Behind Verlander and bullpen, Tigers beat A’s in Game 1, 3-1

ser·en·dip·i·ty   /ˌsɛrənˈdɪpɪti/ noun

1. an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.

2. good fortune; luck

(via dictionary.com)

Once again, this year, personal business brought me out of Chicago in early October, this time to eastern Michigan; when I planned this trip weeks ago, I had no idea the Tigers would be hosting a Division Series game on October 6. But there it was. And here I was going to be. “Why not?” I thus thought, and so obtained a ticket to Saturday’s festivities and headed, following the completion of business, to Comerica Park. Serendipity, for the second straight year.

The scary thing: Verlander wasn’t perfect.

That’s from the catcher’s perspective, and what you’re looking for are the orange squares (the strikes) and green squares (the balls) on the left side -- those would be on the outside corner to left-handed hitters. A’s hitters swung at a lot of them, and Reynolds called a lot of them for both sides; if Verlander were at his best, this could have been one of those games.

Just three days ago, Neshek’s 23-hour-old son Gehrig died, cause yet unknown. But Neshek, reportedly with the encouragement of his wife, wanted to pitch. And considering how well he pitched in the regular season after joining the A’s in August, he was named to the Division Series roster Saturday morning.

Well, now the A’s are in trouble.

... but I gotta say, while I haven’t seen every pitch -- I’ve been writing some -- a bunch of the strikes that Oakland hitters have been grumbling about and Twitters have been bitching about were actually right on the edge of the zone. You know, this is what great pitchers do. Throwing 95 doesn’t really mean a lot unless you’re hitting your spots, and Verlander does.

As I noted before the game, the Tigers present a tough match-up for the A’s in at least one respect.

But as I also noted, the A’s did play better than the Tigers over the last six months -- well, the last three months for sure -- with more wins and a better run differential in a tougher division. They must have done something better than the Tigers, right?

It’s not much. With two outs and a runner on second, Quintin Berry chopped a ball down the first-base line. Jarrod Parker pounced off the mound, and he ran to swipe the ball and run to the bag, and he ... juuuust missed.

Even worse, he kind of shoveled the ball down the line, which allowed the runner from second to score, putting the Tigers up 2-1. The A’s would have been better off if Parker had whiffed entirely.

Mind you, this was a moment after Cabrera grounded into a double play.

Anyway, Boone’s evidence was

According to ESPN Stats and Info, Justin Verlander allowed the most leadoff home runs in baseball this season, with four. Here they are:

1. May 24, Shin-Soo Choo

I don’t remember the last pitcher I’ve enjoyed watching pitch more than Verlander. It was probably Pedro in his prime. But Verlander is the Platonic ideal of a power pitcher -- the golden 80 in the imaginations of every scout.

And when he threw his first pitch of Game 1 of the ALDS, a 95-m.p.h. fastball with sweet corner location, I panicked. How can I write “Justin Verlander is good” over and over for three hours, much less for an entire postseason run???”

For a lot of reasons, the A’s might be your sentimental choice in this series, unless of course you’re a Tigers fan or you hated Moneyball. And there are reasons to like the A’s to win this series; chief among them, the A’s won more games and posted a better run differential than the Tigers, in a tougher division.

But as Joe Sheehan wrote in his (subscription required) newsletter today, this match-up doesn’t seem to favor the A’s:

Here’s the crew Tigers manager Jim Leyland will send out against Jarrod Parker in Game 1 of the American League Division Series:

1. Austin Jackson - CF

2. Quentin Berry - LF

3. Miguel Cabrera - 3B

4. Prince Fielder - 1B

5. Delmon Young - DH

6. Andy Dirks - RF

7. Jhonny Peralta - SS

8. Alex Avila - C

9. Omar Infante - 2B

By way of Oakland Athletics’ manager Bob Melvin, here is the starting lineup for Game 1 of the American League Division Series:

1. Coco Crisp - CF

2. Stephen Drew - SS

3. Yoenis Cespedes - LF

4. Brandon Moss - 1B

5. Josh Reddick - RF

6. Josh Donaldson - 3B

7. Seth Smith - DH

8. Derek Norris - C

9. Cliff Pennington - 2B

*. Jarrod Parker, RHP

A couple of obvious oddities here:

* Correction - Porcello did make two relief appearances in the A.L.C.S. one year ago; he fared well in one of the outings, and not well in the other.

There are only two notable semi-surprises.

Brett Anderson, who didn’t pitch for the A’s until the middle of August this season after recovering from Tommy John Surgery, and then made only six starters before going on the shelf with another injury, is on the roster and figures to start Game 3 on Tuesday night, even though he hasn’t pitched since the 19th of September.