Tuesday Preview

• The AL Central/Wild Card race stays interesting today, as the White Sox have a much tougher draw than the Twins this evening.
• In a battle of two second-half stragglers, Mark Buehrle faces Kenny Rogers tonight in Detroit. After punching the White Sox around yesterday, the Tigers hold a 6.5 game lead and plenty of confidence. The White Sox are only half of a game up on the Twins and coming off of a fairly brutal series loss in Minnesota. It's fair to say that this game is big for the Sox and Buehrle, who is trying to dig up some of the success he has enjoyed at earlier points in his career. Though Mike Maroth's rehab is taking a bit longer than expected, the Tigers' pitching situation is looking good, with Rogers being the least effective of the bunch. Despite being the weakest link in the Tigers' chain, Rogers is still a useful pitcher who can be counted on to at least keep things close for five innings every time out.
• The Twins are granted a prime opportunity to leapfrog the White Sox with a series in Baltimore. Admittedly, Baltimore hasn't been shabby of late, taking two of three from both the Yankees and Blue Jays in the past week. Carlos Silva meets Adam Loewen in a matchup that could result in some serious runs being plated. Despite his generally ugly numbers, the 22 year-old Loewen has improved his ERA every month this season, and has shown the ability to pick up strikeouts at a decent clip (8.1/9 IP).