Jeremy Bonderman was unhittable.

Perfect through four innings (again), Bonderman really didn’t get into trouble until the sixth inning, but then he got a strikeout looking to end the threat.  He got through the seventh unscathed as well, and the Tigers nursed a 2-0 lead into the eighth inning on the shoulders of a Miguel Cabrera two-run home run that came way back in the second inning.

After the Cabrera home run, the Tigers got exactly one runner on base, and he was gobbled up in a double play.  Ervin Santana was that good.  But the Tigers had their two runs, and Bonderman, going into the eighth inning, had thrown only 77 pitches.

But then a little ground ball by Reggie Willits turned into an infield single.  The next pitch was another single to left, and the Angels had runners on first and second with no one out.  Macier Izturis bunted back to Bonderman, and he made his only play, at first base, and the tying run was in scoring position.

Then Jim Leyland came and got Bonderman, and with him left the Tigers chance to win the game.

It’s hard to go against Leyland, but it seems like every decision he makes this year ends up being the wrong one.  It’s not his fault, it just comes down to dumb luck.  Like pitching Freddy Dolsi a third inning two nights ago, or leaving in Verlander or Rogers or Robertson one inning too long, or taking out Verlander or Rogers or Robertson one inning too early.  It doesn’t matter what Leyland does, the decision ends up hurting the Tigers.

True, there is no way to tell what would have happened if Bonderman had been left in the game.  But Bonderman had gotten the next two hitters, Gary Matthews and Vlad Guerrero, every time he had faced them so far in the game.  He was pitching a shutout, and he deserved the chance to get through the jam–especially since he had thrown only 83 pitches at the time.

Leyland saw it the other way, and for a brief moment, it looked like he might be right.  Francisco Cruceta came in and got Matthews looking on four pitches, but then he let in a run with Guerrero batting on a ball in the dirt, and then walked him on the next pitch that didn’t even get to the plate.  That brought up Garret Anderson.

Anderson lined the second pitch he saw to right field and the game was tied.  The next batter flew out to left and the inning was over.  The game was 2-2.

The Tigers could not score in the ninth as Santana still had faced the minimum of 24 batters since allowing the Cabrera home run, and then the Angels came up and won the game on a couple of walks by Aquilino Lopez and then a walk-off RBI single by Matthews, his first hit of the game.

So, two nights in a row and two walk-off losses for the Tigers.  What is interesting is that two nights ago, Bobby Seay, the left-handed specialist, walked in the winning run with Garret Anderson at the plate.  This time, Anderson singled in the tying run in the ninth inning with a right-handed pitcher throwing.

Seay threw only four pitches a night ago, all balls, and it allowed the Angels to score.  Apparently, that was too many, or he jumped into Jim Leyland’s doghouse mighty quickly because the obvious decision would be to go to Seay with Anderson at the plate again in the eighth.  If Seay gets Anderson, Jones comes out for the save in the ninth.  If Seay walks Anderson again, the bases are loaded and another pitcher could come in to face the next Angels batter with the Tigers still in the lead.  Seay wasn’t hittable a night ago, he just couldn’t quite get the ball into the strike zone.  He may have been effectively wild if given the chance.

But that didn’t happen.  Cruceta was allowed to pitch to Anderson, and Anderson lined a single that tied the game.   The ninth inning really didn’t matter unless the Tigers could get through it without giving up any runs.  As long as Santana was on the hill, they wouldn’t even get another baserunner…