The Devil Went Down to Detroit

Instead of a crossroads in rural Mississippi, it might have been in the dank basement of an abandoned, boarded up, over-grown house in Detroit. Jim Leyland, Dave Dombroski, or the head man, Mike Ilitch himself, may have met with an odd looking man who had cloven hooves, a tail, and carried a pitchfork. The exchange was simple--mortal souls for never losing another game.

This scenario was conjured up in my baseball-fevered brain after the Tigers won yet another game they had no business winning, to extend their winning streak to 12. With Cleveland's loss to Texas, the magic number is now two. It's their longest winning streak since 1934. But they're not only winning--it's the way they win.

Yesterday's game is a case in point. Brad Penny, who has been ineffective his last three starts, was again behind the eight ball quickly, helped mostly by his own fielding error. The Tigers were down 4-1 early. It looked like the streak was over, but of course something told me it wasn't.

Sure enough, in the top of the 9th, down 5-2, Ryan Raburn smacked a pinch-hit solo home run to make it 5-3. After a walk to Magglio Ordonez, the White Sox closer served up a gopher ball to another pinch-hitter, Alex Avila, to tie it. Two pinch-hit homers in the same inning! Surely Lucifer is bend this!

In the top of 10th, Carlos Guillen drove in the winning run with a bouncer up the middle. Guillen, hurt most of the year, also had a home run in the game. To show off his wizardry in the dugout, Leyland has used four different second basemen during this streak. No matter what lineup he uses, somehow the magic has endured. How long can the streak go? If they get to 15, they set a club record. They need to keep winning--the Tigers are only three games behind the Yankees for best record and thus home-field advantage through the playoffs.