Hardball Heaven

Less than 24 hours after a complete dismantling of the horrible Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the Red Sox traveled to Mitt Romney's "home" state last night to play one of the best teams in baseball. The Tigers have it all - great pitching, studs in the lineup, a good bullpen, and Jim Leyland as manager. Not too shabby. This could be a preview of the ALCS. The Tigers probably feel they have some unfinished business after losing to an inferior St. Louis Cardinals team in last year's World Series.

Last night's opener, unfortunately, didn't go our way. It's almost like the Sox conceded this one before it began. At 4:00, when I heard that Ortiz and Youkilis were out of the lineup and that Jeff Bailey (??) had been called up to spot-start at first, I knew it wasn't going to be a fun night. Tavarez got boxed around pretty good (8 runs) and the Sox couldn't solve young lefty Andrew Miller, who looked pretty impressive. Final score was 9-2, with Marcus Thames' grand slam putting the nail in the coffin. In the final analysis, Tito may have left Tavarez in a little too long. He was getting hit very hard in the 2nd inning, and it was pretty clear to me (3 Coronas in) that he just didn't have it.

The call-up of Bailey - and demotion of Jacoby Ellsbury - also was curious. If the Tigers had had a righty going last night, would the lefty-hitting Ellsbury have stuck around? The kid provided a jolt and got on base. The only thing I can think of is that the organization doesn't want him to get too comfortable and content. Francona really played the 'let's not put him in the Hall of Fame' card in describing why the team made the move. Others have surmised that Ellsbury's backing off a fly ball he was chasing with J.D. Drew showed that he has some things to work on.

The lead is now 11 over both Toronto and the Yankees. Tough one tonight - Kason Gabbard goes against Jeremy Bonderman, who might be feeling a little slighted after not being named to the AL all-star team. Never a good thing.

I'll be at a freaking "Lucky 7" wedding tonight, so the first order of business will be to scope out where the TV is.