The Tigers streak into the final game of the regular season having won 3 in a row, 6 of 10, and 28 of 38.   But, we’re still a game behind the Rangers as all Texas has done is won 5 in a row, and 9 of 10.

John Lowe covered the significance of today’s schedule in great detail this morning, as he points out that our best case scenario would be a W today, a Rangers loss, and opening the playoffs at home versus the Red Sox.  The Rays pitching staff has everyone in a tizzy, but we won 6/7 against TB this year, so bring them on.  But in all likelihood, we’ll be at New York on Friday night with CC Sabathia throwing a first pitch ball to AJax around 8:37pm Eastern.

A Porcello win today would grant the Tigers a trio of 15 game winners, two of whom posted a 4.4+ ERA.  That says an awful lot about our lineup & bullpen.

Congrats to JV who, unless Weaver appears for a few scoreless innings, will win the pitching triple crown.  Kershaw will do the same in LA, and this marks the first time since 1924 that both leagues have produced a triple crown winner.

Tonight’s Home Field Clinching Lineup Feature POG Prediction Ramon Santiago (and eventual ALCS MVP).

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Wilson Betemit, 3B
3. Delmon Young, LF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Alex Avila, C
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS
8. Don Kelly, RF
9. Ramon Santiago, 2B

The Tigers take the field for game 161 a single game behind the Rangers for 1st round home field advantage in the ALDS.  That’s nice to write.  Because we hold the tiebreaker, our magic number is 3.  The Rangers will have to lose at least once tonight or tomorrow.

Scherzer looks to notch win #15 tonight against Jeanmar Gomez.  Scherzer has been up and down over the last month, including a season low 65 pitch outing when he gave up 7 earned against the Royals on August 29th.  Scherzer has given up 5 ER or more in 1/4 of his 32 starts; but he’s give up 2 ER or fewer in 20 of his 32 starts.  So he can be just as dazzling as he can be disappointing.

Betemit is back at 3B tonight.  That’s nice to write as well.

Did you know? – If the Tigers’ pen gets a save in each of the next two games, that would beat out ’84 (51) as the most saves in franchise history?

Tonight’s Player of the Game Prediction is Austin Jackson.  AJax bangs out two hits (one bunt and one XBH) and scores twice as he heats up for the playoffs.

Tonight’s Playoff Tune-Up Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Wilson Betemit, 3B
3. Delmon Young, LF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Alex Avila, C
7. Magglio Ordonez, RF
8. Jhonny Peralta, SS
9. Ryan Raburn, 2B

Two months ago, the internet was buzzing with Ubaldo Jimenez rumors.  The Tigers were one of the teams thought to be most active, though they likely never got close because the asking price was too high.  During the height of the Jimenez rumors, Doug Fister quietly put up quality starts and took loss after loss despite an ERA around 3.  I don’t think any of us had him on our radar. Thank goodness DD did.  All he’s done in a Tigers uniform is post an Alexandrian like 7-1 record, 2.02 ERA and .90 WHIP.

The most obvious/exciting matter still at hand for the Tigers is the possibility of home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs against Bos/Tampa/LAA.  The Tigers start tonight a game behind the Rangers, but the Rangers are at LAA who are fighting for the Wild Card, while we get to host the Indians.  Remember, a tie and we get home field.  95 wins looks nice, but I think we get to 94, tie the Rangers, and insert Maggs into the 2 hole against David Price on Friday night.

Some other things to watch out for these next three nights:
– TB hosting the Yankees, while the Red Sox go to Baltimore.
– JV holds the slimmest of margins in the AL ERA race, 2.40 to 2.41 over Jeff Weaver.  He’s got the other 2 parts of the pitching triple crown wrapped up.  Weaver against the Rangers on Wed…possibly for a playoff spot.
– Cabrera is now leading the AL batting race by a three points over Adrian Gonzalez and Michael Young.

Caught this nugget in today’s Freep:  “By allowing six runs in five innings, Matusz’s ERA rose to 10.69, which means he could finish the season with the highest earned-run average by a pitcher with more than 10 starts in league history, according to Elias Sports. In 2000, Roy Halladay, who would go on to win two Cy Young Awards, finished with a 10.64 ERA with Toronto.”

Tonight’s 1st Round Home Field Advantage Going For Lineup Is:

1. Will Rhymes, 2B
2. Don Kelly, 3B
3. Delmon Young, LF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Alex Avila, C
7. Ryan Raburn, RF
8. Ramon Santiago, SS
9. Andy Dirks, CF

I like resting Jackson.

The two headed monster of Scherzer Fister tries to get the Tigers back on track tonight against the Royals.  Has anyone worked out the playoff rotation yet?

I’m guessing Scherzer will go 4-5 tonight.  If he can qualify for a W, he can get to 15 wins for the season.

With a Rangers win yesterday, and a Yankees win this afternoon, a win tonight is as important as ever.  Though John Lowe made a compelling argument today that short of Tampa Bay sneaking into the WC, the Tigers would have the better rotation against their likely first round foe.

A few notes:
– ALCS tickets go on sale Monday at 1oam.  Prices range from $95 – $170.  Details here.
– With 3 more RBI, Cabrera will join 4 other Tigers with 100/100/100 RBI/Runs/Walks.  Any guesses?  Note, none of them have played in the last 4 decades.
– Since May 20th, Benoit has a 1.47 ERA and 45Ks in 43 IPs.

AJax is the Pregame Prediction for Post Game Player of the Game.  I really want him to heat up again, because when he gets on base, he scores.  And runs are good.

Don Kelly at 1B tonight, as Cabrera gets a rare rest.

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Don Kelly, 1B
3. Delmon Young, LF
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. Alex Avila, C
6. Jhonny Peralta, SS
7. Andy Dirks, RF
8. Ramon Santiago, 2B
9. Brandon Inge, 3B

Good thing the Tigers’ announcers aren’t playing the Royals’ announcers, as Frank White would likely smoke us, according to an article in today’s WSJ.  In fact, Rod and Mario have the unfortunate distinction as being the worst TV announcer’s WAR-wise.  I see you WSJ.

Anyway, the ballplayers determine the outcome, and some think that our recent pitching has been good enough to propel the Tigers to the World Series.  Speaking of playoffs, JL announced today that both Scherzer and Fister would pitch tomorrow to get things lined up for the playoffs. Not sure how this works since one of them will still not get normal rest, but I’ll trust Leyland here.

With the division under wraps, the remaining week and a half will be spent focusing on seeding in the AL.  The Tigers start tonight 3.5 games behind the Yankees for the top overall spot, and 1 game ahead of the Rangers for the 2nd spot.  The Yankees are opening a 4 game set in three days against a hard-charging Rays team only 2 games out of the wild card, and then follow that up with a weekend match against the Red Sox.  So the opportunity may be there.

On the other hand, the Rangers are in Oakland for 3, and then host Seattle for 3, so now is not the time to get complacent.

Tonight’s Series W Opening Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Don Kelly, 3B
3. Delmon Young, LF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Alex Avila, C
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS
8. Andy Dirks, RF
9. Ramon Santiago, 2B

When you look up and see Dylan Axelrod making his major league debut, you’ve gotta feel pretty good about #12.  Sounds like he should be leading a GnR cover band, not pitching against the hottest team in baseball.

On the other hand, the old Tigers have had problems against first major league start guy, and Brad Penny is likely making his 3rd to last appearance of the season, and likely his 3rd to last appearance in a Tigers uniform.

I’ve got a feeling that we the White Sox have given up, and it will show today.

I’ve gotta run, please help out with the pitching previews and lineups again, friends.

The D (for Domination) train rolls into Chicago tonight as the Tigers look win 10 in a row for the first time since 1968.  The Tigers now find themselves perched at number 4 in both the ESPN power rankings and the MLB.com fan rankings, and their 9 win streak matches the longest since 1984.  1968 and 1984 were good years.  Who was around in 1968?  Tell us a little about that season.

Porcello goes for this 14th win tonight in 28 starts.  A Porcello win would give the Tigers 3 14+ game winners for the first time since 1984 when the mustache brothers dusted batters and other things (Morris, Wiltcox, Petry).

John Danks takes the ball for the Tigers, and I can’t imagine that he’s too excited about this one. He was rocked by the Tigers 10 days ago, and they haven’t lost since.  He followed that up with 4 ER in 6 IPs against Minnesota last time out.  Interesting Danks stat – his worst innings statistically this year are the 1st and 6th.

We haven’t talked about it much over the past week because there has been so much else going on, but Alex Avila continues to hit and play superb defense.  It sounds ridiculous, but is he the best catcher in the Majors?  He’s overwhelmingly the first catcher taken in a recent ESPN fan poll.

A few notes:

– Injury Updates – Joel Zumaya, Brad Thomas and Brennan Boesch are injured.
– Division playoff tix went on sale today at 10am, and off-sale at 11am.  Did anyone get them?
– Great article on Grandy on ESPN.com today.  Hard to argue with the team’s success this year, but we can all still pine for the guy.
– This comes from Fangraphs’ latest power rankings: 10. Detroit: Last week – 10, WAR% – .556 (9), FAN% – .512 (12), TOTAL% – .551
Intriguing idea for the Tigers this offseason — take the $26 million coming off the books from Carlos Guillen, Magglio Ordonez and Brad Penny, and give it to Jose Reyeson a four year, $100 million deal (with the idea that you pay more for less years given his injury issues). Then you move Jhonny Peralta to second base, stick Brennan Boeschand Ryan Raburn in the platoon that they’ve always been destined to share out in right field, and ka-boom! — championship offense.

Tonight’s Pre-Player of the Pre-Game

AJax – he’s riding a 15 game hitting streak against the White Sox, batting .403 with 3 HRs and 9 RBIs during that time.

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Magglio Ordonez, RF
3. Delmon Young, LF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Alex Avila, C
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS
8. Ryan Raburn, 2B
9. Brandon Inge, 3B

A few numbers for you guys…

14, .5, 10, 3.  Answers at the end.

JV takes on Masterson for the sweep.  Is there any question that it’s going to happen?  I can actually see the momentum.  It looks like this – Phil Coke throwing breaking ball after breaking ball for 4 strikeouts in 5 batters.   Delmon Young working a walk.  AJax ripping a double in the 8th.  Rick P recording 13 out of 19 ground outs.

Chris Singleton on MLB tv postulated last night that perhaps the Tigers are peaking too early.  I don’t buy that because they’ve had extended winning streaks this season, and Porcello, Scherzer and Fister all have track records of outstanding pitching ability.  I think the real difference is that the lineup chaos has been thwarted.  The Tigers are getting production from the least productive spots, and that in turn allows Cabrera, Martinez, Avila and Peralta to be even more productive.  I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but it seems like Ordonez, Inge and Guillen have seen the least number of at bats during this win streak relative to everyone else.

I know that we had a 7 game lead around this time 2 years ago, but that was the Twins chasing us.  This year we have momentum.

The Freep has some really cool stats this morning regarding historical consecutive win streaks for Tigers pitchers, check out the absurd number of complete games those guys were throwing back then.

Magic number.  Games behind the Rangers for the #2 seed and home field advantage.  JV going for his 10th consecutive win.  Triple Crown.

Today’s Double Sweep Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Rhymes, 2B
3. Dirks, LF
4. Cabrera, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Avila, C
7. Betemit, 3B
8. Kelly, RF
9. Santiago, SS

The Tigers go for fatality tonight to the tune of MK’s “Finish Him.”  Ubaldo Jimenez was good yesterday, but just not good enough.  Doug Fister posted a career high 13 Ks leading to an 80 Game Score (matching a career best) as he dominated the Indians.  The Tigers, whom generally received a yawn from the pundits shortly after the trade deadline, are now regarded as the trade deadline winner.  I think it’s safe to say that Fister, Betemit and Young were all wins.

The buzz in Cleveland is that the season is already over and according to Cool Standings, Detroit’s playoff odds are at 97%.  But a win tonight would make me feel much better about things.

Rick Porcello auditions for the final spot in the playoff rotation tonight (assuming we get there). His last one didn’t go so well.

A few notes:

– MLB.com’s contest insurance company is sweating this one out…some guy may beat the streak.
– Danny Worth called up today.  Look for him to make an appearance in a key situation that he’s not prepared or qualified for.

Jackson is tonight’s pre-game player of the game, as I don’t want to believe that regular AJax is back just yet.  He’s 4-14 lifetime off of Carmona.

Tonight’s Series Clinching Lineup

1. Jackson, CF
2. Dirks, RF
3. Young, LF
4. Cabrera, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Avila, C
7. Peralta, SS
8. Kelly, 3B
9. Santiago, 2B

I think it’s safe to say that it’s a two team race in the AL Central now, and with two wins by the Tigers in the next three days, the Indians may join the White Sox in scheduling their October tee times.  Heck, even a win may get the Indians to dust off their sticks.  MLB’s silly scheduling lands the Tigers in Cleveland for a day game following a night game (that was only 3:21, amazing)

The Indians picked up Ubaldo Jimenez to pitch against the Central, and he makes his third start against the Tigers today.  He picked up a W the first time out, allowing 3 runs over 8 innings, but got Buehrle’d his second time around when he was tagged for 8 runs in just over 3 IPs.  Jimenez is 2-1 with the Indians, but is sporting a 5.56 ERA.  They are 3-3 in games he’s started for them.

While the Indians were mortgaging their future staff to get Jimenez, the Tigers quietly snuck a deal for Doug Fister.  A guy who will likely be the #3 guy going into the playoffs in four weeks. Over six starts for the Tigers, Fister is 2-1 with a 2.97 ERA.  He’s gone at least 7 in four of those, and he was pulled due to rain in one of those other two.  More importantly, the Tigers have won 4 of Fister’s starts, and he’s walked all of 2 batters in 36 1/3.  Michael Rosenberg didn’t hesitate to call Fister a better pitcher than Jimenez today. A little gravy on top – he’s striking out almost 8 per 9 innings over his past four.

I’m very curious to see how AJax’s first AB goes.  His last three yesterday looked disturbingly like many of his ABs from April through August.  When he gets on base, the Tigers offense goes into overdrive.

A few other notes:

– Sizemore back for Cle for the first time since mid-July.
– Santos was called up today, I’m sure he’d be starting if there were a lefty on the mound.  Look for him to start tomorrow or Wednesday.
– Al Al should be ready to go today if needed.

Today’s Could Santiago Be the Starter Against Righties? Lineup

1. Jackson, CF
2.  Dirks, RF
3. Young, LF
4. Cabrera, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Avila, C
7. Peralta, SS
8. Betemit, 3B
9. Santiago, 2B

The comeback boys look to take an appended 4 game series with today’s make-up of a rain-out from mid-may.

Danny Duffy is a 22 year old lefty in his first season in the bigs.  He throws a low to mid 90’s fastball, and has had a strong minor league career, posting sub 3 ERAs with lower than .230 BAAs at every stop.  But, considering that his highlights on MLB.com are all pickoffs, he may not exactly bring the heat.  On the other hand, the Tigers have a knack for struggling against Unknown Rookie Guy.

Phenom Jacob Turner makes his 2nd big league start, as the organization’s top prospect auditions for the playoff rotation.  The expanded roster also now includes Will Rhymes (remember him?), Andy Dirks and Luis Marte, who posted some AlAl-ish K numbers at Erie.

Today’s Series Winning Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Ordonez, RF
3. Young, LF
4. Cabrera, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Avila, C
7. Peralta, SS
8. Raburn, 2B
9. Inge, 3B