So here's your game summary:

5th
M Ordonez homered to right.
C Guillen homered to right.

6th
J Peralta homered to left.

At least the torture was over quickly tonight. 1 hour 59 minutes.

The game went by so fast I can't remember whether it was Mickey Lolich, Denny McClain or Jack Morris who pitched for the Tigers.

Oh! It was THAT Jair Jurrjens!

Are you kidding me?

One hit. That's it. The Tigers had three times as many. Futility on both sides.

107 pitches thrown by four Tiger pitchers. Really workin' it tonigh eh guys? At least they only struck out twice.

What is there to say about tonight's game that hasn't been said 100 times before during this season of frustration.

Another outstanding pitching performance by Fausto Carmona wasted.

It's the same old song. (those of you over 40 will catch the Motown reference.)

You can mention Lofton's brain fart on the bases, but Granderson had one too.

I could ask once again why it is that Casey Blake continues to bat second, but Wedge will still run him out there.

I could ask why Trot Nixon ever takes the field when Franklin Gutierrez is available. But there'd be no point.

And what about Chris Gomez? Is he hitting too well to break into this lineup? Maybe he should see a little time at 3B and the No. 2 hole.

So we now find ourselves 1/2 game ahead of the Tigers and staring at Justin Verlander tomorrow night. Thursday's matchup, based on recent outings by both pitchers, favors Cleveland as Jake Westbrook is due to square off against Nate Robertson. But then again I thought tonight's matchup tipped rather noticeably in the Tribe's favor.

As I write this the Mariners appear to be on their way to another win tonight over the Twins. That would make them 17-6 in their last 23 games, and put them 3 1/2 ahead of the Tribe in the wild card race, if/when the Tribe finds itself out of the top spot in the Central.

It may be that before long we won't need to worry about the wild card race and it'll be the Central title or bust.

Oh by the way. One bit of news tonight. Aaron Laffey was chosen over Cliff Lee and Jeremy Sowers to be the next victim of a lack of run support. The rookie, who made two starts for the Tribe early this month has been chosen to start Saturday against Kansas City in Kay Cee.

Why, beyond the obvious, is this a key decision? Playoffs rosters are set based on who's on the team on Sept. 1. So it could be that Laffey would be and Lee wouldn't.