The Oakland A's couldn't have gotten a more dramatic win over the Detroit Tigers than they got on Saturday night. The picked up only run of Game 2 in the bottom of the ninth, to tie the ALDS before going back to Detroit.
It was mostly a pitcher's duel, as Tigers ace Justin Verlander put down the first 11 batters he faced. Of those first 11, he was able to strike out six of them to get off to a very familiar start. Josh Donaldson was finally able to break through in the bottom of the fourth with a single, but that was quickly snuffed out by Brandon Moss becoming the seventh strikeout victim of the night. Verlander would end the night with 11 total strikeouts across seven incredible innings, and giving up just four hits.
Conversely for Oakland, Sonny Gray had a pretty good night on the mound himself. In fact, the stat sheet shows a near mirror image of the two starters. Gray went eight innings, also just giving up four hits while striking out nine batters. As impressive as both men were, neither were around to claim a decision in this game.
Al Alburquerque was on the mound in the bottom of the ninth to attempt to force extra innings. However he gave up back-to-back singles to Yoenis Cespedes and Seth Smith to open up the home half of the ninth. He then gave Josh Reddick a free pass to first to load the bases. Tigers manager Jim Leyland decided to pull the reliever in favor of Rick Porcello. Unfortunately for Detroit, Stephen Vogt took a 1-1 count single and dropped it in left field.
Cespedes was able to cruise home on the walk-off hit, and Oakland picks up the 1-0 victory. Grant Balfour, who came on in the top of the ninth, picks up the win for the A's in Game 2. Game three will now shift to Detroit, as the Tigers will now get a taste of their home crowd for a couple of nights. Anibal Sanchez will get the start for the Tigers, while Jarrod Parker will go for Oakland. Parker gets another look at the Tigers in the playoffs, as he was the Game 1 starter in the 2013 ALDS against Detroit.
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