Travel easy on first-year manager Ausmus

DETROIT -- The total elapsed flight time of the Tigers' hop, skip and jump over Lake Erie back home from Cleveland on Wednesday? Roughly 20 minutes.

Detroit manager Brad Ausmus said he is enjoying the lighter travel demands that playing in the Midwest afford a team. It's a breeze compared to his time as a player in Los Angeles.

"It's also much easier now because you have the division-strong schedule," Ausmus said Thursday. "You end up playing your division more often, and that's less travel because your division is usually closer to you."

Mechanical problems delayed the team's flight from Boston to Cleveland, forcing it to arrive mere hours before the series against the Indians began. Even with the travel woes on the road trip, Ausmus isn't complaining.

"I think the teams in the central part of the country definitely have an advantage travel-wise," he said.