Sooner or later, it comes down to pitching. Always has. Always will.
        The Tigers are currently in first place in the Central Division because Justin Verlander has five wins, 60 strikeouts and an 0.85 ERA in his last six starts, because 20-year-old Rick Porcello is the second youngest pitcher in major league history to post a 5-0 record and an ERA of 1.50 or lower in five consecutive starts, and because the Tiger pitchers lead the league with a 3.90 ERA -- compared to 4.90 last season.
        Do the math.
        Meanwhile, Jim Leyland, who doesn’t appreciate it when people in the media try to manage his team, is getting increasingly irritated by the all of the speculation  over when Jeremy Bonderman, now on rehab assignment with Toledo, will again take his rightful place in the Tigers’ starting rotation -- and whom Bondo will replace.
        In Baltimore on Thursday night, the Tigers’ manager, who was mad at his team, took it out on the press, tossing them all out of office after somebody asked what Leyland felt was one too many questions about struggling Armando Galarraga’s status on the staff.
        By the way, Bonderman will throw again for the Mud Hens on Sunday night.

        Last week, Armando Galarraga tried throwing to live hitters between starts, something that big league pitchers rarely do. How much that helped is subject to debate.
        Galarraga said Sunday that he believes he was “90 percent better” in his last start on Saturday night against Colorado (5 1/2 innings, four runs, six hits) than he was in his previous two starts.
        Jim Leyland’s evaluation of Galarraga’s improvement was considerably more conservative.
        “He showed some improvement at some points,” the Tigers manager said, with emphasis on the word ‘some.’
        “But he’s not where he needs to be,” Leyland declared.
        That has been obvious.
        So what does Galarraga, who has now lost four in a row, need to do before his next start, Thursday night in Baltimore?
        “I don’t know the answer to that,” Leyland admitted.
        The Tigers believe part of Galarraga’s problem stems from the fact that he is now unintentionally varying the position of his arm from pitch to pitch. Leyland said he was “suspicious” Galarraga might be feeling some pain in his arm and subconsciously compensating for it. “But that’s not the case,” the manager said.   
        Galarraga believes his troubles during the past month may be more mental than mechanical.
        “My last game, I went out there thinking, ‘Throw your best stuff. Throw your best stuff,’ ” Galarraga explained. “And my best stuff is sinker, slider.
        “I’m working on my sinker. I’m working on my slider. I can’t give up the big inning when they get five or six runs. I can’t have five innings of zeroes and then give up five runs in one inning.”
        In Galarraga’s last start, he doled out the runs one at a time. The problem was, he gave up one too many.
        When Galarraga fell behind Todd Helton, 3-0, leading off the sixth inning, his current lack of confidence in his bread-and-butter sinker showed.
        “I’m thinking, ‘Don’t walk him,’ ” the pitcher explained. “I just wanted to throw a fastball over for a strike. If I could get one strike on him, then I could throw my sinker.”
        Unfortunately for Galarraga, Helton wasn’t taking. He jumped on the fastball, which was up and over the plate, and clobbered it for what turned out to be the game-winning home run.
        Last season, Galarraga probably would have thrown his sinker in that situation and Helton probably would have swung and missed.
        In the first 24 innings that Galarraga pitched this season, he surrendered just one home run. In his last 23 innings, he has served up eight HRs.
        “I’ve still got a lot of work to do before I’ll be happy,” Galarraga admitted. “Sometimes you try to change your mechanics real quick and everything gets confused. I’m just trying to get my  rhythm back. I’m trying to get my sinker back. And I believe I’m going to get it.”
        If not, Galarraga may find himself out of the starting rotation when Jeremy Bonderman comes back and the Tigers return home next month.

        One more game in the minor leagues -- that is probably all it will take before Jeremy Bonderman is ready to return to the Tigers’ starting rotation.
        Bonderman will make his third, and probably last, rehab start on Tuesday night with Triple-A Toledo. If all continues to go well, he could be ready to make his 2009 debut with the Tigers during the first week in June when the team returns home to face the Red Sox and Angels.
        That decision could hinge on how well Armando Galarraga pitches on Saturday and how Dontrelle Willis does on Sunday.
        “Pain-wise, it’s ‘all systems go,’ ” Jim Leyland said Friday after reviewing the reports on Bonderman’s six-inning Triple-A performance on Thursday night and speaking with Jeremy himself.
        “He’s very pumped up, he feels great, he’s building his arm back up,” the manager continued. “He couldn’t really build his arm up during spring training because it was hurting.”
        Bonderman allowed seven hits and five runs Thursday.
        “It was a very positive outing,” insisted Leyland. “The report was, he kind of ran out of gas. He kind of hit the wall.”
        Nevertheless, Bonderman was clocked at between 89 and 92 mph, an improvement over his previous two starts.

        Marcus Thames, who was going to be the Tigers’ primary designated hitter this season after they jettisoned Gary Sheffield, hasn’t played since April 18. Carlos Guillen, who is supposed to be their everyday left fielder, has been sidelined since May 5.
        Nevertheless, the Tigers are in first place, riding a five-game winning streak at the start of play on Thursday.
        Obviously, the kids that the Tigers have called up and inserted into the lineup haven’t been doing half bad.
        “It’s a fun team right now,” admitted Jim Leyland.
        For the first time in a long time the Tigers have some speed in their lineup. And it shows _ both on the base paths and in the outfield.
        Guys like Josh Anderson, Clete Thomas, Ryan Raburn, and  Wilkin Ramirez, along with left-handed pitcher Luke French have all made significant catches or hits or pitches of late.
        “I like the energy they bring,” Leyland said. “We’re seeing the benefit of having speed.”
        In fact, the Tigers manager has been having the time of his life, putting runners in motion, pulling on hit-and-run plays, and watching his corner outfielders catch balls that previously would have fallen in.
        On Thursday, Leyland could even laugh at the fact that, “I managed us into a triple play last night.”
        It has all been great fun.
        “In spring training, I didn’t know Luke French from Sammy Spanish,” Leyland admitted Thursday after French had been shipped back to Toledo and Nate Robertson restored to the active roaster. “Then all of a sudden, they tell me, here he is: Luke French. Who the hell is Luke French?
        “And he comes in and does a helluva job (two games, three innings pitched, 0.00 ERA). He got a chance to show what he could do. And he made a helluva impression. That’s why this is such a great game.
        “But I’m not saying he’s the next Hal Newhouser,” Leyland added. “He might be closer to the next Stubby Overmire.”
        Leyland knew what Wilkin Ramirez could do. He just didn’t know when.
        Ramirez gave everyone a preview with his giant home run in his major league debut on Wednesday night.
        “You just don’t find physical specimens that have power and speed like he does,” Leyland said. “This guy is blessed like a lot of people aren’t.
        “But I read where Ramirez said after the game that God did it. I’m not so sure about that.
        “I’m not sure either one of them can hit a slider,” Leyland quipped.
        However, as much as Leyland has enjoyed having the kids in the lineup, this season will still ultimately depend on the Tigers proven veteran stars.
        “Before it’s all said and done, we’re going to need Guillen and Thames and Magglio Ordonez to knock in some big runs for us,” Leyland said.
        “If they do, we’ll be OK. If they don’t, we’ll be in trouble.
        “If we have to start asking these kids to knock in big runs with a man on second base and two outs, we’ll be in trouble. They’re not ready for that.”
        The Tigers hope to send Thames, who is recovering from a painful rib cage injury, to Toledo on rehab assignment next week. Guillen’s injured Achilles tendon has improved but his shoulder is still sore. His return is probably at least a few days behind that of Thames.

        Jim Leyland spent part of Wednesday afternoon watching film of Dontrelle Willis’ performance on Tuesday night. The more the Tigers’ manager looked, the more he liked it.
        “I was more impressed with his stuff and his command, his combination of stuff and command was outstanding,” Leyland said Wednesday before batting practice.
        But that was only one game. Now the key becomes: Can Dontrelle do it again?    
        That’s why, despite Willis’ encouraging six-inning, one-hit effort against the Texas  Rangers _ the best he has pitched since becoming a Tiger _ the manager didn’t want to dwell on Dontrelle.
        “I want to stay real low-key on that,” Leyland said. “What happens from here, I’m not smart enough to know. I hope that was the first step in his being the pitcher we want him to be and the pitcher he wants to be.”
        After the way Willis had pitched, Leyland wanted to make sure he came away from Tuesday’s night’s 4-0 Tiger win feeling good about himself. That was why Leyland didn’t hesitate to lift Willis after he walked Andruw Jones with one out in the seventh inning.
        “It was a no-win situation to ask him to go any farther,” the manager explained. “He did all that we needed, and more.”
        Willis’ solid performance gave Leyland an opportunity to use his bullpen the way he wants to use it: Brandon Lyon and/or Bobby Seay in the seventh inning, Joel Zumaya as the set-up man in the eighth, and Fernando Rodney as the closer.
        “That’s my dream, that’s the perfect world,” Leyland said Wednesday. “But it doesn’t always work that way.”
        But with strong starting pitching, that is a sequence we will see more and more frequently.

        He is the most promising young position player in the Tigers’ minor league system. Big things have been predicted for him ever since he first caught Jim Leyland’s eye during training camp two springs ago. 
        Nevertheless, when Wilkin Ramirez received the call late Monday night, ordering him to report to Comerica Park as soon as possible to temporarily replace Magglio Ordonez, who is on bereavement leave, he got so excited, he admitted Tuesday, that he “almost cried.
        “Almost,” Ramirez said again for emphasis, just so nobody gets the wrong idea.
        “He’s got a lot of talent, he’s strong and he’s fast,” Leyland said. “He’s got two real pluses: Power and speed. You don’t find that very often. He can fly.”
        The 23-year-old Ramirez has been compared to former Tiger prize prospect Cameron Maybin, who was traded to Florida in the Miguel Cabrera/Dontrelle Willis deal. Both are blessed with speed and power, although Maybin is better defensively and has a better arm.
        Leyland predicted this spring that Ramirez, who is also an outfielder, will either develop into a big league star someday _  or fall off the radar screen. There will be no in-between.
        “That’s just my opinion, but I probably still think that,” the Tigers’ manager said Tuesday. “If that talent can click, he’ll be a regular player and probably a very good one.”
        Ramirez was in Charlotte, N.C., with the Toledo Mud Hens when he was summoned to fill in for Ordonez, whose wife is undergoing major surgery. Ramirez’s wife and their young son were living in Lakeland, Fla. So while Wilkin flew to Detroit from Charlotte on Tuesday, his wife and son flew north from Lakeland.
        “They had better fly up,” he said, smiling at the thought of his family seeing him in the big leagues for the first time.
        Ramirez will rejoin Toledo as soon as Ordonez returns, probably after Thursday’s matinee, so the Tigers didn’t even bother to put his name on his locker. He will wear No. 60.
        Ramirez was so new he didn’t even know how to leave complimentary tickets to Tuesday night’s game for his family. Clubhouse attendance Tyson Steele had to show him.
        Ramirez also didn’t know that  Leyland had already announced plans to employ Wilkin as the Tigers’ designated hitter against Texas left hander Matt Harrison on Wednesday night.
        “Thank you for telling me,” he said to a reporter, smiling again, when informed of his pending big league debut.
        You can tell he’s a rookie.
        Ramirez, who has been gradually working his way up through the Tigers’ farm system since he signed as an undrafted free agent in 2003,  was batting .316 with five home runs and 13 RBI in 30 games at Toledo.
        “He’s hit in streaks,” said Leyland. “He’s getting his feet wet at a higher level.” Last year, Ramirez batted .303 at Double-A Erie.
        Ramirez’s stay in the big leagues will be brief this time. But he will be back. You can bet on that.

        Lest we forget, two years ago Rick Porcello was pitching against high school kids in New Jersey. Now he is 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA in his last three starts in the big leagues.
        Watching him work lately, that’s hard to believe.
        “If any of those high school kids hit him, I would have signed them, too,” Jim Leyland declared Sunday morning, in the wake of the 20-year-old Porcello’s best game yet on Saturday night.
        Right now, Leyland looks like a genius.
        “People say it was a good decision to put him on the team,” the manager said. “It wasn’t a good decision. It was a common sense decision.
        “I like talent,” Leyland added.
        And this kid definitely has that.
        “But let’s not put him in the Hall of Fame just yet,” Leyland cautioned. “He’s going to have some ups and downs. He’s not over the hump.”
        In fact, there is no guarantee Porcello will even remain in the Tigers’ starting rotation for the rest of the year.
        “But I’ll tell you what, when he’s 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA, we’re not going to take him out of the rotation. He’s Nolan Ryan right now.
        “Right now, this kid is one of our five  best pitchers, and that’s what this is all about,” Leyland continued. “You’re supposed to have your best players in the big leagues. He’s a blue chipper. And he’s a blue chip person, too.
        “But will he still be one of our five best pitchers in July?  I don’t know,” Leyland admitted. “I don’t know how it’s going to play out.
        “He’s going to take some baby steps backwards. He’s going to get the (bleep) knocked out of him some nights. But he’s going to take some steps forward, too.
        “I promised Dave (Dombrowski), ‘If you let me take him, I’ll protect him,’ ” Leyland said.
        “I’m not going to get greedy. Even if he’s throwing a shutout or a no-hitter, when it gets to a point, I’m taking him out of there. I don’t care. That’s just the way it is. He’s got a long way to go and we’re going to take it slow.”
        If Porcello keeps pitching the way he has lately, that won’t be easy.

        

        At last, some good news for the Tigers: Jeremy Bonderman is back. Well, almost.
        “I’m not too far away, maybe one or two more starts,” Bonderman said late Friday afternoon at Comerica Park, unable to keep the smile off his face.
        When Bonderman does return to the mound for the Tigers -- assuming he doesn’t suffer any more setbacks -- it will have been nearly one full year since he last threw a pitch in the big leagues.
        Bonderman was 3-4 in 12 games before suffering a blood clot in his right shoulder and undergoing surgery last summer. His last start came on June 1.
        “It took a little longer than I was hoping,” he admitted Friday, smiling again.
        When Bonderman does return, he will undoubtedly rejoin the starting rotation. That will leave the Tigers with a major decision to make. The starting rotation currently consists of Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson, Rick Porcello, Armando Galarraga and Dontrelle Willis.
        Feel free to venture a guess as to who will go -- and where.
        “I understand they’ve got some big decisions to make,” Bonderman said. “I’m fine with whatever they want me to do.”
        Bonderman, who drove to Detroit from Lakeland, Fla., with his dad this week, will pitch for the Tigers’ Class A West Michigan affiliate Saturday night. Bonderman knows, as a big league star with a $12.5 million, it will be his responsibility to pay for an appropriate post-game clubhouse spread for his minor league playmates.
        He may make another start or two at West Michigan, or pitch for Triple A Toledo, before he rejoins the Tigers. Between rehab appearances, Bonderman will work out at Comerica Park.
        “This gives me peace of mind, more than anything,” he said.
        “I’m feeling a lot better, no pain, nothing,” said Bonderman, who had initially hoped to be sufficiently recovered from last summer’s surgery to open the season with the Tigers.
        But his arm hurt and his fastball wasn’t up to speed during spring training and he was placed on the disabled list. Bonderman stayed behind in Lakeland for what is known as extended spring training, working with some minor leaguers, when the Tigers broke camp and came north.
        “There was this deep ache in my arm, I knew something wasn’t right,” he said. “Then one day, about three weeks or a month ago, something kind of popped. I guess that cleared up what needed to be cleared up because my arm felt better after that.”
        Bonderman said he now throwing 88 to 91 mph.
        “My velocity will get better,” he said. “It’s hard to get motivated when you’re pitching at 10 o’clock in the morning on one of those back fields at Tigertown with nobody there.”

        Rather than stand by and wait for things to improve on their own, Jim Leyland tweaked his roster and shook up his starting lineup on Tuesday in an effort to snap the Tigers out of their offensive funk.
        “I know some people are going to say we’re panicking a little bit, but we’re 100 at-bats into the season, we’ve played quite a bit,” declared Leyland in defense of the major overhaul.
        “I don’t think you can keep waiting and waiting and waiting until you get to 200 at-bats.
        “This is my job, this what a manager does,” Leyland said. “When you’re struggling a little bit, you change things around. I’m not trying to be a smart guy here. But obviously our offense has been struggling. I’m trying to shake things up a little bit and see if we can get something going.
        “Billy Martin drew his lineup out of a hat one night when he was here. To me, that’s a gimmick. This is common sense.”
        Before Tuesday night’s homestand finale against the Minnesota Twins, Carlos Guillen, who has been hobbled by a strained hamstring since Opening Day and then injured his right shoulder when he ran into the wall in Seattle, was placed on the 15-day disabled list and replaced by left-hand hitting first baseman Jeff Larish.
        In addition, the Tigers optioned reliever Clay Rapada to Toledo and called up speedy outfielder Clete Thomas.
        Leyland revamped his batting order, putting speedster Josh Anderson in left field, in place of Guillen, and inserting Anderson into the leadoff spot in the lineup, dropping Curtis Granderson whom had batted leadoff in the Tigers’ first 25 games, to fifth, behind Miguel Cabrera.
        “Now we’ve got a little speed up top and we’ve got speed in the middle of the lineup,” the manager explained.
        Leyland also dropped slumping Magglio Ordonez from third to sixth, and employed him as the designated hitter. Thomas took Ordonez’s place in the No. 3 spot in the order as well as in right field.
        It marked the first time since Sept. 27, 1998 with the Chicago White Sox that Ordonez, the 2007 American League batting champion, has batted sixth or lower. “I’m going to try to get Magglio settled in and relaxed a little bit,” explained Leyland who delayed posted Tuesday’s lineup until after Ordonez arrived at the ballpark and Leyland had a chance to speak to him
        Catcher Gerald Laird, who is 1-for-20 on this homestead, dropped from sixth to eighth in the order, and Ramon Santiago, who has driven in 11 runs so far this season, replaced Adam Everett at shortstop.
        Leyland declined to say whether some of the changes might become permanent or were merely for one night. “I can’t answer that,” he said.
        “I like this lineup, it’s something different, change things up a little bit, let’s see what happens,” Leyland said.
        Leyland said Guillen will remain in Detroit to work with a therapist when the team begins an eight-game road trip to Chicago, Cleveland the Minneapolis today.
        “He’s not right and we’ve got to get him 100 percent,” the manager explained. “I think a two-week period will do that. I want to have a healthy Carlos Guillen.”

        Everyone noticed the difference in Justin Verlander on Sunday when he struck out 11 Indians and allowed only two hits. That was obvious. But Jim Leyland believes he can see the difference on the days between Verlander’s starts, too.
        “We won’t agree on this  because we don’t agree on anything,” the Tigers manager said Monday, “but his concentration is better between starts this year than it was last year.”
        Leyland said Verlander is more focused now on doing the things he needs to do between starts, instead of taking his success for granted.
        “With pitchers, I believe you get into a rhythm, not only the times you pitch but between starts, too,” Leyland explained.
        “He’s so good, I think he’d just think, ‘Okay, it’s my day to throw. I’ll throw today and I’ll be okay.’ This year I think he’s more focused on working on  stuff.
        “He’s bull-headed, and I’m bull-headed,” Leyland said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. Some married people are bull-headed, too, and they still love each other.
        “I don’t love the guy but I love having him on my team. He has the best overall stuff of any pitcher I’ve ever managed.  He’s one of the best players I’ve ever had. The sky’s the limit for this guy.
        “But when you have instant success, like he did, you think you’re bullet-proof.
He’ll have success now for a long time because he’s figured it out. He’s getting it. When he gets it going, when he gets in that groove, it’s tough for anybody to hit him.
        “But,” Leyland cautioned, “if he takes it for granted, he’ll take another step back.”

        Ryan Raburn blames himself. And rightfully so. He was the one who butchered the routine fly ball to left field on Saturday that let three Indians cross the plate and led to a five-run Cleveland rally.       
        Zach Miner doesn’t believe he deserved to have those five earned runs on his tab. And he’s right. It wasn’t fair. The fact that Miner will be eligible for salary arbitration at the end of the season could make those five runs quite costly.
        Initially, the official scorer, Ron Kleinfelter, awarded Cleveland’s Asdrubal Cabrera a double on the fly ball that Raburn first misjudged, then dropped as he raced toward the left field fence. It was not a snap call. Kleinfelter is a competent, conscientious scorer. He wrestled with his decision long after Saturday’s 9-7 Tiger win was over.
        As a result of Kleinfelter’s decision, Miner’s earned run average temporarily leaped from 4.50 to 6.75. So we’re not talking about some trivial matter here.
        On Sunday, under continuing pressure from the Tigers’ public relations department, Kleinfelter reversed Saturday’s call, charging Raburn with an error and erasing those five earned runs from Miner’s permanent record.
        The changed call also cost Asdrubal Cabrera a base hit and three RBI, which, understandably, did not make the Indians happy.
        I thought, under the scoring rules, Kleinfelter made the correct call on Saturday. And I told him so at the time. But there also was no doubt in my mind that Raburn botched the play.
        The only thing I disagree with was the way Kleinfelter was pressured by the Tigers’ PR staff during and after Saturday’s game and again on Sunday until he reluctantly agreed to change the call.
        Kleinfelter, like all official scorers, is paid by major league baseball and should be treated accordingly. The Tigers PR people wouldn’t dare browbeat an umpire like that if they disagreed with one of his decisions.
        Although Jim Leyland didn’t complain to the scorer personally _  he almost never does _ there was no question in his mind  about how that pivotal play should have been called.
        “From the start of that play to the end of that play it was an error all the way,” the Tigers’ manager declared Sunday. “Raburn should have caught that ball. In fairness to Zach Miner, it should have been called an error, I don’t care if it was Ryan Raburn out there, Jim Leyland, or whoever. Zach Miner did not deserve five earned runs that inning
        “But I respect the official scorers,” Leyland continued. “I think it’s a very difficult job. He’s doing his job like I’m doing me. That stuff has been going on for years. It’s never going to stop. There’s a lot at stake. But in a situation like that, you don’t call up to the press box, yelling and screaming, badgering somebody. You just don’t do that.”
        As fate would have it, Miner’s locker, and that of Raburn, are side by side in the Tigers’ clubhouse.
It might have made for a awkward situation. But it didn’t.
        “Zach Miner is not mad at Ryan Raburn,” Leyland said Sunday. “He’s upset because he got a bunch of earned runs tacked on that shouldn’t have been tacked on.
        “Its a Catch-22 for a player because you’re talking about a team. One thing I will not tolerate here is somebody pointing fingers.”
        On Sunday, sensing that Raburn was still down in the dumps, Leyland called the young outfielder  into his office.
        “Relax,” the manager urged. “This game is supposed to be fun.  Besides, it’s Sunday so I can’t go out and buy a gun.”
        To which Raburn softly replied, “I’ve got a gun out in my truck if you want to borrow it.”
        Then Raburn smiled.
        Mission accomplished.

        Few things infuriate Jim Leyland more than bases on balls. Throw strikes: That is the message the Tigers manager has preached to his pitchers over and over. That is the philosophy that helped get new pitching coach Rick Knapp hired.
        A year ago, Tiger pitchers walked 644 enemy batters, the second worst such figure in the American League. And it cost them.
        Going into Friday night’s game against Cleveland, only four teams in the A.L. -- the Twins, the Angels, the Orioles and the Mariners -- had walked fewer batters than the Tigers. Obviously, they are listening.
        But that will be something to keep an eye on as the season unfolds.
        “Pitchers talk about hitters ‘working the count,’ ” Leyland said. “But if you throw strikes, they can’t work the count. That  just seems like common sense to me.
        “People talk all the time about teams like the Yankees being ‘patient.’ Well, if you throw strike one, strike two, how patient can they be?
        “But there are too many pitchers in the big leagues who pitch away from contract,” Leyland declared. “That’s why there are so many walks. By every team. Big leagues hitters aren’t going to swing at pitches that are way low or way high. Big league hitters are too good.
        “If you’re afraid to pitch to contact, you cannot pitch in the big leagues. It’s as simple as that.”