October in September

Last year’s AL Champions, the Detroit Tigers, must take advantage of their opportunity over the next three days.

Today, the Tigers begin an October-like series against the division-leading Cleveland Indians, marking the final regular-season meeting between the two teams. Although the Indians have split six home games with Detroit this year, they lead the overall season series 9-6.

The Tigers are chasing both the Indians and the New York Yankees for a spot in the postseason and they are within striking distance of both.

It has been a frustrating summer in Detroit. After having one of the best records entering the All-Star break (52-34), the Tigers limped through August with an 11-18 record.

Some of Detroit’s woes had to do with the digression of starting pitcher Jeremy Bonderman. After beating Seattle on July 13, Bonderman was 10-1, but since he has gone 1-8 giving up at least six earned runs in five of his past nine starts.

However, not all is lost. On Sept. 4, Detroit was seven games behind Cleveland. But since then, the Tigers have won 10 of the past 12 games and pulled to within 4 ½ games of the Indians.

Indians’ starters C.C. Sabathia, Fausto Carmona and Paul Byrd have helped Cleveland return to the top of baseball’s standings. Both Byrd and Sabathia are scheduled to pitch in the series.

It’s do-or-die time for the Tigers and for other MLB teams. Welcome to October in September. The Yankees and Red Sox finished a three game set yesterday in dramatic fashion. In the National League, seven teams are within 3 ½ games of their respective division leads or the wild card spot.

This frantic finish is what makes baseball great. Enjoy!