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Tigers can move to brink of World Series with win vs. Athletics

Oct 13, 2006 - 12:53 PM Oakland at Detroit 4:30 pm EDT American League Championship Series Tigers lead, 2-0

DETROIT (Ticker) - The Oakland Athletics were mere centimeters away from evening the American League Championship Series at a game apiece. But instead it's the Detroit Tigers who are inching their way to the pennant.

The Tigers look to open a commanding lead in the ALCS when they hook up with the desperate Athletics on Friday in Game Three of the best-of-seven series.

After upsetting the New York Yankees in the AL Division Series, Detroit continued to surprise everyone by going on the road and winning both Games One and Two in Oakland.

In Wednesday's 8-5 triumph, the Tigers got four RBI from seldom-used Alexis Gomez, while Craig Monroe drove in two runs and Placido Polanco added three hits. Closer Todd Jones loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth but got Frank Thomas to fly out to center to preserve the win.

The Athletics wasted a superb performance from Milton Bradley, who went 4-for-5 and homered from both sides of the plate. Eric Chavez added a solo blast and Mark Kotsay chipped in three hits for Oakland, which will turn to Rich Harden (NR) in its biggest game of the season.

The A's decided earlier this week to move up Harden to Game Three despite the fact that the oft-injured righthander is a major question mark at this point of the season.

Harden has made only four starts since April and has not worked more than five innings in a major league game in nearly six months. The 24-year-old was 4-0 with a 4.24 ERA in nine starts during the regular season - all of which were A's victories - but spent most of the campaign on the disabled list with a sprained ligament in his right elbow.

"My elbow feels good right now," said Harden, who made two short relief outings for the Athletics in the 2003 postseason. "I had a lot of time to build up strength and get some confidence back in it."

Harden's last appearance came on October 1, when he was charged with six runs in just 3 2/3 innings of an eventual 11-10 triumph vs. Anaheim. He is 3-1 with a 3.70 ERA in four career starts against the Tigers, but has not faced them this season.

Detroit counters with Kenny Rogers (1-0, 0.00 ERA), who is coming off perhaps the most important victory of his 18-year career. The 41-year-old lefthander dominated the New York Yankees in Game Three of the ALDS, pitching 7 2/3 spectacular innings in a 6-0 win.

Rogers, who had been 0-3 with an 8.85 ERA in nine previous playoff games - including five starts - knows that things don't get any easier from this point on.

"I'm not going to approach Oakland the same way I approach New York, but I will do what I'm capable of doing in any given situation," Rogers said. "It'll be different in that respect. But they're a great ballclub. They beat a tremendous Minnesota Twins team (in the ALDS), and I know it doesn't get any easier as you go further into the playoffs."

A member of the Athletics from 1998-99, Rogers is 21-7 with a 4.33 ERA in his career against his former team. He has enjoyed a great deal of success in Oakland throughout his career, going 25-4 with a 3.46 ERA at McAfee Coliseum.

On the injury front, the Tigers still are without first baseman Sean Casey, who partially tore a calf muscle in Game One. They also may not have rookie setup man Joel Zumaya, who is battling a sore right wrist. The 21-year-old righthander suffered the injury warming up before Game Two but conceivably could pitch through the pain.

"We got a good report on Zumaya," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said on Thursday. "I'm not sure he'll be ready to pitch (Friday), but we got a good report on him. ... There's a little fluid there, but it appears to be pretty good, probably as well as we could expect it."