So Long, Tribe!

After dispatching the White Sox over the weekend with three soul-crushing games, the Tigers did the same to the Indians, their only other rival in the A.L. Central, sweeping a three-game series in Cleveland. Of course, they have not put these teams away mathematically, but aside from a series in Chicago next week and one at home against Cleveland to end the season, those teams will need a complete Tiger collapse to keep hope alive. We can now talk about magic numbers: it's 14 for the Tigers, nine games up with 19 to play.

Of course they have collapsed before; just two years ago they blew a seven-game lead in September. But they are firing on all cylinders now, winning six in a row and hitting the bejeesus out of the ball. On Monday, in a pitcher's duel, mid-season acquisition Doug Fister struck out 14 to win 4-2. The next night, the Tigers scored five runs in the first inning, all after two outs. The rally was started by an innocuous walk to Delmon Young--it just happened to be the first walk he had drawn as a Tiger since being traded for on August 10. The Tigers went on to win 10-1, and Rick Porcello had his problematic sinker working.

Yesterday may have been the back-breaker for the Tribe. They got to Justin Verlander, with Shelley Duncan hitting a pair of homers off the Tigers' ace. He left after six, trailing, his nine-game winning streak in jeopardy. But in the bottom of the inning, Victor Martinez greeted a relief pitcher on the first pitch with a grand slam, putting the Tigers ahead to stay. Verlander got his 22nd win, his tenth in a row, the first Tiger to do that since 1946.

Aside from the series against Chicago and Cleveland (and hopefully they will have clinched by the latter), the Tigers have a soft schedule. They play Minnesota, Kansas City, Oakland, and Baltimore, teams that are either last or second-to-last in their divisions. Of course they can't lose focus against lesser teams.

There's another thing to play for: Detroit now has the second-best record among division leaders in the A.L., slipping ahead of Texas by percentage points. It is a fait accompli that they will play either the Yankees or the Red Sox if they make the playoffs. However, if they have the second-best record in the league, they will play the wild card team. That doesn't help much, as both the Yanks and Sox would be favored. But it will earn the Tigers home field advantage, and they will need as much help as possible.