ALCS Preview

Time for a quick preview of the ALCS with the Detroit Tigers set to face the Detroit Tigers momentarily. We begin the series with the two aces of each team's staff pitching as Justin Verlander gets to pitch on normal rest here in Game 1, facing C.J. Wilson, who hasn't pitched since Game 1 of the Tampa series, which he was hit hard by the Rays lineup at the tune of 8 runs, 6 earned in 5 IP. Verlander is off a gritty 8 IP, 4 ER performance which he at times was toying with the Yankee hitters with his fastball and curve, but had a couple inning make Game 3 much closer than it should have been.


Just like in the Yankees series, the Tigers will have the perceived weakness in their lineup and their bullpen. And again, it's not accurate when Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez are batting. The thing that hurts Detroit is the loss of Delmon Young to an oblique injury, but this means that Don Kelly will get more playing time after the great series he played. The Rangers lineup seems to have new heroes every game; the last one being Adrian Beltre hitting 3 HR's in the deciding game. In my eyes the bullpens favor Texas as while Valverde=Feliz and Benoit=Adams, the Rangers are deeper with Ogando and Mike Gonzalez. As for the rest of the rotation, it's a slight edge to the Tigers, with Doug Fister ready for a Game 7 and the terrific pitching of Max Scherzer. And that's why I have the Tigers winning the series in 7, back in the World Series for the first time since 2006.