Derek Lowe unintentionally douses self with ice after awful start in Detroit (VIDEO)

Many of us know that Derek Lowe has been cooling down after a scorching hot start to the 2012 season, but did he have to get so literal about it during his Thursday afternoon tantrum?

Seriously, here's how well things are going for the Cleveland Indians right-hander lately. After allowing seven runs and nine hits over five innings of work in the Tribe's 7-5 loss to Detroit, Lowe decided to blow off some steam by tossing a cooler. That's usually a time-honored and respected tactic, but the lid on this Comerica Park ice chest flew open upon the launching and the result was Lowe showering himself with ice cubes. Though it may have actually given him some icy relief on a warm Michigan day, it definitely provided the rest of us with a hilarious visual representation of his stats returning to career norms.

Cue the sad trombone, play him off keyboard car or whatever the kids are doing these days:

Watch the animated GIF for maximum comedic effect.

After failing miserably down the stretch with Atlanta last fall, Lowe had a pretty nice arrival in Cleveland this spring. He owned a 6-1 record and 2.05 ERA after his first seven starts of the season. Even though our better judgment forced us to keep our guards up, Lowe had somehow worked his way into the All-Star game discussion.

Now the idea seems like a little bit of a joke. Lowe's last great start came on May 15 when he threw a complete game shutout against the Minnesota Twins. But he needed a career-high 127 pitches to complete the victory and it's worth wondering if that workload caught up to his 39-year-old arm. Lowe has given up a total of 18 earned runs in the four starts since going the distance with a majority of them coming against the White Sox on May 26 and Thursday against the Tigers. His once slim ERA has ballooned to 3.73 and his record now stands at 7-4.

While Lowe shouldn't completely stop entertaining thoughts about making his first All-Star game since 2002, he probably shouldn't be too disappointed by pitching his way to the brink of elimination either. It certainly looks like he could use the rest.

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