File photo
When Tim Wakefield has his knuckleball going, it is an awesome sight. Just look at how delicately he holds that ball - like he's just pushing it toward the plate. And last night, he definitely had it going on! At one point, he retired 17 batters in a row. He didn't issue a single walk, and had 6 strikeouts. He only threw 98 pitches in 8 innings of shutout pitching. Wow. He probably could have pitched a complete game, but I guess Timlin needed some work - he finished up the shutout in the 9th. This interesting tidbit from Gordon Edes:

Research by the Elias Sports Bureau indicates that last night marked the first time since 1900 a team pitched a shutout using multiple pitchers all over the age of 40.

[Does the Elias Sports Bureau just sit around waiting for these calls? Do they have these stats just readily available?]

Oh, and Manny hit #497! Yeah!

AP Photo - Paul Sancya

Tonight it's the third game of this four game series. Buchholz is "on the bump" - and the Tigers have Galarraga going. We haven't had much luck against him, but...