Gather 'round, because it's time to recap the most recent diamond doings. Roll Call starts near the…

They may be out of the race, but the Tigers aren’t out of energy or effort.

Detroit rallied from a 7-3 deficit with four runs in the eighth inning Thursday, fell behind in the bottom of the inning and tied it in the ninth. The Tigers took a 9-8 lead in the 11th only to see the Twins tie it in the home half but finally scored again in the 13th and closed out the 10-9 victory with three quick outs.

“It was a heckuva effort,” manager Jim Leyland said. “We hung in there. We made a couple of miscues but fought through it. We got some huge hits from a lot of different guys.

“It was a really nice win for us. We hung in there and snuck one.”

Some of the same rookies who made mistakes in a 10-inning loss Wednesday were key contributors Thursday.

Will Rhymes, who…

Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera left Thursday night's game against Minnesota in the sixth inning with left biceps tendinitis. Cabrera went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts in the game. After coming in from the field after the fifth inning, the first baseman walked with a team trainer from the dugout back into the clubhouse.

Danny Valencia is a rookie who doesn't lack confidence. Consider the T-shirt the proud University of Miami product was wearing after the game, blaring "The 'U' invented swagger" on the front. Minnesota's up-and-coming third baseman couldn't have expected to do this well, though.

MINNEAPOLIS – Max St. Pierre's perseverance has paid off. The Detroit Tigers have added an awfully happy backup catcher.

Max St. Pierre's perseverance has paid off. The Detroit Tigers have added an awfully happy backup catcher. The 30-year-old rookie was brought up to the big leagues on Wednesday after 14 seasons — spanning 978 games — in the minors. His next at-bat — and manager Jim Leyland promised he'd get one — will be his first in the majors.

The Detroit Tigers have added two players from Triple-A Toledo: catcher Max St. Pierre and right-handed reliever Robbie Weinhardt.

NEW YORK, – Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista was named the AL player of the week on Monday.

Maybe it took a demotion to finally wake Detroit Tigers’ starter Max Scherzer up. Scherzer was sent down to Triple-A in mid-May because, quite frankly, he was pitching like The Ghost of Greg Gohr.

Scherzer had an ERA of 9.45 in that month of May, but since being recalled from the minors, Scherzer has been one of the best pitchers in baseball. Scherzer continued his hot streak on Thursday night as he dominated the Toronto Blue Jays for eight innings. Scherzer allowed only six hits, one run, one walk, and struck out eight in the 117-pitch effort.

In the second half of the season, Scherzer has a 1.98 ERA, a 1.15 WHIP, and is holding batters to a .213 batting average against.

I believe there are a couple of reasons for Scherzer’s turnaround.

First, Scherzer is striking out fewer guys per nine innings. Now, you might be thinking, “Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Aren’t pitchers supposed to strike out more per nine innings?”

In most cases, I believe that to be true. However, not in Scherzer’s case.

I thought Scherzer’s biggest problem at the beginning of the season was that he was trying to strike everyone out. He would get the count to 0-2, then nibble for three pitches. The next thing you know, the count is 3-2 and Scherzer would be forced to throw a fastball.

Now Scherzer is much more aggressive and is challenging the hitters with his stuff. His stuff is so good that, even if hitters do hit the ball, they hit it weakly on the ground.

This leads me to my second point about Scherzer; he is throwing more groundballs now than at the beginning of the season.

In the second half, Scherzer is throwing around 42 percent groundballs. In the first half, he was throwing around 36 percent. Scherzer is learning that using your infield is a good thing.

I always thought Scherzer projected more as a closer than a starter. But in the second half of this year, he has proved me wrong. If he really has turned the corner, then the Tigers will have a very good pitcher on their hands for years to come.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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Detroit's Rick Porcello stole the show on the day the Toronto Blue Jays honored former pitching great Dave Stieb. Porcello pitched three-hit ball for seven innings, Ryan Raburn hit two home runs and the Tigers beat the Blue Jays 10-4 Sunday. Porcello (7-11) won consecutive starts for the first time this season.