am...sad...now

Poor lil Justin.  I could see the frustration in the way he was crushing his Gatorade cups and throwing them down in the dugout.  He strikes out a career high 13 batters, is out there on the hill twirling a gem, and gets a no decision out of it, and the team takes a loss.

After last night's kick in the cornflakes, who'da thought it could get worse?  Well it did.  We got swept at the Metro-dump.  That smarts, people.  With two good chances to win, we come away with nil, and reduce our road trip to a losing effort 3 and 4.

If someone were forcing me to come up with a couple positives, they would be this:

We got to see a spectacular eruption by Jim Leyland after home plate umpire Paul Schrieber puts his hand on Magglio Ordóñez' back in attempt to usher him back to the dugout after a disputed called third strike.  Leyland was totally gonzo.   That was great.  Number one, it was just fun to watch.  Number two, I like to see a manager stick up for his player like that.  Even if Leyland totally backed off today and said he hopes Schrieber doesn't get fined or suspended.  I'm fine with all that.  It's clear Schreiber was trying to avoid having to toss Magglio, but he shouldn't have put his hand on him.  That's because a player would be suspended for such conduct, and a huge deal would have been made about a player making contact with an umpire.   Turnabout is fair play, you know.  It's understandable that Ordóñez and Leyland were a wee bit upset last night when it first happened, because it's clear they were thinking about how it would have gone down if Magglio had initiated contact.

Also, I do believe we came just shy of seeing a position player pitching for the Tigers.   We all know that would have been Brandon Inge.  He's first in line for that job.  I, for one, am always tickled when a position player pitches.  I want to see every pitch.  I know a lot of guys pitched in college and whatnot, but when you haven't done it in a while, and you're just thrown out there cold, it's compelling drama, you know?

But, all in all, a very traumatizing little junket into Twinkie-land.  So happy the boys are coming home now.  Lick your wounds, and get ready to put a whupping on Oakland.