2006 American League Division Series
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Detroit Tigers (3) Jim Leyland 95–67, .586, GB: 1 New York Yankees (1) Joe Torre 97–65, .599, GA: 10
Dates	October 3–7
Television	Fox (Games 1, 4) ESPN (Games 2–3)
TV announcers	Joe Buck,Tim McCarver (Game 1) Jon Miller,Joe Morgan andBonnie Bernstein (Game 2) Jon Miller,Joe Morgan,Ernie Harwell andBonnie Bernstein (Game 3) Josh Lewin,Steve Lyons andKen Rosenthal (Game 4)
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Jon Sciambi,Buck Martinez
Umpires	Tim McClelland Laz Díaz Alfonso Márquez Paul Emmel Larry Poncino Larry Vanover
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Oakland Athletics (3) Ken Macha 93–69, .574, GA: 4 Minnesota Twins (0) Ron Gardenhire 96–66, .593, GA: 1
Dates	October 3–6
Television	ESPN
TV announcers	Jon Miller,Joe Morgan andErin Andrews (Game 1) Dave O'Brien,Rick Sutcliffe,Eric Karros andDuke Castiglione (Games 2–3)
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Gary Thorne,Steve Stone
Umpires	Randy Marsh Kerwin Danley Mike Everitt Ed Rapuano Tim Tschida Tony Randazzo
← 2005 ALDS 2007 →

The2006American League Division Series (ALDS), the opening round of theAmerican League side inMajor League Baseball’s (MLB)2006 postseason, began on Tuesday, October 3, and ended on Saturday, October 7, with the champions of the three AL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—participating in two best-of-five series. They were:

• (1)New York Yankees (East Division champions, 97–65) vs. (4)Detroit Tigers (Wild Card, 95–67); Tigers win series, 3–1.
• (2)Minnesota Twins (Central Division champions, 96–66) vs. (3)Oakland Athletics (West Division champions, 93–69); Athletics win series, 3–0.

^[1]

The Athletics and Tigers met in theAL Championship Series, where a Detroit sweep made the Tigers the American League champions. The Tigers then faced theSt. Louis Cardinals in the2006 World Series, and lost in five games.

The AL playoff race of 2006 was unusually dramatic, with the last divisional championship and the wild card berth undecided until the final day of the season, and the most unlikely of all of the AL's playoff contenders taking the top spot in the AL Central and the second seed.

In theAL East, theNew York Yankees (97–65) clinched the division when theBoston Red Sox were eliminated from the playoffs by theMinnesota Twins (96–66) on September 20. TheOakland Athletics (92–69) clinched theAL West on September 26, and in theAL Central, the Twins won the division by a single game over the Wild CardDetroit Tigers (95–67) after Detroit—who had led the division for the entire season—lost their last five games. Minnesota had set a torrid pace since June 7, after a horrible start. The Twins sewed up their playoff berth with an 8–1 win over theKansas City Royals. They clinched the Central Division title, their fourth in five years, with a 5–1 victory and a 10–8 Detroit loss to the Royals on the last day of the season. The Twins' 96–66 mark is their best since the 98–64 AL West Champion Twins of 1970.

Detroit won the series, 3–1.

†: Game was postponed due to rain on October 4

Oakland won the series, 3–0.

Yankee Stadium (I) inBronx, New York

The Yankees struck first with a five-run third inning offNate Robertson, who allowed a leadoff single toJohnny Damon and subsequent double toDerek Jeter.Bobby Abreu doubled to score both men,Gary Sheffield singled in Abreu, andJason Giambi capped the scoring with a two-run home run. In the fifth, the Tigers got on the board with a solo home run fromCraig Monroe, thenBrandon Inge singled with one out before back-to-back two-out RBI doubles byPlácido Polanco andSean Casey made it 5–3 Yankees, butChien-Ming Wang struck outMagglio Ordóñez to end the inning. The Yankees added to their lead in the sixth off Robertson when Damon singled with two outs, then Jeter doubled before both men scored on Abreu's single.Curtis Granderson's home run in the seventh offMike Myers made it 7−4 Yankees, but they got that run back on Jeter's home run in the eighth offJamie Walker.Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth while Jeter batted 5-for-5 in the game, becoming the sixth player to record five hits in one postseason game.^[9]

Yankee Stadium (I) inBronx, New York

Game 2 was postponed for one day due to rain. In the second inning,Craig Monroe doubled with two outs before scoring onMarcus Thames's single to give the Tigers a 1–0 lead. In the fourth,Johnny Damon launched a three-run home run offJustin Verlander to give the Yankees a 3–1 lead. That would be last time the Yankees would lead a game in the series, and the last time they would score until Game 4.Jamie Walker (who earned the victory in relief) andJoel Zumaya shut the Yanks down for the rest of the game. The Tiger hitters clawed their way back offMike Mussina. In the fifth, Thames hit a leadoff double, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a sacrifice fly fromCurtis Granderson to cut the lead to one. Next inning,Carlos Guillén homered to tie the game and in the seventh, Thames hit a leadoff single, moved to second on a passed ball, then to third on a sacrifice bunt before scoring on Granderson's triple to give the Tigers a 4–3 lead. In the ninth,Todd Jones earned the save by getting Johnny Damon to fly out to center with one man on to end the game and even the series.

Comerica Park inDetroit, Michigan

Feeding off a crowd witnessing its first playoff game in 19 years, Detroit pitcherKenny Rogers pitched7+2⁄3 innings of scoreless ball, earning a victory and standing ovation from theComerica Park crowd in a 6–0 Tigers win. Rogers was throwing as hard as 92 mph in the eighth inning, topping his usual top speed by 3–4 mph.Joel Zumaya used his 103-mph arm to close out the inning, andTodd Jones closed the game for the second time, but did not earn a save, as the Tigers were not in a save situation.

Offensively, the Tigers got on the board offRandy Johnson in the second on three straight leadoff singles, the last of which bySean Casey scoringCarlos Guillén. AfterBrandon Inge struck out,Curtis Granderson hit into a forceout at second to scoreIván Rodríguez. It could have been a hit hadRobinson Canó not made a great diving stop behind the bag to prevent the ball from going into the outfield. On a 1-2 pitch toPlácido Polanco, Granderson appeared to be picked off base when Johnson threw to first basemanJason Giambi, but the Yankees muffed the play when Johnson and Giambi both made poor throws to each base. Polanco capitalized on their mistake when he singled up the middle, scoring Granderson to make it 3−0. In the sixth, Guillen singled with two outs before back-to-back RBI doubles by Rodriguez and Casey made it 5−0 Tigers. Granderson capped the scoring with a leadoff home run offBrian Bruney in the seventh.

Comerica Park inDetroit, Michigan

Detroit finished off New York behind another dominating pitching performance, this time by Jeremy Bonderman in an 8–3 clinching win. In the second inning,Magglio Ordóñez hit a leadoff home run and afterIván Rodríguez walked with one out,Craig Monroe homered offJaret Wright to give the Tigers a 3–0 lead. Next inning, Ordonez reached on an error, moved to third on a single and scored on Rodrigeuz's single. Wright was replaced byCory Lidle, who ended the inning without further damage and pitched a perfect fourth, but in the fifth, allowed three consecutive leadoff singles, the last of which to Ordóñez scoring a run. After allowing an RBI double toCarlos Guillén, Lidle was relieved byBrian Bruney, who allowed a sacrifice fly to Rodriguez. Next inning,Scott Proctor allowed a two-out single to Plácido Polanco, who scored onSean Casey's double to make it 8−0 Tigers. Bonderman, meanwhile, retired the first 15 Yankees in a row, needing just 38 pitches to do so against a team known for their discipline.Robinson Canó singled in the sixth for the Yankees' first hit, but Bonderman prevented any further damage. The Yankee hitters ended their 20-inning scoreless streak in the seventh whenDerek Jeter hit a leadoff single, moved to third onBobby Abreu's single and scored whenHideki Matsui just beat out a relay throw to first, preventing an inning-ending double play. Bonderman left the game in the ninth inning with one on and one out. Jamie Walker gave up a two-out, two-run homer toJorge Posada in the ninth before getting Robinson Canó to ground out to end the game and send the Tigers to the 2006 ALCS against the Oakland Athletics.

The game is notable as Cory Lidle's final appearance before dying in anairplane crash four days later, and was the final ALDS game televised by Fox due to the new TV contracts as of 2011. While Fox Sports would reclaim partial Division Series broadcasting rights in 2014, all of their Division Series games since have been broadcast onFS1.

2006 ALDS(3–1):Detroit Tigers overNew York Yankees

Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome inMinneapolis, Minnesota

TheA's struck first in Game 1 onFrank Thomas's leadoff home run in the second off Twins' aceJohan Santana.Jay Payton singled with one out and scored onMarco Scutaro's two-out double.Barry Zito pitched6+2⁄3 shutout innings beforeRondell White's seventh inning home run put the Twins on the board. Thomas's second home run in the ninth offJesse Crain made it 3–1 A's. The Twins again made it a one-run game in the bottom of the inning whenMichael Cuddyer hit a leadoff triple offHuston Street and scored onTorii Hunter's one-out groundout, but White flew out to end the game and give the A's a 1–0 series lead.

Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome inMinneapolis, Minnesota

In Game 2,Nick Swisher doubled to lead off the fifth offBoof Bonser, then scored onMarco Scutaro's double. One out later,Jason Kendall's RBI single made it 2–0 Oakland. Back-to-back home runs byMichael Cuddyer andJustin Morneau leading off the bottom of the sixth offEsteban Loaiza tied the game. In the seventh,Mark Ellis singled with one out offPat Neshek, thenMark Kotsay's inside-the-park home run offDennys Reyes put Oakland back in front 4–2. They added another run in the ninth when Swisher hit a leadoff double offJuan Rincón, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch byJoe Nathan.Huston Street pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth despite allowing a single and walk to give the A's a 2–0 series lead.

McAfee Coliseum inOakland, California

TheA's struck first in the bottom of the second onEric Chavez's one-out home run offBrad Radke, who would retire following the series.Jay Payton then singled before scoring onMarco Scutaro's two-out double. Next inning,Mark Kotsay reached on an error beforeMilton Bradley's two-run home run made it 4–0 A's.Torii Hunter's home run in the fourth offDan Haren put the Twins on the board. In the sixth, withJustin Morneau at third and Hunter at second,Rondell White's RBI single made it 4–2 A's, but Hunter was thrown out at home for the second out. In the seventh,Dennys Reyes walked two without outs before being relieved byJesse Crain. An error loaded the bases beforeNick Swisher walked to force in a run and Scutaro cleared the bases with a double, all four runs unearned. Morneau's home run in the eighth offJustin Duchscherer made it 8–3 A's, butHuston Street pitched a scoreless ninth as the A's won their first postseason series since the1990 ALCS.

2006 ALDS(3–0):Oakland Athletics overMinnesota Twins

• DET vs. NYY at Baseball-Reference
• OAK vs. MIN at Baseball-Reference

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