The Tigers are moving on to the ALCS starting in Boston on Saturday night.
The game five win over the A’s was delivered by Justin Verlander who was the JV vintage 2011/2012.
He was, to steal another line, this time from The Game, By Neil Strauss, “smokin balls!”. He was almost un-hittable. He pitched 8 complete, threw 111 pitches, struck out 10 and walked one. In fact, he had a perfect game before walking Reddick in the 6th, and a no hitter that was broken up by a Cespedes single in the 7th.
Miggy provided most of the offense with a two run shot in fourth.
At first I was livid that Jim Leyland didn’t send JV out for the 9th. But in a post game interview Verlander said that he told Leyland he was running on fumes.
In came Benoit for the 9th. After getting the first two hitters, Joaquin put the tying runners on base, but got Seth Smith to hit a fly ball to Hunter to end the game.
Benoit seems to be continuing the tradition set by previous Tigers’ closers, Todd Jones and Jose Valverde, he makes it interesting but gets the job done most of the time. Joaquin scares me but I hope he can get it done.
I could bitch about the offense like I always do but there’s nothing more to say. They had plenty of chances to blow this game wide open but couldn’t get the big hit. Not much new here.
That being said, Victor Martinez and Jhonny Peralta deserve credit for their offense. Martinez hit .450 and Peralta .417. Nobody else in the lineup is close to .300.
Austin Jacskon has become a problem at the worst time. He has been HORRIBLE to put it mildly. He struck out 3 more times today. I think that makes 12 times this series. It’s hard to generate offense when your lead hitter isn’t even making contact. But at this point, I’m not sure if there is anything to do except hope.
I’m hoping for the best in Boston but I’m done with predictions. I’m just enjoying (sort of) the ride. I hope it ends with a World Series Championship!
“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural
Flashin' Leather 
I’m going to enjoy this moment, because like many I didn’t think this team had the ability to win this series. I will even forgive them for one night for leaving 9 runners on. JV was as good as he’s been all year. And I’ll give him credit for a moment I clearly remember. It was the start he made on Sept 1 against Cleveland, when he said he found something. This after the 44pitch first inning. He’s been almost unhittable since. With that said, if Sanchez can find his form we can throw 3 very good pitchers at Boston. Should be a great series, and Boston will not be the easy out like NY has been.
I think we now know why the A’s played with a sense of urgency in game 4 when Max came in the game. They feared facing Verlander again! They lost before they took the field tonight!
Chris, it’s been great reading your blog and swapping baseball talk with others. Let’s hope this team finally found its heartbeat. Let’s hope for a big finish!
PS. I think JL read your blog post from Monday night, where we discussed the options of improving the lineup. Per my suggestion he did put JP at short and DK in left. He doesn’t normally make bold moves like that, so I’m glad we could help persuade him…. LOL
Sark, thank you for your loyal following and comments.
My feeling is much different from last year. Last year I kept expecting them to win. I kept expecting the bats to explode, even though, more times than not, they didn’t.
This year, by the end of the season I was so frustrated with the offense, I really had no expectations and I still don’t. I’m just going to enjoy the ride and hope it ends well!
For some reason I had a feeling Sanchez was going to suck in game three. Maybe it was the taste left in my mouth from Oakland’s last trip to Comerica.
I hope he can pull it together. The Tigers need another arm.
We’ll see Saturday.
Well here we are….I am just going to sit back and see who want’s this the most. Pitching and defense….pitching we have home field and the monster will test our defense. Remember they only need one more run than the other guy to win!
Nebraska, the problem is, the Tigers have had problems scoring A run.