The Ticket Chest

Twins Top Tigers 6-5 in 12 Innings – Does it Get Any Better?

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 | Detroit Tigers, General, Minnesota Twins, MLB, Sports | No Comments

You couldn’t ask more from 2 teams in a 1-game tie-breaker – the Twins and Tigers battled in an epic game to determine the AL Central division winner.  The Twins ultimately prevailed at home with a thrilling 6-5 12-inning win over the Tigers in the final regular season MLB baseball game at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

Tigers Twins Set for 1-Game Playoff on Tuesday Night

Monday, October 5th, 2009 | Detroit Tigers, Joe Mauer, Joe Nathan, Justin Verlander, Minnesota Twins, MLB, Sports | No Comments

The Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins finished atop the AL Central with the identical 86-76 record.  That means a 1-game playoff to determine who will make it to 2009 post-season play as the AL Central division winner.  Rick Porcello will pitch for the Tigers against Scott Baker for the Twins in Minnesota on Tuesday night.  The 2 teams could not play in Minnesota today because of the regularly scheduled Monday Night Football game between the Green Bay Packer and the Vikings.  There is a tone of hype surrounding the game because it will be the 1st time that Vikings Quarterback Brett Favre will take on his former team in an NFL game.  If Favre and the Vikings win, it will be the 1st time in NFL history that a quarterback has recorded a victory against every other team in the league.

But back to baseball – the Tigers almost blew it over the weekend – dropping 2 of 3 to the White Sox at home.  The Tigers called upon Justin Verlander on Sunday to get them the much-needed win and he delivered a great outing – giving up just 3 ER in 7 2/3 innings with 5 K’s.  Fernando Rodney recorded the game’s final 4 outs to pick up his 37th save of the season and guarantee the Tigers at least a tie for the division lead.

Then the Tigers had to wait and see as the Twins looked to complete the 3-game weekend series sweep over the Kansas City Royals.  The Twins took care of business early and often jumping out to a 7-0 lead after just 3 innings of play.  Carl Pavano picked up the win and Jason Kubel and Delmon Young each hit 2 home runs to power the Twins offense.

The winner of Tuesday night’s Twins-Tigers game will head to New York to play the Yankees – MLB’s best team during the 2009 MLB schedule.  It’s a little ironic because the Twins were involved in a 1-game tie-breaker in 2008 to determine the winner of the AL Central – the Twins lost to the White Sox 1-0 in Chicago despite having won the season series with the White Sox (home field advantage was determined with a coin flip).  This year, MLB changed the rules so that home field advantage was determined by the series record during the course of the season and the Twins beat the Tigers more times.  We’ll keep you posted how it all plays out…

Back & Forth We Go; Tigers Still Lead Twins by 2 Games in AL West

Thursday, October 1st, 2009 | Detroit Tigers, General, Joe Mauer, Joe Nathan, Justin Verlander, Minnesota Twins, MLB, Sports | No Comments

It has been an exciting 4 game series in 3 days in Detroit, as the Tigers still hold a 2-game lead over the Twins for 1st place in the AL Central.  After Monday’s game was rained out, the 2 teams battled in a day-night double-header on Tuesday night.

The Twins took the opener in a pitcher’s duel in 10 innings.  Orlando Cabrera drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single.  Delmon Young’s sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 2-1 lead proved the difference as Twins’ closer Joe Nathan served up a solo shot to Curtis Granderson in the bottom of the inning that cut the Twins lead to 3-2.

Tigers’ ace Justin Verlander proved why he is so valuable to his team, pushing the Tigers’ lead back up to 2 games with a 6-5 win.  Verlander pitched 8 solid innings, giving up 4 ER on 8 hits and no walks.  He struck out 8 and notched his 18th win of the season.  If it becomes necessary, Manager Jim Leyland will likely give Verlander the rock on Sunday if the AL Central race is still up in the air.

The Tigers took Game 3 of the series as Eddie Bonine cruised to an easy 7-2 victory, giving up just 2 runs in 5 innings of work.  Magglio Ordonez had 2 hits and 3 RBI’s, while Brandon Inge had 2 hits and 2 RBI’s for the Tigers in the win.

In Thursday afternoon’s finale, the Twins came up big in a must-win game.  Scott Baker outdueled Nate Robertson as the Twins put the game away with a 4-run 8th inning.  Delmon Young had 3 hits, while Joe Mauer, Orlando Cabrera and Michael Cuddyer each had 2 hits.

You gotta think that the Tigers are in the driver’s seat with a 2-game lead with 3 games to play.  The Tigers are at home for 3 games against the Chicago White Sox.  The Twins are also at home against the Kansas City Royals.  If the 2 teams end up tied at the end of play on Sunday, the Twins would host a tie-breaker game on Tuesday at the Metrodome (the Vikings play the Packers on Monday Night Football).  Stay tuned – it should be a fun weekend ride for both cities…