ALDS Games 1&2: A Series of Fortunate Events

First things first: 2-0, BABY!!! TWO GAMES UP!!! ONE GAME FROM CLINCHING!!! EAT IT, OAKLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, those silly Tigers! Giving us such bad breathing and heart problems that we almost pass out/die! Making those two games (especially Game 2, good GAWD) as close as close can be! Making us literally shriek in terror in public places and scream like we're being murdered but we're actually just watching a Don Kelly (!!!) walk-off sac fly! YOU SILLY, SILLY PEOPLE!!!!

Game 1 wasn't so terrifying. After Verlander gave up a leadoff home run, he was dominant, going seven innings and only allowing a handful of hits. The offense gave us just enough breathing room to comfortably get the win, and the Tigers won what might have been their most important game: one that Verlander pitched. Also, fun fact: Alex Avila's home run was the only RBI that was a hit. All of the Tigers other runs in the series so far have come from sacrifices, outs, or errors on Oakland's part.

Speaking of Oakland--they may be So Hot Right Now, but they were as sloppy as the Tigers were these past two games. Youth and energy works well for a race to the playoffs, but will Oakland do to us what they did to Texas and sweep? We don't think so. The energy in Oakland will be amazing, but we think our boys have enough experience and moxie to take the A's down.

We like that word. Moxie. We should use it more often.

Moxie is also not a word not often applied to Don Kelly (at least we don't think so) but he definitely had it in spades when he hit that amazing, breathtaking, majestic grand slam sac fly to help Detroit take Game 2.  And what a Game it was! After the fearsome pitchers duel that was Doug Fister and some Random Lefty The Tigers Should Have Taken Advantage Of But Didn't, the bullpens of both teams turned the game into an absolute vortex of a shit storm. 

Errors were made, wild pitches were thrown, and heart attacks were induced by both sides. When the dust settled, Al Albuquerque had kissed a baseball (truth) and Joaquin Benoit had given up two stolen bases, a wild pitch and a home run, but SOME HOW we were still tied at the bottom of the 9th.

And then Don Kelly happened.

Infante and Cabrera singled and Fielder walked to give our boys the bases loaded with one out and Don Kelly to the plate. Now, we could see what was going to happen. Good ol' DK was gonna ground into a Tigers-patented double play or strike out. He had never walked-off before. Who said he was gonna do it now?

Don Kelly said, that's who. He hit a soaring sac fly that left no doubt that the victory belonged to the Tigers, and our boys rushed the field in what could have been the most empowering and heartwarming moment of the season thus far. Us fans laughed, cried, and passed out from exhaustion/relief/joy. This just goes to show: in the playoffs, anyone can be a hero. And that day it was Don Kelly.

Ah, but really--bless those boys. Because now we're going into Oakland needing to only win one game. It's no secret: we would LOVE to just clobber those guys now and be done with it, but we're not naive. We know Oakland is going to try and give it everything they've got tonight. They have to. But then again, so will we. 

Let's end this tonight, boys. To battle we go  !