Every traveler has been through it - the helpless wait at an airport for the flight that is going to take you on a fabulous vacation. There's no plane, there's no news on when the plane might arrive and there's nothing to do but wait.
That's what it is like to be a Tigers fan right now. They were expecting to board a non-stop flight through the American League Central and into the postseason, and, with the All-Star break coming up, they are still waiting to fly.
The problem, as Jim Leyland has said all season, is that the Tigers can't get their combinations in order. When the pitching gets going, the hitters are slumping. When the offense picks things up, the defense starts throwing the ball all over the stadium.
That's why a team that went into the season expecting to have an outstanding offense and one of the American League's best pitching staffs struggles in close games - 13-12 in one-run games - and blowouts. The Tigers are 5-6 in games decided by five or more runs. Last season, Detroit was 29-17 in one-run games and 24-18 in blowouts.
Last week, it was the offense didn't show up. The pitching staff only allowed 17 runs in six games, but the Tigers only scored 14 as they went 3-3 against the Reds and Pirates. Two of the three wins came from Justin Verlander, and the third came in a game where Detroit needed 10 innings to score two runs.
The big problem for the Tigers is that, while they have had to deal with a high number of injuries, the offense isn't that beaten up at the moment. Andy Dirks remains sidelined by an Achilles problem, but Quintin Berry has filled in admirably. For things to improve, barring a significant trade, the players already in place are going to have to start hitting.
LAST WEEK
Monday: No game.
Tuesday: TIGERS 6, Cardinals 3. St. Louis sensation Lance Lynn came into the game with a 10-2 record, but the Tigers scored five times off him in five innings and Verlander cruised to a victory.
Wednesday: Cardinals 3, TIGERS 1. Jake Westbrook had often been a thorn in Detroit's side, but that was mostly in the bad old days, when Luis Pujols and Alan Trammell were managing and Westbrook still played in Cleveland. On this day, though, he turned the clock back to 2003 with a complete-game five-hitter, allowing one unearned run.
Thursday: TIGERS 2, Cardinals 1. Jacob Turner comes up from Toledo and gets his first glimpse of major-league success, allowing one run in five innings. It wasn't enough to record the win, but Berry's walk-off single gets the victory in the 10th.
Friday: PIRATES 4, Tigers 1. A.J. Burnett shuts down the struggling Tigers offense with six shutout innings, while Andrew McCutchen gets three hits for Pittsburgh.
Saturday: PIRATES 4, Tigers 1. This time, it is little-known Brad Lincoln who stymies the Tigers with some help from the bullpen. McCutchen hits a three-run homer to gives the Pirates the series, ruining a courageous effort from Max Scherzer just two days after his brother's death.
Sunday: Tigers 3, PIRATES 2. Verlander does what Verlander does, while Berry hits his first career homer before scoring the winning run in the eighth.
WHO'S HOT
Justin Verlander: 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA, and suddenly the talk around him as gone from "why doesn't he have more wins?" to "he's starting the All-Star Game, right?"
Quintin Berry: He only hit .211 for the week, which would normally put him in the next section, but he did have a walk-off hit on Thursday and was the entire offense in Sunday's victory.
WHO'S NOT
Miguel Cabrera: Leyland insisted that Cabrera didn't injure himself on an awkward slide early in Tuesday's win, despite an obvious limp for the rest of the game. Healthy or not, he struggled after that play, and ended the week with a .167 batting average.
Prince Fielder: When the ThunderCats make up the "Who's Not" section, it shows how bad things have gotten for the offense. Fielder hit .182 for the week and his only RBI came on yet another solo homer.
THIS WEEK
Monday: Tigers (Rick Porcello) at Rangers (Justin Grimm), 8:05 p.m.
Tuesday: Tigers (Drew Smyly) at Rangers (Yu Darvish), 8:05 p.m.
Wednesday: Tigers (Doug Fister) at Rangers (Roy Oswalt), 8:05 p.m.
Thursday: Tigers (Max Scherzer) at Rays (James Shields), 7:10 p.m.
Friday: Tigers (Justin Verlander) at Rays (David Price), 7:10 p.m.
Saturday: Tigers (Rick Porcello) at Rays (Alex Cobb), 7:15 p.m.
Sunday: Tigers (Drew Smyly) at Rays (Chris Archer), 1:40 p.m.
