The exchange: Twins-Tigers showdown

By H. Jose Bosch and Andy Weise

The Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins are the only real reason to keep track of baseball this week. For those of you lost in college football and the NFL, the Tigers are just two games ahead of the Twins and tonight is the first game of a big four-game series between the two clubs.

Twins fan Andy Weise and I exchanged e-mails about tonight’s game and the series.

HJB-My first question to Andy is why, WHY! do the Twins always come back despite being so mediocre during the regular season? I mean, off the top of my head I can remember just one season in recent memory where the Twins were clear cut better than everyone else. The rest of the time they just seem to stew in crappiness with everyone else until the last few weeks of the season. (I ask this because I respect the hell out of them for balling up late in the season, something the Tigers have had trouble doing.)

AW-Well it's nice to see the respect. I don't have the hatred for the Tigers like I have had for Cleveland and Chicago White Sox but I was disappointed last year in the Tigers vs. White Sox game that if Detroit one, the Twins would win the division and head to the playoffs.

The Twins overachieved last year, in my opinion. They had an extremely young staff that did fairly well and Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer finishing in the top five for the MVP race proved that they have the star power to carry this team. It's clear though that inconsistency in pitching has hurt them a lot this year. Guys like Glen Perkins and Francisco Liriano have been big time busts, they lost Kevin Slowey to injury and they've had to rely on guys like Carl Pavano down the stretch, not ideal!

What about the Tigers? Where do you see the problems on your team that have put them in a position where they could lose the division this week? They seem to have some big names in pitching and hitting but why haven't they closed this thing out yet?

HJB-Those big name pitchers and hitters haven't gotten the job done consistently. Edwin Jackson, who was a pleasant surprise of a Cy Young candidate, has gone 6-5 with a 4.80 ERA in the last two months of the season. Magglio Ordonez, who can reach base, just doesn't have pop in his bat. Curtis Granderson is an electric player, but this season he's been an awful lead off hitter. And the bullpen has chosen the final weeks of the season to pitch like we all thought they were: mediocre.

Don't even get me started on the Jarrod Washburn deal. I would make that trade again but I want to just take a golf club to that freaking knee and put it out of commission for good.

And don't be down on Pavano. He's been a Tiger killer of late. Speaking of pitchers, look at the probable match ups:

Nick Blackburn (11-11, 4.18) v. Rick Porcello (14-9, 4.14)
Brian Duensing (5-1, 3.33) v. Justin Verlander (17-9, 3.41)
Carl Pavano (13-11, 4.86) v. Eddie Bonine (0-1, 4.60)
Scott Baker (14-9, 4.48) v. Nate Robertson (2-2, 5.56)

There are only two pitchers on this list I'd trust (Verlander and Pavano since he's been a Tiger killer of late). Everyone else would make me nervous. Who do you like in this series?

I'm going to be optimistic and say Porcello, Verlander and Robertson can pull off wins. What's your perspective?

AW-I thought the Tigers getting Edwin Jackson was going to be a huge move. He looked good with Tampa Bay last year and I always see the Tigers making moves I wish the Twins would make. And you're right on Pavano; he's given the Twins a boost that they really needed with more than half of their rotation not helping this year.

As I look at the match ups for this series, tonight's game features two guys who really need to step it up and show their team's they can pitch in a big game setting. I do think Porcello is the better pitcher of the two right now but Blackburn has a little more experience. Tuesday's match up with Duensing and Verlander will probably feature the best match up of them all. If the Twins can keep it close and get to the bullpen once Verlander goes out, I think Minnesota can come away with that one. Do you like Bonine against Pavano? I don't know much about your guy but that might be a slugfest of a game. And finally, Baker versus Robertson is a good one given that the Twins haven't hit good against lefties. Baker needs to rebound after his loss to the Tigers a couple Sunday's ago and I think he can do that.

Offensively, Michael Cuddyer has to keep playing the way he has been playing. The Twins need production from some the lower part of the order too. Nick Punto looks like he's finally getting some good at-bats and Jose Morales has proved that his bat can help too.

I think the Twins have to win 3/4, they can afford to lose one but not two. I think game two and four will be the ones where the Tigers are favored to win.

HJB-I'm conceding the Bonine game right now. I have zero confidence in him. I agree with your assessments of the other games, which worries and excites me at the same time. As a Tigers fan I'm going to be a nervous wreck but as a baseball fan I know these are going to be some epic games and a nice appetizer for the postseason, especially for the guy whose team makes the playoff (*cough*me*cough*).

The only thing that worries me about the Verlander game is he has a tendency to give up a big inning late in his start and as you alluded to earlier, the Twins bullpen is pretty solid Detroit's has shown flashes of brilliance but I'd rather spot them a 2-3 run lead rather than go into the bullpen with a tied game or (eeek) trailing.

Everyone in the lineup is a tough out; they just haven't done it on a consistent basis (except for Miguel Cabrera). If there was ever a time for the line up to be clicking on all cylinders, it's during this series. Some of the changes the Tigers made, like getting Adam Everett and Gerald Laird, were done because we didn't need more sluggers and we needed a better defense in tight games. Now we'll see how the moves pay off. These are going to be tight games and I don't think Detroit can expect to slug its way into the postseason during this series.

Last question Andy. If you asked me the one thing I NEED to see in this series to make me feel good it's a solid bullpen. As I said, I think these games are going to be close and Detroit will need the 'pen more than ever (especially when Bonine and Robertson start). What's the ONE aspect of the Twins' game you want to see at its best during this series?

AW-One? Haha, I don't know if there is just one. Off the top of my head I have two right now -- starting pitchers cannot afford to let the game get out of reach early. If the starting pitchers for the Twins struggle early and let the game get out of hand, I'm going to worry. I've seen plenty of comebacks lately and some big innings from the Twins but I just don't think they have the firepower to do that too much more. The pitchers have to keep the games close or protect leads if we have them.

The other thing like I pointed out earlier -- Twins need to get offensive production from the infielders outside of Cuddyer. Punto, Matt Tolbert, Brendan Harris, Brian Buscher and Alexi Casilla, whoever they send out from all these guys, they have to produce some offense. It hurts the Twins big time if they can't get some guys on base for the top of the order to hit home.

It's nice that the race is only two games right now and the teams have four games head-to-head. You can't ask for anything more exciting at this point. Overall both teams have been extremely inconsistent and probably do not deserve to make the playoffs but rules are rules, the division winner will make the playoffs and head to New York to face the Yankees when all is said and done.

This post also appears in The Sports Bank.

Tigers must buck expectations to sew this pennant up

Thank you Ozzie Guillen.

Thanks to your tirade, not only are we blessed with another great sound bite, but you also fired up your club enough to win the series finale and keep the American League Central pennant “race” alive.

And let’s be honest, this isn’t a race as much as it’s two teams trying desperately to be the first one to hit the golf course this offseason. During this last month of the season I can’t help but think of the South Park episode -- The Losing Edge -- where South Park and all the other Little League teams try to lose so that they can enjoy their summer.

Are the Tigers so sick of playing that they’d rather lose on purpose for comfy couches and college football? Well, no, obviously. They’re trying, despite what their results show. But trying doesn’t mean anything if there is 1 in the loss column at the end of the day. (I’ve filled my hokey coach speak quote of the day)

Detroit now has seven straight home games to end the season, the next four against the Twins, who stand just two tiny games back behind Detroit.

The good news is that the Tigers have played well at home all season. And three wins during the series would clinch the division title. The bad news is we’re relying on the Tigers to do just that, win when it matters and put this title away.

Nothing from this season has shown me Detroit can put this division away during this one series. Not that the Tigers don’t have the talent to win. But if Detroit sews this pennant up, it probably won’t be until the last two days of the season.

My heart says the Tigers will take the first three games and the rest won’t matter because they’ll be bathing in Champaign. But my head says Detroit will go 2-2 during this series and will need to clinch against Chicago on the weekend.

This post can also be seen at The Sports Bank

Brett Favre beats NFL teams and the MLB

Quick, what is America’s past time?

Did you guess baseball? You are wrong my friend. Very, very wrong. It’s obviously football and if you don’t agree Roger Goodell might have you wiped off the face of the earth with the death ray beam housed inside the new Cowboys Stadium.

Why else could the NFL refuse to swap a regular season game in week three with a potential one-game playoff in baseball?

Storylines. Tried and true (read: boring) storylines. From Awful Announcing, via CBS Sports, the NFL has politely declined even thinking about accommodating its schedule for a possible one-game playoff.

If the Tigers and Twins finish the season tied, a one-game playoff is scheduled for Monday, October 5. If Minnesota wins just one more game against Detroit, then the playoff is supposed to take place at the Metrodome.

But the Vikings have a home Monday Night game scheduled against the Packers that evening and the NFL can’t resist having Brett Favre play against his old team on national television. Never mind that it would be so much cooler if the first meeting was in Green Bay rather than Minnesota. The NFL gets what the NFL wants.

Unfortunately most of America has forgotten about baseball and I’m pretty sure everyone forgot about the American League Central in July.

Is it time to panic? Blue Jays 6, Tigers 4

OK, OK. It’s not time to panic, right?

Four losses in a row in the last month of the season isn’t that bad, right?

Well, fortunately for the Tigers they’re in the worst division in baseball: the only place where your magic number decreases after four straight losses.

The pitching let down the team again in a 6-4 loss to the Blue Jays and you have to wonder why Detroit is playing so poorly against a couple of teams who haven’t been in contention for much of anything since the first two months of the season.

If the last four games (really ten games since we saw six straight wins followed by four straight losses) have taught us anything it’s just how delicate Detroit’s chances of a deep postseason run are.

The hitting just isn’t that good and that’s something we’ve known all year. It’s the pitching that fans should be worried about. The current American League average team ERA is 4.46. From April to July the Tigers’ pitching staff compiled a respectable 4.02.

But during the last two months of the season the ERA has ballooned to 4.72. The bullpen’s recent struggles have contributed to that and it doesn’t surprise me much since it’s a pen that’s held together with duck tape and bubblegum. What is concerning is Edwin Jackson’s last two months.

In Jackson’s last seven starts his ERA is 4.57. He’s pitched more than six innings in just four of those games and opponents are hitting .292 against him. He’s still 5-2 over that time, and I can’t ignore that. But the stats show that he’s not as sharp as he was throughout most of the year.

August and September are supposed to belong to the pitchers. It’s the end of the year, arms are aching more and bats are feeling just a little bit heavier. Pitchers also have hundreds of at bats from the year to scout before every game.

The Tigers certainly aren’t the only team whose pitchers have done worse over the last two months of the season but during this pennant race and (one hopes) subsequent post season, Detroit can afford to have its pitching staff fail to show up.

See, what had happened was ... Royals 7, Tigers 5

I had to use a picture of Tom Selleck on this post because I needed something to cheer me up this morning.

I'm currently on a West coast trip and Internet has been spotty at best. Worst of all a storm that ripped through the area I'm staying in cut out the power when the Tigers were winning 5-4.

"It's OK," I said to myself. "The Tigers have this one in the bag."

Now I kind of wish the Internet was still out. Not that this loss will bum me out the entire day. Detroit is still at the top of the Central Division and 6-1 in September. But man, when things are rolling like they were during that six-game winning streak, it sucks when it comes to a crushing end.

Had Zack Greinke been on the mound and shut out Detroit for seven or eight innings, I would've tipped my cap.

But this was a game Detroit should've won. Blowing any lead late in the game, this late in the season, doesn't do much for confidence heading into the postseason (knock on wood). I don't believe this loss will send the Tigers into a tailspin but it's not the kind of loss they want to have too many times between now and the end of the season.

So let's honor the end of this six-game winning streak with a toast. Or in some cases with actual toast since it's morning. Here's to another six-game winning streak and some better fielding in the outfield.

And if my power goes out again, I hope the Tigers can actually keep the lead. I don't need another photo of Tom Selleck at the top of my posts.

Tigers v. Indians: Now it's a sprint

This series begins what will be a particularly brutal month for us Tigers fans. Detroit is a pedestrian 27-20 against division opponents, one game worse than Minnesota. Twenty five of the remaining 32 games this season are against divisional foes.

The good news is that the Tigers finish the year with seven games at home against the Twins and White Sox. The bad news is that they must play nine straight roads games before the last week of the season.

But none of the really matters unless you’re a blogger working on expository writing. What matters is tonight’s series opener against the Indians. Why? It’s the first of September and there is always something special about the first of any month, a chance for a team to shake off anything bad that happened the previous month or to build momentum from a particularly good run.

August was a blah moth for Detroit (16-13), much like the entire regular season, but they played better than .500 ball. So tonight is a chance to build on that little momentum and seal the deal in the central division.

Edwin Jackson (10-6, 2.96) squares off against rookie Carlos Carrasco (acquired in the Cliff Lee deal), who makes his Major League debut tonight. The chance of teeing off against a pitcher making his Major League debut sounds great on paper for the Tigers but then you think about it more: Detroit has struggled against pitchers the team has already seen. What happens when they face a solid prospect they’ve never faced?

I’ll see the glass half full and say it’ll be a long evening for the Indians. Jackson should be solid, especially within the friendly confines of Comerica Park.

As a team, the Tigers pitchers have a 3.69 ERA and have held opposing batters to a .240 batting average at home. Both numbers are tops among American League pitching staffs.

So get ready for the final sprint to the finish line.

Well, since this is the American League Central and we’re talking about the Tigers, it’ll probably be more of a limp.

The morning after: First post edition

Welcome to the inaugural post of Michigan and Trumbull!

OK, that was enough celebration, on to the news of the day. I mean, the Tigers are in a pennant race now.

Monday’s 11-7 loss to Tampa Bay wasn’t an ideal way to end the month of August or to build momentum following a terrific road series, but since when have the Tigers played ideally all season?

They might go down as one of the worst division winners in recent baseball history should they keep their lead in the central division. But the final month of the season is what everyone lives for and even if your team and its division are the epitome of suck, watching the final sprint for a playoff spot is much more exciting than being a Nationals or Orioles fan.

The Twins took advantage of Detroit’s slip up and are now just 3.5 games behind despite being just one game over .500. Aye caramba.

So as the Tigers prepare for the last month of the season, some familiar faces will return to the clubhouse. In case you didn’t know, teams can expand their rosters beginning today and Detroit will add six new players to the roster for Tuesday’s game against Cleveland.

You’ve seen most of them: Jeremy Bonderman, Eddie Bonine, Casey Fein, Wilkin Ramirez and Dusty Ryan. The one player coming to the big show without Major League experience is shortstop Brent Dlugach, who was batting .294 with nine home runs and 59 RBIs in 124 games at Triple-A. He also has a last name that always looks like it’s spelled wrong. In fact, when I tried to add his name to the Microsoft dictionary I got the response, “Really?”

The addition of the three pitchers gives Jim Leyland some more flexibility with the rotation and will possibly cut down the number of innings pitched for rookie Rick Porcello.

Ramirez is expected to be a late-game pinch runner and give Curtis Granderson the occasional days off against leftys because Grandy is just about as strong against south paws as President Obama is on political matters.

Finally, Dusty Ryan comes back to Detroit as the No. 3 man on the catcher depth chart, which is significant only to Mr. and Mrs. Ryan back home. OK, he allows Leyland to pinch hit for the starting catcher late in games, but still, pretty insignificant.

Later today a preview for the first game of a three game set against the Indians.