Detroit’s Unheralded Unknowns Trip Oakland in Game 2; Mets, Cardinals Postponed…
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American League:
Utility outfielder and lineup DH Alexis Gomez led Detroit’s batting order of unknowns with 4 RBIs while starter Justin Verlander and the Tiger bullpen held off the A’s as the Tigers defeated the Oakland Athletics despite 2 homers and 4 RBIs by A’s rightfielder Milton Bradley in game 2 of their ALCS match-up in Oakland by an 8-5 score.
AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley writes this about Gomez,
Alexis Gomez thought it was a joke when Jim Leyland told him at a morning workout in the hotel that he would start in Game 2 of the American League championship series.
When it comes to baseball, the Detroit Tigers manager isn’t kidding around.
In another great call this postseason, Leyland went with the little-used Gomez as Detroit’s designated hitter. The result: Tigers are heading home to Motown with a 2-0 advantage.
A career minor leaguer, Gomez had just one home run in the majors and contributed only six RBIs in 103 at-bats this season.
“He does have big-time power,” Leyland said. “Unfortunately, he showed most of it in batting practice.”
Oakland scored first in the 1st inning on rightfielder Milton Bradley’s RBI single. Detroit tied the game in the 2nd inning on leftfielder Craig Monroe’s RBI single.
In the 3rd. Oakland went up by a 3-1 score as Milton Bradley hit a 2 run shot, the first of his 2 homers against Verlander. However, Detroit tied and went ahead with a 4 spot in the 4th inning against Oakland’s starter and losing pitcher Esteban Loaiza. Monroe drove in 1 run with a single and Gomez followed with a 2 run single, all with 1 out. Then, 3rd baseman Brandon Inge drove in the 4th run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to centerfield. 5-3 Detroit after 4 innings.
The Tigers added 2 more runs with 2 out in the 6th inning off of Loaiza as Gomez clubbed a 2 run shot. The A’s got a run back in their 6th inning as 3rd baseman Eric Chavez ripped a leadoff solo homer to centerfield off of Verlander who was then relieved by lefthanded reliever Wilfredo Ledezma who got the side out in the 6th. 7-4 Detroit after 6 innings.
Winning pitcher Justin Verlanger pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up 4 runs on 7 hits including 2 homers while striking out 6 A’s. Loaiza pitched 6 innings giving up 7 runs on 9 hits.
In the Oakland 7th inning, Bradley clubbed the 2nd of his 2 homers for the game, a solo shot to left centerfield for Oakland’s 5th and final run. From their it was a case of the heavy heat from Detroit’s bullpen shutting down Oakland although the A’s got 3 hits in the 9th innning off of Tigers closer Todd Jones who was credited with the save.
The Tigers capped off their scoring with centerfielder Curtis Granderson’s leadoff solo blast in the 9th inning.
Dan Wetzel, Yahoo Sports reporter writes this about the Tigers offense;
They had just one guy hit over .300 this season (Carlos Guillen), one drive in more than 100 runs (Magglio Ordonez) and no one club 30 or more home runs. Their leadoff guy (Curtis Granderson) hit .260 and struck out a whopping 174 times. They don’t bunt, move runners over or hit and run particularly well, either.
In Wednesday’s Game 2 of the American League Championship Series, the guy who batted second for the Detroit Tigers, Neifi Perez, hit .200 in the 21 games he played following his acquisition in August. The designated hitter, Alexis Gomez, hadn’t played in weeks, hit one homer all year and spent most of his time as a Toledo Mud Hen.
The Tigers’ Misdemeanor’s Row lineup may not strike fear in anyone on paper, but on the playoff scoreboard they keep doing things like belting out 8-5 victories, this one giving Detroit a commanding 2-0 lead over the Oakland Athletics in a series that heads back to Michigan for three games starting Friday.
The Tigers are supposed to be all about pitching, but in their last five games – all victories – they are averaging better than six runs a game.
At this point, who knows how or why this is working? It just is. But this much we know: The Tigers’ starless offense is something that has to be dealt with.
You hear plenty about Detroit’s young, blazing arms – Joel Zumaya, Justin Verlander, Fernando Rodney and Jeremy Bonderman can at least flirt with 100-mph fastballs – but the offense is what is making these games laughers. It is not just that the Tigers have won five consecutive playoff games; it is that they are blowing everyone out. They’ve outscored their opponents by 19 runs during that stretch.
“We are a well-balanced team,” Detroit general manager Dave Dombrowski said. “We may not be as strong in the middle of that lineup like other teams’ three, four and five [hitters], but one through nine, we match up pretty well with anybody. We have power from top to bottom. You can get hurt from any part of our lineup.”
“I think the thing that is good about it,” Dombrowski added, “is they can take turns being the guy who gets it done on a particular night.”
That’s been the system. One night it is Brandon Inge, one night Curtis Granderson, one night Guillen or Monroe or anyone, really.
No one is a star. Everyone is a star. At this point, there isn’t a Tiger who doesn’t feel like he can deliver in the clutch.
“If I walk in there tomorrow and find my name and I’m batting cleanup, I’d expect to get a hit,” closer Todd Jones said.
For full recap, box score and play-by-plays of Wednesday’s AL League Championship Series game, click here.
The ALCS has a day off on Thursday as the venue changes and Detroit, leading 2-0 in games, head’s home to Comerica Park for games 3 through 5 with game 3 on Friday.
National League:
The National League LCS was to begin on Wednesday but the game was rained out. Therefore, Jeff Weaver goes for the St. Louis Cardinals in today’s opener vs lefthander Tom Glavine for the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. Wednesday’s scheduled game will be made up on Friday.
For a full box score and play-by-play on Thursday’s NLCS game click here.
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