Games 56 and 57: Record 31-26

Splitsville in ChiTown.

Tigers split an old fashioned day-night double header on Monday in Chicago. They won the first game with Armando pitching and lost the second game with Jeremy making his 2009 debut.

In the opener, Armando pitched well enough to win and got a quality start out of the game, but not a win. Joel blew another save but got the win. That was the second straight game Joel gave up a late lead but got a win anyway. Gotta love baseball!

Brandon had a big hit to drive in the winning run in the top of the ninth. Fernando gave up a hit, but nothing further in the bottom of the ninth for the save. Good all around performance by the team.

In the nightcap, Jeremy was not good enough. His fastball was consistantly 89 on the radar gun and his changeup was at 81. This is not going to cut it. If your fastball is only at 89 or 90, your change or slider must be better than it was. He threw a few good sliders but not enough to keep the hitters honest. They were just waiting for the slow fastball and hitting it around. I was not very encouraged.

Jose Contreras was outstanding for the White Sox - he only gave up 1 hit and zero runs through 8 complete innings. Marcus hit a long HR in the ninth for the Tigers only run.

A split of a double header is nothing to sneeze at, especially the way the White Sox usually beat up on our Tigers in Chicago.