Will the pitchers rule this series?

After five innings, this was looking like a pitcher’s game.

And so perhaps this is the right time to mention that neither the Tigers nor the A’s were exactly hitting powerhouses this season. The Tigers finished sixth in the league in scoring, the Athletics eighth.

Granted, those rankings probably understate both teams’ cases some.

Well, the A’s anyway. They actually finished third in the league in road scoring and they were significantly more potent in the second half of the season than the first, due at least partly to personnel changes. But with the A’s playing their home games in an extreme pitcher’s park and with Comerica Park in frigid autumn conditions, we shouldn’t expect to see a great deal of offense in this series.

Oh, and there are some pretty good pitchers on both staffs, too.

In the top of the sixth, Doug Fister plunked the leadoff man, but he was later erased by a double play. We’re in the bottom of the sixth and it’s still tied, 1-1.