PREGAME: Well, this is it. For the bulk of the week the Tigers were in a terrific position to clinch the division. As the Twins continued to lose there were so many favorable scenarios for the Tigers (i.e. “they just have to win 3 of their last 5 and it won’t matter what the Twins do”). But now here we are on the last day of the season and it’s all pretty simple. Win and you win. Lose and you hope for a Twins loss.

Back in July when I bought tickets for today’s game, and even back on Sunday, and even yesterday afternoon, I didn’t expect this to be a potential clinching game. So much for a nice relaxing day with the family. But the good news is this could also be one of the most memorable Tiger games I’ve ever attended. I’ll be in the rightfield grandstand, so the out-or-town scoreboard won’t be an option for me.

Jeremy Bonderman will start, which indicates he wouldn’t be pitching until Game 3 of the playoffs at the earliest.

Lefty Odalis Perez will start for the Royals.

Game Time 1:05pm

POSTGAME: There aren’t words to express how disappointed I am right now. It was a beautiful day. There was an electric sold out crowd. There was a big early lead that yet another starting pitcher couldn’t hold onto long enough to even qualify for a win. There was another collapse by a member of the bullpen (which really turned in a very good performance outside of Rodney). There was a dramatic game tying homer. There was a walk-off grand slam that hooked foul. There was the lost opportunity as 2 hitters failed to put the ball in play with the winning run on third. There was Kenny Rogers walking in a run in relief.

I’m frustrated and disappointed, and generally miserable right now.

As was the case all weekend, the game and the division were there for the taking, and the Tigers didn’t take it.

As for collapsing or choking, you can call it what you want. Just be consistent in what you’re saying. If you’re calling this a bad team, then you can’t call what just happened a collapse or a choke because they shouldn’t have been there in the first place. If you think they’re a pretty good team that woefully underachieved down the stretch, then so be it.

I won’t disagree that the expectations for this team changed from the begining of the season, and rightfully so. There is no denying that the last week was awful. The end result is this, this team won 95 games and Comerica Park will be hosting its first playoff game this week. I have a hard time being disappointed about that.

PREGAME: I’ll get this up nice and early today in case anybody cares to comments on the Twins/White Sox game this afternoon.

As for the Comerica Park match-up it will be bullpen mishmash day. Zach Miner will take the ball for Detroit. He hasn’t thrown more than 40 pitches in a game since August 18th, and he threw 2 1/3 innings on Wednesday, so it will be interesting to see how long Leyland will let him go.

For the Royals, they will use Ambirorix Burgos who will be making his first career start after 126 relief appearances over the last 2 years.

It’s cold, rainy, and generally miserable today. But I don’t think there’s anyway Detroit wants a double header tomorrow so they’ll play it one way or another.

Game Time 7:05

UPDATE: Twins go down to the White Sox. The Magic Number is at 1. I’m sure the Royals would just assume not be part of 3 clinching celebrations in a one week span, but for everyone’s sanity please take care of this tonight.

POSTGAME: This is becoming unnecessarily stressful. I actually missed the first 4 innings of this game due to another commitment, but when you’re starting pitcher lasts 1/3 of an inning, it certainly doesn’t bode well. After Andrew Miller through 56 pitches (that seems like a lot for a guy that prized but circumstances certainly weren’t favorable), Jason Grilli and Chad Durbin pitched 5 2/3 innings allowing only 1 run. The offense tried clawing back, but like Thursday the deficit proved to be too much.

The one question is have is, where is Jordan Tata? I thought Leyland may be saving him to pitch in Bonderman’s spot today, but given how last night transpired it became pretty clear Jeremy would make his start.

PREGAME: Who would have thought that a Tigers-Royals series to end the season would mean so much back in March? Who would have thought it would have meant this much back in August?

In any case, the Tigers have used up any margin for error they had accumulated in the early part of the season. The Twins have tied them and the magic number is at 3 with 3 to go.

For the Royals it will be Runelvys Hernandez who was shelled last Sunday. He’ll be opposed by Wil Ledezma who was quite good, save for a fielding error, in his last start against the Royals. The Tigers hopefully won’t need perfection from Ledezma tonight, but a solid 6 innings would be wonderful.

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: Yeah, this one hurts. The Tigers blew the 5 run lead early, could have put the division away, and…yeah.

Pudge was decidedly un-clutch between the pop-up in the 9th and the double play grounder in the 11th.

The Clevlen tagging up decision was, ummm, surprising?

Taking Ledezma out after 5 effective and efficient innings when you need your whole bullpen for the next day was, ummm, curious?

I’m just pretty much speechless.

As a heads up, tomorrow’s Twins/White Sox game starts at 11:10am.

PREGAME: A Tigers loss, a Twins loss, and a Yankees win, mean that the Tigers are still in good shape for the Central Division, but don’t really have a shot at homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. The magic number for the division is 3 and the magic number for homefield is still 6.

Today it will be Kenny rogers against AJ Burnett in an afternoon tilt. Rogers was the last starter to make it into the 7th inning. Here’s hoping he can stick around long enough to keep the long guys out of the game so they can be available this weekend.

Game Time 1:05pm

POSTGAME: I think the lineup issues from today have been pretty well hashed out in the comments. My 2 cents are that I’ll assume that Polanco and Ordonez were sore. With a short turnaround it seems possible and plausible that Leyland would take the safe route with those 2. As for Neifi Perez over Infante, I think that can be attributed to Leyland’s love of platooning.

A ton can be made about the substitution decisons (which I was surprised came so early) but the fact of the matter is the offense produced 6 runs. You can certainly question the decision making, but the results were favorable. The problem was run prevention which can partially be attributed to defense and largely attributed to Rogers.

Right now the bigger concern is that the long relievers have been used heavily this week due to Robertson’s and Rogers’ early exits. At this point Jordan Tata will probably be starting on Saturday, and it may force Bonderman to start on Sunday.

PREGAME: The Tigers will look to extend their 4 game winning streak and continue to move closer to the AL Central title. The magic number is currently at 4 for the Central, and 6 for the homefield advantage.

Tonight it will be a southpaw battle with Nate Robertson toeing the rubber for Detroit. Nate was far from sharp in his last start in Baltimore as he walked 5 and hit a batter.

He’ll be opposed by Ted Lilly. In his last outing against Detroit Lilly allowed only 5 baserunners (3 hits and 2 walks). Unfortunately for Lilly, all 5 scored.

Game Time 7:05pm

POSTGAME Bulletized thoughts on tonights game:

• In Nate Robertson’s last 2 starts he’s had exactly one 1-2-3 inning.
• Anyone else notice that on the 3 run homer allowed to Molina, Robertson shook off Pudge? I’m sure that not everytime Robertson shakes off a pitch it results in a homer, but it seems that often times when it is a homer, it came off a shake-off.
• By having to use Zach Miner a couple innings tonight, will he be able to pitch Saturday? I have to imagine that factored into Robertson staying in as long as he did.
• I’ve been wanting Thames, Shelton, and Infante to get more playing time. They haven’t made me look good.

PREGAME: The playoff bound Tigers return home to try and secure the AL Central and possibly the best record in baseball. The magic number for the Central is 5. They are currently tied with the Yankees for best record, but the Yankees hold the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage so the Tigers actually need to beat out the Yankees.

The Tigers will send Jeremy Bonderman against Dustin McGowan. McGowan is making just his 2nd start this year, and his first since July 29th. He’s filling in for Roy Halladay who was shut down for the year.

Game Time 7:05pm

POSTGAME: Magglio Ordonez left the game with back spasms, which is certainly a concern. In the postgame interview, Leyland didn’t think it was serious. Also, Marcus Thames wasn’t with the team tonight as it sounds like he is ill.

As for Bonderman, the final results look okay, but it was a bumpy ride. He was missing with considerable regularity with his fastball and his slider didn’t seem to be as sharp, and he didn’t seem to throw it as often. Frankly it is the most concerned I’ve been with him in the 2nd half. He admitted that he had been pitching through a sprained ankle, and I only hope that he didn’t adversely change his mechanics to compensate.

The relief pitching was solid, and Joel Zumaya deserved better. He was squeezed on what would have been a called third strike that would have retired the side. Instead 2 runs came around to score on a tweener and a passed ball.

The bats managed to do just enough with Placido Polanco finding a hole with the bases loaded, and later laying down a squeeze bunt. Monroe was on 3rd base at the time because of a double steal that preceeded an RBI single by Brandon Inge. For those small ball afficionados, this was a game you had to love.

PREGAME: So maybe it’s just as well the Tigers didn’t clinch a playoff spot last night. They’d have wanted to party, and there would have been this pesky day game to play today. Hopefully they can take care of business today, have a boisterous flight home, and relax with an off day tomorrow.

It will be Justin Verlander against Runelvys Hernandez.

In terms of implications, the Tigers are 1 1/2 games up on the Twins and the Twins have a game in hand. If the Twins win out, the best they could do is 99 wins. The Tigers are at 93 wins so their magic number is 7. However, the Tigers hold the tiebreaker advantage over the Twins, so the real magic number is 6. As for the playoffs, a Tiger win or White Sox loss locks up a playoff spot. When it comes to home field, the Tigers are now only a half game behind the Yankees, so that is still very much a possibility.

Game Time 2:10pm

POSTGAME: Not a lot for me to say about this one. Let’s just be happy.

Oh yeah – and the Tigers once again have gained the best record in all of baseball.

PREGAME: Things were looking good earlier this afternoon. Michigan was beating up on Wisconsin, and the Mariners held a 7-2 lead before a rain delay settled in moments after the 5th inning was completed. While the Wolverines held on, the Mariners collapsed when play resumed and as I write this they are trailing 11-7. So the Tigers will have to wait until at least tomorrow to have a chance to celebrate their first playoff birth since 1987.

Tonight the Tigers will turn to Kenny Rogers to get them one game closer. He’ll be opposed by Mark Redman in a battle of soft tossing lefties.

Game Time 7:10pm

POSTGAME: A certain Tiger returns to the lineup and the bats came alive. Welcome back Chris Shelton! I kid of course, but it was nice to see all the members of the early season lineup swinging the sticks together again. The first inning was, long, fruitful, unreal, fun…Curtis Granderson and Carlos Guillen combined for the cycle in that first inning.

Kenny Rogers did a good job of making sure this game didn’t turn interesting. Really the only downside from the game was Mike Maroth surrendering 3 runs in the 9th inning. In his last 2 outings he’s allowed 3 homers. Now in Maroth’s defense, he’s made 3 appearances spread out over 15 days. For someone used to going out every 5th day it is probably an adjustment, not to mention the fact he is coming off of surgery.

Maroth is teetering on the edge of not making the playoff roster. The Tigers can get by without him, but I’m rooting for Maroth. He endured so much during the 20 loss season and was a sacrificial lamb that season. For what he went through in 2003 and for being an all around good guy, I’d love for him to contribute to a post season run.