Justin Verlander?s Game 1 start against the A?s was easily the best of his postseason career. In allowing one run ?over seven innings, he picked up his fourth win in nine starts and lowered his October ERA from 5.57 to 4.96.
Now one wonders if he might need to be even better in Thursday?s decisive Game 5.
The Tigers simply aren?t doing much scoring. They?ve totaled 11 runs while splitting the first four games against the A?s. Three of those came on Oakland errors. In all, they?ve had eight extra-base hits, which is the same number the Giants had against the Reds on Wednesday alone.
Add to that the fact that the eighth and ninth inning guys have been a mess. Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde have combined to allow five runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings in the series. They also amassed a 5.59 ERA in 27 1/3 innings during September.
Ideally, Verlander will just go the full nine in outdueling rookie Jarrod Parker. He?s never done it in the postseason, but he had six complete games during the regular season this year.
Anything less and the Tigers are in big trouble. It seems nearly unfathomable that the A?s will rough up Verlander, but as we?ve seen the last two days, they don?t need to do much scoring to win.
Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/11/tigers-fortunes-hinge-on-justin-verlander-now/related
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