Game 31 Preview, Take 2: Tigers at Nationals

Detroit Tigers (19-11) at Washington Nationals (17-15)

Time/Place: 7:05 p.m., Nationals Park

SB Nation blog: Federal Baseball

Media: Fox Sports Detroit, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Pitching Matchup: RHP Anibal Sanchez (3-2, 1.82 ERA) vs. RHP Jordan Zimmermann (5-1, 1.64 ERA)

If you're looking for an actual preview of today's game with analysis and GIFs and all the other crap that adorn my usual posts (besides the ridiculousness I'm about to spit here), click here for yesterday's piece of journalistic brilliance. Today's preview is going to be as asinine as the decision to cancel yesterday's game.

Jordan Zimmermann is from a small town village called Auburndale, Wisconsin. In response to this, I was going to post a Youtube video of people with funny Wisconsin accents, but it turns out all you can find are actual research studies devoid of any humor whatsoever (besides the redhead that clearly doesn't belong there) and teenage girls making stupid videos for their Tumblr pages. Comedian Lewis Black has a sketch on living in Minnesota -- language warning, per usual with Lewis Black -- that I imagine is the same thing minus cheese curds.

Map from Kurt's house to Jordan Zimmermann's house

Because we can.

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Don't let Bryce Harper beat you

Obligatory.

Outlook

The Tigers could have a big advantage if tonight's game is delayed for an extended period of time thanks to the presence of Drew Smyly. I say "could" because the Tigers seem to have relegated him to a late innings lefty role with Phil Coke on the disabled list, while Darin Downs flounders away as a finalist for the 2013 David Pauley "Who's That Guy?" Award (Duane Below was the winner). Luke Putkonen will probably be the long reliever if Sanchez goes less than five or six innings, which would either be fine or go horribly wrong.

Whatever, I just want to see baseball again.

Prediction