Tigers manager Jim Leyland is using the same nine starting players he used in Game 5, won by Detroit, with just a few changes:
Austin Jackson – CF
Ryan Raburn – RF
Miguel Cabrera – 1B
Victor Martinez# – DH
Delmon Young – LF
Jhonny Peralta – SS
Alex Avila* – C
Brandon Inge – 3B
Ramon Santiago# – 2B
Leyland’s moves are often inscrutable; this can’t be because it’s a different-handed pitcher throwing, as lefthander C.J. Wilson threw in Game 5 and another lefty, Derek Holland, goes for the Rangers in Game 6. It’s not even the same lineup that Leyland used in Game 2 against Holland; that Game 2 lineup made Holland throw 76 pitches and issue four hits and four walks in less than three innings.
It’s probably a hunch that has Leyland moving Ryan Raburn up to second and switching around the bottom of the order as well. With their proverbial backs to the wall and a trip home for the offseason looming if they don’t win, who’s to say it won’t work?