masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgDuring separate press conferences this afternoon at Camden Yards, Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus and Game 1 starting pitcher Max Scherzer gave quite different answers when asked about the club’s playoff experience.

This is the fourth year in a row that Detroit has reached the postseason and the Tigers have won the American League Division Series the last three years by winning Game 5 on the road each time.

“For guys that have been through it, the experience is an enormous help,” Ausmus…During separate press conferences this afternoon at Camden Yards, Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus and Game 1 starting pitcher Max Scherzer gave quite different answers when asked about the club’s playoff experience.

This is the fourth year in a row that Detroit has reached the postseason and the Tigers have won the American League Division Series the last three years by winning Game 5 on the road each time.

“For guys that have been through it, the experience is an enormous help,” Ausmus said. “You understand that the distractions are greater and that the spotlight is brighter and hotter, but that ultimately when you step in between the lines, the game is exactly the same.

scherzer-ALDS-presser-tall.jpg“When you’ve gone through it, I think you become more adept at slowing the game down. You don’t allow the adrenaline to take over. You control it and use it to your advantage.

“I think the big plus about those experienced players being in the clubhouse is that the young players that haven’t been through it can either watch and see how they go about their business or ask them. I do firmly believe experience in the postseason helps you.”

Scherzer downplayed any edge in postseason experience the Tigers may have.

“You know, I always think talent wins out, so the most talented team will win this series,” Scherzer said. “You can sit here and say we have all the experience, but if they go out and play better baseball, our experience won’t matter.

“But when we get into big games like the playoffs, we seem to play our best baseball. We have guys really step up. I love being a part of this clubhouse and know we will give it everything we’ve got.”

On some other topics, Ausmus said he’s still not certain if injured outfielder Rajai Davis will play in the series. He said that means he has not finalized his roster yet.

Ausmus was asked about pitching against the Orioles, a team that leads the majors in homers.

“The approach is still the same – the pitchers try to attack the hitter’s weaknesses and pitch to their strengths,” he said. “We certainly aren’t going into the series thinking we will give up home runs. Despite the fact they’ve hit a ton of home runs, it doesn’t drastically change the approach.”

Ausmus was asked about playing the Orioles in May and how a lot has changed since.

“When we came into Baltimore, we were hot. After we left, really Baltimore was hot pretty much the rest of the way,” he said. “They are probably a lot more confident team than they were when we last saw them.”

Ausmus talked about Orioles closer Zach Britton and the Baltimore bullpen.

“I think Britton has really established himself as one of the better closers in the game,” Ausmus said. “They acquired (Andrew) Miller, who had a track record coming in. It is probably a little different to have two left-handers in the back of the bullpen. You don’t see that very often, but they are still very effective against right-handed hitters. It’s a good part of the reason they’ve been successful.”