Jim Leyland impressed with Detroit Tigers’ performance – MLB Playoffs
Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta and Miguel Cabrera sparked, getting five unsurpassed runs for the Detroit Tigers in a must-win 5-2 triumph against the Texas Rangers in the American League Championship Series showdown at their home ground of Comerica Park
on Tuesday, October 11.
More runs and a much needed win were in Detroit Tigers’ mind, as the club landed with winning on their minds. None other than Jim Leyland could be happier with the extraordinary retaliation from both the batting bullpen and starter Doug Fister.
"I'm thrilled the way we played," Leyland said. "We're tough. I think you have to mention Adrian Beltre for them. These are two tough teams. He got smoked on the knee. Our guys are playing with pain and some injuries."
Leyland was a little concerned about his starter Doug Fister, who has been in a struggling position throughout the decision. However, his brilliant performance against the Rangers was the only driving force in Leyland’s decision to employ Fister in the third
outing. His phenomenal 4-0 record with an exceptional 0.98 ERA in five starts against the Rangers this season provided pre-game confidence to the batters.
Fister, having massive amounts of criticism and pressure of expectations on his back, did not take the excursion at heart. Instead he remained cool, threw fastballs, changeups and confident sliders to snatch his fifth win against the Rangers.
Looking different but normal, Fister claimed to present his usual performance without any change. However, a pre-planned pitching technique was evident from his confidence.
"I just stuck with the same game plan," said Fister. "They hit a few ground balls that made it through the hole, and they have good hitters, too. They came out firing, and Alex Avila and I stuck with our defence."
Fister yielded three hits for a run to start the game in the top of the first inning, but with a rapid reaction, he reassembled his shattering power to permit only four hits in the rest of the game.
Doug managed to bring some much needed confidence back to the struggling Tigers team in this exciting series. It will be interesting to see how they carry this winning momentum in the next game.
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