By DAVE HOGGFOX Sports Detroit
On Friday's "Lunch With Art" webcast, I said that I thought Jose Valverde was injured. His motion looked wrong in Game 4, and even though he's never lights-out, he's not usually that bad.
Nothing I saw tonight changes my mind. When you throw pitches that Ichiro's pulling out of the park, something is seriously wrong. He couldn't finish off Teixeira, and then he put one on a tee for Raul Ibanez.
He's got to be done as the closer, whether he's hurt or not. Justin Verlander looked like he was going to throw up watching Ibanez's homer. Prince Fielder didn't even bother to turn around and watch the ball. Miguel Cabrera punched a Gatorade container. His teammates don't have any confidence in him, so you can't keep sending him out there.
Despite the myths that old-school baseball people perpetuate, there's no magic to the ninth inning. Use the pitcher that fits the matchups. Use more than one pitcher in the ninth. Treat it like you would any other inning. Just get the games over.
