Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw could very well win the Cy Young Awards in their respective leagues, and both have shown just how valuable a dominant pitcher can be in their first post-season starts.
Each of them put the clamps on a tough offense to win Game 1 on the road in front of roaring, packed houses. In doing so, both pitchers quickly negated the home-field advantage of their opponents.
Scherzer both over-powered and baffled Oakland A’s batters who were not named Yoenis Cespedes. And that was enough to get the Detroit Tigers a 3-2 win in Friday night’s ALDS opener at the Oakland Coliseum.
“Scherzer was terrific,” said Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who won his 40th post-season game on the eighth anniversary of his hiring in Detroit.
The dominating right-hander gave up only three hits in seven innings: an infield hit to Brandon Moss and a triple and a homer to Cespedes.
Unfortunately for Scherzer, the round-tripper came after Moss beat out a high-hopper on which shortstop Jose Iglesias nearly made a spectacular play. That made it a game in the seventh inning, and ended Detroit’s 15-inning scoreless streak in the ALDS against Oakland.
Justin Verlander, who starts Game 2 on Saturday night, started that streak with a complete-game shutout in the deciding Game 5 last year in Oakland.
Fortunately for Scherzer, he escaped a run in the second inning after Cespedes clubbed a one-out triple that got over left fielder Andy Dirks near the foul line and rattled around.
Scherzer blew away Josh Reddick with a 98 mph fastball for the second out, and then Stephen Vogt lined out to first baseman Prince Fielder to end the threat.
Scherzer used one of his better changeups of the season and a fastball that only Cespedes was able to catch up to in beating Oakland.
TBS analyst Buck Martinez noted that Scherzer’s arm action was identical on both his fastball and changeup to perfectly deceive hitters.
Scherzer fanned Reddick in the fifth on a rare changeup that caught way too much of the plate.
“This guy is filthy,” said TBS analyst Dennis Eckersley, a Hall of Fame pitcher. "He doesn’t even have to paint (the corners) on the changeup. That’s how good that is.”
Scherzer struck out 11 and walked two. He dropped his earned run average in three ALDS starts to 1.37.
Tigers catcher Alex Avila, who had a big RBI, said Scherzer’s heater, routinely between 95 and 98 mph with plenty of movement, was the difference.
“His fastball was electric today and heavy,” Avila told FOX Sports Detroit’s John Keating.
Scherzer thought the key was his off-speed stuff. He credited his curveball in addition to the change.
“I thought I had a great changeup tonight,” Scherzer told TBS. “That was the difference.”
Cespedes was all that kept Scherzer from blanking the A’s. The Cuban slugger, who won the Home Run Derby at this summer’s All-Star Game, had struggled recently with right shoulder tendinitis.
He was 1-for-14 in his final four games of the season and questionable coming into the series. But the fact that Oakland manager Bob Melvin started him in left rather than making him the designated hitter was a good sign in regard to his health.
The 48,401 at the Coliseum roared on and on after Cespedes homered, cutting the lead to one run. But Leyland decided to stay with Scherzer after visiting the mound at that point.
“I still felt I had some bullets left,” said Scherzer, who told that to his skipper.
Scherzer repeated Leyland’s closing response before leaving the mound: “You earned it; it’s yours.”
And Scherzer used off-speed stuff to set down the next three batters in order to close out the seventh with 118 pitches. The frenzied crowd was hushed once more.
“To get those outs was big,” Scherzer said.
Then Drew Smyly got strikeouts for the first two outs of the eighth, and Joaquin Benoit got his first postseason save by getting the final four outs.
Benoit struck out the side in a 1-2-3 ninth, getting the heart of the Oakland batting order with Moss, Cespedes and Reddick each going down swinging.
The three-run first inning provided all the scoring required.
Austin Jackson led off the game with an opposite-field double and then Bartolo Colon hit Torii Hunter. Miguel Cabrera hit a single through the five-hole of Colon that reached center field to score the first run. Then another run scored as Fielder hit into a double play.
However, Victor Martinez laced a two-out double, and Avila came up with a clutch single to right to score what ended up being the winning run.
Scherzer, who was 21-3 with a 2.90 ERA in the season, saw to it that the lead didn’t get away.
Kershaw on Thursday night went seven strong innings, allowing one run and striking out 12 Atlanta Braves, to get the Los Angeles Dodgers the one win that was needed in the first two road games. It was a nearly identical showing to what Scherzer would achieve one night later.
That’s what aces do.
