Their were two win or go home situations last night, but in two different sports. The MLB had their final division series game last night between the Tigers and A’s while the WNBA held their Finals between the Lynx and Dream. So not only was it two different sports but also two different genders.
(John Bazemore/AP)
The Minnesota Lynx have won their 2nd WNBA title is 3 years after sweeping the Atlanta Dream 3-0. The Lynx were the best team all season with the best record and went through the postseason undefeated. Some notable players they have are Seimone Augustus and Maya Moore, both were apart of the 2011 team also. In 2011 Augustus was the Finals MVP for her 22 points averaged during the playoffs. This year Maya Moore was crowned Finals MVP averaging 21 points and 5 rebounds. In game 3 both combined for 37 points. It wasn’t just them two though, Lindsay Whalen’s 15 points 6 dimes and Rebekkah Brunson’s 15 points 12 boards also contributed to the 86-77 victory. That’s how it been all season though, all 4 players made it to the All-Star game. Congrats to the Lynx.
(AP Photo/Ben Margot)
All Hail King Verlander. After receiving 7 year $180 million deal, Verlander didn’t have a very good season, only 13-12, which doesn’t match the price tag. But when you put him out there in a Win or Go home situation on the road, the performance matches the price tag. For the second year in a row, Verlander goes into Oakland and hold them to 0 runs with double digits strikeouts in an elimination game. Verlander was flawless Thursday night, pitching 8 innings, striking out 10 batters, and only giving up 1 hit. Verlander worked off his high fastball and then started taking to the curve and none of the A’s could get a hit off of him. His counterpart, rookie Sonny Gray, had a rough 5 innings. He gave up 6 hits, walked 4, and gave up a 2 run bomb to Miguel Cabrera. This is the second rookie pitcher to play in an elimination game versus a proven playoff veteran and the results were the same. In the playoff it’s all about pitching and now you can add experience to that list also. Not to say Gray or Cole played bad, they just went against pitchers that weren’t going give up anything let alone a run. Tigers will now head to Boston for Game 1 Saturday.
