And so it goes… Tuesday, October 6 will house game 163 for the Tigers and Twins. The Tigers will be without their ace and the Twins will be listening to over 45,000 of their fans screaming for their success. I don’t like the way this looks…
After losing two of three to the vendetta-filled, rival White Sox, Detroit will draw Minnesota into their second straight division playoff series. Last year, Twins pitcher Nick Blackburn threw a gem against the Sox, but came up one run short due to Jim Thome’s solo homer – that landed about ten rows in front of me in left-center field. This year, all signs point toward Scott Baker (15-9, 4.36) throwing for Minnesota against Rookie of the Year hopeful Rick Porcello.
The Tigers righty could make the AL Rookie of the Year voting much closer with a win Tuesday. Porcello (14-9, 4.04) could become the front runner over Gordon Beckham, Jeff Neimann, and Andrew Bailey with his 15th win and a playoff berth for Detroit.
A two home run, three RBI performance by reserve outfielder Ryan Raburn, coupled with Magglio Ordonez’s seventh RBI and sixth extra-base hit since September 26 was enough to secure one more shot at the playoffs. Justin Verlander collected his 19th win with a 7.1 inning, five strikeout, three run outing. He too has secured his place in award talk, though Zach Greinke’s name may already be inscribed on the Cy Young award.
As much as I would love to think the better team is going to beat the hotter team, I sadly think the lack of intensity shown by the Tigers during the last Sox series is going to bite them in their behinds; and they will end up taking the back seat to the Twins.
I’m looking for a 6+ inning, two earned run outing, that results in a no decision for Porcello and seven innings and two runs out of Baker. I can easily see Casey Fien or Bobby Seay choking the game and the season away.
For so long, Seay was impressive. He struggled for a week or so, and then turned it around again with only a few hick-ups for the remainder of the season. But still, it would just be a perfect poetic tragedy for the Tigers bullpen, which has turned around 180 degrees from last year, to be responsible at the end for their missing the playoffs.
In the game three win against the Sox the Tigers rejoiced and appeared energized enough with the fact that they were still alive. They never should have been in that position though. Lately, the Tigers have been lacking everything you want to see from your team as they head to the playoffs. In missing their swagger, energy, team cohesion and winning spirit, I also them missing the post season.
The Tigers need to do what they have been doing all year – Proving me wrong! I picked them to finish second in the division back in April, and I don’t want to see that come to fruition. They need to show that they are the better team and that they have belonged in first place all year.
The Twins have been riding and unbelievable hot streak since Justin Morneau went down and Michael Cuddyer starting destroying AL pitching as the starting first baseman. I just hope the flame burns out before 4PM CST on Tuesday… If it doesn’t, I think the Car City Kitties might be heading back to the pet store.
