GDT 10/2/09 - DET (85-74) VS CWS (77-82) - 7:05 p.m. ET

DETROIT -- The Tigers heard a lot two months ago about the impact Jake Peavy could have on the American League Central race. They probably didn't imagine this.

Detroit didn't finish off the Twins while they were in town, but it can control its own fate by taking two out of three games over the final weekend. The challenge is that the Tigers will have to do it against a White Sox team that has nothing to lose and an ace pitcher that has everything to gain.

Still, the Tigers said after Thursday's 8-3 loss to Minnesota, it's better than the alternative.

"I'd rather be up by two than behind by two," slugger Marcus Thames said. "It's up to us. I'd rather have it that way than any other way."

Any combination of two Tigers wins against the visiting White Sox this weekend or Twins losses at home to the Royals would clinch Detroit's first division crown since 1987.

Just one Tigers win and a Twins sweep or two wins from the Twins and a White Sox sweep would force a one-game playoff at the Metrodome early next week to determine which team advances to face the Yankees in the AL Division Series. If the Twins sweep Kansas City and the Tigers are swept, Minnesota would win the division title outright.

"We know we're in the driver's seat," catcher Gerald Laird said. "We just have to keep playing good baseball like we have at home, and we'll be celebrating."

If it's a position that seems familiar, it's because a similar scenario came together in 2006. Detroit needed one win to finish off the Twins for the division crown, that time with the Blue Jays and Royals visiting over the final week. The Tigers lost their final five games, including a three-game sweep to Kansas City that included two extra-inning games, and ended up finishing a game back of the Twins.

It cost them home-field advantage in the Division Series and forced them into a showdown with the top-seeded Yankees, but they still went to the postseason. This time, the second-place team goes home for the offseason.

The Tigers, understandably, aren't thinking like that. After all, they beat the tenacious Twins back-to-back nights in well-played games to put themselves in position to clinch in the first place. They've tried to follow manager Jim Leyland's directive to enjoy this race as much as they can.

They wanted control of their own fate, and they have it. They got the result they needed, as Leyland said, but not what they wanted. Now it remains up to them.

"[We're] still in the situation we want to be," Curtis Granderson said. "It's an opportunity to play. Minnesota's exactly where they want to be. I think you can't ask for anything more from this series than split."

The Tigers also have the opportunity, whatever it means, of facing Peavy a second time after watching a nasty pitcher pick them apart a week ago.

Peavy was on the winning end of his duel with Tigers starter Eddie Bonine that night, keeping Detroit scoreless well after Gordon Beckham's two-run homer broke up Bonine's no-hit bid in the sixth inning. He attacked the strike zone for 68 strikes out of his 95 pitches, including 10 swings and misses and 17 called strikes. He fanned eight Tigers over seven innings, and the only solid contact against him came on Curtis Granderson's fly ball to the right-field fence that Jermaine Dye kept in.

Given that, watching the Twins' results on the scoreboard is the least of the Tigers' problems.

"That's not a big treat," Leyland said of Peavy. "He's very good."

Still, Granderson pointed out, at least they know what's coming first-hand rather than watching and marveling on video.

"The fact that we're facing him the second time around, hopefully we know a little bit what he's going to do," Granderson said. "Hopefully that can be to our advantage."

The Tigers also have the advantage of having their own front-line starter going. Edwin Jackson's final regular-season tuneup gives him the kind of matchup he could well face Wednesday in a potential showdown with Yankees ace CC Sabathia. Jackson has been up for low-scoring games early and often this season, but his September struggles have given him some work to do.

It's a decent scenario for the Tigers if they can pull it out. If not, the pressure would fall on rookie Alfredo Figaro, who is set to make a spot start Saturday opposite veteran Freddy Garcia in the role that would've fallen to more seasoned rookie Rick Porcello if not for Monday's rainout.

If the Tigers head into Sunday needing to win, they'll have ace Justin Verlander. But they're not thinking that far ahead, yet.

"We've played good against them before," Laird said. "We've got Edwin going and we've got one of the big boys going at the end. Hopefully we can get it done before that so we don't have to use [Verlander], but I really like our chances."

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Pitching matchup


DET: RHP Edwin Jackson (13-8, 3.36 ERA)
Just when Jackson seemed to be out of his September slump, on came the White Sox in the sixth inning Sunday for three straight extra-base hits and three runs to take the lead. He ended up with five runs allowed over 6 1/3 innings to raise his September ERA to 5.08. His challenge to start October will be to make the adjustments to quiet the White Sox in the rematch at Comerica Park.


CWS: RHP Jake Peavy (8-6, 3.75 ERA)
On Friday night, Peavy outdueled Bonine, who took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning before surrendering a two-run home run to Beckham. On most nights, Bonine's effort would have been good enough, but Peavy completely shut down Detroit, allowing no runs on six hits in seven innings while striking out eight. It was Peavy's second successive victory since joining the White Sox rotation, and he owns a 2.25 ERA in those two outings. Peavy will be making his final 2009 start on six days' rest.

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Tidbits

... The Tigers have drawn record viewership numbers on FSN Detroit for two consecutive nights. Wednesday's win over the Twins earned a 15.6 household rating in Metro Detroit, the highest-rated Tigers game in the network's 12 years of coverage. It was the third most-watched game of any sport on the network, trailing only Games 5 and 7 of the NHL Western Conference semifinals earlier this year between the Red Wings and Ducks.
... Magglio Ordonez has a .455 average (15-for-33) over his nine-game hitting streak, with seven RBIs over the stretch. He finished September batting .415 (34-for-82), best in the AL.
... Laird's second-inning RBI single Thursday snapped an 0-for-10 streak.
... Granderson is batting .393 (11-for-28) with seven RBIs in his past six games.

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Up next (Probable Pitchers)

• Saturday: Tigers (Alfredo Figaro, 2-1, 5.74 ERA) vs. White Sox (Freddy Garcia, 2-4, 4.78 ERA), 7:05 p.m. ET
• Sunday: Tigers (Justin Verlander, 18-9, 3.45 ERA) vs. White Sox (John Danks, 13-10, 3.69 ERA), 1:05 p.m. ET

STARTING LINEUPS:

Chi White Sox AVG
Podsednik, CF .303
Beckham, 3B .272
Pierzynski, C .302
Konerko, DH .280
Dye, RF .251
Kotsay, 1B .288
Quentin, LF .232
Ramirez, A, SS .276
Lillibridge, 2B .153

Detroit AVG
Granderson, CF .250
Polanco, 2B .287
Ordonez, RF .301
Cabrera, M, 1B .329
Huff, A, DH .242
Guillen, C, LF .250
Inge, 3B .233
Laird, C .229
Santiago, SS .271

Jackson is good enough; the Tigers are good enough to win this game, ya hear me???? Come on, boys!!!! Ya shoulda won last night and you know it.

here we go Tigers! GET THE WIN!

Inning 1
Top Half

B:1 S:1 O:0 -
Scott Podsednik homers (7) on a line drive to right field.
CWS 1, DET 0



B:1 S:0 O:1 -
Gordon Beckham grounds out softly, second baseman Placido Polanco to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.


B:1 S:0 O:2 -
A. J. Pierzynski grounds out, second baseman Placido Polanco to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.


B:0 S:2 O:3 -
Paul Konerko grounds out, first baseman Miguel Cabrera to pitcher Edwin Jackson.

CWS 1, DET 0 AFTER .5 INNING

Bottom Half

B:0 S:3 O:1 -
Curtis Granderson swinging.

B:1 S:2 O:1 -
Placido Polanco singles on a line drive to right fielder Jermaine Dye.

B:4 S:0 O:1 -
Magglio Ordonez walks. Placido Polanco to 2nd.


B:2 S:3 O:2 -
Miguel Cabrera called out on .

B:0 S:0 O:3 -
Aubrey Huff flies out to right fielder Jermaine Dye.

CWS 1, DET 0 AFTER 1 INNING

Inning 2
Top Half

B:1 S:0 O:1 -
Jermaine Dye grounds out, second baseman Placido Polanco to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

B:2 S:3 O:2 -
Mark Kotsay on foul tip.

B:1 S:3 O:3 -
Carlos Quentin swinging.

CWS 1, DET 0 AFTER 1.5 INNINGS

Bottom Half

B:0 S:0 O:1 -
Carlos Guillen flies out to left fielder Carlos Quentin.

B:3 S:2 O:2 -
Brandon Inge grounds out, second baseman Brent Lillibridge to first baseman Mark Kotsay.

B:1 S:3 O:3 -
Gerald Laird swinging.

CWS 1, DET 0 AFTER 2 INNINGS

Inning 3
Top Half

B:0 S:0 O:1 -
Alexei Ramirez lines out to center fielder Curtis Granderson.

B:2 S:3 O:2 -
Brent Lillibridge called out on .

B:1 S:2 O:2 -
Scott Podsednik singles on a soft ground ball to third baseman Brandon Inge.

B:2 S:0 O:3 - With Gordon Beckham batting, Scott
Podsednik caught stealing 2nd base, catcher Gerald Laird to second
baseman Placido Polanco.

CWS 1, DET 0 AFTER 2.5 INNINGS

Bottom Half

B:1 S:2 O:1 -
Ramon Santiago grounds out, second baseman Brent Lillibridge to first baseman Mark Kotsay.

B:0 S:2 O:2 -
Curtis Granderson grounds out softly, pitcher Jake Peavy to first baseman Mark Kotsay.

B:3 S:2 O:3 -
Placido Polanco lines out to shortstop Alexei Ramirez.

CWS 1, DET 0 AFTER 3 INNINGS

Inning 4
Top Half

B:0 S:1 O:0 -
Gordon Beckham doubles (28) on a line drive to center fielder Curtis Granderson.

B:0 S:1 O:1 -
A. J. Pierzynski out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher Edwin Jackson to first baseman Miguel Cabrera. Gordon Beckham to 3rd.

B:1 S:3 O:2 -
Paul Konerko swinging.

B:3 S:2 O:2 -
Jermaine Dye doubles (19) on a fly ball to left fielder Carlos Guillen. Gordon Beckham scores. (Dye should have been a )

CWS 2, DET 0



B:0 S:0 O:3 -
Mark Kotsay flies out to left fielder Carlos Guillen.

CWS 2, DET 0 AFTER 3.5 INNINGS

Bottom Half

B:2 S:2 O:0 -
Magglio Ordonez reaches on fielding error by shortstop Alexei Ramirez.

B:2 S:1 O:1 -
Miguel Cabrera pops out to first baseman Mark Kotsay.

B:4 S:0 O:1 -
Aubrey Huff walks. Magglio Ordonez to 2nd.

B:1 S:0 O:2 -
Carlos Guillen flies out to left fielder Carlos Quentin on warning track.

B:2 S:2 O:3 -
Brandon Inge grounds out sharply, shortstop Alexei Ramirez to first baseman Mark Kotsay.

CWS 2, DET 0 AFTER 4 INNINGS

Inning 5
Top Half

B:0 S:1 O:0 -
Carlos Quentin homers (20) on a fly ball to left center field. CWS 3, DET 0



B:0 S:1 O:1 -
Alexei Ramirez lines out to left fielder Carlos Guillen.

B:0 S:3 O:2 -
Brent Lillibridge called out on .


B:1 S:2 O:3 -
Scott Podsednik flies out to center fielder Curtis Granderson.

CWS 3, DET 0 AFTER 4.5 INNINGS

Bottom Half

B:0 S:0 O:1 -
Gerald Laird grounds out, third baseman Gordon Beckham to first baseman Mark Kotsay.

B:0 S:1 O:2 -
Ramon Santiago grounds out, shortstop Alexei Ramirez to first baseman Mark Kotsay.

B:2 S:3 O:3 -
Curtis Granderson swinging. (again)

CWS 3, DET 0 AFTER 5 INNINGS

Inning 6
Top Half

B:4 S:1 O:0 -
Gordon Beckham walks.

B:0 S:0 O:0 -
A. J. Pierzynski singles on a line drive to right fielder Magglio Ordonez. Gordon Beckham to 3rd.

B:4 S:2 O:0 -
Paul Konerko walks. A. J. Pierzynski to 2nd.

B:4 S:2 O:0 -
Coaching visit to mound.

B:4 S:1 O:0 - Jermaine Dye walks. Gordon Beckham scores. A. Pierzynski to 3rd. Paul Konerko to 2nd.
CWS 4, DET 0



B:0 S:0 O:0 - Mark Kotsay doubles (9) on a line drive
to right fielder Magglio Ordonez. A. J. Pierzynski scores. Paul Konerko
scores. Jermaine Dye to 3rd.
CWS 6, DET 0



B:0 S:0 O:0 -
Coaching visit to mound.

B:0 S:0 O:0 -
Pitcher Change: Casey Fien replaces Edwin Jackson.

B:0 S:1 O:0 -
Carlos Quentin singles on a ground ball to left fielder Carlos Guillen. Jermaine Dye scores. Mark Kotsay to 3rd.
CWS 7, DET 0


B:0 S:2 O:1 -
Alexei Ramirez out on a sacrifice fly to right fielder Magglio Ordonez. Mark Kotsay scores.
CWS 8, DET 0



B:0 S:0 O:2 -
Brent Lillibridge flies out to center fielder Curtis Granderson.


B:3 S:2 O:2 -
Scott Podsednik singles on a line drive to left fielder Carlos Guillen. Carlos Quentin to 2nd.

B:1 S:3 O:3 -
Gordon Beckham swinging.

CWS 8, DET 0 AFTER 5.5 INNINGS

If the Sox can get 5 runs in one inning, then get Peavy out of there by pitch count, and score on their bullpen.

Bottom Half

B:3 S:1 O:1 -
Placido Polanco lines out to center fielder Scott Podsednik.

B:1 S:1 O:2 -
Magglio Ordonez grounds out, shortstop Alexei Ramirez to first baseman Mark Kotsay.

B:0 S:1 O:3 -
Miguel Cabrera pops out to second baseman Brent Lillibridge.

CWS 8, DET 0 AFTER 6 INNINGS

Inning 7
Top Half

B:0 S:0 O:0 -
Defensive Substitution: Alex Avila replaces catcher Gerald Laird, batting 8th, playing catcher.

B:1 S:1 O:1 -
A. J. Pierzynski grounds out, shortstop Ramon Santiago to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

B:2 S:2 O:2 -
Paul Konerko flies out to center fielder Curtis Granderson.

B:3 S:2 O:3 -
Jermaine Dye flies out to center fielder Curtis Granderson.

CWS 8, DET 0 AFTER 6.5 INNINGS

Bottom Half

B:0 S:2 O:1 -
Aubrey Huff flies out to center fielder Scott Podsednik.

B:2 S:1 O:2 -
Carlos Guillen flies out to right fielder Jermaine Dye.

B:0 S:0 O:3 -
Brandon Inge grounds out, shortstop Alexei Ramirez to first baseman Mark Kotsay.

CWS 8, DET 0 AFTER 7 INNINGS

Inning 8
Top Half

B:0 S:0 O:0 -
Defensive Substitution: Don Kelly replaces third baseman Brandon Inge, batting 7th, playing third base.

B:2 S:2 O:1 -
Mark Kotsay flies out to right fielder Magglio Ordonez.

B:0 S:0 O:2 -
Carlos Quentin grounds out sharply, third baseman Don Kelly to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

B:1 S:3 O:3 -
Alexei Ramirez called out on .

CWS 8, DET 0 AFTER 7.5 INNINGS

Bottom Half

B:0 S:0 O:0 -
Defensive Substitution: Dewayne Wise replaces right fielder Jermaine Dye, batting 5th, playing right field.

B:2 S:2 O:0 -
Alex Avila singles on a ground ball to right fielder Dewayne Wise.

B:0 S:1 O:1 -
Ramon Santiago flies out to center fielder Scott Podsednik.

B:0 S:2 O:2 -
Curtis Granderson pops out to third baseman Gordon Beckham.


B:0 S:3 O:3 -
Placido Polanco swinging.

CWS 8, DET 0 AFTER 8 INNINGS

Inning 9
Top Half

B:0 S:0 O:0 -
Defensive Substitution: Brent Dlugach replaces second baseman Placido Polanco, batting 2nd, playing shortstop.

B:0 S:0 O:0 -
Defensive switch from shortstop to second base for Ramon Santiago.

B:0 S:0 O:0 -
Pitcher Change: Clay Rapada replaces Casey Fien.

B:0 S:0 O:1 -
Brent Lillibridge flies out to right fielder Magglio Ordonez.

B:0 S:0 O:1 -
Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Jayson Nix replaces Scott Podsednik.

B:1 S:0 O:2 -
Jayson Nix flies out to right fielder Magglio Ordonez.


B:0 S:1 O:3 -
Gordon Beckham grounds out, pitcher Clay Rapada to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

CWS 8, DET 0 AFTER 8.5 INNINGS

Bottom Half

B:0 S:0 O:0 -
Jayson Nix remains in the game as the second baseman.

B:0 S:0 O:0 -
Defensive Substitution: Tyler Flowers replaces catcher A. J. Pierzynski, batting 3rd, playing catcher.

B:0 S:0 O:0 -
Defensive switch from second base to center field for Brent Lillibridge.

B:0 S:0 O:0 -
Pitcher Change: Scott Linebrink replaces Jake Peavy.


B:1 S:1 O:0 -
Magglio Ordonez singles on a ground ball to left fielder Carlos Quentin.

B:0 S:0 O:1 -
Miguel Cabrera pops out to third baseman Gordon Beckham in foul territory.

B:3 S:1 O:2 -
Aubrey Huff grounds out, pitcher Scott Linebrink to first baseman Mark Kotsay. Magglio Ordonez to 2nd.

B:1 S:0 O:3 -
Carlos Guillen flies out to left fielder Carlos Quentin.

Tigers shut out 0-8

October 2, 2009

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Chi White Sox	1	0	0	1	1	5	0	0	0		8	9	1
Detroit	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	3	0

Chi White Sox AB- R- H- RBI- BB- SO- LOB -AVG- Podsednik, CF 4 1 3 1 0 0 0 .306 --a-Nix, J, PH-2B 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .224 Beckham, 3B 4 2 1 0 1 1 2 .272 Pierzynski, C 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 .303 --Flowers, C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .188 Konerko, DH 3 1 0 0 1 1 1 .278 Dye, RF 3 1 1 2 1 0 0 .251 --Wise, RF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .221 Kotsay, 1B 4 1 1 2 0 1 1 .287 Quentin, LF 4 1 2 2 0 1 0 .235 Ramirez, A, SS 3 0 0 1 0 1 0 .274 Lillibridge, 2B-CF 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 .146 Totals 33 8 9 8 3 7 5 a-Flied out for Podsednik in the 9th. BATTING 2B: Beckham (28, Jackson, E), Dye (19, Jackson, E), Kotsay (9, Jackson, E). HR: Podsednik (7, 1st inning off Jackson, E, 0 on, 0 out), Quentin (20, 5th inning off Jackson, E, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Podsednik 6; Beckham 2; Pierzynski; Dye 2; Kotsay 2; Quentin 5. RBI: Podsednik (47), Dye 2 (81), Quentin 2 (55), Kotsay 2 (23), Ramirez, A (68). 2-out RBI: Dye. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Kotsay; Beckham. S: Pierzynski. SF: Ramirez, A. Team RISP: 3-for-6. Team LOB: 3. BASERUNNING CS: Podsednik (13, 2nd base by Jackson, E/Laird). FIELDING E: Ramirez, A (20, fielding).		Detroit AB- R-- H- RBI- BB- SO- LOB- AVG Granderson, CF 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 .249 Polanco, 2B 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 .287 --Dlugach, B, SS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Ordonez, RF 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 .301 Cabrera, M, 1B 4 0 0 0 0 1 4 .327 Huff, A, DH 3 0 0 0 1 0 3 .240 Guillen, C, LF 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 .246 Inge, 3B 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 .231 --Kelly, 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .236 Laird, C 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .228 --Avila, C 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .279 Santiago, SS-2B 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .267 Totals 31 0 3 0 2 5 15 BATTING TB: Polanco; Ordonez; Avila. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Huff, A; Inge; Guillen, C. Team RISP: 0-for-5. Team LOB: 6.
Chi White Sox IP-- H- R- ER- BB- SO- HR- ERA Peavy (W, 9-6) 8.0 2 0 0 2 5 0 3.45 Linebrink 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4.66		Detroit IP-- H- R- ER- BB- SO- HR- ERA Jackson, E (L, 13-9) 5.0 7 8 8 3 5 2 3.62 Fien 3.0 2 0 0 0 2 0 7.94 Rapada 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.40
Jackson, E pitched to 5 batters in the 6th. Balk: Peavy. Pitches-strikes: Peavy 105-69, Linebrink 11-6, Jackson, E 81-52, Fien 40-27, Rapada 5-4. Groundouts-flyouts: Peavy 8-11, Linebrink 1-2, Jackson, E 5-4, Fien 2-5, Rapada 1-2. Batters faced: Peavy 29, Linebrink 4, Jackson, E 24, Fien 11, Rapada 3. Inherited runners-scored: Fien 2-2. Umpires: HP: Tim Tschida. 1B: Mark Carlson. 2B: Jeff Nelson. 3B: Bob Davidson. Weather: 58 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 16 mph, R to L. T: 2:24. Att: 34,726. October 2, 2009