First game of a 3-game series.

“My favorite pastime is definitely baseball. We have a star-studded team & it’s going to be fun tonight”

Thank you Calvin (or is it Johnson?). I couldn’t have said it better myself.

It was a small thing really: take one guy from the front of the lineup, move him to the back, move everyone else up one. Could it really make that big of a difference? It could. Austin Jackson was struggling mightily, historically: he had struck out in over 50% of his at bats in this postseason, and it was weighing on him, it was bringing down the team, and it was upsetting the fans. So Leyland pulled the trigger, and decided to see if batting lower in the order would take some pressure off.

Austin Jackson is a very good professional baseball player. Austin Jackson has skills, and it is unlikely that those skills suddenly left him. But baseball is a game played partly in the head, and it was worth a shot to change his perspective a bit, and boy did it work.

But nobody, least of all Jim Leyland, expected this: Austin Jackson’s first at bat in his new spot in the lineup comes up in the second inning with the bases loaded and 1 out. This after losing the night before partly because the Tigers failed to score a run on two tries with a runner on 3rd and 1 out. Talk about “taking the pressure off” backfiring. But then Peavy did Jackson a favor: a pitch too far outside the strike zone for even the struggling Jackson to swing at. And then another. Suddenly Jackson was in a favorable 2-0 count. Then 3-0. The 4th pitch was close, but in a take-all-the-way situation, all Jackson had to to was watch ball four, take first base, walk in the first run of the game, and soak in the applause.

It was only the 2nd inning, but I think that was the at bat of the game, and in its own way may contend with importance with the Ortiz at bat in Game 2, albeit in a way not tailored to highlight. I’m not sure what Peavy was doing, or trying to do, but I think the whole game turned on that at bat. The Tigers ended up scoring 5 in the inning; if Jackson had struck out there, not only do the Tigers probably not score, but Jackson is probably back in his funk. And it was only the 2nd inning, not a dramatic 8th inning home run, but I think scoring early is the key to beating Boston in this series, and the second inning outburst of runs was huge.

That wasn’t Leyland’s only move with Jackson of the game though. In the 4th inning, probably encouraged by his 2nd inning RBI walk, Jackson singled Infante in from 2nd. Two at bats, two RBI. Now Jackson is probably really feeling good, right? So Leyland sends him, and Austin has his first stolen base since September 17. The stolen base was useful: Jackson came around to score. But don’t think the gamble Leyland was taking here had nothing to do with taking Jackson’s energy and bumping it up a notch. Leyland at his best.

The other, probably unintended effect of the lineup change is that it gave the Tigers a slow half/fast half of the lineup setup: with Infante/Jackson/Iglesias/Hunter all batting together, we were treated to a burst of base running/bunting/infield hit action that Tiger fans haven’t seen in a while. I’m not sure why the change tonight (Avila moved up one spot).

*****

Then there is Prince Fielder. Kevin mentioned that T Smith and KW had already dealt him before yesterday; it seems StorminNorman$ has also dealt him today. With Jackson having a good day, Prince takes the hot seat. Fielder had a mildly disappointedly regular season, but the disappointment is hot and spicy for his postseason. Which seems familiar…oh yes, the same thing happened last year.

In fact, Fielder’s career postseason OPS is now .701. Oh wait, that’s Don Kelly’s. Prince’s career postseason OPS: .632.  I’m not sure what is going on with Prince. Last month I talked about how much I liked Prince, even while being disappointed with him: he tried hard, ran hard, put his body in front of balls, anything he could do to help. Not so much right now. I’m not a fan of the facial expression analysis school of baseball fandom–it’s too easy to read things into expressions and body language through a lens of disappointment (in Cabrera’s first year in Detroit he looked “disinterested,” “lazy” and one commenter kept insisting he would “be out of baseball in 3 years”).  But he sure doesn’t scare anybody on other teams, say the way Ortiz scares us when he steps up to the plate.

A year or two back I read a good analysis about the difference between the Yankees and the Tigers–the Tigers were giving out some big contracts, but all of the Tiger big contracts were good big contacts: the Verlanders and Cabreras were actually worth the money, while the Yankees were stuck with a bunch of big contracts that were dead money. Did the Tigers pull a “Yankee” with Fielder? Is it too soon to tell?

*****

Well, here we go: last game at Comerica, until the Dodgers or Cardinals stop by. Which would you prefer? When it looked like St. Louis would sweep, I was all for St. Louis–let them sit for a week until this thing is over. Now, I may have changed my mind. At any rate, this is my last ALCS post. I hereby turn this thing over to the capable hands of Kevin and Loon. It has been quite the postseason so far.

*****

We have Anibal tonight. The Red Sox couldn’t hit him last time. They have Lester. The Tigers couldn’t really hit him. It’s playoff baseball, fasten your seat belts, and pack plenty of provisions, it will probably be a long one!

*****

Quote of the day goes to Don Kelly, via Jerry Crasnick: “I’d have a hard time if I played for the #redsox. I would have had to start my beard 3 years ago.”

Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Austin Jackson. Is there momentum in baseball?

Today’s Score Early Lineup:

1. Hunter, RF
2. Cabrera, 3B
3. Fielder, 1B
4. Martinez, DH
5. Peralta, LF
6. Infante, 2B
7. Avila, C
8. Jackson, CF
9. Iglesias, SS

Whatever happened to Brayan Pena? Just wondering (I think I can make this line into a template).

ALCS: Detroit 1, Boston 1. ALCS Game 2: Boston 6, Detroit 5.

Painful. The loss Sunday night is one game I will not review in its entirety. During the regular season, there was at least one (Toronto 8, Detroit 6) and probably a couple other games I forget where a sizable lead vanished and left us with a kicked in the gut feeling. Those games pale by comparison. I will focus on the positive. Most of Game 2 was the story of a win in the making, a win that would have sent us into a stratosphere of dizzy optimism. Let’s not deny that it was a very nice ride.

* Max Scherzer had a game for the ages. 7 IP, 2 H (5.2 of no-hit ball), 13 K, and 1 cheap run (unfortunately one that would prove costly, depending on how you look at it). Don’t file this one under “no decision,” but under “seven innings of dominating WIN where he positively baffled the best offense in the American League, in the playoffs, on their home turf.” If there was any debate about the AL Cy Young, it’s over.

* Miguel Cabrera hit a home run over the Green Monster, and crushed another pitch that would have been a home run anywhere else but dead center. His power stroke has returned at a most opportune time, not a moment too soon. If it’s back to stay, there’s no need to ask if it will make a difference.

* Jhonny Peralta hasn’t missed a beat. Quite remarkable. There has to be some question, to my mind at least, that the Tigers might want to consider making room for Peralta in 2014. I don’t think a “thanks for October, so long” (a la Delmon Young) is in order here. It’s neat that the big generators in the postseason to date have been the two Comeback Kids, Victor and Jhonny.

* Alex Avila certainly has a knack for “running into one” – if that’s what it is – at some of the bestest times. Evidently the receiver of choice for the best starting rotation in Tigers history, it would also seem that we can’t write off that kind of power (his first pitch, two-run blast to RF was Ortiz-caliber stuff) even if he does spend the rest of his career around .225. Avila might end up being Brandon Inge Revisited; unquestionably strong at his position but leaving you guessing whether he’s an underachieving average hitter or an overachieving total hack. I’m not even being negative here.

* For one shining inning we saw the Tigers offense at its best, striking quickly and devastatingly against a fading Buchholz. That’s the offense Mike Illitch paid for, and the one we pay to see. They padded a slim lead and put the game in the bag for Max. Unfortunately, that bag was placed on a counter slick with bullp-  well, bull-something – and the bottom got all soggy.

From the Numbers Speak Louder Than Words Dept.:

ALDS

 ALCS

* A bunch o’ links to pass the time until game time (you’ve already read ’em… read ’em again to qualify for valuable cash prizes). I should say “until game day”; with a 4:00 EST game time, Tuesday, there won’t be time to pass for many of us. I’ll be watching the game after the game, safely sequestered from spoilers by geography and… well, circumstance:

Torii and the cop

Torii and the tumble

You don’t say – how perceptive

Score one for “bizarre last paragraph”

Wow, such a heartwarming human interest story, or .222 of one

The old “what can you say?” (no hat-tipping, thank goodness) in Beck’s “Anatomy of…”

Forgiveness and responsibility and other stuff

The Monster Mash

Stunning insights into JV – like no article you’ve ever read before

Justin Verlander had a great September and an outstanding, indispensable ALDS. How many times have the Tigers turned to him over the years to stop the skid, to right the ship, to win the game that had to be won? (Last time was only last Thursday. Sheesh. Leaning on the guy pretty hard.) This skid is only one game, but it was some steep game. Now they and we turn to Verlander again, to turn back the clock on two innings where the Red Sox became the Red Sox again instead of wind-up strikeout toys. (Yes, Boston hitters have been known to strike out some… but not at a rate of 2,592 a season.) Would it surprise you to see JV carry a no-hitter through 5 with the Tigers clinging to a 1-0 lead? It would not surprise me at all, which is not to say I wouldn’t be absolutely freaking out with the same tortured mix of delight and dread that have characterized most of the first two games of the ALCS.

My plea to the Tigers hitters and the Tigers bullpen: Don’t let this season of unparalleled starting pitching go down in flames. Don’t. There’s never been a better time for a number of stellar players to get what might be the only World Series Championship ring of their careers.

If the third game of a best-of-seven can ever be an “elimination game,” this Game 3 in Detroit is it. Mark my words. No? Then I’ll mark my own words: If the third game of a best-of-seven can ever be an “elimination game,” this Game 3 in Detroit is it.

Rise to the occasion, Tigers!

 

And now, the entirely fictitious Series-Turning Lineup, POPGs highlighted:

LF Dirks
2B Infante
1B Fielder
3B Cabrera
DH Martinez
SS Peralta
RF Hunter
CF Jackson
C Avila

SP – Verlander
Setup Guy – Verlander
Closer – Verlander

One down, three to go.

That makes it sound a lot easier than it will be. Once the celebrations subsided after last night’s thrilling, nail-biting victory, the questions crept back. Are the Tigers back to their frustrating habit of the all-or-nothing, feast-or-famine offense? It was a classic famine game: a bunch of base runners, most of whom were left hanging out in scoring position or thrown out on the base paths through a combination of bad luck, untimely strikeouts, failed sacrifice attempts, and whatnot.

And Boston was not the AL leader in runs per game and team OPS for nothing: their bats won’t be held down forever.

Dash the questions though–there was just so much to enjoy about last night’s game, which leaves the Tigers in a best case scenario, up 1-0 on the road with Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander lined up.

And despite the frustrating inability to score, there were some positive signs from the offense: Torii Hunter finally got a hit;  Alex Avila got a hit and hit the ball well; Austin Jackson struck out twice, but when he did hit the ball, hit it well; Omar Infante continued to hit the ball hard without any luck (the luck will come), and Peralta continued to be Jhonny on the Spot. And how about the much-maligned bullpen? 3 innings pitched, 0 runs, 0 walks, 1 hit, 5 Ks.

The real story of the game was Anibal Sanchez, who was unhittable.  The Red Sox had a plan for Anibal, and it worked: take as many pitches as possible, drive up his pitch count, and get an early stab at the bullpen. The Red Sox do that well: they saw more pitches this season than any other team (1500 more than Detroit). It is a concerted team effort, up and down the lineup.

For the game, they took 29 of 35 first pitches. That’s dedication to a game plan.

Anibal never got frustrated, despite all the 3-2 counts, the walks, the rising pitch count. When an early strikeout turned into a safe-on-a-wild-pitch, a stolen base, and a subsequent walk, he just methodically struck out Ortiz and Napoli (Ortiz would have 3 checked-swing strikeouts on the day). It’s as if he threw random pitches until he got into a 3-2 count, then threw the last pitch they were expecting.

And in doing so, he tied a record, becoming just the 2nd person to strike out 4 in a postseason inning (and the first Tiger in any game), joining ol’ Orval Overall, who did that on the way to clinching the last ever Cubs World Series title against the Detroit Tigers (one of his 4 victims was Ty Cobb).

• The Tigers also became the first postseason team to ever have back-to-back no-hit bids beyond 5 innings.
• The Tigers also became the first team to shout out the Red Sox at home in the postseason since 1918.
• Anibal Sanchez also became the first pitcher in postseason history to be pulled with a no-hitter as late as the 6th inning.
• The Tigers as a team also tied a postseason record with 17 strikeouts, tying The Cardinals, who, in the person of Bob Gibson, struck out 17 Tigers in the 1968 World Series.

*****

Jim Leyland seemed to make all of the right moves yesterday, from starting Peralta in left to pulling Sanchez after 6. Alburquerque blew through the 7th inning in impressive fashion (maybe starting the inning instead of coming in with runners on helped out here), and even more impressively is what happened in the next inning: Jose Veras was brought in to replace Alburquerque. Al has had a number of frustrating outings this year when he pitches a shutdown inning, only to fall apart in the next inning. Leyland learned from that:

“If you try to send him back out there [for a 2nd inning], things normally don’t work out so good.” (Jason Beck tweet).

The one head-scratcher of a move was pulling Peralta for a pinch-runner in the 7th (Santiago), and replacing him in left with Don Kelly. It makes sense if (and only if) Leyland had already decided that regardless of the outcome of the inning, that Cabrera was done for the day, and Peralta was done in the field (not that anybody was hitting any balls anywhere last night). With Cabrera’s spot coming up the next inning, the double-switch allowed Leyland to get Kelly batting in that spot, who was presumably a better bat at that point than Santiago.

*****

Anibal set the bar pretty high. Let’s see what Max can do tonight. The key to the game will be keeping the first two hitters, Ellsbury and Victorino, off the bases. They have been hitting over .400 each in the postseason, and when they do get on they will steal. They were a combined 73-of-80 in the regular season, and that is against a bunch of teams that are all better than Detroit at stopping the running game. The one time either of them got on base last night was when Victorino struck out on the wild pitch, and he promptly stole 2nd.

*****

Tonight Leyland is going with Peralta at SS. “This guy’s no donkey.” Well, how dumb does he think we are? We all know that Don Kelly is The Donkey, and he will be playing left.

Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Omar Infante. With Peralta getting on base a lot and Omar hitting the ball hard (although with nothing to show for it) I am predicting Infante will come through with a big RBI.

Today’s Who’s the Donkey? Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Peralta, SS
7. Avila, C
8. Infante, 2B
9. Kelly, LF

Whatever happened to Brayan Pena? Just wondering (I think I can make this line into a template).

(credit to Detroit News for the image. Note to Detroit News – we’re not making any money off of this. Still, if you want us to take it down, just post here and we will)

3-2, 8 more to go.

Look, I’m happy to be here.

I am.

It’s better than the alternative.

But champagne parties seems a little excessive for one playoff series win. That I can think of, baseball is the only sport that goes to such extremes for advancing in the playoffs.

We’ve been here before. This is our fourth time in eight years to make it to the ALCS. We could be in the midst of a dynasty, to be honest (though we’d need two WS wins I think to qualify). At least perhaps we are building one. But let’s not act as if winning the first round of the AL playoffs means we have accomplished anything. This team was built to do one thing and we’re still 8 wins away.

Tom Verducci of SI had some fascinating stats in the SI playoff preview last week. The gist of the article discussed the whimsical nature of MLB playoffs, especially with the advent of the wild card. I think we’re all well aware of the A’s struggles in recent years, mostly at the hands of the Tigers, but did you know that Atlanta has now lost 7 straight post-season series? Over the past 22 postseasons, only 3 teams with the regular season best record went on to win the WS. In the 22 years before that, 8 teams did it. Last year’s Giants finished last in the majors in home runs…we saw what happened in the World Series. Home teams went 2-5 in elimination games last year, and are 2-3 so far this year.

On to the series at hand. The 2013 American League Championship series pits the top two offensive teams in the Majors, and numbers 3 (Boston) and 4 in terms of payroll. The Red Sox are good, very good. They led the AL with 97 wins this year, and really ran away with the toughest division in Baseball. As one of my friends remarked to me this year, how? How different are they than last year’s last place team?

Well, for one, the entire lineup is solid. Napoli was a steal in free agency. Ortiz has regained his science assisted form, and they still have Ellsbury and Pedroia, two of the better all-around players in the game. Their starting pitching has been solid top to bottom, and their bullpen as been one of the best, ending in the nearly unhittable Koji Uehara. Uehara’s WHIP this year was .565. In 74 1/3. I’m serious. BAA – .130, OPS against – .400. Oh, and Bobby Valentine is gone. Maybe there is something to that morale thing.

Your 2013 AL ERA title holder, Anibal Sanchez, gets the call for game one. Trivia for you – Sanchez started his career in the Red Sox system, before being traded away to Florida, and ultimately stolen by the Tigers. Despite his poor outing against Oakland last week, I love this match-up. Sanchez doesn’t have much of a track record against the current Red Sox lineup, which generally is an advantage for the pitcher.

The Red Sox take more pitches than any other team in the majors. In fact, they saw over 1,000 more than the next most patient team. That can wreak havoc on a staff. The key tonight will be first pitch strikes. Sanchez was 16th in the AL last year,a t 61.5%. That’s good, but it won’t be good enough tonight. Lester was just a few spots behind Sanchez at 60.9%.

Phil Coke was added to the playoff roster today, replacing Putkonen. The reason is likely because Ortiz is a lifetime 2-18 off of Coke, or perhaps Leyland likes to stress everyone out. Probably the former.

Lineup notes: Looks like Leyland is going to stick with Jackson in the leadoff hole. I’m okay with this. If we can win without him going, imagine what we can do when he does get going. And he’s bound to do so, soon. Peralta and Iglesias start today. This makes me very nervous with the Green Monster in left, but with a left-handed pitcher, I get it. What contradicts this is Avila getting the start again despite just 2 hits and a .449 OPS in the ALDS. He’s doing a great job of calling games and I’m sure that’s whey Leyland has him back there, but you gotta give Pena a chance to give your offense some help, especially with the struggles at the 1 & 9 spots.

Tonight’s lineups:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. FIelder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Peralta, LF
7. Infante, 2B
8. Avila, C
9. Iglesias, SS

 

1. Ellsbury, CF
2. Victorino, RF
3. Pedroia, 2B
4. Ortiz, DH
5. Napoli, 1B
6. Nava, LF
7. Drew, SS
8. Middlebrooks, 3B
9. Ross, C (this is literally the first time I have ever heard of this guy)

This falls to me, of all people? I’ve lost four in a row. I’ve been no-hit by the Miami Marlins. Lately, I seem to have inherited Justin “The Better I Pitch, The Less My Team Scores” Verlander from Kevin. My insight and wit have been hampered by an adverbial strain and more recently hobbled with a groan injury; I can’t write for extra bases any more. My typing fingers are suffering from Phil Cokeness.

Oh, all right, then. Our ace Coleman may be called upon to make the first-ever DTW game post relief appearance, though, and on short rest.

Seriously, I and we find ourselves atop one of those Tigers fans pinnacles. Not the ultimate pinnacle, but a good and interesting place to be anyway. Tuesday night, Detroit scored what was obviously the biggest win of the year. It’s worth dwelling upon for a bit.

ALDS Game 4: Tigers 8, A’s 6.

Man on 3B tout suite. How does that run not score? In the hole right away. Futility right away in the bottom half. Not an encouraging start. Though Cabrera did hit the ball about as far as he’s liable to these days.

Oh my, is Fister skating on thin ice. By the grace of his own defense and that of Hunter, he escapes. Fister is at 53 pitches through two. The urgent need to not allow even one more run is palpable. Fielder makes his usual effort to get out of the way of a pitch, which is a good thing. Martinez striking out on three pitches is a weird thing. Don’t poo-poo a 5-4-3 DP just because it’s against the Tigers; 3B Donaldson starts a nice one. Inning over, runner and false hope erased.

Our spirits are lifted with the fine DP that Fielder starts and the strikeout of Moss. Little momentum shift? But the Tigers at bats are poor, the typical poor at bats that these guys have when they have them, aside from Avila at least making contact (only to hit into the shift).

Only Grizzly Adams mars a good inning. Fister is settling down a bit, not a moment too soon. The radio guys remark upon how tardy Jackson’s swings are and how he’s (obvi) not picking up the ball well lately. Cabrera’s out is a weak fly. The Tigers have been no-hit through four.

Crisp can’t be stopped, but there are two outs. And then the Lowrie HR that just clears RF despite a valiant effort from Hunter. Honestly, after 4½ of this… if wasn’t for the DTW call of duty, I would have turned the game off and gone to bed at this point. 3-0 equals over. Ovah, baby. Then… it all started with a bloop (Dan Dickerson). Peralta was HUGE. Storybook time, ramifications for 2014. Can you believe it? The game is tied at 3! But the Tigers’ 7-8-9  (and why on earth is Avila #7?) essentially repeat their last at bats, and we end up with a reboot rather than a pulling away from. Nervous. Could Fister just please take a seat now, do you suppose?

But Fister comes back out and finishes strong (at 103 pitches, he’s gotta be done) with three groundball outs. The all-important shutdown inning. Looking back now, that’s HUGE in an understated way. Cabrera makes a fine play at 3B, not his only one of the game. But Straily strikes out the side around Cabrera’s postseason streak-extending single. It’s the 6th inning. They (Detroit) still haven’t figured him (Straily) out, and you don’t get the feeling they will.

Although the Tigers had had a few guys warm up in the bullpen, it was pretty clear that no one but Max was coming in at this juncture. It was nothing but textbook manufacturing of a run, but in this high-stakes context, a 20-pitch “OK” inning felt like a blowup and a betrayal from Scherzer. One huge run down AGAIN. Were your hopes fading? Mine were. The A’s bullpen was upon us with their biggest arm. But all-fastball Doolittle was in for a surprise. Leading off, second pitch, Martinez hit the controversial opposite field HR to tie it at 4. HUGE. If you saw it and worried about the review, imagine how it was to not see it and worry about the review. But the HR stood. Storybook Jhonny raised the roof with a double. If you thought having Avila attempt a sac bunt was a ludicrous call, I’m with you. Alex can hit a groundball to the right side, Jim Leyland. Have ya noticed? When he’s not striking out, it’s about all he does. Anyway, the rally was fading away when #9 Iglesias drew a walk. How often do we see both Tigers and opponents walk a #9 inexplicably with some big arm on the mound? It’s a kind of syndrome, I’m telling you. Jackson still can’t see the ball but manages to shatter his bat and send a flare into shallow RF. Crowd goes wild, Tigers lead, but Hunter strikes out and leaves us biting our nails.

Max was lost to start the inning. Bad leadoff walk to Moss. Hunter, having a busy day, commits an error on the Cespedes single to make it a “double.” Now an IBB is in order. Bases loaded with no outs. Sounds familiar. Is Max really to blame for this unbelievably bad situation? Yes. And he pitches out of it in dramatic fashion. We’ll remember that and forget the rest. High drama against Reddick and Vogt. Tiger-killer Callaspo hits it hard. Without a well-positioned Jackson there to get it… let’s not even think about it. The Tigers come up clinging to the lead. My money would’ve been on continued clinging. BUT THEY SCORED 3 AFTER TWO WERE OUT! Yeah, it was an Oakland bullpen meltdown this evening. But the Tigers weren’t giving that ground back. Infante’s double past a diving Donaldson was HUGE and would get even bigger very soon. Iglesias should bunt more often. Like, all the time.

With a 4-run cushion out of nowhere, we can breathe easy, or easier, right? Wrong. Crisp again. Coco Crisp, the guy who doesn’t even need Denard F. Span’s middle initial. Maybe Span should be Denard C.C. Span. It’s always Crisp. Why does he hate us so? Crisp was Crisp. Benoit was not crisp. Two outs, job almost done. Nope. Pitch up, hit through the box, two runs in. It’s unraveling again. Can’t it end well? With Benoit’s strikeout of Smith, some measure of justice is restored to the world. Tigers win. Can we take a Game 5 like this? We might have to. Tigers win and it’s all good. After some rest and perspective, anyway.

* Now, about that Martinez HR controversy. I don’t think it was clear that Reddick would have made the catch without any interference. In fact, I don’t think he would have. I’m relieved, because for me, this sort of thing can cast a pall over a game result. Whichever way it might go. Gift doesn’t sit a whole lot better than robbed with me.

* I think it’s a good move by Bob Melvin to go with Sonny Gray for Game 5. I don’t think it’s gonna work, but in an unbiased way (seriously), I admire the move as I’d admire the same move from Leyland. Not that I find that easy to imagine.

* Too bad about the Pirates. Really don’t want the Tigers to face St. Louis in the WS. Don’t know if it’s a better matchup than the Dodgers or not. Must be the Ghost Of ’06.

* Any Game 5 lineup controversies afoot? Hard to see anything different happening, though Leyland suggests he might be tinkering.

* Any trepidation about Verlander rather than Scherzer for Game 5 starter? None here.

* Any worries about Benoit? No more than usual here. The rest of the bullpen? Well, you know… Why don’t we just have 8 or 9 or 13 innings of Verlander instead?

The Tigers have a knack for the unexpectedly positive, it seems to me. Or is that just because we find the negatives so predictable? They pulled out Game 4. That was really something. Optimism, pessimism, underdogs, favorites – I have no idea. I’m just glad they made it to Game 5.

Well, here we are facing elimination, which is never a pleasant thing. The series so far has been a bit dispiriting, which is why I am muttering to myself and throwing the F-bomb around to keep myself pumped up while I type this. And what the $%*! are you looking at?

This isn’t supposed to be how it goes: the Tigers were built on starting pitching and heavy lumber, sacrificing things like base running, defense, and the bullpen to get there. And it was a winning formula, mostly: the Tigers were 2nd in the league to Boston in runs per game at 4.91, and 2nd in team OPS at .780, with a healthy .434 slugging %. But that has all but disappeared. Since September 1, the Tigers have hit only 16 home runs, good for 14th in the AL (ahead of just Houston). Their slugging % has dropped to .387.  Could Cabrera really mean that much to the offense? He could.

That leaves a team built on starting pitching, and, well, crossing your fingers. And until yesterday, the starting pitching did its part, holding Oakland to 2 runs over the first 2 games, good enough for a split, even with the lack of offense. The pitching finally cracked last night, and Leyland was slow to react, and the game spun out of control. It is easy to understand Leyland’s hesitance to make a change. For the whole season and the first two games of the postseason, Leyland counted on his starters, and they came through.

*****

Perhaps tonight will be different. The Tigers, when they do lose, seem to go rather quietly. It was not so last night. Thanks to Crazy Closer the Tigers lost angry last night. Perhaps that will wake up the bats.

Even though the benches emptied last night, other than the head-to-head between Victor and Balfour it was all rather civil (no pushing or shoving, everyone seemed rather calm about it). But it is worth keeping in mind who is pitching tonight: Doug “16 HBP” Fister. What are the odds that if Fister plunks someone tonight that the A’s will not assume it is a “retaliation?” Stay tuned.

Just in case there is some, um, extracurricular activity…is it too late to sign and activate Kyle Farnsworth?

*****

Back to Mr. Cabrera. Tiger fans have been privileged to watch possibly the best hitter in baseball going all season long. Well, almost all season long. That guy is gone, and hopefully will return for next season. What we have now is a bit of 2006 Sean Casey: a dependable singles hitter who runs at a fast walk.

In a slightly cruel irony, two very nieces pieces about just how special Miguel Cabrera is came out recently, and are worth reading.  Check out is Miguel Cabrera the Hero of the Post-Steroid Era in the New York Times Magazine, which, among other things, looks at his encyclopedic memory, his vicious grin, and the possibility that he intentionally looks bad on certain pitches.

The Wall Street Journal gets into the mechanics of his swing in Miguel Cabrera: The Art of Hitting, which is full of fascinating information not just about Cabrera, but the science of hitting in general.

*****

I have been a bit hard on Austin Jackson in my comments this week, but that is because he is so important to the team–well, he in his role as leadoff hitter is. With a power-hampered Cabrera hitting 3rd, it is important to get some guys in scoring position ahead of him (when they did, he came through with an RBI single). Jackson has been striking out a rate that would impress Brandon Inge (6 in the last 2 games). As I have said, I think people make too much of strikeouts. But there are strikeouts and there are strikeouts: the A’s seem to strike out because they are waiting for their pitch (I’ve seen a few take 2 consecutive curve ball strikes while waiting for a fastball), and from swinging for the fences. Austin just looks like he is blindly hacking sometimes.

At any rate, Jackson might benefit from being moved out of the leadoff role, which doesn’t seem to really suit him. (A lot is made of his speed, but it doesn’t translate to either getting on base or stealing bases. The Tigers are last in all of baseball in stolen bases from the leadoff hitter). I think a worthwhile offseason project will be to find a real leadoff hitter. The Tigers could do worse than work with Jose Iglesias in this capacity (he will have to be more selective in what he swings at–laying off the high fastball would do him wonders).

*****

Leyland pooh-poohed the idea of Kershawing Scherzer ahead in the rotation for a start tonight, which should be no surprise, knowing Leyland. Surprise! Leyland would consider using Max in relief tonight! (In which case Verlander would start in Oakland).

*****

OK, let’s end on a positive note. With our 3-man Game Post rotation, we’ve got our Game 1 starter (and winner of the regular season Game Post League) back on the mound here, and I managed to eke out a 3-2 win in my first start. I’ve got this one.

Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Everyone. Detroit needs a full team contribution today.

Today’s Who You Looking At? Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Peralta, LF
7. Avila, C
8. Infante, 2B
9. Iglesias, SS

Whatever happened to Brayan Pena? Just wondering. Don’t look up the A’s numbers against Doug Fister, you really don’t want to know. No, really, you don’t. Don’t make me do this. OK, you asked for it:

• Coco Crisp (7-for-19)
• Josh Donaldson (3-for-4)
• Brandon Moss (3-for-5)
• Yoenis Cespedes (3-for-6)

Are we sure we don’t want to reconsider that bumping Scherzer up idea?

This new season is off to a great start. For the “bad guys,” 27 outs and 16 of them strikeouts. 2 runs, and you can practically write off one of them. 3 hits, 6 baserunners. This, for the good guys, against an Oakland team that has pretty much demolished everything in its path since they fired up the steamroller in their last meeting with the Tigers. Outstanding.

Let’s compare notes on last night’s game. Here are mine:

ALDS Game 1: Detroit 3, Oakland 2. Tigers score 3 in the first, highlighted by the rarely seen (from anyone) Rally Reignited, a two-out, bases-empty double from Victor Martinez followed by a “single” from Alex Avila that’s booted by 1B Barton and 2B Sogard and scores Victor all the way from 2B for run #3 (see final score). Max Scherzer is good. Bartolo Colon is also good, as is SS Lowrie in making a play that nips Jose Iglesias. Andy Dirks misplays and then gets a bad bounce on the Cespedes triple, but Max doesn’t let it bother him. Miguel Cabrera hits the ball very hard but is out, and Victor goes down swinging on back-to-back change-ups from Colon (a double rarity). Max walks Crisp on four pitches and wild pitches him to 2B, but it comes to naught. Andy swings on the first pitch and is roundly and probably justifiably criticized by the radio guys for wasting an at bat, while 3B Donaldson draws praise for foiling a Jose Iglesias bunt for a hit attempt. Max strikes out the side, the heart of the order; he’s been dealing all along, and now it’s starting to get ridiculous. Great bunt by Torii Hunter gets him aboard. He tries to catch the A’s sleeping with a SB attempt between pitches. Doesn’t work (some say he was safe), but no complaints. 1-2-3 and strikeouts #8 and #9 for Max in the 5th. Three straight hits, but the rally is deflated by sending Victor home from 2B on Omar Infante’s single to RF-with-arm Reddick. Outcome and criticism equally predictable and equally just. Max walks Crisp again but otherwise has a great “don’t let the tide turn” inning. Colon out, Otero in, and the Tigers 9-1-2 go down meekly. Jose Iglesias makes a highlight play without the highlight throw, and Moss is at 1B. This shouldn’t count for much, but it does when Cespedes makes Max’s 2-2 fastball go far away quickly and convincingly. Max comes back strong to keep it a 3-2 game and finish with 7 superb innings peppered with 11 K. LF Cespedes loses Victor’s drive for a two-base error, but Alex strikes out to end the insurance run threat. Nonetheless, this Martinez-Avila thing is becoming quite the rally combo. Miguel out, Ramon Santiago in at 3B. Drew Smyly pitches well around yet another walk to Crisp, and Joaquin Benoit comes in to get the sigh of relief third out. Still nothing happening for the Tigers against Doolittle in the top of the 9th, despite a cameo from Jhonny Peralta at the plate (Don Kelly will be in LF for the bottom half). Joaquin puts it away in impressive fashion against the A’s 4-5-6, at least two of them major threats to tie the game with one swing.

* Spotlight on Max Scherzer. His pitching performance in Game 1 has to rank high in Detroit Tigers postseason annals. I’m anxious to see how his BR Game Score compares with some of the 1968 WS starts, in particular.

* Rather surprisingly, since 2000, the ALDS teams that have won Game 1 have only gone on to win the series 15 of 26 times. But since 2007, it’s been 10 out of 12. Also since 2007, winners of Game 1 away from home have gone 5-0 in series wins.

* Anyone remember Detroit vs. Oakland in the 1972 ALCS? I don’t have clear memories besides bitter disappointment. I don’t know how much of it I watched or listened to; I may have followed most of it by newspaper. I remember plenty of the names on both sides, of course; the Athletics were so star-studded that I probably remember more of those names. I wonder how many of the 1972 Tigers I can name without looking it up. Let’s see… Lolich, Coleman, Brinkman, Rodriguez… after that I start to get confused about how many of the 1968 guys were still on the team. Horton, Stanley, Cash, Northrup, Brown, McAuliffe, Freehan – were they still around? I’ll take a couple more stabs in the dark with Hiller and Timmerman, and then give up and check the record.

Ha! I must have really taken Mr. Tiger Al Kaline for granted back then. Couldn’t recall now how far into the 70s he’d played. Anyway, what a series. Look it up (if you need to). Heartbreaker. Starting lineups for the decisive game:

2006 was sweet, of course. Saw a clip of the Magglio HR recently and had the thought that this is what the Tigers see in Castellanos. Last year was a close call, but I think the better team won, for sure. I’ve got a good feeling about the current series. Is it just the way it’s started, or are the stars and the planets really aligning in Detroit’s favor? It’s hard to be pessimistic, up 1-0 and JV coming up. Bats, schmats. I don’t think the unknown rookie jinx is valid for the postseason. No. I really think that has expired. Call it a guy feeling.

After 162 games and 162 game posts and after how many countless ups and downs, here are the Tigers right where we expected them to be from the first “Play Ball!” on the chilly April Fool’s Day that began the season: right where they were last season, beginning play in the ALDS against Oakland, representing the Central Division.

The Tigers didn’t exactly finish the season with a roar:  they lost 5 of their last 7, and only scored 14 runs in the process, a meager output for what is supposed to be one of the best offenses in the league. But this is a new season right now: all bets are off, we start over from scratch, and there is no such thing as momentum (just ask Cleveland, after they roared into the Wild Card game off of a 4-game win streak.

This is the 2nd season in a row that the Tigers have kicked off the postseason against the A’s; the two teams are establishing a serious friendly rivalry (and it is friendly: unlike most rivalries it is difficult to think of any real contentious moments between the teams, unless you want to go back to 1972 when Bert Campaneris launched his bat at Lerrin Lagrow).

*****

ALDS Schedule:

• Game 1: Tigers at A’s, Friday 10/4, 9:37 PM EST (TBS) Max Scherzer vs. Bartolo Colon
• Game 2: Tigers at A’s, Saturday 10/5, 9:07 PM EST (TBS) Justin Verlander vs Sonny Gray
• Game 3: A’s at Tigers, Monday 10/7, 1:07 PM EST (MLB) Anibal Sanchez vs Jarrod Parker
• Game 4*: A’s at Tigers Tuesday 10/8, TBD (TBS) Doug Fister vs. Dan Straily
• Game 5*: Tigers at A’s Thursday 10/10 TBD (TBS) Max Scherzer vs Bartolo Colon

*If necessary

(Game 4 will be at 5:07 if the Rays and Red Sox are still going, or 7:07 if they are over).

(Game 5 will be at 9:07 if the Rays and Red Sox are still going, or 8:07 if they are over).

Series umpires: Gary Darling (crew chief), Tom Hallion, CB Bucknor, Mike DiMuro, Jim Reynolds, Mark Wegner. I don’t believe any of these umpires have ejected Jim Leyland or Miguel Cabrera this season.

TBS TV crew: Don Orsillo (voice of the Red Sox), Buck Martinez, and Dennis Eckersley. The Eck is a treat to listen to.

Detroit ALDS roster:

Pitchers:

• Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez, Doug Fister
• Joaquin Benoit, Jose Veras, Drew Smyly, Al Alburquerque, Jose Alvarez, Luke Putkonen, Rick Porcello.

Position Players:

• Prince Fielder, Omar Infante, Jose Iglesias, Miguel Cabrera, Ramon Santiago, Hernan Perez
• Austin Jackson, Torii Hunter, Andy Dirks, Jhonny Peralta, Don Kelly
• Alex Avila, Brayan Pena
• Victor Martinez

Notable omissions: Bruce Rondon (elbow soreness), Phil Coke (Phil Cokeness), Matt Tuiasosopo.

Jim Leyland said he will be making out his lineup using “some statistical analysis, some guy feeling, a combination of those things.” We’ll leave it to our clever readers to figure out which move is which.

During the Tampa Bay-Texas Game 163 event, there was much clucking of tongues by the broadcast crew about Texas having Nelson Cruz back from his 50-game suspension. The home audience had no such qualms, and gave him a standing ovation. I expect there will be a bit of chatter when Jhonny Peralta first enters the series, and I think for the fans it will be a non-event. It would probably be fitting if he is brought in to face Big Bart Colon, who quietly sat out 50 games last season for a testosterone violation.

*****

While the Tigers ended the season with a lull, the A’s went out with guns blazing. They won 7 of their last 10, but it’s the manner in which they did it that catches the eye. Not known as an offensive power, they put up 72 runs over their last 10 games, including a four-game sweep of Minnesota in which they scored 8, 11, 9, and 11. Yes, it’s Minnesota–who went on to play Detroit and held them to 3, 4, and 1. Luckily, there is no momentum when it comes to the postseason.

Oakland won the season series between the two teams 4-3, and took 3 out of 4 in Detroit in August. Here are the box scores for the season series for those who are interested:

OAK 4, DET 3

DET 7, OAK 3

DET 10, OAK 1

OAK 8, DET 6

OAK 6, DET 3

OAK 14, DET 4

DET 7, OAK 6

*****

About that stadium. O.co Coliseum–which has to be the worst-named stadium in baseball–is the white elephant of stadiums. It is unique in having an enormous foul territory, and, mysteriously, seems either impossible or reasonable to hit a ball out of, depending on…well, something, who knows. I’ve seen a lot of games in this stadium, under its previous, more mellifluous names. Back in the day one had a very pleasant view of sunset against the Oakland hills until Al Davis built “Mount Davis” in centerfield (an addition for extra football seating), which has all the charm of…well, of Al Davis. The A’s have gotten their revenge by playing into October on a regular basis, which means the Raiders have to play on dirt (O.co remains the only multi-use football-baseball stadium).

The best part about the stadium though is that the bullpens are on the field, down the right field and left field foul lines, and the seats behind the bullpen areas are some of the best inexpensive seats in all of baseball. It is a very different thing watching these guys from, say, 20 feet away, and you notice all sorts of things you wouldn’t otherwise (Al Alburquerque has an incredibly upright posture). Who knows when they will finally get a new stadium: currently they are in the middle of a lawsuit against MLB to get a San Jose stadium (San Jose is technically San Francisco Giants territory; depending who you listen to this lawsuit will amount to nothing, or threaten the whole MLB antitrust exemption).

*****

Just for fun, I’ll throw this in in case anyone wants to look back and see what ESPN’s predictions were before the season started. The Tigers were the AL favorites to win the World Series; the overwhelming NL favorites were the Nationals (oops).

Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Alex Avila. Let’s call it a gut feeling.

Today’s Postseason Opening Day Lineup:

1. Jackson, CF
2. Hunter, RF
3. Cabrera, 3B
4. Fielder, 1B
5. Martinez, DH
6. Avila, C
7. Infante, 2B
8. Dirks, LF
9. Iglesias, SS