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After a series full of not being able score enough runs when they needed to, a line-up shift seemed to make the offensive difference for the Detroit Tigers in ALCS game 4. With the pivotal game 5 going on tonight in Detroit, they need to continue that offensive pop in order to gain the upper hand. Sure, Anibal Sanchez is pitching and he can be dominant for certain but that is unlikely. They need to give him runs to make certain of an advantage going back to Boston, where the Boston Red Sox have the biggest home field advantage in all of MLB.
This isn’t a must win for either team but the Tigers would sure look great going back to Boston with Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander going in games six and seven. The Red Sox would be unlikely to defeat them both. To get there they need more of the offense that showed up in game 4 and really more offense than that. Being honest, a lot of that seven-run burst came in the one big five-run inning against Jake Peavy. If that double play had been turned the game would have likely been tied at 3 and they may have played for an extra few hours.
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Tonight the Tigers need to take advantage of any mistakes for sure but their main focus needs to be getting guys on base and slamming some extra-base hits down the line and into the big gaps. If they produce more than they did last night, they’ll have a great chance to take three games to two lead back to Boston and would look like favorites to represent the American League in the World Series.
David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
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