Comfortable, until it wasn’t.

Tigers 3, A’s 2 (Lead Series 1-0)

Max Scherzer (1 GS, 7 IP, 2.57 ERA, 2.62 FIP) dominated the A’s on Friday night except for a couple of run-ins with Cespedes who took him for a double and a homer. The line was fantastic – 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 11 K – and the stuff was as filthy the results. He had tons of movement on the fastball and had the offspeed working nicely. The TIgers staked him to an early 3-0 lead as they jumped Colon in the first. Jackson doubled, Hunter got hit, and Cabrera drove in Jackson with a single. Then Fielder bounced into a run scoring double play and Martinez doubled and Avila scored him. They wouldn’t add any additional runs, but those three would hold up as the pen backed Scherzer with the final six outs with two from Smyly and four from Benoit. The Tigers will turn around and try to take a commanding 2-0 lead tomorrow behind the recently invigorated Justin Verlander (0 GS this postseason) at 9pm.

The Moment: Scherzer freezes Donaldson with a tailing fastball on the outside black in the 4th.