Kansas City, Missouri. In the first two games of the series, the unforeseeable has happened: they all forgot how to play baseball. In the first game, the Tigers had a 3-0 lead, but Kansas City went on to win 9-8. The normally reliable Justin Verlander was anything but on Monday night as the Tigers fell. Do I think that there is something to worry about? The answer in yes! The reason why the Tiger nation should be worrying is because Justin Verlander is supposed to be the number one pitcher on the Tigers pitching staff, and he is pitching like he is in the minor leagues, not in the major leagues. He is not pitching like an MVP, like he was a year ago. That is not all Justin’s fault. It is a team effort. There are other guys who need to step up, like the guys who are more dangerous in the middle of the lineup in the heart of the batting order. In game two, the Tigers were unable to to do anything offensively. Tonight is a must win to put the Royals in the place where they belong.

Kansas City, MO – With the home stands in their rearview mirror, the Tigers now turn their focus to the KC Royals. With Chicago being hot, it is imperative that the Tigers sweep the Royals going into the weekend. The Tigers must produce good pitching, and good hitting out of the entire line-up. Here is a look at the Royals at a glance. The Royals are just like their counterparts in Cleveland and Minnesota, they have nothing to play for, except they can be a spoiler to the Tigers’ dreams. Now is the time when two-out-of-three is not good. The Tigers must sweep the lowly Royals, otherwise that could send a message to the White Sox that the Tigers are ready to hibernate for the winter. The key is what the Tigers did with their day off and what they do in batting practice today. They have to look at Kansas City as a business trip. Even though they are at home this weekend with the White Sox, who are in no way like the Royals, Twins, or Indians, the Tigers must carry the momentum that they gained from their 6-3 record from their homestand into Kansas City starting tonight. Verlander looks to return to his Cy Young winning form from a year ago when he looks to crown the Royals in game one. Verlander must carry the momentum from “Mad Max’s” performance on Sunday. His last start was a nine inning no decision, even though the Tigers did earn a 3-2 win.

Current Standings: Tigers 69-58, White Sox 71-56

Detroit, MI – On a day when Justin Verlander did not have his A-game and gave up a 2 run bomb to Edwin Encarnacion in the 4th inning which put the Blue Jays ahead 2-0, and on a day when the Tigers offense sounded anemic to say the least, it took a little help from their neighbors to the North to wake them up. J.A. Happ was dominating the Tigers and making them sound like they were not in the game. That is until the 8th inning when Toronto manager John Farrell went to the Blue Jays bullpen. Their bullpen then proceeded to get wild. Detroit’s first run came on a wild pitch when the Blue Jay’s catcher couldn’t catch up to a wild baseball. That cut the lead to 2-1, Toronto Blue Jays. The next Tiger’s batter, Brennan Boesch, proceeded to send a baseball into left field to tie the game at 2-2. Then, enter in Alex “The Cat” Avila, who hadn’t done squat until Thursday afternoon. Avila promptly preceded to defeatherize the Blue Jays with a game winning single that allowed the Tigers to climb to one and a half games behind the Chicago White Sox setting up a weekend in which the White Sox face one of the hottest teams in baseball, the Seattle Mariners. Meanwhile, the boys from Motown look to bite the Angels’ wings off beginning Friday night. After a three-game series with the Angels, the Tigers hit the road to K.C. where they look to crown the Royals before returning “the Jungle” to face the division leading Chicago White Sox for three.