This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Detroit • Turns out the Oakland Athletics don't need a brilliant pitching performance to beat Detroit.

They can outslug the Tigers, too.

Brandon Moss, Josh Reddick and Seth Smith homered for the Athletics, who chased Anibal Sanchez in the fifth inning Monday and defeated the Tigers 6-3 for a 2-1 AL division series lead.

Moss broke a 3-all tie in the fifth with a solo shot, and Smith's two-run drive later in the inning ended Sanchez's day. It was an impressive offensive show after the teams split two tense, low-scoring games in Oakland.

The A's can close out the series Tuesday and reach the AL championship series for the first time since 2006 — when they were swept by the Tigers. Oakland will send rookie Dan Straily to the mound against Detroit's Doug Fister.

"It was exciting for Brandon to get us on the board," Smith said. "It was nice to score some runs and get back on top there."

Sanchez, the American League's ERA leader, allowed six runs — five earned — and eight hits in 41⁄3 innings. Smith has homered off Sanchez more than any other player, having now done it twice in the regular season and twice in the postseason.

There was activity in the Detroit bullpen before Smith's homer Monday, and he made the Tigers pay for sticking with the struggling Sanchez.

"Sometimes he starts out a little slow, you figure he's going to get it going," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. "Today he just really didn't get it going. He made a couple of real bad pitches the last inning he was out there to Moss and Smith."

Jarrod Parker gave up three runs in five innings for Oakland, and the Tigers couldn't rally against the bullpen.

Grant Balfour pitched a hitless ninth for the save — and became involved in shouting with Victor Martinez that caused the benches and bullpens to empty. Martinez had just hit a foul ball out of play when he and Balfour appeared to start jawing at each other. Athletics 6,Tigers 3

Oakland AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Crisp cf 4 1 3 1 0 0 .333

Donaldson 3b 4 0 1 0 1 0 .167

Lowrie ss 5 0 0 0 0 3 .000

Moss 1b 4 1 1 1 1 3 .182

Barton 1b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Cespedes lf 5 1 1 0 0 2 .385

S.Smith dh 4 1 2 2 0 1 .500

Reddick rf 4 1 1 1 0 1 .182

Vogt c 2 1 1 0 1 1 .222

a-D.Norris ph-c 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000

Sogard 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Totals 37 6 10 5 3 12

Detroit AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

A.Jackson cf 3 0 0 0 1 2 .091

Tor.Hunter rf 3 1 1 0 1 0 .200

Mi.Cabrera 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .250

Fielder 1b 4 1 2 0 0 0 .250

V.Martinez dh 4 1 1 1 0 0 .250

Jh.Peralta lf 4 0 1 2 0 1 .200

Avila c 3 0 0 0 1 1 .222

Infante 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .300

Iglesias ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .111

Totals 32 3 7 3 3 4

Oakland 001 230 000 — 6 10 0

Detroit 000 300 000 — 3 7 1

a-struck out for Vogt in the 8th.

E—Mi.Cabrera (1).

LOB—Oakland 8, Detroit 5. 2B—Crisp 2 (2), V.Martinez (2). 3B—Vogt (1). HR—Reddick (1), off Ani.Sanchez Moss (1), off Ani.Sanchez S.Smith (1), off Ani.Sanchez. RBIs—Crisp (1), Moss (1), S.Smith 2 (2), Reddick (1), V.Martinez (1), Jh.Peralta 2 (2). SB—Crisp (1). SF—Crisp.

Runners left in scoring position—Oakland 3 (Cespedes 2, S.Smith) Detroit 1 (Infante). RISP—Oakland 1 for 12 Detroit 2 for 3.

Runners moved up—Lowrie, Avila. GIDP—Tor.Hunter, V.Martinez.

DP—Oakland 2 (Donaldson, Sogard, Moss), (Moss, Lowrie).

Oakland IP H R ER BB SO ERA

J.Parker W, 1-0 5 5 3 3 1 1 5.40

Otero 2 2 0 0 0 1 0.00

Doolittle 1 0 0 0 1 1 0.00

Balfour S, 1-1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0.00

Detroit IP H R ER BB SO ERA

Ani.Sanchez L, 0-1

41⁄3 8 6 5 2 6 10.38

J.Alvarez 3 0 0 0 1 3 0.00

Veras 12⁄3 2 0 0 0 3 0.00

Umpires—Home, Gary Darling First, Jim Reynolds Second, Tom Hallion Third, Mike DiMuro Right, CB Bucknor Left, Mark Wegner.

T—3:32. A—43,973 (41,255).