text: Detroit Tigers Blaine Hardy is the main man against White Sox
  Blaine Hardy is starting to get used to this whole starting pitching thing.
  After Sunday's 3-2 win over the White Sox, in which the career reliever-turned-starter threw seven innings of one-run ball, the Detroit Tigers left-hander asked reporters to wait a few minutes until the television cameras made their way from a nearby locker.
  "It's fine," he said. "I have all day."
  Asked if he really had all day, Hardy said, "Nope."
  When the cameras arrived and Hardy started speaking about his career-best game, lefty reliever Daniel Stumpf walked by and said, "You're talking to the ace of the staff here."
  Hardy, whose improbable journey to starting the Tigers' series-winner began in an spot start at Triple-A Toledo this season, starred in the win.
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  "It kind of brought me back to old times," Hardy said, "Because I've always relied on my change-up and I kept getting myself in counts where the change-up was the right pitch to go with. Until it gets hit hard, there's no reason to quit throwing it."
  By keeping the White Sox off balance by working the inner half of the plate — none of Hardy's 85 pitches topped 90 m.p.h. on the Comerica Park radar gun — Hardy turned in the best performance of his five big-league seasons. He allowed three hits and one walk, and struck out six batters, a career high.
  Asked if he envisioned such an outing, Hardy said, sarcastically, "Absolutely. … No, I just told myself get us through five, maybe six and let the bullpen do the work."
  Joe Jimenez struck out the side swinging in the top of the eighth inning and Shane Greene picked up his 13th save, despite allowing a solo home run in the ninth. Grayson Greiner, Dixon Machado and Nicholas Castellanos all drove in runs, giving the Tigers their third consecutive series win at home.
  "He was a reliever," manager Ron Gardenhire said, matter-of-factly. "We got him through seven innings and we're like, 'Should we send him back out there?' "
  Hardy had not thrown more than 85 pitches in any start with the Mud Hens this season. In the offseason, he mentioned his desire to start but the Tigers — in need of bullpen depth — didn't give it much consideration. He was designated for assignment near the end of spring training and then, when lefty Chad Bell — later DFA'd and now with the Atlanta Braves — was a last-minute recall in early April, Hardy made the start for Toledo.
  After that start, Toledo manager Doug Mientkiewicz said, "You're starting in five days."
  Hardy started down there until he was recalled early in the month and once again inserted into the starting rotation when righty Jordan Zimmermann hit the 10-day disabled list with a right shoulder impingement. When Zimmermann returns, Hardy will likely return to his long relief role in the bullpen, which, based on recent returns, will be a big help.
  "I like both," Hardy said of the two roles. "They both have their unique qualities that make baseball fun. Obviously, the adrenaline is a lot higher as a reliever, especially coming in because it's like, 'Here's a lefty, you have to get him out.' … I'm not going to say there's less pressure as a starter — they have their own unique pressures to keep themselves in the game as a starter — but as a reliever, it really is do or die so I really like both."
  Despite allowing four of the first 11 batters to reach base, Hardy never seemed in danger of losing control of the game. One thing that made him so effective was pitching inside.
  "For me, I throw so much off-speed that I can catch a lot of hitters off guard," he said.
  In his latest strong outing, he surely caught some of the 23,419 in the stands off guard. And though he has not yet reached the ace level Stumpf speaks about, there was at least one Hardy jersey in the crowd. It was worn by his wife, Nicky, who, Hardy joked, might have been the only person that wanted his now-popular post-game media scrum to wrap up.