DETROIT -- The more Victor Martinez and Grant Balfour tried to explain their screaming match Monday afternoon, the more they sounded like a pair of siblings squabbling on a long road trip.
They screamed obscenities at each other and started a mess that ended with the benches and bullpens emptying in the ninth inning of Game 3 of their AL Division Series ... all because Martinez looked at Balfour. Neither would confirm if Martinez's shadow also touched Balfour's side of the field.
The confrontation wasn't because Balfour hit Martinez with a pitch or because the A's closer even came too close inside, nor was it the aftermath of old problems. Balfour just got angry because Martinez didn't avert his eyes in the proper way.
"I hit a foul ball, and I was looking at him (Balfour), and he said 'What the (expletive) are you looking at?,'" Martinez said. "I don't know what he wanted. I was looking at him, because I wanted him to throw the next pitch. Where did he want me to look? I don't know what he expected me to do."
Balfour didn't disagree about the facts, although he portrayed Martinez's gaze as something much more sinister.
"He gave me a death stare, and I asked him what he was looking at," Balfour said after Oakland's 6-3 win. "If he's going to stare me down, come out to the mound. That's all I said."
Martinez tried to take Balfour up on his offer, taking a few steps toward the mound, but the Tigers designated hitter was quickly intercepted by A's catcher Derek Norris and home-plate umpire Gary Darling. Eventually every player from both dugouts and bullpens ran onto the scene.
When cooler heads finally prevailed, Martinez went back to the plate and hit a hard liner to right field for an out.
As he turned back from first base and toward Detroit's dugout, he jogged between home plate and the mound. Norris, Darling and Oakland first baseman Daric Barton quickly formed a human barrier between Martinez and Balfour, but the Tigers slugger never even looked at the A's closer until the reliever started screaming at Martinez again.
Martinez stopped and looked over his shoulder, but left the field without further incident.
"I've played against the greatest closer in baseball -- Mariano (Rivera) -- and he's never done anything like that," Martinez said. "(Balfour) starts screaming at me, but I'm not a rookie. I don't take that (expletive). I'm a veteran, and I'm a leader on my teams.
"(Expletive) him. He can't intimidate me."
Martinez said he wasn't sure if the incident would fire up the Tigers -- "We'll see tomorrow (in Game 4)" -- but his teammates all thought it would be quickly forgotten.
"It was nothing," Prince Fielder said. "It didn't matter."
Detroit catcher Alex Avila agreed, saying that the Tigers had much bigger issues on their minds.
"We're down 2-1 in a best-of-5 series," the catcher said. "That's all the motivation anyone in this room needs. We don't need something like that to fire us up when our season is on the line."
Martinez vs. Balfour wasn't the first time that the Tigers and A's had gotten into an odd postseason skirmish. In the 1972 ALCS, Oakland shortstop Bert Campaneris was hit by a pitch and responded by throwing his bat at Tigers pitcher Lerrin LaGrow.
PERALTA'S RETURN
Jhonny Peralta hadn't played at Comerica Park since his 50-game suspension for PEDs, and no one was quite sure what kind of reception he would get from the Detroit fans.
Yes, he was an All-Star returning to the lineup, but his absence had hurt Detroit down the stretch and forced the Tigers to trade outfield prospect Avisail Garcia for shortstop Jose Iglesias.
It didn't take long for the fans to make their feelings known, as Peralta received one of the loudest cheers during pregame introductions, and a huge ovation after he tracked down an early wind-blown fly ball at the fence in left.
"I tried not to worry too much, because I know the fans here, and I know that they support us," he said. "I felt pretty good after I caught that first ball, because the fans were pretty loud."
Manager Jim Leyland was clearly concerned about playing Peralta in the outfield -- a position he had never played before the final weekend of the regular season -- and he probably cost the Tigers a run in the top of the fourth.
With no outs and an A's runner on third, Oakland center fielder Coco Crisp hit a fly to shallow left. Peralta wasn't able to catch it in the proper position, and Oakland catcher Stephen Vogt beat Peralta's weak throw to the plate for a sacrifice fly.
"I read the ball pretty good, but in the last moment, the ball moved to the left, and I didn't get good balance," Peralta said. "I thought I made a good throw, and Avila said it was right there, but it kind of slowed down when it hit the grass."
Peralta, though, made up for it with a two-run single in the bottom of the inning that tied the game at 3.
"When I see guys on base like that, I know I can do something big, so I'm excited -- excited in the moment," Peralta said. "I've been pretty good in Detroit with guys on base, and today I got a chance and I got the two RBIs."
