The Tigers Lose Their Temper, Plus The 1st 2013 Playoff Game At Comerica Park Yesterday

Oct 8

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Victor Martinez took exception to Grant Balfour blurbing something under his breath. Martinez has been around long enough to know that this is part of the Aussie's act, however, when you hear the verbal exchange, you get a sense that something set off V-Mart.

Victor Martinez took exception to Grant Balfour blurbing something under his breath. Martinez has been around long enough to know that this is part of the Aussie’s act, however, when you hear the verbal exchange, you get a sense that something set off V-Mart.  The Tigers ended up losing the game 6 – 3, and now face elimination in Game #4 at Comerica Park tonight, with Doug Fister towing the hill against Dan Straily.  The Tigers are favored at -151.

By Matthew Lafave (Tigers Correspondent)

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The first postseason game in Detroit didn’t go as expected. It wasn’t even due to the 1:00 PM start time either.

Tigers Anibal Sanchez went only 4 1/3 innings and gave up home runs to Josh Reddick, Brandon Moss, and Seth Smith. Yes, that’s 3 home runs.

Though the Athletics jumped to a 3-0 lead early, the Tigers were able to claw back with 3 of their own in the bottom of the 4th.

Martinez and Balfour in a heated foul mouthed exchange – Parental Guidance Is Advised

Grant Balfour is not new to confrontation on the mound in the playoffs. When he was a member of the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays, he threw at Orlando Cabrera in a heated retaliation from previous Series events. During this time, Balfour was the set up man for Troy Percival. After yesterday's effort, the 35 Year Old form South Wales, Australia now has a 0.68 ERA in 13.1 IP of ALDS for the Twins, Rays and A's.

Grant Balfour is not new to confrontation on the mound in the playoffs. When he was a member of the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays, he threw at Orlando Cabrera in a heated retaliation from previous Series events. During this time, Balfour was the set up man for Troy Percival. After yesterday’s effort, the 35 Year Old from South Wales, Australia now has a 0.68 ERA in 13.1 IP of ALDS for the Twins, Rays and A’s.

The momentum the Tigers were riding was short-lived as the swinging A’s scored another quick 3 runs in the next inning.

That was the last of the offense for the game and there were no other fireworks after that.

Well, you could include a benches clearing altercation in the bottom of the 9th as fireworks.

Victor Martinez innocently fouled off one of Grant Balfour’s pitches and was staring at him a little too long. Some complements using foul language were exchanged, the benches cleared, and the fans at Comerica Park were just happy to cheer for something.

If V-Mart was hoping to get the team motivated for a 9th inning comeback, it did not work.

With the 6-3 loss today, the Tigers now have their backs against the wall and look to Doug Fister to even the series on Tuesday evening.

As Torii Hunter said after the game, “It’s not over yet.”

He’s right. The Tigers are a team who could easily win the next two games. But the pressure isn’t on the starting pitcher, it’s on the bats.

There are only 5 players hitting over .250 in the postseason and one of them is Don Kelly.

In last place is Austin Jackson, he is 1 for 11 with an unbelievable 7 strikeouts.

It’s not too surprising as he didn’t finish the season too hot – he was only 11 for 48 (.229) in the final 10 regular season games.

Regardless, the postseason is about ending slumps and starting over. Seems the Tigers forgot to hit that reset button.

Click.

The offense has really sputtered for the Tigers since being No - Hit in the last game of the regular season. They ended a 20 Inning Scoreless streak, when they put a 3 run frame in the 4th inning of yesterday's game. They have only scored in 2 innings of the 3 games played in the ALDS, and if you go back to the Miami game, that is 2 innings scored in 4 Games. That will need to change if they want to advance to the ALCS for their 3rd consecutive year.

The offense has really sputtered for the Tigers since being No – Hit in the last game of the regular season. They ended a 20 Inning Scoreless streak, when they put a 3 run frame in the 4th inning of yesterday’s game. They have only scored in 2 innings of the 3 games played in the ALDS, and if you go back to the Miami game, that is 2 innings scored in 4 Games. That will need to change if they want to advance to the ALCS for their 3rd consecutive year.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com and their partners***

A big thank-you goes out to Our ‘Tigers Correspondent’ Matthew LaFave for preparing today’s featured article.  Matthew was born and raised outside of Detroit, Michigan.

Growing up watching all of the Detroit sports with his father he began to enjoy writing about them in high school.

At first started out as e-mails between his father turned into a Detroit Lions blog website titled ‘Hear Me Roar’. Matthew would go on to get a job as ‘Detroit Tigers Writer’ at the website http://www.examiner.com.

He has been writing for them for over two seasons and regularly attends games as a credentialed media member. Be sure to follow him on Twitter

matthew lafave

Please e-mail me  at: mlbreports@gmail.com with any questions and feedback.  To subscribe to our website and have the Daily Reports sent directly to your inbox, click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.

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About Jonathan Hacohen

I practice daily yoga. Most foods are organic. If you catch me in the supermarket, it will be in the produce aisle. Warrior 1 Yoga was born from my wish to help people be healthy and happy. I preach the 4 key's to life: nutrition, exercise, water and sleep. This is my journey - I am hope to meet you along the way to share a similar path!

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