ALDS Schedule 2013: Start Time, TV Info and Predicton for Tigers vs. A's

There are few things as exciting in the MLB as a sudden-death playoff game, and we're lucky enough to have one on Thursday night as the Detroit Tigers take on the Oakland Athletics.

The winner of this ALDS matchup will take on the Boston Red Sox, who have some of the best hitters in the majors.  Both the Tigers and A's have strong pitchers, which will make the ALCS a very exciting one to watch, regardless of who advances.

Below is all of the information you need to watch Game 5 on Thursday night, followed by a preview of the two starting pitchers and a prediction for who will advance to the ALCS.

Viewing Information

Where: O.co Coliseum, Oakland, CA

Date: Thursday, Oct. 10

Time: 8:07 p.m. ET

TV: TBS

Pitcher Preview

Detroit Tigers: Justin Verlander

The former AL MVP and Cy Young winner has taken a bit of a step back in 2013, but he's still having a great season.

During the regular season, Verlander started in 34 games, pitching 218.1 innings with an ERA of 3.46 and a 1.31 WHIP.  Surprisingly enough, he didn't throw a single complete game over the year and had a record of just 13-12.

Verlander showed up in Game 2 of this series, even though the Tigers lost.  He pitched seven great innings, allowing just four hits and striking out 11 while not allowing a single run.

His velocity has noticeably dropped a bit in 2013, especially on his fastball.  Since Verlander's four-seamer didn't have a lot of movement on it to begin with, he struggled a bit this season.

However, this is Game 5, and you can't write off a pitcher as good as Verlander, especially with how dominant he was against this lineup in Game 2.

Oakland Athletics: Sonny Gray

If you didn't know who Sonny Gray was before, you certainly knew who he was after Game 2 of the ALDS.

Gray had an absolutely fantastic outing against the Tigers, throwing eight shutout innings, allowing four hits and striking out nine batters.

At 23 years old, Gray got his first action in the majors this season, and he made every game count.  He played in 12 games and started 10 of them, pitching 64 innings with just a 2.67 ERA and holding opposing batters to just a .214 batting average.

Part of the reason Gray did so well against the Tigers in Game 2 was because Detroit didn't have a lot of film or information on the rookie pitcher, giving him the upper hand.  He took advantage of that and was aggressive the entire night, not afraid to shy away from tough batters.

Things might be a little different this time out now that the Tigers know more about what they're going against, but the A's trust Gray enough to give him the starting nod in this huge situation, which is reason enough to believe that this young pitcher is the real deal.

Prediction

I became a big fan of Gray after that big outing in Game 2, but I don't think he gets in done in the Gray vs. Verlander encore.

The Tigers' bats were cold heading into Game 4, but they finally turned it around on Tuesday.  They were able to score eight runs in the win thanks to big days from Victor Martinez and Jhonny Peralta.

The bats for the Tigers are some of the best in baseball, with some real sluggers like Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder in the lineup.  The Tigers ranked second in the majors in runs, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, while also ranking first in batting average.

I think the Tigers get at least two big-time home runs from their sluggers in the game, and the Tigers rely on another dominant outing from Verlander to advance to the ALCS.

Prediction: Tigers 5, Athletics 3