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.