A's Get Aced

The Tigers have a 2-0 lead on the Athletics in the ALDS thanks in large part to Justin Verlander's big victory in Game 1

By Jesse Dougherty

(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

It began all too perfectly for the Athletics against the Tigers on Saturday in Detroit.

After whiffing on a 95 mph offering Coco Crisp dug in and took the next pitch over the right field wall. It was the top of the first and Crisp had led off the entire 2012 MLB playoffs with an improbable solo home run, single handedly giving rookie Jarrod Parker the early lead that he desperately needed.

But as Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander watched Crisp circle the bases, he knew that that was all the A’s would get, and he was right.

Now let’s not get carried away; nothing about Justin Verlander’s pitching performance was picturesque in Game 1 on Saturday. The patience of the A’s lineup was frustrating him early, he was having trouble locating his curve, and his pitch count ran past 50 by the third inning. In seven innings he never exactly settled in, 
but only yielded one run on three hits, and fanned eleven in a process that included 121 pitches.

“We were trying to see how aggressive they were going to be, especially early on,” said Tigers catcher Alex Avila in an MLB.com interview. “That, coupled with not being able to get ahead of some guys early in the count, led to that pitch count. But once we got the lead, I think he was able to relax a little bit, and then they started swinging the bat a little more and then we were able to get them to chase a little bit.”

(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Even with early struggles, Avila kept Verlander in the game, and when he homered in the fifth he gave his battery mate a comfortable 3-1 lead that would hold as the final score.

Verlander 1 A’s 0.

On the season, Verlander wasn’t his MVP-self, but an ace among aces nonetheless. He finished the year with a 17-8 record, a 2.64 ERA, a 239-60 strikeout to walk ratio. In his last six starts he was absolutely stellar, winning four straight decisions while only giving up two earned runs in 28.0 innings pitched.

So it was to no surprise when Verlander bounced back and fell into one of his vintage strikeout grooves in Game 1 on Saturday, and in an MLB.com interview after the game he talked about how he was able to do so.

“That was one of the places I was able to kind of feel my spot a little bit, execute my pitch. I felt like my ball was running a lot tonight, so down and away to a lefty or down and in to a right was an easier spot for me to hit.”

If he can continue to locate his pitches and dominate opposing lineups even when he’s off his game, the Tigers should be regarded as serious contenders this October.

When Justin Verlander is on the mound, they are as good as they come.