MLB

This is unfamiliar terrain for the Detroit Tigers.

The club has enjoyed a smooth ride for nearly a decade. From 2006-14, the Tigers averaged nearly 88 wins per season, captured four Central Division championships and made two World Series appearances.

It’s been a different narrative in 2015.

First, Yan Gomes went down less than a week into the new season, which put the Cleveland Indians behind the eightball. Now, the team will have to deal with the absence of Jason Kipnis.

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You could call it a comeback.

Except Clayton Kershaw never went anywhere. 

The best pitcher on the planet still is and has been for most of this season. It's fair to say he hasn't been as good as he was a year ago, but you would just barely be correct in that assessment.

The intrastate rivalry between the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers just got turned up a notch. 

During the ninth inning of Saturday evening's 7-6 Rangers win at Minute Maid Park, Astros catcher Hank Conger and Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor exchanged words at home plate as Odor prepared to step into the batter's box to lead off the game's final frame. 

Francisco Liriano's time away from the diamond will extend beyond the All-Star break after the Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher was scratched from his start Saturday night against the Milwaukee Brewers.

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There are home runs, and then there are no-doubters.

The home run hit by Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista in the bottom of the sixth inning of Saturday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays would fall into the latter category.

On a 2-0 count, Rays right-hander Steve Geltz left a pitch up over the plate, and Bautista made him pay. It wasn't a matter of if the ball would clear the left-field wall. It was a matter of which deck it would land in.

Fact: The Baltimore Orioles' Chris Davis has been robbed of 3 HRs this month. No other player has been robbed of more than 1 HR all season.

Bleacher Report will be bringing sports fans the most interesting and engaging Cold Hard Fact of the day, presented by Coors Light.

Source: ESPN Stats & Info

Friday's game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals had to be suspended when the lights at Nationals Park kept going out.

And Taylor Swift may be to blame.

With the All-Star break taking place this week, the Nationals had not played a home game since July 7. You would think the stadium would be ready to go after more than a week without a game, but that wasn't the case.

It remains to be seen if the activity before this year's MLB trade deadline will contain dramatic shifts of talent around the league. In a season where a lot of teams have remained within sniffing distance of a wild-card berth, there may not be many sellers on the market. 

But the teams in the hunt will still attempt to work out whatever big moves they can. 

New York Mets

High-Priced Hurlers

Corey Kluber ($11,500) at Reds