After being rained out last night, the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins will now take the field today for a day/night doubleheader (fancy way of saying "no, you can't see both games with one ticket"). They play again tomorrow night and wrap up the series with a Thursday matinee.
So two days or roughly 52 hours from now, this race could be over. Or it could be just beginning.
One doesn't have to turn many pages in the way-back book to find the last instance of the Twins coming from nowhere to win the American League Central Division. Three years ago, the Tigers held the top spot, as they had for virtually the entire season. All they had to do was beat the Kansas City Royals at home in the season's final series. Win once and force a one-game playoff. Win twice and the championship banner goes to the printer.
Of course we all remember what happened. Detroit was swept in four ugly one-sided games, and Minnesota cashed in, winning the division and a much-easier AL Divisional Series match-up with the Oakland A's. In losing the gift given them, the wild-card Tigers had to travel to the Bronx and take on the Yankees, possessor of the league's best record and a lineup many were comparing to 1961.
Fans look back fondly at 2006 and conveniently forget that the kitties' playoff run began with an utter collapse. A choke-job the likes of which this baseball-mad town hadn't seen since the Toronto Blue Jays lost a 3 1/2-game lead to the Tigers in the final seven games of the 1987 season.
Coincidentally, seven games remain in 2009. And although Detroit's hairline lead is but two games, the tailspin--should Minnesota overtake them to win the division--will have officially begun three weeks ago. On September 6, the Tigers had a SEVEN-GAME lead on the Twins. And by the end of the day, they could be tied.
Here are the scenarios the Tigers face as they enter these four games--their most crucial series in years--with a magic number of six:
1. WIN THREE OF FOUR. Paaaaaar-ty. Division champs. On-field celebration Wednesday night or Thursday afternoon. A lap around the field. Champagne poured on the heads of policemen. Let the fun begin.
2. SPLIT THE FOUR GAMES. The Tigers remain two up and the magic number drops to two, as the teams enter the final weekend of the season. Detroit hosts the perennial thorn in their side, the Chicago White Sox. And Minnesota welcomes Kansas City to what could be their last three games at the Hefty Bag. UNLESS... they end the season tied with Detroit and force a one-game playoff, which would be held Monday afternoon in the Metrodome. Gulllllllp.
3. WIN ONE OF FOUR GAMES. This would result in a tie at the top of the division, with three games to go and the magic number at four. In this situation the Twins would seem to have the edge. Zack Grienke would surely pitch against them. Assuming he picks up where he left off on Sunday when he stymied Minnesota's bats on the way to a 4-1 Royals win, the Twins have a very good chance at winning the other two games. Which leaves Detroit facing the White Sox needing to sweep for the title, or win two to force a most inhospitable playoff game.
4. MINNESOTA SWEEP. The Tigers would enter the final weekend trailing the Twinkies by two full games. They would need to sweep Chicago and hope for the Twins to lose at least two games, or Detroit's next game will be in Lakeland next February.
THAT is how important this series is. And for the Tigers, the first game is most important of all. Win it and the Twins take the field tonight three games back, facing a magic number of four and a gunslinger named Verlander on the mound. Lose it and the Twins, who know they have favorable pitching matchups on Wednesday and Thursday, come back tonight down a single game and trying for a tie in a game many say they can afford to lose.
Don't you just love a pennant race in this town?
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