Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
This seems almost too cruel to mention today considering the events of last evening…
One year ago the Detroit Tigers were visiting O.co Coliseum for Game 5 of the ALDS with the series tied a two games a piece. The Tigers would send Justin Verlander to the mound in hopes of advancing to the ALDS. The A’s counter with Jarrod Parker.
The Tigers got a pair of runs in the top of the 3rd. Austin Jackson started the scoring when his double brought in Omar Infante. Jackson would cross the plate on a Parker wild pitch. The score would stay at 2-0 until the top of the 7th.
Jhonny Peralta would single and steal second. With one out, Infante single and Peralta went to third. Parker was pulled for Ryan Cook. On Cook’s second pitch, Jackson would single once again, this time Peralta scored with Infante going from first to third. Cook walked Quentin Berry to load the bases.
And he comes Miguel Cabrera. On an 0-2 pitch, Cook hit Cabrera, forcing in a run. That was all for Cook as Jerry Blevins would replace him. Blevins allowed a Prince Fielder single for one run. An error by shortstop Stephen Drew allowed another run. Bases loaded and still only one out. The Tigers already had four runs in the inning.
Blevins would calm down and get a force out at home and a fly out to end the inning, but the damage had already been done. After six and a half innings, Detroit held a 6-0 lead. That was plenty for Verlander as he would hurl a complete game and the Tigers would advance.
So, how was Verlander’s performance last year comparable to the one he mastered last evening? In using the Game Score from Baseball Reference (which was developed by Bill James), you can see.
| Game Score | 10/10/2013 | 10/11/2012 |
|---|---|---|
| Start of game | 50 | 50 |
| +1 pt/out | 24 | 27 |
| +2 pts./inn after 4 | 8 | 10 |
| +1 pt./K | 10 | 11 |
| SUBTOTAL | 92 | 98 |
| -2 pts./hit | 4 | 8 |
| -4 pts./ER | 0 | 0 |
| -2 pts./UER | 0 | 0 |
| -1 pt./BB | 1 | 1 |
| TOTAL | 87 | 89 |
Pretty darn close, I’d say.
But that wasn’t the only game on October 11, 2012 to remember. The other was the fall of the Cincinnati Reds as they blew a 2 games to none lead in their NLDS series against the San Francisco Giants. The big blow in the game was a grand slam by Buster Posey off Mat Latos. The Giants would take Game 5 by the score of 6-4.
2004 – The Houston Astros would gain their first ever postseason series win as they defeated the Atlanta Braves in Game 5 of the NLDS. The decisive game wasn’t all that decisive as Houston won, 12-3. Carlos Beltran powered the offense with a pair of home runs and drove in five runs. Beltran would end the series with four home runs.
1972 – The Cincinnati Reds would score a comeback win in Game 5 of the NLCS. Entering the 9th, the Pittsburgh Pirates held a 3-2 lead. A Johnny Bench home would tie the score. Later in the inning, George Foster would score on a Bob Moose wild pitch and the Reds were NL Champs.
1911 – The beginning of league MVP awards, or as they called a century ago, the Chalmers Awards. Ty Cobb of Detroit and Frank “Wildfire” Schulte of Chicago (NL) would be the first winners of the awards.
Notable Birthdays:
Orlando Hernandez – El Duque (1965)
Dmitri Young (1973)
Ty Wigginton (1977)