The Oakland Athletics played their fourth extra inning game in five days, but saw this one end a little bit differently than the previous three. The Detroit Tigers won the game 8-4 thanks to a seven run tenth inning in which Brian Fuentes and Brad Zeigler were slapped around with relative ease.
The A’s received a strong start from starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy who held the Tigers scoreless through 6 2/3 innings. He struck out seven batters in lowering his ERA to 2.45 and left the game with a one run lead. Craig Breslow and Grant Balfour were able to keep Detroit off the board and hand Brian Fuentes a one-run lead in the ninth. Unfortunately, Fuentes hung a pitch to Miguel Cabrera who hit a home run the other way to right-center field to tie the game up.
In the tenth inning the Tigers took advantage of two errors to get things going, and then put the pedal to the metal. A mix of hits, walks, and errors led to the seven runs. The A’s made a small run in the bottom of the tenth, getting their first three batters on base, but they only managed a couple more hits and lost 8-4.
The A’s send out Dallas Braden looking to stem the bleeding from what has turned into a tough series. Braden faces Tigers ace Justin Verlander, looking to match his performance last week against White Sox ace Mark Buehrle.