Miguel Cabrera wasn't happy with something earlier in the Tigers' game against the Minnesota Twins tonight (the Tigers are currently down 8-7 in the 6th inning) and apparently that gum bucket was giving him the evil eye. Needless to say, the bucket got what it deserved.

Later on, Cabrera did even more damage to a pitch from Jeff Gray to give the Tigers a 7-6 lead (at the time). There is no word on whether the bucket returned to action, but the injury doesn't look to be too serious.

Gerald Laird, always the center of attention for anything involving the Tigers, made sure that his presence was felt during this evening's game against the Chicago White Sox. Laird laid down a sacrifice bunt in the 5th inning, but failed to notice the sniper in the 7th row, who struck as soon as Laird got to the base.

And since it was so nice, we did it twice.

I'm not sure Laird will be pinch running much longer if this continues.

Currently, the Tigers lead the Oakland A's 10-6 in the bottom of the 8th inning. About half an hour ago, the A's were down 10-2 with two outs in the same inning. Two infield singles and a walk later, Brandon Inge stepped to the plate. Recent history tells us that Brandon should have struck out on a pitch two feet outside with a horrible check swing, but this is clearly not the Brandon Inge that we're used to seeing.

The Tigers bullpen has been anything from 'meh' to downright awful this season. They have already blown 7 games in which the Tigers were leading after 7 innings, or 7 more than all of last season. Most of the time, you would expect to blow 3-4 games over the course of a season. Seven in just 31 team games, however, is a frightening stat. Hopefully this, like the lack of offense, is something that goes away as the season progresses.

Just after Ramon Santiago grounded out to start the bottom of the 9th, my dad and I started talking about how Alex Avila and Jhonny Peralta weren't giving Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder enough help in the Tigers lineup this season. Two batters later, Billy Zane let us know exactly how concerned we should be.

With the 5-4 win, the Tigers stay above .500 with a 13-12 record. Tomorrow's game is at 4:00 pm on the evil blackout machine known as FOX, and will feature Gavin Floyd and Max Scherzer as the starting pitchers. Billy Zane personally told me that he will be on standby.

While Justin Verlander was using his smile to cure awful diseases (or close to it), Miguel Cabrera used his visit to the MLB Fan Cave to show off his acting... talents.

While I won't be getting over the shirtless fat guy running through the streets of New York City (at 0:23 if you're too scared to expose yourself to it), the fact that Cabrera is finally embracing the "Miggy Smalls" moniker that I've been using for years. If Rod Allen calls him "Cabby" one more time... take 3 drinks.

[Walkoff Woodward]

When knews broke earlier this afternoon that Brandon Inge had been unconditionally released by the Tigers, I was much sadder than I expected. This wasn't the type of "end of an era" saddness that I felt when Steve Yzerman finally hung up his skates or Chauncey Billups was traded to the Denver Nuggets. This wasn't the bittersweet feeling that I expected, knowing how poorly Inge had been performing. It was deeper than that. As I sat there and let the news sink in, I realized that my feelings had less to do with Inge and more to do with how much I've grown throughout his career.

My grandmother passed away in the summer of 1999 at the age of 75. I was preparing to start 6th grade. Some of my earliest memories have to deal with her: playing baseball and football in her back yard with the three brothers that lived next door, eating ice cream (or, more accurately, Hershey's syrup with a little ice cream thrown in) on the brick step in front of her fireplace, dousing her roast beef in ketchup in hopes of softening it up a bit (sorry Grandma, but that was your one imperfection). Most of all, I remember sitting with her in her rocking chair and watching the Tigers every night. As I got bigger, the chair got smaller and the Tigers got worse, but we would still watch every game together.

It will be 13 years this August since my grandmother passed away, and it's amazing to think about how much I've grown in that period. I've grown up, kissed a girl, gotten my driver's license, graduated from high school, gone to college, did some stuff that I'm glad she never saw, graduated (somehow), moved to D.C., and a million other things in between. This past summer, my family sold the house that my grandparents lived in. My grandfather is still alive, but at 92 years old was struggling to get up and down the stairs every day, and the house itself is too big and expensive for us to maintain when he passes away. Nearly every living memory I have of my grandma is gone, and the Tigers are one of the things that I hold dear to my heart because of those nights I spent in that undersized rocking chair.

When my grandma passed away, I lost interest in the Tigers for a while. If you think about the teams that they fielded in that time frame, you'll understand why a 12 year old kid wouldn't want to obsessively keep up with a losing team that only reminded him of his late grandmother. In my eyes, Inge was the lone holdover from that time period. Ramon Santiago played 141 games for the Tigers in 2003, but his trade and subsequent return makes him feel more like part of the new wave of players that have come to Detroit in the past 5-6 years and turned the franchise around. Inge was a reminder of the teams that struggled, and for me, a reminder of those nights that I spent watching the Tigers with my grandma. Back then, I didn't care about the results. I just wanted to eat ice cream and watch baseball.

My grandmother never had a chance to see Brandon Inge play, but if she had, I'm pretty certain that he would have been one of her favorite players. As maddening as he was to watch at times, Inge was an incredible athlete and someone that gave his all for the team (Don't believe me? Think about how many times he dove into the stands after foul balls and get back to me.).

If she were still alive and could meet Inge today, she would simply say "Thank you, Brandon," so I will follow her lead and do the same. Thank you, Brandon Inge. Thank you for all of the joy, the laughter, the excitement, and even the frustration that you brought to our faces throughout your career in Detroit. Thank you for being a good person and representing the Tigers with class and dignity. Most of all, thank you for reminding me of how I came to love this game and this team in the first place.

I can't remember the last time I did a product review on D4L (I think it was for NHL Gamecenter four years ago), but when we had a chance to help a good friend and get a box full of free beef jerky, I would've been dumber than a bag of weiners to decline, respectfully of course. 

A few weeks ago, The Blue Ox Jerky Co. , based out of Troy, Michigan -- also home to Somerset Collection and the Troy Family Aquatic Center -- sent me some samples of their Grade-A, "punch-you-in-your-throat awesome" beef jerky. The last time I was punched in the throat, it wasn't awesome, but I was excited to try their meats (that's what she said) and instantly feel more like a man... a man who is currently unemployed and relies on his wife to bring home the bacon, which, by the way, is another awesome meat.

For purposes of full disclosure: I'm a big fan of beef jerky. I used to eat it all the time. Before I was old enough to be cool with chewing tobacco, I used to get balls deep in some Jack Link's Jerky Chew and pretend I was a big leaguer. I think having some beef jerky in your mouth is as big leaguer as you'll ever get. Having said that, I'm no beef jerky aficionado. And I'm a pussy as it pertains to food. Words like jalapeno, guacamole and "blazin' hot" absolutely terrify me. I'm not scared of a lot of things, but spicey foods and heights are two of my greatest fears. I think I just hate nose bleeds. 

Anyway, now that I've gotten the meaty prologue out of the way, I'm going to go through each type of jerky I was sent and review it as honestly as I can. So this isn't entirely irrelevant to a predominantly Detroit sports blog, I'll compare each to a player on the Detroit Tigers.

Donny?

Yes, the capitals in the title were warranted. Prince Fielder has a grand total of 16 career stolen bases, but he's on pace to nearly double his career high (7 in 2006) with 13 steals this season after swiping second base in tonight's 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals.

He probably got a face full of dirt with that slide, but who cares? We see you, big fella.

The Tigers ended their homestand with a 5-1 record behind Brennan Boesch's 2 hits and 4 RBI in a 7-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays today. In ESPN's alternate universe, some guy named "Brandon" Boesch also had a pretty good game.

Look closely...

Regardless of his first name, today was also Boesch's 27th birthday. The Tigers head to Chicago tomorrow for a three game series against the White Sox.

[h/t @iamboney for the heads up]

Apparently our buddy Billy Zane is going to be spending a lot of time in Detroit this season. He showed up on Thursday when Austin Jackson walked it off to open the season, and he makes a triumphant return today after Alex Avila's 2-run homer to give the Tigers a 13-12 extra innings win and series sweep over the Boston Red Sox.

Miguel Cabrera hit a game-tying home run in the bottom of the 9th inning to send the game into extra innings and had 5 RBI on the day. If he's not the MVP this season, something is wrong in this world. Meanwhile, the Red Sox bullpen has a collective ERA of 7.94 after the first three games of the season. Both the Red Sox and Yankees are 0-3.

[Box Score]