Leyland Pushes Right Buttons, On And Off Field

Reasons why players enjoy playing for the Tigers and manager Jim Leyland showed up again Monday.

Baseball is tough enough without the manager piling on when things aren't going right.

Look at Austin Jackson, who seems to be coming out of his spring-long funk.

Leyland has occasionally put his center fielder on the bench but mostly he's stuck by him, in the media and in the clubhouse. His face-to-faces with Jackson mostly involve trying to keep him upbeat.

Jackson had a three-run double Monday after consecutive three-hit games in Toronto.

Ryan Perry had a brutal outing, entering the ninth inning with a 10-2 lead and seeing it get knocked down to the eventual 10-5 final margin. Three walks, 24 pitches (only seven for strikes), a double, single and hit batter ... not pretty.

"He hadn't pitched in seven days," Leyland said. "It's not his fault."

Joaquin Benoit had a miserable three appearances while April was transitioned into May. Leyland's solution: a week off for Benoit to iron out his delivery difficulties. Benoit returned to throw a scoreless, four-batter inning Monday.

"I was just trying to get some pitchers some work they needed," Leyland said.

One of a manager's chief duties is to put his players in situations where they can be successful. Leyland works behind the scenes to get that part of his job done.

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