Unser Chat » Red Sox in a rematch

DETROIT - A runaway title in a division of behemoths, then an unexpected sweep against a trio of Cy Young winners.For Nelson Cruz, Buck Showalter and this unheralded bunch from Baltimore, the question now is: Whats next?Cruz sliced a two-run homer for his latest big post-season hit, and the Orioles held off the Detroit Tigers 2-1 Sunday to reach the AL Championship Series for the first time since 1997.Bud Norris outpitched David Price in Game 3 of the AL Division Series. The Tigers scored in the ninth inning and put the tying run on second with no outs, but Orioles closer Zach Britton escaped the jam to lift Showalter into his first LCS in 16 seasons as a big league manager.This is fun to watch. Believe me, Im happier than you can imagine, Showalter said. But most of it comes from getting to see the players get what theyve put into it.Baltimore opens the ALCS on Friday at home against Kansas City. The Royals won the season series 4-3.Weve got a lot to go and were grinding, outfielder Adam Jones said. If we play as a team, we can do anything.So often an afterthought in the rugged AL East, the Orioles won their first division title since 1997 this year, dispatching the second-place New York Yankees by 12 games a€” and last-place Boston by more than double that margin. That put Baltimore up against another of the games most star-laden rosters, and Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander and the Tigers couldnt manage a single win.Cruzs homer Sunday was his 16th in post-season play, including eight against the Tigers. He was the MVP of the 2011 ALCS for Texas in a six-game victory over Detroit.Cruz spent much of this past off-season without a team after serving a 50-game suspension last year for violating baseballs drug agreement.He knows things were self-inflicted, Showalter said. He really wanted to re-establish himself, and we thought that we could provide a real good opportunity for him, and the sky might be the limit.Norris pitched two-hit ball for 6 1-3 innings, and Andrew Miller got five straight outs to keep the shutout going.Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez opened the ninth with back-to-back doubles off Britton. Bryan Holaday struck out after a failed bunt attempt, and Showalter made the unconventional decision to put the winning run on base by intentionally walking Nick Castellanos.That meant the bottom of Detroits lineup would have to come through. The Tigers sent up Hernan Perez a€” who had five at-bats in the regular season a€” to pinch hit, and he bounced a 96 mph fastball into a 5-4-3 double play. It was Brittons second save of the series.Cruz led the majors with 40 homers this season, and the Orioles topped baseball with 211. It was his two-run homer in the first inning of the opener that set the series tone, and he came through again in the sixth inning against Price. Cruzs drive cleared the wall in right, about 2 feet to the left of the foul pole.Not bad for a guy the Orioles signed in late February. Cruz turned down a $14.1 million qualifying offer that would have kept him with Texas a€” but he ended up having to settle for an $8 million, one-year contract with Baltimore that included $750,000 in roster bonuses.Cruzs powerful bat enabled the Orioles to withstand season-ending injuries to Manny Machado and Matt Wieters, as well as Chris Davis 25-game suspension for an amphetamine violation.If you tell me before the series were going to sweep, I dont believe it, Cruz said.Detroit won its fourth straight AL Central this year. But after reaching at least the ALCS the last three seasons, Detroit couldnt make it there this year. The Tigers remain without a World Series title since 1984 a€” a drought one year shorter than Baltimores.Its disappointing. You feel like you let the fans down and you feel like you let the organization down, said Brad Ausmus, who replaced Jim Leyland as Detroits manager after last season.Detroit acquired Price at this years trade deadline, adding another impressive arm to an already-formidable rotation. Max Scherzer, Price and Verlander are the ALs last three Cy Young Award winners, and the Tigers started them all in this series. Verlander and Cabrera have combined for the last three MVP awards.No use against a Baltimore team that had already surprised most of baseball with a 96-win regular season.We got beat. Theres all there is to say, Scherzer said. We got outplayed in the series in every facet.After dropping the first two games of the ALDS in Baltimore a€” the second thanks to an eighth-inning collapse by the bullpen a€” the Tigers returned home to a fairly subdued crowd at Comerica Park.In the third, Don Kelly was on second with one out when Torii Hunter hit a grounder to the left side. Kelly was caught between second and third and tried to slide headfirst back to second. Second baseman Jonathan Schoop initially dropped the throw from shortstop J.J. Hardy, then quickly picked up the ball and tagged Kelly.An umpire supervisor said through Major League Baseball spokeswoman Phyllis Merhige that Schoop was still in the act of fielding the ball, so it was not obstruction.It was probably more incidentally than anything else, going after the ball, Ausmus said. I dont know that anything could be done in that situation.TRAINERS ROOMDetroit OF Rajai Davis was out of the starting lineup with a pelvic strain. He lined out as a pinch- hitter in the seventh. Tigers C Alex Avila left in the sixth after taking a foul ball off the mask.UP NEXTBaltimore reached the ALCS in 1996 and 1997, losing to the Yankees and Cleveland. The Orioles went 3-4 against Kansas City this season and 4-2 against the Angels. Nike Air Max Günstig Outlet .com) - Australian Open champion Li Na, former Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova and former world No. Nike Air Max Outlet Schweiz . - Mathew Barzal scored 3:47 into overtime as the Seattle Thunderbirds downed the visiting Everett Silvertips 4-3 on Tuesday in Western Hockey League playoff action. http://www.airmaxschweiz.ch/ .com) - A chant of Zeke reverberated around AT&T Stadium before Ezekiel Elliott powered into the end zone for his fourth and final touchdown. Großhandel Nike Air Max . The All-Pro left tackle agreed to a five-year contract with the Eagles on Wednesday. Peters was signed for 2014, and his new deal adds four years through 2018. Nike Air Max Günstig . According to a police report, Douglas is accused of grabbing his girlfriend by the neck and slamming her against the wall several times while he carried her from the elevator to their Hartford hotel room early Sunday morning. DETROIT -- The Detroit Tigers insisted they were not concerned about their worst skid of the year a few hours before playing the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox in a rematch of the AL championship series. Detroit later showed it still has what it takes to win with strong pitching, big hits and usually sound defence. Ian Kinsler and Torii Hunter hit back-to-back homers in the fifth inning and Victor Martinez cleared the fences in the eighth, helping Detroit beat Boston 6-2 and end a season-high five-game losing streak Friday. "This was a good night for everyone," Drew Smyly said after pitching six strong innings. Detroit had lost 13 of 17 games, including the previous four, since sweeping the Red Sox on the road a few weeks ago. "Ive spoken to players a couple times over this stretch," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "Theres no reason to throw a fit unless its a lack of effort or concentration. This stretch has not been caused by a lack of concentration or effort." Smyly (3-4) snapped a skid of his own. He was 0-2 in his last two starts, giving up a total of nine runs over nine innings, and was 0-3 in his previous six outings. The left-hander allowed two runs on five hits over six innings and struck out four, walking only one against the Red Sox. "He was locating his pitches and keeping us off balance," Boston centre fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. said after going 0 for 3 with three strikeouts. "He had command on both sides of the plate." Rubby De La Rosa, meanwhile, paid a steep price for letting some pitches sail too high. De La Rosa (1-1) gave up four runs, nine hits and two walks. He had five strikeouts over 5 2-3 innings. In his first start of the season, he threw seven scoreless innings against Tampa Bay last week. "I feel almost 100 per cent like last time," De La Rosa said. "I just missed more pitches." Boston has lost four straight after winning seven in a row. The Red Sox are averaging fewer than three runs during the losing streak. "Offensively, were scuffling,&quuot; Red Sox manager John Farrell said.dddddddddddd. "Weve had a rough go with runners in scoring position." The Red Sox hope to end a trend this weekend. In their last seven series, they been swept four times and have won each game in the other three matchups. "We became so accustomed to being consistent," Farrell said. "The last two and a half weeks have been difficult." Kinsler and Hunter cleared the fences during a three-pitch sequence in the fifth, giving the Tigers a 4-1 lead. "They squared (De La Rosa) up when he was up in the strike zone," Farrell said. The Red Sox pulled within two runs in the sixth when Dustin Pedroia reached on Romines throwing error, advanced to third on David Ortizs single through the right side against a shifted infield and scored on Jonny Gomes sacrifice fly. Detroits Ian Krol and Joba Chamberlain each threw an inning of scoreless relief and Joe Nathan pitched the ninth in a non-save situation. NOTES: Tigers C Alex Avila is expected to miss Saturdays game after being hit in the head by Ortizs backswing in the eighth inning, and being replaced by Bryan Holaday. "Hes in a good humour, but he got stung pretty good," Ausmus said. ... Red Sox hitting coach Greg Colbrunn is expected to stay hospitalized in Cleveland for at least another week after he had bleeding in the area between his brain and the thin tissues covering it. Tim Hyers, Bostons minor league hitting co-ordinator, is filling in for Colbrunn while hes away from the team indefinitely. ... Tigers SS Eugenio Suarez was held out of the lineup to rest his sore left knee and Ausmus said he is "hour to hour," when asked for timetable on his return. ... The Tigers will send RHP Max Scherzer (6-2) to the mound against Red Sox LHP Jon Lester (6-6) on Saturday in a nationally televised game. ... Boston RHP Clay Buchholz (left knee) is scheduled to throw a simulated game Saturday in Detroit, where Mike Napoli, who is on the DL with a sprained left finger, is expected to hit against him. 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