http://www.theoaklandpress.com/spor...tseason-what-detroit-tigers-need-to-get-there
4 for the postseason. What Detroit Tigers need to get there.
OaklandPress
The Tigers must genuinely compete with the Indians and Royals -
You keep hearing this drumbeat about how the Tigers? remaining schedule is ?easy.?
What is conveniently forgotten is the Tigers still have 13 games remaining vs. the Indians and Royals (seven Cleveland, six Kansas City).
Against those two clubs, the Tigers have a combined 5-20 record (1-11 Cleveland, 4-9 KC).
Beat up on bad pitching - The Twins, Angels and Orioles all have laboring pitching staffs.
Justin Verlander has become a candidate to win the AL Cy Young Award, but can he win it - It?s an individual award, so what does it mean in a team concept? For the Tigers, everything.
The Tigers need Verlander to be more than good. They need him to be great. That means unyieldingly going deep into every start, providing more than just quality starts, but brilliant ones.
The Tigers need a 2011 version of Verlander down the stretch. He is a potential Hall of Famer. More than ever, the Tigers need Verlander to pitch like it. He certainly has the competitive drive and pitch assortment to dominate even more than he has in recent months.
K-Rod and Justin Wilson - Sparky Anderson used to say, ?If you have a bad bullpen, you have a bad ball club.?
Francisco Rodriguez and Justin Wilson had been saving graces for the Tigers, at least until lately.
Both have been roughed up in recent weeks, and it has changed the course of the Tigers? season.
