Opponent: Detroit Tigers
Starting pitchers: Tom Milone vs. Justin Verlander
First pitch: 4:08 PT

A's in the West: Second place, 2 1/2 back of Texas, 14 ahead of Seattle
A's in the Wild Card: Second Wild Card, 1 1/2 back of Tampa Bay, 2 ahead of Cleveland
Baseball Prospectus playoff odds: 21 percent division, 45 percent Wild Card

A win? A win!

Two more homers yesterday for A.J. Griffin, though only one more walk, has his FIP all the way up to 4.73. He might have innate BABIP-suppression abilities such that FIP won't tell the story, but it might also just be that he's had a nice 246-inning run and it'll all come crashing down sooner rather than later.

Justin Verlander hasn't had a Justin Verlander type of year, with an ERA of "just" 3.68 (worst since 2008), and FIP of "just" 3.47 (same), and a pace of about 215 or 220 innings (same). The walks are up, the strikeouts are down, the BABIP is up, the percentage of pitches in the zone is down, the contact rate is up. He's even working at a slower pace than in the past.

But it's not that big a deal. He's only got $160 million left on his deal that runs through 2019.

Prediction: A's win.