Tigers back off stance of A's stealing signs

DETROIT -- The A's pounded Tigers pitching over a four-game set in August, scoring 22 runs in 20 innings against the four starters they will be facing in the postseason. Oakland posted 34 runs during the series, the highest total Detroit had allowed during any four-game stretch since June 2011.

Afterward, there were suggestions from the Tigers that the A's may have been getting signs when they came to Detroit, sometimes without a runner on second base.

"They beat up on us," manager Jim Leyland said at the time on his pregame radio segment. "I still think that they were getting something somewhere. I'm just not believing. I know we made a lot of bad pitches, but I just don't believe you wear the ball out like that. I've seen a lot of games and a lot of series and I've seen teams get hot, but I'm a little suspicious that somewhere along the line they were getting something somewhere."

However, as the two teams prepare for the American League Division Series on Friday (9:30 p.m. ET, TBS) the Tigers aren't going to accuse the A's of any wrongdoing.

"We got pretty good pitching and they were wearing us out like they were taking batting practice," Leyland said Tuesday. "They could have just been hot and I still believe that's what it was because we've seen no signs of anything like that."