Tigers Blank White Sox, Reach 81 Wins

How many of you were hoping, at the beginning of the season, that the Tigers would just reach .500 for the first time since you were married, or for the first time since you were in high school or maybe for the first time since you were a Tiger fan? Well they made it. Kenny Rogers and Fernando Rodney combined to shut out the White Sox 4-0 guaranteeing the Tigers their first .500 or better season since 1993. And there are still 5 1/2 weeks to go.

The big hitter for the Tigers was Marcus Thames who tripled, hit his 22nd homer of the year and drove in 3 runs. Defensively, the Tigers were sloppy as Rogers, Brandon Inge and Magglio Ordonez made errors among other various misplays on the night. The pitchers worked through it though and the Tigers had their Major League leading 14th shutout of the season.

The Twins also lost tonight 6-3 to the Orioles so the Tigers gained some more breathing room in the AL Central:

AL Central Division Standings

	W	L	PCT	GB
Detroit	81	45	.643	-----
Chicago	73	52	.584	7 1/2
Minnesota	72	52	.581	8
Cleveland	56	68	.452	24
Kansas City	46	81	.362	35 1/2