Tigers striped

What's been a mess of a season for the Detroit Tigers just got a bit more messy. The Detroit Free Press says Joel Zumaya looks to be shutting it down for the rest of the year while Dontrelle Willis could end up pitching down the stretch.

If Detroit had any pitching, they'd be right there with the White Sox and the Twins. They don't have pitching, however, so they're right there by themselves.

Beckett gets good news

Considering he visited Dr. Andrews, this is probably the best news Josh Beckett and the Red Sox could've gotten. It looks like Beckett has a good chance of pitching again this season.

Go 'Cuse

Just wanted to point out that the Northwestern-Syracuse football opener is looking like a pretty good pitchers' duel. The Wildcats lead my alma mater, 3-2 in the second inning, er, quarter. Syracuse quarterback Andrew Robinson just threw the football across his endzone to nobody for a grounding penalty in the endzone. That's what gave NU its safety.

Update: Just saw the replay of the grounding call. Syracuse, backed up inside its own five, ran a single-receiver play off of play action. That left Robinson a single fly route to throw to. Somebody missed a block, and that was that. You wonder why Greg Robinson owns just seven wins over three seasons at the helm of the Orange.

Angels adding an infielder?

The injury woes the Angels have experienced in their middle infield corps this season is head-scratching. Maicer Izturis, Erick Aybar and Howie Kendrick visit the infirmary so often, they're all qualified as nurse practitioners.

LA is considering its options as the waiver trade deadline looms, and the Angels can use the help. Getting another option up the middle would be a good move considering Izturis is lost for the year, and can you really count on Kendrick lasting more than a month?

Bonds case heating up

It looks like the feds will go to any length to prosecute Barry Bonds. Greg Anderson may be forced to talk if his family is pressured. This is an interesting power-wrangling angle.

Phils step up, acquire Stairs

The Phillies acquisition of outfielder Matt Stairs is official, the Philadelphia Inquirer confirms. It sounds like he's a good fit in Philadelphia, and the Phillies gave up a 5'7" minor league pitcher to get him.

General manager Pat Gillick declined to comment yesterday, but it is easy to see why the club considered Stairs the best available option. While the 40-year-old, who is in his 16th major league season, might be near the end of his career, he hit 21 home runs in 357 at-bats last season. He has had tremendous success in limited action at Citizens Bank Park, hitting six home runs in 27 at-bats, while carrying a .444 career average there.

Stairs comes relatively cheap. The Phillies would owe him only a month's worth of his $2.5 million salary this season; his current 2-year contract calls for a $1 million salary next season.

Fantasy Impact: The Inquirer expects Stairs to be used as a pinch hitter. That means despite his good numbers, he'll be used too infrequently to make a serious play in fantasy.