sentences:  By August 7, the Tigers were an astonishing 40 games above .500 (76-36) and cruising.They would lose their next five games, sixteen of their next 22, and the last six weeks of the season were punctuated by a nosedive, as a suddenly silent offense led to a 19-31 record in the last 50 games of the season.Perhaps the biggest loss the team suffered was not a singular game, but one of their best all-around players, Plácido Polanco, who separated his shoulder making a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch in Fenway Park against the Red Sox on August 15.