manager AJ Hinch said to the media Wednesday before his team's first workout."He was obviously right next to me every step of the way. As a bench coach [url=http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/au

David Maxwell/Getty ImagesDetroit Tigers star Victor Martinez will play in one final MLB game on Saturday against the Kansas City Royals before calling it a career after spending the last 17 years in the big leagues Aaron Judge Jersey , according to MLive Media Group's Evan Woodbery."It's just thanking the Detroit Tigers fans and thanking everybody here," Martinez said, per Woodbery. "After tomorrow, it's going to be it. That will be my last game. This is one way to thank everybody."Detroit's final homestand of the season wraps up on Sunday, with the team finishing the campaign with a six-game road trip. Martinez will not play in any games during the final week, as he wants his final at-bat to come at Comerica Park.Martinez, 39, is playing out the remainder of the four-year, $68 million contract he signed in November 2014.After taking a wait-and-see approach during spring training (h/tESPN.com), he acknowledged to Fox Sports Detroit back in August that this would likely be his final season playing baseball:FOX Sports Detroit FOXSportsDetWe hear from Tigers DH Victor Martinez Gleyber Torres Jersey , who says hes taking it all in now, knowing that his illustrious baseball career has been reduced to about six weeks. XnugHlfRO7This season, Martinez is hitting .249/.296/.353 with nine home runs, 21 doubles and 54 RBI in 131 games.His 2017 season was cut short after he underwent aheart procedurelast September to address an irregular heartbeat.Martinez came up in the Cleveland Indians organization and spent seven-plus seasons of his big-league career with the Tribe. He was ultimately traded to the Boston Red Sox at the 2009 MLB trade deadline, playing a year and a half in Beantown. After signing with Detroit as a free agent following the 2010 season, he has spent the last eight years with the Tigers.Regardless of the uniform he was wearing, Martinez has been a force with the bat. The switch-hitter is a career .295/.360/.455 hitter with 246 home runs, 423 doubles and 1,178 RBI. He hit a career-high 32 dingers in 2014 and topped the 100-RBI plateau five times.Martinez is a five-time All-Star and a two-time Silver Slugger recipient. He also received American League MVP votes in six different seasons, finishing second to Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout in 2014.While he has plenty of personal accolades Tyler Austin Jersey , he was never able to capture a World Series ring. He made five trips to the postseason in his career. On the mound, the team survived the Yankees with the bullpen's best bend-but-don't-break effort.Like whenSuicide Squadhit theaters, "Red Sox Playoff Bullpen" played out almost exactly as poorly everyone thought it would. In Game 1, Sale handed off a 5-2 lead after 5.1 innings, and Boston escaped witha 5-4 victory.In a Game 2 loss, Price melted down early and the bullpen allowed another three runs. As they closed out the series in Game 4, the Red Sox turned to Sale instead of a reliever for the eighth inning before handing off a 4-1 lead to Kimbrel for the ninth.He loaded the bases and allowed a warning-track shot that with a few more feet would have won the game for New York鈥攖he Sox prevailed 4-3.The whole ordeal was like watching Han, Luke and Leia trapped in the trash compactor, every next thing pointing towards an epic disaster before some miracle pulls them out of trouble.It could be a relative unknown who can be the rock Boston will need in the tightest moments against Houston.Ryan Brasier started this season in Triple-A Pawtucket after spending last year in Japan. With the fans in Yankee Stadium itching and scratching, looking for any bit of hope to erupt into pandemonium Clint Frazier Jersey , Brasier shut down the Yankees in the seventh of Game 4. He finished the series with four strikeouts in 2.1 innings, allowing no runs and earning the trust of manager Alex Cora in high-leverage situations. He'd spent nearly five seasons toiling around baseball before finding himself in the middle of a high-tension playoff series, once cursing at Gary Sanchez, telling the Yankees catcher to get back in the box before blowing him away on a 97-mph fastball.Cora will need Brasier and the bullpen in the ALCS, another change from Boston's regular-season reality."We work differently than other teams," Cora said during a press conference ahead of Game 1 of the ALDS. "We relied on our starters throughout the season. They carry us. We felt that on a nightly basis they were going to give us a chance to win鈥攅ither five innings, six innings, whatever. They were very consistent about it."Sale, Nathan Eovaldi in Game 2 and Rick Porcello in Game 4 gave Cora effective starts in the ALDS. But he'll want more from Price than the 1.2 innings he got in Game 2. In many ways, the Red Sox's chances hinge on Price finding form. Cora is committed to the 33-year-old left-hander sticking in the rotation http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-mark-mcgwire-jersey , telling WEEI.com that he believes his star pitcher only needed to make some mechanical adjustments."There were a few things I noticed that he's gotten away from [his] last few starts," Cora said. "Hopefully he can make that adjustment. ... I do feel that with that adjustment, he'll be back to being the guy who pitched in the middle of the summer, and he'll dominate again."Rookie manager Alex Cora was a bench coach for the Astros last season.Elise Amendola/Associated PressCora himself is in his first postseason as an MLB manager and did not excel as a playoff player鈥攈e hit .154 over 26 at-bats in six series. But he was the shining light for Boston against the Yankees, seemingly unable to make a bad decision. The Red Sox have seen the Astros before, but nobody knows them better than Cora, who was Houston's bench coach during their World Series run last season.Following multiple seasons when many felt former skipper John Farrell was not aggressive enough in his managerial style, Cora has flipped the script. His decision to sub in Brock Holt and Rafael Devers for Ian Kinsler and Eduardo Nunez in Game 3 of the ALDS paid dividends, as did having Sale come in to set up Kimbrel in Game 4."I'm trying to remember some things that I told [Cora] that I wish I wouldn't have," Houston manager AJ Hinch said to the media Wednesday before his team's first workout."He was obviously right next to me every step of the way. As a bench coach Stephen Piscotty Jersey , you're kind of involved in everything, but maybe master of nothing when it comes to being in charge."Houston is the favorite to win the series, topping Boston on paper in the bullpen and the rotation while featuring a comparable lineup. Several things will need to break the Sox's way in order for them to move onto the World Series. And if the Red Sox didn't like what pundits were saying before the Yankees, they won't like what they hear as they prepare to face Houston. But the rematch of last year's ALDS is set, and this time, the stakes are higher."We're ready for another shot," Porcello said.