Price looks to extend Tigers' season

ByJERRY CRASNICK
October 5, 2014, 2:03 PM

— -- DETROIT -- Tigers lefty David Price is a man of action, as evidenced by the four All-Star Game appearances, the Cy Young Award and the ERA and strikeout titles on his major league résumé. Price enjoys the big stage and is comfortable with it, even if his mixed postseason results don't completely reflect that competitive mindset.

But the baseball season throws only so many opportunities a starting pitcher's way, and Price has spent the first two games of the American League Division Series assessing swing paths and making mental notes from the dugout in a spectator's role. He watched the Baltimore Orioles hang tough against teammates Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander at Camden Yards then decimate the Detroit bullpen while winning two straight.

Now it's Price's turn to stop observing and start contributing. He will take on Baltimore's Bud Norris in Game 3 on Sunday afternoon at Comerica Park, with the Orioles looking to clinch a championship series berth and the Tigers hoping to avoid becoming the latest team to wear the designation of "crushing disappointment."

Will Price become the second marquee lefty-turned-trade deadline prize to fail to contribute as envisioned? In late July, the Oakland Athletics acquired Jon Lester from Boston with designs on a deep October run only to play themselves out of AL West title contention and stagger into the postseason as a wild card. Lester failed to hold a late 7-3 lead over Kansas City in the wild-card game, and Oakland was bounced 9-8 by the Royals.

The scrutiny is just as onerous for Price, who was supposed to be part of a super-rotation with Scherzer and Verlander when Detroit acquired him from Tampa Bay as part of a three-way trade including Seattle at the deadline. Price went a middling 4-4 with a 3.59 ERA for Detroit during the regular season. But he showed his mettle in must-win situation a year ago when he shut down Texas in the 163rd game of the regular season.

"You know what you've got to do," Price said. "This is the time when you want to be able to step up for your team, for your fan base, for the city of Detroit. This is a special moment."

Detroit's beleaguered relief corps has been a series focal point, in a multicar pileup sort of way. The Tigers' bullpen has allowed 11 runs in the first two games, and manager Brad Ausmus declined to specify whether he might have any changes planned in his pen alignment for Game 3.

"I invite you to come down and watch it," he told a reporter Saturday.

The statistical carnage incurred by Detroit relievers Joba Chamberlain and Joakim Soria overshadowed less-than-dominant performances by Price's fellow Cy Young winners in Games 1 and 2. Scherzer yielded home runs to Nelson Cruz and J.J. Hardy and allowed five runs in 7 1/3 innings in the series opener. Verlander was gassed after throwing 101 pitches in five innings, and he admitted to a sense of disappointment that he was unable to go deeper into Game 2.

The Orioles are an unorthodox bunch at the plate. They're an aggressive, free-swinging team that led the majors with 211 home runs and ranked 26th in walks with 401. But they have put together some impressive at-bats against Detroit's iron with that hacktastic mentality.

In Game 2, Showalter called on pinch hitter Delmon Young with the bases loaded and Baltimore down 6-4 in the eighth inning. Soria was keenly aware of Young's reputation as a first-ball fastball hitter, so he threw a slider to begin the at-bat. Young jumped all over the pitch and drove it into the left-field corner for a bases-clearing double to give Baltimore a 7-6 lead.

"Our philosophy is, if the guy is going to give you a strike, swing at it," said Orioles center fielder Adam Jones. "Obviously nobody's going to groove the ball right down the middle, especially at this point in time. Every pitch is going to have some sink and run. But nobody here is going to say anything about a guy who swings at the first pitch or a guy who grinds out a nine- or 10-pitch at-bat.

"Look at Delmon. He came in and liked the first pitch he saw, so he swung at it. That's our approach. If you like it, fire them hips and swing the bat."

With catcher Matt Wieters (15-for-41, .366 vs. Price) on the shelf with an elbow injury, Cruz and Hardy have the most impressive numbers against Price of any hitters in the Baltimore lineup. Cruz is a .357 hitter against Price, with three homers in 28 at-bats. Hardy is 12-for-36 for an average of .333.

From the Orioles' previous encounters with Price, they know he will be consistently around the strike zone and emotionally engaged on every pitch Sunday. Baltimore third basemen Ryan Flaherty saw Price's intensity on display when they were teammates at Vanderbilt University several years ago.

"You knew right away that he had something about him that was special," said Flaherty, who has remained good friends with Price. "You could be playing this guy in a 'Madden' game, and he was the most competitive guy I ever met. It doesn't matter what he's doing. He wants to be the best at it."

In contrast with Lester, who was a two-month rental by Oakland, Price will be around to provide stability for Detroit in 2014. He will return along with Verlander and Rick Porcello to form the core of the Tigers' rotation in 2015. But the longer Price can keep Detroit sports fans from focusing exclusively on the Lions, the happier he'll be.

"I know the media likes to portray different games as being big games," Price said, "but these are the big games where you need to be able to go out there and perform. Obviously, if we don't come out and get a win [Sunday], the [next] season starts a little earlier than we want it to."

Although Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski couldn't envision the precise circumstances that would unfold down the stretch, he brought Price to Detroit for this very purpose at the trade deadline. Now it's up to Price to do his part.