I know Erik Bedard is an excellent young lefty starter, and I know he's capable of shutting down teams. But the Tigers offense showed again why this just might be a .500 season -- all season.
Manager Jim Leyland said the Tigers did a "bad job" of hitting, and how many times has he said that in 86 games? Bedard was throwing his curveball time and time again, and the Tigers just never seemed to be able to adjust. OK, he was just wild enough to keep hitters off balance, and he was just bulldoggish enough to work out of any tight spot. But what I keep asking myself is when are the Tigers going to adjust to a pitcher? When are these high-priced hitters going to go the other way with a curveball or look for a first-pitch fastball, whatever the situation dictates?
Too many of the Tigers are set in the offensive ways: Sheffield, Renteria, Pudge (collectively 1-for-11 yesterday) ... we can go on.
Ordonez, who is injured, and Guillen are two who can and often do adjust. Polanco, too. Granderson is a nice work in progress. But too many of the other guys just seem so set in their ways. When they are on, they are very, very good. But when they are off, they look silly. There is simply NO in between.
So, the Tigers are five back of the Twins, who won again, and six back of the ChiSox, the Central leaders. I think this is how it's going to be all season. The Tigers have had their run, so now it's going to be a second half of third place. A second-half futile chase.
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