"Alex Avila was laughing as he walked to the plate with the bases intentionally loaded and the sky suddenly full of rain — again — in the top of the fifth inning.

Hey, what else was he supposed to do? Shake his fist at the heavens?

By now, it should be obvious that'll do no good. Mother Nature just isn't a fan of playoff baseball. She's certainly no fan of these Tigers.

And at this rate, if I'm Justin Verlander, I'm taking the mound wearing a rain poncho my next start in this American League Championship Series.

"If anywhere in the country has a drought, just bring me in," he said early Sunday morning, after a twice-delayed, 5-hour game finally ended with the Texas Rangers squeaking out a 3-2 victory."