Jesus Christ.

So I'm not really sure if I should be encouraged by the Tigs coming back from a giant deficit to take the lead in the ninth, or be disillusioned by Todd Jones' inability to once again hold a ninth inning lead. Let's start at the beginning.

Jeremy Bonderman got shelled today. Seven runs, five earned in six innings of work, allowing 11 hits? Yeah not great. He did not pitch well at all and the Angels took advantage of that. Fernando Rodney came in, however, and pitched excellent for the first time this year. Two innings of completely shut down ball: no hits, no runs, three strikeouts and giving the Tigers a chance to get back in the game.

It wasn't until the fourth inning when the Tiger bats made it back from the hotel to rejoin their respective players. Magglio Ordonez is running things right now, going 3-3, with a home run and 3 RBI to go along with two walks. His homer in the eighth gave the Tigs the lead, scoring Gary Sheffield who went 1-4, to start what the kids call a "hitting streak" for the first time this year.

And then, in typical Todd Jones fashion, Jones blew the game in the ninth. He found a new way this time, allowing the tying run to score on a wild pitch. Fantastic. Even better was his performance in the 10th, fielding a bunt and throwing it wildly, to allow the runner to advance to second. Intentional walk, sacrifice bunt, fielder's choice GAME OVER. Hardly even a fight.

It's heart-breaking to see the Tigs battle back only to let the closer who shouldn't even be the closer any more (make the Zumaya move, Leyland) blow the game with two consecutive innings of shitty pitching. Of course, this sounds about right for the Roller Coaster at this point, right?