Tigers Slump Continues, Lead Down to 4

Justin Verlander allowed 6 runs in the 5th inning tonight as the Tigers lost to the Indians 8-5. Overall, he allowed 8 runs on 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings of work. It appears to me that the young pitchers are tiring and that their very average offense is not good enough to pick up the slack. They have now lost 13 out 18 and what was once a 10 game lead is now down to 4. It's been a rough schedule in August and they still have to play the hard hitting Yankees in a three game series starting Tuesday.

September offers a more favorable schedule. Of the 28 September games, 12 are against teams with records below .500 (Seattle, Baltimore, Kansas City) and 5 more are against teams who will likely be all but eliminated from contention by the time the Tigers play them (Texas, Toronto). My hope is that their young staff will get a "second wind" and that a couple of hitters will get hot in the final month against weaker competition. Of course, they need to hold their own against Minnesota, Chicago and Los Angeles as well.

The game tonight got me down more than usua and I'm less confident now than I was two weeks ago but I still think they will make it to the playoffs. The Tigers are not going to get back to their earlier dominant ways but I don't see this slide continuing against an easier schedule. Plus, the White Sox are slumping and the Twins pitching is very thin. I do expect it to be a scramble down the strtetch and it could go down to the wire. Here are the current standings:

AL Central Division Standings

	W	L	PCT	GB
Detroit	81	49	.623	-----
Minnesota	76	52	.594	4
Chicago	75	54	.581	5 1/2
Cleveland	60	68	.469	20
Kansas City	47	84	.359	34 1/2