A preview of the upcoming Tigers vs Twins AL playoff game.
The red-hot Minnesota Twins will host the Detroit Tigers in a single elimination tiebreaker for the American League Central title and a trip the playoffs in Tuesday night. It is the second straight year that the Twins have needed a 163rd game to finish the season, and a first in MLB history.
The Twins (86-76) lost a one-game playoff to the Chicago White Sox in 2008, but are –1-½ point favorites in this year’s match up against the Tigers. Minnesota leads the season series 11-7, including seven wins in nine games at the Metrodome.
Minnesota has won 16 of its last 20 games including four straight wins to close the season, while Detroit, who led by seven games on Sept. 6, went a modest 11-15 down the stretch. The Twins are 48-33 at home and will also have history on their side, as four of the five one-game playoffs in the Wild Card Era have been won at home.
The Tigers will go with 20-year old rookie Rick Porcello (14-9, 4.04 ERA) on the mound — who has been Detroit’s second-best starter after Justin Verlander since the All-Star break, while the Twins put their postseason on the shoulders of pitching ace Scott Baker (15-9, 4.36 ERA). Baker leads the Twins with 15 victories, but he hasn’t had a quality start (six-plus innings, three or fewer earned runs) in four outings against Detroit this season.
Twins AL MVP hopeful Joe Mauer will have another opportunity to show what he can do to impact the outcome of Tuesday’s game. Mauer is hitting .364 with 28 home runs and 96 RBIs. The Tigers’ Ryan Raburn might be one of their most important players. Raburn came up huge with a two-homer game on Sunday, lifting Detroit past the White Sox in a 5-3 victory that set up the winner-take-all contest vs. Minnesota.
The game total is set for 8.5 for Tuesdays contest.
The winner will play Game 1 of the AL Division Series on Wednesday or Thursday at Yankee Stadium. The New York Yankees were the last to win a playoff tiebreaker and then win a World Series, against the Boston Red Sox in 1978.
Matt Martz is a sports writer for the Bakersfield Californian located in Central California. Blessed is the gambler who expects nothing, for ye shall not be disappointed.
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