Detroit Tigers v Oakland Athletics, Game 5: Starters and Game Info

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Back-to-back nights with a Game 5 is a beautiful thing.

On Tuesday, the Detroit Tigers stayed alive in their ALDS tussle with the Oakland Athletics. After 4.5 innings of play, the A”s were poised to end the series only to see the Tigers bats awaken en route to a final of 8-6. Nervous moments in the top of the 9th as the A’s scored a pair of runs, but could not push any other runners across the plate.

Here’s your game info…

Date: Thursday, October 10th
Start Time: 8:00 PM EST
Location: Oakland, California
Venue: O.co Colosseum
TV Info: TBS
Radio Info: ESPN Radio, 97.1 The Ticket (DET), 95.7 FM The Game (OAK)
Live Stream:MLB.tv or the MLB at Bat 12 App.

Team Notes:
– Total runs scored in the series: Detroit – 15, Oakland – 15
– Team batting averages: Detroit – .234, Oakland – .243
– Home runs: Detroit – 2, Oakland – 5

Detroit:
– As a team, the Tigers posted a season tripe slash of .283/.346/.434, far from what they have in this series (.234/.290/.320).
– Neither Miguel Cabrera nor Prince Fielder have a home run. The only RBI between the two is off the bat of Miggy.

Oakland:
– Unlike the Tigers, the A’s are more in line with their team triple slash from the season (season: .254/.327/.419; postseason: .243/.307/.434)
– After leading the team in RBI during the regular season, Josh Donaldson has yet to drive in a run in the series.

Starting Pitchers:

A re-match of Game 2 which featured very little hitting a fair amount of strikeouts. Here’s the lines:

In looking at these, you can easily discern where each pitcher made their living for that game.

For Justin Verlander, it’s simple. He needs to continue pitching like he has at O.co. Matt Snyder of Motor City Bengals breaks down Verlander’s success there. Of all the road venues where Verlander has pitched a postseason game, Oakland provides some pretty impressive numbers. His best SO% (35%) and lowest BB% (4%). The 1.69 ERA isn’t shabby either.

Most of the chatter I’ve heard and read back Bob Melvin‘s decision to go with the rookie Sonny Gray over the vet Bartolo Colon has been positive. Swingin’ A’s Devin Pangaro has this to say about the decision.

"Not even a full week after matching the Tiger Ace, Gray is being trusted with the same assignment. If the narrative is to be believed, than Gray has a chance to answer the call for a second time and play the part of David against Goliath."

That’s as succinct a narrative there can be given Gray’s situation.

Starting Lineups: