The last thing I expected was a pitcher's duel...

...considering the mound matchup. But that's what we got today from Nate Robertson and Jake Westbrook. Damn shame the Tigers wasted Robertson's best pitched game of the season in a 3-1 loss to the Indians. Robertson was on fire. Unfortunately, so was Westbrook.

An extra innings loss is tough to take, as the Tribe is now up 2.5 games for the Central. This loss goes on the shoulders of the offense, as they wasted several chances to break the game open in regulation. Gary Sheffield was sorely missed. Too bad the Tigers waited till there was 2 out in the bottom of the 10th before they decided to put on their hitting shoes. To use an overused cliche', too little, too late.

I wasn't all that confident when I saw Pudge Rodriguez stroll to the plate as the winning run. He is struggling so badly at the plate, it's painful to watch. It does make you wonder if Jim Leyland outsmarted himself when he inserted Pudge as a pinch runner for Mike Rabelo in the bottom of the 9th. With Pudge in an ugly slump at the plate, Rabelo has looked much better with the bat in recent days.

But Pudge is a veteran, who has come through in the clutch in the past. You live and die with your veterans, and today, they died.

Joel Zumaya made a couple of mistakes, but I'm not going to blame him for giving up the game winning run on a bleeder that barely made it through the infield. He got the ground ball he needed, but with the Tigers recent (All bad) luck, the damn ball had eyes. But giving up a 2 run single to the next batter hurt badly, considering the Tigers mounted a comeback in the bottom of the inning.

Thing is, the game shouldn't have even gotten to that point. The Tigers would have won the game a couple of times over if they had gotten a Casey fly ball here, or a 2 out Inge or Granderson hit there. They couldn't do a thing with Westbrook, or the Tribe relievers, and let them wriggle out of trouble.

God damn, it would have been nice to see Detroit win a series, if only to give the fans a "Pick me up."

So now what? They aren't out of the race, by any means. The Tigers aren't in must win territory yet, but it this slide continues...Well, let's just hope the team wide slump ends, and ends soon.

About all I can say at this point is, "Bah!" I used up all of my profanity last night...