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October 7, 2012

Playoff Prospectus

ALDS Game One Recap: Tigers 3, Athletics 1

by Derek Carty

Fact: Justin Verlander is good at baseball. While Coco Crisp led off the game by taking Detroit’s ace deep, the A’s failed to score a single additional run over another full nine innings of baseball. Verlander, indeed, was the story of the night, dominating Oakland following Crisp’s blast. While the 2012 American League Cy Young favorite issued four walks on the night, he never allowed more than a single baserunner in a frame beyond the first inning. This was due, in large part, to his bulldozing the Oakland lineup with 11 strikeouts. He left after seven, handing a two-run lead to Joaquin Benoit before Jose Valverde shut the door in the ninth.

As I suggested in my series preview, the Oakland and Detroit offenses were well-matched, but the difference was made by pitching. As impressive as Jarrod Parker has been in his rookie campaign, he simply cannot hold a candle to Verlander. He threw a good game, but not good enough. Of major importance in this game—as will be the case for the remainder of the series—was Verlander’s ability to go seven innings. Oakland holds the bullpen edge on Detroit, but if the Tigers’ starters can shorten the game and Oakland has to face a heavy dose of Benoit and Valverde with some Octavio Dotel and Al Alburquerque sprinkled in, it’s really going to mitigate Oakland’s late-inning edge. This becomes especially true if Oakland can’t manage a lead going into those late innings. Balfour, Cook, and Doolittle can’t be properly leveraged if there’s no lead to protect