Sabathia Must Get Tribe Back On Track

The AL Central has been in Cleveland's control for the better part of the season, and it seemed as if the Indians were all but running away from the Detroit Tigers just two weeks ago. Not quite so fast. The Indians lead has been cut to 5 games over the Detroit Tigers. That is still a susbtantial lead to make up with a little more than 3 weeks to play, but that lead is not as comfortable as you may think.

C.C. Sabathia takes the hill tonight against the Angels and he must come up big as the ace of the staff. The Indians have dropped the last 2 games in Anaheim and are looking more and more vulnerable. The Tigers are in the midst of a 3 game set with the Mariners, which is rather irrelevant since they are both chasing the Yankees.

There is still time for the Tigers to catch the Indians and the proof is in the schedules.

The two teams still have 3 games remaining against each other which can certainly be a standing-changer. The Indians must play Seattle 3 more times and they will host Oakland. That is not exactly a season-ending gauntlet, but if the Indians coast to the finish line, they may find themselves in a race coming down to the final weekend.

On the other hand, Detroit still has 6 more games remaining against Minnesota, and a series remaining with Kansas City.

The tougher road lies ahead for Detroit, figuring they will probably face Johan Santana two more times this year. The Twins have obviously dropped off from last year, but they can still have an impact on how the divison winds up.

Cleveland still has the advantage as they have the White Sox next week and have 6 more games against the Royals. They will most likely hang onto their lead and face the Red Sox in the ALDS come October.

But that must begin tonight with their ace on the mound. It is not time for the Tribe to get comfortable with their lead and forget about closing out the regular season just yet.

If they are swept in Anaheim and Detroit brings out the brooms against Seattle, it will make for quite an interesting 3 weeks to decide who goes to the postseason and who goes home. Baseball is a crazy, unpredictable game.