Game 5 could decide Jim Leyland’s future with Detroit Tigers – MLB News
According to a leading sports website, Jim Leyland’s future with the Detroit Tigers could be decided by the outcome of the Game 5 of Tigers-A’s best of five American League Divisional Series.
Tigers won first two games of the series very comprehensively and they had an excellent chance to sweep the A’s but that did not turn out be the case. A’s used their home conditions superbly in Game 3 and Game 4 to force the series into the decider.
This has been the biggest problem for Tigers since the start of the season. They have struggled to win games consistently, which has allowed the fans to criticise the skipper Leyland. However, Leyland is still a respected figure among Tigers’ players and
management as he has the only second Manager in Tigers’ history who has delivered back-to-back American League Central Division titles.
"This is baseball. That's why this is the greatest game of all," he said. "It looked like we were going to get it. We didn't get it. We just didn't quite get the 27 outs. That's part of the game. I thought we played our hearts out. We just didn't close it
out."
Tigers were in a strong position 3-1 when relief pitcher Jose Valverde stepped onto the mound but a stunning loss from that position sent the series to a fifth game.
"They just hit him," Leyland said of Valverde. "They basically just charged him and hit him. He probably didn't get the ball located where he wanted to. The first hit was just out of the reach of Omar (Infante); could have been right at him but wasn't.”
Leyland will have his best pitcher Justin Verlander starting the Game five against Oakland Athletics on Thursday evening. If the hard throwing ace can deliver the goods, Leyland and company will reach the American League Championship Series.
Leyland has not signed on a contract extension as yet. It will be interesting to see if he satisfied with his job as Manager in Detroit. Surely, General Manager Dave Dombrowski will want him to stay in Detroit for another year.
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