Tigers-White Sox: Will Tonight's Game Be a Back-Breaker For Detroit?

The Tigers have an opportunity to deliver a serious gut-punch to the Chicago White Sox tonight. The Tigers and White Sox entered this four-game weekend set, tied for the American League Central lead. Following a double-header sweep and a come-from-behind win, the Tigers have extended their lead in the Central to three games and can push it to four with a win tonight.

Last year around this time, the shoe was on the other foot. The Tigers got off to that awful start in the spring, but rebounded with a strong start to summer.

Last year on July 23rd, the Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals and pulled to within five games of the first place White Sox. On the 25th, they started a three-game series in Detroit against the White Sox. 

A home sweep would pull the Tigers to within two games of first place. It was possible.  However, Todd Jones blew a 5-4 Tigers' lead in the first game of the series and the Tigers lost 7-6 in the second. 

All of the sudden, the Tigers were seven games out of first place. A few days later, the Tigers traded Pudge Rodriguez and completely fell out of contention.

Almost exactly one year later, the Tigers can deliver that kind of back-breaking blow to the White Sox. The White Sox were coming in hot, coming off of a perfect game from Mark Buehrle. 

However, they have been trumped by strong Tigers pitching and some timely hitting late in games. This is almost exactly the opposite of how this late July series played out in 2008.

The Tigers and Sox will face off on ESPN tonight at 8:05. Rick Porcello, 19-years-old at this time last season, will get the start against Clayton Richard of the White Sox. 

Porcello and Richard are both youngsters and have had pretty strong seasons in 2009.  Porcello needs to show the Tigers that he’s not tiring, which has to be a major concern.

A Tigers win tonight pushes their lead in the AL Central to four games, which would be huge for them.