He didn’t pitch enough in the regular season and, left hander or no, he wasn’t going to appear in the ALCS or World Series. And God knows we didn’t want him to.

This morning we learned that another seemingly no-brainerish decision — to leave Brad Penny off the ALDS roster — was, in fact, not made. What the …? Jim Leyland hasn’t, and likely won’t, offer much to the media to chew on in the way of rationale for this decision.

Here’s the most obvious question: In what scenario, a Game 4 start, long relief, middle relief, would any Tigers fan feel comfortable seeing Penny on the mound? Speaking for myself: None.

Jason Beck reports on his blog:

Both Rick Porcello and Brad Penny are on the roster. One of them is expected to start Game 4 is necessary (sic). The other will work out of the bullpen.

Would I feel better seeing David Pauley? It depends. If it’s relief, absolutely. And would I feel more confident in Porcello starting Game 4? Ditto. (But if there’s a rainout between tonight and Game 4, are we still to believe that Justin Verlander won’t make that start?)

And what about Ryan Perry? Can the Tigers afford his baffling inconsistency in the postseason?

So what we’ve got are four pitchers — the three P’s: Penny, Porcello, Perry, and Max Scherzer — on the ALDS roster that make us wonder if the good version or bad version will show up.

I have no problem with the position-player decisions, even backup catcher Omir Santos. There’s no way Leyland is going to lose a playoff game — or series — by having to put Brandon Inge or Don Kelly behind the plate. No chance. I think Santos makes sense.

But the real news here is Penny. I’m afraid that if we see him in this series we’re going to long for Sid Monge.

Dave Schoenfield weighs in on both A.L. Division Series rosters on the SweetSpot blog.

Different story today.

With word out of Anaheim that Mike Scioscia has pulled Jered Weaver and Ervin Santana from their starts against the Rangers tonight, I’m furious at the Angels manager, someone I’ve always respected and whose teams I enjoy watching. Yes, his team’s been eliminated but by pitching rookies Tyler Chatwood tonight and Garrett Richards tomorrow Scioscia’s looking ahead to next year — while the Tigers and Rangers have their eyes on Friday.

We’re led to believe that the Angels pulled Weaver and Santana because they both have blown past their career highs for innings pitched. Maybe. But something’s fishy.

Of course, I’ll still pull for the Angels tonight and tomorrow, and as I’m watching I’ll daydream about what Jim Leyland might say to Scioscia the next time Bud Selig’s little “competition committee” gets together.

Leading Off: The Tigers beat the Twins 2-1 yesterday for the club’s ninth straight win — their first of that length since May 1984. Doug Fister shutout the Twins over seven innings for the win, while Jose Valverde posted his club-record 43rd save of the season. Delmon Young led the Tigers with two hits and an RBI.

ESPN’s Steve Berthiaume says that if there were a catchers draft, Alex Avila should be the easy number-one selection:

Avila has been the best catcher in baseball this season. Among the game’s everyday catchers — let’s say those who have started more than 100 games behind the plate — Avila leads the majors with a .300 batting average, .391 on-base percentage, .522 slugging percentage and .913 OPS. He’s No. 1 across the board. Remember, this hypothetical applies to catching actual games, not your fantasy league team, so forget about Victor Martinez or Mike Napoli — the guy you draft has to actually crouch down and catch for you every day. Avila has done exactly that for the Tigers.

Austin Jackson enters tonight’s game having hit safely in each of his last 15 games against the White Sox. He is hitting .403 with four doubles, three triples, three home runs and nine RBI during the 15-game stretch.

Looking for some autographed Tigers memorabilia? You’re in luck. MGOAuction.com, an auction site of primarily University of Michigan sports memorabilia, has several Tigers items up for bid. The items include autographed baseballs signed by Justin Verlander, Jose Valverde, Victor Martinez, Andy Dirks, Brandon Inge and other items signed by Alex Avila, Al Kaline and Todd Jones. Proceeds benefit a series of undergraduate scholarships at UM including the Bernard “Pat” Maloy Cancer Scholarship, the Shelly Kovacs Scholarship. Check out MGoAuction.com.

The Tigers have finally leap-frogged the Diamondbacks in ESPN.com’s Power Rankings this week and earned a spot a number four. (Though they couldn’t crack John Kruk’s rankings.) And, the Tigers are this week’s U.S. Army Team of the Week.

Eighty years ago today at Fenway Park, Eddie Durham and the Tigers Arthur “Red” Herring faced off in a 13-inning pitching duel. Durham won, 1-0.

The funny thing about this nine-game winning streak and 10-1/2-game lead? The anti-Jim Leyland crowd sure has been quiet.

Birthdays! Happy 71st to Mickey Lolich, Happy 55th to Mark Thurmond, Happy 52nd to Scotti Madison, and Happy 43rd to Masao Kida.

Finally, music legend Johnny Cash died on this date in 2003 at the age of 71. Let’s remember him with one of his classic songs, “A Boy Named Sue.”

If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you know that I’ve been a Leyland backer — and one of Dombrowski, too. Fifty-one weeks ago I wrote a piece titled In Defense of Jim Leyland and though the circumstances are different this year than last, I still think Leyland deserves another year.

That’s not to say some of his in-game decisions don’t drive me batty. Ryan Raburn as late-inning defensive replacement? Jose Valverde in non-save situations? Brandon Inge? The featherweight lineup featured in so many getaway games?

For me, the bottom line is that Leyland knows more about his team than I do. He knows who’s got aches or pains or problems on the homefront that can affect performance. I don’t. What’s more, the players sure appear to respect the man — something you didn’t sense in the bad old days of Alan Trammell, Luis Pujols or Phil Garner.

A few years ago I went to a Tigers-Angels game in Anaheim and sat in utter disbelief that Leyland bypassed every opportunity to pinch hit Marcus Thames against a lefty for light-hitting batters. What was he thinking?!

Later that day I read in the game story that Thames had sore ribs and wasn’t available. And to think I could’ve used that my energy on the more productive and satisfying booing of Craig Monroe.

I know many Tigers fans believe Leyland has screwed up this team in one way or another for the better part of six seasons. For me, I see a guy who has the Tigers with a four-game lead in early August.

And I think he’s the guy who can lead the club to a first-place finish this year.

Okay, tell me how wrong I am.

Leading Off: The Royals or the Tigers’ bullpen, depending on your point of view, did their best to ruin another terrific outing by Rick Porcello – but neither was up to the task. The Tigers came back, after leading 3-0, to win 4-3 in 10 innings. Daniel Schlereth (1-1) earned the win in relief for Detroit, while Jose Valverde notched his 31st save … Porcello went 6 1/3 allowing seven hits and three runs. He was pulled in the seventh and Jim Leyland explained why … With last night’s win the Tigers are 7-3 against the Royals this season and now 27-27 on the road this season.

Around the Central: Michael Young and Rangers spoiled Ubaldo’s debut with the Indians, defeating Cleveland 8-7 in 11 innings, the five-games-under-.500 White Sox beat the 10-games-under-.500 Twins 5-3 at Target Field.

More on JV’s Mastery: Buster Olney today writes that Verlander has started to consider adding another pitch to his arsenal: a split-finger fastball.

The suggestion amused Avila. Verlander, after all, already has refined four pitches – his fastball, changeup, slider and curveball. “The way he’s been pitching this year,” Avila said, “he’ll throw almost any pitch in any count.”

That’s no lie. Hitters’ batting average against him in the 2-0 (and beyond) hitter’s counts? .171, that’s third in the bigs behind Cole Hamels (.170) and Ricky Romero (.157).

Against 3-1 and beyond counts he ranks tied for eighth overall (with Matt Cain and Matt Garza) with a .161 average against.

Betemit: The 46-percent Solution? When the Tigers traded for Wilson Betemit last month the hope was that he’d be an upgrade at the plate over his predecessor, Brandon Inge. Sure, he’s hitting .281 in his 12 games in Detroit but in 39 at bats he has 18 strikeouts. Even Inge was better than that (60 strikeouts in 215 at bats, or 27 percent.)

The Odds are Good; the Goods are Odd. As of this writing, Baseball Prospectus has the Tigers’ playoff odds at 80 percent … or to be more specific: 80 percent to win the division, 0 percent to win the Wild Card spot. Sadly for Indians fans, BP has them with the third-best odds (6.9 percent). The White Sox are second with 11.5-percent. Take heart, Twins fans. BP says your club still has a 1.6-percent chance of taking the division.

Draft-pick Signings: The Tigers today announced they’ve agreed to terms with two players selected in the June draft: shortstop Brandon Loy from the University of Texas (fifth round) and righthanded pitcher Chad Smith from the University of Southern California (17th round). The Tigers now have agreed to terms with 30 of the club’s selections from this year’s draft.

Finally, Happy 39th Birthday to outfielder Duane Singleton who appeared in 18 games for the dreadful 1996 Tigers. He hit .161 with 15 strikeouts in 61 plate appearances.

Yahoo Sports

With the July 31st trade deadline just two weeks away, what the Detroit Tigers are going to add to the Major League roster in these next two weeks has become a hot button topic to say the least. The Tigers, like many teams, are looking for another starting pitcher. Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman reported that the Tigers, Red Sox, Yankees, and a few other teams are looking at Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda; Fox Sports’ Jon Paul Morosi reported that the Tigers were in Colorado scouting Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenezon Thursday night. The Tigers are also looking for someone to plug in at third base, but haven’t been directly linked to names yet.

There is the chance, though, that the Tigers have a solution in their own farm system. I’m of course talking about the organization’s number one prospect Jacob Turner. Many Tigers fans and people around the team are worried that if he’s brought up before he’s “ready” it’ll hurt his future. Jim Leyland even told the Detroit News when asked about Turner’s chances of being called up in the next month, “Long shot speculation.” But, with Turner, Nick Castellanos and not much else down on the farm, the Tigers may be hard-pressed to find a deal that gets them more than a Jarrod Washburn redux.If the Tigers can’t make a deal for Kuroda or the Orioles’ Jeremy Guthrie without gutting the farm system, then they should just call up Turner.

With Turner pitching Friday night and the Tigers needing a Wednesday starter, there’s no reason not to call him up for that start as he is the club’s best internal option. It’s doubtful that in the last year of his contract Tigers General Manager Dave Dombrowski is worried about starting Turner’s service time or the possibility of him eventually earning “Super Two” status, which is something that may not even exist anymore after this next round of collective bargaining.

The biggest issue for Turner the rest of the way will be managing his innings. Turner has already thrown 100 innings at Double-A this year and the Tigers don’t want to push the 20-year-old too hard. I’d be speculating on the innings limit, but it’s probably in the neighborhood of 150. Still, even if they hold him to six innings a start the rest of the way he’d make a big impact on this team if he’s effective.

The Tigers need a pitcher for next week unless they decide to skip someone and Turner is the best option at their disposal. He may not be 100% “ready” for The Show as his secondary offerings could still use some work, but we’re talking about a 6-foot-5 power arm with plus control. As they say, flags fly forever. You don’t let premium talent work on stuff at Double-A during a pennant race. You may think I’m crazy about rushing this young kid, but there were plenty of people in Spring Training saying this young guy on Seattle still needs to work on his secondary pitches. His name was Michael Pineda and so far this year he’s outpitched teammate and 2010 Cy Young award winner Felix Hernandez.

Turner isn’t going to be the horse that carries them deep into the playoffs, but the Tigers already have a guy for that job. The idea that Turner isn’t “ready” and therefore can’t fill-in as the fifth starter down the stretch is a bit of hyperbole. That seems like the perfect role for him this year.

Nick Shlain, a Journalism student at Eastern Michigan University, writes for Detroit Baseball Page.com. You can follow him on Twitter @nshlain.

On Saturday against the Royals the Tigers will play game number 40 and, at worst, will finish that game at an even 20 and 20. So what conclusions can we draw from these first 40 games? For that matter, what conclusions can we draw from the past week, which delivered some terrific baseball?

Are they as bad as they looked against the Royals in April and the Tribe two weeks ago? Or are they as good as the club the swept Chicago at home?

I hate to punt on this, but I think we’ll know more about the Tigers after another series against the Royals, Indians and White Sox.
What do you think?

In the meantime, here’s a look at the Tigers’ record after 40 games since Jim Leyland arrived in Detroit.

• 2010: 23-17
• 2009: 24-16
• 2008: 16-24
• 2007: 24-16
• 2006: 27-13

—

As I’m writing this, Justin Verlander has kept the Royals hitless through four innings. Earlier this week I was wondering how he fared in the start following his June 12, 2007 no-hitter. Well, it was a bit different from his 12-strikeout torching of the Brewers. Verlander’s next start came against the Phillies on Sunday, June 17 at Citizens Bank Park. His final line: six innings, seven hits, two walks, three earned runs.  The Tigers won, 7-4.

—

I sure hope we haven’t seen the last of Magglio Ordonez, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list today.

“He’s been feeling the effects of his ankle off and on during the season here,” trainer Kevin Rand said. “We decided to look at it, and to err on the side of caution, we’re shutting him down.”

The stats are ugly: .172 with one home run and five RBIs in 26 games this season. I can’t believe that his hitting skills have plummeted to Gerald Laird levels simply due to age. You?

—

Buried at the bottom of the Ordonez story is this little update on Carlos Guillen.

Guillen was in the clubhouse as well and has started baseball-related activities again.

Guillen says he’s been able to hit, run and take ground balls, although there’s still no timetable for his return.

Talk about a forgotten man.

–

Finally, on this date in 1913, Joe Louis was born. He was the world heavyweight champion for a record-setting 12 years.

Have a great weekend.

Even the teams who do everything well, that’s their identity.

The Tigers don’t have one. They’ve won and lost games with pitching. They’ve won and lost games with hitting. They’ve won and lost games with defense. For now, they don’t know who they are, and, if they don’t develop something soon, something like the Giants did last year, it’s going to be terminal.

It’s early. I recognize that. 20 games in the grand scheme of a marathon season is fairly meaningless, especially the first 20. That said, injuries and frustration can snowball. We saw that tragically in 2007 and 2008. And, in a way, it’s starting to feel that way again.

For those of you who have read my stuff in the past, you know I pride myself on collectedness and being the consummate “non-panicker.” So don’t take this the wrong way, I reserve judgment on this team, I still think there is potential for a postseason run.

I just relay concerns. Concerns that you probably already have, but I wanted to put on paper.

I worry that the aforementioned snowball is even more possible given this is Jim Leyland’s 6th year with the organization. Is his act wearing thin? Will he be able to do what he did in 2006 after a lackluster start, sitting the team down and snap them into a contender? I don’t know, but I’m concerned he may be a Larry Brown type.

I worry that my sabermetrician friends were right about Austin Jackson and his BABIP all along. Identity or not, you cannot expect to be successful with a leadoff hitter on a record-setting strikeout pace (24 Ks in 80 PA).

I worry that Rick Porcello might, just might, not be that good. His inability to adjust (barring yesterday’s performance in Seattle) has been infuriating.

I worry that Victor Martinez may have a lingering groin injury all season. Without him, it’s hard to envision a penant chase. I worry about Magglio, too.

I worry that even with Brennan Boesch playing out of his mind, this team is still sub-.500.

This team has played 13 road games, 7 on the west coast, and only 6 home games. There’s plenty of opportunity and time to develop into a team that knows who they are. What they must be, is a team who can depend on starters one through three and hope four and five can alternate quality starts. They must be a team that, despite Leyland’s aggravating aversion to small ball, manufactures runs.

I think they can be those things, but right now, I don’t know who they are.

• 1957 — The Tigers acquired righthanded pitcher Tom Morgan, lefty Maury “Mickey” McDermott, catcher Charlie Thompson, infielder Billy Martin and outfielders Gus Zernial and Lou “The Nervous Greek” Skizas from the Athletics for righty Duke Maas and John Tsitouris, catcher Frank House, infielder Kent Hadley, outfielders Bill Tuttle and Jim Small and a player to be named
  (infielder Jim McManus).

• 1958 — The Tigers picked up righthander Ray Narleski, lefty Don Mossi and infielder Ossie Alvarez from the Indians for righty Al Cicotte and infielder Billy Martin — one year to the day
  they acquired him.

• 1997 — The Tigers acquired righthander Bryce Florie and cash considerations from the Brewers for righty Rick Greene, lefty Mike Myers and infielder Santiago Perez. Then they picked up righthander Nick Skuse from the Angels for catcher Matt Walbeck and infielder Phil Nevin.

And on Nov. 20, 1985, the Pirates hired White Sox third base coach Jim Leyland to be the club’s 33rd manager in history.

68-70, 3rd Place; 13 GB

Today’s Game

Tigers vs. White Sox | 7:05 p.m. ET – Comerica Park | On the air: FSD/AM 1270 and 97.1 FM

Pitching Matchup

Justin Verlander (14-8, 3.61 ERA) vs. Freddy Garcia (11-5, 4.82 ERA)

Yesterday’s Results

White Sox 5 – Tigers 4 (10 innings)

• W: Chris Sale (1-1)
• L: Jose Valverde (2-4)
• HR: Don Kelly (6)

Tigers History Lesson

Today’s Birthdays

• Tom Matchick, 67

On this Date in Tigers History

• 2007 — Curtis Granderson hits his 20th home run to give him 20 or more doubles, triples, home runs and stolen bases. The only prior players to do that in major league history were Frank Schulte (1911) and Willie Mays (1957). He will be joined by the Phillies’ Jimmy Rollins in a few days.

• 2002 — The Tigers defeat the Yankees, 2-1, as Eric Munson hits a home run in his first major-league at bat.

• 1999 — Colorado manager Jim Leyland confirms rumors that he will retire at the end of the season.

• 1997 — The major league mark for the most combined strikeouts in a game is tied when 33 players fan during a 15-inning 5-4 Angels victory over the Tigers.

• 1993 — Chad Kreuter homers from both sides of the plate in the Tigers’ 10-6 win over California. He is the second Tigers player — and catcher — this year to perform the feat, joining Mickey Tettleton, who did so on May 7.

• 1984 — Down 4-0 in the eighth, the Tigers score four runs — three on a homer by Kirk Gibson — to tie the Blue Jays in Toronto. In the 10th, Dave Bergman cracks a three-run homer and the Tigers win, 7-4. Willie Hernandez
  (9-2) wins with three innings of shutout relief.

• 1971 — Jim Northrup goes 5 for 5 with two home runs in a 3-2, 11 inning Tigers win over the Senators.

• 1950 — Hoot Evers hits for the cycle, adds another triple, and knocks in six runs in a 13-13, 10-inning tie with Cleveland. The game, ended because of darkness, leaves the Tigers in first place by a few percentage points ahead of the Yankees.

Would there be as much handwringing and angst about the Tigers if it weren’t 10 days before the trade deadline?

If the Tigers had lost seven straight in, say, the first week and a half of May, would we all be so ulcer-ridden?

I’m thinking … no.

An extended slide in the first six weeks of the season wouldn’t have the perceived escape hatch of a mystical trade deadline when all problems can be corrected.

We’d be ticked off, that’s for sure. But the panic, the calls for Jim Leyland‘s head, the outlandish trade wishes? They’d be nowhere near the fever pitch of the past week.

But hey, the Tigers won tonight — and if Johnny Damon hadn’t committed a major baserunning gaffe on Monday, they’d have taken two of three from Texas and we’d all be happy.

The losing streak is over. The Tigers are just three games out. And it’s only July 21.

Life is good.

In theory, no.

In reality, with the seemingly unbeatable Carl Pavano on the mound, the answer is a begrudging yes.

But who would have guessed, though, that the Tigers would take the first two games of the weekend series and still slip into second place? White Sox GM Kenny Williams? Probably.

And so here we are at the All-Star Break and the Tigers are an eyelash out of first place — and with a bit of breathing room between themselves and the Twins.

All things considered, not too bad.

Friday: Tigers 7 – Twins 3

Friday night’s game was the marquee matchup, Justin Verlander versus Francisco Liriano, and Verlander was at times excellent and baffling — 103 pitches in 5-1/3 innings? Yikes — and the offense, as the 7-4 score would indicate, was paced by Magglio Ordonez, Brennan Boesch and Carlos Guillen who went a combined 7 for 11.

After the game Jim Leyland blasted holes through the Rick Porcello trade rumorette — Jon Paul Morosi speculated that Porcello’s pushed-back start could be viewed as a showcase for a trade partner. Perhaps Morosi got a little too close to the truth and the Tigers wanted to respond? I’m thinking we haven’t heard the last of this story.

Saturday: Tigers 7 – Twins 4

Saturday’s nationally televised game featured loads of offense all of the extra-base variety: eight hits, four doubles, four homers. Jeremy Bonderman eked out a quality start and the bullpen kept the Twins at bay.

Meanwhile, the White Sox were doing what the Tigers seem incapable of doing: beating the Royals with ease. Coming into Sunday’s finale, a mere half-game separated the surging Sox and the Tigers.

Sunday: Twins 6 – Tigers 3

Standing in the way of a sweep was the most mystifying of recent Tigers killers: Pavano. Last year with the Indians and Twins, he was 4-1 with a 3.00 ERA against Detroit.

He was up to his old tricks on Sunday making Tigers hitters look foolish and retiring the first 13 batters he faced. Andy Oliver showed flashes of his potential but allowed four earned runs and seems destined for a return trip to Erie sooner rather than later.

The Tigers made some noise offensively but never seemed to mount a credible threat. Hardly surprisingly considering the foe. With the Twins’ 6-3 victory, Pavano’s career record against Detroit: 5-2 with a 2.81 ERA in eight career starts.

So, despite winning two of three, the Tigers find themselves looking up at the White Sox in the Central division.

Things will get all the more interesting when games resume after the All-Star Break. The Tigers head to Cleveland on Friday while the White Sox travel to Minneapolis for three.

It all has the makings of a terrific three-team race.

• As the Pirates come to town let’s do an interleague reset: Since interleague play started in 1997, the Tigers have compiled a 124-108 record, 57-33 in interleague games at Comerica Park. This year they’re 1-2.

• In a related note, here’s the good news coming into this weekend: The Tigers’ next three series are against teams that are an average of nine games under .500. Then again, their last three series were against teams that are an average of 10 games under so draw whatever conclusions you will.

• I forgot to mention that we’ve got a new Pulse Check this week. Take a nanosecond and vote, won’t you?

  Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

• The other day I was thinking about what a shame it was that Jim Leyland never got to manage the Tigers at Tiger Stadium. Then I got to wondering if he ever managed at all at the old ballpark — and he did.

  In June 1997 Leyland brought his Florida Marlins to Detroit and, of course, took two of three.

  • June 16: Marlins 7 – Tigers 3 — W: Kevin Brown; L: Willie Blair
  • June 17: Marlins 3 – Tigers 2 — W: Antonio Alfonseca L: Todd Jones
  • June 18: Tigers 3 – Marlins 2 — W: Omar Olivares L: Al Leiter

  And now you know.

• I thought I was done linking to articles about Armando Galarraga but apparently I’m not. Here’s a nice story by Jon Paul Morosi on FoxSports.com.
• If you’ve lost track, stopped caring or both, here’s a look at Dontrelle Willis‘ stats in two starts for the Diamondbacks: 1-0, 10 IP, 8 hits, 2 R/ER, 10 walks, 5 strikeouts, 1.80 WHIP.

  Meanwhile, Billy Buckner has been abysmal in Toledo: 1-1, 7.15 ERA, 11.1 IP, 20 hits, 9 R/ER, 6 strikeouts, 1.94 WHIP.

Finally, today’s the birthday of former Tiger Adam Pettyjohn. A couple of years ago he returned to the majors briefly after some serious health issues. Here’s a link from the Fungo archives on him. Give it a look.

Have a great weekend.

Paul Konerko is a Scottsdale native so it’s nice to see him giving back — and you should see this playground: awesome. It didn’t sting as much because for once Konerko didn’t homer in the game.

And so the Tigers lost again to the White Sox, the 54th time at Comerica Park since it opened 10 years ago, and, according to Baseball-Reference.com’s Play Index, since 2005 the Tigers are 34-59 against the White Sox … 25 games under .500. (FYI: Over that same span they’re 47-52 against the Twins.)

What is going on here? Why do the White Sox have the Tigers’ number? I wish I had an answer. I wish Jim Leyland had an answer. You just know Ozzie Guillen does.

Let’s face it: The Tigers cannot beat the White Sox when it counts (i.e., the final weekend of the 2009 season when they lost three of four in the most moribund series in memory) or when it doesn’t — like yesterday when the Tigers left nine men on base and Rick Porcello looked, at times, more like Rickety Porcello. Other points of utter frustration include:

• The Tigers always seem to make pitchers like Freddy Garcia look 10 years younger.
• On cold, damp days the Tigers’ offense stays in the cozy clubhouse while the Sox come out swinging as if it were 80 and sunny.
• A single bone-headed move — like Brennan Boesch‘s failure to score on a ground ball to first — can turn the game in Chicago’s favor…and usually does.
• The mere presence of Ozzie, A.J. Pierzynski and Bobby Jenks. Thankfully there’s now Jermaine Dye to torment us this year.

This year’s Tigers team is hanging around the top of the Central division through a savory mix of ingredients, not the least of which is luck. If they want to stay in the race into September they better figure out a way to gin up some of that luck against the lousy teams in their division — and right now that includes everyone except the Twins.

Or the White Sox, at least when they’re playing the Tigers.

Max Scherzer certainly did his part on Friday night by serving up five runs in the first inning which fueled Boston’s 7-2 win.

What happened on Saturday was the stuff that magical seasons can be built on. An overstatement? Maybe. But when Dontrelle Willis plays the role of Scherzer by yielding four runs and seven walks in just 3.1 innings, you could almost expect the Tigers to mail it in. Except they didn’t. Instead, they chipped away at Jon Lester and the Red Sox bullpen and mounted a thrilling comeback behind Brennan Boesch‘s four-hit game — and near cycle.

Another letdown appeared imminent with John Lackey starting for the Sox on Sunday but that wasn’t meant to be either. The Tigers wore down Lackey with nine hits and four walks and Ramon Santiago went deep in the fourth for his first homer of the year.

Meanwhile, Armando Galarraga made a triumphant return to the majors and was superb (despite walking two of the first three hitters): 5.2 IP, three hits, one run, three walks and five strikeouts. And what about Jim Leyland bringing in Jeremy Bonderman for an inning of flawless relief? Whatever works.

For me, the most interesting part of an exciting week were the roster moves made after Saturday night’s game. Scherzer being sent down came as no surprise after he showed on Friday how truly out of sync he is. With Galarraga seemingly ready to resume his big-league career, this makes sense.

Demoting Scott Sizemore jolted me a little. Based on everything we heard since spring training — and that they let Placido Polanco walk — I expected the Tigers to ride it out with Sizemore. Then again, when your keystone combination is hitting a combined .399, you’ve gotta do something.

I’ll say this about Dave Dombrowski, he’s certainly not afraid to bring up the kids. Right now, the Tigers have five rookies on their roster. And good ones. Who knows how long Danny Worth and Casper Wells will stick in Detroit, but it certainly is fun to watch it all play out.

The stunner in all this was the announcement of Carlos Guillen becoming the Tigers’ starting second baseman when he returns from the disabled list. Tell me how this can possibly end well? One wrong twist trying to turn a double play and Guillen could be on the shelf again. Then again, this is a player — a favorite of mine, actually — who landed on the DL running the bases. Add the more demanding defensive requirements of the middle infield and, well, yeah. This can’t end well. (Of course this isn’t saying much, but I’d certainly rather have him at second than in left.)

In his career, Guillen has played a dozen games at second base, all with the Mariners in 1998 and ’99 and he had 56 error-free chances. He’ll have to make quite a few to catch up with Sizemore’s six errors so far this year.

A weekend that started out poorly — and could’ve gotten a lot worse without much effort — certainly turned around in a hurry and featured lots for Tigers fans to chew on as the dreaded White Sox come to town on Monday.

Coming into this week, the Tigers had a rotation in tatters and a bullpen at risk of being overworked. And though Justin Verlander appears to have solved his customary early-season woes – evidenced by his masterful start on Thursday against the Yankees – the rest of the Tigers’ starting five was causing Jim Leyland to tap into his steady relief corps far too early and far too often. Coming into Friday, Tigers starters have the fewest innings pitched (184) in the American League and rank 29th overall.

Things might be looking up in Detroit, though. Rick Porcello at last may be untracked thanks to his performance against the Yankees on Wednesday and Jeremy Bonderman is showing signs that he might (again) be a reliable starter after all. So, at least for now the Tigers’ rotation appears to be steadying itself. That is, except for a guy they expected to gobble up innings in 2010: Max Scherzer.

After a dazzling debut on April 7 in which he held the Royals to one hit over six innings in a no-decision, Scherzer has been nothing but a question mark in Detroit’s rotation. He hasn’t won in nearly as month, he’s given up 48 hits in 37 innings so far, and in his last two starts alone he allowed 15 earned runs in 9.1 IP.

Scherzer enters his Friday start against the Red Sox with a 1-3 record and a bulky 6.81 ERA. He’s also been a major contributor to the number of innings the Tigers bullpen has pitched in the first six weeks of the season: Scherzer averages barely five innings of work.

Not exactly what the Tigers had in mind when they made him a key piece of the Curtis Granderson/Edwin Jackson trade last winter.

But should we be surprised with Scherzer’s struggles adjusting to the American League? Well, if he were regularly facing lineups like the Yankees and Rays, the answer would be yes. But the fact is he’s getting pounded by the likes of the Royals and Indians — and Twins and Rangers and, well, you get the idea. Even with the DH factored in Scherzer should not be faring this poorly against A.L. opponents.

What should the Tigers do with Scherzer? Unfortunately, they have few choices at this point.

With his 1.68 WHIP, Scherzer’s not a candidate for the bullpen. And even if he did move into a relief role, the Tigers aren’t exactly brimming with capable replacements to slot into the rotation. Maybe Armando Galarraga. Or perhaps recently recalled and even more recently demoted Alfredo Figaro.

The Tigers are enchanted with Scherzer’s potential – after all, he was taken by the Diamondbacks with the 11th overall pick in the 2006 draft – and are likely to let pitching coach Rick Knapp tinker with him and hope things click as they have for Verlander, Porcello and, just maybe, Bonderman.

Yes, Scherzer’s upside is tremendous — the guy throws in the mid 90s and he’s only 25 — which explains why the Tigers were so intent on bringing him to Detroit. Though, presumably the club thought he was ready to elevate his performance to a higher level than what he displayed last year for the Diamondbacks in his rookie season.

For now, the Tigers will have to live with some growing pains and hope he starts pitching past the fifth inning – beginning tonight.

The Score: Tigers 5 – Indians 2

The Gist: Rick Porcello was good enough and Indians’ third baseman Jhonny Peralta‘s judgment was poor enough for the Tigers eek out a 5-2 Opening Day win in front of 45,010 at Comerica Park.

Peralta’s wild throw to first with the bases loaded allowed three Tigers to score and take a 4-2 lead. Magglio Ordonez continued his blistering start with two hits including an RBI double. Miguel Cabrera went hitless, believe it or not.

The Quote: “It’s a holiday in Detroit like deer season is in Pennsylvania. Downtown’s hopping.” — Jim Leyland on Opening Day in Detroit

The Stat: 1 – Scott Sizemore got his first big-league hit, Jose Valverde his first Tigers save, Austin Jackson his first hit at Comerica Park.

Up Next: Jeremy Bonderman (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Mitch Talbot (0-0, 0.00 ERA); 1:05 p.m. ET

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[Tigers owner Mike Ilitch] whipped out his checkbook and, just like that, Damon became the Tigers’ left fielder for 2010.

Luckily for Dombrowski. And for manager Jim Leyland. Both are consummate pros with solid track records, but without Damon they were headed pell-mell for disaster.

Were the Tigers headed for disaster without Damon? No way; they’d have made some other move to steady the offense, but probably not as nifty a move as Damon.

On the other hand, this wire report appearing in the Miami Herald says “not so fast” in anointing Damon as the Tigers’ 2010 elixir:

As far as the Tigers go, I am not quite sure how he makes them better. People are sadly mistaken if they think he will come anywhere near the 24 home runs he hit last season.

The only real advantage I see is that he is an instant upgrade at the top of the lineup, where the Tigers were going into the season with rookies Austin Jackson and Scott Sizemore at the top of the order.

But let’s face it, he is not Torii Hunter in the outfield. He may be an upgrade defensively over Carlos Guillen, but that is really not a compliment.

Not to mention, he is 36 years old

Of course, if Ryan Raburn could hit like Damon, this wouldn’t be an issue. But he can’t. So here we are.

And closer to home, Lynn Henning tells us there’s much to look forward to this season — due to and not in spite of the rookies and newcomers.

During decades of covering spring training, rarely, if ever, has one player so energized a ballclub already at camp as Johnny Damon’s signing this week lifted the Tigers.

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Damon has changed that outlook sufficiently to make the Tigers a better bet to at least break even in 2010. They have the pitching to be a solid club, and now they’re closer to having just enough offense to surprise some of the fans (and media) who aren’t expecting much in 2010.

I agree with one point in particular that Henning makes in this column: the vast majority of Tigers fans hasn’t seen Jackson, Sizemore, Max Scherzer or Daniel Schlereth perform. Ever.

So why all the angst?

Fans in Detroit have groaned for the better part of a decade about the Twins’ uncanny ability to develop their own talent and, you know, win. The Tigers embark on a similar, though smaller-scale, path and it’s doomsday.

I’m not buying it.

P.S. Happy 51st Birthday, Bryan Kelly.

This miserable experience for Tigers fans, so close to the division cough-up job in Game 162 of 2006, got me to thinking how Jim Leyland‘s clubs finish. Are there any trends we can pinpoint?

For starters, I looked at his playoff teams — the 1990, ’91 and ’92 Pirates, the 1997 Marlins, and the 2006 Tigers. I focused on the last month or so of the season, starting with September 1. All in all, it’s pretty respectable. Here’s what I found out:

Pittsburgh Pirates

• 1990: 20-12
• 1991: 21-13
• 1992: 22-10

Florida Marlins

• 1997: 12-15

Detroit Tigers

• 2006: 12-16
• 2009: 16-15 (through Saturday night)

Being 100-percent biased by the Tigers current situation (and ’06), I expected to see poor finishes from Leyland’s clubs. But it just isn’t the case. In fact, Leyland’s two World Series teams had the worst stretch-run records of all his playoff clubs.

Ponder this, won’t you, while you enjoy your Fruit Loops — or gnash your teeth — on the final Sunday morning of the regular season?

The Score: White Sox 8 – Tigers 0

The Gist: The Tigers didn’t show up to play Friday night, but that didn’t stop the White Sox’ Jake Peavy from dicing them like ripe tomatoes. Three hits for Detroit. Three. And Edwin Jackson was awful.

The View: One of my top-three movies of all time is Midnight Run. In one scene, bounty hunter Robert DeNiro complains of an ulcer. In his custody is Charles Grodin who tells DeNiro that he has an ulcer “because you have two forms of expression: silence and rage.” That’s how I feel about the Tigers…but without the ulcers.

The Quote: “You’re not going to get any help. Don’t expect it. If you want to win the division, you have to win two games.” – Jim Leyland via MLB.com’s Jason Beck on Twitter.

The Stat: 0 – As in 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

Magic Number: 2

Up Next: White Sox @ Tigers

Alfredo Figaro (2-1, 5.73 ERA) vs. Freddy Garcia (2-4, 4.78)

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