The first seven inning of the Tigers afternoon game against the Orioles went pretty well.  Magglio Ordonez hit a two run homerun in the first and Curtis Granderson followed that up with a solo shot in the third to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.  Unfortunately, Nate Robertson didn’t have his best stuff and while he only gave up two runs, that was close enough for Fernando Rodney to lose it in the eighth inning.

Robertson pitched out of three big jams.  He left the bases loaded in the third and fifth innings and he left two men on in the fourth inning, which was the one where the Orioles scored twice.  The Tigers blew a big opportunity in the fifth inning.  They loaded the bases with nobody down and then didn’t score a single run. 

And of course the Orioles made them pay for that in the eighth.  The Brian Roberts single was somewhat acceptable but then he hit David Newhan.  A double steal and a double later and the Tigers lead was gone.

Three pieces of good news.  One, the Twins are losing 4-0 and Josh Beckett is looking really good (the game is on ESPN2).  Two, the Tigers head to Kansas City to play a Royals team they’ve done very well against.  Three, the Tigers have the tie breaker with the Twins.  So if they end up tied, because the Tigers and Twins are in the same division, the Wild Card goes to the loser of the season series.  The Tigers won the season series 11-9 so if the two teams end in a tie, the Tigers are division champs.  I know that’s little consolation but with only nine games left, it could be big.

It’s Wil Ledezma going up against Luke Hudson tomorrow.

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