Although the Twins have not played particularly well here in the Motor City this season (2-3), they have taken 9 of 14 head-to-head meetings with the Tigers overall this season and are clearly the hotter of the two teams heading into this four-game set. Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire consistently gets his team to play well in the month of September and this year is no different with 11 wins in the last 13 games. Detroit, meanwhile, is struggling with just seven wins in their last 18 games, which is why this division race has gotten so tight. There will be a tremendous amount of pressure on Rick Porcello, the Tigers young starter, who has lost the last two times he’s faced the Twins. Nick Blackburn has looked very sharp in his past two starts (1.35 ERA) and was very effective in beating Porcello the last time he faced them, allowing just one earned run in a complete game 6-2 victory. As the manager of Minnesota, Gardenhire is 27-15 on the road when his team is seeking revenge for a loss as a home favorite. We’re taking the hotter team as we look for a tight division race to get even tighter. Minnesota is our 10* AL Central Showdown Winner.
Lenny Del Genio
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