Game 1 Preview

Detroit Tigers (0-0) vs Minnesota Twins (0-0)

Time: 4:10 EST at Target Field (Fox Sports Detroit, Tigers Radio Network)

Pitching Matchup: Justin Verlander (17-8, 2.64 ERA in 2012)
                                             Vs.
                                    Vance Worley (6-9, 4.20 ERA in 2012)

     Vance Worley is the Twins Opening Day starter pretty much because that's how things worked out coming out of Spring Training. You are welcome to take this as a good indicator of the state of this years' Twins squad. They simply aren't very good. Worley came to them in the offseason in exchange for the Twins sending Ben Revere to the Phillies. Revere is a good riddance because he always managed to play well against the Tigers. 

     There are no secrets about Justin Verlander is anymore. The book is out on him and he still is the best pitcher in the game of baseball. Expect him the Tigers' right hander to maul this Twins lineup. Outside of Justin Morneau, Josh Willingham, and Joe Mauer the twins don't have much if a threat in their lines so scoring will be a challenge for them today, especially in the cold.

Lineups:

Tigers:

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Torii Hunter, RF (11-for-50, 9 K’s at Target Field)
3. Miguel Cabrera, 3B
4. Prince Fielder, 1B (1-for-3 vs. Worley)
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Andy Dirks, LF
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS
8. Alex Avila, C
9. Omar Infante, 2B (0-for-6 off Worley)

P: Justin Verlander

Twins:

1. Aaron Hicks, CF
2. Joe Mauer, C (20-for-57, 3 HR, 9 RBIs off Verlander, but 0-for-6 last year)
3. Josh Willingham, LF (1-for-8, 3 K’s off Verlander)
4. Justin Morneau, 1B (2-for-18, 10 K’s off Verlander since 2009)
5. Ryan Doumit, DH (0-for-9, 2 K’s off Verlander)
6. Chris Parmelee, RF (2-for-6, HR off Verlander)
7. Trevor Plouffe, 3B (3-for-15, 5 K’s off Verlander)
8. Brian Dozier, 2B
9. Pedro Florimon, SS (0-for-2 off Verlander)

P: Vance Worley

*Lineups from Jason Beck at MLBlogs

Keys to Victory for Detroit:

• Do NOT pitch to Mauer with men on. Joe Mauer kills Justin Verlander. Weird typing that anyone does, however, Mauer owns a career .351 batting average off JV while slugging at a .561 clip and an OPS over 1.000. It's simple. Don't let Joe Mauer beat you. Not many other Twins can. 
• Get to Worley the second time though the order. It's cold, and the Tigers haven't seen Worley's arsenal yet. He is not a hard thrower by any means with a fastball that maxes out generally around 91-92. He throws some adequate junk with a slider and change. It's reasonable to expect the Tigers to look a little awkward in the box until they figure out Worley, but once they do they must capitalize. The Tigers want to do their damage before they get to the pen of the Twins which might be the strongest part if this club. 
• Don't play a one-run game.  The Tigers would behoove themselves by building a good lead and holding onto it. If this game is a one-run game going into the 9th all bets are off given the Tigers closing situation. Giving the person called on for the ninth some breathing room would be very helpful in getting the man Leyland calls Tim's,am the door a little acclimated to the role. 

Prediction 

     I expect Justin Verlander to go 7 strong innings raking up a fair number of strikeouts while being his normal dominant self. The pen will do just fine and the bars will do enough to make this a comfortable 6-2 Tigers win. I'll go with Miguel Cabrera as player of the game as he collects two hits and 2 RBI. To make it fun, leave your player of the game in the comments!