AL Central Update
Summary
American League leading up to the playoffs.
Article
The Chicago White Sox have lost four of six, but still find themselves only 5 1/2 games behind the Detroit Tigers. They open a critical four-game series Monday night in Detroit with everything on the line. A head-to-head series is huge. Just ask the Red Sox. By the end of this trip, the White Sox could be sniffing first place or be completely out of the division race.
"We're in the same
position as the last time we played Detroit," Manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Last week when were in Chicago, everyone was excited.We're still there. We just got to go out there and play better and play the way we [can] and take our chances.
"Obviously, it's another do-or-die [series]. And it's a good thing because we're going to play within our division for a little while. And right now, we are where we are -- first in the wild-card race and we're not too far away from Detroit. We've just got to keep believing in ourselves and keep pushing."
The Tigers haven’t been playing all the great lately either, winning only three of their past 12 games (including being swept Aug. 11-13 at Chicago). They still have the best record in baseball, but they are having to look in their rear-view mirror a bit more.
The pitching matchup in Monday night’s series opener is great. Chicago’s Jose Contreras (11-5, 3.78 ERA) takes on rookie sensation Justin Verlander (14-6, 3.14 ERA) , who’s been great all year – except against the White Sox.
Verlander has gone 0-3 with a 9.88 ERA in three starts against Chicago in 2006, allowing 27 hits in 13 2/3 innings. He has posted a 2.44 ERA with 111 hits allowed in 132 2/3 against the rest of baseball. The last time he faced the White Sox on Aug. 11, Verlander surrendered five runs and a season-high 13 hits in a 5-0 loss. Contreras was his opponent in that game as well, and was dominating, allowing only three hits.
The White Sox are 9-3 against Detroit this season and are 23-8 against them since the beginning of 2005. Contreras is 3-1 with a 1.45 ERA in four starts against the Tigers this year, and that recent great performance against Detroit was an abnormality since his 17-game winning streak ended. He is only 2-5 in the past six weeks and was rocked for a season-high seven runs and 12 hits in a 10-4 loss to
Kansas City in his last outing on Wednesday.
The numbers favor Contreras and the White Sox over Verlander too much to not consider them in any baseball bets. The baseball wager has to be with the White Sox in the opener, and bet on them to win the series 3-1.
ORDONEZ FEELING THE HEAT
Among the players taking the heat for the Tigers' recent slide is ex-White Sox right fielder Magglio Ordonez, who signed a five-year, $75 million contract two years ago.
In a recent column on the Detroit News' Web site, Ordonez was criticized for his defensive play -- "It's alarming, and, at age 32, it doesn't figure to get better" -- and his salary -- "They're stuck with him. Making this arrangement [as a possible DH] productive the next three seasons is going to be no small trick."
Asked if he was upset with what was written about his defense, the quiet Ordonez replied: "Naw, people can say whatever they want. But I know that's not true. They talked something about my defense?"
Ordonez has always been a good right fielder, never spectacular.
"When I'm hitting like I am right now, I try to do my best in the field," he said."I don't take what I do in hitting to the field."
The $15 million the Tigers owe Ordonez for each of the next three years is a sore point, but signing an aging player who had well-publicized knee problems was a gamble from the start.
"It's not my fault I signed a big contract," Ordonez said. "People are always speaking about who makes the most money. I'm a big boy. I can take it."
"Magglio Ordonez has a track record as a very good major-league hitter,"
Manager Jim Leyland said. "I have to think he will come out of it. If he doesn't, we're going to have a tough time."
Ordonez missed huge chunks of two straight seasons with knee problems, including his final one with the
White Sox in 2004 and his first in Detroit, when he also was forced out with hernia pain.
"My knee is fine," he said Sunday.
LIRIANO GETTING CLOSE
The Twins' rotation could be fortified soon with the return of rookie Francisco Liriano.
A medical evaluation performed on the left arm of the left-handed rookie phenom by team doctor Dan Buss revealed that he had no elbow pain and that his shoulder motion and strength had improved considerably.
Liriano, a 12-game winner who was named to the AL All-Star team, will start throwing on flat ground Tuesday and could rejoin the rotation by mid-September.
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