The mystery of Armando Galarraga
I'd be surprised if Jim Leyland starts Armando Galarraga in Wednesday's game at Fenway Park.
Leyland likes to feel, genuinely, that his starting pitcher can give him a chance to win. And no longer does Galarraga qualify there.
How he was able to put things together in 2008, and again through April, before coming unglued is one of those mysteries only the pitching universe can create. But no longer does it appear as if Galarraga has anywhere near the control or confidence to be entrusted with a start.
I suspect Leyland has already made up his mind accordingly. I have a hunch that Zach Miner will start Wednesday at Fenway Park, and if not Miner, than it will be Chris Lambert, the right-hander who was recently summoned from Triple A Toledo.
It's stunning to think that the Tigers have been able to hang in first place with no Jeremy Bonderman, with no Dontrelle Willis, with no Nate Robertson, and with only an occasional decent game from Galarraga.
Why aren't the White Sox on top by 10 games?
But to stay in first place the Tigers will need to have their starter pitch sturdily in every game. There will be a clunker or two, sure. But five or six innings of quality pitching will be the recipe for winning the American League Central title.
You knew by the second inning Friday, even with a 6-1 lead, that the Tigers would need to score 10 or 12 runs to win the game. They got 10 runs. But with one break going the other way -- or with Joe Crede in the Twins lineup -- that game would have been Minnesota's.
And Galarraga's poor pitching was the reason a blow-out became a close game that for the lack of a single play would have been in the Twins' win column.
Leyland can't manage that way. The Tigers can't win that way. Galarraga needs to come out of the rotation, all because he has made it clear he no longer is a reliable big-league starter.
