Stephen Vogt hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth, driving in the only run of the game in the Oakland Athletics 1-0 over the Detroit Tigers in Game 2 of the ALDS.
Tigers vs. Athletics, 2013 ALDS Game 2 results: Stephen Vogt hits walk-off single to give Oakland 1-0 victory
The Athletics catcher helped call a spectacular pitching performance, threw a baserunner out at second and drove in the only run of the game.
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Yoenis Cespedes led off the bottom of the ninth with a single against Tigers reliever Al Albuquerque. Seth Smith followed with a single past a diving Prince Fielder, and Cespedes advanced to third on the play. Albuquerque them issued an intentional walk to Josh Reddick, loading the bases for Vogt.
Jim Leyland brought in Rick Porcello to face Vogt, hoping for a groundball. Vogt did hit the ball on the ground, but in between Jose Iglesias and Miguel Cabrera for a RBI-single.
Sonny Gray and Justin Verlander both turned in spectacular pitching performances, combining to throw 15 shutout innings. Gray worked eight scoreless, only allowing four hits and two walks while fanning nine, tying his regular-season high. Only one of the Tigers four hits left the infield, and the rookie starter was efficient, tossing 111 pitches.
Verlander countered with seven shutout innings of his own. The veteran did not allow a baserunner until two outs in the fourth inning; he finished the day surrendering four hits and one walk while striking out 11.
The pitching duel was only the sixth post-season game in major-league history where both starters went seven-plus innings scoreless. The last time both starters on post-seasons teams accomplished the feat was Game 4 of the 2005 World Series, when Freddy Garcia and Brandon Backe combined each tossed seven shutout frames.
That’s not all the history that was made by these starting pitchers:
This is 1st postseason game in history where each starter had 9+ K and 0 runs allowed
— Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) October 6, 2013
Verlander struck out 11 & allowed 0 runs. He can't win. That has never happened in postseason history. http://t.co/nZvoMnk9G9
— YCPB (@cantpredictball) October 6, 2013
Both teams had opportunities to score in the fifth, but neither could capitalize. Omar Infante led off the Detroit half of the inning with a walk, then advanced to second on a groundout. Iglesias followed with an infield single, breaking Austin Jackson to the plate with runners on the corners and one out.
Gray responded with a strikeout of Jackson, and Iglesias attempted to steal second base on the third strike. Vogt gunned down the runner, ending the frame with a double play.
Cespedes and Smith led off the Oakland half of the fifth with back-to-back singles, giving the Athletics their first runner in scoring position of the game. Reddick followed with an attempted sacrifice bunt, but popped out to Cabrera for the first out of the frame. Verlander needed little help after that, striking out the next two batters to end the inning.
Oakland had another scoring opportunity in the seventh. Brandon Moss led off the inning with a walk, then advanced to third on Reddick's two-out single. Reddick moved to second base when Torii Hunter attempted to throw out Moss, putting two runners in scoring position with two-outs.
Vogt turned in a strong at-bat against Verlander, fouling off seven pitches, but Verlander ended up striking out the catcher to end the inning.
The Athletics threatened to score again in the top of the eighth. Alberto Callaspo led off with a double against Drew Smyly, then Jed Lowrie drew a one-out walk to put two runners on. Leyland replaced Smyly with Albuquerque, who momentarily bailed the Tigers out by striking out Josh Donaldson and Moss.
Oakland evened the series 1-1 with the victory. The two teams will have an off-day Sunday before traveling to Comerica Park to play Game 3 on Monday.
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• ALDS updates: Red Sox-Rays | A’s-Tigers
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