Nelson Cruz and the Baltimore Orioles had the good fortune of avoiding Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer during the regular season.
Or maybe it was the other way around.
In his 2014 debut against the hard-hitting Orioles, Scherzer found out quickly that a poor pitch can go a long way, in the other direction.
Who should start a critical Game 2 for the Tigers: Scheduled starter Justin Verlander or David Price?
Cruz and J.J. Hardy homered, and Baltimore hammered out 12 hits in defeating Scherzer and the Detroit Tigers 12-3 Thursday in the opener of their American League Division Series.
"I just left too many pitches up," Scherzer said. "This is a great-hitting ball club. You give them a chance to extend their arms, they can really hit it."
Jonathan Schoop and Alejandro De Aza each had two hits and two RBIs for the Orioles, who turned a close game into a rout with an eight-run eighth inning against Scherzer and three ineffective relievers.
The 12 runs set a post-season record for Baltimore, making its second playoff appearance since 1997.
Nelson Cruz of the Orioles celebrates after hitting a two-run home run against Tigers' starter Max Scherzer in the first inning on Thursday. (Rob Carr/Getty Images)
Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Friday at Camden Yards. Justin Verlander, the second of three straight Cy Young winners the Orioles will face, is set to go against left-hander Wei-Yin Chen.
Verlander must avoid the mistakes made by Scherzer, who allowed five runs and seven hits in 7 1/3 innings. The right-hander was 18-5 during the regular season, but in this one he was burned by the long ball and outpitched by the Orioles.
"I've got to find a way to get the ball down," Scherzer said. "I wasn't quite able to do that tonight, and I paid for it."
Cruz led the majors with 40 homers during the regular season, a good portion of Baltimore's big league-best 211 long balls. His first-inning drive off Scherzer put the Orioles up 2-0 before Detroit's Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez connected off Chris Tillman in the second to tie it.
But Baltimore had too much firepower for the Tigers. Hardy led off the seventh by driving a poorly thrown changeup from Scherzer over the centre-field wall for a 4-2 lead.
Cruz added his third RBI with a single during a wild eighth inning keyed by a Detroit error that kept the boisterous, orange-clad crowd of 47,842 on its feet.
Five different Orioles finished with two hits. Clearly, facing Scherzer was not too daunting a task.
"It's the same game," De Aza said. "Yes, this is a good pitcher, but it's the same game. You have to throw the ball to home plate for a strike to get us out."
Tillman (1-0) allowed two runs in five innings before Andrew Miller got five outs — three by strikeout. Darren O'Day gave up an eighth-inning homer to Miguel Cabrera, but the drive followed a double play.
Cruz hit an opposite-field drive to right in the bottom half of the first inning after Nick Markakis hit a leadoff single. It was his 15th career post-season home run, tied with Babe Ruth for 10th place on the career list.
"It's just I like to enjoy this moment, you know," Cruz said. "I think as a player, you want to be in the situation. And, you know, it's no reason."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Tigers: CF Rajai Davis (pelvic strain) was cleared to play after passing a series of drills early in the day before rosters were finalized. Davis started and batted ninth.
UP NEXT
Tigers: Verlander (15-12, 4.54 ERA) makes his 16th post-season start following what manager Brad Ausmus called "a down season overall" for the 2011 Cy Young Award winner.
Orioles: Chen (16-6, 3.54) seeks his first win since Sept. 15 after losing his final two starts in the regular season.
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