The Cardinals might be glad that they are finally done with the White Sox, if they were not heading to Detroit now. The White Sox simply manhandled the Cardinals in disgusting fashion. Putting up 20 runs on a MLB team is no small feat. When you do it against a leading team, that’s something very rare. What’s worse is the fact that the White Sox followed up that rare performance by putting up 13 runs on the Cardinals the next night.

The Cardinals now get to face the top team in the AL Central Division—the Tigers. The sweep by the White Sox hurt, because they could have gained precious ground against the struggling Reds. Now they must face a red hot Tigers team that is clinging to first place—they are a half game in front of the White Sox. You know the Tigers will be playing hard at home. However, the Cardinals come in as the slight favorite tonight at -108. The Tigers are currently at -102. The under/over is 8. The over is even and the under is -120. Sports books are not expecting too much offense tonight.

The Tigers have been a miracle story all year. However, tonight is crucial for them. The White Sox have won 7 straight and can overtake them for the top spot should they win and the Tigers lose. Sure, it might be just a half game lead, but the symbolism of finally losing first place could be a heartbreaker. The Tigers lost last night, which snapped their 6 game winning streak. They are looking to get back on the horse tonight with a solid win over the visiting Cardinals.

The Cardinals have blown a golden opportunity to put some space between them and the rest of the Central. In fact, they may be showing that this Cardinal team is not on the same level as the premier forces in the AL. Another World Series sweep in the making? They gave up 34 runs to the White Sox this past series and they have really not shown the ability to beat solid teams of late.

Chris Carpenter is going for the Cardinals. He has a 2.46 ERA overall and a 3.32 ERA on the road. Aside from a poor performance against Kansas City, of all teams, he has been pitching very well lately. His last outing was against the Colorado Rockies at home. He pitched 7 strong innings and gave up one lone run on 7 hits and one walk. He is not expected to shut down the Tigers team, but giving up 3-4 runs over 6-7 innings of work is a possibility.

The Tigers have Justin Verlander going to the mound. While he has a 3.32 ERA overall, his home ERA of 4.32 is slightly worse. His last two outings were pretty good, but they were against two sub par teams in the Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Against the Yankees and White Sox, his outings were a little messy, giving up 6 and 4 runs respectively. Lately, he is going just 5-6 innings into games. In the past, he has some 7 and 8 inning performances—even one complete game. The Cardinals are not an offensive powerhouse, but they should be able to put up at least a couple runs on the board.

Personally, I don’t like the under play here. Sure, it’s possible. However, you have two pitchers that can give up 2-4 runs each with no problem and at least a couple of bullpen innings on each team. Both of these first place teams need a victory tonight.