I caught some of yesterday’s Tiger game, which happened to be playing on the TV overhead at work. It did not look good at several points — the first inning when the star catcher and the manager got ejected; in the second when, after scoring three times, they took the field and gave up a two-run homer. But in the end, despite losing their leaders, the Tigers survived and won a series at Yankee Stadium.

“It shows what we’re capable of,” manager Alan Trammell said. “Yes, we’ve been a roller coaster so far, but there have been some exciting moments on that roller coaster. These last two days are at the top of that list. To do it here in the Mecca — Yankee Stadium — is something special.”

But everybody’s got a story about the ejections:

• Freep: Smile gets Pudge tossed in the first. (Also, if anyone is tempted to overlook Franklyn German’s meltdown in the seventh inning, Trammell said: “Here was an opportunity to step up and it didn’t happen.” Yeah, walk-homer-walk isn’t the way to go.)
  
• DetNews: Clashes with umpires are taking a toll, which includes the point that the only catcher on the roster was already in the game and the coaches told the rest of the players to bite their lip when it came to the umpires.
  
• MLive: Tigers leave New York a little puzzled, angered and concerned, mostly because of eight ejections in the last five days.

In New York, the Yankees are worried about their starting pitching, where their ERA has ballooned to 4.98 for the year, ranking 23rd in the majors. So far it’s been covered up by an offense that 3rd in runs scored.

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