Come to Think of It: Tigers Have Toughest Playoff "Road" Among Division Leaders

The Detroit Tigers, and even the Minnesota Twins, for that matter, may face the toughest challenge in the playoffs this year because of their lousy road play.

While teams often strive to finish around .500 on the road, this year's crop of division leaders has, for the most part, played better than that on the road. In the American League, only the Tigers and Twins have losing records on the road, and in the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals have the "worst" road record at 36-30.

What this means to eventual playoff success is dubious, yet unless you have the best overall record in your league, something the Tigers (and Twins) will not end up having, your team may end up playing more games on the road.

For the Tigers, that could spell trouble with a capital "T."

While Detroit's home record is second only to the Yankees in the AL, their road record is easily the worst of any MLB team with a winning record.

At 27-39, the Tigers have lost 10 consecutive road series, something that hasn't happened to them since 2003. Their last road series win was June 8-11, against the Chicago White Sox.

Count the Tigers manager among those who agree that this does not bode well for the team going forward.

"(The road record) will have to change, or we won't win anything," manager Jim Leyland said. "We have to get better."

Fortunately for them, the Twins also play poorly on the road, so the division lead is still safe (at least for now). But once the postseason begins, their road woes may be exposed.

So what's to blame? Well, mainly the pitching. While the offense has suffered away from Comerica Park, it's only ranked eighth in the league in offense at home. So the fact that the Tigers have the second worst batting average on the road, at .241, and that they are tied for 12th in runs scored pales in comparison with the difference in pitching stats.

In fact, Curtis Granderson, despite being mired in a slump, actually hits better on the road than at home. Of course, it is true that at Comerica the Tigers bat 37 points higher.

But consider the Tigers' pitching staff. They currently rank eighth in road ERA, while at home, they sport the league's best ERA. The staff has walked far too many batters in both places; still, the split is steeper for Detroit's pitching than with its hitting.

This doesn't guarantee disaster for the Tigers in the playoffs, assuming they hold off the Twins for the division. Perhaps their advantage at home trumps their awful play on the road.

Meanwhile, of the Tigers' 31 games remaining, 15 are on the road, while the Twins, who sit 3.5 games in back of the division leaders, play 17 of their final 30 games on the road.

They each have a home and road series left with each other, though the Twins play a four-game series at Detroit from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1, while the earlier Metrodome series is for three games.

Both teams share the propensity for playing poorly on the road, so whoever ends up taking the AL Central will need to improve, or the playoffs will be a short run, come to think of it.