LFR Sports

PREGAME>>>Thinking about the A's making a heroic comeback is putting the cart before the horse. Just winning today will bring back an enormous amount of pride in this team. If want to talk about winning four straight, put it this way; momentum would have to swing violently to the A's quickly. Danny Haren hurling a no-hiter is just about the only way that happens.

>>>Keep an eye on Detroit's Jeremy Bonderman. His background is sort of like another Motown bad boy; the 8 Mile's Eminem.

TOP OF THE FIRST>>>Bonderman is lacking control early on. The weather might have more to do with that than nerves.

>>>Except for Frank Thomas, these A's look patient at the plate. Milton Bradley came up limp. If he can run at 2/3 speed, you've got to leave him in there. He's the only player with any life on this team.

>>>Kotsay Scores on Bradley's double to left. Bradley scores on Chavez's double down the rightfield line. ATHLETICS 2, TIGERS 0.

BOTTOM OF FIRST>>>Haren needs to shutdown the Tigers after being awarded a two run cushion. So far, he's keeping the ball down.

>>>Interesting how Lou Piniella put Fox's Thom Brennamen on the spot about Bonderman's GED. Brennamen said it meant that Bonderman was "smart" enough to get a high school diploma. Where I'm from getting a GED is hardly within the realm of scholarly lads.

>>>Haren retires the side with Granderson on second. ATHLETICS 2, TIGERS 0.

TOP OF SECOND>>>Maybe Kenny Rogers' chat with Bonderman in the dugout did wonders. The A's go down in order.

>>>Nick Swisher goes hitless, again. People have criticized D'Angelo Jimenez. His defense has been awful, but at least, he has two hits...two more than Thomas and The Swish put together.

BOTTOM OF SECOND>>>Let's see if Detroit can regain the momentum after Bonderman's quick inning.

>>>Haren continues to have a wicked slider working in the dirt. Brandon Inge looked silly swinging at it which is a good indication of its effectiveness. ATHLETICS 2, TIGERS 0.

TOP OF THIRD>>>Bradley with another hit. The limping Bradley should be inspiring the rest of the team. In the Billy Beane playoff era in Oakland, Bradley is playing the best ball out of all those teams.

>>>It's sad when the broadcasters are commenting on how Thomas' foul balls are good swings. ATHLETICS 2, TIGHERS 0.

BOTTOM OF THIRD>>>Haren continues to deal. He's a gamer and I don't buy that having him pitch Game 3 would have changed its outcome. Despite Rogers' newfound steely demeanor, I'll still take Haren going eye-to-eye with him spinning dueling goose eggs. ATHLETICS 2, TIGERS 0.

TOP OF FOURTH>>>Jay Payton homers to left. Hopefully, this is a good sign. He looked deflated in his first at-bat and bit incredulous while rounding second on his homer. One-by-one maybe they're starting to believe.

>>>Swish gets his first hit. A nice liner to right. He almost overhustled rounding second, if that's possible. Pete Rose would say, no. ATHLETICS 3, TIGERS 0.

BOTTOM OF FOURTH>>>Haren gets in a bit of trouble, but still has the splitter humming when he needs it.

>>>Good observation by the Fox guys. Carlos Guillen, Ivan Rodriguez and Magglio Ordonez have done very little in getting the Tigers one game from the World Series. It only shows how much Placido Polanco has been for Detroit. ATHLETICS 3, TIGERS 0.

TOP OF FIFTH>>>The A's go down quickly in the fifth. Bonderman is settling in with only 71 pitches. This only going to put more pressure on the A's pitching and defense.

BOTTOM OF FIFTH>>>Chavez throws Brandon Inge's dribbler into the stands. If your throw ends up behind the runner at first then you probably shouldn't have thrown it. Chavez is just not looking very nimble at third. Did he age ten years in the postseason? He looks like Ron Cey playing out his days at third with the Cubbies.

>>>Granderson doubles Inge home for the Tigers first run. His baserunning is what winning in the postseason is about. Not only did he put his team on the board, but woke up his freezing fans with a hustling burst to second.

>>>Granderson scores on Craig Monroe's double to left..

>>>Tigers get two, but Polanco's lineout double play to Jimenez is, at least, something different to what the A's have seen when Detroit starts a rally. ATHLETICS 3, TIGERS 2.

TOP OF SIXTH>>>A's put a runner on, but meekly hit grounders to the right side of the diamond are not what you want without much speed out there. It makes you wonder what the A's hitters are thinking by trying to pull outside pitches they invariably end up being slow rollers to the firstbaseman.

>>>Momentum seems to be turning the Tigers way. Can Haren stop them? Can the defense get out of the sixth without making a crucial error.? ATHLETICS 3, TIGERS 2.

BOTTOM OF SIXTH>>>First pitch of the sixth into the leftfield stands. Ordonez homers to left. Macha needs to get the pen going. The Tigers are figuring out Haren or the lighting conditions are evening out in Detroit.

>>>Joe Kennedy replaces Haren after Guillen singles to right. Guillen makes an aggressive run to third on Kennedy's wild pitch. Like Granderson in the fifth, the A's roster does not have the speed to put that kind of pressure on a catcher.

>>>Clutch K on Alexis Gomez by Kennedy. The infield can drop back now and hope for forceout to end the inning. Kennedy retires the light-hitting Ramon Santiago, but why did it take eight pitches? ATHLETICS 3, TIGERS 3.

TOP OF SEVENTH>>>Jason Kendall singles to right off of Bonderman's foot. Kendall is a contact hitter, but does he have to be protecting on every pitch of the at-bat. Taking Bonderman out of the game might have been premature for Jim Leyland. Maybe he saw something, but it seemed like Bonderman was heating up. ATHLETICS 3, TIGERS 3.

BOTTOM OF SEVENTH>>>The Tigers are rallying again. Polanco's single to second advances the runner to second. Polanco is now officially on par with the Hatcher's in terms off tearing up the A's in the playoffs. Mickey Hatcher's clutch hitting in the 1988 World Series brought down the A's and Billy Hatcher's hitting prowess led to a sweep of the 1990 team. They are not relating in any way except in the ire of A's fans.

>>>Kiko Calero comes up for Kennedy for the most important few hitters of the entire season.

>>>Macha makes a shrewd move and brings in Huston Street with the bases loaded and one out. Macha shouldn't get too much credit for creativity there isn't anything else he can do now. A strikeout here is critical. Even a sac fly RBI will set the Tigers bullpen in motion.

>>>Street comes up huge with a double play from Chavez, 5-3. The normal flow of a baseball game would say the A's break through in the eighth. If not, we're talking extra frames. ATHLETICS 3, TIGERS 3

TOP OF EIGHTH>>>Reliever Jason Grilli comes in for Detroit in Joel Zumaya's role. The 100 mph hurler is not ready to come back from his injury. This is Oakland's chance with the hot-hitting Bradley leading off.

>>>Much has been written about the radar guns being juiced. Here's more: Grilli is not hitting 98-99 mph on the gun as the Fox linescore says. If true, a couple of teams including the Giants were stupid for letting him go.

>>>Thomas hits into a weak double-play. It might be time to give up on the Big Hurt tonight and hopefully tomorrow.

>>>Has anyone ever seen a Major League pitcher throw 12 straight balls? Zumaya's injury is definitely hurting the Tigers. It goes to show what the inability of Thomas to come close to get a hit is doing to the A's in a inning where the leadoff hitter reached on a single and Grilli walked three straight, Oakland is down two out because of Thomas' poor swinging.

>>>Lefty Wilfredo Ledezma replaces Grilli.

>>>Scutaro fouls out and the entire series comes into focus. ATHLETICS 3, TIGERS 3.

BOTTOM OF EIGHTH>>>Street handles the Tigers in order. Through 1 2/3 he's thrown relatively few pitches. He'll go the ninth. ATHLETICS 3, TIGERS 3.

TOP OF NINTH>>>The A's put Kendall on but can't do anything else. ATHLETICS 3, TIGERS 3.

BOTTOM OF NINTH>>>Monroe and Polanco single with two outs.

>>>Ordonez smacks a game-winning, series-winning, pennant-winning homerun. The Tigers sweep the A's, 4-0 and await the Mets or Cardinals. TIGERS 6, ATHLETICS 3.