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Here we are in late September being treated to a handful of intriguing divisional and wild card races, and I want to talk to you about the Royals and the Tigers. There will be plenty of time in the upcoming weeks to see the big boys battle it out. I believe there could be a profit to be made in this one. At least I’m really hoping there will be a pot of gold waiting for me after enduring this battle for second last.
To say that the wheels came off quickly this season for the Detroit Tigers (71-85) would be a huge understatement. That would insinuate that the wheels were once on. These Tigers came right out of the box this year with a proverbial Fred Flinstone car. These preseason favorites just looked bad for the majority of the year. Having lost 11 of their last 12 games, it looks like manager Jim Leyland has lost all control of his aging veterans. Fear not Detroit fans. There’s always football season. Nevermind.
On the other side are the Kansas City Royals (72-86), mired in yet another losing effort. I feel sorry for their fans. At least they always had the 25 existing Rays’ fans to make them feel better about themselves before this year.
It looks like they are trying to give some hope for next year, as they have won 10 of their last 12 games. All 10 of those victories have been by a margin of three or more runs. David DeJesus, Mark Teahen, Mike Aviles and Alex Gordon are giving the fans an ounce of hope for the future. And loose cannon veteran Jose Guillen has actually been on good behavior this season and leads the club in homers and RBI’s.
Should the Royals find themselves engaged in a tight finish, the huge advantage they would own is closer Joakim Soria. The pencil-bearded allstar is third in the league with 41 saves in 44 tries. Of course, I think I needed the Royals in those three blown saves, but we’re not talking about that right now. If the Royals can ever become consistently competitive, they have a 24 year old hurler to nail down many ninth inning victories.
Beware the pencil beard
Tonight’s starting pitchers should be a showcase of ineptitude. KC is going with Brian Bannister (8-16 5.96 ERA). The struggling righty has lost 10 of his previous 15 starts. To even consider backing him might sound like utter insanity, until you hear that his counterpart is Nate Robertson (7-10 6.15 ERA). Robertson has not been reliable since the Tigers’ World Series run of a couple years ago. I think I have seen more threads started by frustrated cappers with Nate’s name in the title than any other baseball player. His struggles this year landed him in the bullpen recently, where he still got smacked around.
He is back in his starting role, pitching against a team that is hot, and being backed by a team that has given up. For these reasons, I’ll be taking the Royals (+110) in the battle of a “should’ve been” and a “never was”.
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I'm not placing anymore bets until the playoffs but I think Nate will do find at home.. He seems to play better at home than away and I think he can contain the lowly Royals. I would bet on nate and the Tigers for this last series game...Bannister is thrash..especially on the road....
Originally Posted by Willie Bee
