5:37 PM ET, October 2, 2014
Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, Maryland
Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, Maryland
Associated Press
Preparing For Pitchers
Cruz and J.J. Hardy homered, and the Orioles hammered out 12 hits in defeating Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer and the Detroit Tigers 12-3 Thursday in the opener of their AL Division Series.Rookie Jonathan Schoop had two hits and two RBIs for the Orioles, who turned a close game into a rout with an eight-run eighth inning against Scherzer and three ineffective relievers.The 12 runs set a postseason record for Baltimore, making its second playoff appearance since 1997.Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Friday at Camden Yards. Justin Verlander, the second of three straight Cy Young winners the Orioles will face, is set to go against left-hander Wei-Yin Chen.Cruz led the majors with 40 homers during the regular season, a good portion of Baltimore's big league-best 211 long balls. His first-inning drive off Scherzer put the Orioles up 2-0 before Detroit's Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez connected off winner Chris Tillman in the second to tie it.But Baltimore had too much firepower for the Tigers. Hardy homered leading off the seventh for a 4-2 lead, and Cruz added his third RBI with a single during a wild eighth inning keyed by a Detroit error that kept the boisterous, orange-clad crowd of 47,842 on its feet.Tillman (1-0) allowed two runs in five innings before Andrew Miller got five outs -- three by strikeout. Darren O'Day gave up an eighth-inning homer to Miguel Cabrera, but the drive followed a double play.Baltimore manager Buck Showalter then called upon closer Zach Britton, who had 37 saves during the regular season. Britton got the last out in the eighth, and by the time the ninth inning rolled around, he wasn't needed anymore.Miller had a 1.35 ERA in 23 games with Baltimore, O'Day finished at 1.70 and Britton closed at 1.65. That's one big reason why the AL East-champion Orioles were 80-4 when leading after eight innings.Meanwhile, Detroit's revamped bullpen has looked shaky -- although it was shortstop Andrew Romine's error that got the big eighth inning going.Pitching against Baltimore for the first time since 2013, Scherzer allowed five runs and seven hits in 7 1/3 innings. The right-hander was 18-5 during the regular season, but in this one he was burned by the long ball and outpitched by the Orioles.Although he had a 5.56 ERA in the first inning during the regular season, Tillman began his initial foray into the playoffs in impressive fashion by striking out the side on 14 pitches.Cruz hit an opposite-field drive to right in the bottom half after Nick Markakis hit a leadoff single. It was his 15th career postseason home run, tied with Babe Ruth for 10th place on the career list.The rollicking, towel-waving fans had barely settled down when Victor Martinez led off the second with a towering shot over the right-field wall. Four pitches later, J.D. Martinez hit a tying homer in his first postseason at-bat.Markakis answered with an RBI single in the Baltimore half. At that point, six of 10 batters reached safely against Scherzer.After yielding the back-to-back homers, Tillman retired the next 11 batters before Romine singled with two outs in the fifth. Another single and a walk loaded the bases for Torii Hunter, who hit into a fielder's choice on Tillman's 105th and final pitch.TRAINER'S ROOMTigers: CF Rajai Davis (pelvic strain) was cleared to play after passing a series of drills early in the day before rosters were finalized. Davis started and batted ninth.UP NEXTTigers: Verlander (15-12, 4.54 ERA) makes his 16th postseason start following what manager Brad Ausmus called "a down season overall" for the 2011 Cy Young Award winner.Orioles: Chen (16-6, 3.54) seeks his first win since Sept. 15 after losing his final two starts in the regular season.
Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
Photo Wire
BALTIMORE, MD - OCTOBER 02: Fans gather prior to the start of Game One of the American League Division Series at...
(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Game Information
| Stadium | Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD |
| Attendance | 47,842 (104.1% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 3:42 |
| Weather | 70 degrees, cloudy |
| Wind | 7 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Paul Schreiber, First Base - Scott Barry, Second Base - Jeff Kellogg, Third Base - Jim Wolf Left - Fieldin Culbreth, Right - Dan Bellino |
Research Notes
Victor and J.D. Martinez
hit just the second set of back-to-back home runs in postseason history
by players with the same last name. The others were hit by Frank and
Brooks Robinson for the Orioles in Game 1 of the 1966 World Series (off
Don Drysdale). .. Andrew and Chipper Jones (twice) are the only other set of same-named teammates to homer in the same postseason game.
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Nick Hundley will get the start behind the plate tonight for the Orioles. Caleb Joseph
started 77 games during the regular season, compared to Hundley's 49,
but Hundley became Tillman's regular catcher in July and has started all
15 of Tillman's starts since July 23.
[+] |
If the Tigers have a weakness, it's on pitches up in the zone.
[+] |
Max Scherzer (DET): 1st time allowing 2 HR to right-handed batters since Aug. 29, 2011.
|
Max Scherzer
has given up 3 earned runs through 2 innings tonight. The Tigers were
6-6 this season when Scherzer allowed 3 or more earned runs and 17-4
when he allowed 2 earned runs or fewer.
|
Darren O'Day (BAL): 1st HR allowed to a right-handed batter at home since May 22, 2013.
|
From Elias: Victor and J.D. Martinez are just the 2nd pair of Tigers to hit back-to-back postseason home runs - Don Kelly and Delmon Young did so in Detroit's ALDS-clinching win over the Yankees on October 6, 2011.
|
With his first inning HR, Nelson Cruz tied Babe Ruth for 10th on baseball's postseason career HR leaderboard.
[+] |
Now that Adam Dunn has retired, here's an updated look at the active players with the most games played and no postseason appearances. Nick Markakis
is leading off and playing right field for Baltimore tonight, so if all
goes according to plan, he'll be removed in a matter of hours.
[+] |
Tillman
throws 40 percent of his pitches in the upper third of the zone or
higher, 2nd-highest rate in MLB. And he's been effective with those
pitches:
[+] |
Power lefty Madison Bumgarner advanced the Giants to the LDS with his wild-card masterpiece, beating the Pirates. 
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» 
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