Ugly

I usually have something positive to say about every game but there is not much you can say about a 13-2 loss. The Tigers were awful tonight. Poor pitching (by their Ace Justin Verlander no less), poor hitting including five double plays, horrible fielding especially by Carlos Guillen. They are now 0-6.

I'm less concerned about the record than I am about the fact that they are just awful in every phase of the game right now. I'm still very confident that this team is going to score a lot of runs this year but other than that I'm not sure what to expect. The pitching is filled with question marks and their infield defense looks much worse this year with the immobile Miguel Cabrera at third and Guillen struggling at first. Even Edgar Renteria, while an improvement over Guillen, is showing his lack of range at shortstop.

The only positive piece of news tonight is that Curtis Granderson's X-rays looked good and that he can begin swinging a bat and doing everything else necessary to get ready to play games. Dave Dombrowski said On the ESPN broadcast tonight that he is hopeful that Curtis can return in about 10 days.

In other health news, Placido Polanco did not play tonight because of a stiff back. Ramon Santiago played in his place and went 2 for 3 with an RBI. Polanco's injury is not believed to be serious and may have been available for pinch hitting tonight if the situation had called for it. Also, Gary Sheffield returned to the line-up tonight and went 1 for 3 with a walk.