DETROIT -- I'm heading back to Chicago this morning after seeing Justin Verlander do what Justin Verlander does -- dominate. That puts the Tigers in a really good position to win this series, despite being the lower seed; if it does happen to go the distance, Verlander can throw again on normal rest Thursday. If Doug Fister throws well enough this afternoon in Detroit -- and that's a pretty quick turnaround for both teams -- that puts the A's in a tough spot. (At least the umpires stayed out of controversy in both of Saturday's games.)
This afternoon and evening will provide more than 12 hours of baseball. I know, I know, most of you will be watching the NFL Sunday afternoon, particularly when the Bears game starts at 3 p.m. CT, but I'll (mostly) stick to baseball. Even though the Cubs are far from any sort of contention for one of these series, this is what the season is played for -- a chance to win the World Series.
One thing I am not looking forward to is having to listen to the ancient Dick Stockton again. What names will he mess up in the Nats/Cards series? Will we hear about "Bruce" Harper? Or "Yoda" Molina? The announcing in general so far has been pedestrian and dull; you'd think TBS could do better. The fact that Bob Brenly will share the booth with Stockton will make listening to that series more tolerable.
MLB.com Gameday for Athletics/Tigers. Game time: 11 a.m. CDT. TV: MLB Network. Announcers: Matt Vasgersian and Jim Kaat.
MLB.com Gameday for Nationals/Cardinals. Game time: 2 p.m. CDT. TV: TBS. Announcers: Dick Stockton, Bob Brenly and David Aldridge.
MLB.com Gameday for Yankees/Orioles. Game time: 5 p.m. CDT. TV: TBS. CDT Announcers: Ernie Johnson, John Smoltz, Cal Ripken Jr. and Craig Sager.
MLB.com Gameday for Reds/Giants. Game time: 8:30 p.m. CDT. TV: TBS. Announcers: Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, Joe Simpson and Tom Verducci. (Do these games really need four announcers?)
Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.
This will be the only thread for today's games; if it gets too slow, post another one in the fanshot area. Discuss amongst yourselves.