Lost in roof complaints are questions about defense in Detroit Tigers outfield

Blame today's loss on the Metrodome roof if it makes you feel better.

I'm still not sure why anyone would paint a stadium's roof the same color as the baseball.

But the Detroit Tigers didn't lose today's game because of the quirks of the stadium that has left many fielders throwing their arms up to signal they've lost the ball.

They lost it because they have only two outfielders who can be trusted to play defense in the late innings of a close game.

Don Kelly, who lost one ball and misplayed another in the decisive eighth inning, was a defensive replacement for Carlos Guillen.

Kelly, a AAA-player who is on the team only because of September roster expansion, shouldn't have been put in the position to help lose the game. There are no indoor stadiums with white roofs in the minor leagues, where the 29-year-old Kelly has played most of his career.

Maybe Jim Leyland made a mistake by entrusting Kelly with late-inning defense in a crucial game.

But what other choices do the Tigers have? Clete Thomas? He had to enter the game in right field as a defensive replacement for Magglio Ordonez. Ryan Raburn? He's suffered his own misadventures this season as a defensive replacement.

With Guillen, Ordonez and Marcus Thames getting the bulk of the playing time at the corner outfield positions, defensive range is a big problem. Guillen isn't really an outfielder and he's aging and slow. Ordonez is aging and slow. Thames never really was very good on defense.

That left Leyland trying to figure out how to replace two poor outfielders in the late innings with a bench that had only one quality major-league outfielder.

It wouldn't be such a big problem if Guillen and Ordonez were still 100-RBI threats. But now that they're both hitting like middle-infielders, their defense is even more troubling.

And it could cost the Tigers, whose lead over the Minnesota Twins dropped to two games, a spot in the playoffs.