Do I have to write another woeful recap about a terrible Tigers pitching performance?  I think we're tapped out on those.  And I'm sure you don't want to read another one.  Unless I could find another photo of a train wreck, explosion, or sinkhole. 

So tonight, we'll try something different.  This recap is dedicated to bowing before our Baltimore overlords.  What Melvin Mora and Luke Scott have done to Detroit Tigers pitching this season is akin to barbarians destroying a village.  I can imagine Dave Tremblay gathering his team in the clubhouse after today's game, asking them to form a circle around him, Mora, and Scott, and asking his two sluggers the following question:

"What is best in life?"

To which Mora and Scott would respond in unison, "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of the women." 

Here's some lamenting for you: Today, Mora went 5-for-6 with two homers and six RBIs.  In this three-game series, he hit 10-for-13 for a .769 average.  He slammed three home runs, and drove in 10 runs.  In seven total games against Detroit this season, Mora has a .572 average (16-for-28) with six homers and 17 RBIs. 

Scott wasn't quite as dominating in this series, today's 3-for-6, 2 homer, four RBI performance notwithstanding.  But in his seven games against the Tigers this year, he's batted .542 (13-for-24) with five home runs and 12 RBIs. 

These two guys are stone cold Tiger killers.  If you saw two gentlemen walking toward a team bus with fresh tiger skins draped over their shoulders, wearing the heads of those beasts as hats, chances are it was Mora and Scott.  Wearing fur in 80-plus degree weather.  That's how fearsome this pair was.

For the second time in three days, the Orioles' lineup hung double-digit runs on a Tigers pitching staff that may as well be throwing the ball underhanded.  And we can't even blame today's 16 runs on favorite BYB whipping boy, Nate Robertson.  No, Zach Miner had easily his worst start of the season, one in which he couldn't even make it out of the second inning.  In just 1 1/3 innings, Miner virtually turned to quivering jello on the mound, giving up five runs, six hits, and four walks.  Coming into today, Miner had only given up seven earned runs and walks in five starts. 

But Baltimore scored 11 more runs, and we have the bullpen to thank for that.  Casey Fossum: four runs.  Aquilino Lopez: four runs.  Francis Beltran: three runs.  Fail, fail, fail.  These guys weren't just gas cans today; they were tanker trucks full of petrol.  And the Orioles treated that tanker truck like the 18-wheeler Batman flipped tail-over-head in The Dark Knight.  And he needed a bad-ass motor scooter with grappling hooks and cables to pull that off.  The Orioles just needed sticks of maple and ash.  And, of course, that generous Tigers pitching serving the baseball up on a tee. 

What a total traveshamockery.  Detroit needs the Tigers to go on a seven-day road trip to get the smell of this homestand out of Comerica Park.

Roll Call

We had an active GameThread, but unfortunately, it sort of turned into accident gawking right away.  By the end, men and women were trading cheesecake and beefcake photos.  Those that remained, anyway.  This is what we've been reduced to.

Thanks to wepri31, rook34, densogirl, ThaWalrus9, Juskimo, explosivo2k2, Rogo, Boney, spotstarters, gf206, and Wingz for viewing the carnage.

Freddy Dolsi was optioned to Triple-A Toledo after this afternoon's 5-1 victory over Toronto.  The roster move makes room for Todd Jones, who will be activated from the disabled list before tomorrow night's series opener vs. Baltimore. 

Like The Detroit Tigers Weblog, I figured Francis Beltran would go back to Toledo once Jonesy returned, since Dolsi was already on the major league roster.  But Dolsi has struggled with his control recently (seven walks in his last seven innings), while Beltran had been on quite a roll in his last 10 appearances (0.79 ERA, and a 16/2 K/BB ratio) with the Mud Hens.  Maybe last night's outing scoreless 2 2/3 innings influenced the decision, as well. 

Dolsi returns to Toledo with a 1-4 record and 3.96 ERA in 38 2/3 innings.

So are you ready for the return of Todd Jones to the Tigers' bullpen?  And does he become the closer again?  Considering what happened while he was on the DL, he doesn't look quite so bad, does he?

Joel Zumaya has clearly been struggling for a while now.  In six of his last eight outings, he's given up at least one run and issued one walk or more.  During that span, his ERA has zoomed (ahem) upward from 1.65 to 3.47. 

After last night's debacle, in which Zumaya failed to record an out while allowing two runs, two hits, and three walks (the fans were most certainly not saying "Zooooom!"), Jim Leyland said something was obviously wrong with his pitcher and he'd be examined by team doctors.  Even if no physical damage was discovered, however, Zumaya would likely be shut down for a while because his confidence was weakening.

Leyland followed through on that promise this afternoon, as Zumaya was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sore right shoulder.  Francis Beltran was recalled from Triple-A Toledo to take his roster spot.  In 36 appearances with the Mud Hens this season, Beltran has a 2-5 record and 4.81 ERA, with 36 strikeouts and 43 hits in 43 innings.  He pitched five games with the Tigers earlier this season, compiling a 5.79 ERA in just 4 2/3 innings.

It seems painfully obvious now that far too much was expected of Zumaya so soon after undergoing reconstructive shoulder surgery.  Maybe he was written off initially, through Spring Training and the first third of the season, but once it became apparent that Zumaya was recovering nicely and progressing strongly through his rehabilitation, the hopes and expectations of a season on the brink was largely placed on his ailing shoulder.  The Tigers needed an elite bullpen to contend, as they had in 2006, and Zumaya had to be a big part of that. 

But how many pitchers bounce back from that kind of surgery to pitch well?  Zumaya battled injuries throughout the season trying to get back to where he once was (leading jerky, insensitive bloggers to tag him with nicknames like "Glass Joel"), which was pushing himself further than he could really go.  Maybe we'll see him pitch again in September, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if last night was the last time we saw Zumaya pitch in 2008.

Before this afternoon's game, the Detroit Tigers did a little bit of roster shuffling, bringing up a player who can hopefully help out right away, and sending down someone who just hasn't been able to get any playing time. 

Francis Beltran got the call from Triple-A Toledo, while Ryan Raburn - who's essentially been an invisible man thus far for Detroit - takes the trip down I-75 to join the Mud Hens.  Raburn's only action of the season thus far was pinch-running for Miguel Cabrera in the bottom of the ninth yesterday.  With Brandon Inge still being on the Tigers' roster (something I think everyone following the Tigers can be grateful for right now) and Clete Thomas playing as if he has no intention of being sent back to the minors, Raburn got squeezed out.

One immediate thought might be that Beltran's arrival is a reaction to Jason Grilli's seventh inning blowout yesterday, but according to the Detroit Free Press, the move is a sign that things aren't looking so good for Fernando Rodney.  During his bullpen session yesterday in Lakeland, Rodney had to stop throwing because he felt pain in his shoulder.  The Tigers' medical staff will wait a few days to see if he can throw again, but it's quite clear Rodney won't be rejoining the Detroit bullpen very soon.

The Tigers put Beltran to work right away, pitching him in the seventh and eighth innings, during which he gave up one run on a homer by Jermaine Dye.  Last season with Triple-A Norfolk in the Baltimore Orioles' organization, the right-handed Beltran pitched in 47 games, posting a 2-9 record and 4.70 ERA, along with 47 strikeouts in 59 innings.

 (via D-Town Baseball)