Texas Rangers vs. RHP Doug Fister
- Ian Kinsler - 2B
- Elvis Andrus - SS
- Josh Hamilton - CF
- Michael Young - 1B
- Adrian Beltre - 3B
- Mike Napoli - DH
- Nelson Cruz - RF
- Yorvit Torrealba - C
- Endy Chavez - LF
Detroit Tigers vs. RHP Colby Lewis
- Austin Jackson - CF
- Don Kelly - 3B
- Delmon Young - LF
- Miguel Cabrera - 1B
- Victor Martinez - DH
- Alex Avila - C
- Jhonny Peralta - SS
- Ryan Raburn - RF
- Ramon Santiago - 2B
Some interesting (read: questionable) decisions by Ron Washington for game three. After a mind-bogglingly horrible game two performance, Mitch Moreland has been benched in favor of Napoli at DH and Torrealba at catcher. Even with the platoon disadvantage, this makes sense, as Comerica is a more friendly park for right-handed hitters, Napoli could use a day of rest after catching 11 innings of baseball, and Moreland has been struggling severely.
More questionable is sitting David Murphy in favor of Chavez. Murphy has not been the same black hole Moreland has been -- including a huge triple in game one -- and Chavez actually has a lengthy career hitting lefties better than righties. With Comerica's boost for right handed hitters, if Murphy needs to sit, starting Craig Gentry and getting his sterling defense would seem like the better decision. That is not necessarily obvious, though.
The Tigers, who hit "worse" against right-handed pitching this season, will throw just two lefties -- Kelly and Avila -- at Colby Lewis, and Kelly is not particularly good. He will face two switch-hitters, but Martinez actually fairs worse from the left side, and Santiago only experiences a slight improvement. One wonders if Wilson Betemit's offense is left on the bench simply because of how silly Neftali Feliz made him look in game one. With the platoon advantage and a large ballpark, Lewis has a fairly good chance of continuing his increasingly-legendary postseason status.