Tigers level series, Dodgers alive
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A REVAMPED Detroit Tigers lineup beat the Boston Red Sox 7-3 on Wednesday to even the American League championship series at 2-2.
Torii Hunter had a two-run double and Miguel Cabrera drove in two runs for the Tigers, who host Game 5 today before the series moves back to Boston for the final two games.
Detroit manager Jim Leyland dropped Austin Jackson to eighth in the batting order and moved everyone else up a place, and it paid dividends as Jackson drew a bases-loaded walk off Jake Peavy for the first run of Detroit’s five-run second inning.
“It just helped me relax,” Jackson said. “That was the goal. To get me to relax a little, be patient, get a good pitch and let the rest take care of itself.”
Tigers starter Doug Fister allowed one run in six innings as the hosts hung on to an early lead, having blown a 5-0 advantage in Game 2.
Jackson, who had been 3 for 33 with 18 strikeouts in the playoffs before Wednesday, finished with two singles and two walks. Jacoby Ellsbury had four hits for the Red Sox, finishing a homer shy of the cycle.
Leyland’s order shuffle made for an odd-looking order. Hunter hit leadoff for the first time since 1999 and Cabrera was second for only the third time in his career — first since 2004.
Peavy allowed seven runs in three-plus innings.
In Game 5, the Tigers’ Anibal Sanchez faces Boston’s Jon Lester in a rematch of Game 1, which was won by Detroit 1-0.
The winners of the series will take on the National League champions in the World Series. The St Louis Cardinals lead the Dodgers 3-2 in the NLCS, despite Los Angeles winning Game 5 6-4 earlier on Wednesday.
Adrian Gonzalez clubbed two homers and Carl Crawford and AJ Ellis added solo shots for the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
Gonzalez’s 428-foot blast in the third was the first home run of the series for the Dodgers, who finished with four homers.
“Adrian’s first homer was huge,” said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. “Obviously we hadn’t been hitting them. We know the ball carries here during the day, but it was just one of those days that we were a little better, got some runs, good feeling.”
Both previous times the Cardinals have held a 3-1 series lead in the NLCS they went on to lose, including last year when the San Francisco Giants rallied to beat them 4-3. The Atlanta Braves did it to them in 1996.
“We had a couple of opportunities to do something and just couldn’t make it happen,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “Those usually come back to haunt you and today it did.
“You are going to have games where you can’t make it happen and we’ve got to figure out a way to get it done the next time we get a chance.”
The playoff now shifts to St Louis for Game 6 tomorrow. The Cardinals need to win one of the next two to reach their second World Series in three years.
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