Tigers Look to Porcello to Repeat What Bonderman Accomplished in ’06 ALDS Clincher
Mike McClary
Posted on October 4, 2011
Five years ago this week, the Tigers sent a young, often frustrating righthander to the mound in the fourth game of the American League Division Series. With a win, no sure thing with the unpredictable starter, the Tigers would eliminate the Yankees and move on to the American League Championship Series against the Oakland A’s. Twenty-three-year-old Jeremy Bonderman was the Tigers’ starter that chilly Saturday afternoon and he faced righty Jaret Wright, who’d gone 11-7 witha 4.49 ERA in 30 appearances (27 starts) for New York. Tigers fans didn’t want to seem overconfident, but compared to the Yankee starters in the series’ first three games (Chien-Ming Wang, Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson) Wright seemed like a notch above batting-practice quality. That day, the Tigers staked Bonderman to a 3-0, second-inning lead on home runs…
