October 17, 2012: Tigers 3 A's 2 (TIgers lead ALCS, 3-1)

The 77-win Tigers are one win away from the World Series after a 3-2 win over the A's in Game 4 of the ALCS. Max Scherzer and Jarrod Parker were locked in a scoreless duel until the 7th, when Alex Avila put 2 on the board for the Tigers with a home run with Andy Dirks on base following a single. The A's got one back in the bottom of the inning on a Brandon Moss homer, then tied it up in the bottom of the 8th when Seth Smith led off with a double and scored on Cliff Pennington's single. The A's missed an opportunity when Pennington stole 2nd and 3rd, but then was thrown out at the plate on a fielder's choice ground out. That missed opportunity proved especially disappointing when the Tigers got a 2-out triple in the 9th from Jhonny Peralta, followed by a single from Avila. Jose Valverde had blown the save in the bottom of the 8th, but ended up with the win and got the needed 3 outs in the bottom of the 9th.

The A's will send embattled starter Tommy Milone to the mound in game 5 hoping he turns his luck around and extends the series. The Tigers will counter with Doug Fister.

BOXSCORE: 2012 Detroit Tigers At 2012 Oakland Athletics            10/17/2012
 
  Tigers             AB  R  H RBI AVG     Athletics          AB  R  H RBI AVG
  A.Jackson CF        5  0  1  0 .325     C.Crisp CF          4  0  0  0 .286  
  Q.Berry LF          4  0  2  0 .350     S.Drew SS           2  0  0  0 .258  
  M.Cabrera 3B        3  0  1  0 .300     J.Reddick RF        4  0  0  0 .200  
  P.Fielder 1B        4  0  0  0 .200     Y.Cespedes LF       3  0  0  0 .171  
  D.Young DH          4  0  0  0 .147     B.Moss 1B           4  1  1  1 .206  
  A.Dirks RF          4  1  2  0 .394     J.Donaldson 3B      4  0  1  0 .182  
  J.Peralta SS        4  1  1  0 .258     S.Smith DH          3  1  2  0 .333  
  A.Avila C           4  1  2  3 .158     G.Kottaras C        3  0  0  0 .118  
  O.Infante 2B        3  0  0  0 .229     C.Pennington 2B     3  0  1  1 .240  
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      35  3  9  3                 Totals      30  2  5  2
 
 
Tigers.......... 0 0 0  0 0 0  2 0 1  -  3  9  0
Athletics....... 0 0 0  0 0 0  1 1 0  -  2  5  0
 
Tigers (6-3)             IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
M.Scherzer                6 2/3   3   1   1   2   7   1  86   3.07
J.Benoit HOLD(2nd)        0 1/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   6   4.91
J.Valverde W(1-0) BS(2nd) 2       2   1   1   1   1   0  41   4.50
Totals                    9       5   2   2   3   9   1
 
Athletics (5-4)          IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
J.Parker                  7       6   2   2   1   3   1  99   1.33
G.Balfour LOSS(0-1)       1 2/3   3   1   1   1   3   0  28   4.26
S.Doolittle               0 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   4   0.00
Totals                    9       9   3   3   2   6   1
 
ATTENDANCE- 31,770 DATE- Wednesday, October 17th 2012 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
UMPIRES- Tim McClelland, Ted Barrett, Brian Runge, Marvin Hudson
T- 2:34
LEFT ON BASE- Tigers: 7  Athletics: 4
DOUBLE PLAYS- Tigers: 1  Athletics: 0
DOUBLES- A.Dirks(3rd), S.Smith-2(2nd)
TRIPLES- J.Peralta(1st)
HOME RUNS- A.Avila(1st), B.Moss(4th)
RBIs- A.Avila-3(4th), B.Moss(5th), C.Pennington(2nd)
STOLEN BASES- Q.Berry(3rd), C.Crisp(3rd), Y.Cespedes(1st), C.Pennington-2(4th)
CAUGHT STEALING- Q.Berry
WALKS- M.Cabrera, O.Infante, S.Drew-2, Y.Cespedes
STRIKE OUTS- A.Jackson, Q.Berry, D.Young, A.Dirks, J.Peralta, A.Avila,
             C.Crisp-2, J.Reddick, Y.Cespedes, B.Moss-2, J.Donaldson,
             G.Kottaras, C.Pennington
GIDP- J.Reddick
2-out RBI- A.Avila-3, B.Moss
RLISP 2-out- J.Peralta, G.Kottaras, P.Fielder, S.Drew, A.Jackson, J.Donaldson
 
Catcher Alex Avila hit one over the fence and had 3 RBI as the Detroit Tigers
defeated the Oakland Athletics by the score of 3 to 2 at O.co Coliseum.
 
The game was won by Detroit with a run in the 9th inning.  After two outs
Jhonny Peralta tripled.  Avila next to the plate and he ripped a one-base
hit.  Omar Infante then drew a walk.  The game was a scoreless duel until the
7th inning.  
 
Jose Valverde(1-0) allowed 1 run in 2 innings, and picked up the victory.
Grant Balfour(0-1) was the loser in relief.  He surrendered 1 run and 3 hits
in 1 and 2/3 innings.