--RHP Jeremy Bonderman has rediscovered "Mr. Snappy." Bonderman didn't give up his first hit until the fifth inning thanks to a much sharper slider and a fastball that had a little more life than most of his starts this season. But Bonderman's downfall was when he walked the first two batters of the seventh holding a 3-1 lead, the second of whom gained life when a catchable foul pop fly dropped among three Detroit defenders. Still, Bonderman was flashing the slider he's shown in previous seasons, which for the Tigers was good news.

--1B Miguel Cabrera ended his 12-game streak without an RBI when he lined a two-run home run into the left field seats in the fourth inning, giving Detroit a 3-0 lead. However Cabrera contributed to giving a run away on defense when he failed to come up with a low one-hop throw from 3B Carlos Guillen when Arizona was scoring three times in the seventh to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead. He grounded out meekly to second on an outside pitch to end the game.

--LF Gary Sheffield returned to the outfield just a couple days after his manager said he going to keep him out of the field. Sheffield had to play outfield, however, because it was the only way manager Jim Leyland could get his bat in the lineup in a game in a National League city. He also returned to the third spot in the batting order in hopes that his bat and eye would get him on base a couple of times. Sheffield went 0-for-3 without a walk, however. He probably won't play again in this series. He was removed after six innings for defensive reasons.

--RHP Zach Miner had good velocity on his fastball but couldn't keep it out of the middle of the plate. Miner gave up a couple of key hits in the seventh to right-handed hitters when Arizona took the lead for good. "He's got to do a better job of getting right-handed hitters out," manager Jim Leyland said.

--SS Edgar Renteria returned to the starting lineup and went 1-for-3, equaling his hit total of the previous week. Renteria still doesn't look too comfortable at the plate.

--CF Curtis Granderson continues to be in a slump. Granderson is getting lots of changeups and breaking balls to the outside of the plate and also is getting fooled by the few fastballs he sees. He's hitting defensively instead of attacking the ball. Granderson went hitless Friday night, but he did have a sacrifice fly.

--RF Magglio Ordonez had three hits, half of Detroit's total. He was out trying to stretch a single into a double in the second inning, though. Ordonez seems to be one of the few Detroit hitters headed in the right direction, although he's not hitting with men on base like he did last year.

BY THE NUMBERS
5.55 -- ERA by Detroit starters entering play Tuesday, worst of any rotation in the league.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"They've got to get the job done. And they're all very capable of getting the job done. It's a matter of doing it. But you've got to get it done at some point." -- Manager Jim Leyland, discussing his starting rotation, which has the worst collective ERA in the league.

Copyright (C) 2008 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.