The Tigers start a three game series in Boston tonight against the Red Sox...
This was supposed to be the series that didn't mean anything. This would be one not necessarily of must-win games, but of relax after a tough series win against the White Sox, a series win that would all but solidify the AL Central pennant for the Tigers and make the Red Sox series pale in comparison. This was going to be a series that the Tigers could use to show the nation that they could beat the Red Sox, but if they didn't, it would not matter. Now, it is a must-win series.
After the debacle at the plate this weekend, the Tigers need now to step up more than ever. I said they needed to foul off pitches and make long at-bats. They did nothing of the sort. Contreras pitched a complete game on just over 100 pitches. The next night, in a game they should have won, they failed to score when it counted after a couple errors let the Sox back into the game where they ultimately took the lead, and the third night seemed like a mixture of the two. All told, Detroit took one walk in the series.
One.
A month ago, or so, I wrote that the bats had to wake up. The pitching was fine, even though it hadn't been as great in the past month as it was earlier in the season. The Tigers still have the majors best team ERA. The bats, however, are letting them down. Strikeouts kill rallys. Walks, though boring, enhance them. A pitcher gives up a two-out walk with a runner on third, and he starts to think about his control. More times than not, he grooves one to the next batter. A pitcher strikes out a hitter with the bases loaded and one out, and it seems he always gets the ground ball to finish the inning.
Chicago got the inning-finishers every time they needed them.
So, here come the Sox. Not the White Sox, but the ones that are more blood-colored. It doesn't get any easier. The Tigers go from the 2005 World Series winners to the 2004 version in the matter of about 29 hours. Each game here is now more important than the White Sox series. A Red Sox sweep, and all of a sudden, the Tigers are only 2-3 games up in the division and the wild card. People all over Michigan will wonder what happened, and the Tigers will be a week away from a Yankees series that would likely knock them out of the playoff standings.
After the Yankees, the schedule does get a little easier. But the only way to make the schedule really easy is to beat the Red Sox. If it doesn't happen this week, then the downhill battle turns uphill almost too quickly for any team to recover. Yes, they could get swept, and still have the lead in the Central. They could still have the best record in baseball. They would likely have all this and no longer be favored to win the division.
For all the naysayers out there, however, I want them to keep this in mind. You all said that Detroit would finish at .500 or above this year, but not contend for the playoffs. If that is the case, then they should win about or a bit more than 50% of their remaining games. If that happens, they still win 100 and they go to the playoffs, so don't count them out yet. And who wants to face Verlander, Bonderman and a healthy Maroth on back to back to back days?
No one.
But they better win tonight.
