Fernando Rodney, Jason Grilli and Todd Jones showed that the Detroit Tigers' relievers can overpower the opposition even when Joel Zumaya is not pitching.

With the fireballing rookie out with tightness in his forearm, it was those other three relievers who combined to tie a post-season record by striking out six straight Oakland Athletics in the Tigers' 8-5 victory in Game 2 of the AL championship series.

``We have guys coming in from the bullpen ready to throw strikes,'' catcher Ivan Rodriguez said. ``They don't have to do too much. They relax and throw strikes. When you have pitchers in the bullpen who can throw in the middle 90s, it's very tough to hit it.''

Grilli started the strikeout streak by fanning Frank Thomas to end the seventh inning. Then came Rodney, who blew away Eric Chavez, Jay Payton and Nick Swisher in the eighth. Todd Jones opened the ninth by striking out Marco Scutaro and pinch-hitter Adam Melhuse before the Tigers bullpen finally ran into trouble.

Three straight singles off Jones brought Frank Thomas up as the potential winning run, but Jones got the Big Hurt to fly out to centre to end the game and give the Tigers a 2-0 series lead.

``Our bullpen was awesome the whole game,'' Jones said. ``We threw guys out there tonight we have to have for us to win the series. It can't just be the Joel Zumaya and I show every night. Those guys were great, four innings of one-run ball. The boys did a really good job out in the bullpen.''

It's the fifth time a team has struck out six batters in a row and first since the Chicago Cubs did it against Atlanta in Game 2 of the 2003 division series. It's the first time the feat has ever been pulled off in LCS play.

``That's a tribute to our bullpen,'' starting pitcher Justin Verlander said. ``They've been great all year. The stats show it. They don't give in. They're very aggressive. When I'm out of the game I have faith in our bullpen.''

___

FILLING IN: When second baseman Placido Polanco went down with a shoulder injury for the Detroit Tigers in August, they went out and acquired Neifi Perez as a replacement.

Now Detroit is counting on Perez to fill a different role.

The utility player started at shortstop for Game 2 of the AL championship series against the Oakland Athletics when regular shortstop Carlos Guillen had to move to first base to replace the injured Sean Casey.

Perez also moved into the No. 2 hole with Polanco taking Casey's spot as the third hitter in Detroit's lineup against Esteban Loaiza. He went 0-for-4 with a sacrifice bunt.

``Obviously when you lose you No. 3 hitter it changes a lot of things,'' Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. ``So you try to get as versatile a lineup as you possibly can, thinking that you may have to do some other things. (Perez) can bunt, he can hit and run, he can do some things.''

Perez was acquired from the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 20, and struggled in his short time in Detroit. He hit .200 in 21 games, with no homers and five RBIs.

He walked just three times in 65 at-bats, leaving him with a .235 on-base percentage _ not exactly what teams usually look for in their No. 2 hitter. But Leyland still likes what Perez gives the team.

``He's liable to swing at one foot over his head and he's liable to swing at one two feet for a triple,'' Leyland said. ``The thing I love with Neifi Perez is energy. He plays with a passion. He loves to play. He's a smart player.''

___

CAFE E'LO: Luckily, the coffee was already lukewarm. Esteban Loaiza's now infamous coffee incident with Milton Bradley during his division series start last week at Minnesota was a hot _ no pun intended _ topic heading into his Game 2 outing in the ALCS.

Bradley tossed his batting gloves onto a dugout shelf in the Metrodome, knocking a cup of coffee onto the pitcher.

Loaiza had on three layers and another uniform at the ready, so he quickly changed.

``That right there, I think I wore it _ you could say I wore it,'' Loaiza said laughing. ``It was just one of the things that I didn't know how to react but just to stay focused and stay in my plan of going out there and not paying attention to that.''

Plus, the coffee never got on his skin _ and he wasn't burned because the drink wasn't too hot.

``Just a quick reaction, go back in, take the clothes off, and put another one on and get ready for the game,'' he said.

___

WAKE-UP CALL: As he usually does when he's on the West Coast, Tigers manager Jim Leyland got up around 4 a.m. to call home and wish his kids a good day at school.

Before going back to bed Wednesday morning, Leyland decided to make another call to an old friend and possible World Series opponent _ St. Louis manager Tony La Russa.

``I said, 'Well, while I'm up I might as well give Tony a call because I know he's up,'' Leyland said. ``So we chatted for a little while and I went back to bed.''

Leyland was La Russa's third-base coach for four seasons with the Chicago White Sox in the 1980s and spent the previous six seasons as a scout for the Cardinals.

Despite the long friendship, Leyland said it wouldn't be a distraction if he faced La Russa in the World Series.

``I can assure you that even if by some stroke of luck that situation would happen, I can assure you that both Tony and I will not be talking about that at all. We'll be talking about our players.''

© The Canadian Press, 2007