Don't believe the hype

According to mLive, Edwin Jackson is "back in form." True, it was a gutsy performance. Edwin somehow pitched seven innings of shutout baseball, despite throwing strikes only 53% of the time. The concern going into the game was that Edwin was tipping his strikeout pitch - the slider. The bigger concern, in my opinion, is control. I did not see much last night to convince me he's addressed either concern.

How the heck did he pitch seven innings without allowing a run, you ask? Because he was pitching against the Indians, currently on a nine game losing streak. Even with a minor league-heavy roster, the Indians still managed to crack the ball against Jackson early in the game. Yet, Jackson escaped damage thanks to a few key plays. In the first, Asdrubel Cabrera hit a wicked liner exactly at Polanco, who caught the ball and tossed to first to double-up Brantley, who had a four-step lead. Shin-Soo Choo, a definite up-and-comer, hammered the next pitch into the gap for a double, but Jackson escaped that inning when Jhonny Peralta popped out.

The next inning, Cleveland had runners at 1st and 2nd with two outs. The next dude, Crowe, hit a single, and the runner at second was foolishly waved home. Raburn's throw home beat the runner by three steps, and Laird applied a solid tag for the final out.

Jackson settled down a bit after that inning, but he continually fell behind batters. He threw first-pitch strikes to 6 of the 27 batters he faced. Admittedly, the umpire had an inconsistent strikezone, which made it difficult for both pitchers. Yet, I'm not convinced Jackson is out of the woods. Cleveland couldn't get any key hits. The Tigers did just enough to eke out the win. A clutch at-bat by Cabrera sealed the deal, as did a fantastic slide by Clete Thomas to earn the 3rd run. The Tigers still were a woeful 1-11 with runners-in-scoring-position. That may never change, though it wouldn't hurt to take Thames out of the lineup. He's brought nothing to the team. For a power hitter, he's knocked in a meager 2 HRs and 12 RBIs since July. For comparison sake, Alex Avila has 5 HRs and 15 RBIs in 30 fewer at-bats.

The Twins won last night to stay 2.5 behind the Tigers. I don't see that team slowing down any time soon, so the Tigers need to keep this 2-game win streak alive. They face a righty tonight, which means Thames will likely sit in favor of Huff.