22-year old lefty swinging catcher Alex Avila is looking more and more like Gerald Laird’s backup for next season. Avila has played in 26 games for the Tigers this season and he is 16 for 58 (.276 avg, .971 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 5 homers and 14 RBIs. Avila was the Tigers’ #20 rated prospect heading into this season according to Baseball America. Everything is looking good for Avila who has passed up Dusty Ryan on the depth chart.

The Detroit Tigers were able to hang on to there two game lead one all was said and done today.  The Minnesota Twins got within one game of the Tigers today, after they took the first game of a doubleheader 3-2 in extra innings.  The Tigers and pitcher Justin Verlander battled back in the second game and held off the pesky Twins for the 6-5 victory.  Verlander went 8 innings, giving up 4 runs on 8 hits and had 8 strikeouts.  The Tigers have kept their two game lead for one day longer and need to make sure the Twins don’t get both of the next two games.  There are five games left in the season, so if the Tigers can win just one more game in this series they can give themselves a lot more breathing room in the final days of the 2009 season.

26-year old righty swinging Miguel Cabrera just seems to be getting better with age. He has played in 141 games for the Tigers so far this season and he is 177 for 535 (.331 avg, .953 OPS) with 87 runs scored, 29 homers, 89 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. In two years with the Tigers Cabrera has played in 301 games in which he is 357 for 1,151 (.310 avg, .918 OPS) with 172 runs scored, 66 homers, 216 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Cabrera will likely continue to get better and that should be scary to pitchers in the American League.

With 19 games left in the regular season, the Detroit Tigers have pretty much rapped up the AL Central Division barring a complete collapse.  The Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox still have a chance, especially since the Tigers have to finish the season with 13 of their final 19 games against the White Sox and Twins.  The Minnesota Twins are 5.5 games back of the Tigers, so their magic number is now 14 wins.  The Chicago White Sox are also still not eliminated as they are 6.5 games back but both the Twins and White Sox have struggled down the stretch this year.  Hopefully for the Tigers sake the White Sox and/or Twins don’t get hot, so those final series wont even matter.

The Detroit Tigers pitcher Fernando Rodney has been suspended three games after a post-game, celebratory toss of the baseball into the crowd.  The 32-year-old Rodney had just finished battling the Tampa Bay Rays in the 9th inning on Friday, earning his 32nd save of the year, when he decided to throw the ball into the crowd.  The ball, which nobody was struck by, ended up in the press box and MLB’s vice president of discipline, Bob Watson, issued the three game suspension today.  This suspension seems a little harsh and unnecessary as the ball didn’t even hit anyone.  Players are always throwing souvenirs to fans, but Rodney must have really gunned it up into the crowd for it to reach the press box.

Still, handing out a three game suspension to a guy who was just letting off some positive emotion after picking up a 35-pitch save is a little excessive.  At most I think Rodney should have been fined and maybe a one game suspension.  He is most likely going to appeal and have the suspension reduced.  The Tigers are lucky that both the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins have pretty much fallen out of contention because losing your closer for three games in September would usually be a big loss for a division leading team.