The post-celebration Cleveland Indians might be just what the Detroit Tigers need to reignite the team's post-season prospects.
DETROIT — The post-celebration Cleveland Indians might be just what the Detroit Tigers need to reignite the team's post-season prospects.
A day after wrapping up the club's first Central Division title since 2007, the Indians opted to rest the majority of the club's regulars on Tuesday and the Tigers took advantage behind ace Justin Verlander for a 12-0 win before 25,696 at Comerica Park.
It snapped Detroit's three-game losing streak and allowed the Tigers to creep back to within one game of the Baltimore Orioles for the final American League wild-card spot. Baltimore lost 5-1 to the Blue Jays in Toronto.
"We're going to need some help now," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "It's certainly not unheard of. We still have a goal and that's to get to the post-season.
"A lot of people want to talk about odds and we've got to be perfect. We'll see what happens. We're going to play games these guys are trained to win.
Much of Detroit's current precarious playoff predicament is directly linked to the club's performance against the Indians.
Tuesday's win was just the third in 17 meetings between the two teams this season.
If the Tigers were even close to a .500 club against the Indians this season, the team would be firmly in the driver's seat for a wild-card spot rather than scrambling to make up ground in the final days of the season.
"I don't remember ever going through something like this," Ausmus said of such a head-to-head record disparity in a season. "I couldn't tell you why.
But if the Indians choose to rest players, as they did Tuesday, it might be the perfect opportunity for the Tigers to rally.
Cleveland had just two regulars in the lineup against Verlander (16-8), who allowed four hits over 7 2/3 shutout innings while striking out 12. His double-digit strikeout performance marked the eighth time he has accomplished that feat this season and pushed his American League-leading strikeout total to 246 on the season.
As well, the Indians have opted not to throw Trevor Bauer (12-8) on Wednesday and will instead opt for reliever Zach McCallister and reportedly go with rookie Ryan Merritt on Thursday.
The offence got started early Tuesday against Indians rookie Mike Clevinger (2-3), who lasted just two innings thanks to Miguel Cabrera.
home run of the season in the second inning to put Detroit up 5-0. The three-run shot gave him 102 RBIs on the season and marked the eighth season with the club he's driven in over 100 runs tying Harry Heilmann for the club record. Cabrera's homer, which was measured at 441 feet to centre, was also his American League-leading eighth to travel over 440 feet.
But as much as the Tigers piled up the runs on Tuesday, including a three-run homer by Justin Upton in the seventh inning and a two-run shot by Andrew Romine in the eighth, the club knows it has to start piling up wins with five games left to play.
The Tigers even got a chance to get Nick Castellanos into the game. Castellanos had been sidelined since Aug. 6 after he was hit by a pitch from New York Mets pitcher Logan Verrett and suffered a non-displaced fracture of the fifth metacarpal bone in his left hand.
He played in an intra-squad game in Florida earlier Tuesday and flew back to Detroit in time to pinch hit in the eighth inning and hit a ground-rule double.
Castellanos was having a career season with a .286 batting average, 18 home runs and 58 RBIs in 105 games when he was hurt. Ausmus hinted he could start Thursday's game and with no designated hitter for the series in Atlanta, Castellanos could be a huge spark to the lineup.
"If he's right, and swinging the bat well, obviously that could be a big boost potentially to the offence," Ausmus said.