OK, this is sort of what it used to be like when all of the big bowl games were played on January 1. The Tampa Bay game was like the Cotton Bowl, the Cardinal game was the Rose Bowl, and now the Tigers and Yankees are going to play the Orange Bowl.
Over the last decade, the Yankees have generally struggled in the playoffs -- unless they could play the Twins. Here is their record in League Divisional Series since 2002:
2002: Angels beat Yankees 3-1
2003: Yankees beat Twins 3-1
2004: Yankees beat Twins 3-1
2005: Angels beat Yankees 3-2
2006: Tigers beat Yankees 3-1
2007: Indians beat Yankees 3-1
2008: Missed playoffs
2009: Yankees beat Twins 3-0
2010: Yankees beat Twins 3-0
So the Yankees are 4-0 in LDS matches with the Twins, and 0-4 against everyone else. The Tigers are not the Twins, and the Tigers already lead the series 2-1, so the Yankees are in big trouble.
OK, so the Yankees are starting A.J. Burnett. He's been terrible all year, but the rainout on Friday messed up the Yankees' rotation, so they had to use him. In the bottom of the first, Burnett walked the bases loaded with two out, and then gave up a screaming line drive to deep center field that looked sure to score three runs.
ReplyDeleteBut Curtis Granderson, the Yankees' center fielder, went running back, back, back and then made an amazing leaping catch to end the inning.
In the top of the 3d, Jorge Posada, who has been playing for the Yankees since about 1963, was hit by a pitch. Russell Martin, the Yankees' new catcher (Posada is DH-ing), singled Posada to second. And then Derek Jeter -- another oldster -- clobbered a tremendous drive to center that went all the way to the wall. The two Yankee catchers raced around the bases, with the younger Martin almost catching the aged Posada. Martin needed every ounce of speed, because he just barely beat the throw. Yanks lead 2-0 going into the bottom of the 3d.
ReplyDeleteFangraphs gives the Yankees a 66 percent chance of victory. But I'm not sure Fangraphs has accounted for the fact that A.J. Burnett is pitching.
ReplyDeleteThe Tigers have their first hit of the game, and it is a big one. Victor Martinez crushes a long home run to right field, and Tiger Stadium (or whatever Detroit's park is called these days) goes wild.
ReplyDeleteTwo batters later, Jhonny Peralta (the Tigers' shortstop) rips a one-out double down the left field line.
ReplyDeleteBurnett is not very good, and the Tigers seem to have figured him out. It is only the bottom of the fourth, but you have to wonder how much longer the Yankees will let him go.
But Burnett strikes out the next two Tiger batters to escape the inning. It's 2-1 Yanks after 4.
ReplyDeleteNow in the top of the 5th, the Yanks are fighting back. Their 8 and 9 hitters, Russell Martin and Brett Gardner, each single. Jeter tried to bunt the runners over, but end up forcing Martin at third. Granderson then doubled to right, scoring Gardner and sending Jeter to third.
ReplyDeleteThe Tigers then walked Cano to load the bases and bring up A-Rod, who does not have a single hit in this series.
Here's A-Rod's at bat:
ReplyDeleteStrike on the inside
Strike swinging
A long fly to center field to score Jeter.
That was actually a pretty good at bat. A-Rod looked terrible on the first two pitches, and still gets a huge RBI to put the Yanks up 4-1.
Tiger Stadium has gotten very quiet.
The Yankees are out in the top of the 5th. But they lead 4-1, and they now have an 80 percent chance of victory.
ReplyDeleteThe Tigers go down in the 5th, and A.J. Burnett, who was widely expected to be shelled, has survived five innings.
ReplyDeleteBurnett is done. He got the first two batters in the bottom of the 6th, but then he gave up a single, and he is out of there.
ReplyDeleteThe Yankees will bring in Rafael Soriano (2-3, 4.12 ERA) to pitch to Peralta with a runner on first and two out.
Still, this was a brave outing for Burnett, who has struggled all year.
Peralta greets Soriano with a sinking drive that looks sure to go through the gap for a double, but for the second time in this game, Granderson makes a spectacular catch to end the inning. This time, he does a full dive, catching the ball inches from the grass.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a Tigers fan, I would be feeling snake-bit right about now.
By the way, a Tigers-Yankees game in Detroit is one of the all-time great uniform games.
ReplyDeleteI didn't post anything else because the Yankees blew the game open with six runs in the top of the 8th, and cruised to a 10-1 victory.
ReplyDeleteThis game reads as though it might've been a blowout the other way had it not been for Granderson's fielding. I think it's odd how in sports sometimes it feels that the game has decided to be either close or a blowout first and then second it lets two or three key individuals on one team and/or the other decide on which ends of that score their teams are going to fall.
ReplyDelete