Who DIDN'T See That Coming?

This game smelled like trouble before it even started. I can’t give a tremendous amount of insight, as I was only able to listen to the first hour on the radio (I had to go to lab right after the Miguel Olivo 3-run homer), part of the postgame show on the radio, and later I saw bits of the sixth inning when FSN re-aired the game. Edwin Jackson’s had trouble with the home-run ball recently (although walks are not the problem they were last year and in his career in general). If you have to take something positive away from it, it’s that it looked like he dispatched the Royals fairly efficiently after that. Unfortunately, the part of the sixth inning that I saw was the Josh Anderson 3-run homer (Really? You’d expect Porcello to be the one to give up home runs to HIM) and the walk that followed. I really wish that didn’t happen. Armando Galarraga said afterwards that his elbow felt fine. I hope he was lying, cuz I saw those bad different-looking pitches again. The offense didn’t do anything against Greinke, but you pretty much knew that would be the case.

I know you’re probably not in the mood for it, but on a lighter note, since the Tigers left Detroit for Minneapolis immediately after the game yesterday to begin the final road trip, that meant that it was time for the annual rookie hazing ritual of making them wear dumb outfits (mostly women’s Halloween costumes). I’ve only read one mention of it so far. Apparently, this year’s batch of costumes included two Teletubbies outfits, a Scooby Doo costume, and a bunch of dresses. The only player I’ve gotten the details on is Rick Porcello, who ended up having to wear a purple flapper costume (This sounds wrong, but something tells me he’d look good in it). And this is pure speculation, but my gut’s telling me that Alex Avila ended up with the Scooby Doo costume. I could be wrong, though. The other thing that was significant about this game is that Carlos Guillen batted right-handed for the first time since coming off the DL. And something about looking at him batting right-handed and wearing the high socks just made me laugh. I don’t know why. It was just highly amusing. Now, I took a look at him batting left-handed earlier in the game, and I had no reaction to it, so it’s only when he’s batting right-handed. But the logos have gotta go. Logos are bad.

Oh, by the way, Detroit still has SEVEN games left with Minnesota. And three of them begin tonight at that hellhole known as the Metrodome. The Tigers have only won one game there this year (and that one took 16 innings). However, even if they get swept, they will escape Minneapolis in first place, albeit by just one game. But one thing that’s discouraging is how bad the pitching was on the homestand, and that’s discouraging because the pitching has not been good at all against Minnesota at any point this year (Seay, Galarraga, and Miner in particular have had a tough time of it), and the defense has been pretty bad as well (although overall the defense has been good in recent games). Rick Porcello has been one of the more reliable pitchers of late, with the exception of a start against Kansas City. He’s faced Minnesota twice this year. He shut them out at Comerica Park, but struggled at the Metrodome. He’ll be opposed by lefty Brian Duensing, who has done a tremendous job for the Twins since joining their rotation. He’s handcuffed better offenses than the Tigers, I’ll tell you that. The Twins will be without Justin Morneau, who is out for the rest of the year with a stress fracture in his back. However, since making that announcement, the Twins are riding a four-game winning streak (Michael Cuddyer has picked up the slack). Your Mood Music for tonight: Alas, I will never get that Metrodome slide show done in time, so you’ll have to settle for the music I would have used for it.