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Game 88 Open Thread- Royals (31-56) at Tigers (59-29)

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By Freneau
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The Tigers are 59-29, thirty games over .500. Back on May 1st, yours truly had this to say about Detroit:

Fluke.

There, I said it, and I stand by it. I don't think the Tigers are this good, and I don't think they'll win more than 83 or 84 games. Too much age and fragility in the lineup, too much Jimmy Leyland exposed to too much young pitching arm.

Well, the Tigers kept winning, have suffered no key injuries, and Jim Leyland has gone against his reputation for overworking pitchers. I look like a fool for predicting they'd only win 83 games, but honestly, I still wouldn't be shocked if it happened. Of course, for whatever reason, losing to the Tigers has brought out the most embittered in me. On May 25th, after the Royals blew a 6-0 lead to the Tigers, I wrote:
I give the Tigers no credit for this game. I don't care how crusty, rusty and wise Jim Leyland is, I don't care what I-rod said in the 3rd or what Inge told the boys in the 8th or whatever. They beat a bad AAA team today, and one managed by a robotic oaf at that. Spare me the Comeback Tigers angle tonight on Baseball Tonight.
Ahh, good times.

Tonight we're gifted with the return of closer Mike MacDougal for the first time all season. Mac's a truly entertaining pitcher to watch with his strange appearance, proclivity for walks and strikeouts and flair for the dramatic. In a week we may be complaining about his roster spot, or praising his virtues. Or, a little of both. If he can be effective, it should take some of the strain off the Dessens-Burgos combo that Bell has used constantly, and possibly mean we'll see less Andy Sisco in the 7th inning. All good things.

"Andrewmiller" shared this Mac/Grudz tidbit in the comments earlier today,

I had a chance to sneak a Royals-related question into an interview with Hunter Burgan of the chart-topping band AFI, best known to Royals fans for "Girl's Not Grey," the song that plays before Mark Grudzielanek's at-bats. While he admitted he's not much of a sports fan, he said he'd heard about Grudz using the tune and deemed this "awesome!" The Royals clearly rock in a hip, Warped Tour kinda way, Emil Brown's occasional use of power ballads as his batters-box entrance theme notwithstanding.

p.s. In honor of MacDougal's return, and thus the return of "Rock You Like A Hurricane," I should share that he once told me, with some dismay, that the team selected this Scorpions song on his behalf, after he had requested Danzig's 'Mother.'

And we already know Redman's Redman connection.

This is all prelude to the matchup tonight, an epic battle between Brandon Duckworth (1-1, 5.33 ERA) and Jeremy Bonderman (8-4, 3.46 ERA). Taking the first game of this series would be great fun, and would really put some pressure on the front-running Tigers. Lets do this.

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