Where's the fire?

After last night’s game against Boston, I was left wondering how we score three runs in the first and lay an egg the rest of the way through, especially considering a fight and rain delay happened.

You’d figure after a guy charges at one of your franchise pitchers the team would rally a little bit, you know get a little mad. But after Porcello beamed Youkilis, which was the second time in as many nights, and Youk charged the 20-year-old hurler, little else transpired thereafter for Detroit.

And then in the seventh inning they get a rain delay and you think, “okay, maybe they’ll regroup and come out blazing after it clears up. But nope, same old story: a Tiger’s loss after a hot start.

What the problem is with the bats this year is a bit of a mystery, however it isn’t a new mystery. That seems to be the Tigers M.O. the last few years — streaky bats. I know Leyland has said over and over Lloyd McClendon is a good batting coach but I guess I’ve just never bought into that… even in the World Series run in 2006. Detroit may have finished a few times near the top of the league in batting but they also have been near the bottom in base on balls and comeback wins and have been near the top in strikeouts. That kind of inconsistency makes it hard on pitchers and coaches, especially in situations like the one with Maggs and Guillen. They’ve historically always hit around .300 in a Tiger’s uni and even before. But this year you can’t tell if they’re just in a slump or if they’ve actually lost it all together.

I don’t see any good coming from firing McClendon in the middle of a division title chase but after the season, the Tigers should take a look at the market and look to improve consistency.