The Pressbox

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.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama recently made a campaign gaffe by attempting to bowl a game. He finished with a 37. I wonder if anyone suggested that he use bumpers?

The question is, my fellow Americans, can we afford to have a leader of the free world who can’t out-bowl Ray Kisonas?