Salvaging a game=Even at the break

Well, first, I didn't think the Tigers would go 30-20 to reach .500 at the break (47-47), but they did just that. Too bad, however, they had to come up almost empty vs. the Twinkies in the four games before the All-Star break. They won just one of four, and that was Sunday's 4-2 triumph behind Justin Verlander, who pitched seven good innings, and a solid bullpen effort (one scoreless inning each by Zumaya and Jones).
Now, can you see 50-18 or 48-20 over the next 68 games? Neither can I. But that's what it is going to take for the Tigers to win 97 or 95 games, and I believe that's what it will take to win the Central. The White Sox are not going away. Neither are the Twins. And those two teams simply hammer the Tigers. The Twins are 11-5 vs. Detroit, and the ChiSox are 5-4. Detroit is 14-24 vs. the Central Division and have a winning record only against the Tribe. The second half does not have interleague play, and, remember Detroit won 13 of 18 vs. NL teams to get back into the race (barely, at seven games back of the ChiSox and 5.5 behind the Twins).
The Tigers really, really needed to take 3 of 4 from the Twinkies. That they didn't means, to me, a season of 85-87 wins, and that gets them third in the Central.