Tigers try to gain ground in wild card race versus Mariners

Baseball Betting Lines

09/08/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers go after their fourth straight win this evening when they play the second test of a three-game series against the struggling Seattle Mariners at Comerica Park.

In the opener of this set on Friday, Curtis Granderson made major league history by belting his 20th homer of the season to help Detroit to a 6-1 win. With his home run, Granderson became just the sixth player in major league history with at least 20 home runs, 20 doubles and 20 triples in one season.

Placido Polanco finished 1-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI for the Tigers, who won their third straight game and vaulted above Seattle in the AL wild card race. The Tigers, though, are still three games behind New York for the wild card.

Justin Verlander (16-5) was brilliant for eight innings. The flame-throwing righty allowed just one run on seven hits while fanning three.

Jose Vidro was 3-for-4 with a run scored for the reeling Mariners, who have dropped 12 of their past 13 games and slipped four games behind the Yankees, who beat the Kansas City Royals on Friday.

Miguel Batista (13-11) was touched for six runs on nine hits in 6 2/3 innings en route to the loss.

Getting the call for the Tigers this evening will be left-hander Nate Robertson, who is 7-11 with a 4.95 earned run average. Robertson received a no-decision on Sunday against Oakland, as he surrendered two runs and four hits in six innings of an 8-7 loss.

Robertson lost to the Mariners earlier in the year and is 4-3 lifetime against them with a 3.26 ERA in seven starts.

Seattle will counter with righty Jeff Weaver, who is winless in his last two starts after stringing four straight wins together. Weaver was tagged with the loss on Sunday against Toronto, as he was hammered for five runs and eight hits in just three innings to fall to 6-11 on the year, while raising his ERA to 5.85.

Weaver, a first round pick of the Tigers back in 1998, lost to his former team earlier in the year and is just 1-4 in his career against them with a 5.46 ERA in five starts.

Detroit has won five of eight from the Mariners this season and is 21-14 in the series since the start of the 2004 campaign. Seattle has also lost four of its last seven in the Motor City.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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