Fox Sports Detroit devoted its primetime programming last week to the 2006 Tigers. Now it’s the 2012 team’s turn.
Every night at 8 p.m. ET, FSD will show a classic game from Detroit's 2012 season, including key parts of the club's October run towards the Fall Classic. It’s a chance for Tigers fans to remember a star-studded lineup and power-packed rotation that combined to form one of the most impressive rosters in baseball and turn Detroit into one of the most exciting cities in the game.
Here’s a look at the lineup for the week:
Monday, May 18: Verlander’s near no-no vs. Pirates
A year after Justin Verlander tossed his second no-hitter for the Tigers, the reigning AL Cy Young winner and MVP came within two outs of becoming the first pitcher in franchise history with three such games. With a packed house at Comerica Park cheering every out on a May 18 Friday night, Verlander had fanned four consecutive batters as he took the mound for the ninth inning. One out later, his 1-2 pitch to Josh Harrison had him kicking himself.
“I think he threw me six straight sliders,” Harrison recalled last year, after he signed with the Tigers. “I think I swung at the first two like -- I don’t even want to say 58-footers, they were like 38-footers -- and I was like, ‘All right, he’s going to throw that fastball.’ And after a while, I just battled and slowed him down. I don’t even want to say the pitch he threw me was a strike, but it was close enough I was able to get a bat on it, and the rest was history.”
Verlander finished with a one-hit shutout and 12 strikeouts. Delmon Young had a double, homer and three RBIs, accounting for half of Detroit’s offense in the 6-0 win.
Tuesday: Verlander wins at Wrigley
The Cubs looked like they had a chance to beat Verlander on June 14, scoring twice in the second inning thanks to a Darwin Barney RBI double and Luis Valbuena groundout. Then Verlander settled in and retired 16 consecutive batters, though one was an out at second base after Travis Wood tried to stretch a single to a double. Austin Jackson’s go-ahead single and two-run homer put Detroit in front before Jose Valverde struck out Alfonso Soriano as the potential tying run in a 5-3 Tigers win.
Wednesday: Cabrera beats Cleveland with walk-off homer
The Tigers and Indians had a wild Sunday afternoon at Comerica Park on Aug. 5, trading runs for much of their series finale before a wild 10th inning. Travis Hafner and Ezequiel Carrera hit back-to-back homers off Joaquin Benoit to put the Indians in front, but the Tigers answered with five in the bottom half, all with two outs against closer Chris Perez. Omar Infante tied it with a two-run single before Miguel Cabrera homered to end it.
Thursday: Verlander shuts out Oakland in winner-take-all Game 5
The A’s had rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the AL Division Series, including a three-run ninth inning off Valverde in Game 4, to force a deciding game at the Coliseum. Oakland fans were ready, but so was Verlander, who had his game face on as soon as Game 4 was over. The reigning AL MVP went the distance and held Oakland to a Yoenis Céspedes double, three singles and a walk while striking out 11 in a 6-0 Tigers win that ranks among the most impressive pitching performances in the club's postseason history.
Friday: No stumble in the Bronx to open ALCS
A year after the Tigers cliched the AL Division Series at Yankee Stadium, they were back in the Bronx, and the Yankees wanted revenge. After two-run homers from Ichiro Suzuki and Raul Ibañez off Valverde erased what had been a 4-0 Tigers lead in the ninth, the Yankees had their chance. But Octavio Dotel and Drew Smyly each stranded potential winning runs, and Young’s 12th-inning RBI double put Detroit back in front for a 6-4 win and series momentum.
Saturday: Vintage Verlander vexes Yanks
Back on the mound for the first time since shutting out the A’s, Verlander nearly did the same to the Yankees in Game 3 of the ALCS. Unlike in Oakland, the Tigers needed those zeros in what became a pitching duel between Verlander and the Yankees' bullpen. Young’s fourth-inning homer and Cabrera’s fifth-inning RBI double supported Verlander, who retired 18 of his first 19 batters and took a shutout bid into the ninth. Eduardo Núñez homered to break that up, but back to back two-out singles off Phil Coke put the go-ahead run on base before Coke struck out Ibañez to end it.
Sunday: Back to the World Series
As if a 3-0 series advantage wasn’t enough, the Tigers had Max Scherzer on the mound, late-afternoon shadows at Comerica Park and a sellout crowd ready to celebrate an ALCS sweep. Scherzer didn’t disappoint, striking out 10 Yankees over 5 2/3 innings and taking a no-hit bid into the sixth before a Núñez triple and Nick Swisher RBI double. Once Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta hit two-run homers in the fifth inning for a 6-0 Tigers lead, the crowd was counting down the outs.