One down (game and player)

It's hard to say Detroit's pitchers shut down the A's last night, even though they only gave up a run. The Tigers played with fire, but Oakland doused itself with four DPs and an 0-for-13 collar with men in scoring position.

Nate Robertson did what Nate Robertson does. He scuffled along and shutout the A's for five innings. Fernando Rodney, in whom I have the least confidence of the relievers, did the same for two. Leyland, as was the case in the opening round, does not mess around even with a 5-0 lead going to the eighth, using Zumaya and Jones to close it out.

The Tigers did a great job taking pitches against Zito. Even though the first 8 went down in order, I think it helped set up the later rallies. The announcers, though, were brutal. It wasn't until Detroit scored 4 that they started talking about the patience of the hitters. Thom Brennaman at one point even gushed about Zito "throwing strikes" just because he'd retired a bunch in a row. Just prior to Brennaman's comment, however, a graphic was shown that had Zito throwing something like 18 balls and 21 strikes. But don't let the facts ruin the story you want to tell, and FOX seemed intent on telling a story about Zito being a superstar lefty.

Detroit over the last 4 games has played like it did through the first half of the year. Pitching and timely hitting from different spots in the lineup. No one has carried the load, it's been shared. Last night, it was Inge's time.

This year, the team's ad campaign was built around the phrase "Who's Your Tiger?" As Michael Rosenberg noted in his Free Press column today, who isn't?

Hopefully, Sean Casey's calf injury isn't as bad as it looked. He's out for Game 2. This leaves the Tigers without a true first baseman because Chris Shelton isn't on the roster. Guillen will take over at first, where he played 8 games in the regular season, and either Infante, Santiago or Neifi Perez will play SS. Pudge also has played some first base this year, but it's probably to risky to move him to 1B and put Wilson behind the plate. Not because Wilson can't get the job done, only because you'd have both your catchers on the field. (Actually all three of your catchers, figuring Inge is the emergency backstop.)

It would be great to see Verlander continue the Tigers' success tonight. Detroit faces Esteban Loaiza, another pitcher with a high WHIP (1.42). Loaiza is much better at home (3.71 ERA) than on the road (6.08 ERA). He started 2 games vs. Tigers this year and had an ERA of 8.00. Verlander had 3 starts vs. A's and a 2.25 ERA.