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Tigers on Life Support...Get The Paddles

After a good weekend in Chicago where the Tigers took two out of three from the White Sox, the Tigers showed they aren't quite dead and buried yet. But they are still under .500 and about a mile out of first place. The chances of the Tigers overcoming the Sox and Twins in the final two months of the season seem insurmountable, but who knows, stranger things have happened in baseball.

It looks like the disappointing season is beginning to take its toll on at least some of the Tigers' tempers. Sunday's game featured a heated exchange between Pitcher Armando Galarraga and catcher Alex Avilla, with Catcher Gerald Laird and other teammates forced to separate the two in the dugout. All of this, of course, was captured by television cameras for fans to see. We don't know what the two were arguing about, but anyone who's ever been in a dugout knows that sometimes even teammates ( or brothers, if you were playing in your backyard) will fight and argue. Usually, it's over quickly and forgotten by the next inning, or at least the next game. It's no secret though, that this has been a very frustrating season for Galarraga. First, being sent to Toledo, then coming back to pitch his near perfect game that was taken away by a bad umpire's call. And ever since that game, Galarraga has been very erratic. He hasn't had a win since June 24th. And Sunday, he couldn't get through the fifth inning with a five one lead that would have given him a victory. He's only got three wins for the entire season, and that's one of the reasons the Tigers have been unable to put together any lengthy winning streaks.

Speaking of starting pitching, right now Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer have been very good at the top of the rotation. Scherzer has been terrific since returning from a brief trip to the game in Toledo. Rick Porcello looks like he has also regained the effectiveness he had in his rookie season. But you never know what you're going to get out of Jeremy Bonderman and Gallaraga. Still, the biggest reason for the Tigers downfall has been hitting, or lack of it. Brennan Boesch has started to show signs of coming out of his second half slump, but he still swings at everything, good and bad pitches, up in the zone or in the dirt. Why aren't Jim Leyland and hitting coach Lloyd McClendon making him watch the video of himself, and working with him to become more patient? Maybe they are, and Boesch isn't listening. But it's an epidemic with the Tigers hitters. Johnny Damon and Miguel Cabrera seem to be the only Tigers who are selective with their pitches, and unfortunately, pitchers have mostly taken the bat out of Cabrera's hands, walking him intentionally 17 times this season, the most in the American League. Some of the other hitters are going to have to pick up the slack.

I have been impressed with Jhonny Peralta, picked up from Cleveland just before the trade deadline. He had his second two homer game as a Tiger on Sunday, and has been solid in the field at third and short. Good pickup without giving up a lot. He hit 23 homers for the Indians in 2008, so it's nice to add some punch to that Tiger lineup.

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