SAN FRANCISCO – Twenty-seven seasons after their first game together, Jim Leyland was in the dugout and Gene Lamont in the third-base coach's box. Like spouses who gravitate to the far side of the house.
But the two baseball men had cause to talk late Thursday night.
Unfortunately for Tigers fans, it was a universal reason that would bring them together – misery loves company.
Snap decisions meant a lot in Game 2 of the World Series. Everything, really. And when it mattered the most, Leyland and Lamont got it wrong.
The Tigers are going home to Detroit down 2-0 to the Giants after losing by that score.
Like the Reds and Cardinals when it meant the most, they're wondering what happened to their hitting.
Bruce Bochy and his Giants pitching staff are on quite a roll. Bochy punches the button, and whoever is on the mound puts up a zero. That's the way it seems, anyway – and this was a starting rotation that had a 5.44 ERA through its first nine postseason games.
To beat the Giants, who seem to get dazzling fielding every night, the Tigers know they have two choices – pound the ball or play almost perfect games. They couldn't do either in Game 2.
The Giants' one shot at a big inning died when Lamont belatedly decided to score the lumbering Prince Fielder from first base on a Delmon Young double to left field with no outs in the second inning.
The ball briefly bounced away from Gregor Blanco, the left fielder, and his relay throw sailed over the head of shortstop Brandon Crawford, the first cut-off man.
But Marco Scutaro – hustling over from second – took the throw and fired a strike to Buster Posey, who tagged Fielder as he picked the wrong side of the plate to slide into.
"Gene just got a little overaggressive," Leyland said. " … The umpire made the absolute terrific call on the play."
In a scoreless game in the seventh, Leyland managed as if it was the third or fourth inning. He chose not to bring his fielders in with no outs and the bases loaded, conceding the go-ahead run when Crawford hit a double-play grounder to second baseman Omar Infante.
"We felt double-play depth, because we felt we couldn't give up two runs," Leyland said. "To be honest, we were thrilled to get out of the inning with one run."
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