Garza holds Tigers Hitless

Rays pitcher Matt Garza baffled the short-handed Detroit Tigers in a 5-0 Tampa victory on Monday night, holding them to only one walk and facing the minimum 27 batters in a masterful performance.  The no-hitter was the first in Rays history; they've only been around since 1998, but still a pretty impressive feat.  Only the Mets (around since 1962) and the Padres (since 1969) are without no-hitters in their franchise histories. 

To me, it doesn't come as a surprise that the Tigers were held hitless by Garza.  Without half of the teams starters and with FIVE rookies in the lineup, I'd be amazed if the Tigers can do anything offensively for the next few weeks (unless they deal for some offense).  Considering the struggles rookie Brennan Boesch has gone through recently, there is really no one in the offense that scares anyone other than Miguel Cabrera.  If I were an opposing coach, I'd intentionally walk Cabrera every single at-bat and dare the other guys to beat me; the fact that other teams aren't doing this so far is very surprising to me.

Looking at the standings, the Tigers fell another game back of the Twins (who demolished the Royals 19-1 Monday night) and the White Sox (6-1 winners over the Mariners).. Without a big deadline deal or some bigger contributions from certain players such as Ryan Raburn and Johnny Damon, the Tigers are going to be on the outside looking in when the postseason rolls around.

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In other news..

* Detroit pitcher Max Scherzer was tremendous in holding the Rays hitless until the 6th inning Monday night and striking out 8 batters.. He's emerged as a solid number 2 starter behind Justin Verlander.

* Dan Haren lost his first start as an Angel, and had to leave the game with a forearm injury; apparently it's nothing serious, but he might miss his next start as a precaution.

* A-Roid is still in search of his 600th career homer after going homerless in Monday night's 3-2 Yankees win over the Indians.  (no, that wasn't a typo.  lol)

* The Rams apparently have pulled out of the T.O. sweepstakes, leaving the Bengals and... The Bengals in competition for his services.  Ochocinco and Carson Palmer are lobbying for his services, so they might bring him in and get something from the mercurial wideout if the price is right.  And of course, things would be a lot easier on Vh1 if both Ochocinco and T.O. were on the same team!  Imagine the marketing opportunities! 

* Is there a more hated man in Tennessee than Lane Kiffin right now?  First he ditches the Vols for USC, and then he steals away one of the Titans coaches to be his offensive coordinator (a move that led to The Titans filing a lawsuit against him).  Apparently he's trying to compete with LeBron for "most hated man by a single fanbase"..

* The Cavs dealt Delonte West to the Timberwolves on Monday.. If they had made that move a few weeks ago, we probably would have seen a different outcome to "The Decision"!!  I mean, we all know LeBron left cuz Delonte boinked his mom, right?  lmao

Injuries Silencing the Tigers Roar

Watching the Tigers since the beginning of the 2010 season, one would be a little frustrated with the inconsistent starting pitching performances and the bats that too-often go silent in big moments. Of course, talented teams often find a way to win and avoid long losing skids; the Tigers have proved resilient enough to hang in the AL Central race all year thus far. First baseman Miguel Cabrera has been incredible since opening day; clearly the alcohol problem that led to GM Dave Dombrowski picking him up from jail during last season's final weekend is a thing of the past. Cabrera's numbers have been MVP-caliber, and rookie Brennan Boesch is a clear favorite to win the AL Rookie of the Year.

Still, injuries to key players in the past week have proven to be devastating. Starting third baseman Brandon Inge is out for at least the next month with a broken hand, and on Saturday both Magglio Ordonez (broken ankle) and Carlos Guillen (strained hamstring) suffered injuries that led to both players being placed on the DL. Thankfully for the Tigers, Guillen's injury doesn't seem serious and he should be back in a couple weeks. Ordonez's injury, on the other hand, is a huge blow to a team that has struggled since the all-star break. He is expected to be out for 6-8 weeks, and it's possible he's played his final game in a Tigers uniform. Considering that Ordonez has been performing way beyond expectations and hitting in the 3-hole protecting Miguel Cabrera, this injury has the potential to derail the Tigers' postseason aspirations altogether.

ESPN.com has reported that the Tigers have an interest in Red Sox 3B Mike Lowell, and a deal to add him to the fold might replace some of the missing offense; but for a Detroit team that has mostly avoided the injury bug up until the past week, things are looking bleaker by the day as the White Sox and Twins keep up their winning ways.