Two Islands, One Soul

Enormous qualifier tonight for the US men's soccer (aka US nats). For those with ESPN Classic, the game supposedly starts at 6:30pm EST, though I predict there will be some pre-game discussion. The US takes on Trinidad & Tobago, who currently reside in last place in the Hex. The two islands with one soul are not mathematically eliminated, so they will be desperate.

Returning for the US team is Oguchi Onyewu, who missed Saturday's match against El Salvador due to yellow card accumulation. His absence was noticeable. I didn't get to watch the match live, so I was forced to watch streaming updates on my computer. I had live streams from ussoccer.com, espn.com, and bigsoccer.com. It was a truly pathetic display, and Mrs. Thatballdontlie silently pitied me as she watched the Tigers come from behind to beat the Rays.

Last night, I finally saw the replay. It wasn't quite as bad as I was led to believe. The fan reports on bigsoccer led me to believe El Salvador ran rough-shod over the US defense. That wasn't exactly the case. In the first half, the US actually played quite well. Bradley used an offense-minded lineup, featuring Benny Feilhaber at center mid. Altidore and Charlie Davies were the strikers. On defense, Chad Marshall replaced the suspended Onyewu, pairing with Boca in the middle. Jonathan Bornstein was the left fullback, with Spector on the right.

No doubt the gameplan was to attack. It was an extremely exciting first 45, with the US regularly pressuring the El Salvador goal. Charlie Davies almost opened the scoring by fending off two defenders and narrowly shooting wide. Dempsey also had an excellent chance in front of net off a cross, but his shot went wide. Later, after some great one-touch passing by Feilhaber and Donovan, Altidore had the ball in the box. He slid the ball across the goal to Charlie Davies who's shot was cleared off the line by a defender. Meanwhile, El Salvador played their counter-attack perfectly. Thanks to regular US turnovers, the Salvadorans had plenty of opportunities to score, and that's exactly what they did in the 32nd minute. Bornstein, facing his own goal, tried to clear the ball over his head. The clearance went right to the middle of the field, where a Salvadoran player crossed to a well-marked Castillo. Castillo out-jumped Spector and headed home the ball slightly over Howard's arms. Poor efforts by Bornstein, Spector, and, especially, Howard, who was uncharacteristically out of position. While this wasn't the first El Salvador chance, it was definitely against the run of play. Prior to the goal, the US did seem destined to win, but the awful gaffes (often by Spector and Bornstein) gave El Salvador confidence.

Credit the US players for rising to the occasion. They didn't take long to capitalize. Nine minutes later, Dempsey finally converted on his third golden attempt. Off a restart from Donovan, Dempsey headed a shot into the corner. The Salvadoran defense was trying an off-sides trap, and a few yanks were in an offsides position. But not Dempsey. The refs must've felt the other yanks weren't involved in the play, as they let the goal stand. I recall that same situation in the US's world cup match against Italy in '06. That time, they did say the US was offsides (McBride). So, this rule is entirely subjective. Yay.

The US continued to pressure. After some excellent work by Donovan and Bocanegra, Donovan sent another cross into the box. An unmarked Altidore calmly headed the ball into the net. 2-1 US. Halftime.

In the 2nd half, the Altidore scored another. Dempsey won the ball at midfield and fed Altidore for a breakaway. Altidore easily beat his man and scored. Yet, the ref disallowed the goal, claiming a foul on Dempsey. Replays showed it was an absolutely horrendous call. If the US received a gift from the ref on that first goal, the ref quickly took the gift away on this call. The US had another breakaway from Dempsey later in the game, but his shot went right at the keeper.

The final minutes were desperate for both teams. Two American subs, Stuart Holden and Jose Torres, made an immediate impact. Holden sent a sharp cross to Torres who sent a wicked header toward the net. The keeper made a sprawling, highligh-reel save. Minutes later, El Salvador had an excellent opportunity after the ball spent an eternity in the US box. From about six yards out, a Salvadoran player shot low toward the net. Howard dove right and smothered the ball to preserve the lead, and the game. 2-1 US final.

While the game did produce some ulcer-inducing moments, the US did eventually prevail. While not playing particularly well, they dodged a bullet. Offensively, the US was strong. Feilhaber added quite a bit to the attack. But Michael Bradley seemed out of sorts. The midfield regularly left a ton of space for El Salvador. With Spector and Bornstein not sharp, the defense was exposed. Boca and Marshall played well overall, as did Charlie Davies and Altidore. And Donovan was simply superb. He showed he's as good as any other player in Concacaf. Yet, Coach Bradley needs to address that defense. Perhaps part of the problem is the lack of a strategy. What sort of team is the US? Possession? Counter-attack? Bradley has a different gameplan for each game. With super-talented players, that shouldn't be a problem. The US is not super-talented. My hope is that Bradley imposes a more possession oriented attack. Keep the Latin American teams from controlling all the space.

Tonight, if the US does not play solid defense, T&T could easily put up 3 goals. Winning on the road in the Hex is rare, but the US did win in Trinidad during the last qualifying campaign. The US will be confident, and it'll be nice having Gooch back. Charlie Davies nicked his calf during the El Salvador match, so he may be unavailable. Ching may get the nod, and that's a pretty severe drop-off. I also bet Feilhaber will see the bench in favor of defense-minded Ricardo Clark. I'd prefer to see Michael Bradley sit, as he's not in great form. Will the coach bench his own son? One can hope, since Feilhaber is truly coming into his own as an attacking midfielder. He's also the best dribbler of the lot.

The current standings of the Hex are extremely tight. A mere 1 point separates the first team and the team in fourth. Mexico has a weak schedule the rest of the way, and should breeze into the top two spots. The US has a tougher road. Normally a draw on the road would be acceptable. Not this time.

A Sweep?

Just a flat-out amazing weekend for the Tigers. They swept the Rays in Tropicana field for the first time since that stadium opened in 1998. Making the feat all the more amazing is that the Tigers came from behind in all three victories.

The Rays are no slouch. They entered the series with the same record as the Tigers and desperately needed victories to stay in the wildcard hunt. Yet, the Tigers bats, quiet against the starters, absolutely pummeled the Rays' bullpen. Tied 1-1 going into the 9th on Friday, the Tigers put up 3 runs, thanks to timely at-bats by RyRa, Thames, Everett, Granderson, and Polanco. They even scored a run with the Tigers' newfound best friend - the sacrifice fly. Rodney's shaky pitching in the 9th likely caused a hundred ulcers in Metro Detroit, but he somehow maintained the lead by the 3rd out. Leyland, clearly irked, said Rodney would sit out the next two games (publicly citing "pitch count").

With Galarraga pitching on Saturday, the Rays took a commanding 6-3 lead in the 3rd, knocking Galarraga out of the game. Somehow, the Tigers' bullpen kept the Rays off the board the rest of the way, and the Tiger bats came alive in the 7th and 8th. With an 8-6 lead, Leyland gave the ball to Brandon Lyon to close it out. Lyon answered the call with a shockingly easy 1-2-3 inning.

Then Sunday seemed to be the Rays day. With sparkling defensive plays robbing countless Tiger hits, the Rays led 3-1 through eight innings. Edwin Jackson, touched up for 3 runs early, settled down and hardly allowed a hit the rest of the day. Yet, the Tigers bats did nothing against the Rays' starter. In the 9th, facing the bullpen, Guillen led off the inning with a strikeout. Then Cabrera earned a walk. Thames, in a shocking display of patience, also walked. Up next was Maggs. Disparaged all season, Maggs delivered with an opposite-field single to load the bases. Down 2-runs, with 1 out, Tiger strikeout king, Brandon Inge, stepped up to the plate. With his knee "killing" him, Inge choked up on the bat after he fell behind 1-2. The next pitch sailed outside to even the count. Then the skies parted, and God pointed to Inge and said, "It shall be done." Inge clocked that 2-2 pitch all the way to the left-field seats. You could see Brandon say "Wow" as the ball sail out.

Super-hot Polanco followed Inge's homer with a triple, but the Tigers couldn't bring him home. Lyon pitched another 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth for his second save in 2 days. No doubt Rodney's leash is getting shorter and shorter.

All I needed to see

While I regularly dig on the Lions, I do in fact usually enjoy the preseason games. They tend to be bizarre, off-kilter affairs, with 5th stringers deciding the outcome. Perhaps it's the 0-16 hangover or simply Lions-fatigue, but I missed the first three games this year. I did watch a bit of the 4th game last night. On the Lions first possession, Aveion Cason opened up with an impressive 7 yard gain up the gut. On the next play, Stafford was sacked for a ten yard loss. On 3rd and long, Stafford hit Calvin Johnson on the sideline with a pinpoint pass that CJ almost broke for a TD. After another 30 yard gain to Calvin, the Lions were in Bills' territory. Stafford quickly threw another bomb. Calvin, double-covered raced past the defenders and caught the ball for a touchdown.

Wait. This is the Lions.

Flag. Holding on Jeff Backus. Bring the ball back.

On the next play, Stafford was blind-sided and fumbled the ball. Thank you again, Jeff Backus. Ladies and Gents, these are your 2009 Detroit Lions!

The Return of Gum Time!
The Tigers somehow pulled off an extra-inning win yesterday despite managing only 5 hits. Clete Thomas gave the Tigers a 3-0 advantage with a 2-run triple in the 7th, and it looked like smooth sailing against the weak-hitting Tribe. Yet, Fu Te Ni quickly lost the lead after facing just 4 batters. Both Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo notched 2-out hits to score 3 in the 8th. Miner relieved Fu Te Ni and pitched remarkably well into the extra innings, not allowing another hit.

RyRa led off the bottom of the 10th with a sharp double. Cleveland then walked Cabrera. I was begging for Maggs to lay down a bunt until they showed a stat that he hadn't sacrifice-bunted in 11 years (!!). Nevertheless, he was walked on 5 pitches. With the bases jacked and Polly at the plate, Cleveland brought in the infield. Polly swung and badly missed the first pitch in the dirt. On the next one, he sent a flyball to center-field, not terribly deep. Sizemore made the catch and threw home. Surprisingly, RyRa easily tagged-up and scored. I thought there would be a play at the plate, but Raburn's speed must be better than I thought.

Lost in the late-inning drama was Nate Robertson's quality start. He pitched 6 scoreless innings on a mere 80 pitches. My guess is he'll continue in the rotation, perhaps giving Washburn a few days off to rest an ailing knee. Blanking this Cleveland team does not mean Nate's ready to face the Yankees or Red Sox, but it's no doubt Nate's best start in years. The past two years, he's struggled against everybody. Well done, Gum Time!

Sad News
For those outside of Detroit, I doubt this story will get much coverage. I found out this morning that Ernie Harwell has "incurable cancer." He likely only has a few more months with us. While we've been blessed with fantastic announcers in Detroit (including the current team of Mario and Rod), Ernie Harwell will forever be my voice of the Tigers. He's a legend.

Tiger Fans

I just don't understand. There was a blog on mLive about Magglio's contract situation - perhaps the most popular Tiger topic all season, and the comments were exceptionally hateful. Why the incessant Magglio bashing? He got three hits last night, and he hit .348 for the month of August. The only remaining knock on the guy is that he's not producing runs. His RBI total remains shockingly low. Yet, for such a slow dude, he is 5th on the team in runs.

In about two weeks, his $18million guarantee will kick-in. Yes, that's too much money for a singles hitter, but there's always the possibility that Magglio could get hot next season (one can hope). There are way worse contracts for fans to bitch about. Start with Sheffield... the Tigers are paying him $13.6million to play for another team. Then there's Jeremy Bonderman. Bondermania pitched 4 innings, gave up 3 HRs and 6 earned runs and will cash in $12.5million for this season. The D-Train actually puts Bondermania to shame, for he pitched 33.2 innings. Of course, he gave up 28 runs, but at least he stuck around for more than a game. D-Train, who's now issuing walks and runs in Toledo will run away with $10million this year. And Mr. Robertson will look to justify his $7million paycheck with a quality start today.

The absolute worst news about all those contracts is that they're also on the books for next season. Magglio's $18million doesn't look so bad in comparison. Is he worth it? Of course not, but he's the least of the worries. The Tigers are on the hook already for $85million in 2010, and that does not include out-of-contract Polanco, Laird, Lyon, Seay, Rodney, and two small pieces to the starting rotation called Justin Verlander and Edwin Jackson (who will be due massive raises). So, keep buying tickets and merchandise and Little Caesars pizzas. Keep this team afloat!

And then there was one

Lions released cornerback Keith Smith, who, according to Tom Kowalski, was their best player in the secondary last year. That's like saying he had the best hair amongst a group of bald men.

With Keith Smith gone, only Ernie Sims remains from the 39 players Millen drafted from '02-'06. For comparison sake, a good team like New England has 14.

A little worried about Edwin

For most of the season, Edwin Jackson was the Tigers most consistent pitcher. His excellent first half resulted in an All-star appearance, and he carried a sub-3.00 ERA all the way through August. Yet, I've noticed he's lost a bit of command. In his past few starts, he's survived mainly on overpowering hitters with his fastball. His curve isn't dropping into the strikezone, and he's regularly falling behind in the count.

Last night, Edwin fell quickly behind rookie Matt LaPorta and then eventually worked the count full. LaPorta hadn't yet swung in the at-bat and waited patiently for Edwin's 3-2 pitch and powered the fastball into deep center for a double. It was strange watching a young kid seemingly out-think Edwin. Since neither his fastball nor curve were finding the strikezone with regularity, the Tribe knew they could sit on a desperation pitch down the middle.

No, the sky is not falling, but it is a bit worrisome that Edwin's ERA in August was 4.45. He's only pitched into the 7th inning once in his last five starts. He's a young pitcher (25) who will no doubt exhibit some inconsistency, but, with a weak hitting team like the Tigers, the workhorse starters like Edwin need to overachieve.

One more for Nate
Nate's 4 decent innings against the Rays earned him another start. With the other lefty starter (Washburn) serving up long-balls with the regularity of the US Mail, most fans are clamoring for the popular Nate to take his spot. Detroit fans, never known for their patience, need to remember that 4 innings does not a season make. Further, Nate hasn't pitched with any consistency since early '07. In fact, his starts have been downright painful. Washburn, prior to coming to Detroit, carried a 2.6 ERA. Let's not throw him to the wolves just yet.

I'd love for Nate to experience a minor comeback, but I realize that's not likely. If he can gain some quality starts between now and October, I'd be thrilled. We'll have to keep our eye on Galarraga too. He's pitching in Toledo on Friday then will rejoin the varsity squad on Saturday.

Bonderman, by the way, is back. He and four others arrived from Toledo yesterday. Among that group is catcher Dusty Ryan. Having a 3rd catcher will open up more opportunities for Alex Avila to pinch hit late in games.

The Hardest Working Piston

Please accept this rare foray outside the sports world. This post is about Dave Bing, current mayor of Detroit. After replacing the ousted Kwame earlier this year, Mayor Bing spent the first few months behind closed doors. There were grumblings that he was as inactive as any other Detroit mayor. In early August, Bing broke his silence. He said he spent those first few weeks poring over the city's finances. To the shock of no one, the city is in major financial turmoil - a $300million budget deficit.

Catering to nobody, Mayor Bing proposed massive cuts across the board, including eliminating **gasp** 1,000 city employees, "We can't afford to carry 13,000 employees." The unions, of course, are fighting back. Many, including the bus drivers, are threatening to strike. But Bing is approaching this like a businessman, not a politician. There's no middle-ground. He's like the consultant that comes into your business to hack-off the unnecessary limbs. The fact is that the City of Detroit is a business, and it's in disrepair. It desperately needs this type of leadership to achieve ground zero. When Bing achieves financial stability, he can start to rebuild in a healthy and productive and, hopefully, legal manner.

Evidently, 50 bus drivers called in sick on Saturday, and the city received no complaints. "That's at least 50 drivers we don't need," he said. I love it. You just don't hear politicians talk like that. Bing also wants to eliminate paid lunches and daily overtime for city employees. Paid lunches? Who's bright idea was that? And what city in financial ruin can possibly afford overtime pay? These are obvious concessions, and it's likely most sensible individuals will support Bing's plan. The main complainers, of course, will be those who will no longer get their paid lunch, or, worse, those that get laid off. Those folks have my sympathy. Yet, Detroit is a sinking ship. The city employees are now feeling the effects of the massive corruption of recent administrations.

Tayshaun for Stephen Jackson?
Stephen Jackson recently said he wants out of Golden State. Can't blame him for that. A fellow Piston blogger suggested that Dumars offer Tayshaun for Jackson. That seems like a bad trade to me. While Jackson offers much more scoring punch than Tayshaun, I think the trade would kill the team's tenuous chemistry. Every team needs "glue" players like Tayshaun. Trading for Jackson smacks of the Knicks-style of rebuilding -- land as many big names as possible and see what happens.

Perhaps if the season starts poorly, Dumars can revisit this trade. Tayshaun started off on an all-star level last year then tailed off. His veteran presence and leadership will be key this year. Let's hope he steps up to the plate.