There are still a couple of months of baseball left to play this season, but that doesn't mean time isn't running out for the Detroit Tigers. Here's your Daily Sports Roundup . . .

Event of the day . . .

The Tigers looked like they were going to climb back into contention in the AL Central and Wild Card races, but a recent slump has their postseason prospects in serious doubt once again. And Tigers ace Justin Verlander has followed a similar path - he was hot in June and early July, but over the last week he's been terrible.

Verlander (8-11, 4.49 ERA) will get a chance to reverse his fortunes on Wednesday night when the Tigers play in Chicago in the second of three games against the rival White Sox. The righthander has surrendered 13 earned runs on 14 hits in just 9 2-3 innings over his past two starts, getting tagged with the loss both times. Seven of those runs were scored by the White Sox in just four innings vs. Verlander on July 26.

John Danks (8-4, 3.31 ERA) will take the mound for Chicago on Wednesday night, and he hasn't added a loss to his record since May 24. The lefthander gave up four earned runs on eight hits over six innings in that matchup with Verlander on July 26 to pick up the victory, and the White Sox are 5-2 over his last seven outings.  

Non-event of the day . . .

Yankee fans can't be comfortable with Sidney Ponson (6-2, 4.23 ERA) in their rotation, even if he is coming off a strong outing (two hits allowed over seven shutout innings vs. the Angels). The righthander has allowed seven earned runs twice in his last five starts. The Yankees will be in Texas again on Wednesday, with the Rangers starting Tommy Hunter. The rookie hurler was knocked around for six earned runs over five innings in his major league debut vs. the Blue Jays on August 1.

Also on the schedule . . .

Randy Johnson (9-7, 4.35 ERA) gets the ball for the Diamondbacks at home against the Pirates on Wednesday, while Pedro Martinez (3-2, 6.16 ERA) will be on the mound when the Mets host the Padres. Other NL action: Milwaukee at Cincinnati, Houston at the Cubs, Atlanta at San Francisco, Florida at Philadelphia, the Dodgers at St. Louis, and Washington at Colorado.

Other American League games on Wednesday include Cleveland at Tampa Bay, Baltimore at the Angels, Minnesota at Seattle, Oakland at Toronto, and Boston at Kansas City. The top pitcher's duel will be up north, with the Blue Jays' Shaun Marcum (5-5, 3.57 ERA) taking on the Athletics' Justin Duchscherer (10-7, 2.33 ERA).

News from the wire . . .

Braves reliever Rafael Soriano was placed on the disabled list with a sore elbow . . . Bengals WR T.J. Housmandzadeh and RB Rudi Johnson have both been hobbled by hamstring injuries in camp . . . Rams RB Steven Jackson continues to hold out . . . Ravens QB Troy Smith is ahead of both Kyle Boller and Joe Flacco in the team's quarterback competition.

Peek at the future . . .

Zach Miner (5-4, 3.77 ERA) and Javier Vazquez (8-9, 4.66 ERA) will close out the Detroit/Chicago series on Thursday . . . Phil Mickelson remains the 8/1 favorite to win the PGA Championship this week, with Ernie Els at 12/1 and both Sergio Garcia and Vijay Singh at 15/1 . . . the Patriots are 5-point favorites in their preseason opener at home against the Ravens on Thursday night.