The Tigers were twice in good position to break a scoreless tie against Jon Lester and the Red Sox in the fifth inning of Game 1 of the ALCS, but poor base running decisions left them with nothing at the end of the inning. Jhonny Peralta led off with a double to left-center. Omar Infante followed up with a sharp grounder to Mike Napoli at first base, who fired to second base as Peralta had initially broken towards third base. Shortstop Stephen Drew applied the tag on Peralta just before his foot got back to the bag, leaving the Tigers with a runner on first base and one out.
They continued to threaten, however, as Alex Aliva lined a single to right field. Infante was able to advance to third base when Shane Victorino hilariously kicked the ball in front of himself. With runners on the corners and one out, the Tigers score in a number of ways -- any kind of hit, a fly ball of moderate depth, and most non-double play ground balls. Jose Iglesias hit a slow curve on the ground to third baseman Will Middlebrooks, who fired home to catcher David Ross, nailing Infante with plenty of room to spare. Austin Jackson meekly flied out to right field to end the frame, the Tigers still scoreless.
The Tigers were, by far, baseball’s worst base running team during the regular season, according to Baseball Prospectus.
Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez is pitching extremely well, having racked up ten strikeouts in five innings of work. He has yet to allow a hit, though he has walked three batters. For the Tigers, it is imperative they provide him a modicum of run support, but to Lester’s credit, he has looked quite strong on the mound as well, blanking the Tigers on five hits and no walks while striking out five.