… [He] played all last season with a bone spur in his right elbow, about the size of a piece of pea gravel.

– snip –

Renteria hit a career-low .250 with 19 doubles, five home runs and 48 RBIs in 124 games before the Giants turned to hot-hitting Juan Uribe as they fought for a playoff berth down the stretch. It was the fewest homers for Renteria since 1998 and resulted in a season that he called simply “embarrassing.”

… don’t you wonder how he would characterize his 2008 season with the Tigers?

In case he comes up short, here are a few suggestions: slothful, unprofessional, disrespectful, arrogant, dreadful.

Any I missed?

• So where were you two years ago today? You were probably glued to ESPN or the Web reading all you could about the eight-player deal that brought Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to Detroit. Time flies. (And just a year ago today Edgar Renteria spared Tigers fans a second season of his mediocrity by signing with the Giants.)
• I’ll miss Placido Polanco more than I’ll potentially miss Curtis Granderson but I still don’t want the Tigers to deal him – or Edwin Jackson. (For what it’s worth, I own the bobblehead shown here. Guess I’ll have to store it alongside my Pudge bobblehead.)

• On Dec. 4, 1952 the Tigers traded Virgil Trucks, who tossed two no-hitters during the year, along with P Hal White and outfielder Johnny Groth, to the Browns in exchange for second baseman Owen Friend, outfielder Bob Nieman, and outfielder/ catcher J.W. Porter. How could they trade a pitcher good enough to throw a pair of no-no’s? Easily it turns out. Apart from his no-hitters, Trucks won only three other games that year — against 19 defeats. Somehow he kept his ERA below four (3.97).
• On this date in 1976, Aurelio Rodriguez became the first American League third baseman since 1959 to beat out Brooks Robinson for the Gold Glove Award.
• Yesterday you might have seen him on C-SPAN railing on Fed chief Ben Bernanke, but on this date in 1963 you would’ve seen Jim Bunning pack his bags as the Tigers traded him to the Phillies for catcher Gus Triandos, pitcher Jack Hamilton and outfielder Don Demeter.
• About a year late, MLB Network will be broadcasting from the Winter Meetings next week in Indianapolis. (Why they didn’t launch the network at last year’s meetings is still a mystery. No, go ahead and launch on January 1. Nothing else is on TV that day…) Anyway, here’s a preview of the network’s “Hot Stove at the Winter Meetings” program. And be sure to weigh in on the latest Fungo Pulse Check poll in the sidebar –>
• Here’s a question: When are we going to find out which member of the White Sox was in the bar with Cabrera during that dreadful last weekend of the year?
• Speaking of a year too late, I’m glad that Chip Caray will no longer be allowed to butcher baseball games for TBS. However, if you are a glutton for punishment you can relive Game 163 from the Metrodome by purchasing it for $1.99 on iTunes.

We’ll be back with more on the Winter Meetings next week. In the meantime, have a great weekend.

Celebrate Nate! I might be the only person in the Tigers Fan Universe looking forward to Robertson’s return to the rotation. Ian?

Today’s Walewanders are fueled by Almighty Blend coffee from Ann Arbor’s Mighty Good Coffee Roasting Co., sent along by the aforementioned Mr. Casselberry.

• Confession: When the Tigers lose, I don’t read the game stories, I don’t listen to The Baseball Today podcast, I don’t seek out game highlights. Frees up a lot of time and I recommend it.
• Today’s game marks the last time the Tigers face the Angels in the regular season. That means you’ll have to wait until next year to hear Rod Allen gush over Torii Hunter.
• While we wait for Aubrey Huff’s bat to arrive from Baltimore, let’s review the performance of Tigers players that have worn #19 this decade:
  • 2009: Huff, .083, one RBI
  • 2008-09: Jeff Larish, .242, 6 HR, 23 RBI
  • 2005: Exavier Prente Nook Logan, .264, 31 stolen bases
  • 2003-04: Alex Sanchez .304, 63 stolen bases
  • 2002: Worn by hitting coach (and Flint native) Merv Rettenmund
  • 2001: Roger Cedeno, .293, 11 triples, 55 stolen bases
  • 2000: Juan Gonzalez, .289, 22 HR, 67 RBI.
• Brandon Inge’s tattoos. Methinks he’ll regret that decision when he’s 65. If not sooner.
• I don’t care that Ramon Santiago and Adam Everett are hitting a combined .247. Give me their defense and occasional base hit (or homer, as Everett showed today) over Edgar Renteria.
• Two homers in Oakland or not, I don’t want to see Ryan Raburn batting third ever again. Ever.
• Enough of the Magglio Ordonez bashing already. The Tigers had to overpay players to come to Detroit in 2004 and ‘05 and this is the (steep) cost of doing business. Live and learn. Though, the overpaying of Dontrelle Willis makes one believe the “learn” part of the equation needs more attention.
• Speaking of The Baseball Today, on this morning’s episode, host Eric Karabell says he can’t see the Tigers beating the Yankees or Angels in first-round series. It’s beginning to sound a lot like 2006…
• Marcus Thames isn’t on the 2010 Tigers, is he?
• As for the postseason, I’m dreaming of a Tigers/Rockies World Series – my two favorite teams, baby. Well, Tigers/Dodgers would be sweet, too. In fact, even sweeter. Never mind.
• The Porcello/Youkilis Summit seems like a distant memory and for that we should all be thankful. Here are the results of our recent Fungo Pulse Check poll in which readers ranked the brawls. The question: Tale of the Tape: Which Tigers Brawl Ranks as Your Most Memorable?
  • 1982: Dave Rozema’s Kung-Foolery (37%, 10 Votes)
  • 2000: Sixteen Ejected at Comiskey (37%, 10 Votes)
  • 1980: Al Cowens’ Payback to Ed Farmer (19%, 5 Votes)
  • 2009: Porcello v. Youkilis (7%, 2 Votes)

  Reader Ed reminded me in the comments here about the fight in Kansas City (was it 2001?) in which Jeff Weaver plunked Mike Sweeney. That’s when we all realized how much Weav’s teammates loved him…very little.

Finally, Happy 45th Birthday to Chad Kreuter — who also wore #19 (and hit .263 for Detroit from 1992 through ‘94).

Any takers?

We know how that worked out.

In 2007, Edgar Renteria hit .332 with 12 homers and a .390 on-base percentage. The most glaring part of the Failed Renteria Experiment was his .977 fielding percentage; but that tells only half the story. His fielding percentage was virtually .000 on balls he should’ve had. He and Miguel Cabrera and then Carlos Guillen helped give the Tigers one of the most ineffective left-sides of the infield in the majors.

If not for a strong second-half of the year, Renteria would’ve finished nearly 80 points below his ‘07 average. (He batted .254 before the All Star Game, .296 after.)

Now he’s the Giants problem — maybe for two years. For Tigers fans, it only felt like two years that Renteria played in Detroit.

Discuss.

The trade route could yield Jack Wilson from Pittsburgh, who has to be better than Renteria defensively. But who would he cost the Tigers? At least a mid-level pitching prospect, most likely.

There are some interesting free agent shortstops out there. Rafael Furcal is probably out of the Tigers’ price range. It’d be a hoot to bring in Renteria’s nemesis, Orlando Cabrera, but his range is comparable to Renteria’s and he’s a Type A who’s been offered arbitration, so he’d cost a draft pick.

I’d like to submit a suggestion: Nick Punto. He’s relatively young (31), which gives him an edge over 3/4 of the FA shortstops out there. He’s versatile, having played 3B and 2B for the Twins, as well as SS. He won’t hit a ton, but he’s a solid fielder with good range, and he has played the past five seasons in a Minnesota system that stresses fundamentals and doing the “little things” that win ballgames. And let’s face it, there isn’t enough of that in the Tigers’ current lineup. And whenever Minnesota has one of those maddening water-torture rallies to beat the Tigers, Punto seems to be right in the middle of it.

They could do worse, and have before.

Schatzeder, who turns 54 today, pitched for the Tigers in 1980 and '81.

• On this date in 1961, the Tigers made the only Dec. 1-trade in their history by trading righthanders Bob Bruce and Manny Montejo to the Houston Colt .45s for righty “Toothpick” Sam Jones. (Baseball-Reference.com claims that on Dec. 1, 1955, the Tigers brought back pitcher Virgil Trucks in a trade with the White Sox for third baseman Bubba Phillips. But the Tigers media guide has the trade taking place on Nov. 30. A tie goes to the team media guide.) Something else you likely didn’t know: This was the only trade between the Tigers and the Colt .45s. Now, the Tigers and the Astros, that’s another tale altogether.
• With the Baseball Winter Meetings just around the bend, Tigers fans can expect (hope?) for some trade or free-agent activity to come out of Las Vegas. In a recent Daily Fungo Pulse Check, 80 readers responded to the question: If the Tigers could address only ONE position this offseason, which would you choose? Here’s the final tally:
  • Premier closer: 44% (35 votes)
  • Starting shortstop: 39% (31)
  • Starting catcher: 18% (14)

  We certainly haven’t heard much about the closer options — at least compared to what we’ve heard about shortstops — and nothing at all, really, about catchers. Should be a fun month. (Be sure to weigh in on our latest poll, shown in the sidebar –>.)

• I’d finally given up any hope of Jack Morris being voted into the Hall of Fame and then this appears.

Finally, Happy 54th Birthday to Dan Schatzeder, Jim Campbell’s long-coveted southpaw starter. Traded from Montreal for Ron LeFlore, Schatzeder spent two unremarkable seasons in Detroit: 17-21 and a 5.04 ERA. On Dec. 9, 1981, he was traded with Mike Chris to the Giants for Larry Herndon. Now that’s a better trade.

So, as I wait out this Tigers/White Sox rain delay from bright, sunny Phoenix, it’s time to weigh in on:

• Todd Jones’s Retirement. The decades-old joke in Detroit is that the most popular person in the city is the Lions’ backup QB and/or the Red Wings’ backup netminder. I think we can now add the Tigers’ setup man to that punch line. Detroit is unusually cruel to its closers. Less than a year after Willie Hernandez won the 1984 Cy Young and MVP awards, he started getting booed and it’s never stopped. Mike Henneman did too, but to a much smaller degree. The Tigers were so unwatchable during Todd Jones’s first tour of duty in Detroit, that often he was the only bright spot. Come to think of it, he was a welcome sight then because it mean the Tigers were in line for a rare win.

  But what was it about Jones in his second stint as a Tiger? What made it so infuriating? Sure, he got 93 saves in just under three seasons but his ERA was always around four and … ah, what’s the use? Jones is a good guy and I’m sure he’ll be missed by his teammates. I guess. For me, though, I’ll never be able to forgive him for not being Joe Nathan.

• Inge Returns to Third. This move makes the Tigers’ infield defense significantly better next season. With the range he covers, Inge is essentially a third baseman and a half. So even if they decide to bring back Edgar Renteria, Inge makes the left side if not a plus than definitely not a minus. Now, about that average…
• Guillen to Left. As I wrote here, I think it’s more likely that we see Carlos Guillen back at short than in left field. Why? If they put Guillen in left and a light-hitting guy at short, the Tigers lose the potential production of Matt Joyce. And, if you put Guillen in the cavern that is Comerica Park’s left field, what are the odds on him pulling a hamstring before May 1? Not good.
• Chuck Hernandez Firing. I know that Doug and others have been calling for Hernandez to lose his job as a result of the pitching staff’s tank job. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a wuss when it comes to firing coaches or managers. The rhetorical question I always ponder is: How much impact does a coach have — or can a coach expect to have — at this level? Was Hernandez, the genius of 2006, suddenly a lousy coach? I don’t think so. He was nothing more than a vessel caught in the perfect storm of Jeremy Bonderman’s injury, Dontrelle Willis’s loss of … everything, Kenny Rogers‘ age, Justin Verlander’s growing pains, and Nate Robertson’s wrought-iron physiology.

  I suppose the decision was also based on the bullpen’s lackluster year. Where do you start there? In fact, I think Hernandez should get a raise for having to deal with Fernando Rodney, Joel Zumaya, Aquilino Lopez and the rest. According to an article in the Free Press, Jim Leyland wants to go with a pitching coach and bullpen coach from the within the organization. I’m sure Joe Coleman, A. J. Sager and Ray Burris are good coaches, but if the Tigers want to show their serious, go after rockin’ Leo Mazzone or Rick Peterson.

• Jeff Jones’s Firing. I remember when Lloyd McClendon was named the Tigers’ bullpen coach for 2006. My reaction was “What does he know about a bullpen?” The answer, it would seem, was nuttin’. And if you read into this comment from Leyland, that’s precisely what the skipper wanted:
  

  “It was a weird situation, and I won’t say for sure, but I doubt that I’m going to have a pitching coach as my bullpen coach. It’s worked very well in some places, but I think it makes people uncomfortable from time to time.”

  Hmm. I would’ve thought being a pitching coach would help in guiding the bullpen. But now that I think about it, it probably makes about as much sense as having two hitting coaches – one for day games, one for night. Well, maybe not that example but perhaps there was some yin-and-yang between Hernandez’s approach and that of Jones which made Bobby Seay incapable of retiring a left-handed hitter?

• Sheff’s 500th Homer. The most entertaining parts of the weekend series against the Rays was watching Gary Sheffield’s family — including Uncle Dwight Gooden — stand up and wave homemade signs for every at bat. My favorite: “Gramma Says 500″. I sure hope Sheff gets number 500 today in Chicago. There’s been no player in my years of following the Tigers on which I’ve turned 180° like Gary Sheffield. (By the by, I loved Leyland slotting Sheff in the two spot in the order on Sunday.)

Finally, I relied heavily on DirecTV’s Extra Bases Game Mix channel over the weekend to track the playoff races. It’s one screen with eight games shown at once. I kept going back to the Mets and Marlins game, hoping to see the Mets force a playoff with the Brewers. That didn’t happen, of course, but what I did see was Cameron Maybin catch the final out at Shea Stadium.

Dombrowski wouldn’t rule out re-signing Renteria as a free agent, but said the club would look at other options.

While the Tigers don’t have a viable option at short — well, they sorta do; Ian and I agree that we could just see Carlos Guillen back at short when all is said and done — but methinks that Dombrowski will be hesitant to bring back Renteria for another dismal season, rubbing more salt into the Jair Jurrjens wound.

Another thought: they could deal for the Rockies’ Clint Barmes or drop David Eckstein into the mix for a year.

Chances are that Renteria will be back in the National League and will somehow manage to hit .330.

Granted, it’s hard not to think about Jurrjens when Edgar Renteria makes an error, lofts another can of corn to left field or otherwise leaves runners stranded. But the reasons — at the moment they made the deal — Detroit sent Jurrjens (and outfielder Gorkys Hernandez) to Atlanta were a) the Tigers needed an upgrade at shortstop (stop laughing), and b) the organization was pitching rich. Also, there were some concerns about Jurrjens durability.

Bottom line: This trade made perfect sense at the time, less sense when Andrew Miller, et al, were shipped to Florida, and no sense when the Tigers find themselves two games under .500 in late August.

It’s too early to say whether Galarraga will be a Jurrjens — or vice versa — but knowing that the former’s likely to be a mainstay on the Tigers staff for the foreseeable future makes watching Jurrjens on TBS a bit more palatable.

The Score: Tigers 8 – Rangers 7

The Gist: Gary Sheffield hit his 493rd career jack and went 3 for 5, and Curtis Granderson drove in four as the Tigers escaped with an 8-7 win in Arlington. Kenny Rogers eeked out a win thanks to two four-run outbursts by his teammates in the seventh and eighth. (And Rogers struck out seven in his six innings…usually a sign of impending doom. But not on Monday.) Kyle Farnsworth, a model of consistently sub-optimal pitching since his return to Detroit, made it too interesting in the eighth but Fernando Rodney pitched not awfully and sealed the deal.

The Quote: “[I]t would be the biggest mistake of his life if he goes on the mound hoping to show the Rangers something. That’s high school [stuff].” — Jim Leyland on Tuesday’s starter and former Rangers farmhand Armando Galarraga.

The Stat: 12. The number of errors by Edgar Renteria so far this season. He leads all A.L. Central shortstops in flubs — but not by much. Orlando Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta each have 11. The Twins’ trio of Adam Everett, Nick Punto and Brendan Harris average about six. KC’s Tony Pena (8) and Mike Aviles (6) roundout the Central.

Up Next: Tigers @ Rangers

Armando Galarraga (11-4, 3.11) vs. Vincente Padilla (12-6, 4.85)

That was my first thought as my Frontier Airlines jet touched down at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport early Thursday evening. It seems as though for we Michiganians glimpses of the sun outside the months of July, August, and – maybe – early October are random and fleeting.

Warmth!

That was my second thought. Despite the best efforts of the aircraft’s cooling system it was quite evident I was no longer in Michigan.

This fact was made even clearer later that evening when a call home elicited this comment from my soon-to-be 7-year-old son Jake: “Dad, will you please bring back some warm air. Every baseball game I have it’s always cold and wet.” (Included in my luggage home was a one Zip Lock baggie filled with 85-degree Arizona evening warmth!)

Friendship!

That was my third thought as I spotted Mike’s red Infiniti easing onto the North Curb outside baggage claim; Mike and I go back to my sophomore year of high school when I was the 13th man on the Lakeview High junior varsity basketball team and Mike – younger brother of Husky great Tom – was a freshman trying to make a name for himself.

How else – beside friendship – can you explain someone leaving his family near dinner time to drive 45 minutes one way to pick you up at the airport? And then put you up in his guest house for a long weekend.

Uninspired and inconsistent!

Is there any other way to categorize the Tigers’ performance of late? The two nights I saw in the desert only served to verify this description. The list of transgressions on Friday was lengthy:

• Magglio not running hard out of the box on that second-inning double-turned-single-and-throw-out;
• Cabrera lollygagging (cue Robert Wuhl) after the pop up back of first;
• The lack of communication between Renteria and Guillen in the seventh;
• Guillen’s total aim job of a throwing error (also in the seventh); and,
• Leyland’s decision not to insert Brandon Inge for defensive purposes with a three-run lead and Guillen not due up for three more innings.

Of course Saturday came along and there was Raburn’s dropped double-play ball; Cabrera running for that very same pop up; Pudge’s savvy dropped pop up bunt in the eighth; and Leyland making the necessary defensive substitutions in the ninth.

Fellowship!

Could there be a better place for men to be men than at a baseball game on a warm summer evening? That’s what I thought of as I sat there under the stars and slowly cooling evening air with John, Mike, and Tom.

Just talking baseball, reminiscing about glory days (cue Bruce), and quoting guy stuff like Fletch, The In-Laws, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Slapshot, Bull Durham, and the like.

Ridiculous!

That’s what I thought most of Saturday about the sizeable group of 20-somethings that tried to be Tigers’ fans sitting in front of us. Drink flowed from the moment they arrived and they thought nothing of getting up and changing seats – or leaving – during game play.

It’s a pet peeve of mine, but I was brought up to respect the game and its fans. That meant you didn’t leave your seat until between innings or pitching changes; the same was true of your return. If you want to socialize and not watch the game, then do everyone a favor and do it on the concourse.

Trust me when I say no one wants to see you – no matter how much you paid for your new chest or how nattily attired you may be; we all paid decent money to watch the game.

Lucky!

As I pen this on an old-fashioned steno pad at 38,000-feet, I realize how lucky I am to have a wife and two children who allow me to do something foolhardy like traveling 2,000 miles across the country to watch a pathetically underachieving baseball team and hand with the fellas for a few days. To them I say thank you!

The Gist: Nate Robertson finally showed up but the offense took the night off (do I hear an echo?) and Edgar Renteria, well, Edgar thought it was a good idea. Let’s put it this way: if it worked, a definite top-five Web Gem. If it didn’t, Esteban German would come around from second to score the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth — and the Tigers would lose 3-2. You know the rest. Matt Joyce hit his second career homer. If only he’d hit his third.

The Quote: “Jose Guillen has had a lot of success against Nate Robertson in his career.” — Royals’ TV announcer Ryan Lefebvre mere seconds before Guillen unloaded a game-tying, two-run double in the third.

The Stat: 4. The number of errors by Renteria in 2008. How many did he have in all of 2007? How about 11?

*Yes, I’ve used this headline before. Not only is it appropriate but it’s also a nod to a goofy sociology teacher fellow Fungo scribe John Milton and I had in ninth grade.

I admitted to Ian that it’s way early but that doesn’t mean that panic is not setting in everywhere around Comerica Park — but never at Fungo HQ!

So, I’m lobbing it out there: Are the Tigers wondering what they signed themselves up for over the next seven years?

Maybe.

Fast-forward to this afternoon and the latest installment of Jayson Stark’s Rumblings and Grumblings on ESPN.com. This time he reviews the off-season trades and the Tigers’ deals are getting anything but passing grades.

6. Braves-Tigers (RHP Jair Jurrjens and OF Gorkys Hernandez for Edgar Renteria): “At this point, Atlanta has won that deal,” said one scout. “Jurrjens [4-2, 2.84] has been their most consistent starter.”

Ouch.

And if you think that’s a harsh assessment, get a load of this:

9. Tigers-Marlins (Miguel Cabrera and LHP Dontrelle Willis for LHP Andrew Miller, OF Cameron Maybin, C Mike Rabelo, RHP Burke Badenhop, RHP Eulogia De La Cruz and RHP Dallas Trahern): We won’t be able to judge Florida’s half of this deal until about 2010. And Willis has been a mess. But the surprise is that Cabrera has been: (a) an offensive disappointment, (b) such a defensive disaster at third base that he had to be shifted to first within three weeks, and (c) so lackadaisical that players on other teams are privately questioning whether he flicked on his cruise-control switch after signing an eight-year, $153.3-million contract this spring. “I expected him to come in there and be superman,” said one scout. “He’s been anything but that.”

Ugly stuff.

Ready for more? Each week Stark touches base with big-league scouts on what they are seeing and hearing. It sure looks like no one likes what they see from Cabrera.

“For $150 million, you’d like to at least see him run a ball out. I watched him for a week, and I think there was one ball all week where he tried to extend himself. That was a double-play ball, and he was still like 4.8 [seconds] getting down the line. On a routine ground ball, he’s 5.2, maybe 5.1. It’s ridiculous to even pull the clock out.”

So, is it too soon to call this trade a blunder? Of course it is. And it would be a lot worse if, say, Cameron Maybin were tearing up the National League.

But you have to wonder if the Tigers brass is wishing they could take a mulligan…if not on the mega-deal with the Marlins, then at least on the month of April.

What do you think?

The Gist: Jeremy Bonderman spotted the Red Sox four runs, leaving the Tigers to figure out Daisuke Matsuzaka on a night that he was totally figure-outable. Matsuzaka walked eight and gave the Tigers plenty of opportunities to blow the game open. Alas, Detroit dropped its fourth straight, losing 6-3. We’ll all have to wait at least another day to see — or at least get a glimpse of — how the new lineup configuration works.

The Quote: “I think I threw the ball really well.” — Bonderman.

The Stat: 2. The number of errors by Tigers shortstop Edgar Renteria.

My Two Cents: Patience. Patience. Patience. That’s what I keep telling myself.

The Gist: The anticipation of seeing the Tigers’ complete lineup for the first time all year was squashed and the Detroit Momentum Train was derailed by a stellar pitching performance. This time by the Angels’ Jered Weaver: two runs, four hits and four walks and struck out five over 6.1 innings. The result? A 6-2 thumping of the Tigers in front of another national TV audience. As for the Tigers’ Justin Verlander, well…another dud: six runs, seven hits and four walks in 5.2 innings. Edgar Renteria and Pudge Rodriguez drove in the Tigers’ two runs.

The Quote: “[Fans ask], ‘Why bat him three? Why don’t you bat him eighth?’ If you don’t think a guy’s going to hit, why even bat him at all?” — Jim Leyland on the skidding Gary Sheffield.

The Stat: 3. The number of RBI by Torii Hunter who, despite a new uniform, continues to drub Detroit pitching.

My Two Cents: The Tigers played admirably in the first two games of the series but ran into a buzz saw on Sunday night. That’s too bad because after the tightly played Friday and Saturday games, one might have expected that a weary, homeward-bound team might be whooped after trips to Boston and Detroit. But let’s be real. Mike Scioscia doesn’t allow that to happen.

The Angels return to Detroit for a three-gamer Sept. 2-4. It will be fun to watch what happens between now and then. Come September, we’ll either be watching two teams destined for a post-season matchup, or we won’t.

Up Next: Tuesday – Tigers @ Yankees

Kenny Rogers (1-3, 7.66) vs. Phil Hughes (0-3, 7.85)

NOW IT’S PERSONAL

The two best baseball players ever from Colombia, Edgar Renteria and Orlando Cabrera, are engaged in a bitter feud and trading verbal attacks. It’s going to be a long, hot summer in the AL Central.

Yowza.

The Gist: While he wasn’t as sharp as his Tigers debut in Cleveland last week, Armando Galarraga gave the Tigers another solid outing in the finale at SkyDome — or whatever — 5-1, to earn a split against the Blue Jays. The bullpen was superb though Todd Jones allowed a ninth-inning home run, of course, to spoil the shutout. Ryan Raburn knocked in two runs in the Tigers’ three-run second, and Edgar Renteria hit another homer, a solo shot in the sixth.

The Quote: “If we were really going good like we thought we would be at this time and went to Cleveland and Toronto and came home [3-3], we’d be pretty happy. But with our record the way it is, it doesn’t look too good.” — Jim Leyland, in the Tigers.com game story.

The Stat: .667 – Pudge Rodriguez’s average in the four-gamer in Toronto. Here’s his line: Friday, 3 for 3; Saturday: 3 for 3; Sunday: 0 for 4; Today: 4 for 5. And what do you know? Pudge is now hitting .271 for the season.

Up Next: Rangers at Tigers

Justin Verlander (0-3, 7.03) vs. Vicente Padilla (2-1, 3.12)

The Gist: After squandering more than a few chances early in the game, Tigers hitters teed off in the sixth and seventh innings for six runs on their way to an 8-4 win over the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Kenny Rogers pitched 6.2 innings allowing only three hits and four earned runs for his first win since July of last season. Edgar Renteria went yard in the seventh with a three-run homer. Gary Sheffield’s woes continue: he left five men on base.

The Quote: “Taking a major plunge this week are the two AL Central favorites: Detroit (to No. 27) and Cleveland (to No. 23). But with only 16 games down and 146 left to play, who really cares, right?” — From ESPN.com’s Power Rankings for April 18.

The Stat: 7. The number of walks allowed by Toronto starter David Purcey — none of which turned into Detroit runs. (Purcey was sent down to Triple-A Syracuse after the game.) Another stat worth noting: 6.43. The average ERA of the Tigers’ five starters. Tops: Jeremy Bonderman, 4.58. Pits: Dontrelle Willis: 7.20. Yikes.

I’m Just Sayin’: When Denny Bautista struck out Frank Thomas looking for the last out in the seventh, I wondered when the last time he’d gotten a hit against the Tigers — his disappearing act in the 2006 ALCS still fresh in my mind. Reading the game preview on BlueJays.com I found this tidbit:

Including the American League Division Series against the Tigers in 2006, when Thomas was with the A’s, he’s hit just .165 (11-for-67) versus Detroit over the past two years.

And there you have it.

Up Next: Tigers at Blue Jays

Jeremy Bonderman (1-1, 4.58) vs. Dustin McGowan (0-1, 3.71)