:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/4053000/125120418.jpg)
MAGIC NUMBER
1
KEY STATS
3 HR: Max Scherzer couldn't keep the ball inside the rather large confines of the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum (I refuse to call it the ridiculous name it goes by.) Scherzer allowed 5 runs, all earned, on seven hits.
1 ER: Brandon McCarthy took care of the Tigers. He allowed five hits, two walks and had 8 strikeouts in 7 innings pitched.
KEY PLAY
Detroit had the opportunity to turn two in the first inning, but couldn't get it done. Later, Scherzer gave up a 3-run home run to David DeJesus. At about that moment you got the feeling this might not be Detroit's night.
KEY THOUGHTS
Of course we know the other team wants to win, too, and Oakland's players would love nothing more than to put a damper on Detroit's celebration of a division-title. Still, it would have been nice for the Tigers to win the division with a win. (Obviously 12 wins in a row helped Detroit get to this point, but hopefully you know what I mean.) That is now out of the Tigers' hands. If Minnesota beats Cleveland Friday, the Tigers will clinch the division in about the first or second inning. As awesome as clinching is, that's just a bit, well, anti-climactic.
However, if folks close to the Tigers' dugout are looking for positives, hitting coach LLoyd McClendon and manager Jim Leyland will finally change their underwear. We reported on Lloyd's dirty skivvies here at BYB earlier, but Leyland let the reporters in his office know that his drawers were dusty too. So with the loss, we can only hope they both make a few changes. So apparently baseball jinxes are like Fight Club. Rule #1: Don't talk about your dirty underwear.
Like I wrote, it was over pretty early on. The problem with Max Scherzer is that he's so unpredictable. He can be on. Or he can be off. There's not a lot of middle ground. So he started off pretty bad, allowing some Tigers fans to fall asleep at a normal time after all. The rest of us who stayed up can confirm for them they didn't miss much. It was a pretty quiet game from the hometown team. Scherzer did strike out 8, but really, it was a bit too late by then. You can't expect the offense to rally from 4 or 5 runs down all the time.
Delmon Young hit a solo home run for the Tigers' side of the score.