In what may be the most intriguing series in the division round of the MLB playoffs pits the Detroit Tigers against the Oakland A's in a rematch of last year's classic five-game series that ended with Justin Verlander pitching a shutout to advance to the ALCS.
The Tigers will be hoping for another great performance from their ace tonight as the series kicks off in Oakland, only this year the ace is likely Cy Young Award winner Max Sherzer. Sherzer was the only 20 game winner in baseball this year with a record of 21-3 while striking out 240.
Ageless wonder Bartolo Colon will be taking the mound for the A's. The 40-year-old put together a quietly fantastic season this season posting an ERA of 2.65 and tossing 3 complete game shutouts. In his elder years Colon has been reborn by adapting his style of pitching to make up for his fastball not being what it was when he was in Cleveland; while the strikeout numbers may be down he has remained just as effective.
Both teams have incredibly deep rotations so runs should be at a premium for the duration of the series. Behind Colon the A's rotation is very young but they think they can go toe-to-toe with the Tigers, according to MLB.com.
"I think our guys are right up there with their guys - Sherzer, Anibal Sanchez, Justin Verlander," first baseman Brandon Moss said. "You look at their guys, their names are bigger. There accolades are better. But our guys had just as good a year. Our bullpen's probably better."
One thing that will go a long way toward deciding who wins Friday night's game, and probably the series, will be the health of two superstars - Detroit's Miguel Cabrera and Oakland's Yoenis Cespedes. Cabrera put up MVP numbers once again this year has been slowed by a groin injury the last month of the year that seemed to drain much of his power. Cespedes has been hampered by a shoulder injury for much of the season, a season where he didn't play up to expectations, according to ESPN.
A live radio broadcast of Game One can be heard on ESPN Radio at the following link. A live stream of the game can be seen on TBS at this link.
*Stats for this article were obtained from Baseball-Reference.com.