Tigers Poised For Series Lead With Verlander

Max Scherzer will probably win the AL Cy Young award this season, and it's no question that he has been the Detroit Tigers' best pitcher this season on a staff loaded with good pitchers.

But to this day, despite his subpar year, by his standards, Justin Verlander is still the horse of the Tigers' pitching rotation, and they'll send him to the mound riding a hot streak for Tuesday night's Game 3 of the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox.

The Tigers had a real chance to start putting a nail in the Red Sox's coffin on Sunday night when Scherzer took a no-hitter into the sixth inning only to see his bullpen implode and Big Papi to do what Big Papi does, propelling the Red Sox to an unbelievable come-from-behind win to even the series at 1-1.

If the Tigers had held the Red Sox off that night, they'd be heading back to Detroit with Verlander on the hill and a chance to take an almost insurmountable 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. But still, the Tigers have to feel pretty good about having Verlander going with a chance to take the pivotal Game 3 and a series advantage.

Verlander had his struggles this eason, posting a 13-12 record with a 3.46 ERA, but he's been downright awesome as of late, and he's done it at the perfect time.

His last two outings of the regular season were scoreless outings that lasted six innings apiece and he struck out double-digit hitters in each outing. He's carried that over to the postseason, making two starts in the Tigers' ALDS victory over Oakland, spanning 15 innings while allowing no runs on just six hits, 21 strikeouts and two walks.

Good luck dealing with that, Red Sox.

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