55-25! Tense victory gives Tigers identical record to their '84 ancestor

[clevfan]

55-25!

Tense victory gives Tigers identical record to their '84 ancestor

Tom Gage / The Detroit News
July 1

PITTSBURGH -- In a race against time, the Tigers have neither won nor lost. They've tied -- but that, in itself, is quite an accomplishment.

Their 7-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night at magnificent PNC Park -- the 17th victory in their last 19 games -- gave the Tigers a 55-25 record, one game shy of the season's halfway mark.

Know who else was 55-25 after 80 games? Here's a hint: They won it all.

Here's another: Bless you, boys.

Need another? Didn't think so. The 2006 Tigers have caught the 1984 Tigers, their illustrious ancestor. They didn't have the same record after 40 games, not even close, but they do after 80.

That's because after their 35-5 start, the Tigers leveled off with a 20-20 record in 1984. This team, meanwhile, has gone from a 27-13 record in its first 40 to a 28-12 record in its second 40.

"We've done it differently," said Curtis Granderson, "but hopefully with the same results at the end."

It's not the best-ever 80-game mark for the Tigers, but almost. The 1911 team, with Ty Cobb hitting .420, was 56-24.

This game didn't turn out to be easy, though -- and might have ended up entirely different without Granderson's outstanding, run-saving catch in center to end the eighth after the Pirates had pulled to a run behind.

As it was, the Tigers' early runs proved to be enough. They roughed up Kip Wells (0-3) for three runs in the second on back-to-back home runs by Marcus Thames and Chris Shelton -- then tacked on four in the third.

Despite a 7-1 lead, Kenny Rogers didn't last long enough to get the victory. He was replaced in the fifth by Roman Colon (1-0), who proved to be the winning pitcher.

But, again, the Tigers might not have had a winning pitcher without that catch by Granderson in the eighth with a runner on third. Earlier, the twilight had made it difficult for him to get a good jump on the ball.

Not in the darker sky, though,

"When it was hit, I thought right away I'd have a shot to get to it," Granderson said.

Alexis Gomez also helped out with a running catch in left after the Pirates put two runners on against Todd Jones in the ninth -- after which Jones retired Jason Bay on a routine grounder to third for his 21st save.

Despite having a Kansas City-like record, though, the Pirates were feisty.

"I don't like to go anywhere where somebody has lost 13 out of 14," manager Jim Leyland said before the game.

"I don't know if we've come into a hornet's nest or not -- so we just have to play and whatever happens, happens."

After the game, his relief was evident. For one thing, he was back home in Pittsburgh with a lot of people he knows in the crowd. For another, his postgame party for 50-100 friends and family members hadn't been ruined by a loss.

"It was a tough day, trust me," Leyland said. "I didn't want to put up with a lot of people telling me we blew the game."

As for 55-25?

"It just means what I've said all along, we've played good, we have a good team and we've also caught breaks," Leyland said. "We caught Minnesota before they got straightened out.

"We caught Kansas City when they had injuries early on. We caught Houston and the Cardinals flat. They weren't swinging the bats like we know they can."

By no means, however, have breaks been the only factor.

"We just came from beating two Cy Young Award winners (Chris Carpenter and Roger Clemens), that's pretty good," Leyland said.

"We've caught some teams at the right time, but by that I'm not trying to downplay that we've played good.

"We've made a lot of our own breaks. I would have to say we've played good and we've pitched outstanding."

It's not always the starting pitching, though. Often it's the bullpen.

And sometimes, as it did this time, the defense saves it all -- the game, the party, everything.

[nino brown]

saw espn outside the lines on leyland last night. showed him tearing bonds a new one in 1991. i think 85% of the taped confrontation was bleeped.

[Mr. Baseball]

It is lots of fun actually having a baseball team again!!...I was in high school when they last won the World Series and it has been a long time coming. My 10 year old boy hasn't ever seen a competitive baseball team in his lifetime!

[Johnny Detroit]

I was in 4th grade and they played "Bless you boys" over the PA system.

[shoebox]

The really need an option to TOdd Jones if they want to make any noise in the Playoffs. The guy is brutal and was bailed out last night again.

[Johnny Detroit]

Shoe,

No bad-mouthing Johnny Cakes!

Funny things is he is one of the highest paid people on the team.