AL CHAMPIOINSHIP
Brandon Inge hit a solo home run and RBI double from the bottom of the order, Ivan Rodriguez also homered and Nate Robertson pitched the Detroit Tigers past the Oakland Athletics 5-1 on Tuesday in Game 1 of the American League championship series.
The Tigers battered Barry Zito, turned four double plays and once again relied on their flame-throwing relievers. Only one thing went wrong: Sean Casey, Detroit's No. 3 hitter, left early because of an injured left calf and expected to be out a couple of days.
Game 2 in the best-of-seven series -- a rematch of the 1972 ALCS -- was last night, when Oakland's Esteban Loaiza facing Justin Verlander.
Free-swinging
Fresh off surprising the New York Yankees in four games in the opening round, the typically free-swinging Tigers worked the count against Zito.
"We thought if we slowed down against him a little bit, it would work a little better," Inge said.
The A's ace retired the first eight batters he faced before running into trouble, with 10 of the last 13 Tigers facing him reaching base on the way to a 5-0 lead.
"After that I started to nitpick a little bit instead of coming right after them," Zito said.
"This is the playoffs. If you don't get ahead in the count it becomes more exposed than in the regular season," he added.
The wild-card Tigers showed off their gloves, too, tying a league championship series record for double plays, last accomplished by the San Francisco Giants exactly 19 years earlier -- on Oct. 10, 1987.
Robertson, who lost Game 1 against the Yankees in his postseason debut, threw five shutout innings to win for the first time in the Coliseum.
The 29-year-old lefty struck out the side to escape a fourth-inning jam after Frank Thomas drew a leadoff walk and Jay Payton doubled him to third.
Oakland never trailed in its division-series sweep of the Minnesota Twins, taking quick leads in all three games. This time, the A's grounded into double plays to end both the second and third innings to squander early scoring chances, then had another double play in the fifth.
Zito, Oakland's lone All-Star this season, didn't allow a hit until Inge -- the No. 9 hitter -- lofted a drive that stayed just inside the left-field foul pole with two outs in the third.
Curtis Granderson followed with a double, then Placido Polanco walked on Zito's 56th pitch. After Casey followed with a walk, pitching coach Curt Young paid a visit to the mound before Magglio Ordonez's infield single that five-time Gold Glover Eric Chavez bobbled at third base.
Zito threw 38 pitches, 18 balls, in the inning after needing only 31 to get through the first two, and he gave way to Chad Gaudin after only 3 2-3 innings. His line: seven hits, five runs, three walks and no strikeouts on 92 pitches.
Inge was 3-for-24 lifetime against Zito coming in. But just like they did the final three games with the Yankees, the Tigers found success against a starting pitcher they'd had trouble with in the past.
Grounder
With two outs in the top of the sixth, Casey hit a grounder to shortstop, took one step and then grabbed his left leg in pain. He made it about halfway down the line and was thrown out to end the inning. Manager Jim Leyland and a trainer came out to tend to Casey, who hobbled to the Tigers' clubhouse after the inning.
Casey was in a walking boot after the game. Carlos Guillen will likely shift from shortstop to fill in at first.
"Hopefully tomorrow it feels a lot better and I'll get treatment and be back in there soon," Casey said.
"It's frustrating. I've been down this road before. I'm sure those guys will be fine," he added.
Robertson and his relievers were in control, with Oakland's only run coming on Payton's RBI groundout in the eighth.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Francesco Bagnaia yesterday profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint and close the gap on overall championship leader, Jorge Martin. Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez. Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under
Naomi Osaka is braced for a “battle” after yesterday setting up a clash with Coco Gauff in the round-of-16 of the China Open, while top seed Aryna Sabalenka also marched on. Osaka defeated 60th-ranked American Katie Volynets 6-3, 6-2 and next faces Gauff in a showdown of former US Open champions in Beijing. World No. 2 Sabalenka swatted aside Ashlyn Krueger 6-2, 6-2 for her 14th consecutive victory and plays another American in 24th-ranked Madison Keys. Looking ahead to the Gauff meeting, four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka said: “She’s very athletic, obviously.” “For me, my strongest traits are being aggressive and also my serve,
RSS