When my nearly 90-year-old grandpa, Bill Birkle, was forced to the hospital for pneumonia, it was the Detroit Tigers that kept his mind off things.

The Detroit Tigers have some clear needs to address ahead of the MLB trade deadline, with arguably their most pressing being in the bullpen. It was a unit that was lacking pitchers capable of generating swings and misses at a high rate,

New Detroit Tigers reliever Geoff Hartlieb has a 7.92 ERA with 59 walks and 80 strikeouts across 80⅔ innings in six MLB seasons, spanning 66 games.

Ernie Clement and Joey Loperfido hit back-to back hit home runs in the fifth inning to help the surging Toronto Blue Jays rout the slumping Detroit Tigers 11-4 in a matchup of first-place teams going in opposite directions.

The Tigers led the AL Central by seven games on Sept. 6, 2009, and proceeded to finish the year 11-15 while the Twins won 18 of 26. That forced a Game 163, where the Tigers appropriately blew a 10th-inning lead to ultimately lose in 12.

He pitched a full inning against who else but the Blue Jays and gave up three runs, and then he pitched 1/3 inning against the Mariners — and gave up three runs. The Yankees sent him off in a hurry after that appearance,