That's The Ticket: One Swing

And for eight innings, the script was followed. Ace Justin Verlander, who had just recently returned to the rotation, was masterful. Meanwhile, the Tigers chased Ervin Santana after just four innings. As a result, the Tigers entered the 9^th inning with a 6-1 lead. But the Twins rallied and capped their comeback with a Brian Dozier home run to left field. The Twins walked off 8-6 winners.

It was just one game, but to Twins fans it felt like the passing of a torch. The aging Tigers era was over. The youthful Twins era had begun.

I don’t know if that’s how it felt to Tigers fans, but since that moment, things have fallen apart for the Tigers. They lost the last two games of that series. Then they stumbled badly enough through the rest of July that General Manager Dave Dombrowski became a seller at the trade deadline, moving ace David Price to the Blue Jays and slugger Yoenis Cespedes to the Mets.

Then Dombrowski was fired. Now it looks like the Tigers manager, Brad Ausmus, will be fired at the end of the season. There are even rumors that former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire is the frontrunner to replace him. That’s what happens when a team implodes; the Tigers’ record since that fateful night is only 21-36.

So the Tigers visit Target Field this September with recent roles reversed. This year, they are trying to play the spoiler while the Twins are chasing a playoff spot. They’re still dangerous. Detroit is 8-5 versus the Twins this year, though it appears the Twins will miss Verlander in this series and their other top pitcher, Anibal Sanchez, is on the DL.

With an extended stretch of summer this week, there should be plenty of Twins fans watching the teams adopt their new roles. After all, who wouldn’t want to see that one swing that changes everything?