Take 'em out at the ballgame

If you're going to Comerica Park tonight to see the first-place Detroit Tigers take on the Oakland Athletics, make sure you check if the start time might be delayed.

See, the Tigers' groundskeepers might have to maintain the chalk outline near second base for a few more hours while investigations of a collision are still being conducted.

Did anybody get the license plate number on the truck that plowed over Tadahito Iguchi yesterday?

Eyewitnesses have reported seeing a "RVR TMS" or "THMS 33," but if you saw anything yourself and have information to offer, feel free to leave it in the comments section of this blog.

If Craig Monroe's grand slam on Wednesday showed the White Sox that the Tigers have arrived (and that A.J. Pierzynski's bull$#!+ mind games wouldn't work), Marcus Thames' take-out slide on Thursday signaled that they're in this pennant race to stay.

Dirty play? White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, who's not known for keeping his opinions to himself, said no, calling it "a great play" and "the way baseball is supposed to be played."

According to Thames, Iguchi should blame his third baseman for getting laid out at second base.

"The third baseman hung him out to dry," he said to MLB.com's Jason Beck. "It was a bad feed from him. I don't want to hurt a guy, but I want him to know I'm coming in and trying to make sure he doesn't get off a good throw."

It wasn't just a defining moment, but a winning one, as well. Thames broke up a double-play opportunity, keeping the inning alive, and allowing Chris Shelton to bring in the go-ahead run with a double. Tigers manager Jim Leyland said it was "the difference in the ballgame."

Tigers 2, White Sox 1. And Detroit's lead in the AL Central is now 5 1/2 games. Even in Chicago, they're saying the Tigers are the better team right now.