his pitching while sick. Meanwhile, the Tigers will be up against Josh Beckett, the guy who had a no-hitter for 6 2/3 innings against them at Comerica Park. Yeah, good luck with that. Your Mood Music for tonight: Considering it’s Galarraga and all the turmoil he’s had, I selected Styx’s “Crystal Ball.”