Detroit Tigers

While most of Detroit's eyes were on the Red Wings-Blackhawks Western Conference Finals game, there was another significant event within a mile of Joe Louis Arena.

A moment many Tiger fans thought they would never see occurred Tuesday night when Dontrelle Willis picked up his first win in a Detroit uniform, shutting out the Texas Rangers through 6-1/3 innings in their 4-0 victory.

Texas Rangers (23-14) vs. Detroit Tigers (20-16)
Tuesday, May 19 - Thursday, May 21
Comerica Park - Detroit, MI

Game One

TEX: Brandon McCarthy (3-1, 5.92 ERA) vs. DET: Dontrelle Willis (0-0, 7.71 ERA)
Weather: 70s - Sunny - Zero Percent Chance of Precipitation

The Detroit Tigers are exactly two ninths of the way through the 2009 campaign. Detroit is in excellent position to make a run in the month of May and gain some breathing room between themselves and the rest of the Central Division.

The Tigers have had four separate three-game winning streaks, but have been unable to win four in a row this year. On Tuesday night Detroit will attempt to end that trend as Dontrelle Willis once again seeks his first victory as a member of the Tigers.

In a move that surprised no one, Detroit Tigers' veteran relief pitcher Juan Rincon elected to become a free agent over accepting a demotion to Triple-A Toledo.

Detroit loses the right-handed reliever they spent $750,000 to get on January 20.

For the Tigers, he went 1-0 with a 5.23 ERA in 10.1 innings, but was replaced when Dontrelle Willis returned from an anxiety disorder a week ago.

The effectiveness of youngsters Joel Zumaya and Ryan Perry lessened Rincon's standing in Detroit's bullpen.

If you are a Detroit Tigers' fan, you had most likely never heard of Josh Anderson before April 10th, when he started in left field on Opening Day against the Rangers.

Anderson was acquired by Detroit on March 30th, just 11 days before his first start with his new team. The Tigers gave up minor league pitcher Rudy Darrow to the Braves in return for the outfielder.

This is Josh Anderson's third team in three years, but by the way he is playing right now, it looks like he may have found his home.

In this day and age, more and more teams seem to live and die by the home run.

Speedy guys will always bunt and turn singles into doubles—which is exciting don't get me wrong—but the actual art of hitting seems like it has been lost in the ever-changing game of baseball.

Guys like Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, and Babe Ruth all had a gift. They were hitters who were masters of their craft. The question is, are we losing that craft?

Welcome to Rudy Dominick & Johnny Lawrence's fourth weekly installment of Detroit Tigers information and analysis. Each Thursday, we will delve into all things Tigers. Read and digest, or skim and spit out our insightful banter.

Keep An Eye On—Scott Sizemore, Second Base—Erie Sea Wolves (AA)
(May 6—May 13)
.363 BA, 3 HR, 6 RBI

"Flamethrowers" is our Monday topic at thesportspa.blogspot.com during the MLB season. In these articles, we attempt to showcase some of the hottest, and not so hot, pitchers at the time.

These players, in no particular order, are Hot/Not in my eyes.

The Detroit Tigers are having fun, and the fans are taking notice.

Coming off of their disastrous 2008 campaign, most prognosticators and fans alike had low expectations heading into 2009.  Most baseball people predicted that the Tigers would finish near the bottom of the American League Central.