by Michael Duca

DETROIT–During the year the A’s went in and nearly swept the Detroit Tigers at Comerica and that has given the club a tremendous amount of confidence in this current American League Division Series and in that ball park. Dan Straily who started on Tuesday for the A’s is a pitcher that when you think of the A’s pitching staff he’s not the first starter that comes to mind. If you kind of think back on this season it’s hard to remember some of the guys on the club who pitched well but folks will remember Straily.

It’s also hard to remember any game that the A’s were in all the while he was there Straily is gritty, he’s a grinder, he’s quite essential for a starter in a playoff and I would have to say that if I were Oakland I’d feel pretty good about my chances at this point.The Tigers starter Doug Fister can bring out no hit stuff out to the mound every time he pitches. I’ve seen him stringing together 15 straight outs to start a game.

Fister is certainly a courageous performer if you remember the last two or three World Series he took a line drive off his toe and continued to pitch in the game and pitched pretty well and that was game two. What’s really interesting is that the Tigers made it to the World Series last year. Basically most of the same pitchers that they have now they’re from a completely different order than what they were using from last year.

Last year in the rotation the Tigers used Justin Verlander to start as the number one, and Fister was number two, and this year Verlander and Fister are two and four. Even though it looked like the same Tigers team it’s one that has evolved their starting pitching and it was better this year than it was last year but the Tigers are not getting in the line of clutch hitting against an awfully good A’s pitching rotation.

The Martinez-Balfour dance: What the hell happened there? They asked the A’s Brandon Moss what happened and he was just as close to it just as much as anybody. It’s really hard to figure out. You could probably get yourself into a state of the moment if your the Tigers DH Victor Martinez. It’s hard to envision how fouling off a pitch can put anybody into a combative mood on either side. A’s pitcher Grant Balfour didn’t finish the at bat with that pitch that Martinez certainly didn’t throw the pitch around and certainly didn’t do a whole lot with it.

This was one of those boys will be boys moments in the heat of combat and while it’s a little bit closer to the on field persona that Balfour projects and that was a little bit out of character for Martinez. Balfour didn’t wake up the Tigers in game three they weren’t asleep to begin with and Martinez didn’t add anything to the A’s motivation the A’s were already plenty motivated.

It’s just a brief moment of absolute amazing entertainment kind of like watching Dodgers reliever Brian Wilson destroying his teammate’s uniform Monday night in the game in Los Angeles.

Michael Duca does commentary on the Oakland A’s playoffs at the ALDS