http://m.mlb.com/news/article/223534476/tigers-know-importance-of-1st-half-of-2017/
Tigers aware 1st-half performance is crucial
Verlander, Kinsler realize that team makeup could change at Trade Deadline
DETROIT -- The Tigers lost a winnable game Sunday, and fans reacted with predictable panic and dread. In Detroit, there's no such thing as an isolated bullpen meltdown. Even in April, a spoiled lead evokes the image of David Ortiz swatting Joaquin Benoit's splitter into the Fenway Park bullpen during the 2013 playoffs.
Justin Verlander understands this.
He's also familiar with the franchise's present anxiety: If the Tigers play poorly (or even turn in a mediocre record) in the first half, changes contemplated last November may occur in July.
"Everybody sees the writing on the wall," Verlander said Monday. "If we don't play well, we're not going to be here. This team ain't going to be here. Nothing left to do but play good. That's it."
Simple.
At least Verlander made it look that way in Monday's showdown, a 2-1 Tigers win, with Boston co-ace Chris Sale. The Detroit bullpen needed an afternoon to recuperate, and Verlander's seven innings afforded them that. The only run he allowed was unearned; even that was something of a triumph for the Tigers, considering the bases-loaded, none-out situation that preceded it.
Even more remarkably, Verlander negotiated that high-wire second inning without command of his fastball. Curveballs saved him. And Verlander, in turn, rescued his teammates on a day the Tigers were without top right-handed hitters J.D. Martinez and Justin Upton against the left-handed Sale.