Tonight the Tigers will start what is up to this point of the season their biggest series of the year.  They will have a three game set at the Twinkiedome vs. the Minnesota Twins, the very team they have a marginal three game lead over in the Central Division.

Tonight Kevin Slowey takes the bump for the Minnesota Twins opposite recently recalled Lucas Freedom, er, French.  What I can't wrap my head around is that Slowey has 10 wins with nearly a four and a half ERA.  He must get more support than Keira Knightly's breasts in Pirates of the Carribean.  Meanwhile, the Tigers Lucas French has thrown just three innings with the Tigers and has a 1 BB:K:IP ratio. I presume the main reason he was called up was to tame the big lefty bats in the Twins lineup, Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer.

Minnesota's not the only team chasing the Tigers this weekend, though.  The Chicago White Sox are just 2.5 back right now as they are on a six game winning streak.  They take on the plummeting Royals this weekend, although they do face early Cy Young favorite Zack Greinke tonight.

So as you can imagine, this is a pretty telling series for the Tigers this weekend.  They have lost four out of their last six and continue to be inconsistent hitting the ball.  This past week, Verlander and Porcello picked up losses and as I've said before, if you think we're going to be able to rely on a 2.5 ERA Verlander and Porcello all year, you're the Slowey one.  As a result, we're going to be losing games that we have been winning during their recent hot streaks in the past couple months.

Magglio Ordonez is not in the lineup tonight and I wouldn't be shocked to see him out of it all weekend.  He's hitting a buck sixty-six in his last 36 ABs, so clearly his hair and "benching" did not help him one bit. Josh Anderson will replace him in right field and, personally, I'd like to see him starting more often.  He's a legitimate 40 steal threat if he played an entire season and has hit close to .300 in all of his seasons in the professional ranks.  His OBP and OPS are nothing to call grandma and brag about, but I think there's something to say for his speed and ability to put the Tigers in scoring position when he does get on base.  I know anything is right now, but it's a for sure upgrade over Magglio right now.

This is a big series so start mentally preparing now, if you haven't started already, and be ready for the first pitch around 8:10 PM EST.  Go Tigers!

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