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August, 06 2008 8:11pm EST
MONEYLINE: Detroit Tigers -103
LOSS for -3 unit(s)

Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox

I'm playing on DETROIT. The White Sox rallied to win yesterday's series opener but I look for the Tigers to bounce right back with a victory this evening. Yesterday's game featured the Tigers going with a left-hander (Robertson) and the White Sox countering with Floyd, a right-hander. The shoe is on the other foot this evening though, as it's the White Sox who will be sending a southpaw to the mound. That situation should give the Tigers the advantage in this extremely important game.

The Tigers have fared very well vs. left-handers all season. In 30 games against southpaw starters, they are averaging 5.3 runs per game, hitting a healthy .285 with an on-base-percentage of .358. Not surprisingly, they've gone a highly profitable 21-9 (+10.5) in those games. Looking back further and we find Detroit at an outstanding 84-44 (+33.2) against southpaw starters the past three seasons.

Verlander comes off back to back poor starts, the first of which came against these same White Sox. That hasn't happened to him for a long time though. In fact, he'd previously allowed two earned runs or less in eight straight starts. The last time that the Tigers had lost his previous two starts was back at the beginning of June. Verlander broke out that slump in a big way, as he tossed a complete game 4-hitter, allowing just one run. That game also came against the White Sox and resulted in a 5-1 victory for the Tigers. Including that result, the Tigers went on to win seven of Verlander's next eight starts. Verlander was 6-0 with a 2.30 ERA during that stretch.

While he did manage to earn a victory against Verlander and the Tigers two starts ago, Danks didn't pitch particularly well, allowing five runs (4 earned) in six innings. Including that result, he has allowed four earned runs or more in four straight outings. In his most recent start here at Chicago, he was rocked by the normally light-hitting Royals, allowing 11 baserunners and six earned runs in just four innings. Including that result, he has a 7.87 ERA and 1.812 WHIP his last three outings!

Like the Tigers, the White Sox have enjoyed success against southpaw starters. With yesterday's victory, they're now 22-14 against left-handers on the season. However, they've been fairly mediocre against right-handers. Recently, since beating Verlander a couple of weeks ago, they've gone just 2-6 their last eight games against right-handed starters, most recently suffering a 14-3 loss vs. Greinke and the Royals. Times are getting desperate for the Tigers. Look for Verlander to bounce back with a much better performance and for them to even up the series. *Annihilator