The Oakland Athletics suffered a tough series loss in five game last season against the Detroit Tigers and this time around the team will get the chance at revenge, as the Tigers travel to the Bay Area and O.co Coliseum for Game 1 of the American League Division Series on TBS on Friday night starting at 9:37 pm.
The second game of the series will pick up on Saturday at 9 pm and that game will push back the Oakland Raiders game on Sunday against the Chargers into the night, as the crew at the stadium needs to change things over. The Tigers are coming into the series as one of the favorites in the American League, but the health of star Miguel Cabrera will be a question and for Game 1 they will have Max Scherzer on the mound.
Click here for coverage of the Athletics and Tigers ALDS series on Friday for Game 1 or for the schedule of the series from Sports World Report.
The Athletics come into the series after scoring the fourth most runs in the American League and while the team does not have one of the higher payrolls in the majors, they have been able to sustain success over the past few seasons. The team ranked eighth in on base percentage and fourth in slugging this season and one reason for their success has been the play of Josh Donaldson and Brandon Moss.
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The Tigers will need Cabrera to be healthy to have any chance of winning the World Series, but the team still has a strong lineup with Prince Fielder in the middle and should be a challenge even if the reigning MVP is not 100 percent. Manager Jim Leyland stated the obvious to reporters that Cabrera was not totally healthy heading into the playoffs and despite hitting nearly .350 with over 40 home runs and 137 RBIs, he missed some time down the stretch.
Cabrera could end up winning MVP again this season and Leyland knows that he might have to take things easy with his star player. Cabrera will be the key for the team making it to the World Series and he will be a major factor in this series to start things off. The Tigers added Jhonny Peralta to their postseason roster despite him being suspended for 50 games for his Biogenesis connections and now Jose Iglesias will be the starter when Game 1 kicks off on Friday night.
Peralta was hitting .303 with 11 home runs and 55 RBIs when he got pegged and now the Athletics will have to see how much he plays during the series. Bartolo Colon will be the starter in Game 1 for Oakland against Max Scherzer and that is a solid matchup of top starters and in Game 2 the Tigers feel good about having Justin Verlander go. The Tigers strength is in their pitching and they are deep, as they have Verlander, Scherzer as well as Doug Fister and Anibal Sanchez.
The Athletics have the clear advantage in the bullpen with the way the Tigers played all season and Grant Balfour could be a huge difference in the series. The Athletics have had success making it to the playoffs over the past decade, but they haven't done a good job advancing, as they have done that just once in the past six tries and they will try and end that on Friday.
