The Tigers traveled to Oakland to take on the A’s in Game 1 of this ALDS matchup. The A’s sent Bartolo Colon the hill with Max Scherzer on the bump for the Tigers.
The Tigers got to Colon early tonight, striking for three runs in the top half of the first inning. Colon has settled in since then, but three runs could be enough for Max Scherzer and the Tigers.
Those three runs proved to be the deciding factor in tonight’s game as Scherzer was on top of his game through seven strong innings. Although he allowed a two-run homer off the bat of Yoenis Cespedes, Scherzer managed to stifle the A’s through much of the game, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out 11.
Colon lost control of his pitch count early on tonight and although he was able to take it down a notch, he still racked up plenty of pitches and the A’s elected to relieve him in the seventh, in favor of Dan Otero.
Otero and Sean Doolittle pitched 1.1 and 1.2 innings respectively, in relief of Colon. The two combined to allow zero hits and zero walks, while striking out three over the game’s final three innings.
The Tigers’ bullpen, a shaky unit in the regular season, matched them stride-for-stride over two solid innings in relief of Scherzer. Drew Smyly turned in 0.2 innings of work allowing no hits and no walks, striking out two.
Joaquin Benoit came in to close the game out and earn a rare four-out save. The 35-year-old closer got his out in the eighth, and then went on to strike out the side in the ninth, earning a save in his first appearance of the 2013 postseason.
The Tigers took it to the A’s early, but even with this early display of offense, this one was very much a pitching duel.
That’s it for Game 1 of the ALDS here in Oakland, but these two teams will meet again tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. ET. Goodnight everybody!
Final Box Score
DET 3, OAK 2
W: Max Scherzer: 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 11 K
L: Bartolo Colon 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 10 H, 0 BB, 4 K
SV: Joaquin Benoit: 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K
2B: A. Jackson (1), V. Martinez (1)
3B: Y. Cespedes (1)
HR: Y. Cespedes (1)
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