ALDS1: 10/4/13 - DET (0-0) AT OAK (0-0) - 9:37 p.m. ET

Tigers: RHP Max Scherzer (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Record-wise, Scherzer was the most unbeatable pitcher since Cliff Lee went 22-3 in 2008. Now he'll try to carry that into the postseason, where he nearly eliminated the A's last year in Oakland before a Jose Valverde blown save.



Athletics: RHP Bartolo Colon (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Colon, whose 18 wins as a 40-year-old tie the A's record set by Jack Quinn in 1928, tossed 190 1/3 innings this year, his most since compiling 222 2/3 in 2005 with the Angels -- the last time he pitched in the postseason.





A's, Tigers set to clash in rematch of '12 ALDS
Colon, Scherzer take mound Friday in Game 1 at O.co Coliseum

By Paul Hagen / MLB.com | 10/3/2013 11:55 AM ET

The Tigers' Nos. 3-4 hitters, Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder, have a total of 13 All-Star Game selections and nine top-five finishes in Most Valuable Player voting between them. The entire Athletics starting lineup has, well, zero.

Detroit's rotation features Max Scherzer, who went 21-3 to give himself an inside track on the American League Cy Young Award, and Anibal Sanchez, who led the league with a 2.57 ERA in his first full year with the Tigers. Oh, yeah, and Justin Verlander won both the Cy Young Award and MVP two seasons ago. Oakland? Its ace is 40-year-old Bartolo Colon, backed by young arms whose profiles haven't yet extended much beyond the East Bay.

Which is one of the great things about baseball: Numbers and reputations won't matter when the Tigers and A's clash in the American League Division Series beginning Friday at O.co Coliseum (9:30 p.m. ET, TBS).

In fact, the A's won three more games than Detroit during the regular season, giving them the home-field advantage in this round, and had a slightly lower staff ERA. So this best-of-five matchup features plenty of intrigue.

It's also a rematch of last year's ALDS, which went the limit before the Tigers prevailed.

"I feel like we're a better team right now than we were last year," manager Bob Melvin said after the A's clinched the AL West.

The Tigers finished second in the Major Leagues with 796 runs. The A's scored just 29 fewer. But for all their firepower, which also includes established stars such as Victor Martinez and Torii Hunter, Detroit also scored two or fewer runs in 11 of its final 26 games. And that includes being swept by the last-place Marlins on the final weekend of the season. The Tigers scored a total of three runs in the series and were no-hit by Henderson Alvarez on Sunday.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who rested many of his regulars on the final day, was unperturbed.

"This could be a good thing. This could be a wake-up call for our offense," he said after Sunday's game.

The Tigers, who won their third straight AL Central title, came into the season facing enormous expectations after being swept by the Giants in the World Series last year.

"I'm as proud of this team as any team," Leyland said. "I mean, people were setting us up for failure from day one. We have a good team. If we don't win the division, there's something wrong. Well, it's not easy to live with that from Spring Training, all winter and through the whole season. And these guys did that. They showed me something."

The Athletics, on the other hand, still embrace the role of underdogs even after winning 96 games to take their second straight division title. They're hoping that October will be a coming-out party for some of their unheralded players, such as third baseman Josh Donaldson (.883 OPS) and first baseman-outfielder Brandon Moss (.859 OPS).

Asked if repeating as division champions validated his team as legitimate contenders, Melvin shook his head.

"Maybe nationally, but not for us," he said. "Last year was euphoria at the end. We were happy to be there. That doesn't mean we didn't go into the Detroit series with some tenacity and expectation to win. But this is just a whole different feeling this year."

Tigers: Hunter runs chemistry class
Detroit's biggest offseason addition, Hunter has made an impact both on and off the field. After the Tigers lost back-to-back series to the Red Sox and Royals in early September, he began gathering the team a half-hour before game time for a football-like rally.

"We do a little pump-up speech. I get everybody involved. Then we break it down and we do football chants and stuff like that," said Hunter, who is 38 and looking to play in his first World Series.

Melvin said Hunter has had a positive impact.

"Amongst a team that already has a lot of veteran presence and leadership, I think he takes that to another whole level for that team," he said.

Athletics: Counting on consistency
Long losing streaks during the regular season are a problem. Even short losing streaks during the playoffs can start a team packing for the winter.

So this is kind of remarkable: Oakland lost three straight games from Aug. 21-23. From that point until the end of the season, the club lost as many as two straight just once.

"To not lose two [consecutive] games for over a month ... that's something that's not easy to do," said Game 4 starter Dan Straily.

Worth noting
• Scherzer had a spectacular season and is in line to start the decisive Game 5 if needed. But in two starts against the A's this season, he had a 4.91 ERA and didn't have a decision. In his only start at O.co Coliseum, however, he allowed just one earned run in six innings.

• Colon, who will start for Oakland on Friday night, was 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA in two starts against the Tigers this season. He was not available to pitch in the ALDS against Detroit last year because of a performance-enhancing drug suspension.

After Colon, the A's rotation will be Sonny Gray, Jarrod Parker and Straily.

"I think our guys are right up there with their guys -- Scherzer, Anibal Sanchez, Justin Verlander," Moss said. "You look at their guys, their names are bigger. Their accolades are better. But our guys had just as good a year. Our bullpen's probably better."

Paul Hagen is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.




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• SAT, Oct 5:
Detroit: (RHP Justin Verlander (0-0, 0.00 ERA)) AT
Oakland: (RHP Sonny Gray (0-0, 0.00 ERA))
9:07  p.m. ET (TBS  / FM 97.1, ESPN Radio)


• SUN, Oct 6:
OFF DAY


• MON, Oct 7:
Detroit: (RHP Anibal Sanchez (0-0, 0.00 ERA)) VS
Oakland: (RHP Jarrod Parker (0-0, 0.00 ERA))
1:07  p.m. ET (MLBN  / FM 97.1, ESPN Radio)


• TUE, Oct 8: IF NEEDED
Detroit: (RHP Doug Fister (0-0, 0.00 ERA)) VS
Oakland: (RHP Dan Straily (0-0, 0.00 ERA))
5:07  p.m. ET (TBS  / FM 97.1, ESPN Radio)


• WED, Oct 9:
OFF DAY


• THU, Oct 10: IF NEEDED
Detroit: (RHP TBA (TBA ERA)) AT
Oakland: (TBA (TBA ERA))
9:07  p.m. ET (TBS / FM 97.1, ESPN Radio)

STARTING LINEUPS:

Detroit Tigers
A Jackson CF
T Hunter RF
M Cabrera 3B
P Fielder 1B
V Martinez DH
A Avila C
O Infante 2B
A Dirks LF
J Iglesias SS


Oakland Athletics
C Crisp CF
J Lowrie SS
J Donaldson 3B
B Moss DH
Y Cespedes LF
J Reddick RF
S Vogt C
D Barton 1B
E Sogard 2B

Detroit - Top of 1st
Bartolo Colon pitching for Oakland
A Jackson doubled to deep right.
T Hunter hit by pitch.
M Cabrera singled to center, A Jackson scored, T Hunter to third.
DET 1 - 0
P Fielder grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, T Hunter scored, M Cabrera out at second.
DET 2 - 0
V Martinez doubled to deep left center.
A Avila singled to right, V Martinez scored.
DET 3 - 0
O Infante grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, A Avila out at second.


Oakland - Bottom of 1st
Max Scherzer pitching for Detroit
C Crisp struck out looking.
J Lowrie grounded out to first.
J Donaldson grounded out to shortstop.

DET 3 - 0 AFTER 1 INNING

Detroit - Top of 2nd
Bartolo Colon pitching for Oakland
A Dirks struck out swinging.
J Iglesias grounded out to shortstop.
A Jackson grounded out to second.


Oakland - Bottom of 2nd
Max Scherzer pitching for Detroit
B Moss struck out swinging.
Y Cespedes tripled to deep left.
J Reddick struck out swinging.
S Vogt lined out to first.

DET 3 - 0 AFTER 2 INNINGS

Detroit - Top of 3rd
Bartolo Colon pitching for Oakland
T Hunter struck out swinging.
M Cabrera lined out to center.
P Fielder singled to left.
V Martinez struck out swinging.


Oakland - Bottom of 3rd
Max Scherzer pitching for Detroit
D Barton struck out looking.
E Sogard grounded out to third.
C Crisp walked.
C Crisp to second on wild pitch by M Scherzer.
J Lowrie grounded out to second.

DET 3 - 0 AFTER 3 INNINGS

Detroit - Top of 4th
Bartolo Colon pitching for Oakland
A Avila grounded out to second.
O Infante reached on infield single to third.
A Dirks flied out to left.
J Iglesias bunt grounded out to third.


Oakland - Bottom of 4th
Max Scherzer pitching for Detroit
J Donaldson struck out looking.
B Moss struck out swinging.
Y Cespedes struck out swinging.

DET 3 - 0 AFTER 4 INNINGS

Detroit - Top of 5th
Bartolo Colon pitching for Oakland
A Jackson struck out looking.
T Hunter reached on bunt single to third.
M Cabrera flied out to right.
T Hunter caught stealing second, pitcher to shortstop.


Oakland - Bottom of 5th
Max Scherzer pitching for Detroit
J Reddick struck out swinging.
S Vogt flied out to right.
D Barton struck out swinging.

DET 3 - 0 AFTER 5 INNINGS

Detroit - Top of 6th
Bartolo Colon pitching for Oakland
P Fielder flied out to left.
V Martinez singled to center.
A Avila singled to center, V Martinez to second.
O Infante singled to right, V Martinez thrown out at home, A Avila to third.
A Dirks popped out to third.




Oakland - Bottom of 6th
Max Scherzer pitching for Detroit
E Sogard popped out to shortstop.
C Crisp walked.
J Lowrie lined out to left.
J Donaldson struck out swinging.

DET 3 - 0 AFTER 6 INNINGS

Detroit - Top of 7th
Dan Otero pitching for Oakland
D Otero relieved B Colon.
J Iglesias lined out to third.
A Jackson fouled out to first.
T Hunter grounded out to third.


Oakland - Bottom of 7th
Max Scherzer pitching for Detroit
B Moss reached on infield single to shortstop.
Y Cespedes homered to left, B Moss scored.
DET 3 - 2
J Reddick flied out to left.
S Vogt popped out to shortstop.
D Barton struck out swinging.

DET 3 - 2 AFTER 7 INNINGS

Detroit - Top of 8th
Dan Otero pitching for Oakland
M Cabrera grounded out to third.
S Doolittle relieved D Otero.
P Fielder flied out to right.
V Martinez safe at second on error by left fielder Y Cespedes.
A Avila struck out swinging.


Oakland - Bottom of 8th
Drew Smyly pitching for Detroit
R Santiago at third base.
D Smyly relieved M Scherzer.
A Callaspo hit for E Sogard.
A Callaspo struck out looking.
C Crisp walked.
J Lowrie struck out swinging.
J Benoit relieved D Smyly.
J Donaldson popped out to first.

DET 3 - 2 AFTER 8 INNINGS

Detroit - Top of 9th
Sean Doolittle pitching for Oakland
A Callaspo at second base.
O Infante struck out swinging.
J Peralta hit for A Dirks.
J Peralta flied out to right.
J Iglesias struck out swinging.




Oakland - Bottom of 9th
Joaquin Benoit pitching for Detroit
D Kelly in left field.
B Moss struck out swinging.
Y Cespedes struck out swinging.
J Reddick struck out swinging.


TIGERS WIN 3-2

CLICK HERE FOR BOX SCORE


W: M. Scherzer (1-0)
L: B. Colon (0-1)
S: J. Benoit (1)



GAME INFO:

WP: Scherzer.
HBP: Hunter, To (by Colon).
Pitches-strikes: Scherzer 118-78, Smyly 15-8, Benoit 17-13, Colon 99-63, Otero 15-11, Doolittle 30-20.
Groundouts-flyouts: Scherzer 4-2, Smyly 0-0, Benoit 0-0, Colon 6-3, Otero 2-0, Doolittle 0-2.
Batters faced: Scherzer 26, Smyly 3, Benoit 4, Colon 26, Otero 4, Doolittle 6.
Inherited runners-scored: Benoit 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Mark Wegner. 1B: CB Bucknor. 2B: Gary Darling. 3B: Jim Reynolds. LF: Tom Hallion. RF: Mike DiMuro.
Weather: 77 degrees, clear.
Wind: 10 mph, In from LF.
T: 3:24.
Att: 48,401.
Venue: O.co Coliseum.
October 4, 2013