Detroit

Anibal Sanchez is rocked by the Rangers in a 7-2 loss. For the second time in three games, the Texas Rangers knocked a Detroit Tigers starting pitcher out of the game after 2 2/3 innings. This time it was Anibal Sanchez getting rocked in a 7-2 Rangers victory. Going into tonight's game, Rangers starter Justin Grimm (3-3) was 0-3, 7.02 for the month of May. He righted the ship against the Tigers, allowing two runs and seven hits over 6 2/3 innings to earn the win. Sanchez (4-4) had his worst start for not only this season, but in nearly two seasons. He was dinged for six runs, five earned, and nine hits, unable to get out of the third inning. Elvis Andrus led the Rangers 13 hit attack, putting up a series worth of stats in one game. Andrus had a 5-for-5 night, his first career five hit game, finishing a home run short of the cycle. He added three runs scored, two RBI and two stolen bases. Lance Berkman had a pair of hits and two ribbies, Mitch Moreland chipping in with a solo home run. Torii Hunter led a meek Tigers offense with two hits and an RBI. Prince Fielder drove in the other Tigers' run. It would be the Rangers who would strike first, manufacturing a run off Alex Avila.Yes, Avila. Leading off the bottom of the first, Andrus singled to left. He stole second, the throw from Avila took in-between hop which Jhonny Peralta was unable to knock down. Andrus took third on the throwing error. Avila just plain missed on a Sanchez high and inside pitch to Berkman, Andrus scoring on the passed ball. The Rangers would go on to lead the bases with a pair of singles and walk. Sanchez pitched out of the jam on the 33rd pitch of the inning, Robinson Chirinos bouncing into a 6-4 force. Considering all that went down in the inning, to get out of it with only one run allowed was a small victory for the Tigers. Maybe the only victory they would have all night long. Victor Martinez led off the second with a walk, advanced to second with one out on Peralta's singled. But any inkling of a threat fizzled out right then and there. Omar Infante grounded into a tailor made 6-4-3 twin killing, ending the inning Well on his way to Tiger Killer status, Leonys Martin led off the bottom half of the second by singling, then stealing second. Andrus followed with a line drive to right which Hunter should have caught, but didn't. The liner glanced off his glove, rolling far enough for Andrus to race all the way to third. Hunter made hand signals as if he lost the ball in the lights. No matter the reason, it was another questionable play (thinking back to Hunter airmailing cutoff men twice this week, costing the Tigers runs) by an outfielder we expect better from. The inning went from sublime to ridiculous. David Murphy was fooled by Sanchez, but got enough of the pitch for a swinging bunt. Having no play at the plate on Andrus, Sanchez had Murphy at first ... if he didn't fire the ball into right field. Sanchez's two base throwing error set up the third run of the inning, Berkman singling through a drawn in infield. A double play got the Tigers out of further trouble, ending the second inning down 4-0. Sanchez ended up with his second straight 3) plus pitch inning, a pitch count of 64..Sanchez would not be pitching deep into the game, unless things quickly changed. The Tigers finally got on the scoreboard against Grimm in the third. Avisail Garcia singled, then showed off his speed by scoring without a throw on Hunter's double over the head of Cruz in right. Fielder beat the shift by grounding a single to left, Hunter crossing the plate to cut the Rangers' lead to 4-2. There was hope the Tigers would make a game of it .. but that was it for the Tigers on offense. Meanwhile, Sanchez's bad night got worse, giving one of the runs back two pitches into the bottom of the third as the end of his outing was neigh. Moreland led off the inning with his tenth home run of the season, a long blast to left center m

For the second time in three games, the Texas Rangers knocked a Detroit Tigers starting pitcher out of the game after 2 2/3 innings. This time it was Anibal Sanchez getting rocked in a 7-2 Rangers victory. Going into tonight's game, Rangers starter Justin Grimm (3-3) was 0-3, 7.02 for the month of May. He righted the ship against the Tigers, allowing two runs and seven hits over 6 2/3 innings to earn the win. Sanchez (4-4) had his worst start for not only this season, but in nearly two seasons. He was dinged for six runs, five earned, and nine hits, unable to get out of the third inning. Elvis Andrus led the Rangers 13 hit attack, putting up a series worth of stats in one game. Andrus had a 5-for-5 night, his first career five hit game, finishing a home run short of the cycle. He added three runs scored, two RBI and two stolen bases. Lance Berkman had a pair of hits and two ribbies, Mitch Moreland chipping in with a solo home run. Torii Hunter led a meek Tigers offense with two hits and an RBI. Prince Fielder drove in the other Tigers' run. It would be the Rangers who would strike first, manufacturing a run off Alex Avila.Yes, Avila. Leading off the bottom of the first, Andrus singled to left. He stole second, the throw from Avila took in-between hop which Jhonny Peralta was unable to knock down. Andrus took third on the throwing error. Avila just plain missed on a Sanchez high and inside pitch to Berkman, Andrus scoring on the passed ball. The Rangers would go on to lead the bases with a pair of singles and walk. Sanchez pitched out of the jam on the 33rd pitch of the inning, Robinson Chirinos bouncing into a 6-4 force. Considering all that went down in the inning, to get out of it with only one run allowed was a small victory for the Tigers. Maybe the only victory they would have all night long. Victor Martinez led off the second with a walk, advanced to second with one out on Peralta's singled. But any inkling of a threat fizzled out right then and there. Omar Infante grounded into a tailor made 6-4-3 twin killing, ending the inning Well on his way to Tiger Killer status, Leonys Martin led off the bottom half of the second by singling, then stealing second. Andrus followed with a line drive to right which Hunter should have caught, but didn't. The liner glanced off his glove, rolling far enough for Andrus to race all the way to third. Hunter made hand signals as if he lost the ball in the lights. No matter the reason, it was another questionable play (thinking back to Hunter airmailing cutoff men twice this week, costing the Tigers runs) by an outfielder we expect better from. The inning went from sublime to ridiculous. David Murphy was fooled by Sanchez, but got enough of the pitch for a swinging bunt. Having no play at the plate on Andrus, Sanchez had Murphy at first ... if he didn't fire the ball into right field. Sanchez's two base throwing error set up the third run of the inning, Berkman singling through a drawn in infield. A double play got the Tigers out of further trouble, ending the second inning down 4-0. Sanchez ended up with his second straight 3) plus pitch inning, a pitch count of 64..Sanchez would not be pitching deep into the game, unless things quickly changed. The Tigers finally got on the scoreboard against Grimm in the third. Avisail Garcia singled, then showed off his speed by scoring without a throw on Hunter's double over the head of Cruz in right. Fielder beat the shift by grounding a single to left, Hunter crossing the plate to cut the Rangers' lead to 4-2. There was hope the Tigers would make a game of it .. but that was it for the Tigers on offense. Meanwhile, Sanchez's bad night got worse, giving one of the runs back two pitches into the bottom of the third as the end of his outing was neigh. Moreland led off the inning with his tenth home run of the season, a long blast to left center making it a 5-2 game. Drew Smyly warming up, Sanchez gave

The Black Dahlia Murder is streaming a track with the help of Revolver magazine. The track is called “Rape in Hatred by Vines of Thorn”, and it can be heard here. The song is an ode to Evil Dead, of which BDM’s Trevor Strnad said, “I remember the first time I saw Evil Dead… it was at my friend’s birthday party in 7th grade. It was recommended by the same older sister that had gotten us all into punk and heavy metal music… so we knew we were in for the real deal. The movie scared the unholy 13 year old shit out of us… we were terrified. I remember the possessions really affecting me… the way the people would contort and writhe was disturbing. The possessed had that awful way that they sounded when they spoke and howled… pretty insane as well. The vine rape scene was intense… I love the idea of the forest coming alive… so much so that I wrote a song about it many years later.” Click here to join the City Slang Turntable community!!! Follow @City_Slang

Friday night saw the Metro Times take over the Soundboard venue at the Motor City Casino as we celebrated the Best Of issue. It was a bit of a “world’s collide” event too – with CEOs rubbing shoulders with rockers, high-ranking execs with DJs and all manner of reprobates. Thanks to the open bar and awesome free food, everyone seemed to be having a great time. Musicians seen networking and chowing down included the members of White Shag, Amy Gore & Her Valentines, Kaleido, Dead in 5, Jennifer Westwood & Dylan Dunbar, Frank Woodman, the Bobby Electric, the Hounds Below, and award-winning comedian Jimmy Doom. Much fun was had by all. Click here to join the City Slang Turntable community!!! Follow @City_Slang

If you had to pick, who's better, Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant? Kobe will love this, but Phil Jackson, who coached both, leans toward M.J. in his book coming out Tuesday, 'Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success' (via the L.A. Times).

Test your knowledge of current sports events of the past week:

I must have passed Woodlawn Cemetery thousands of times, driving down Woodward, but never stopped until today.I'm always looking for new spots with great scenery to walk Smart and Fluffy, and although newer cemeteries give me pause, filled with such fresh grief, older ones seem more welcoming and peaceful. The older cemeteries like Woodlawn are also a testament to the talent of Detroit's architects and artisans. Bad photo, but oh, how the window reflects onto the marble on either side.I imagine the spirits happy to have company, and of course I imagine them as dog lovers, undisturbed by racing paws and curious noses.Smart takes in the view.The mausoleum where I am first bewitched by stained glass.Woodlawn Cemetery is noted for its exceptional quantity and quality of mausoleums, and if you peek inside them when the light strikes in the most magical way, they are ablaze. One could easily spend an afternoon just looking at stained glass. For more about Woodlawn's history, see the excellent Night Train. There were many flowers left from Mother's Day, and I was reminded how lucky I was to have my grandparents around into my twenties and thirties. Honestly, even now I don't think of them in the ground or in ashes; I think of them as staying with me in talismans I have...in my grandpa's paintings that I can see from where I'm typing, in my Disneyworld Mickey Mouse locket ring from the first time I visited the grandparents in Florida when they retired... and in the scent of lilacs in Woodlawn's May air redolent of my other grandma's perfume.Not my grandmother, but beloved as all mothers, grandmothers, and great grandmothers are.

Zetterberg set up goals by Brendan Smith and Valtteri Filppula and was solid defensively in the kind of performance teammates are accustomed to seeing this time of year.

The Wings had a much better showing in game 2 of their series than they did in game 1. Hell, they had a better showing against the Blackhawks than they've probably had in two years. Detroit moved the puck much better and was able to avoid making as many turnover mistakes. Detroit's power play went 0-for-4 today and extended Chicago's penalty kill streak to something dumb. Fortunately, they also held Chicago's power play scoreless on two attempts. Shots in this one were 30 to 20 in favor of the Wings. CSSI Methodology Explanation here Goalie Ratings Jimmy Howard wasn't tested as much as Corey Crawford, but the difference in this one wasn't as severe as it was in game 1. Howard will win the head-to-head. I'm going to give Howard a +2 overall. He had to make three fairly sizable saves in this game at times when the game was still on the brink. The timeliness of these stops made a big difference, I feel. The Goals 1st Period 14:05 - Chicago Goal: Patrick Kane (wrist shot) from Michal Handzus and Patrick SharpThe Hawks get on the board first in what is basically a 3-on-1 rush after Patrick Shark lifts Brendan Smith's puck outside the Hawks' blue line to create an odd-man. Sharp's pass gets blocked but goes right to Handzus, who finds Kane on the back door for the put-away. Smith letting Sharp behind him is a fairly cardinal mistake which will earn him a minus and a half. Cleary plays the backcheck completely wrong and will get an extra minus for not having Handzus. Zetterberg and Filppula will be cleared of minuses. Quincey will keep his minus as the unlucky recipient of being put in a bad situation that he doesn't superman his way out of. 2nd Period 02:40 - Detroit Goal: Damien Brunner (tip-in) from Jakub Kindl and Joakim AnderssonThe Wings pull even on some great play by the third line. After they do some good work supporting one another to get out of their own zone, the Wings move the puck up ice and move the puck around the perimeter until Kindl gets a chance to chuck the puck towards the traffic collected in front of Crawford. Brunner gets the tip on its way in and it gets into the net. Nyquist will get the third assist on this play and Brunner a self-assist. They work the puck up ice and then help recover the puck. I'm also going to give Nyquist and Brunner bonus pluses, as well as one for Andersson for smart defensive positioning transitioning to great forechecking. 2nd Period 16:08 - Detroit Goal: Brendan Smith (wrist shot) from Henrik Zetterberg and Daniel ClearyThe Wings get another in the 2nd period on a great forecheck by Zetterberg which creates a low odd-man when he embarrasses Hjalmarsson. Z finds Smith on the back door and the D-man finishes it. The play by Z here is fantastic stick positioning on a guy who is forced into a tough position on the puck. Z will get a bonus assist on this play as well as a bonus plus-and-a-half. The extra is because Z is the reason the Hawks lose possession on a transition attempt prior to the Wings resetting and creating this play. Filppula also helps in this regard and will get a bonus plus. I'm also going to give Flip an assist here as he's the reason Hjalmarsson struggles. The dump from Cleary up the boards is tipped past Chicago's D-man with a perfect amount of touch. Hjalmarrson has to respect that Flip can get the pass and move in so he can't back off too far. If the tip is too strong past him, Zetterberg gets angled off. I also like Filppula driving the front of the net to pull Keith away. Smith will get a half-plus here for a quick decision to jump up on the play since he has Cleary covering behind him. 3rd Period 07:18 - Detroit Goal: Johan Franzen (wrist shot) from Jonathan Ericsson and Niklas KronwallPlayoff mule shows up and Ericsson hits him in transition for a snipe shot top corner from the circle. The vision and patience by Ericsson (yep... I just said that) is pretty fantastic here. Riggy's going to get a bonus plus for the tape-to-tape spring pass. Datsyuk wil

23-17, 2nd place, .5 games behind Cle (won earlier today) Wow, what a game last night. Spectacular effort by Porcello (that’s now 24 Ks in his last 25 IPs – 3.24 ERA and a .96 WHIP…pretty salty), and the bullpen was almost as good. Luckily, I was at a graduation celebration last night and didn’t have to stomach Valverde in the 9th. Kudos to those of you who stuck it out. Rangers starter Justin Grimm was the AL rookie of the month for April after going 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA and 1.18 WHIP, but it’s been pretty grim since then. In May, he’s 0-3 with a 7.02 ERA. This month his walks are up, the BAA has skyrocketed to .300, and he’s not getting very many groundballs (.88 GO/AO). Note, his BABIP in April was .362, so it looks like he really did simply have a heck of a start, and perhaps now things are starting to even out. Though the Tigers have been known to struggle against unknown struggling rookie guy. Sanchez will be looking for his 8th straight quality start tonight. Remember when JV had a streak like that? Sanchez is currently 4th in the AL with 66 Ks and 5th with a 2.05 ERA.  Very hot and a jet stream out to right tonight. Sanchez has allowed 1 HR all season…the Rangers lead the AL in HR. Grimm has been giving up a lot of flyballs. A win tonight would be huge. I’d love to have a shot at taking the series. ********** A few notes: - The Tigers have 407 hits so far (leads the AL) and 403 pitching Ks (leads all of MLB). - May 25th will be the 25 year celebration of the ’68 team. Tonight’s Lineup: 1. Dirks, LF 2. Hunter, RF 3. Cabrera, 3B 4. Fielder, 1B 5. Martinez, DH 6. Peralta, SS 7. Avila, C 8. Infante, 2B 9. Garcia, CF