Kritik und Lob » odds of the fourth-year back being ab

DETROIT -- Chris Tillman is back from the disabled list -- and looks ready to help the Baltimore Orioles in their push for the playoffs.Tillman pitched six impressive innings, and Michael Bourn and Jonathan Schoop homered off Justin Verlander to lead the Orioles to a 3-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday. The Baltimore right-hander hadnt pitched since Aug. 20 because of right shoulder bursitis.He didnt look very rusty, Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. Its a really good lineup, too, he went through.Baltimore and the Toronto Blue Jays are now tied in the standings and occupy both wild-card spots in the American League. Theyre two games behind first-place Boston in the AL East, and the Orioles are now headed to Fenway Park for a three-game series with the Red Sox.Detroit fell two games behind the wild cards. The New York Yankees are also two back of the Orioles and Blue Jays.Tillman (16-5) allowed a run and four hits after being activated before the game. He struck out four and walked one.It was definitely a little bit of rust there, but I feel like we were able to work through it, Tillman said. You get kind of bored and frustrated sitting on the bench that long, and not being able to help the team.Three relievers finished for the Orioles, with Zach Britton pitching the ninth for his 41st save in 41 chances. Britton retired pinch-hitter Casey McGehee with two on for the final out, taking sole possession of the AL saves lead.Verlander (14-8) lasted only five innings, ending his streak of 11 straight quality starts.The Orioles lead the majors with 226 home runs, but Bourn has only two of them. His two-run shot off Verlander in the third opened the scoring.Bourn is 14 for 37 (.378) in his career off Verlander, but this was the first time hed gone deep against the Detroit right-hander.Schoops 23rd homer of the season made it 3-0 in the fourth, and Detroits only run came on Ian Kinslers RBI single in the fifth.The Tigers put runners on first and second in the eighth before Miguel Cabrera bounced into an inning-ending double play against Mychal Givens. They had runners at first and second in the ninth when James McCann struck out and McGehee grounded out to end it.Cabrera went 0 for 4 and failed to hit the ball out of the infield.Verlander allowed three runs and seven hits in his second loss since the All-Star break.BACK AND FORTHMark Trumbo grounded out to the shortstop to lead off the second, and Cabrera had to position himself awkwardly at first to receive a bouncing throw from Jose Iglesias. Trumbo and Cabrera appeared to exchange words after the play.Miggy was like, `What am I supposed to do? His job is to catch the ball and be on the base, Verlander said. I dont really know what their issue was on that.Trumbo didnt have much to say about it after the game.He had given me a restaurant recommendation, Trumbo said.TRAINERS ROOMTigers: Jordan Zimmermann, hit hard Saturday in his return from a neck injury, will not make his next start Thursday against Minnesota. Manager Brad Ausmus said hell throw an 80-pitch simulated game Wednesday.I definitely understand the reasoning, Zimmermann said. We cant afford to lose games right now.UP NEXTOrioles: Baltimore heads to Boston, and LHP Wade Miley (8-12) starts Monday night for the Orioles against David Price (15-8).Tigers: Detroit hosts a four-game set against Minnesota. LHP Daniel Norris (2-2) takes the mound for the Tigers on Monday night against Ervin Santana (7-10). Cheap Custom Football Shirts .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Stitched Custom NFL Jerseys .J. Ellis hit two-run homers and the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 4-0 Saturday night. http://www.customcheapfootballjerseys.com/ . They had already blown a double-digit lead, fans were hitting the exits, and a long seven-game road trip waited at the end. Custom Football Jerseys China . The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season. Custom Football Shirts Outlet GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Packers coach Mike McCarthy has said no one man can change the fortunes of a team.But in Clay Matthews and Christine Michael, Green Bay has two players who can only help in areas on opposite sides of the ball in which production has tailed off late.Matthews on Thursday practiced for a second straight day on a limited basis, a positive step for the Packers best edge rusher. The long-haired linebacker has been out the past three games with a hamstring injury.Matthews has been around Lambeau Field for a while, unlike Michael, the newest Packer.Claimed off waivers from the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday, Michael took a redeye from Seattle and arrived at Lambeau at about 9:45 a.m.Less than two hours later, he was at Packers practice.The flight was the least of my worries. I was just ready to get up here as soon as possible, Michael said.Grab my playbook, get going, treat my body up well, meet the guys. ... Call this place home and just run with it.Its unclear yet how much Matthews and Michael will be able to play on Sunday night, when Green Bay (4-5) visits the Washington Redskins.The Packers arent used to being under .500 at midseason. Losers of three straight games , two of the biggest areas of concerns for the team are the pass rush and the lack of a running game.These are areas where Matthews and Michael could help.The Packers gave up a season-high 446 yards in the 47-25 loss to Tennessee last week, falling behind 21-0 after the first quarter.The Packers have a respectable 22 sacks on the season, though 14 came in the first four games.Matthews has missed four games this season to injury, including the past three. The 31-26 loss to Indianapolis on Nov. 6 was emblematic of the Packers pass rush problems.While quarterback Andrew Luck is known for his ability to evade pressure, Green Bay managed just two sacks against what was considered a porous offensive line.Oh, I mean, as a team, having dropped what, three in a row now? Its difficult to watch, Matthewss said.ddddddddddddor McCarthy, getting more production out of the pass rush starts in the early downs with stopping the run. The Packers earlier this season had success with rushing four, but that has waned in recent weeks.At the end of the day as far as how you go about it you want to get those 1-on-1 opportunities, but when you do youve got to win. Youve got to win and get the quarterback off the spot, McCarthy said.What McCarthy hasnt done is add more pressure on Matthews. The Packers have played it cautiously with an injury that Matthews has had in the past.Its not about one player. Never will be. Theres so much more to our football team than just our star players, McCarthy said earlier this week.And I probably should say that in good times (too) but I understand when we win games you want to prop a couple guys up and then when it doesnt go well we want to go the other way, too, McCarthy added. Clay is an outstanding football player, hes injured. Its part of the game.Matthews said on Thursday that he planned to play against Washington, barring the kind of setback he had a couple of weeks ago. It seemed promising then, too, before Matthews ended up sitting out the Colts game.As for Michael, the odds of the fourth-year back being able to contribute in a meaningful way right away seem low. He barely had time to learn the playbook, let alone unpack his bags.In the long run, the hope is Michael will be able to join James Starks in a rushing attack that has needed a boost since Eddie Lacy went down with an ankle injury.Michael ran for 469 yards and six touchdowns on 117 attempts in nine games for Seattle this season, including seven starts.Im just going to get me a playbook as soon as possible and learn as much as possible and see where it goes, Michael said.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL . ' ' '