These Detroit Tigers pitchers came through at 'closing time'
Denny McLain is not on the list. Nor is Jack Morris.
The Detroit Tigers had won eight post-season series as they took the field at Oakland and tried to eliminate the Athletics behind Max Scherzer on Wednesday night.
DOUG FISTER |
Tommy Bridges was the first.
Bridges was the winning pitcher in Game 6 of the 1935 World Series, when the Tigers won their first world championship by taking out the Chicago Cubs four games to two.
The others: Hal Newhouser, Mickey Lolich, Milt Wilcox, Aurelio Lopez, Jeremy Bonderman, Wil Ledezma and Doug Fister.
TOMMY BRIDGES: Tennessee native Thomas Jefferson Davis Bridges went 2-0 with two complete games and a 2.50 ERA against the Cubs in the 1935 World Series. The right-hander spent his entire 16-year career with Detroit and won 194 games, sixth-most in club history.
HAL NEWHOUSER: The future Hall of Famer was 2-1 with a 6.10 ERA in the 1945 World Series, when the Tigers beat the Cubs in seven games. Newhouser was the winning pitcher in Game 7, a 9-3 Detroit victory in the Windy City. The left-hander and Detroit native, who pitched for 15 seasons for the Tigers, is still in the franchise's top five in wins, starts, complete games and shutouts.
MICKEY LOLICH: Will any Tiger ever top the Mick's performance in the 1968 World Series? The left-hander won a duel with Bob Gibson in Game 7 as the Tigers won at St. Louis to complete a comeback from a three games to one deficit. For the series, Lolich, a long-time Macomb County resident, turned in three complete games and posted a 1.67 ERA in 27 innings against a Cardinals lineup that featured speed and power.
MILT WILCOX: The right-hander went eight innings to earn the victory in a 1-0 win over Kansas City that wrapped up the Tigers' three-game sweep in the 1984 ALCS. Wilcox also won Game 3 of the World Series that year against the San Diego Padres.
AURELIO LOPEZ: Senor Smoke was the winning pitcher in relief in Game 5 of the World Series against San Diego. The game will always be remembered for Kirk Gibson's three-run, series-clinching home run off Goose Gossage in the eighth inning, but it was Lopez who earned the pitching victory that Sunday at Tiger Stadium.
JEREMY BONDERMAN: Was this Bonderman's finest moment as a Tiger? The right-hander pitched 8.1 innings in an 8-3 victory that clinched Detroit's four-game ALDS win over the New York Yankees in 2006. It was the Tigers' first post-season series win in 22 years, and Bonderman put his name on it.
WIL LEDEZMA: Ledezma pitched nine big-league seasons, and won only one post-season game, but what a victory it was. The lefty worked a scoreless top of the ninth inning and then became the winning pitcher when Magglio Ordonez hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the frame to give the Tigers a 6-3 victory and sweep of Oakland in the 2006 ALCS.
DOUG FISTER: The 6-foot-8 right-hander gave the Tigers their second post-season series win over the Yankees in six years when he prevailed in Game 5 of an ALDS in 2011. Fister also won a game in the 2011 ALCS against the Texas Rangers.
Labels: ALCS, ALDS, Detroit Tigers, Oakland Athletics
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home