I was despondent when the game four loss made it impossible to use Justin Verlander in game 1, but then I see that the Yankees will have the same problem with CC Sabathia in game 2 and with those back to back double digit inning games, their bullpen will be a lot more taxed then ours. Plus as you point out, there's a pretty solid rotation in Detroit after Verlander, much more so than the Yanks after CC. And if the O's have one more miracle in them...

I've been ragging on Leyland for putting Q in the 2 hole so many times because of his second half slide, but I gotta give the kid props, he game up huge this game.

I agree with you about Leyland's bunting decisions being questionable in spots. Leyland does have a tendency when the team slumps to overdue the small ball. You could defend that as a reaction to the week lineup beyond Jackson, Cabrera and Fielder. It's long past time to put someone other than Delmon Young in the 5 hole. Now the only good candidate for either the 2 hole and 5 hole is Andy Dirks, and you can't use him twice, but at least Leyland could use him to plug one of his two holes. His constant insistence to keep cyphers above and below the big guys have allowed opponents to effectively pitch around them.

One other notable factor in Game 5 was Detroit's aggressiveness to steal bases. They obviously saw an advantage in stealing on the Parker/Norris combo, and that aggressiveness clearly caught Oakland by surprise. Also may have contributed to Parker's wildness.