1) Justin Verlander

Although his last few starts haven’t resulted in wins, Verlander will be a big key in the Tigers making the postseason. The stud right-handed pitcher should start at least three more games down the stretch and has been dominant this season when actually given run support. He has been a workhorse, throwing a career-high 217.1 innings this season. He will come up big in the final weeks and it will start against Cleveland on Thursday.

2) Maggs heating up

Right fielder Magglio Ordonez has been much maligned this season but has quietly put together a stellar second half. On Aug. 1, Ordonez was hitting .258. He’s since raised his average to .290. Although he’s not hitting for power (just seven home runs this season), just getting on base has to be considered an enormous success for someone on this team. Having someone in the middle of the order get on base on a regular basis is huge and helps Miguel Cabrera drive in more runs.

3) This Cleveland series

The Tigers open a three-game series with the Indians starting today and will send Rick Porcello, Edwin Jackson and Verlander to the hill in the series. And unless they melt down like the pitching on my fantasy baseball team, the Tigers should (and need to) take this series handily. Anything less than two of three games will be an absolute failure and cause for concern, especially as the team heads into a series against the White Sox in Chicago. Getting out of Cleveland with a sweep will make the inevitable mistakes in Chicago more tolerable.

4) Home cooking

Currently in the midst of a nine-game road trip, the Tigers head home for their final seven games of the 2009 campaign. The team is 48-26 inside the walls of Comerica Park this season and have played so much better at home than on the road. It’s almost like watching a completely different team. And with the first four of those seven games against the Twins (not to mention the final three against the White Sox), it has all the makings of the most important regular season games in Comerica Park history.

5) They can’t possibly blow it, can they?

We saw the team implode in the division race in 2006 but luckily it had the Wild Card to fall back on. That’s not happening this season. If the Tigers were in the Wild Card race right now, they’d be 10 and a half games back. They’ve been up for the longest time now and a collapse almost certainly would kill any remaining sports spirit Detroit has left, considering the Red Wings’ blunder against Pittsburgh and the Lions being the Lions. Detroit needs them.