The Pressbox

The Detroit Red Wings are making the Stanley Cup Playoffs look easy. They never looked seriously challenged during Thursday night’s 4-1 win over Dallas in the opener of the Western Conference finals.

Since Chris Osgood replaced Dominik Hasek in goal, they have looked unbeatable. Osgood has been a calming influence for the team. He doesn’t take as many chances as Hasek, so the defenders know where he will be at all times. They can play with more confidence and force the play a little more. Detroit is 7-0 since he took over as the starter in net.

And offensively, the emergence of Johan Franzen as a goal-scoring machine, makes it harder for the opposition to focus on Pavel Datysuk and Henrik Zetterberg.

The Wings are flying high.

Thank you, Placido Polanco.

Polanco’s bloop single in the ninth inning - his fifth hit of the game - saved the Detroit Tigers from one of their most frustrating losses of the season Wednesday night.

The Tigers had a four-run lead several times during the game, but their bullpen kept giving it back. When Boston took a 9-8 lead in the top of the ninth and had closer Jonathan Paplebon coming to the mound, it looked like the Tigers were destined for another loss.

Sure, Detroit got a couple of breaks with a fluke infield hit and an error to start the ninth, but Ivan Rodriguez executed a perfect sacrifice bunt, Curtis Granderson hit the ball to the right side to get the tying run home, then Polanco delivered.

The game quickly went from a devastating loss to the kind of win that can spark a team. The Tigers certainly need some sort of spark.

It wasn’t easy, but the Detroit Pistons survived a tough battle with Orlando last night and now holds a 2-0 series lead.

The Magic put up a good fight, but the Pistons were simply more poised down the stretch. Their many years of playoff experience paid off.

The win puts the Pistons in great position. All they need to do is win one of the next two games in Orlando and they will have a stranglehold on the series. But let’s hope no one tells them that. The Pistons seem to get themselves in trouble when they think things are going well.

Has anyone else noticed that walks are up and that games are lasting longer in Major League Baseball this season?

I attribute that to umpires shrinking the strike zone.

A few years ago their was an emphasis on calling the high strikes. The hitters complained for a while, but then adjusted.

Now, it has gone back to a postage-stamp strike zone from the belt to the knees. Pitches at the letters are supposed to be strikes, but that’s not how they are called. And the corners of the plate seem to be much smaller as well.

I know Major League Baseball loves offense, but give the pitchers a chance. Call the strike zone the way it is written in the rule book.

Don’t look now, but the Detroit Tigers are just 2.5 games out of first place following a win over Texas today to complete a three-game sweep of the Rangers. If the White Sox lose tonight to the Yankees, they will be just two games out.

The people who were writing off the season after the miserable first week might be having some second thoughts.

This team still has some flaws - most noticeably the starting pitchers who can’t seem to go longer than five or six innings - but the bullpen has been outstanding of late and the bats have really come to life.

The Tigers are averaging 13.5 runs a game since Curtis Granderson returned to the lineup.

Just as everyone thought during spring training, Armando Galarraga has been the anchor of the Detroit Tiger pitching staff.

With a win Monday, Galarraga not only became the winningest pitcher for the Tigers this season. He also matched the win total for the entire starting staff. Jeremy Bonderman and Kenny Rogers have one win each and Justin Verlander, Nate Robertson and Dontrelle Willis have yet to win.

Galarraga has been a savior for the Tigers so far. But the bottom line is this: for as much has been said about hitting and the bullpen getting off to bad starts, the Tigers have been betrayed by their starting pitching.

Remember the old Sparky Anderson quote, “If you don’t like Dave Rucker, then you don’t like ice cream”?

Rucker is only remembered by the most hard-core Tiger fans, but that quote works when applied to Chris Osgood.

How can anyone not like the Detroit Red Wing goaltender?

The baby-faced veteran has endured lots of ups and downs in his career, but through it all has maintained his demeanor as a friendly, classy athlete.

It was so great to see him get the shutout Sunday as the Detroit Red Wings closed out their first-round playoff series against Nashville.

Osgood outplayed Dominik Hasek during the regular season, but coach Mike Babcock decided to go with Hasek when the playoffs started. Osgood had good reason to be upset, but he never complained. He just kept working hard and was ready when his opportunity arrived.

Kudos to Babcock for making the switch and to Osgood for making it work.

What a great story it will be if Osgood led the Wings to the Stanley Cup.

Every year the Red Wings seem to turn a goalie into a star in the playoffs.

Who ever heard of Dan Ellis before this playoff series with Nashville started?

Now, he is, as they say, standing on his head to make saves. He made 52 Friday night before Detroit finally got the puck past him in overtime on a nifty move by Johan Franzen.

The bad news for the Wings is that they will see better goalies than Ellis if they continue down the playoff road.

Wow, what a strange night for Detroit sports teams!

With the Red Wings up 2-0 and the Tigers down 5-0 Monday night, it seemed certain that the Wings would continue to fly high and the Tigers were doomed to dip to 2-11.

But the Wings shockingly blew that lead and a 3-2 advantage in the final four minutes and lost 5-2 while the Tigers scored 11 times in their last three at-bats to win 11-9.

The Wings for some reason went into a defensive shell and allowed Nashville to find some life. Even coach Mike Babcock seemed shocked with how conservatively his team played. It was like a football team that goes to a prevent defense in the fourth quarter.

And you know what they say about the prevent defense: It prevents you from winning.

Now, Game 4 in Nashville almost becomes a must-win for Detroit. The Wings must snuff out any hopes the Predators might have for a comeback.

The Tigers still have a long way to before they can say they are back on track. But at least they won a game that could go a long way towards building some confidence.

Mario Impemba and Rod Allen of Fox Sports Detroit seem to have a double standard when it comes to no-hitters.

Last summer when Justin Verlander of the Tigers was throwing a no-hitter, Impemba and Allen refused to utter the the term no-hitter. The explained later that they were honoring the baseball tradition of no one talking about a no-hitter when one was in progress for fear of jinxing the pitcher.

They had no such fear of a jinx Saturday when Gavin Floyd of the Chicago White Sox was twirling a no-hit gem. They could not seem to get through a sentence without saying no-hitter.