Monday MLB: Minnesota Twins (81-74) at Detroit Tigers (83-72)
There’s really only one series that has much significance in this the final week of baseball season, and that begins on Monday night when the Twins visit the Tigers with the AL Central title on the line.
Basically it’s this simple: If Detroit wins three of the four games in this series, it clinches the Central. If the Twins win three of four, they would be tied with Detroit. Minnesota ends the season with three home games against the Royals, which is a potential sweep. The Tigers have three at home against the White Sox to close the year. Frankly, Minnesota pretty much has to win at least three games to have any real shot at catching Detroit.
“To be honest with you, this is the stuff you play for,” Detroit’s Brandon Inge said. “This is the stuff you miss time with your family for, what you work out all offseason for. This is what you play for.”
Minnesota was on an 11-1 roll before losing to Zack Greinke and the Royals on Sunday.
As for tonight’s opener, Detroit is a -135 betting favorite on WagerWeb.com.
The Tigers would seem to have the big pitching advantage tonight. They start rookie Rick Porcello (14-9, 4.14 ERA), who is 4-1 with a 3.28 ERA in his past six starts. Minnesota goes with Nick Blackburn. He’s 3-7 with a 6.19 ERA in the second half and left-handers are hitting .307 against him. Blackburn is 1-1 with a 5.11 ERA in two starts vs. Detroit this season.
But if Minnesota gets to closer Joe Nathan, the outcome is probably going to be a victory. He is 29-for-29 in career saves against Detroit. Current Tigers have a .174 batting average and four RBIs against him in 92 at-bats. The only Detroit batter over .250 on him is Curtis Granderson at .400. Meanwhile, Twins leadoff hitter Denard Span is batting .438 against the Tigers with 10 runs scored and nine RBIs this season.
The Tigers are 5-9 against Minnesota this year.
MLB Betting at WagerWeb.com
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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