Game One in the ALCS is in the books: Detroit over Oakland 5-1. Oakland cannot afford any more defensive efforts such as the one turned in on Tuesday night. The deficit they're facing with their offense against the Tigers' vaunted pitching is enough.

The A's have to win game two. Have to. Otherwise, this series could go shorter than I expected.

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Keep John Ed Clark, one of the Shepherds of the Woodward Park church, in your prayers. On Tuesday, John Ed flew out of San Francisco for Ethiopia for three weeks of ministry in a place where he, Reta and their young children (at the time) invested several years of their lives planting kingdom seed.