Wednesday, August 22, 2007

One magic night

Hopefully, it will lead to more. Jair Jurrjens gave the Tigers the start of a lifetime and the return of Joel Zumaya led to the familiar Zoom-Fernando Rodney-Todd Jones late-inning relay that was so successful in 2006. Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen hit back-to-back jacks and all was right in Motown.

Best line from the night came from Mitch Albom, who said Jair Jurrjens sounds like the name of a Dutch hand lotion.

Heading into last night's game, I figured the Tigers needed to win every 3-game series and split any 4-game sets to have a chance. Using that formula of 2-1/2-2 in series from here on, Detroit would go 25-13 down the stretch and finish 92-70. That means Cleveland would need to play better than 23-16 the rest of the way to force a tie or outright win the AL Central.

At least one win down, coupled with one loss for the Tribe. Still, asking a team that's been struggling like Detroit to play .658 ball the rest of the way could be a stretch. But if the Tigs do start to click, they are capable.

No comments: