Oakland, Calif. ? The Tigers thrived all season with strong pitching, dependable defense and home runs from most every spot in the order. The formula that worked so well this year for Jim Leyland’s club is what gave Detroit the lead in the AL championship series.

Brandon Inge, Nate Robertson and the Tigers are showing no signs of slowing down, either.

Inge hit a solo home run and RBI double from the bottom of the order, Ivan Rodriguez also homered, and Robertson pitched the Tigers past the Oakland Athletics, 5-1, Tuesday night in Game 1 of the ALCS.

“When your pitcher throws strikes, a lot of things can happen,” shortstop Carlos Guillen said. “It gives you confidence.”

The Tigers battered Barry Zito, turned four double plays and once again relied on their flame-throwing relievers. Only one thing went wrong: Sean Casey, Detroit’s No. 3 hitter, left early because of an injured left calf and expected to be out a couple of days.

Game 2 in the best-of-seven series – a rematch of the 1972 ALCS – is tonight, with Oakland’s Esteban Loaiza facing Justin Verlander.

Fresh off surprising the New York Yankees in four games in the opening round, the typically free-swinging Tigers worked the count against Zito.

“We thought if we slowed down against him a little bit, it would work a little better,” Inge said. “It’s huge, get a little momentum going.”

The A’s ace retired the first eight batters of the game before running into trouble, with 10 of the last 13 Tigers facing him reaching base on the way to a 5-0 lead.

Detroit's Brandon Inge (15) accepts congratulations from teammates after scoring on a single by Placido Polanco. The Tigers defeated the Athletics, 5-1, on Tuesday night in Oakland, Calif.

“After that I started to nit pick a little bit instead of coming right after them,” Zito said. “This is the playoffs. If you don’t get ahead in the count it becomes more exposed than in the regular season.”

The wild-card Tigers showed off their gloves, too, tying a league championship series record for double plays, last accomplished by the San Francisco Giants exactly 19 years earlier – on Oct. 10, 1987.

Robertson, who lost Game 1 against the Yankees in his postseason debut, threw five shutout innings to win for the first time in the Coliseum. The 29-year-old lefty struck out the side to escape a fourth-inning jam after Frank Thomas drew a leadoff walk and Jay Payton doubled him to third.

“That’s Nate,” said Rodriguez, one of two Tigers players with a World Series ring. “He never gives up. He never feels any weakness up there.”

The Tigers are again feeling good about themselves after losing their final five games of the regular-season, starting with Robertson’s Sept. 27 outing.

“It’s a new slate,” Inge said. “It’s wiped clean and we can go out there now and forget about everything that happened.”

Oakland never trailed in its division-series sweep of the Minnesota Twins, taking quick leads in all three games. This time, the A’s grounded into double plays to end both the second and third innings to squander early scoring chances, then had another double play in the fifth.

“We were dodging bullets all night. We just put too many guys on base,” Leyland said.

The A’s made mistakes resembling some of their blunders in four straight first-round losses from 2000-03 – not the clean, crisp defense they showed in the division series. They also went 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

“With three days off, I think guys came in here a little overanxious and tried to do things we don’t normally do,” Thomas said.

Zito, Oakland’s lone All-Star this season, didn’t allow a hit until Inge – the No. 9 hitter – lofted a drive that stayed just inside the left-field foul pole with two outs in the third.

Curtis Granderson followed with a double, then Placido Polanco walked on Zito’s 56th pitch. After Casey followed with a walk, pitching coach Curt Young paid a visit to the mound before Magglio Ordonez’s infield single that Chavez, a five-time Gold Glover, bobbled at third base.

“If they shut us down, you can’t be surprised,” Chavez said. “They shut down the Yankees.”

Zito threw 38 pitches, 18 balls, in the inning after needing only 31 to get through the first two, and he gave way to Chad Gaudin after only 32â3 innings. His line: seven hits, five runs, three walks and no strikeouts on 92 pitches.

Inge was 3-for-24 lifetime against Zito coming in. But just like they did the final three games with the Yankees, the Tigers found success against a starting pitcher they’d had trouble with in the past.

With two outs in the top of the sixth, Casey hit a grounder to shortstop, took one step and then grabbed his left leg in pain. He made it about halfway down the line and was thrown out to end the inning. Leyland and a trainer came out to tend to Casey, who hobbled to the Tigers’ clubhouse after the inning.

Casey was in a walking boot after the game. Guillen will likely shift from shortstop to fill in at first.

“Hopefully tomorrow it feels a lot better and I’ll get treatment and be back in there soon,” Casey said. “It’s frustrating. I’ve been down this road before. I’m sure those guys will be fine.”

Robertson and his relievers were in control, with Oakland’s only run coming on Payton’s RBI groundout in the eighth.

Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya each reached triple digits on the radar gun, with Zumaya topping out at 102 mph. Todd Jones finished it.

The Tigers – whose deep and talented pitching staff was baseball’s best this season – held Thomas 0-for-3 with a walk after the Big Hurt had a hit in each of the A’s first three playoff games, including two home runs in the division series opener.