It has been six days since the Detroit Tigers last played a competitive game this Postseason. Plenty of time to ice away any aches and pain accumulated over the 171 games that had gone before. Plenty of time to lose the sharpness and focus that has got them there too. As we have seen in recent times with the GAA qualifier system the long break that is in theory a reward for the provincial champions is often anything but.
When asked about how any potential down time would affect his team,Detroit Manager Jim Leland a responded "When you sweep the New York Yankees, I don't give a (beep) if we wait three weeks to the World Series.'' He has a point,but, while Leyland’s team have been celebrating, their World Series opponents, the San Francisco Giants have been battling for their playoff lives. Becoming only the 12th team in Baseball history to overturn a 3-1 series deficit, the Giants are as battle hardened as a team can be. Having already faced and won five elimination games in their run to the World Series the “Cardiac Kids” Giants, it would seem have all the momentum going into tonight’s game.
As the old Baseball saying goes momentum is only as good as tomorrows starting pitcher and tonight the man taking the mound for the Tigers is arguably the best in the business Justin Verlander.If a baseball team could handpick what they wanted in a pitcher Verlander would be the prototype. A big right-handed power pitcher, armed with an overwhelming 100 mph fastball, pin point accuracy and a collection of breaking balls that he can make dance up and down the strike zone like a plastic bag caught in the wind .
Opposing Verlander tonight is Barry Zito. Once part of the Money ball Oakland A’s Zito is the antithesis of Verlander. A soft tossing left-handed pitcher with a quirky pitching motion that reflects his personality. A finesse pitcher Zito relies on deception and his curveball to get hitters out.Once considered elite Zito, left Oakland A’s in 2006 and signed what was then the largest contract ever handed out to a pitcher a seven-year 126 million dollar contract.
A contract that he has failed miserably to live up to. Injury and a loss of confidence meant that Zito didn’t even make the Giants roster the last time they where in the World Series in 2010, a stunning fall from grace for a man paid to be one of the top pitchers in the game. This year Zito has rebounded slighty and his stellar performance in Game 5 of the NLCS against the St.Louis Cardinals means that he has earned his opportunity at redemption again tonight.
Logic makes the Tigers favourites for tonight’s game 1 and indeed the series. Powerful and well rested they are a team littered with high-priced, high talent players. From Verlander to the dynamic Hitting duo of Prince Fielder and the best hitter in the game today Triple Crown Winner Miguel Cabrera. However, the Giants have spent the postseason defying logic, nobody more so than Barry Zito. The type of pitcher, the Tigers have struggled to hit against all season . Prediction Giants to win Game 1
