This is it. Right here, right now. If the Tigers expect to win the AL Central, this is the series in which to do it. They have a 8 1/2 game lead against the Sox at the beginning of the series, and have the chance to pop the lead back over ten games with time running out.
Or, they could get swept, and make the lead 5 1/2 with still over 40 games left to play.
The Sox are by far not out of the race. They still have 10 games left against the Tigers. The head-to-head matchup can erase the entire defecit if played right. Or the Tigers could take two of three or sweep the Sox, and then Chicago is playing for the wild card.
It's all right here. Right now. This is the time.
Sure, the Twins are lurking just 1/2 game behind Chicago, but with only four games left against Detroit coupled with the indefinite loss of their phenom rookie left-hander Francisco Liriano, they have to all but resign themselves to playing for the wild card.
Tonight's game is the biggest of the season of big games. It won't be held in as high a regard by season's end, but at this point, there has been none bigger. Justin Verlander is coming off 10 days rest and pitching against a worn-out looking, but still very menacing Jose Contreras. Verlander skipped his last start due to fatigue. According to everyone, he is fine, and it was just to rest him. The questions are, can he be sharp with that much time off and will the real Jose Contreras show up?
The answers to both questions are likely "Yes."
Contreras is due to pitch like the Contreras of old (or the Contreras of a month ago) this evening. The Tigers will have to string three or four hits together just to score one or two runs--a feat which is all but impossible when he is on his game. Verlander, on the other hand, will have to likely match Jose pitch for pitch late into the game for the Tigers to pull this one out. If history is our guide, this game will come down to which bullpen makes a mistake late.
The one thing that will help the Tigers is their power hitters' (especially Craig Monroe) new found talent of fouling off multitudes of two-strike pitches. Contreras will not be chased from the game, and the free-swinging Tigers need to give themselves an extra chance or two by making him throw more pitches than he wants to. If he's only thrown 90 after seven innings, the Tigers are in trouble.
Verlander has to keep the White Sox power hitters in the yard and rely on his team's defense. He may feel strong off the extra rest, and he may be able to reach back for something extra a few times and get seven or eight strikeouts, but that is only one-third of the outs he needs to make. He needs to keep the ball down to the likes of Thome and Posednik. He can't (and won't) be intimidated by Pierzynski. He should be fine, and it is likely to be a low scoring affair going into the later innings.
Both teams know this is a big game, and in all honesty, it is much bigger for the Sox than the Tigers. However, in the grand scheme of big games, the Sox have played many more, and many bigger than this is the past twelve months. This is the biggest Tiger game in at least thirteen years, and with it being on the road, with a rookie pitcher, no matter how good he is, getting the call, the outcome is as indefinite as Francisco Liriano's left arm.
The Tigers need to play as big as they can for this big of a game. If they don't, the next one will be even bigger, and they become colossal down the stretch.
