Detroit — On the long list of baseball improbabilities, this had to rank near the top. On a sunny mid-May day, here were the Tigers playing the Indians for a shot at first place with a lineup featuring 4-5-6-7 hitters Niko Goodrum, John Hicks, Mikie Mahtook and Grayson Greiner, and a rookie named Ryan Carpenter on the mound.
Hey, makes as much as sense as anything in this season of expected upheaval and unexpected excitement.
Whatever it is the Tigers are doing, it’s hard to figure out how they’re doing it. It’s easy to say it’s not sustainable because, well, it likely isn’t.