The Pressbox

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.

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.

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.

The Tigers have not yet made it official, but the team has agreed to an eight-year, $152.3 million contract extension with Miguel Cabrera. That’s a ton of money (the fourth-largest contract in baseball behind Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Manny Ramirez), but it is an investment the Tigers had to make.

Cabrera is one of the brightest young stars in baseball. They could not afford to let him walk away after trading so much of their future to get him.

The deal also speaks to the change of atmosphere in Detroit. A few years ago, the Tigers had to overpay to get free agents to even think about playing for them. Now, Cabrera says he is happy with his new team and wants to play in Detroit for “a lot of years.”

Is anyone else concerned that there has been little or no talk about a contract extension for Miguel Cabrera?
The Tigers were quickly able to get Dontrelle Willis to agree to an extension after the blockbuster trade with the Florida Marlins.
I like the trade if they can get Cabrerra locked up longterm. But if it turns out to be Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin for Willis and a brief rental of Cabrera, I don’t like it nearly as much.

I also posted this message at www.letstalktigers.com. Check out that new Evening News site for the latest Tiger talk.

Curtis Granderson is coming off a breakthrough season.

The Detroit Tiger center fielder became just the third person in baseball history to record 20 doubles, 20 triples, 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in the same season.

And he got rich recently, signing a five-year, $30 million contract extension.

So, how did he spend his offseason? Certainly not resting on his laurels.

He did a lot of working out and was part of a baseball goodwill mission to Africa. Granderson is so committed to his job that he reported Lakeland, Fla., for spring training a week before the pitchers and catchers had to report. He didn’t have to get there until next week.

You have to love this guy. He has a sparkling personality, is an ambassador for the game, hustles all the time, is driven to be great and plays with a smile on his face.

It looks like the Tigers made a good investment by extending his contract.

Everyone said that Tiger fans would fall in love with Dontrelle Willis and I can see why.
He was not in Detroit Thursday to sign that big contract. He was in town to do charity work with the Children’s Home Society. Willis gets traded to a new team and immediately gets involved in the community. You have to love that.
He showed an engaging personality at Thursday’s press conference. At one point he was asked about the Tigers signing Miguel Cabrera to a long-term deal and he said, “That’ll be for a lot more money than what I got.”
There is a bit of a risk here for the Tigers. Willis is coming off his worst season and wasn’t all that great the year before. Also, pitchers who move from the National League to the American League generally struggle at first.
But it is worth the risk. The Tigers now have Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bonderman and Willis signed through 2010.

What a miserable weekend it was for sports fans in southeast Michigan.

Two frustrating Detroit Tiger losses were combined with a humiliating loss for the University of Michigan football team.

It might have signalled the end of championship hopes for both.

Michigan still has a lot of season to play, but teams that lose to Appalachian State don’t generally win national championships.

As for the Tigers, the weekend summed up how frustrating the season has become.

They made a nice comeback to tie Oakland in the ninth inning Friday night, only to lose in the 10th.

Then on Sunday, they built a 7-0 lead only to let it slip away in a 10-inning loss. It was a golden opportunity to gain ground on the rest of the teams in the playoff hunt with the Yankees, Indians and Mariners all losing.

The Tigers finished a six-game road trip to Kansas City and Oakland - two teams out of contention - with a 2-4 record. That’s not how you launch a playoff run.

I guess we’re just lucky the Detroit Lions didn’t play Sunday to add to the misery.