Sunday Oct 1 at Tiger Stadium
The first inning saw a pair of two run homers, one by Carlos Pena (13) and one by Damion Easley (9). In the second, Bryan Hunter drove home Luis Gonzalez to give the Tigers a lead. It stayed that way until the top of the sixth when Pena hit another two run homer (14). The last score of the game came in the 8th on a solo homerun by - you guessed it- Carlos Pena (15) Andy Sonnanstine got the win (4-2, 3.35). Al Reyes got the save (15, 2.00). Justin Thompson took the loss (4-2, 3.35) Rays 5 Tigers 3
Monday October 2 at Tiger Stadium
This game was all Brian Moehler. Paul Bako drove home two with a double in the first and Moehler did not need any more. Moehler was masterful as he allowed the Rays only 5 hits and 2 walks in throwing a complete game shutout. (6-4, 3.44) Edwin Jackson was the loser (5-2, 4.97) Tiger 5 Rays 0
Wednesday October 4 at Tropicana Park
James Shields was the beneficiary of 15 Ray hits as Tampa cruised to an 11-2 thumping of the Tigers. Jorge Valandia (1) and B.J. Upton (13) had homers and Delmon Young drove home 4 runs. Shields went 7 innings to even his record at 3-3. Seth Griesinger was the loser (5-3, 3.72)
Thursday October 5 at Tropicana Park.
It was the Tigers' turn to roar. Joe Oliver, a season long .142 hitter, drove home 2 with a double in the second and scored on Deivi Cruz' single. Delmon Young got one back in the second with a homer (3). A lead off triple by Dioner Navarro resulted in a second run for the Rays in the third. Oliver's second double of the day drove home another run in the 4th. The Tigers picked up two more in the sixth and added a solo homer by Luis Gonzalez (3) in the 7th. Two more came in on Robert Fick's two run homer (2) in the ninth. Frank Castillo was the winner (5-2, 2.68) Scott Kazimir took the loss (4-4, 4.12) Tigers 9 Rays 2
Friday October 6 at Tiger Stadium
The Tigers would send out first game loser Justin Thompson in this one while the Rays countered with lefty J.P. Howell who came in with a 1-1 record but an era under 1.50. Each team scored one in the first. The Tigers added a second run in the second on a Hunter rbi single. Brian Hunter's sixth inning triple drove home Deivi Cruz and then he scored on an Easley sacrifice fly. Carl Crawford squeezed home a run in the top of the 7th. The Tigers added an important run in the 7th when Gonzalez led off with a double and scored on Cruz' single. The Rays picked up two in the 8th, one on a second squeeze pay, to make the game a one run affair heading into the 9th. Ace reliever Todd Jones came on to face the Rays in the 9th. Crawford attempted to bunt his way on but was thrown out. Then Pena launched a drive to deep center field. Hunter took off after it and at the 440 foot leaped up over the fence and pulled the ball back into the field of play. Jones was obviously shaken up by the near disaster as he walked Young, gave up a single to Upton and walked pinchhiter Valandia. Jones then bore down and got pinchhitter Ty Wittington on a ground ball to third. Thompson got the win (4-4, 2.81) Jones earned the save (7, 0.86). Howell took the loss (1-2, 1.82) Tigers 5 Rays 4
The Tigers advance to the American League Championship Series.
--submitted by Tom “Crash” Davis--
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