The Oakland A's have settled on sending rookie Sonny Gray to the mound tonight against Cy Young winner Justin Verlander, who will start for the Detroit Tigers in Thursday night's Game American League Division Series (ALDS).
Verlander, the 2011 Most Valuable Player and Cy Young winner, had his worst season as a professional, going 13-12 with an ERA of 3.46 (a career high) and 23.5 percent strikeout rate (career low), has been a bane to the Athletics' playoff hopes, holding Oakland to a four-hit and shutout, striking out 11 batters, in Game 5 of the 2012 ALDS.
"It's not just another game," said Verlander. "The season is on the line. The whole season, the way we battled and played as a team, comes down to one game. May the best team win. You can't treat it like another game, you know. It's a little bit different. There is more to it. It's going to be fun. It's what you play the game for. It's exciting. This is what you dream of as a kid, to be on the mound in a clinching game."
A's manager went with 23-year-old rookie Gray - who despite only 11 pro starts out-dueled Verlander in Sunday's Game 2, striking out nine batters over eight scoreless innings in Oakland's victory - over veteran pitcher Bartolo Colon, who won 18 games and was second in the American League with a 2.65 ERA. Oakland manager Bob Melvin will have Colon at the ready should he be needed in a relief appearance.
The A's are hoping that Gray can help Oakland snap their 5-game losing streak in Game 5 ALDS situations. Oakland is 1-11 in elimination games going back to the 1990 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds.
"Obviously, we had two great options there with Bartolo," said Melvin. "We looked at it at a bunch of different angles. We have a lot of smart people in our front office and in our baseball operations and the short of it is it came down to Sonny and the last game he pitched in similar conditions in our ballpark. So that's the route we're going to go."
TV Schedule
You can catch Detroit Tigers - Oakland Athletics American League Division Series Sunday at 8:07 p.m EST on TBS.
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