This afternoon the Tigers take the field in Oakland as AL Central Division Champions,  the first time the Tigers have won the Central Division, and their first division championship since 1987.

The improbable big bat belonged to Don Kelly, who made Jim Leyland look like a lineup genius, while on the mound Doug Fister was as good as advertised.

Fister continued to make Dave Dombrowski look like GM of the Year,  mowing through Oakland in 8 innings with only 91 pitches.  The Tigers suddenly have what looks like the best 1-2 playoff rotation in baseball:  over the last month Verlander and Fister are each 5-0,  with Verlander’s 2.70 ERA bested by Fister’s stunning 0.81, and both averaging almost a strikeout an inning (Verlander 9.2 K per 9 innings, Fister 8.3).

The Tigers look like they had penty of fun celebrating after the game. Jason Beck has some nice bits about how clinching the title effected Jim Leyland and Miguel Cabrera. And for those of a nostalgic bent, an old Mitch Albom column about the Tigers taking the 1987 title.

As we all wake up this morning and shake off the effects of the celebratory Stroh’s, or champagne, or Zinfandel, or celery, it would be easy to fall into wake-me-when-the-playoffs-start mode.  But last night’s victory also brought the Tigers to within 3 games in the AL best record race.

Today Rick Porcello will take the mound against Gio Gonzalez, looking to stake his claim in the playoff rotation order.  Porcello has improved over his last 3 starts, but goes into battle today backed by a lineup anchored by the likes of Inge, Worth, and Santos.  Perhaps today’s game post photo will inspire him.

Best Record Standings:

NY Yankees      90  59  —

Detroit Tigers     88  63    3

Boston Red Sox 87  63   3 1/2

Texas Rangers   86  65   5

Player of the Pre-Game: Magglio Ordonez

Mr. September:  .417 BA, 1.087 OPS, a stolen base, a 13-game hitting streak, and a famous October home run on the resume.

Today’s Champy Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Magglio Ordonez, RF
3. Ryan Raburn, LF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Jhonny Peralta, SS
7. Brandon Inge, 3B
8. Danny Worth, 2B
9. Omir Santos, C

Well, they didn’t clinch, and they didn’t extend the winning streak to 13, and they didn’t look particularly good. (Actually, they did clinch a playoff spot, if you count the game 163 thing as a 1-game playoff). Some of the credit has to go to Brandon McCarthy, who shut down the hottest offense in the league and struck out 8 in 7 innings.  Some of it may have been fatigue from the west coast trip, the unusually cold conditions (57, not counting the freezing wind), or that thing that says you can’t win them all.  At any rate, nothing to worry about, the champagne will wait until today.

OK, just for fun, let’s worry.  Fister and Verlander have been consistently good, but what is going to happen after that?  Porcello and Scherzer have been off-and-on all season, and you never really know what you’re going to get until they start throwing.  Scherzer has now given up 29 home runs, 2nd-most in the American League, and managed to give up 3 last night to the anemic A’s offense (only the Twins have fewer home runs).  And that on a cold night where the ball was not traveling well at all.  Now picture him pitching to a bunch of Yankee lefties with that short RF porch behind him…

Then there is the bullpen. The back end of the bullpen still looks rock-solid with Benoit and Valverde, but the rest…not so much.  Below and Pauley both had trouble finding the strike zone, and neither looked like a guy you might envision pitching a playoff inning against the Yankees.  The Amazing Alburquerque once again has been shelved indefinitely, this time with something “in the hip area.”  In fact Al has only pitched 10 innings since the all-star break (though he has managed 15 strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA in those 10 innings).  The bullpen looks completely different with-Al than without-Al.

And they have a leadoff hitter averaging 2 strikeouts per game in September.

Also that cold weather excuse thing.  Every time the Tigers start out slowly, everyone jumps in and points out that they are a warm-weather team, and the bats will heat up when it gets warmer.  The bats definitely were chilled last night.  Well, guess what?  The playoffs are IN OCTOBER!  It’s COLD!  So, worry away.  There, that was kind of fun.

On the whole though, losing yesterday may actually be good for the team.  If nothing else, now the coaching staff can do their laundry.

Anyway, tonight Doug Fister will take his long strides to the mound with a fist full of clinch.  Since the Tigers have acquired him, Fister has been another Verlander:  his post-break ERA of 2.28 bests Justin’s 2.75,  and like Verlander (0.988) he has a sub-1.00 WHIP (0.994).  He has hit 3 batters already, which will be something to keep an eye on:  Oakland players were getting a bit testy after their 2nd HBP last night, and another one tonight may not go over so well.

The Tigers will face Trevor Cahill, who has to like seeing the old English D.  Cahill is 2-0 against the Tigers this season, and has only given up 2 runs in 14 1/2 innings against them.  All-in-all it looks to be a low-scoring affair tonight.

Magic Number:  1

Best Record Standings:

NY Yankees       90  58  —

Detroit Tigers      87  63  4

Boston Red Sox  86  63 4 1/2

Texas Rangers   86  64  5

Player of the Pre-Game: Magglio Ordonez

Magglio has been hitting lately, and even singled last night off of Cy McCarthy in the chilly night air. Try these numbers for the month of September:  .417 BA, 1.087 OPS, and even a stolen base.

Today’s Clinchy Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Don Kelly, RF
3. Delmon Young, LF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Alex Avila, C
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS
8. Wilson Betemit, 3B
9. Ramon Santiago, 2B

The Tigers pulled off the Grand Sweep in stunning fashion,  sweeping their 4th consecutive Central series (and back-to-back Sox-series-sweeps) with 2 9th-inning pinch-hit home runs, the first time that has been done since…well, I don’t know.  That’s harder to look up than you would think.

The Tigers have won 12 in a row, even overcoming a Daytime-Bad Penny start, have everyone contributing, have a Cy Young pitcher, even Ol’ Smokey is on a roll.  Their team batting average for September is .326 (Their WORST regular in September, Austin Jackson, is hitting .278). Their team ERA is 2.90  What could go wrong?

Oops. Justin Verlander is featured on the cover of the latest Sports Illustrated. At least they waited until the division title was no longer in doubt before unleashing the jinx.

You know who else is having a good season?  Over 139 games he is hitting .305 with an .864 OPS, with 29 HRs and 95 RBI.  Answer below.

The Tigers could take the field tonight with a magic number of 1, as  Max “Clinch” Scherzer looks to solidify his spot in the playoff rotation.  It might be helpful if his spot in the postseason rotation were to fall on home game dates:  Scherzer’s ERA at Comerica this season is 3.66, on the road 5.09.

The forecast in Oakland calls for 50% chance of Clown Show:  The A’s lead the AL in errors with 119, and have 9 in their last 7 games.

Magic Number:  2

Best Record Standings:

NY Yankees        90   58    —

Detroit Tigers       87  62   3 1/2

Boston Red Sox   86  62   4

Texas Rangers     85  64   5 1/2

Player of the Pre-Game: Ryan Raburn

The mystery player’s “season” above is Ryan Raburn’s career numbers for August-September.  Detroit needs to find a Chris Shelton-type early season guy and do a seasonal platoon in 2012. Sure, he isn’t in the lineup tonight, but there’s always pinch-hitting.

Today’s Baker’s-Dozen Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Magglio Ordonez, RF
3. Delmon Young, LF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Alex Avila, C
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS
8. Wilson Betemit, 3B
9. Ramon Santiago, 2B

When you look up and see Dylan Axelrod making his major league debut, you’ve gotta feel pretty good about #12.  Sounds like he should be leading a GnR cover band, not pitching against the hottest team in baseball.

On the other hand, the old Tigers have had problems against first major league start guy, and Brad Penny is likely making his 3rd to last appearance of the season, and likely his 3rd to last appearance in a Tigers uniform.

I’ve got a feeling that we the White Sox have given up, and it will show today.

I’ve gotta run, please help out with the pitching previews and lineups again, friends.

The D (for Domination) train rolls into Chicago tonight as the Tigers look win 10 in a row for the first time since 1968.  The Tigers now find themselves perched at number 4 in both the ESPN power rankings and the MLB.com fan rankings, and their 9 win streak matches the longest since 1984.  1968 and 1984 were good years.  Who was around in 1968?  Tell us a little about that season.

Porcello goes for this 14th win tonight in 28 starts.  A Porcello win would give the Tigers 3 14+ game winners for the first time since 1984 when the mustache brothers dusted batters and other things (Morris, Wiltcox, Petry).

John Danks takes the ball for the Tigers, and I can’t imagine that he’s too excited about this one. He was rocked by the Tigers 10 days ago, and they haven’t lost since.  He followed that up with 4 ER in 6 IPs against Minnesota last time out.  Interesting Danks stat – his worst innings statistically this year are the 1st and 6th.

We haven’t talked about it much over the past week because there has been so much else going on, but Alex Avila continues to hit and play superb defense.  It sounds ridiculous, but is he the best catcher in the Majors?  He’s overwhelmingly the first catcher taken in a recent ESPN fan poll.

A few notes:

– Injury Updates – Joel Zumaya, Brad Thomas and Brennan Boesch are injured.
– Division playoff tix went on sale today at 10am, and off-sale at 11am.  Did anyone get them?
– Great article on Grandy on ESPN.com today.  Hard to argue with the team’s success this year, but we can all still pine for the guy.
– This comes from Fangraphs’ latest power rankings: 10. Detroit: Last week – 10, WAR% – .556 (9), FAN% – .512 (12), TOTAL% – .551
Intriguing idea for the Tigers this offseason — take the $26 million coming off the books from Carlos Guillen, Magglio Ordonez and Brad Penny, and give it to Jose Reyeson a four year, $100 million deal (with the idea that you pay more for less years given his injury issues). Then you move Jhonny Peralta to second base, stick Brennan Boeschand Ryan Raburn in the platoon that they’ve always been destined to share out in right field, and ka-boom! — championship offense.

Tonight’s Pre-Player of the Pre-Game

AJax – he’s riding a 15 game hitting streak against the White Sox, batting .403 with 3 HRs and 9 RBIs during that time.

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Magglio Ordonez, RF
3. Delmon Young, LF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Alex Avila, C
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS
8. Ryan Raburn, 2B
9. Brandon Inge, 3B

Smokin’ September continues. as the Tigers extend their win streak to 8 games, the longest September win streak since the magical 1984 season.

The last time through the Tiger rotation Fister, Porcello, and Scherzer were all better than Verlander, and with Alburquerque back the pitching staff looks in top form right now.

Tonight Doug Fister takes the mound with a fist full of broom as Detroit goes for the Three-Sweep. It’s too bad the Royals aren’t up next.

Magic Number:  9
Division Series tickets go on sale Monday 10 am.

Player of the Pre-game: Brandon Inge. Inge has the best walkoff to home run ratio in the majors.

Today’s Avila-Gets-A-Day-Off Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Magglio Ordonez, RF
3. Delmon Young, LF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Ryan Raburn, 2B
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS
8. Brandon Inge, 3B
9. Omir Santos, C

Leyland’s plan to use yesterday’s game as an opportunity to practice the comeback worked to perfection, thanks to the mighty bat of Ramon Santiago, and the Tigers remain on track for the Three-Sweep.

Today Max Scherzer tries to keep pace with Kid Rick for the 3rd spot in the playoff rotation, and bring the Tigers’ magic number into the single digits.  You couldn’t blame him if he expects a lot of run support:  Detroit has a 7-game win streak going, in which it has averaged over over 9 per game (65 runs).

Anthony Swarzak has only pitched against the Tigers this season in relief, allowing 2 runs in 6 innings.  He may find the going a bit tougher today.

Magic Number:  10

Division Series tickets go on sale Monday 10 am.

Player of the Pre-Game:  Ramon Santiago.

Rockin’ Ramon gets another start after a big blast yesterday.  If he keeps a hot bat to go with his good glove at 2nd, it could make for some difficult lineup decisions down the line.

Today’s Back-to-Back-Ramon Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Andy Dirks, RF
3. Delmon Young, LF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Alex Avila, C
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS
8. Wilson Betemit, 3B
9. Ramon Santiago, 2B

The Tigers have roared into September with consecutive series sweeps against their closest division rivals, and now head back to Comerica with a chance for the Three-Sweep against the struggling Twins.

Tonight’s game features the epic pitching matchup of Slowey and Slower.

The Tigers, perhaps in the spirit of sportsmanship, will lead off the series with Brad Penny, who has given up 15 runs (and 5 HRs) in his last 10 innings. At least they are finally using him in a night game.

The Twins go with Kevin Slowey,  making his 4th start after missing 2 months with an abdominal strain.  He had a good last outing against the Angels, giving up only 2 runs in 7 innings, but got the loss, because that’s life on the Twins right now–Slowey has gotten just 3 runs of offensive support in his last 4 starts.

And just for fun,  ESPN’s Aaron Boone’s power rankings has the Tigers as the #2 team in MLB right now, behind the Phillies.

Magic Number:  12.  Division Series tickets go on sale Monday 10 am.

Player of the Pre-Game:  Austin Jackson.

Since I last put the pre-game focus on Jackson, he has gone 2-for-16.  This constitutes an un-jinxing. In games in which AJax scores a run, the Tigers have a .730 winning percentage.

Today’s Three-Sweep Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Magglio Ordonez, RF
3. Delmon Young, LF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Alex Avila, C
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS
8. Wilson Betemit, 3B
9. Ramon Santiago, 2B

A few numbers for you guys…

14, .5, 10, 3.  Answers at the end.

JV takes on Masterson for the sweep.  Is there any question that it’s going to happen?  I can actually see the momentum.  It looks like this – Phil Coke throwing breaking ball after breaking ball for 4 strikeouts in 5 batters.   Delmon Young working a walk.  AJax ripping a double in the 8th.  Rick P recording 13 out of 19 ground outs.

Chris Singleton on MLB tv postulated last night that perhaps the Tigers are peaking too early.  I don’t buy that because they’ve had extended winning streaks this season, and Porcello, Scherzer and Fister all have track records of outstanding pitching ability.  I think the real difference is that the lineup chaos has been thwarted.  The Tigers are getting production from the least productive spots, and that in turn allows Cabrera, Martinez, Avila and Peralta to be even more productive.  I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but it seems like Ordonez, Inge and Guillen have seen the least number of at bats during this win streak relative to everyone else.

I know that we had a 7 game lead around this time 2 years ago, but that was the Twins chasing us.  This year we have momentum.

The Freep has some really cool stats this morning regarding historical consecutive win streaks for Tigers pitchers, check out the absurd number of complete games those guys were throwing back then.

Magic number.  Games behind the Rangers for the #2 seed and home field advantage.  JV going for his 10th consecutive win.  Triple Crown.

Today’s Double Sweep Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Rhymes, 2B
3. Dirks, LF
4. Cabrera, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Avila, C
7. Betemit, 3B
8. Kelly, RF
9. Santiago, SS

The Tigers go for fatality tonight to the tune of MK’s “Finish Him.”  Ubaldo Jimenez was good yesterday, but just not good enough.  Doug Fister posted a career high 13 Ks leading to an 80 Game Score (matching a career best) as he dominated the Indians.  The Tigers, whom generally received a yawn from the pundits shortly after the trade deadline, are now regarded as the trade deadline winner.  I think it’s safe to say that Fister, Betemit and Young were all wins.

The buzz in Cleveland is that the season is already over and according to Cool Standings, Detroit’s playoff odds are at 97%.  But a win tonight would make me feel much better about things.

Rick Porcello auditions for the final spot in the playoff rotation tonight (assuming we get there). His last one didn’t go so well.

A few notes:

– MLB.com’s contest insurance company is sweating this one out…some guy may beat the streak.
– Danny Worth called up today.  Look for him to make an appearance in a key situation that he’s not prepared or qualified for.

Jackson is tonight’s pre-game player of the game, as I don’t want to believe that regular AJax is back just yet.  He’s 4-14 lifetime off of Carmona.

Tonight’s Series Clinching Lineup

1. Jackson, CF
2. Dirks, RF
3. Young, LF
4. Cabrera, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Avila, C
7. Peralta, SS
8. Kelly, 3B
9. Santiago, 2B

I think it’s safe to say that it’s a two team race in the AL Central now, and with two wins by the Tigers in the next three days, the Indians may join the White Sox in scheduling their October tee times.  Heck, even a win may get the Indians to dust off their sticks.  MLB’s silly scheduling lands the Tigers in Cleveland for a day game following a night game (that was only 3:21, amazing)

The Indians picked up Ubaldo Jimenez to pitch against the Central, and he makes his third start against the Tigers today.  He picked up a W the first time out, allowing 3 runs over 8 innings, but got Buehrle’d his second time around when he was tagged for 8 runs in just over 3 IPs.  Jimenez is 2-1 with the Indians, but is sporting a 5.56 ERA.  They are 3-3 in games he’s started for them.

While the Indians were mortgaging their future staff to get Jimenez, the Tigers quietly snuck a deal for Doug Fister.  A guy who will likely be the #3 guy going into the playoffs in four weeks. Over six starts for the Tigers, Fister is 2-1 with a 2.97 ERA.  He’s gone at least 7 in four of those, and he was pulled due to rain in one of those other two.  More importantly, the Tigers have won 4 of Fister’s starts, and he’s walked all of 2 batters in 36 1/3.  Michael Rosenberg didn’t hesitate to call Fister a better pitcher than Jimenez today. A little gravy on top – he’s striking out almost 8 per 9 innings over his past four.

I’m very curious to see how AJax’s first AB goes.  His last three yesterday looked disturbingly like many of his ABs from April through August.  When he gets on base, the Tigers offense goes into overdrive.

A few other notes:

– Sizemore back for Cle for the first time since mid-July.
– Santos was called up today, I’m sure he’d be starting if there were a lefty on the mound.  Look for him to start tomorrow or Wednesday.
– Al Al should be ready to go today if needed.

Today’s Could Santiago Be the Starter Against Righties? Lineup

1. Jackson, CF
2.  Dirks, RF
3. Young, LF
4. Cabrera, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Avila, C
7. Peralta, SS
8. Betemit, 3B
9. Santiago, 2B