The Tigers take on the Oakland A's today at Comerica Park in Game Three of the ALCS...
The cold brings many questions about this game. Can 41-year-old Kenny Rogers stay warm enough for his old body to handle it? Will Rich Harden's injuries come up because of muscle and joint tightening? Which team does the cold weather favor?
However, the only question that should be on the mind of players and fans alike is: Can the Tigers keep it rolling?
The Tigers have won five straight for the first time in months. Six straight would all but put them in the World Series. A loss lets Oakland back into the series as well as gives them hope for winning the whole thing. This game is just as much a must win for the Tigers as it is for the A's.
The Tigers have had many four game losing streaks down the stretch, or at least five game stretches where they only won one game. That's what this series comes down to. It is much harder to win two out of five than it is to win one out of four. If the A's take this game, they have a good chance to take the series back to Oakland, and though Detroit has the best record in baseball on the road, they would have to fear that their time was up.
It is time to win this series now...today. Win this game and let Bonderman take it out tomorrow. Win today and the only way you go home is if every starter in the rotation blows a game. Win today and it is not all but over. It is over. Sure the Red Sox came back from a 3-0 defecit, but Oakland, as much as they have played with their backs to the wall this year and in the previous couple, are not the Red Sox of 2005. They are not trying to break an 85-year-old curse. They won't have as much in them as the Red Sox did those four fateful days in October two years ago.
If Kenny Rogers can pick up where he left off and give six or seven strong innings, the A's don't have a chance. A quality start should be all the Tigers need to get up three to none--all they need to get within one game of the World Series.
Sure, the Tiger bats have gone from wide awake to more asleep than Rip Van Winkle more than a few times this year. Sure, they're hitting well now, but one bad game can turn into two, three or four, and if they don't hit, they won't win, unless they get the pitching performances they have grown accustomed to over the past week or so.
They will score a few runs, though. At least three. It's cold, there's a pitcher who hasn't thrown much this year on the mound, and the game will likely get into Oakland's bullpen, which has been used a bit, day off or not yesterday. Three runs should be a minimum for the Tigers today. If Rogers can hold Oakland to two, the Tigers should win the game. If Rogers gives up four or more, it is going to be obviously harder to win.
Two runs and six to seven innings from Rogers. Keep Milton Bradley off the bases, and the champagne will freeze the fans to each other tomorrow evening. Any worse than that, and we better start worrying about damage control...
