ALCS Game 2: Alexis WHO?
posted in Oakland A's, Post-season |The national media was asking Alexis Who? when Jim Leyland put the lefty in the DH spot. We Tigers fans who know Alexis Gomez is. So we were asking Alexis WHY? In Jim We Trust? Maybe. Gomez had a home run and four RBIs, Todd Jones gave us a heart attack, and the Tigers won, 8-5.
Ian Browne at the ALCS MLBlog sure didn’t know who Gomez is.
My first game-related thought of the day is this: Who the heck is Alexis Gomez? He is the Tigers DH tonight. I honestly had never heard of him until about 20 minutes ago, when I checked out the lineup. Does this make me a less informed baseball person than i try to think of myself as?
As a service: Gomez is that guy who was with the club for awhile earlier in the year, then his greatness was twice sent down to AAA to help the eventual International League champion Toledo Mud Hens. Get to know him quick, he’ll probably dip back to anonymity by Friday night. That’s just the way things work for the Tigers. Different night, different hero.
Of course, Gomez wasn’t alone in his heroics. Placido Polanco is making himself into a real October menace. If anyone wants to debate why Detroit slid to 19-31 in the final 50 games, I believe the argument starts and ends with Polanco’s injury. As key as Granderson is to this lineup, Polanco is, too. And of course, Craigdoneitagain! Monroe had a nice play in the outfield and did fine at the plate. All that, and Neifi Perez was starting and hitting in the 2-spot. Wow.
To note, Joel Zumaya did not pitch tonight. In his press conference, Leyland said Zumaya had tightness in his forearm, like earlier in the year. A few days rest is what Zumaya had then. I don’t think this is a big deal. Hope not anyway.
Justin Verlander… well, he got a lot of praise for his play against the Yankees even though he just didn’t look that good. Some people not familiar with him probably wonder what the big deal is the way he pitched tonight. He got out of it with four runs, but it wasn’t real pretty. Sure, at times, it was really great. I think he’s just wearing down. What really matters is that he’s pitched twice in the playoffs, and the Tigers have won both games.
As for the bullpen, the Tigers threw six strikeouts in a row, one by Jason Grilli, three by Fernando Rodney and one by Jones. Yes, Jones. Oakland showed a bit of power and some scrappiness in staying in the game after falling behind, 7-3. And that was with Frank Thomas laying a goose egg. In the ninth, the A’s loaded the bases with two outs on Todd Jones. I think everyone in the ballpark — and Leyland admitted this — kept envisioning a grand slam and a 1-1 split. But Thomas came up short. He’s yet to get a hit in the two playoff games against the Tigers. I think the A’s might have blown their best shot to stay in the series.
And so Detroit returns to the cold confines of Comerica Park with a 2-0 lead in the ALCS. That’s not insurmountable in its own right. But right about now, it looks like the Tigers are not going let this series even get back to the west coast. I’m starting to get that team-of-destiny feeling. I keep trying to push it away for fear of disappointment. But it’s there. This is getting pretty fun.
As a serious side note, it was nice to see all the Cory Lidle jersies being worn or hung on the walls of the Coliseum in honor of his life in this very sad situation. He played for the A’s in 2001 and 2002. As Fox pointed this out, there was a little bit of magic and the A’s batter at the time homered. As a Tigers fan, you don’t like to see them give up a run. But I thought it was still kind of a touching. It was a night when you’re pretty sure everyone in the nation is rooting for the A’s to win. But, no one asked to be in this situation. You gotta support your guys, even as your heart goes out to the team across the field.