DETROIT — After his revamped Tigers lineup produced seven runs and a victory in Game 4 of the ALCS, Jim Leyland said he was going to use it again in Game 5. However, the Detroit manager made a slight adjustment for Thursday night’s 4-3 loss.
“I flip-flopped [Alex] Avila and [Omar] Infante,’’ said Leyland, who batted Avila seventh and Infante sixth.
Leyland downplayed the lineup shuffle being the reason for the defeat that tied the ALCS at 2-2, but admitted moving Austin Jackson from first to eighth helped.
“I think it did one thing, by his own admission, I think it relaxed Austin Jackson a little bit. That was mission accomplished,’’ Leyland said of the center fielder who went 2-for-2, drove in two runs, scored a run and walked twice.
One hit in 10 ALCS at-bats and the inability to handle breaking balls away earned Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks a dugout seatThursday.
Red Sox manager John Farrell inserted 21-year-old neophyte Xander Bogaerts at third base against Tigers right-hander Anibal Sanchez and Bogaerts doubled and scored in the Red Sox 4-3 win.
“From time to time in these two series, he has been a little susceptible to off-speed and certainly some breaking balls that have run away from him,’’ Farrell said of the right-handing hitting Middlebrooks, batting .174 (4-for-23) in eight postseason games. “I wouldn’t expect him to be pleased with not being in the lineup. That’s just who he is. In the conversation with him, he is not real happy.’’
Middlebrooks ran for Bogaerts in the ninth and played third in the home half of the frame.
Bogaerts, expected to be the Red Sox starting shortstop next season, impressed Farrell with smooth at-bats in limited opportunities in the two postseason series.
“The brief number of at-bats Xander has had for us he has been very much under control,’’ Farrell said of Bogaerts, who had two postseason at-bats going into Game 5 and doubled off Tigers closer Joaquin Benoit in the ninth inning of Game 4 Wednesday night. “I think more than anything, just the maturity that he shows and the offensive potential that he has. I felt like it was time to make a change.’’
Bogaerts went 1-for-3 with a walk.
Following the 7-3 loss in Game 4, Farrell spoke of the lack of production from the left side of the infield. That included shortstop Stephen Drew, who is hitting .094 (3-for-32) in eight postseason games and is 1-for-17 (.059) in four ALCS games after his 0-4 day Thursday.
The Tigers’ four-man postseason rotation has been sensational in the first four games of the ALCS. So Leyland was asked if any of the post-season teams he had in Pittsburgh or Florida compare to the quartet of Justin Verlander, Sanchez, Max Scherzer and Doug Fister.
“We had a very good rotation in Florida in 1997 when we were fortunate enough to win the World Series,’’ Leyland said. “But it wasn’t as good as this one. This is the best I have had. It’s the best postseason rotation I have ever had.’’
The Marlins’ rotation included Kevin Brown, Alex Fernandez, Al Leiter and Livan Hernandez.
Going into Thursday night’s Game 5, Prince Fielder hadn’t driven in a run in the previous 16 straight postseason games, and that stretched to 17, the longest streak of all time. Fielder’s last RBI in the postseason was Game 1 of the 2012 ALCS against the Yankees.
In 10 postseason games this year, Fielder is batting .243 (9-for-37) with one extra base hit.
Still, Leyland wasn’t looking at Fielder as being in a funk.
“Actually he has gotten some hits in this series, to be honest with you,’’ Leyland said of the left-handed hitting first baseman who is 4-for-19 (.211) with four singles. “I think that people are looking for the faults but he hasn’t swung the bat all that bad. I think when people think of Prince they relate to home runs. But we never asked Prince to hit home runs. We just want Prince to produce.’’