Anibal Sanchez outdueled by Brett Anderson in Game 3 of ALDS – MLB Update
Starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez was outpitched by his counterpart from Oakland on Tuesday evening as Detroit Tigers fell to the Oakland Athletics 0-2 in Game 3 of their five match American League Division Series.
The fans had great expectations from Sanchez, who gave impressive results during the regular season but the A’s were too hot to handle on Tuesday. Tigers swept the A’s in 2006 and they had an excellent chance to repeat history but the A’s had other ideas
as they held their nerves to avoid an embarrassing series sweep.
Showing great fighting skills and determination under pressure, Bob Melvin and company held on to their slim lead to cut their deficit in five game ALDS to 2-1. It will be interesting to see if the A’s can continue their good work in Game 4 to take series
into the decider.
Tigers, on the other hand, will be very disappointed with the outcome of the game. They had several opportunities to put runs on the board but they failed to do so. Prince Fielder’s likely home-run was caught by Coco Crisp at the top of centre field wall
in the second inning.
''Not to be all over-confident or anything, I think I'm going to catch everything out there,'' Crisp said. ''Obviously it doesn't happen that way - duh Detroit, right?''
''It's frustrating. But it's a good team you're playing,'' Fielder said. ''They're going to make those plays, that's why they're here.''
For the A’s Yoenis Cespedes displayed some top quality hitting skills as he earned an RBI single in the first inning to put his side on the board. Seth Smith smacked a solo home-run in the fifth inning to double A’s lead to 2-0, which lasted until the end
of the game.
''That's how you win postseason baseball games, with pitching and defense and timely hitting,'' Smith said in a post game interview. ''We had that. We got two runs and that's all we needed. Anderson was great and our defense was, too.''
Tigers’ 16 game winner Max Scherzer is now expected to finish off the A’s in Game 4 on Wednesday night.
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