Detroit

Around the NBA, Pistons guard Carlos Delfino has always been known for his kindness. By frequently baking cookies for fellow players and offering a shoulder to cry on when their wives leave them for NFL players, Delfino has earned the nickname "El Hombre Apacible," or literally a man who is gentle with others.

After receiving a daily dose of home cooking from manager Dusty Baker when he was with the Cubs, journeyman Neifi Perez got a taste of humble pie when he was shipped to Detroit at last year's trade deadline, batting a paltry .200 in 21 games with the Tigers.

In the second inning of Detroit's 5-0 win, catcher Tyler Flowers swung so hard at a changeup from Verlander that he spun around quickly four times as the ball was crossing the plate.

The sport of baseball, heralded as an American pastime invented by and for Americans, was knocked on its rear end today when a Major League pitcher named “Benoit” representing the great American city of Detroit relieved Justin Verlander.

It would have been just another jawing session between two oversized egos. It would have fizzled out and everyone would have been just fine.

JULY 15, PITTSBURGH PIRATES @ CHICAGO CUBS, WRIGLEY FIELD Things went so bad for the Pirates that even Jerry Hairston Jr. contributed to the onslaught with a grand slam (albeit off the foul pole), and then got into a heated, bench-clearing exchange with Pirate reliever Jose Mesa after his next at-bat. Of course, 39,000 suburban frat guys home for the summer left happy after the Cubs' 11-1 win, many of them singing the world’s most annoying tune. I’d appreciate the song much more if the lyrics "Go Cubs go! Go Cubs go!" were a command relating to the franchise’s geographic location. Chicagoans: There’s only room for one playoff team in this town, and we all know who it is in 2005.

Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith has been suspended for the remainder of the preseason plus five regular-season games after police found the body of Blackhawks wingman, Ben Smith, buried in his backyard.