GREG BOWMAN

So it all comes down to one game, number 163, as the Tigers and Twins meet in a play-in game Tuesday at the Metrodome to decide who will win the American League Central and face the Yankees in the first round of the playoffs. Of course, it never should have come down to this. The Tigers have been in first place since May, and had plenty of chances to clinch it. Just one more win somewhere during the season would have given the Tigers the title. If only they could have beaten the Sox twice this weekend, or gotten at least one more win over those irritating Kansas City Royals. But they didn’t. And now their entire season rests on the pitching arm of young Rick Porcello, who is still not even old enough to buy a drink legally, although I imagine his teammates might be willing to give him a sip of champagne if he can beat the Twins. This is undoubtedly the biggest game of Porcello’s short career, but I think he’s up to it. He’s had an excellent rookie year, and except for Justin Verlander, he’s THE guy you want out there right now to give the Tigers their best shot. Now. let’s hope the bats can come alive..

What a performance by Justin Verlander on Sunday. He had to shut down the Sox, and he did, winning for the 19th time this year. He won’t get much time to rest before the Playoffs start on Wednesday or Thursday, and we’ll need him and Jackson and Porcello to be at their best to shut down that intimidating Yankee offense

No matter what happens Tuesday, you can’t say this season has been boring! Let’s hope all those days in first place won’t go for nothing.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 4th, 2009 at 10:13 pm and is filed under By Greg Bowman. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.