Kitties roar late ...

The Tigers finally managed to put Piniella's Little Leaguers away last night at The Copa. They crawled to within a game of .500 for the umpteenth time this year. It shouldn't have taken heroics by Pudge and Rondell to do it, though.

I can't deny it any longer. Tram is starting to worry me. I've watched him pull pitchers too early this year (Bondo comes to mind), or leave pitchers in too long (J.J. at least once). In the middle of a winning streak, he'll bench key starters. In the middle of a losing streak, that happens, too.

Here's my complaint with yesterday's series opener:

With runners on in scoring position with less than two outs, TBay brings in a righty to face right-hander Marcus Thames. Tram pinch-hits Carlos Pena, a lefty. Normally, I've got no problem with this. Seems logical. Except that Thames homered only innings earlier.

I understand there's conventional wisdom that goes into this game. I also understand you ride a player who's hot. Or at least a player who might be getting hot. Or a player who just may have be hot for one lousy night. Apparently not. Anyway, Pena whiffs, as does the next batter. Inning over. Tigs fail to score. It takes Pudge's two-out single in the ninth to tie it and Rondell's single in the 11th to put away the pride of Alex Sanchez (three hits ... how ridiculous is that?).

Bright side: Ugie looked great. Dark side: Carlos Guillen left with knee pain. Here's to hoping he doesn't join biggies Percival and Maggs on the shelf.

QUICK HITS: Jack Nicklaus says he's ending his competitive career this summer at St. Andrews. Seems like a fitting place to say good-bye, but I hope the Golden Bear doesn't follow through on his statements this week. He's still got enough game to make the occasional cut, as he did at last year's Memorial. ... Annika won again last week. She'll go down as one of the top five golfers of all time, male or female. I wish she'd make a couple more appearances on the PGA Tour. She could make a cut or two. ... The Pacers aren't smiling anymore. The loss in Game 5 was -- for all intents and purposes -- the end of their season. There's no way they're going to take the next two from the defending champs. ... That's blog entry No. 1. Check back soon for more.