The good news is the series in Cleveland will be the Tigers’ last against a team with a winning record, as they will finish with Kansas City, Minnesota and Chicago. Still, it appears as if some remarkable individual performances will go for naught:

Magglio Ordonez is gunning for a batting title and has a good shot at driving in more than 140 runs, the most by a Tiger since Hank Greenberg hit that mark in 1940. Curtis Granderson has become only the third player in history to complete the extremely rare quadruple-20 — 20 doubles, triples, homers and stolen bases. And the Tigers will have four players score 100 or more runs — something that hasn’t happened in Motown since 1950.

The standings should reflect better, given those offensive accomplishments. Ilitch’s goal is legitimate and reachable, but the championship window for this veteran-filled roster might not be as long as he’d like to think. And that makes this season even tougher to swallow for the Tigers and their fans.

Q: Can you believe the Cardinals have come nearly all the way back, especially considering all the adversity they have come through? Can they win their division, though?
— Chris, Colorado Springs, Colo.

A: It has been an eye-opening climb back into division-title contention for the Cards, hasn’t it? They bottomed out at 20-29 on May 29th, but the key factor was they never slipped into double-digits off the National League Central lead. And when the Milwaukee Brewers nose-dived after the All-Star break, the Cards were poised to climb back in the race.

Slide show   Week in Sports Pictures Flying on the hardwood, racing on the rink, getting physical on the gridiron, and much more. more photos

They started getting healthy — David Eckstein, Yadier Molina, Jim Edmonds and others have spent time on the disabled list — and they got an influx of talent and energy with the additions of Rick Ankiel, Brandon Ryan, Joel Pineiro, Todd Wellemeyer and Troy Percival.

Unfortunately, it appears as if their run is going to come up short. Injuries are wreaking havoc on the lineup once again, as Chris Duncan (hernia) and Ankiel (sprained ankle) are sidelined — and Scott Rolen, Adam Kennedy, Juan Encarnacion and Josh Kinney already are out for the season.

Mark Mulder’s return from the disabled list has been anything but impressive, as he has a 12-plus ERA and has been hit hard in two starts, and the schedule maker also is working against the Cards. They will play 31 games this month, including three makeup games and one double-header. They are 4-7 this month as I write.

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