Detroit Tigers 2012 regular season review – Part 19
Detroit Tigers secure a comfortable 10-6 win in Game 1 of a four match series against the Oakland Athletics. Manager Jim Leyland was expecting his men to continue the good work in Game 2 as well but that did not turn out to be the case.
The A’s fought back superbly, dominating their American League rivals in almost all aspects of the game. A’s pitching rotation, in particular, played a big part in deciding the outcome of the clash. Starter Tommy Milone tossed up seven sharp innings, allowing
just five hits and two runs while striking-out six batters.
Tigers’ starting pitcher Rick Porcello paid the ultimate price for his errors on the mound as he gave up nine hits and four runs in five innings. Relief pitchers Duane Below and Collin Balester were also unable to stop the flow of runs as they combined to
concede seven runs in just two innings.
Third baseman Miguel Cabrera made a useful contribution with the bat, driving in three important runs for his team. However, Cabrera’ effort was not enough to save the Tigers from an embarrassing defeat.
"The way I was last year and early this year, it seemed like when I did get good wood on the ball, it went right at somebody," Brandon Inge said. "So there is a flip side of it; things should usually balance out. When things go like this and you get hot."
"He's really swinging well right now. He's got a second wind, and it's a good thing obviously for him," Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland said. "He's swinging the bat as good as I've seen him swing it for a while. He's in a pretty good groove right now."
With momentum on their side, Oakland continued the good work in Game 3 of the series on May 12, 2012. The pitching rotation once again created all sorts of problems for the Tigers’ batting line-up. Starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy struck-out ten batters
in seven innings to lay the foundations of a superb win for his team. Relievers Ryan Cook and Brian Fuentes also displayed some top quality throwing skills to help the A’s hold on to their two run lead.
Tigers’ Doug Fister also had a great outing as he gave up just one run in six innings while striking-out eight batters. Relief pitcher Phil Coke looked completely out of sorts, allowing three hits and two runs in the seventh.
For the Tigers, catcher Alex Avila hit a sacrifice fly to left in the bottom of the ninth to score the only run for his team. Jonny Gomes and Cliff Pennington made valuable contribution to help Oakland put a winning total on the board as they battled it
out against the Tigers.
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