Even Sean Casey is taller and more robust than say Brandon Inge or Polanco. Both of whom are well suited size wise for where they play. Throughout baseball history its always been the taller, larger specimens played first base. The times I watched Cabby at third he always looked like a fish out of water.

On the flip side, Guillen at third is not the best choice either. It actually makes me wonder. I think I'll do a little search after I post this and see how much time Renteria has spent at third.. Maybe then Skip will move Rent to third and put Carlos back at his real position of Short!

Finally a well needed break for the boys. If ever a team needed a rain out it was the Tigers. A chance to get away from the field and relax. Maybe get their heads straightened out with a little family time. It's not often they get 2 days off in a row. Maybe when they get to KC they can use the time to get their plate timing back on track. I am sure Cabby and Renteria both need a little time to get going again. Grandy too after such a hot start back..

That all I can think of for now.. I"M taking the time off for Mothers day!

I am not holding my breath that Sheff is starting to come out of his funk. I'll start believing it when he gets his average back above the .200 mark. The clock has to be ticking for him with management. I've stated several times that he hasn't hit with either power nor consistency since last years All Star game. And one 3 hit game and a bunch of walks does not mean consistent for what Sheff was brought in for. It's already had him removed from the 3 to the 6 hole in the batting order.

With Josh Beckett on for Boston tonight, it's going to take a repeat performance of last night to win this one.

Ramon Santiago. Why the heck is this guy NOT getting more at bats? Clutch hit off one of the better pitchers in the AL and he rides the pine more often than not. Seem like the bigger the game, the better he hits.

Closing this one out. I know its early but feel like there is nothing left to say about tonight. Becketts doing too damn good and the bats of the Tigers are too damn cold. So.. 90+ loss season is still on track for the 2nd highest paid team in the majors.

One thing I was actually not surprised at was the Tigers parting ways with Jaque Jones. If anyone read my rant from this morning, that was one of the moves I said the Tigers had to make and soon.

Ok.. so Grandy broke up the no hitter. And in the process kept my Beat the streak streak intact.. up to 2 games now!! LOL

Ah well 5-1 Sox in the top of 7.. writing this one off.. again.

The starting pitching can only be blamed for a short while. After that, the lack of offense and shoddy defense have to answer. What would I change? In the pitching staff, nothing. The position players..

 First, with all respect to his past accomplishments, Sheff must be let go. He hasn't hit with any power or consistency since before last years All Star break. You can only blame his shoulder issues for so long before you HAVE to start making a move for the rest of THIS season.
 Second, say bye bye to Mr. Hack Jones. He never impressed me when he played with the Twins and he sure isn't impressing me with a .180 average now. He was supposedly brought in to add some left handed pop. More like left handed fizz. Ramon Santiago has been more consistent with more pop than he has. Plus he's getting paid less! You want to add another left handed bat to the mix, recall Clete Thomas.

My defense would run like this:

Renteria SS
Inge 3b platooning with Santiago
Polanco 2b
Cabrera 1b
Thomas LF
Grandy CF
Maggs RF
Pudge C

Save Carlos Guillen's knees and make him the DH.
If they let Sheff and Jones go the last roster spot could be Dane Sarhdina as Pudges back up. Or, Mike Piazza is well rested I am sure! (thats a joke son!)

The pitching staff is another rant I'll save for later

Now this is just plain a$$ed ridiculous. Tigers build a 6-0 lead after 1, never manage another run and let the damn Twins back in it. I am so friggin pissed right now at how the Tigers have managed to boot away most of the damn season so far and Skip keeps saying they'll get better. When the heck is ot going to happen Skip? After the Friggin All Star break when we're 15 games out in the division? I'm going to stop here cuz I am actually afraid of pounding my keyboard so hard I'll break it.

Ok.. the Tigers slump has returned. Bad time for it too.. Damn I hate the Metrodome

Mr Galarraga not doing too good tonite. 3 runs already and only 3 hits; and none of the hits drove in any of the runs. Tigers on the other hand are pounding the ball and only have 1 run to show for it. That one run being Maggs homer in the 2nd. Thru 5 its 3-1 Twins. Tigers have left 7 on so far. Sorta like they did all thru the first 12 games. Will pick this game up later...

Going to keep this short, I am not holding my breath that Nate is on his game tonite. Would love to see the Tigers leave this old park with their first regular season sweep in 42 years. I might make a new entry after the game is over.

Beat the streak: A LOT of big number streaks ended today. I may actually start catching up here!!

Sheff is starting to hit. HARD line drive single in top of 6. Best looking drive I've seen from him in a couple weeks. Gotta love the every day line up for the Tigers.

The one thing I will concede here, these are NOT the best of the Yankees. How can it be when A-Rod and Posada are both on the DL? While we did see Pettite, we didn't see Wang this time around. Makes you wonder what that will be like..

I knew the Tigers were going to have to make a roster move this week for Cruceta coming up to the pen. I had expected that Rapada or someone else would be sent down. I wasn't expecting Jason Grilli to be traded to Colorado. Thats the beauty of this great sport. You can think you can predict what the team is going to do and then they turn around and surprise the heck out of you!

Bondo made it thru 7 with less than 85 pitches.. Will Skip let him come back for the 8th and possibly the 9th? I would LOVE to see a complete game. Ah well.. 7-2/3. Damn good job tonite Bondo!! Now that goes down as a Quality start!

The Tigers win their final series in old Yankee Stadium. Not bad!

What surprised me is Sheff actually got a hit. Will he finally get past his shoulder and start hitting regularly?

Jonesy being his usual cardiac self. But he got the job done. And its a win for Kenny!

Is it me or is Grandy actually more confident than he was last year? 2 for 3 with a homer and a double plus 2 walks and 3 runs scored tonite. Me thinks he's gonna get some SERIOUS voted for the All Star team this year. My 25 votes included!

This is really going to make things hard for Leyland and Dombrowski. When Dontrelle comes back, what will they do with Mr. G? Put him in the pen and send someone else down? Send him down? Maybe (real big IF here) send Bondo or Robertson or even Kenny Rogers, to the pen as the long relief? Mr G. to the pen as long relief?

Ok.. knew his luck couldn't hold for ever. Angels tied it up in top 7 Mr. Galarraga is out for the win. But Mr Lopez will pick him up after Sheff drives in a couple here in bottom 7. LOL! My bad.. he only drove in one with bouncer over the mound. Maggs comes thru!! double to left center. Wow Weird inning. Tigers score 3 on only 2 well hit balls. 2 walks and couple infield singles. Sent 8 to the dish.

I think it's safe to say that the Tigers are where they should have been the first week of the year. Bats are alive, Pitching is coming around, defense as good as ever. THESE are the Tigers we were all hoping to see. The one thing thats different than expected; its the starters having trouble NOT the bullpen. Thank Gawd!

Pitchers duel. Who's going to win? The guy who walks the least. Bondo has 6 k's thru 4 but the pitch count is up there. Already above 80 in the 4th.

Inconsistency is KILLING me! Bondo has lost any semblence of consistent locations. What is it? Wish I had access to Tigers videos from his earlier years and today. See if it's mechanical or all mental.

Tigers offense is definitely back 5 HRs in this game... so far!

I knew it call: The Big Hurt signed with Oakland. Look for a serious jump start in their offense here soon!

Okay folks. Tigers win 8-2 with 5 hr's in the game. Was this a real test of the Tigers? I'd say no. Rangers pitching just gave up WAY too many walks. It made the Tigers feel better and let them regain some confidence and their strokes. But the real test will be in 2 weeks when for 7 games they face Boston and the Yankees at home. Gawd I'd love to make one of those games!

Bonderman: ESPN baseball tonite the other night after Smoltz got his 3000th strikeout asked what young pitchers stand the chance of reaching that level in their careers. One name that did NOT pop up was Bondo. He's only 25 with 5 full seasons plus and he already has 778 k's. Why oh overpaid weenies of ESPN baseball did you over look him?

Cabrera: This kid scares me. Of his 5 homers so far not one has he truly gotten under with full power. I watched his BP here in Houston at the last Spring training game; One of his shots Hit the windows or the Citgo sign in left center ABOVE the second deck of Minute Maid park. He ever gets hold of one in a game? Wow.

Justin made it thru 6 with 110 pitches. Time for the bullpen to do their job!

Bullpen done their job thru 8. Jonesy's turn in the 9th. Just hope the boys can add a little insult to injury tomorrow night.

Insert: Tigers just padded their lead with 3 runs on 1 hit in the bottom of 8. Littleton of the Rangers could not even find the strike zone. Walked 2, hit 1, 2 fielders choices. Adding new definitions to UGLY wins. But a W is a W!

I need to check my Beat the Streak for tomorrow night. I had Renteria tonite. 4 for 4! Sometimes you're good, sometimes you're lucky; Gimme luck any day of the week.

Why I like Jason Grilli: My son and I went to the last spring training game against the Astros down here in Houston. During BP Jason was shagging flies in right right in front of us. There was a Mom and Dad with their little 3 yr old son there. One hit the wall right in front of us and rolled under Jasons feet. He picked it up, and found the little guy and his parents and handed the ball to the little guy. Nice gesture