Okay, there can't be too much chest-beating about this one.  68-74, as you know.  But any time the Tigers get a win at the Metrodome, it's worthy of doin' a lil' dance.  Even if people are looking.  Roar, Tiger, roar. 

Though Detroit hasn't played that well against the Twins this season, winning only six of 17 games, one thing Detroit has managed to do is expose that Minnesota bullpen.  In the games the Tigers have been able to win, they outlasted the Twins' starting pitcher and capitalized on the soft middle of their bullpen.  (If Minnesota could hand the game over to Joe Nathan, forget it.)

Middle relief has cost the Twins several games in recent weeks, and could be the difference in them winning the AL Central.  (Well, Carlos Quentin's broken wrist might play a role in that race, too.)  Today's game was certainly no exception, as Scott Baker handed a two-run lead over to his bullpen, and Dennys Reyes held it for all of three pitches.  Curtis Granderson took him deep over the baggie in right field, and the ballgame was tied. 

With Reyes having failed to get his designated left-hander out, Matt Guerrier came in to stanch the bleeding, but two batters later, he hung a slider to Magglio Ordonez that he launched into the left-field seats.  As excited as Tiger Town must have been, I wonder if some fans also felt pangs of empathy.  Believe us, Twins fans - we're painfully familiar with those kinds of meltdowns.

The Tigers' "closer," Fernando Rodney, almost supplied one of his own in the ninth inning.  And you knew it was going to be a rough save opportunity when he walked Nick Punto to lead off the ninth.  Two singles later (one of which was a nice bunt by Alexi Casilla, but wouldn't result in a base hit in any other ballpark but the Metrodome), the bases were loaded and a Twins walk-off win looked almost imminent.  But Rodney came back with a big strikeout of Joe Mauer.  And somehow, some way, the fastball he threw to Justin Morneau, one which Morneau smacked hard for a sure, game-tying base hit, found its way into the glove of Placido Polanco. 

For one afternoon, anyway, the Tigers got themselves a hard-fought win over the Twins.  If only they could've gotten timely hitting and good enough relief pitching more often this season.  Of course, Justin Verlander's effort (four runs, eight hits, and 114 pitches in 5 2/3 innings) provided a glaring example of how much Detroit's starting pitching has beaten this team down.  He's still not right. 

But today, it didn't matter.  Do a little dance.  Roar, Tiger, roar.

Justin Verlander (10-15, 4.74) vs. Scott Baker (8-4, 3.66)

Right after Michigan and Michigan State presumably get their first victories of the season, you can switch over to FOX and see if the Tigers can rebound from the smackdown the Twins laid on 'em last night at the Metrodome.

(That is, if you're in the regional viewing area for the Tigers-Twins telecast.  21% of the country gets this one.  According to Awful Announcing, those markets include Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Minneapolis, Portland, Providence, Seattle, and Tampa.  Go figure on the Pacific Northwest.

Chris Rose on the play-by-play?  Yeesh.  And for those of you calling for Leo Mazzone to replace Chuck Hernandez as pitching coach next season, he'll get a first-hand view of the Tigers' pitching staff today as the game analyst. ) 

Can Justin Verlander pitch much worse than he did last Monday against the Yankees?  He lasted just 1 2/3 innings, giving up eight runs (five earned) in probably the worst performance of his career.  If you listen to him, it's because the home plate ump squeezed him on the strike zone.  But Jim Leyland's not having any of that.  Over his last two starts, Verlander has allowed 13 runs in just 7 2/3 innings.  Whether it's a mental or mechanical issue, or a fatigue thing, something's not right with him.  Maybe Mazzone can point it out today.

Scott Baker hasn't lost to the Tigers this season, posting a 2-0 record and 3.91 ERA in four starts.  He broke a six-game winless streak by holding Oakland to one run over six innings in his last outing.

Oh, that Marcus Thames!  The Mighty Thames!  Two home runs tonight!  Hercules!  Hercules!  Hercules!

Okay, so the Twins won the game., scoring 10 runs because Armando Galarraga walked six batters and had one of his worst performances of the season, while Freddy Dolsi was awful, and Casey Fossum wasn't very good, either.

But... Country Strong!

Bah.  21 more games left to endure.

Armando Galarraga (12-4, 3.17) vs. Francisco Liriano (4-3, 3.45)

After a disappointing homestand, the Tigers hit the road for their final three games this season against that team they just can't seem to beat, the Minnesota Twins.  Remember at the All-Star break, when Detroit was still presumably in the playoff race, and the mantra was "Thank Cobb, the Tigers only have to play the Twins three more times"?

The Twins find themselves staggering back home to Minneapolis after a brutal 14-game road trip necessitated by the Republican National Convention's presence in the Twin Cities.  Ron Gardenhire's team went 5-9 on that trip, punctuated by a three-game sweep against the Blue Jays in Toronto.  So will the Twins have a bit of a "Oh, thank Puckett - we're home!" kind of letdown this evening, or will returning home give them a boost? 

Beginning the series with Armando Galarraga on the mound would seem to give the Tigers a chance at starting this series off right.  But three of Galarraga's four losses this season have come against these Minnesota Twins.  Yet his ERA in four starts vs. the Twins is 3.65, so it's not like he hasn't pitched rather well against them.  Galarraga is 5-0 in his last eight starts.

The last time Francisco Liriano faced the Tigers, he left the game with tightness in his forearm.  That eventually became an elbow injury that cut his outstanding rookie season short and required Tommy John Surgery.  This was in August of 2006.  (How do I remember this so well?  I was playing Joe Media in the press box that night.  Was that a gratuitous reference?)

Of more immediate and relevant interest is the fact that Liriano has given up only five earned runs in his last six starts (covering 36 2/3 innings) combined.

Twinkie Town has your SB Nation opposing view for this weekend's series.

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Earlier this season, Jim Leyland looked like a manager who wasn't going to be back next year.  Not only were his Detroit Tigers severely underachieving, but they looked lackadaisical in doing so.  For whatever reason - entitlement, arrogance, laziness - Leyland just wasn't getting through to his players.

Back in April, I wrote that a team not playing hard for its coach was a pretty damning indictment.  Ultimately, what more could a coach or manager be judged upon?  Some thought Leyland should be fired for the Tigers' disappointing performance, but I thought it was far more likely that he'd resign after the season.

But for the past month or so, Leyland's made it pretty clear that he intends to come back to manage the Tigers next year.  For instance, he's talked about what certain players, such as Brandon Inge and Miguel Cabrera, need to do get better in 2009.  He also revealed that he intended to make sure his pitchers study AL Central hitters more thoroughly in Spring Training.  Defense would also be emphasized next spring in Lakeland. 

Does that sound like a guy who's ready to walk away? 

So it's really no surprise that Leyland told the Detroit Free Press' Michael Rosenberg that he'd like to sign a contract extension with the Tigers beyond 2009 and sees himself managing for a few more years.  Leyland was likely to ink a deal for 2010, at least, as the conventional wisdom in sports seems to be that any coach on the last year of his contract is a "lame duck" with no hope of exerting authority over players signed for multiple years who know they'll likely outlast the man in charge. 

But, Rosenberg asks, for Leyland to stick around, will things have to change?  He's already indicated that he'll approach his players differently next year.  He was far too passive with his pitching staff and was slow to lean on players who weren't always giving a full effort.

And what about the surrounding organization?  Will Dave Dombrowski have to give him a different sort of team?  Presumably one with some more speed and better pitching?  Will Mike Ilitch have to maintain the financial commitment he made for this season, instead of cutting payroll as several observers expect him to? 

It looks like Leyland wants the opportunity to correct the wrongs both he and his team committed this season.  Knowing you can do better and getting the chance to do so can be a powerful motivator.  And that seems to have given Leyland some energy.  He no longer has the worn, haggard appearance of a man two steps away from burnout. 

Now the question is, will Leyland's team follow his lead?

I think I've run out of disaster and wreckage photos to post as representation of yet another awful effort from the Detroit Tigers.  It's also possible that I've just tapped the Google image archives clear out.  I've had to go there too many times this year. 

So instead we'll go with the frustrated look on Kenny Rogers' face, and how it reflects not only a terrible performance, but a season that's doing the dead man's walk toward September 28, the last game on the schedule.  Last night's victory over the Angels was exciting, yet also aggravating because it reminded us what the Tigers are capable of and the promise that they've failed so terribly to fulfill.  But today, the home team gave their fans a different, far more painful reminder.  This isn't a very good baseball team, and the 2008 season has been a horribly cruel tease. 

Rogers looks just about finished as a major league pitcher, one getting increasingly worse with each start.  And today may have been hovering over rock bottom.  He lasted just two innings, giving up six runs (two of which Aquilino Lopez couldn't keep from scoring) and eight hits - four of which began the third inning and knocked him out of the game.

Between today's performance, along with losing seven of his last eight starts, Rogers now admits he may see the end in sight.

"Trying to deal with that after a game like today is probably not the best way to decide those things," Rogers said.  "Coming off the mound, though, it's hard not to think about it."

The decline is difficult to watch because his 2006 season - the postseason, especially - is still relatively fresh in our minds and could take on legendary status in the years to come.  But Rogers' downturn underlines just how delicately this team's chances were from the very beginning.  The Tigers needed that 2006 Rogers to compete for a playoff spot this season.  Hell, even the limited-use 2007 version might have been enough.  But he hasn't even been close.  And, of course, neither have the Tigers.

Ervin Santana (14-5, 3.31) vs. Kenny Rogers (9-12, 5.23)

Following an impressive 9-6 victory over the Angels last night (the kind of effort that makes you wonder what really could have been, had this team gotten its act together), the Tigers have an opportunity for a series win this afternoon in what has become a new day for the city of Detroit. 

Up until this season, you probably could've chalked up today's game as a win for the Tigers because Ervin Santana had some of the most brutal home-road splits you've ever seen.  This year, however, Santana is actually better on the road, with a 9-2 record and 3.30 ERA (with 103 strikeouts in 101 innings).  Against the Tigers over his career, he's 4-2 with a 4.62 ERA in six starts.

In his last two appearances, Kenny Rogers has looked like a pitcher who's just trying to get to the end of the season so he can hang it up.  But maybe he just needs to face a team other than the Kansas City Royals, who knocked him around for 13 runs and 18 hits over his last 12 innings of work.  It seems like a long time ago when you see Rogers now, but he threw one of his best games of the season against the Angels back in May, shutting them out over seven innings at Anaheim.

After his heroics (a two-run homer, along with some stellar defense) last night, Mike Hessman is back in the lineup at third base and batting eighth.  Brandon Inge is also catching a day game after a night game, while Magglio Ordonez gets a break from the field at DH.