Willis and Garcia and Pray for Rain

Tigers fans have spent much of this dreadful season watching games with one eye — and often two — covered, so watching tonight’s game, featuring Dontrelle Willis’s low-key return, through your hands should seem routine. (By the way, Rob Neyer, for one, isn’t expecting much out of the D-Train tonight.)

What are we to make of the pitching lineup this week in Arlington?

• Willis vs. Brandon McCarthy (1-1, 4.22)

• Zach Miner vs. Kevin Millwood (9-9, 5.15)
• Freddy Garcia vs. Dustin Nippert (3-4, 6.20)

Two-thirds of it looks like a game out of 2003.

I don’t want to be a defeatist here, but let’s face it. Unless something magically unforeseen happens, the Tigers could depart Texas with the back end of a .500 season intact — i.e., 81 losses. Which means they’d have to run the table and have the Twins and White Sox tied on Sept. 28 — requiring game 162 be played in Chicago — and win that game to finish 81-81.

Doesn’t look promising, does it? Take heart. Word out of Detroit is that Milt Wilcox is starting game one in Cleveland Friday night.