DETROIT -- This is big and bold and blunt, but so was what happened Saturday night at Comerica Park. There it was, so here it is: Detroit cannot beat this St. Louis team.
Now, look. I didn't say Detroit can't beat any St. Louis team. But Detroit cannot beat this one. Not the one that got all its offensive weaponry together in time to detonate against Tigers ace Justin Verlander.
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| Sky's the limit when Albert Pujols and Co. swing the bats like they did in Game 1. (AP) |
San Diego didn't see this St. Louis team in the National League Division Series, but the Padres lost anyway. The New York Mets didn't see this St. Louis team in the NLCS, but they too were eliminated. There are reasons for that. Whether its offense is going or not, St. Louis is going to get Gold Glove defense from catcher, center field and third base -- and solid defense from everywhere else. Whether its offense is going or not, St. Louis is going to get decent starting pitching and a better bullpen.
But if St. Louis' offense is going like Saturday night? In that case, the experts will turn out to be correct: This could be a short series. Just not in the way the AL-loving seamheads have led us to believe.
On paper and on the back of a baseball card and, most importantly, in the batter's box, the heart of the St. Louis order is better than the heart of the Detroit order -- and it's not close. Don't give me that Placido Polanco nonsense. He had a great AL Championship Series, but he's still more likely to be confused for Third Tenor Placido Domingo than for great third batter Placido Polanco. Magglio Ordonez, a No. 5 or No. 6 hitter in a good lineup, hits cleanup. Carlos Guillen, a quality No. 6 hitter in a good lineup, bats fifth. Detroit didn't get here by bludgeoning anyone, is what I'm saying.
St. Louis, on the other hand, can bludgeon -- and did on Saturday night.
No. 3 hitter Albert Pujols, the reigning National League MVP, hit a home run a long way the other way. Cleanup hitter Jim Edmonds, twice a top-five MVP finisher, had two sharp singles and an RBI. No. 5 batter Scott Rolen, who finished fourth in the 2004 MVP vote, homered and doubled. All told, that trio went 5-for-11 with five runs and four RBI.
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Throw in bothersome David Eckstein at leadoff, emerging monster Chris Duncan in the No. 2 hole and Juan Encarnacion at No. 6, and the Cardinals have a ferocious lineup. Their No. 8 hitter, Yadier Molina, won Game 7 of the NLCS with a ninth-inning home run. Their No. 9 hitter, So Taguchi, entered Saturday at 4-for-4 with two home runs in the postseason.
The Cardinals aren't exactly the 2006 New York Yankees, but with Pujols, Edmonds, Rolen and so forth, it's Murderer's Row and So.
Detroit, meanwhile, was more 2003 than 2006. If you'll recall, Detroit went 43-119 in 2003. The Tigers were outscored 928-591 that season. They were terrible then. And for one night, they are terrible now.
Tigers manager Jim Leyland is too good at his job to be treated like his team treated him Saturday, and his frustration showed when he uncharacteristically called out one of his players: Verlander.
"I thought he was very tentative," Leyland said. "He didn't attack them early. I think when he realized that he felt OK, he got actually a little better. He felt his way a little bit too much early. He did not attack them, and that was a little disappointing."
