After catching the better part of the Twins and Royals game yesterday, my time watching baseball last night was evenly divided between the Yankees and the Tigers/White Sox game on the MLB Network. I guess I might be doing some advanced amateur scouting in advance, but I'm really just enjoying the drama of this AL Central race which has, against all odds, come down to the wire. No team has ever failed to make the playoffs after holding a three game lead with four to play. If they aren't careful, the Tigers might be the first.
Clearly in desperation mode, Jim Leyland pulled his starter after surrendering only 2 runs in 1.1 IP last night, but no amount of damage control could make up for the fact that his offense only scored one run off of Freddy Garcia in 7 innings and nothing more off of the bullpen after that. The Tigers looked to be set up, trailing by 3 with men on first and second with no one out in the 8th inning with a run already in, but Magglio Ordonez lined out to short and Miguel Cabrera bounced into a double play to end the inning.
Dead even heading into the last day of the season, the Tigers start at 1:05 while the Twins go an hour later. Carl Pavano starts on three days rest for the Twinkies, which he specifically requested after getting tagged for 7 runs against the Tigers his last time out. Pavano has only started on such short rest of rest once in his career, way back in 2004 for the Marlins against the Expos, the last game he started before signing with the Yankees. I have no idea why this happened because the Marlins were nowhere near the Wild Card race, but he was solid, throwing 7 innings of one run ball. This over-extension in a meaningless outing didn't have any ill effects on him going forward because he was nothing short of a horse for the Yanke... HEY, WAIT A SECOND!
Clearly in desperation mode, Jim Leyland pulled his starter after surrendering only 2 runs in 1.1 IP last night, but no amount of damage control could make up for the fact that his offense only scored one run off of Freddy Garcia in 7 innings and nothing more off of the bullpen after that. The Tigers looked to be set up, trailing by 3 with men on first and second with no one out in the 8th inning with a run already in, but Magglio Ordonez lined out to short and Miguel Cabrera bounced into a double play to end the inning.
Dead even heading into the last day of the season, the Tigers start at 1:05 while the Twins go an hour later. Carl Pavano starts on three days rest for the Twinkies, which he specifically requested after getting tagged for 7 runs against the Tigers his last time out. Pavano has only started on such short rest of rest once in his career, way back in 2004 for the Marlins against the Expos, the last game he started before signing with the Yankees. I have no idea why this happened because the Marlins were nowhere near the Wild Card race, but he was solid, throwing 7 innings of one run ball. This over-extension in a meaningless outing didn't have any ill effects on him going forward because he was nothing short of a horse for the Yanke... HEY, WAIT A SECOND!
Maybe it's because my judgement on this subject is clouded with bitterness and hatred, but I can't see this ending in any other fashion than a visit to the mound by the Twins trainer and a showering of boos.
Upshot: If the Twins and Tigers don't end the season tied (which would be awesome for the Yankees for reasons previously discussed), it's almost a given that we can blame Carl Pavano. If he throws a gem and the Tigers lose, "Damn you Pavano, you worthless hack! Where was this when you were on the Yankees!". If the gets shelled and the Tigers win, "What the FUCK Pavano? Can't you ever deliver when there is something on the line, you human fucking Ponzi Scheme! You just haaaad to take the ball on three days rest, didn't you?"
Upshot: If the Twins and Tigers don't end the season tied (which would be awesome for the Yankees for reasons previously discussed), it's almost a given that we can blame Carl Pavano. If he throws a gem and the Tigers lose, "Damn you Pavano, you worthless hack! Where was this when you were on the Yankees!". If the gets shelled and the Tigers win, "What the FUCK Pavano? Can't you ever deliver when there is something on the line, you human fucking Ponzi Scheme! You just haaaad to take the ball on three days rest, didn't you?"
Amazingly, if the Twins, Tigers and Yankees lose, the Rays will have the same number of wins (85) that the two teams from the Central do (in an infinitely tougher division), except they will have missed the playoffs by 9 or 10 games.
Whichever way it shakes out, this should make for some furious sports action starting at 1:00, with the Giants and Yankees both in action along with the Twins with the Tigers close on their heels. Gotta love Sundays in the early Fall. Buckle your seatbelts, crack a beer, fire up your fantasy football stat tracker and get ready to hate Carl Pavano.
Go Yanks, G-Men and Twins/Tigers -OR- Royals/White Sox! Woohoo!!!
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I came here just to see some shots thrown at Pavano. Thank you for not dissapointing me.
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