Ivan Nova started Game 5 of the ALDS by making Austin Jackson look silly, striking him out on four pitches. For the second out of Game 5, Nova made Miguel Cabrera look awful, striking him out on three pitches. Imagine that, a rookie chewing up an MVP candidate and spitting him out.
In between, he allowed back-to-back solo home runs. But if were successful 50% of the time as a hitter, everybody would be sooooo quick to praise him. You people are so glass-half-empty.
The first home run was to Don Kelly, who hit a hanging curve ball down the right-field line to get the Tigers on the board. The very next pitch was to Delmon Young, and it was a hanging slider. Hanging doesn't quite do it justice. It was like a Mark Grace cutter, just hovering over the plate at 81.
Young had two options: He could take the first pitch, thus breaking his blood oath with the bearded man who game him his talent, or he could swing at the pitch, and send it a long, long ways.
He chose the latter, drove the pitch over the left-field wall, and gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom half of the first, Doug Fister threw nine pitches to get three quick outs. There's no such thing as momentum, but the Tigers have it.