I said before the game that the lineup construction was absolutely awful and I was, of course, referring to Neifi Perez‘s presence not only in the lineup, but in the ever-crucial #2 slot! Despite that horrendous error in judgement, the lineup worked, to the tune of eight runs as the Tigers leave the Bay Area with a 2-0 lead in the League Championship Series! One lineup adjustment that did favor the team was the insertion of Alexis Gomez. Gomez took home player of the game honors with a 2-for-4, 4 RBI performance that included a home run. Placido Polanco remained white hot with another three hits driving his postseason average to .440 (11-for-25).
The A’s actually brought some offense to the table tonight, twice taking the lead, but unable to hold the Tigers off. Milton Bradley crushed two home runs as part of his 4-for-5 evening, but it wasn’t enough for the A’s. Starter Esteban Loaiza was tattooed for seven runs on nine hits in six innings giving the Tigers a lead in the 4th inning that they would not relinquish again. Oakland got the RISP monkey off of their backs tonight, but Tigers pitching struck them out 13 times, including three from Frank Thomas and Nick Swisher.
The two teams will enjoy a day off while traveling to Detroit before firing it back up on Friday night at Comerica Park. Here is a look at the Friday forecast for Detroit:
That should make for a heckuva ballgame if the weather stays on that course. Friday’s game features Kenny Rogers against Rich Harden. Harden has not pitched very much at all this season so it will be especially interesting to see how the cold weather affects him.
A few thoughts and notes from tonight’s game (decidely less anti-Steve Lyons):
– I think when Lou Piniella called Neifi Perez a “veteran player”, he was looking for a nice way to say piece of crap.
– My thoughts are confirmed when he then refers to Loaiza as a “veteran pitcher.”
– Verlander was all over the map in that first inning, but it was nice to see him bear down and take it to Thomas for the first of Thomas’ three strikeouts on the evening.
– “Man of the Year” might be the worst movie idea ever. Who greenlights this crap? Please just go away Robin Williams.
– Anyone see the kid holding up the “Leyland for Governor” sign? Was it or was it not Chris Shelton? I know he didn’t make the postseason roster, but was he banned entirely from the dugout and now he’s holding up signs in the stands?!?
– The old announcer jinx strikes again after they discuss how Carlos Guillen owns Loaiza seconds before he strikes out. Never let an announcer discuss how your field goal kicker hasn’t missed in 20 tries with the game on the line, because your team is bound to lose shortly thereafter.
– Diamond Cam goes 2-for-2 in games where it is completely useless. Every other angle of Craig Monroe‘s slide into home was significantly better than that pile of crap.
– The shots of Nate Robertson and the gum are just downright hilarious. He even talks about it at his blog.
– Eric Chavez clearly took his eyes off of the ball hit by Alexis Gomez that cost the A’s two runs. Chavez is arguably the best defensive third baseman in the game, yet he’s been a liability almost in these first two LCS games.
– Jason Kendall just looks like an a-hole.
– After early struggles, Verlander’s curveball was absolutely disgusting from the 2nd inning on. Though neither performance in the playoffs was anything near dominant, Verlander is something special and has pitched well enough for a rookie in his first postseason.
– Lyons (sorry, I had to) obviously has no idea what a quality start is, because he thinks that Verlander allowing four runs in five and a third meets the criteria.
Here is a look at the composite boxscore for the LCS as well as a look at Detroit’s postseason composite:
| Detroit Tigers |
AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | HR | AVG |
| Granderson | 10 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.400 |
| Polanco | 8 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0.500 |
| Casey | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.333 |
| Ordonez | 9 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.222 |
| Guillen | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.222 |
| Rodriguez | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.250 |
| Monroe | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.286 |
| Thames | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 |
| Inge | 6 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Gomez | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Santiago | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 |
| Totals | 68 | 13 | 22 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 0.324 |
| Oakland A’s |
AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | HR | AVG |
| Kendall | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.250 |
| Kotsay | 8 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.500 |
| Bradley | 9 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.667 |
| Thomas | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0.000 |
| Payton | 8 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.375 |
| Chavez | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0.286 |
| Swisher | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0.000 |
| Scutaro | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.000 |
| Jimenez | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.286 |
| Melhuse | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 |
| Totals | 70 | 6 | 19 | 6 | 7 | 18 | 3 | 0.271 |
2006 Postseason Composite Boxscore for the Detroit Tigers:
| Player | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | HR | AVG |
| Granderson | 27 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0.333 |
| Polanco | 25 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0.440 |
| Casey | 20 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.350 |
| Ordonez | 24 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0.250 |
| Guillen | 23 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0.435 |
| Rodriguez | 22 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0.227 |
| Monroe | 24 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0.208 |
| Thames | 22 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0.318 |
| Inge | 21 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0.238 |
| Gomez | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Santiago | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 |
| Totals | 213 | 35 | 67 | 35 | 13 | 31 | 10 | 0.315 |
And finally, a rundown of the other postgame thoughts from around the blogsphere:
Detroit Tiger Tales
Mack Avenue Tigers
Detroit Free Press: Drew Sharp
Detroit Free Press: Michael Rosenberg
Detroit News: Bob Wojnowski
Detroit News: Rob Parker
Athletics Nation
San Francisco Chronicle: Ray Ratto
San Jose Mercury News: Mark Purdy
Contra Costa Times: Josh Suchon
ESPN: Jim Caple
MLB.com: Mike Bauman
I’ll add more in the morning/early afternoon.
Baseball By Paul 