Jim Cowan

Leadoff double, 2 sac flies, tie game

Cabrera: In play, run(s)

Javy Baez, leadoff double.

And then a 5 pitch inning!

Brieske, nice inning, 43 pitches through 3

Tigers explode for 2 runs!

Welcome back Baddoo!

Kody Clemens in July, .773.

The rest of the guys have to be absolutely fed up with this. There are 2 possible reasons why Hinch keeps putting him in the lineup: (a) Hinch truly believes that he can "get Grossman going" by giving him constant playing time, and his judgement is clouded by a long relationship with him (b) Hinch is knowingly playing Grossman ahead of better alternatives, hoping he will heat up before the trade deadline The worse explanation by far is (b). It means that Hinch is deliberately not putting his best lineup on the field, hoping to improve the value of an asset. Not trying everything he can do to win every night. I still think it is (a), that he is making lousy decisions based on personal loyalties. But whichever reason it is, the rest of the players have to be just rolling their eyes.

Grossman batting third, with his .531 OPS in July so far.

I was thinking the same thing, the situations are very similar I think.

Clemens would not have been my choice. Grossman is finished, the other players all know it, and they won't be happy about carrying a teacher's pet on the roster.

I am just having a hard time even caring about this story. He doesn't want to play? Fine, I don't care, I was never emotionally invested in him. So don't pay him. Oh wait, maybe legally you have to pay him? I don't care, it's not my money, and yes it is eating up some Chris I baseball budget but I don't care, at all, I mean less than zero. He is like Johnny Depp to me, why do I have to keep hearing about this? I don't care. At all.

Yes it seems like he keeps exceeding expectations and people in the organization are surprised by it. I still think back to that article about him changing his swing on his own last winter, first with some advice from Robson and then from a pro hitting coach. And not, pointedly, not working with anyone from the new improved Tigers player development staff. The last guy who reinvented his swing on his own like that was JD Martinez. Here's another weird stat for Carpenter, he has been caught stealing 5 times in 13 games at Toledo, with 1 successful steal. What exactly is the vaunted new player development staff up to there? Detroit Tigers - MotownForums.com

I want to see Perez in Toledo before the end of the season.

Baddoo was 2 for 3 including a double, with 2 walks. Carpenter had 4 hits (3 doubles). Baddoo is now.305/.413/.505

It's not going to happen. He isn't going to accept any humiliating front office position. There is no reason why he should.

He will play next year.

Ha ha ha, that's funny, Ben Verlander getting on Angel Hernandez. That tells you what the players think about him.

Wait...didn't Stewart Rhodes already alter his physical appearance by shooting himself in the face? Hahahahahaha, what a pathetic terrorist.

I remember playing under the lights all through my teenage years and never "losing one in the lights" but I did lose one once in the setting sun in Fort Erie, just across the river from Buffalo. I was playing right field, looking due west into a blazing sunset, and a lefthanded batter hit a line drive at me and I lost it immediately, so I had to set up where I thought the ball was headed and it hit me in the forearm which was pretty good route recognition on my part, I thought at the time. Most importantly though, it did not hit me in the nuts.

That seems doable now, a week ago it was a fantasy. I look at those division standings and I see the possibility, 4 weeks from now, of being in second place.

That is very odd isn't it. You would think that a key task for the MLB office would be to set broadcasting standards to require the highest quality and best revenue potential for each franchise. I'm surprised that Roger Goodell hasn't done that, it would seem...oh, wait. I'm sorry...it's Rob Manfred isn't it. Sorry...just ignore me.

Yeah, it feels like 2 wins every time when it is in the division.

36-47 looks so much different from 30-47, it really does. Now we need to see a 45-34 finish from here, for a .500 season. The keys are Torkelson and Baddoo, guys who did not contribute anything during the first half.