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The Oakland Athletics will begin the playoffs on the road as they travel to Detroit to face the Tigers on Saturday.
By winning their regular season finale and taking home the American League West title, the Athletics have the luxury of not playing in the Wild Card play-in game and can instead set up their starting rotation. Rookie Jarrod Parker will start Game 1 for Oakland. Parker went 13-8 with a 3.47 ERA in 29 starts this season. He lost his only start against the Tigers this season, but didn't pitch badly, allowing two earned runs over 5 ⅔ innings.
The Athletics will have the difficult task of trying to hit Justin Verlander, something they struggled to do this season. In two starts against Oakland, Verlander allowed just one run over 13 innings while striking out 13. He's been dominant down the stretch, going 5-1 with a 1.93 ERA in six September starts.
First pitch of Saturday's game is scheduled for 6:07 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast nationally on TBS. Projected starting lineups for both teams can be found below.
Athletics
1B - Brandon Moss
2B - Adam Rosales
3B - Josh Donaldson
SS - Stephen Drew
LF - Yoenis Cespedes
CF - Coco Crisp
RF - Josh Reddick
DH - Seth Smith
C - Derek Norris
P - Jarrod Parker
Tigers
1B - Prince Fielder
2b - Omar Infante
3B - Miguel Cabrera
SS - Jhonny Peralta
LF - Andy Dirks
CF - Austin Jackson
RF - Brennan Boesch
DH - Delmon Young
C - Alex Avila
P - Justin Verlander