The Detroit Tigers play the Oakland Athletics on Thursday in Game 5 of their AL division series. The game starts at 8:07 p.m. ET. Listen to the live radio broadcast HERE.
After dropping two straight, Detroit forced a fifth game on Tuesday with an 8-6 win over Oakland. Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander takes the mound for Detroit in the final game of the division series.
"Well, you don't pretend. It's not just another game," Verlander said after Tuesday's win, via ESPN. "The season is on the line. It was on the line for us (Tuesday), too. This whole season, the way we battled and played as a team, comes down to one game, may the best team win. You can't treat it just like another game. It's a little bit different. There's more to it."
For Tigers manager Jim Leyland, starting Verlander in Game 2 provided the added bonus of having the pitcher available for a fifth game, if needed.
"That's kind of why we pitched him Game 2 so we'd have an option," said Leyland. "We were in a pretty good comfort zone to pitch Verlander if necessary, and it was necessary because we had to win (Tuesday). We're comfortable any time Verlander goes out there."
Rookie Sonny Gray starts again for Oakland. Like Leyland, Oakland manager Bob Melvin is equally as confident in his Game 5 starting pitcher.
"He's a little bit of a bulldog, he's scared of nothing," Melvin said of Gray. "Everything that went on in that game factored into it. ... When he came up, we were into the season and a pennant race already and we threw him right into the fire and right away he pitched very well with a lot of confidence and always has that mound presence."
