This one could have been won several times by the Tigers as they had several innings with two men on but punchless bats could move anybody to third let alone home.

Some questional coaching moves by Leyland will be second guessed. Bottomline, a nice 8 2/3 scoreless pitching performance by Nate "I can't get no runs support" Robertson will be wasted...

This team is done..

Certainly looks that way. They'll be 2.5 games behind with a 4-gamer against Yanks and no Sheff.

That is 10 straight series losses since the sweep of the Twins in mid July. Nate should go in the clubhouse and start throwing bats and balls at his clubmates. Only ordonez has been able to avoid the slump, the rest of the players must be satisfied with the AL pennant they won last year.

Leyland???has the game passed him by? He gets out managed everygame when it comes to knowing when to pull his starters, when to insert a base runner, and when to call for an intentional walk. Starting to remind me a little of Flip Sr

27 games over .500 after that Twins series to now just nine over and playing a team this weekend that spanked them last weekend. Heard that some of the Yankee players were already in the stands cheering the Indians on....maybe they were just laughing at the Tigers ineptitude

Is it possible that last year was a fluke? And expectations are just too high for this team? Lets look at it objectively.

Our fielders

1. Granderson - young with little experience, strikeout prone, not a typical leadoff player
2. Polanco - steady with bat and glove
3. Sheffield - a power when healthy, but he wasn't for large parts of the season
4. Ordonez - no comment necessary
5. Guillen - solid with the bat for the most part, suspect defensively due to injuries
6. Monroe - struggled and gone
7. Thames - career backup with lots of power, a free-swinger
8. Casey - no power, doesn't walk much
9. Pudge - great catcher, sliding as a batter
10. Infante - career backup, average bat, average defense
11. Inge - great defensively, can't hit worth a lick, constant strikeouts, lost his power

Our pitchers

1. Verlander - a second year with great potential, struggled second half of the season, not used to innings pitched
2. Bonderman - an up and down season, struggled in the second half, just can't get out of the 1st without giving up runs, shown signs of what he could be but has been inconsistent throughout his career. I wonder how much more time does he get.
3. Robertson - your #4 or #5 starter. Struggled mightily this season. Cannot consistently get hitters out.
4. Rogers - injured
5. Miller - great potential, no experience above AA
6. Durbin - career minor leaguer
7. Jurrjens - see Miller
8. Jones - just what you'd expect
9. Zumaya - injured, doesn't look like he's all the way back
10. Rodney - struggled, looks to finally getting his normal self back
11. Rest of bullpen - scrubs with ERA over 5

So, objectively, how much can we expect from this team? For them to achieve some kind of greateness, everything has to fit. Last year they avoided injuries, and looks like some players played over their head. I am hoping it's not the case, but that's what it's looks like so far. It seems like last year was "their" year. Leyland seemed to make all the right moves, pitchers shut the opponents down. Now every move that Leyland makes seems to explode in his face, pitchers can't get people out, bullpen can't hold leads and can't keep team in the game, hitters can't get those "easy" runs in. Just looks like their luck ran out.

__________________
I think the Washington Wizards have got to be the dumbest team in the history of civilization. - C.Barkley

Mik, your comments sum it up in a nutshell. If they get swept this weekend, you can probably say that their season is over.....but as long as the Indians struggle at the plate there is still some hope

Team batting .285 normaly fantastic but the Yanks and Mariners have passed them.
We need the Cheater, pine tar and all, period.
Teach Bondo how to use vaseline.
38 games to go.
Nut up Tigs.
G.D.

I don't know what to think about this team. Bonderman SHOULD be better. Verlander will be very good. Hard to knock a guy who tossed a no-no against a good hitting ballclub in Milwaukee. Miller throws across his body so I'm worried about his longevity. Keep the Gambler but make him the pitching coach and if Leyland complains about his buddy Hernandez being canned, ship Leyland and promote Van Slyke or McClendon. Leyland's magic touch ain't working.

As far as the offense, Shef is a bandaid (who needs a bandaid) and Ordonez is getting older. Granderson will be better moved down in the lineup. Inge is a good athlete and I feel he can LEARN to hit better. Sky's the limit for Maybin. I like Raburn a lot but can he hit the curve ball consistently? Polanco is still the perfect No. 2 hitter. Give Casey his walking papers and move Guillen to first and get a friggin shorstop or convert Raburn, who has a good arm.

But, as TheeTFD says, there are 38 games left and much can still happen. I'm not ready to bury this team yet, but they need a spark. And Casey hitting third ain't gonna cut it. What an idiotic move.

__________________
"I don't believe there's any problem in this country, no matter how tough it is, that Americans, when they roll up their sleeves, can't completely ignore. - George Carlin

I like how Casey puts the ball in play.
Keep rapping out those hits.

Yeah, but he was 0 for 5 in the 3-hole in the finale against Cleveland. He's struggling lately.

What made this team great was clutch hitting. They're doing none of that now. NONE !