The Oakland Athletics have hit a wall in the ALDS after storming back to take the AL West title on the last day of the regular season. In order to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Detroit Tigers, the A's must make adjustments in Game 3.Both games have been low-scoring, scrappy contests. Detroit won on Sunday on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Don Kelly, after all.Oakland-Almeda County Coliseum crowds should provide some positive energy for a club that looks to be in serious trouble. Here is what the A's need to do to force Game 4, and possibly ...
After a terrible offensive showing by the Oakland Athletics, it's easy to say everyone in the lineup needs to step up. While that may be true, certain players must do more in order for the A's to once again come from behind to shock the baseball world. It's been done before. In fact, the last time the A's were in a "backs-against-the-wall"-type position with three to play was on October 1. The outcome: a three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers to take the AL West crown. The Tigers lineup is not as daunting as Texas'. Even the pitching is comparable, after ...
A famous employee who once made his name at the Oakland Coliseum once said this of a tough loss on the road: "It's in the can."That was Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Ted Hendricks after the Raiders lost an overtime game to the San Diego Chargers in 1980. The Raiders responded by getting to the conference title game and avenging that loss to San Diego to go to their third Super Bowl.How does that relate to a baseball team 32 years later? It's simple. When all the analysis is done, the A's still have their home-field advantage. Detroit did ...
Don Kelly's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted the Detroit Tigers to a 5-4 victory over the Oakland A's. Detroit now leads the best-of-five series 2-0 as the teams head to Oakland for Game 3 Tuesday night. For six innings, it was a taut pitching duel similar to the first game of the series. Doug Fister and Tom Milone were both brilliant, going seven and six innings respectively and keeping the score tied at one until the seventh inning. Oakland scored its initial run on a Yoenis Cespedes RBI single in the top of the third. Detroit ...
Most of my time as a sports blogger has been spent writing about the Detroit Tigers. During that time, there were few relievers I feared pitching against Detroit more than Pat Neshek in 2006 and 2007.In five appearances vs. the Tigers in 2006, Neshek allowed one run over 6.1 innings for a 1.42 ERA. He struck out 10 batters while walking none. Overall, Neshek had a 2.19 ERA in 32 appearances with a rate of 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings.In 2007, Neshek emerged as one of the best relievers in MLB. He compiled a 2.94 ERA in 74 appearances, striking ...
The Detroit Tigers took Game 1 of the 2012 ALDS, beating the Oakland Athletics 3-1. Though the team is down one game in a five-game series, there's no reason for worry—yet.
The game opened up with excitement as leadoff batter Coco Crisp hit a home run against Tigers ace Justin Verlander.
However, Verlander regained composure as the game progressed, striking out 11 A's batters along the way. Jose Valverde came into for the save.
It was a pitching duel—one decided by defense.
Though the A's didn't hit particularly well, there was still plenty of positive takeaways from the Oct. 6 ALDS opener.
Here are nine ...
The Oakland A's were quite good in the second half of the 2012 season. So good, in fact, that they had us all asking the same question every time they actually lost a game:"Wait a second, how the heck did that just happen?"Here we are on this Saturday night asking this question after Oakland's 3-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers in Game 1 of the American League Division Series. What the heck kind of person/thing/ominous force sucked the life out of this A's team?It was mostly Justin Verlander's doing, of course. He was better than we've ever seen him in the ...
Pat Neshek came into Saturday night's American League Divisional Series game in the same tight situation that he's seen many times before in his six-year career.With men on first and second for the Detroit Tigers, the Oakland Athletics reliever's main job was to escape the jam with a two-run deficit intact.At first glance, it seemed like a regular appearance for Neshek. However, when you look at what Neshek has had to go through in the past week, it was so much more.The reliever has had to go through a lot in his career. After beginning with his home town Minnesota ...
The bottom line of Game One in Detroit: Justin Verlander continued his dominance of the A's offense.The Tigers won 3-1, largely on Verlander's powerful right arm. But in a series that could very well be a matter of Oakland needing to win the three games he doesn't start, there was a positive to take away—the poise of rookie starter Jarrod Parker.The overall line won't blow you away: 6 1/3 innings, seven hits, three runs (two earned) with a walk and five strikeouts. But it was not the numbers as much as how well Parker ...
Coco Crisp boosted the Oakland A's early on, giving them a lead four pitches into the game. Then, the A's couldn't do anything right on offense.Despite struggling to keep his pitch count to a minimum, Justin Verlander struck out 11 through seven strong innings as the Detroit Tigers beat the A's 3-1 in Game 1 of the ALDS. Verlander picked up the win, while Jarrod Parker, who allowed three runs (two earned) in over six innings, took the loss.Parker made an error that brought home a run for the Tigers, and he allowed a home run to Alex Avila. Despite ...