For the second straight season, the Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics will play a single game in O.co Coliseum to decide which team will move on to the ALCS. For two teams that have each played 166 games to get to this point, it seems absurd that one night in Oakland could mean so much.
But that's the beauty of an elimination game: it's all that matters.
Detroit will send veteran Justin Verlander to the mound hoping he can repeat the heroics that propelled the Tigers past the A's in the exact same situation one year ago. In the 2012 ALDS the fireballer beat youngster Jarrod Parker in game five to pick up his second win of the series. His 16 innings of one-run baseball were too much for the rookie en route to Detroit's second straight ALCS appearance.
With all the similarities surrounding this year's matchup, it only makes sense that Manager Bob Melvin would throw another rookie starter against Verlander. This time, it will be Sonny Gray.
Gray, however, has something that a 2012 Parker did not: a successful postseason outing against the Tigers.
In game two on Saturday, Gray took the ball when the A's had their backs against the wall. Down 1-0 and heading into Detroit for games three and four, Oakland had to win the rookie's start. It wasn't easy.
Verlander threw seven scoreless innings of four-hit baseball and fanned 11 A's for the third straight time in the postseason. 2011's AL MVP has had Oakland's number in the playoffs and Detroit would already be sizing up Boston if not for the heroics of Gray, who allowed just six base runners in eight spotless innings.
Stephen Vogt's walk off single in the ninth handed the Tigers their first postseason loss to Oakland in which Verlander has pitched.
In game five, Gray will have to mimic the dominance Verlander displayed in 2012 to propel an Athletics group past the star-laden Tigers. Thursday will provide a more difficult challenge than game two did for the rookie.
When Gray last saw Detroit's offense, it was mired in a 16-inning scoreless slump. After exploding for three quick runs in the first inning of the series, the bats went dormant for three straight games. Besides the first frame of game one and the fourth of game three, the Tigers failed to score in the other 25 innings.
Finally, facing elimination, the offense woke up.
In game four, Detroit scored eight runs in their final four at bats and salvaged a split in Comerica Park. Victor Martinez and Jhonny Peralta have shouldered the offensive load this series, accounting for seven of the team's 12 RBI.
Scoring runs must have been in the Detroit air that night, as Oakland's offense also perked up after relying solely on the long ball early in the series. Though they went a combined 5/33 in the first three games, Oakland's top three hitters collected seven hits in the game four loss.
Verlander and Gray will both be facing rejuvenated lineups in game five, but don't expect runs to come in bunches. Scoring opportunities have been at a premium when these teams match up, and every pitching option will be available for Jim Leyland and Melvin on this night.
If the last battle between these two pitchers is any indication, the winning run could be in the batters box from the first pitch.
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