Live Blog of A's - Tigers, Game 2

5:22 - Why don't the A's open the upper deck? Has anyone addressed this? That makes about as much sense as starting Neifi Perez in an ALCS. Oh wait.

5:23 - And as if to prove a point, Neifi immediately strikes out on 3 pitches.

5:26 - Esteban DUIza gets the Tigers 1,2,3 to start the game.

5:30 - Verlander is from Manakin Sabot, Virginia. What do you think they called it for short? Because you know they didn't call it that.

5:32 - Everyone's favorite board game maker, Milton Bradley, just blooped a broken bat single. 1-0 Athletics.

5:34 - We just had out first Balk of the playoffs!

5:36 - The Big Hurt just got blown away on fastballs. He looked older than Jesse Orosco on those swings.

5:42 - They just showed the Tommy Lasorda commercial where he's trying to coax the Cubs fan out of the tree. The fans wife says he's been up there since his team was eliminated from post season play. So he's been in the tree since June? (Neifi should be up in the tree with that guy. Not playing tonight.)

5:43 - When did Pudge stop being pudgy? When Giambi lost weight like that, he had to "apologize" for it.

5:46 - My fantasy all-star shortstop comes across the plate to tie it 1-1. For anyone wondering, i finally beat my friend Danny this year after a 4 year losing streak. My football team is about to make a come back too.

5:48 - Little John is now doing Subway commercials? Do they have Crunk Juice in the soda fountain now? And i think i already asked this but when did John Lovitz come out of the closet? One day he's "The Critic" the next he's the effeminate director of Subway commercials?

5:50 - Steve Lyons is about to catch McCarver in meaningless comments. I mean, i know the guy dropped his pants standing on 1st during a game but just stop talking every once in a while Steve. Or go take your pants off. Just don't talk.

5:57 - Lyons doesn't take my advice.

6:06 - After another Kotsay double, the maker of Monopoly drives a ball deep to the right field stands. 3-1 Oakland.

6:13 - The ManPerm that is Magglio Ordonez singles after Polanco. Detroit has 1st and 2nd no outs with the fantasy assassin Carlos Guillen coming up...And he strikes out.

6:15 - I knew that Chris Shelton wasn't on the post-season roster but remember when he hit 12 home runs in May? Seems like forever ago.

6:18 - Tigers have bases juiced with 1 out. Marilyn Monroe's son is up. (No really. Craig Monroe's mom was name Marilyn. I'm not making this up.) Monroe singles up the middle. 3-2 A's.

6:22 - Chavez just pulled an A-Rod. E5, Tigers score 2. 4-3 Tigers. Then a sac fly by Unbeatable Inge, 5-3.

6:31 - The only time i like Steve Lyons is when he makes fun of how bad he was when he played. That's funny. Now if we could just teach Sean Salisbury.

6:34 - Verlander is getting better as the game goes on. This doesn't bode well for the A's.

6:37 - Scutaro just got flattened by a 98 mph fastball. That was some serious chin music. They told Verlander to throw that one at the bull.

6:58 - Why is Frank Thomas swinging first pitch? Did he fall asleep and wake up on the Dbacks?

7:04 - Monroe is killing Loaiza tonight. Kendall even came out to discuss it with him.


7:06 - It's time for Loaiza to come out, or get drunk, or drive his car at reckless speeds. But his time for pitching is over. 7-3 Tigers.

7:09 - Hey, the creepy Joe Buck commercial just played. Thanks for the name guys.

7:12 - Chavez just interrupted Chris Meyer's speech about Corey Lidle with a bomb to centerfield. 7-4 Tigers. And i was trying to avoid the Lidle thing, but damn that's sad. I watched the news about the plane crash all morning and didn't find out that it was Corey Lidle until i turned on SportsCenter at 4. It's pretty shocking to say the least and I'm sure it'll be a storyline for quite a while to come.

7:19 - Lyons just said something about Jim Leyland making sure Verlander left the game with confidence by "giving him a slap on the rear-end." Alright sister, whatever you say.

7:24 - Why there isn't a take sign with a 3-1 count, down by 3 for the A's. I'll never know. Just popped out to end the inning.

7:35 - If i ever own a Nissan Versa, I'm driving it off a bridge and i don't even care if I'm in it or not.

7:40 - This game has completely gone dead. I wonder if players on playoff teams, especially the ones who had multiple game leads in their divisions all year, get so used to mailing in the late innings --whether they're leading or not -- that they do the same in the playoffs. The A's are only down three...wait scratch that...only down 2 because Milton Bradley took time off from playing Sorry to just annihilate another ball to left center. I mean that one was crushed. OK, back to my point. With the exception of Bradley, it seems to me like the other A's are just waving at pitches, giving up on at-bats and otherwise playing like they've already lost this game. I mean, they're in this game. Let's see how Frank does. I might let them off the hook.

7:45 - The Big hurt looks like he takes practice swings with a huge piece of rebar wrapped in tape. I'm serious, whatever they just showed him with looked like rebar from a skyscraper. It was a couple inches thick. Anyway, it didn't help. He struck out and is now wearing the golden sombrero for the evening. Thanks for the help big guy. Of all the guys to carry this team, Milton Bradley? Really? You know you're in trouble if you're an A's fan.

7:52 - Craig Monroe just crushed a ball that missed the left-field foul pole by maybe a foot. Next pitch, he strikes out. Cruel game this baseball.

7:54 - I've seen girls in my company beer league softball games that field their position better than D'angelo Jimenez.

8:04 - Rodney just fanned the side. A's are down to their last 3 outs. Nick Swisher just had one of the ugliest at-bats since Steve Lyons played the game.

8:08 - Getting insurance can be expensive and overwhelming to many people. Curtis Granderson gets his with one swing. 8-5 Tigers.

8:21 - The A's get their first non-Milton Bradley related hit of the game. Kendall on first with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th.

8:23 - Kotsay has full count...gotta get bradley to the plate...Kotsay singles....Bradley the assassin comes to the plate as the tying run. We got a ball game.

8:26 - Bradley runs out a dribbler and the bases are loaded. Wow. Big Hurt is up with a chance to be a hero.

8:27 - Pops it up. Game.

Well that was exciting. First game of the NLDS tomorrow. A's down 0-2. Not good for them, but how much of Detroit are they going to burn down if they win this series? Can't wait.