Game 3 of the American League Division Series between the Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics comes our way on Tuesday night. The ALDS Game 3 is scheduled for a 9:07 pm start time and it will be televised nationally on TBS. Currently the odds for the game have the Athletics favored as oddsmakers have a prediction the Athletics won't end their season tonight.
The Oakland As won their final six games of the regular season to win the American League West and get into the playoffs. Now they've dropped two in a row in Detroit in close contests. How will they respond? The series switches back to California for tonight's game and Oakland faces a must-win situation in the remainder of their games against the Tigers. Detroit needs just a single win to close out the series and move into the American League Championship series.
Tonight's game will see Oakland starter Brett Anderson (4-2) get the ball. He had an ERA of 2.57 in limited action this season, coming off elbow ligament-replacement surgery that sidelined him for 14 months. Tonight will be his first post season experience and he also hurt himself back on Sept. 19 in Detroit with a right oblique injury. We're sure he'd like to be able to throw deep into the game if given the opportunity, but pitching coach Curt Young said he'd likely have a pitch count of around 80. Against a Tigers team that knows that going in, how much of a disadvantage is this for Oakland?
Anibal Sanchez (4-6) gets the start for the Tigers tonight. He was acquired by the team back at the trade deadline and has done fairly well in the American League. He's lost six of his starts but did pitch very well in September. In six starts the last month, Sanchez had an ERA of 2.43 and had a 37:5 strikeout/walk ratio. That's exactly what Detroit needs in tonight's contest — Sanchez has to pitch well but he must also know there is no pressure on him as well. Oakland is going to come out and presumably be very aggressive at the plate, looking to get guys on base and score runs. They almost have to, having striking out 23 times in the first two games.
Detroit typically hits lefties well and they have decent numbers against Anderson, collecting a .280 average in 50 plate appearances. Anderson hasn't pitched in nearly a month but with all the Athletics have been through this season, it kind of fits that Anderson gets the ball tonight. Oakland finished with a pretty impressive 94 wins overall and tied Detroit with 50 wins at home this season. The Tigers haven't been very good at all on the road, going just 38-43 away from Comerica Park this year. Yet, the Tigers have won 10 of their last 12 games, including the two games in Detroit to take the lead in this series.
Oakland pitching has struggled a bit at keeping the Tigers off the base paths in this series. Detroit has collected 18 hits and 3 walks in the two games. The Tigers aren't a team that walks a lot anyway, relying mostly on hitting for contact and with power. Prince Fielder has struggled so far in the series and doesn't have a great past when it comes to playing in the post season. However, the Tigers have won both games, so their cleanup guy hitting just .125 in the series is a small problem, if a problem at all. He's going to need to break out of that slump if Detroit wins this series and moves onto better things the rest of the playoffs.
We're expecting a low-scoring game here tonight but we're concerned about Anderson and his low pitch count tonight. If the Tigers are smart they'll work a lot of counts and take some pitches. As mentioned they're not a big team on walks, but taking some extra pitches and getting on base via the walk tonight could be important. Sanchez has pitched well for Detroit lately, but we think with their backs against the wall, the As get it done.
Free Pick: Oakland 4, Detroit 2
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