Cleveland @ Detroit preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 27, 2011 ) Cleveland 6, Detroit 9

THE STORY: The Detroit Tigers are still waiting to find out if they will begin the playoffs at home against the wild-card winners or on the road at the New York Yankees. With the way they have been playing lately, it might not matter all that much. The Tigers are sprinting to the finish line by beating up on the Cleveland Indians, giving their offense a workout while fine-tuning the playoff rotation. The Indians are in danger of a third straight losing season, a scenario that seemed impossible a couple of months back. Rick Porcello will take his final tuneup when Detroit goes for a sweep of the visiting Cleveland Indians in the regular-season finale on Wednesday night.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, STO (Cleveland), FSD (Detroit)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Indians RH Zach McAllister (0-1, 8.53 ERA) vs. Tigers RH Rick Porcello (14-9, 4.76 ERA).

McAllister turned in his best outing in three career major league starts when he held the Chicago White Sox to two runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings last time out. One of several pitchers trying to lock up a spot in Cleveland’s 2012 rotation, the 23-year-old posted a 12-3 record with a 3.32 ERA at Triple-A Columbus this season and has never walked more than 45 batters in any of his six minor-league seasons.

Porcello will be called upon to start Game 4 of the AL Division Series if needed, as manager Jim Leyland has already made it clear that Justin Verlander will not be pitching on three days’ rest. The 22-year-old has posted a quality start in each of his last four turns to jump ahead of Brad Penny in the Tigers’ rotation hierarchy. Porcello won at Cleveland on Sept. 6, allowing one run and three hits in 6 1/3 innings, and owns a 5-1 record with a 3.80 ERA in 11 career starts against the division rivals.

ABOUT THE INDIANS (80-81): A season that began with such promise comes down to one final game to decide if Cleveland will be able to avoid a losing record. The Indians were as many as 15 games over .500 on May 23 and spent a total of 96 days in first place before falling off after the All-Star break. The first two games of the series with the Tigers this week have highlighted some of the club’s problems, as injuries and ineffectiveness on the pitching staff and in the lineup have begun to take their toll. After Ubaldo Jimenez was lit up in Monday’s 14-0 drubbing, young Jeanmar Gomez was similarly crushed on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an offense without Grady Sizemore, Shin-Soo Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera and Travis Hafner just could not keep pace.

ABOUT THE TIGERS (94-67): Detroit trails the Texas Rangers by one game entering Wednesday’s play. If Detroit winds up tied with the AL West-champion Rangers, it would take the No. 2 seed and start the Division Series against the wild-card team at Comerica Park on Friday. The Tigers won six of nine meetings with the Rangers this season and therefore own the tiebreaker between the clubs. The offense is certainly operating in top gear at the moment with 23 runs and 30 hits through the first two games against Cleveland. If the Rangers win or the Tigers lose Wednesday, Detroit will open the ALDS at New York.

FINAL PITCH: With all the talk of Verlander possibly winning the AL MVP Award, Miguel Cabrera’s stellar season has flown under the radar a bit. Cabrera is in line to win his first batting title and hit his 30th homer in Tuesday’s 9-6 triumph. The All-Star slugger ranks second in majors with a .447 on-base percentage and second with a 1.032 OPS.