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Baltimore • The Detroit Tigers' starting pitchers in the first three games of the AL Division Series have a combined 329 wins, three Cy Young Awards and 35 games of postseason experience.
Baltimore's starters carry less impressive credentials, yet they don't necessarily have to outpitch their Detroit counterparts for the Orioles to advance.
All they have to do is keep it close, then hand the baseball over to one of the best bullpens in major leagues.
Detroit (90-72) didn't win as many games as the Orioles (96-66), who ran away with the AL East title to earn home-field advantage in the best-of-five series that begins Thursday. But the AL Central-champion Tigers have been installed as a slight favorite — mainly because of their formidable starting rotation.
Max Scherzer (18-5, 3.15 ERA) starts on Thursday, followed by Justin Verlander (15-12, 4.54) and David Price (15-12, 3.26). That also happens to be a list of the last three AL Cy Young winners.
Advantage, Detroit?
"I think we all know what it looks like on paper," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Wednesday. "But there's a lot of things that look a certain way on paper for us that we were able to overcome."
Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman (13-6, 3.34 ERA) will make his first foray into the postseason in the opener. Although Showalter declined the announced his starters for Friday and Sunday, they will likely be Wei-Yin Chen (16-6, 3.54) and Miguel Gonzalez (10-9, 3.23), each of whom has pitched in exactly one playoff game. If playoff experience and Cy Young Awards mean anything, then Detroit has a decent chance to reach the AL Championship Series for a fourth straight year.
"Pitching. That's what wins ballgames," Price said. —
ALDS
O Game 1 • Detroitat Baltimore
Thursday, 3:37 p.m.
TV • TBS