Jim Leyland has a tell:

“I tell you what, I think our defense is pretty good,” Leyland said.

Leyland was now starting to speaker faster than usual, as he often does when he feels obligated to defend his team.

“Jhonny Peralta is one of the most underrated shortstops in the big leagues,” Leyland said. “They can say what they want. They can take them all.

“Is he going to make an acrobatic play like Andrus — probably not,” Leyland continued, referring to Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus. “But I know one thing. In the ninth inning with two out, the bases loaded and we’ve got a one-run lead, I like it when it’s hit to him. I’ll take that every time.”

I like that Jim backs up his players, but his speech pattern seems to give away the truth.