|
KANSAS CITY -- Each day, a packet of baseball's standings and statistics is delivered to the office of Indians manager Manny Acta. There, waiting for him on his desk, listed in black and white, is reality.On the eve of an integral three-game series against the Tigers, Cleveland is still alive in the postseason discussion. This time of year, the front page of the packet in Acta's hands begins to f football online eature an "X" by the teams that have been eliminated from the playoff picture. Time might not be on the Tribe's side, but the math still gives the team a fighting chance. "You know when it's going to be too little, too late?" Acta said. "When they put an 'X' next to our name in the standings. That's the way I think." Beginning Monday, the Indians will have another chance to pull a little closer to football online the first-place Tigers in the American League Central. It will mark the final time Cleveland hosts Detroit at Progressive Field, where the Tribe has posted a 5-1 record against its division rival this season. Cleveland has gone 1-5 against the Tigers in Detroit, but that is a problem for another day. The Tribe does not return to the Motor City until the teams square off for a season-concluding se football online t from Sept. 26-28. In all likelihood, the Tribe will not see Tigers ace Justin Verlander in that final series. Using Verlander in the final set would hinder Detroit's ability to potentially use him early in the first round of the playoffs. The Indians will be forced to deal with Verlander this week, though. In Wednesday's finale in Cleveland, Detroit will send Verlander (21-5, 2.34 ERA) to the mo football online und against Indians righty Justin Masterson (11-8, 2.92 ERA). Masterson has a 2.67 ERA over his past 18 appearances, while Verlander -- a front-runner for the American League Cy Young Award -- has a 1.75 ERA over his last 19 turns. "I feel good," Verlander said. "I've said it time and time again, this is the time of year when all the hard work in the offseason comes into play. This is precisely wh football online y you have that little bit of extra drive in the offseason." This is also the time of year and the type of situation Cleveland had in mind when it dealt the club's top two pitching prospects in a four-player package to acquire right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez from the Rockies on July 31. Jimenez will take the ball on Monday against Detroit's own non-waiver Trade Deadline acquisition, righty Doug Fister football online . Fausto Carmona will get the nod for the Tribe on Tuesday, carrying with him a 3.21 ERA over his past 11 outings for Cleveland. The Tigers will counter with right-hander Rick Porcello, who is 4-1 with a 4.06 ERA in 10 career starts against Cleveland."We've got it lined up," Indians closer Chris Perez said. "If we can't do it with Ubaldo, Fausto and Masterson, I mean, we shouldn't make the playoff football online s anyway."Acta did not hold back when asked about the importance of the next three games."This is the most important series for us," Acta said. "We have our three best guys going. We'll see where we end up."It is still only early September, but this series is all about October. "Every game for us right now is a playoff game," Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera said. "We have to come every day and be re football online ady to play." Perez agreed."In my mind, yeah," said the Tribe's closer. "I don't know how everybody else is looking at it. It's a must-win for us. The calendar is running out of days. We don't want to get into a situation where we have to go 7-0 and hope the Tigers go 1-6."We can't get into that situation. This is a must-win -- a must-sweep -- in my mind."Cleveland's Shelley Duncan would not go as football online far as calling it a "must-sweep," like Perez."We've got to win Monday," Duncan said. "How about that? We have to win Monday. That's what we have to do. You can't sweep without winning the first game."Detroit is trying not to get caught up in that line of thinking."I think it would be a mistake," Porcello said, "for us to go in there and think defensively, like don't get swept. We just need to go football online in and just play hard. It's not like we go in there and think of how many games we need to win. Just go out there every day and treat every game the same."Detroit's Brandon Inge added that, considering the way the Tigers have been playing of late, they are not overly concerned about which ballclub happens to be in the opposing dugout."I'm pretty sure this team isn't going to panic about any team," football online Inge said. "I mean, who is going to intimidate us? I'm not saying it in a bad way, but in the past, you would know. If I was a pitcher on the other team, I wouldn't want to face this lineup. And if I was a hitter on the other team, I wouldn't want to face this pitching staff."Cabrera played hero for Detroit on Saturday, when he helped the Tigers stage a miraculous comeback in Motown. After traili football online ng the White Sox, 8-1, early on, Detroit rallied and eventually launched two ninth-inning homers to claim a 9-8 victory. Cabrera provided the walk-off blast that served as a blow to both Chicago and Cleveland. Acta was not in the mood to talk about the Tigers after learning of their comeback win on Saturday night. "That has nothing to do with us," Acta said. "We're the Indians. We don't worry abou football online t Detroit. We worry about what we can do. Who cares what Detroit does if we don't win? We have to take care of our own business." Even with a rash of injuries decimating the roster, the Tribe has had its chances. The last time the Tigers met up with the Indians, Cleveland trailed Detroit by only 1 1/2 games at the onset of their three-game series on Aug. 18. After a three-game sweep at the hands o football online f the Tigers, the Tribe has been unable to climb higher than 5 1/2 games back of Detroit in the division.Cleveland has played well of late -- six series wins in their past eight sets are evidence -- but the Tigers have remained hot as well. "The bottom line," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said, "is when it's all said and done, you've got to win enough games, no matter who you're playing or when you'r football online e playing them. That's the way it's going to stay. I don't even know how many we've got left. We've just got to win our share and win our division." Cleveland is doing all it can to delay seeing that "X" next to its name in the standings. "We've got a lot of battling to do," Indians starter David Huff said. "We need to start winning or else -- before we know it -- our season is going to be over. W football online e know that. We're going to do it. We're going to continue preparing for these games and continue to try to win these games." football online
|