Jays eff up, and Tigers win!

The Tigers are struggling, so they'll take a win any way they can. In the first inning, the Blue Jays starter, a recent call-up from Triple-A, gave up a homerun and two walks without registering an out. Mighty Cabrera stepped up to the plate and promptly struck out on 3 pitches. Thames and Inge followed. Weak at-bats by those two let this pitcher off the hook, and it wouldn't be the last time. The Tigers did manage to score a 2nd run in the 5th, thanks to a fortuitous call by the 1st place umpire. Replays showed Laird to be out at first, but the umpire called him safe. Laird was sacrificed to second, and then Rayburn singled him home. Verlander, cruising through the first five innings without giving up a run, absolutely imploded in the 6th. With six straight hits, the Blue Jays opened up a 5-2 lead.

It looked like the game was all but decided. The weak-hitting Tigers could not hit in the clutch, save for Rayburn. Rayburn, by the way, has 12 home runs this season - almost double Maggs in half the at-bats. Thanks to scoreless innings by Fu-Te Ni and Bonderman, the Tigers were still only down 3 in the bottom of the 9th.

Granderson led off the inning with a grounder to the shortstop. Perhaps the ball took a wicked hop or maybe it was knuckling over the infield. Either way, the Jays' shortstop, Scutaro, completely botched it, and Granderson safely reached first. Next to bat was pinch hitter, Alex Avila. The confident catcher pulled a sharp single into right field, advancing Granderson to 3rd. Jim Leyland continued to trot out lefties, as he had Aubrey Huff pinch hit for Santiago (who, technically, is a switch hitter, but perhaps Leyland was playing a hunch). With a surprise rainstorm descending on Comerica Park, Huff wiped the raindrops off his bill and watched the Jays pitcher throw two wild balls. Huff dried the bat on his jersey, wiped his bill again, and sent that 2-0 fastball deep into the seats in the right field. The second the ball left the bat, Huff flipped the bat aside and smiled, knowing he finally arrived as a Tiger. As he jubilantly celebrated with the players in the dugout, you could sense a weight was lifted off the poor dude's shoulders.

The Jays got the next three batters out, but the momentum was clearly in the Tigers' favor. In the top of the 10th, new shortstop Dlugach botched his first grounder, but Bobby Seay and Ryan Perry combined for the next three outs. The Blue Jays brought out another minor league call-up, Wolfe, to pitch the bottom of the 10th. With the opposition batting .392 against Wolfe, it was only fitting that Thames would strike out. Yet, old reliable Brandon Inge wisely let Wolfe walk him on five pitches. Granderson, no fool himself, also let Wolfe walk him on five pitches. With one out and runners at 1st and 2nd, it was time for Avila to be a hero yet again. He swung at the first pitch, sending a weak grounder to the first baseman.

It seemed like a certain double-play, assuming the pitcher could outrun Avila and cover 1st base. The first baseman fielded it cleanly and whipped the ball to 2nd. Shortstop Scutaro caught the ball, touched second base, grabbed the ball from his mitt, reached back to throw to first, and....

Watched in agony as the ball dribbled out of his fingers.

Inge, hustling toward third, alertly powered home as the ball slowly crept toward the 3rd baseman. There was no play at the plate as Inge slid home safely. The bench cleared and crowded a shocked Avila who's weak grounder miraculously proved to be the game winner. So, the Jays effed up, and the Tigers won. After losing 5 of 6, the Tigers will take it.

The good news from this game is that the bullpen pitched well. The bad news is that Verlander completely unravelled. It's hopefully an aberration, because, without a dominant Verlander, there's simply no hope.