It wasn’t what they needed, but the Twins still have some life after winning two out of four games in
What’s left may favor the Twins a bit. They have three home games against the Royals this weekend, while the Tigers have a home series against the White Sox. Let’s look at the probable matchups:
Fri: Lenny DiNardo vs. Jeff Manship
Sat: Zack Greinke vs. Nick Blackburn
Sun: Luke Hochevar vs. Brian Duensing
Fri: Jake Peavy vs. Edwin Jackson
Sat: Freddy Garcia vs. Alfredo Figaro
Sun: John Danks vs. Justin Verlander
The Tigers aren’t in such an urgent position, so they won’t go with Verlander on short rest Saturday. Verlander will probably be limited to a couple of innings Sunday if the Tigers have clinched by then. The Tigers will also probably want Rick Porcello to throw a couple of innings then.
The Greinke roadblock is huge, so even if the White Sox step up and claim two out of three games this weekend, the Twins have their work cut out for them to force a one-game playoff.