Detroit Tigers News: The World Series comes down to Game 7

Well folks, the Major League Baseball season has finally reached the finish line. After defeating Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros Tuesday night, the Washington Nationals have forced Game 7 in a winner-take-all bout for the World Series trophy. One of the bigger stories from that 7-2 victory was another unimpressive performance from former Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander.

Verlander remains winless

Verlander is without a doubt a future Hall of Famer, with a pedigree a mile long. But one of — if not the — most notable flaw on his résumé is his consistently poor performances in World Series games. After Tuesday night’s subpar outing, Verlander remains winless in the fall classic, sporting an 0-6 record and a 5.68 ERA in seven starts. He also has lost four straight series-clinching playoff games going back to 2017, the longest streak in major league history.

While Verlander’s overall playoff record is a fairly modest 14-11 with a 3.40 ERA and 26 home runs allowed in 31 postseason games, he has managed a few accolades. During Game 2 of the 2019 World Series, he set the record for career playoff strikeouts, and he added three more to the tally on Tuesday night bringing his grand total to 205 postseason punchouts. He has also pitched a few gems along the way, but not nearly enough to live up to his god-like regular season numbers. Hopefully he will get his chance to break the streak in 2020.

Arizona Fall League wrap

The Arizona Fall League has wrapped up its season which means it is time to look back and evaluate how the various Tigers prospects performed. There is a list of daily notes that can be found here to get an idea of the day-to-day highlights. Plus, Emily Waldon over at The Athletic published her reviews of both of the league’s divisions as well as the 2019 championship team.

Meanwhile, no Tigers prospects finished in Baseball America’s top 10 hottest prospects list, which comes as little surprise.

Boyd is already back to work

Matthew Boyd is wasting no time getting back into gear. After a season in which he took a major step forward, the budding southpaw refuses to be complacent. Watch this video to hear what he has to say about his offseason regimen.

A bit of history

Base hits

• Introducing the Bless You Boys 2019-20 Offseason Plan Project! Want to play general manager and fix the Tigers? Here’s your chance.
• A Detroit Tigers reunion with Alex Avila is unlikely this offseason. The Tigers need a veteran catcher, but don’t count on it being a familiar face.
• The Tigers should sign Didi Gregorius because he would make the team better. The Yankees fan-favorite is coming off a down year but he’s still a quality target.

Around the horn

Gabe Kapler gets second interview with Giants. Baseball championship windows: How long are they? After another brilliant game, Gerrit Cole has made the case to be the highest-paid pitcher in history. The FBI is investigating the White Sox for insider ticket resale scam. MLB bans women who flashed their chests behind home plate during Game 5 of World Series. Pittsburgh Pirates owner wants you to trust him when he tells you how poor the team is. Dodgers reportedly expected to explore trade for Francisco Lindor.

Baseball is awesome