Tigers Weekly 2006 Season

PLAYOFF EDITION #1: ALDS

So I couldn't hold off until the end of the series.  I
had to get my Game One and Game Two thoughts out
before the series comes to Detroit.  The Tigers earned
a tough split in Yankee Stadium after dealing with a
postponed Game Two.  

Game One looked like a textbook Yankee playoff game
where they knock out hit after hit and put big numbers
on the board.  Eight runs was just a bit too much for
the Tiger bats to overcome, though they did a very
good job against Chien-Ming Wang and the subsequent
relievers.  

On Thursday, Justin Verlander was able to prevent the
big hits.  He was in trouble twice early, but managed
to pitch out of those jams.  The bullpen took over and
shut the Yanks down, allowing the offense to scrap a
few runs and deliver a win.  

So far Curtis Granderson, Placido Polanco, Marcus
Thames, and Carlos Guillen have been studs.  Brandon
Inge, Magglio, and Pudge have struggled.

Other Series...

Oakland leads Minnesota 2-0
New York Mets lead Los Angeles 2-0
St. Louis leads San Diego 2-0

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Game Linescores...
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Game One
October 3:  Detroit 4 - New York Yankees 8
Starters:  DET: Robertson 5.2IP - NYY: Wang 6.2IP
DET  000 030 100  4 12 1
NYY  005 002 01X  8 14 0
W: Wang      (1-0)
L: Robertson (0-1)

Three Stars of the Game...

3.  Curtis Granderson - 3 for 5, HR, R, RBI.  
2.  Bobby Abreu - 2 for 5, R, 4 RBI.
1.  Derek Jeter - 5 for 5, 2 2B, HR, 3 R, RBI.

Game Two
October 5:  Detroit 4 - New York Yankees 3
Starters:  DET: Verlander 5.1IP - NYY: Mussina 7IP
DET  010 011 100  4 8 0
NYY  000 300 000  3 8 1
W: Walker  (1-0)
L: Mussina (0-1)
S: Jones   (1)

Three Stars of the Game...

3.  Marcus Thames - 3 for 4, 2B, 2R, RBI.
2.  Johnny Damon - 2 for 5, 3-R HR.
1.  Tigers Bullpen - 3.2IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 R, 4 K.

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Readers Write In...
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Nick "The Greek" Ciofani

At least you have a team in the playoffs! 

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Peter "The Poet" Ciofani

Hey Matt,
I'm happy for you that the Tigers are in. Remember,
the wild card gets you a ticket in just like winning
the division does. I'm writing this after the Twinkies
lost the first game to Oakland........so much for the
home field advantage. I think, unfortunately, the
Yankees are peaking so it will be tough for the
Tigers.... but you never know.

Roses are red
With the flu comes coughs
Congrats to the Tigers
There're in the playoffs

Roses are red
The Yankees you hate
Always remember
Big 6 and Big 8

Mr. C

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Nic "Gilby" Gilbert

Here's the extent of the post-game conference by
Leyland:

"This was just a great playoff game," Tigers manager
Jim Leyland said. "I think the thing that I'm happiest
about is the fact that I hope -- and I'm sure we
haven't convinced everybody, because obviously nobody
knows how this thing is going to play out; it's 1-1 --
but I hope in my heart that everybody realizes that we
are a playoff team, and I hope that we at least proved
that today. 

"To do what we did today with those kids pitching and
everything and the way we played that game, I hope at
least everybody believes that we're worthy of being in
the playoffs, because I'm not sure everybody believed
that."

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Toolie's Trashtalk...

Man does it feel good to see the Tigers get a win in
New York!  Making the split even more exhilarating is
that I will be in attendance this Friday for the first
playoff game in Detroit in nineteen years.  I have
Ch"Aase" Claus to thank for the ticket, and I am
deeply in his debt.  We will be sitting in the Skyline
section... you know, the seats that are $5 in the
regular season and $40 for the playoffs.  I never
understood why those seats are priced so low (the next
section over is $12).  I suppose I'll find out, though
it really won't matter.  Only a steel beam in front of
me will be able to curb my enthusiasm come game time.

I love how, after not being given a chance by anyone,
the Tigers are involved in the only 1-1 series.  While
Game Four is still "if necessary" everywhere else, we
know for sure that Comerica Park will play host to two
post-season games.  The five-game series where the
Yankees had home-field is reduced to a three-game
series with the Tigers holding the advantage.  Holding
serve against the Yankees, though, is a tall order.  

The bullpen was amazing today.  Jamie Walker inherited
a 1-1 count on Robinson Cano with a man on first. 
After going to 3-1 he got Cano to ground into an
inning-ending double-play.  Walker retired Johnny
Damon to start the 7th and then yielded to Joel
Zumaya.  The rookie retired all five hitters he faced,
three with the K.  Todd Jones started the 9th in his
usual fashion (single by Matsui) but got the next
three hitters (in some lengthy at-bats) to pick up the
save.  Great work out of the pen!

I don't want to wake a sleeping giant, but A-Rod
continues to struggle in October.  After a lackluster
Game One that was masked by the Yankees' 8-4 win,
Rodriguez was 0 for 4 with three strike-outs.  The
first was the worst as he watched strike three go by
(like the house by the side of the road) with the
bases loaded in the first inning and two outs.  Keep
it up, big spender!

The series will be over by the end of the weekend
(weather permitting).  This third game is huge, as I
believe the Tigers have the pitching edge in Game Four
(Wright vs. Bonderman).  I like Jeremy in the
difficult game setting, though Wright has the
experience edge.  The starters are still TBD, but
those are the likely candidates (I think).  

Good job by the Boys in New York.  Now it's time for
some home cookin'.  

I would like to encourage anyone attending this
weekend's games to submit accounts of their
experiences.  If you snap a quality photo, feel free
to send that along too!  For those that aren't
fortunate enough to snag tickets for these games
(until recently I was counted among these) it would be
fun to hear the stories.  

Gotta get some sleep... I'll need all of my energy
tomorrow... AND SO WILL YOU!

I'm out.





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