Let’s not get Crazy.

I mean, last night was a big win, but, as it ends up, that’s all it was, a win. The Tigers are now 3-10 and still the doormat of the American League Central. Though they came back from 5-0 to make it 5-4 and then from 9-4 to win 11-9, it just means that they didn’t lose any ground in the division. Okay, fine, they made up half a game.

They still made three errors, and looked to be 2-11 halfway through the game. Even when they made a comeback, a baserunning error by Edgar Renteria ended the season’s biggest rally up to that point. The pitching let them down (again) and they were left for dead.

Then they woke up.

Let’s hope this game is a microcosm of the season. Early miscues cost them early, but big bats were enough to overcome any deficit. I will eat my words from a couple of days ago and say that I hope Ivan Rodriguez stays a Tiger after this season and I hope he does get his 3,000th hit in the orange and blue. He hasn’t really looked that good all season, but with the game on the line, he put the team on his shoulders and took it home.

As fired up as he was after the triple, and again when he had the wherewithal to tag on a sharp line drive to score the go-ahead run, how could you not want him on your team? To be honest, it’s an easy play to tag from third on any fly ball to the outfield. If it isn’t caught, you score easily. If it is, you can still tag, but more often than not, even many major leaguers will be caught halfway between third and home in that situation. Not Pudge. Not yesterday.

As he slid home with fist pumping, you could see it. You could feel it. The Tigers were going to win this game. And yes, it was just one of 162 games this year, and the Tigers are still seven games under .500, but he showed why he still deserves to play over 100 games at catcher even at his age.

Placido Polanco then came through with a big hit that seemed like his first hit of the season in many respects. It was definitely his first Polanco-like hit, a shot back through the box to score an insurance run, that with Todd Jones on the hill in the ninth, is always nice to have.

But then you go to the top of the ninth inning, and you could see it in their eyes. Brandon Inge had a steely look about him after a great throw to nab a runner. Miguel Cabrera looked like he wanted to win just as bad as he likely did in his first ever little league game. The fans were going crazy, and when the last out landed (thankfully) in Ryan Raburn’s glove, the Tigers had come back from improbable odds to snatch victory from the hands of defeat.

Is this the start of it? Do they go on a tear now? There is no way to know and only time will tell, but for the first time in the first two weeks of a so far agonizing season, the Tigers gave all their fans something to cheer about. Even Jeremy Bonderman, who left with a 5-4 deficit and a couple on base, had a fire in him when Bobby Seay couldn’t keep his inherited runners from scoring. I don’t think he was mad at Seay, but upset that it just looked like the Tigers would lose another they could have won.

But something happened. The bats woke up. Gary Sheffield, Magglio Ordonez, Cabrera, Carlos Guillen, Renteria and Rodriguez all had multiple hits–big hits, and the Tigers won. You want to hope this is the start of something, something big, but when it all comes down to it, it is just a win.

But a win is a win is a win…

Hopefully, they’ll get another one tonight…