Detroit Tigers Inside Pitch 9-19-11

Leyland calls suicide squeeze in shutout win.

For a guy who hates it, Jim Leyland sure loves to suicide squeeze.

Alex Avila singled and Ryan Raburn doubled off the right center-field wall to put runners on second and third in the ninth inning of a game Detroit led, 2-0, at Oakland.

Danny Worth flied out to short left and Avila made no move to the plate. Ramon Santiago was the next batter and Leyland has been known to close his eyes and call for the suicide squeeze with his middle infielder at bat in that situation.

But if many minds in the stadium were thinking of the possibility, Leyland was going to see if his Oakland counterpart, Bob Melvin, had sniffed it out too.

Santiago swung at the first pitch and took the second. In neither instance was a pitchout called for, so Leyland gulped and put on the sign.

"I kind of figured it might be coming," Avila said, noting there was only one out and Santiago, a very good bunter, was at the plate. "Then Gene (third-base coach Lamont) whispered it was on and gave the sign."

"I think that's the reason I put it on," Leyland said. "because Alex was at third base. If you saw the play before, we hit a fly ball to medium left field and Alex couldn't score.

"Alex can't really tag and score on a routine fly to the outfield. It's got to be deep enough. So the infield's in, you can't really send him on contact, probably can't tag him up on a normal fly ball. So you figure out what's another way you might possibly get him in? So you squeeze."

The pitch was over Santiago's head -- maybe it was sniffed out -- but he reached up and knocked the ball down with his bat, the ball landing in fair territory and rolling to the helpless Oakland pitcher, who could only throw to first.

The run made it 3-0 and provided an extra margin of safety for Justin Verlander's 24th win and Jose Valverde's 46th save.

Detroit drew within three games of New York for the best record in the league and stayed one up on Texas for having the home-field edge in the first round of the playoffs.

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