After pulling out their brooms as they swept the New York Yankees in four games to land them a spot in the World Series, the Detroit Tigers fell short in a defeat against San Francisco Giants on October 27.
The Tigers batting slumped as they hit less than 10 runs the entire series. Tigers batted under 200 the whole time, not holding a lead at any point until game four.
The fielding was also not up to Tiger standards. In game two, Giants outfielder Angel Pagan hit the ball off third base, which rolled past the Tigers into the outfield to score a run. In the tenth inning of game four, Giants shortstop Marco Scutaro shot a ball up centerfield to score the game-winning run to clench the series.
Many fans were excited and surprised when the Tigers made the series, believing the Tigers could win.
“I was surprised that they weren’t done after the twin’s double-header. I thought if they came together, they would win it,” said English teacher Cari Mitchey.
The Tigers accounted for 38 runs in the 2012 postseason run after the win against the Yankees. The Yankees hadn’t been swept in the postseason since the 1976 World Series verse the Cincinnati Reds.
“I wanted the Tigers to play the Cardinals because they needed a challenge,” said junior Alexander Barbosa.
Star pitcher Justin Verlander topped of the season with 239 strikeouts. He took three wins from the Oakland Athletics and the Yankees.
“I was pretty excited, I thought the Tigers would put on a really good series,” said senior Brandon Meinhart.
The Tiger’s players as a whole combined great, however, left fielder Delmon Young made a bigger name for himself. Young batted in a team high seven runs; as many as the Yankees scored the whole series in the American League Central. He had a batting average of.294 and was on base over a third of the time playing.
“Delmon had a great series; really, he had a good outing with three homeruns. He is really showing his true colors in the postseason, and I really wish he would play like this in the regular season so there is no doubt if they’re going to the playoffs next year,” said Meinhart.