By DAVE HOGGFoxSportsDetroit.com
Jim Leyland knows, for the Tigers to force a Game 5 on Thursday, his hitters have to produce more than the two runs a game they've averaged while falling behind the Oakland A's, 2-1, in their American League division series.
Unfortunately, there's not much Leyland can do about it.
For the second day in a row, he's sent his team onto the field with as much power as possible -- playing Jhonny Peralta in left in the hopes of squeezing a few more runs out of an offense that went flat around Labor Day.
The best bat he's leaving on the bench is Andy Dirks, and the only way to get him onto the field would be to play him in left and Peralta at shortstop. That might help a bit -- Dirks is a better hitter than Jose Iglesias -- but the effect on the infield defense would be catastrophic.
Doug Fister is a groundball pitcher, and with Miguel Cabrera almost immobile at third base, he needs Iglesias at shortstop to prevent being sliced up by balls through the hole.
Other than Dirks, the only hitters left are Ramon Santiago, Hernan Perez and Brayan Pena. There's not much hope of offense there.
"There aren't a lot of tricks at this time of the season," Leyland said Tuesday afternoon. "We are who we are, and we're not going to make major changes at this point of the season.
"We aren't going to start manufacturing runs. We hit for power and that's how we score.
"We've got (Austin) Jackson leading off, and (Torii) Hunter and Cabrera and (Prince) Fielder and (Victor) Martinez and Peralta, (Alex) Avila and (Omar) Infante. Those are our guys."
That's the problem -- Leyland can't do the hitting.
"Am I surprised that we haven't hit a homer in seven games? Yes, I am," he said. "But Oakland didn't have a homer in the series before yesterday, either, and then they hit a bunch.
"These have been very well-pitched games, but we need to hit the ball hard. That's the really surprising part of this -- we aren't hitting the ball hard. That's tough for us."
Although Leyland apparently had forgotten Yoenis Cespedes' homer in Game 1, his point was valid. The Tigers aren't going to win with infield singles, bunts and stolen bases.
Someone needs to start hitting, and they need to do it Tuesday.
Max in relief?Even with the Tigers facing elimination, Leyland was very reluctant to discuss the possibility of using Max Scherzer out of the bullpen on three-days rest.
Because there are two off days in the five-game series, the Tigers have the option of using Scherzer in relief and still having Justin Verlander on normal rest for Game 5.
"We have to win this game just to play a Game 5, and we'd have Justin, so it is obviously something you have to consider," Leyland said. "But I'm not even going to think about doing it until Max goes out there during batting practice and throws.
"He said he might have a couple innings in him, but I want to see how he feels. I'm not going to risk any pitcher like that unless I'm sure about him, especially Max Scherzer."
Leyland isn't a big fan of using aces as emergency relievers and completely ruled out the idea of using Scherzer in long relief if Fister struggles early.
"I'm not going to use him if we're behind," Leyland said. "The only way I would use him, and this would be a long shot, is in the seventh or eighth inning if we're ahead.
"It's not something I like doing, and I haven't had a lot of success with it in my career."
Hunter ready to go
Torii Hunter was in the starting lineup and looked fine in batting practice, despite the injury he sustained in the first inning of Game 3.
Hunter jammed his shoulder diving for Coco Crisp's double, but stayed in the game and finished with a single and a walk.
"Give me some Advil and I'll be alright," Hunter said after the game. "It's not broke, so I'm playing no matter what."
