Guillen could rejuvenate offense

Detroit

Fans would have been forgiven Friday morning for wondering if Carlos Guillen was more of a wish and a hope than a probable boost to the Tigers' soggy offense.

Then he batted four times in the first game of Friday's doubleheader against the White Sox. And three more times in the second game. And by the time the Tigers had swept the White Sox, 5-1 and 4-3, in front of crowds so geeked they seemed more like Mardi Gras revelers, everyone saw Guillen was back to his old swashbuckling ways.

He had one of those Reggie Jackson watch-it-hit-the-moon home runs into the right-field seats his first time up in the second game. He also hit a single.

In the first game Guillen had a single and hit the ball hard and deep on two other at-bats. Those swings were themselves revelations. He had not come close to hitting a baseball with such sock in April, ahead of his nearly three-month hiatus on the disabled list with a sore left shoulder.

"Maybe Carlos could be our trade," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said, in a look-what-we-found voice.

In the nick of time

After the second game, Leyland acknowledged a healthy, free-swinging Guillen already has given his power-starved lineup something of a makeover.

"It's presence," Leyland said after one of those dreamy nights managers live for: A first-place team beating its closest rival in front of two big and loud home crowds.

"That's an accomplished big league hitter we've placed on our team."

Guillen's first games since May 4 suggested the Tigers have a dynamite stick at the 11th hour of a divisional race they've led since May. Their batting order has been a wasteland of late, in part because Guillen was on the DL at the same time Magglio Ordonez was in a tailspin.

With his ability to drive the ball up gaps and over fences, Guillen could take the heat off Miguel Cabrera and enable Leyland to use Brandon Inge, Marcus Thames, Clete Thomas and Ryan Raburn deeper in the order, where they thrive.

Good for Dombrowski

Guillen also can make next week's trade deadline less of a life-or-death issue for Dave Dombrowski, the Tigers' president and general manager, who has tried to find help in a trade market suddenly tough for buyers.

What the selling teams want from the Tigers is good minor-league prospects. No matter if it's Adam Dunn or Nick Johnson, the teams with hitters in their showrooms want prized young talent.

The Tigers are being careful for good reason. They tried last year to make a one-season push for a world championship and instead finished last after trading the likes of Jair Jurrjens for a one-season mistake named Edgar Renteria.

Dombrowski may yet make an affordable deal ahead of Friday's deadline. But if he doesn't choose to mortgage part of the farm system for a big bat, he and Leyland can at least be buoyed by Guillen's sturdy swings.

Guillen's sore shoulder never allowed such cuts through April and into the early days of May. There were back and leg ills chewing at him last season, as well, when he hit only 10 home runs in 113 games.

On Friday, he was a different player, a throwback to his 2006-07 prime. He sat and waited for pitches that he attacked with his old zest.

"I want results," he said, poking fun at himself after Detroit rode Justin Verlander to victory in the first game. "I don't want to look good."

In other words: Thanks for the compliments, but driving in runs is his job. And that job he fulfilled nicely.

The Tigers will use Guillen strategically. He is best as a designated hitter, where Leyland had him stationed in both games. He will take an occasional turn in left field, although the Tigers -- who said goodbye Friday to Josh Anderson -- won't always appreciate the defensive tradeoff there.

But they just might get the pop they've needed. The batting order had a punch it hasn't shown for many days or nights over the past month.

"We'll see what happens," Guillen said, maybe realizing what happens for the Tigers during the next two months will be influenced either way by a 33-year-old switch-hitter who, when healthy, can break up his share of ballgames.

lynn.henning@detnews.com">lynn.henning@detnews.com