The offense stepped up and an unlikely pitching hero was found. Now Price makes his first start as a Tiger tonight in Yankee Stadium. Perhaps Verlander can find his form. The role players have done their job, and the time for the stars to start shining is coming soon.
The Detroit Tigers started knocking on the door when Jim Leyland came to town for the 2006 season and haven’t stopped. The Tigers have made the playoffs four times, captured the AL Central thrice, and on two of these occasions captured the American League pennant in the 2006-13 run. The one thing they haven’t done is give the fan base its first World Series title since 1984.
The Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers are each on a stretch of playing decent baseball, as last year’s ALCS teams look to again make it to October and go deep. The Tigers split four with the Yankees earlier in the week. I suppose that can be considered modestly disappointing, as they won the first two at home and hit C.C. Sabathia hard in the third game before losing 12-8. But a split with one of the league’s best teams is never a bad thing and it fits into an overall stretch of consistency for Jim Leyland’s team. Texas, after losing the first two games of their series with the Angels early last week, responded by winning the next two and salvaging a split and then taking two of three from Kansas City and Boston.