Detroit Sports

Monday, June 27, 2005

Tigers preparing to make a run?

The Detroit Tigers record sits at 36-36, exactly 500. They have not been 500 this late in the season for a long time. The Tigers are seventh in the AL Wild Card Standings but they are just 4.5 games behind the Wild Card leading Baltimore Orioles.

The Tigers could be preparing to make a run at that Wild Card spot. The Tigers open series against the division leading White Sox and Yankees this week. If the Tigers could both of those series, it would give Detroit even more confidence as the All-Star break comes closer. The Tigers have kept in the Wild Card race this long with a lot of injuries to some of their best players. However, the injury bug appears to be leaving them as they might get Carlos Guillen back into the lineup soon. The Tigers also should be getting Magglio Ordonez back into the lineup sometime soon. Ordonez has been injured for almost the entire season with a hernia. The Tigers paid big money for Ordonez and it will nice to finally see his bat in the lineup.

Besides the Tigers injuries leaving them, I think they have a shot at the Wild Card spot because of their pitching staff. Their pitching staff has been solid this year. Jason Johnson, Mike Maroth, Jeremy Bonderman, and Nate Robertson, four of their starters, all have an ERA below 4.30. Their bull-pen is now stronger as well because Troy Percival finally appears to be healthy. He has a 3.98 ERA along with 16 stikeouts in just 20 innings of work. He only has seven saves on the season but he will get more saves as the season progresses. The Tigers staff really needs to keep up their solid play if the Tigers want a shot at the Wild Card.

The Tigers recently made a trade that has made them better. The Tigers traded reliever Ugueth Urbina for infielder Placido Polanco. Since coming to Detroit, Polanco has been hitting .383 with 9 RBIs in just 15 games with Detroit. His awesome play has really helped out the Tigers.

Now that the Pistons season is over, the Tigers are the central focus in Detroit Sports. The All-Star game is in Detroit this year and that should put even more attention on the Tigers play. It would very exciting if the Tigers could make a run for the Wild Card. They have not even been close to the playoffs in such a long time, and the city of Detroit is just crazing for their baseball team to be good once again. The Tigers should be fun to watch for the rest of the season as they try to make a run at the playoffs.

Another note: My site was in the Detroit Free Press. Click here to read the short article.

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