Verlander & Tigers top Athletics; Reds take down Giants

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Justin Verlander held Oakland scoreless after his early slip in the 1st inning and Alex Avila homered in the 5th inning to lift the Detroit Tigers over the Athletics, 3-1, in the opener of their best-of-five AL Divisional Series. Verlander allowed three hits in seven innings and matched his postseason high with 11 strikeouts.

Joaquin Benoit pitched the 8th inning and Jose Valverde struck out two in a perfect 9th inning for the save. Oakland's Jarrod Parker allowed two earned runs in 6 & 1/3 innings and took the loss.

Game 2 will be this Sunday at noon from Comerica Park, with Doug Fister taking the mound for Detroit and left-hander Tommy Milone for the A's. Then the series shifts to Oakland for Game 3.


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Cincinnati prevented San Francisco from capitalizing on their misfortune and got homeruns from Brandon Phillips -- who had three hits & three RBIs in a big night -- and Jay Bruce as the Reds held on to a 5-2 win over the Giants to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five National League Divisional Series.

The victory snapped a seven-game postseason losing streak for the Reds. Coincidentally, it came on the 17th anniversary to the day when they won their previous postseason game over the Dodgers in a Game 3 sweep of the 1995 NLDS.

The series continues Sunday night in San Francisco when the Reds face the Giants for Game 2 at 9:30 pm.