Detroit vet handcuffs Oakland as Tigers reach third straight ALCS

Justin Verlander ripped off his jersey and rubbed Torii Hunter's bald head. The Tigers pulled on goggles and popped bubbly, then waited for their straggling slugger.

At last, Miguel Cabrera walked through the door to chants of "Miggy! Miggy! Miggy!"

Verlander and Cabrera, Detroit's two biggest stars, teamed up on Thursday night to send the Tigers back to the AL Championship Series with a 3-0 winner-take-all victory over the Oakland Athletics in their division showdown.

"We won the game, that's all it's about," Cabrera said. "We want to win a World Series, man, that's our goal."

With the season on the line once more in Oakland, Verlander pitched another Game 5 gem, surrendering just two hits in eight innings of work.

Meanwhile, with his body aching, Cabrera contributed all the offense needed on one sweet swing - a two-run homer - as the Tigers eliminated the A's again.

"I'm pitching the way I'm supposed to. I worked my butt off all year to try to get consistent and get myself where I needed to be," Verlander said. "I feel like it finally paid off at the end of the year."

Joaquin Benoit retired Seth Smith on a fly ball with two on in the ninth to close it out.

The Tigers became the first team to reach the ALCS in three straight years since the New York Yankees from 1998-2001.

Anibal Sanchez will start Game 1 in Boston on Saturday. The Tigers went 4-3 against the Red Sox this year, but they have never faced each other in the postseason.

Detroit staved off elimination at home in Game 4, overcoming a three-run deficit on Tuesday. Behind Verlander, the Tigers never trailed in shutting out Oakland in Game 5 for the second straight October.

The big right-hander gave up a clean, two-out single to Yoenis Cespedes in the seventh to end his chance at the third no-hitter in postseason history. The hit hardly fazed him, however.

"We got pretty close there; seven innings is pretty unbelievable," catcher Alex Avila said.

"To be honest, I thought we had a chance. He had the stuff for it, he had no-hit stuff."

On a night he allowed only three baserunners, Verlander made it a postseason-record 30 straight scoreless innings against one team since Coco Crisp hit a leadoff home run for the A's in Game 1 last October.

"Obviously it's something that you dream about as a kid. It's win or go home; you visualize when you're 10 years old in your backyard, Game 5, Game 7, gotta win," Verlander said.

"It's pretty exciting to have gone out there twice in that scenario and done a good job."

Aching slugger Cabrera connected in the fourth inning, a drive into the left-field seats for his first homer since Sept. 17 and just his third extra-base blast in 99 at-bats.

That ended a 20-inning scoreless streak by the Tigers at the Coliseum.

Verlander didn't allow a baserunner until Josh Reddick drew a one-out walk in the sixth - but the no-hit bid remained until Cespedes' single the next inning.

Verlander struck out 10 in eight innings, giving him 21 Ks in two starts. He has 43 strikeouts in his four playoff outings against the A's the past two years.

Oakland has lost its last six winner-take-all Game 5s and fell to 1-12 in potential clinchers since 2000. The A's struck out 57 times for the most in a best-of-five playoff series.

Verlander earned the nod for the decider after Game 1 winner Max Scherzer pitched in relief of an 8-6, season-saving win Game 4 in Detroit.

Manager Jim Leyland had no qualms turning again to Verlander, who went 13-12 this season.

When asked before the game about his bullpen availability, Leyland nodded his head and quipped, "Verlander, he's available."

A's manager Bob Melvin started rookie Sonny Gray over 18-game winner and 40-year-old Bartolo Colon, who yielded three first-inning runs to lose Game 1.

The 23-year-old Gray, making his 12th career start, threw 92 pitches before getting hooked in the sixth after giving up consecutive singles to Victor Martinez and Jhonny Peralta.

(China Daily 10/12/2013 page16)