Justin Morneau and the Twins will play the Tigers in a battle for second place in the AL Central, and the right to chase the White Sox.

At the conclusion of today’s games interleague play for the 2008 season will come to a close. I couldn’t be happier. With each passing year I become more disillusioned with interleague play. The scheduling is inherently unfair in that some teams end up with a creampuff of a schedule. For instance, the Yankees have played 14 games over the week plus of interleague play, and compiled a record of 10-4. The teams they played against have a combined record that is more than 45 games below .500. Interleague play has kept the Yankees in the hunt in the AL East. I am willing to bet that the Yankees sink like a stone over the next few weeks now that they are back to playing AL teams.

Anyway, now that the foolishness that is interleague play is over, things will also return to normal here at Leading Off, and we can bring back the Series of the Week! This week there are several series on the schedule that could have implications in the standings, making it a bit difficult to choose just one to highlight. However, the A’s vs. Angels series does not seem nearly as interesting as the following series.

Series of the Week – Detroit Tigers vs. Minnesota Twins

One division where the influence of interleague play has had a dramatic impact on the standings is in the AL Central. Looking back at the standings on June 13^th, prior to all but one weekend of interleague games, the standings in the AL Central had the White Sox in first place, five and a half games ahead of the Twins, with the Indians a game behind them, the Tigers eight games out of first place, and the Royals more than a dozen games out. Fast-forward to today, and the picture has changed considerably. The White Sox are still in first place, but their lead over the Twins is down to one and a half games, with the Tigers five games out of first place, and the Indians and Royals both eight and a half games behind. It is still anybody’s division to win, the White Sox are no longer dominating, the Indians are fading fast, while the Tigers and Royals are surging and could easily make a run at the top spot with a brief winning streak.

The Twins and Tigers have faced each other eight times already this season, with the Twins winning five of the eight meetings. Robertson is the only Tigers starter with a win against the Twins, and the staff ERA vs. Minnesota is a fairly poor 6.13. For the Twins, Perkins is the only starter to notch a win, though both he and Baker pitched very well against the Tigers. Blackburn struggled in his only start against the Tigers, with an ERA of 6.35.

The Twins have batted .299 as a team against Tigers pitching this season, led by catcher Joe Mauer, who has compiled a .481 average with 7 RBI and 8 runs scored in 8 games. Other Twins batters that have done well against the Tigers are Justin Morneau (.333), Jason Kubel (.320), and Mike Lamb (.375).

The Tigers have batted .287 as a team against Twins pitching, led by Magglio Ordonez (.467) who is injured and may not be available for this series. Other Tigers hitters that have done well against Twins pitching this season include, Placido Polanco (.353), Gary Sheffield (.323), and Curtis Granderson (.318).

Other series that could have major implications on the standings this week include, the Oakland A’s vs. the Angels for three games beginning Monday, deciding the best team in the AL West. There is also the Red Sox vs. Rays, and the Red Sox vs. the Yankees this week, which could swing the balance of power in the AL East towards any of those three teams, although the Yankees are still a long shot there. Finally, next weekend the Cubs and Cardinals will meet for a three game series in which the Cardinals can make a run at the first place Cubs.

That’s all for this week’s Leading Off. Good Luck in all your leagues this week.