[Tommy]

A pair of southpaws take to the hill in Game 1 as Barry Zito of Oakland faces off against Nate Robertson for the Tigers. Zito and the A’s are listed as about a –135 favorite, and they are 22-13 in his starts this year. Meanwhile, the Tigers are 15-18 in Robertson’s appearances. Interestingly, the best trends applying to this game regarding the starting pitchers are on the total: ZITO is 22-11 OVER (+9.5 Units) in home games over the last 2 seasons. (Team’s Record) The average score was ZITO 4.4, OPPONENT 4.7. It should be a fine start to a competitive series. Here is a closer look at the matchups that will decide the ALCS champion.

Hitting

These are two teams who can struggle to manufacture runs. Detroit finished 5th in runs scored in the regular season and Oakland 9th. The Tigers are a more free swinging bunch, which saw them finish 3rd in home runs in the junior circuit. When this is your style of offense, you have to learn to take the good and the bad. Detroit often had little patience at the plate. The Tigers had the second most strikeouts and the second fewest walks in the league. The A’s are not a big home run hitting team, with DH Frank Thomas and 1B Nick Swisher leading the way. One big edge Oakland has shown and is part of the franchise’s culture is patience at the dish. The A’s were 2nd in the AL in walks.

Pitching

These were two of the strongest staffs in the American League with Tigers having the best team earned run average and the Athletics 4th. Young Justin Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman are both capable of shutting down the opposition in any given game. The “stuff” they can bring has batters mumbling to themselves as they head back to the bench. Detroit’s bullpen was among the best in the AL, with hard throwers blowing opposition batters away and Todd Jones soft tosses closing out games. Oakland has Barry Zito at the front of the rotation and is positioned to use him three times in this series if necessary. Esteban Loaiza will start Game 2 and has been the second best hurler on the staff since August. The Athletics bullpen is a bit different then the Tigers with similar effectiveness. Ken Macha can match situational pitchers better with hard throwers or guys that mix it up. Houston Street has nasty pitches and will occasionally have wild streaks.

Managers

Jim Leyland is regarded as one of the great baseball minds. He won a World Series with a similar type team and is unafraid to be criticized for his decision making. Ken Macha is a bit more by the book manager and has shuffled through a variety of injuries and completely understood the make-up of the team. Managing at Oakland is not an easy job, within the context of how the organization is set-up, but he has proved his bosses right as the man for the job.

Intangibles

All the supposed baseball experts on television are backing Detroit, with a quick perusal of handicappers backing Oakland. BetCRIS.com opens with the Tigers at -120 to win the series, supporting public opinion to a degree. With these low odds a tight series is expected. The teams played nine games with the Tigers taking five of them. Two of the series were played near the Bay and they split them 3-3. The games played in Oakland are the key. The A’s had the 6th best home record in baseball and Detroit was the finest in the game on the road. Whoever takes the advantage is your probable winner.

In playoff baseball it is the little things, hitting the opposite way, moving runners along and making defensive plays. By the slimmest of margins Oakland seems better equipped to pull this off in seven games.

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