Thursday, October 6, 2011
New York v. Detroit
Once again, the Yankees are in big trouble. The Tigers hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the 1st, and they still lead 2-0 going into the top of the fourth.
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This could be the ballgame. Detroit has men on first and second with only 1 out in the fourth.
ReplyDeleteJhonny Peralta flies out to deep right. Two out. Runners still on first and second.
ReplyDeleteThe Tigers' number 9 hitter, Rafael Santiago, is coming to the plate.
The Yankees pulled their starting pitcher, Ivan Nova, after only two innings. And they pulled their second pitcher, Phil Hughes, with one out in the 4th. The Yanks are now using Boone Logan on the mound.
ReplyDeleteLogan, who the Yankees normally use only to pitch to left-handers, retires the right-handed hitting Santiago to end the inning and prevent Detroit from scoring any more runs.
ReplyDeleteThe Tigers still lead 2-0.
Fangraphs gives Detroit at 67 percent chance of victory.
Now in the bottom of the fourth, the Yankees have A-Rod on second and Nick Swisher on first with one out. The Yankees' 99-year-old DH, Jorge Posada, is at the plate.
ReplyDeleteThe Yankees' 99-year-old DH, Jorge Posada, whacks a single to center field. The Yankees hold A-Rod at third, so the bases are loaded.
ReplyDeleteWhenever the Nats hold a runner at third with one out, the next batter always hits into a double play to end the inning. We will see if the Tigers can lure Yankee catcher Russell Martin into a DP.
Martin pops out to first, and I'm more convinced than ever that the Yankees will regret not sending A-Rod home.
ReplyDeleteWith two outs, the next batter is Brett Gardner, the Yankees' left fielder.
Here's Gardner's at-bat:
ReplyDeleteBall one (low and inside)
Strike one (right down the middle)
Ball two (low and away)
Ball three (low and inside)
Strike two (foul tip)
Foul back into the stands
Gardner pops out to third -- the inning is over. The Tigers still lead 2-0.
Told you they should have sent A-Rod.
Now Detroit has a 74 percent chance of victory.
ReplyDeleteI've been out of pocket awhile, but here's what happened.
ReplyDeleteIn the top of the 5th, the Tigers scratched out another run to go up 3-0.
In the bottom of the 5th, Robertson Cano hit a home run to make the score 3-1.
In the bottom of the 7th, the Yankees loaded the basis with one out. A-Rod came to the plate and promptly struck out. Mark Teixeira drew a walk to make the score 3-2. Nick Swisher came up with a chance to blow the game open for the Yankees. But Tiger relief pitcher Joaquin Benoit struck Swisher out as well to keep Detroit in front.
Detroit now has a 71 percent chance of victory.
ReplyDeleteThe Tigers go down 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth.
ReplyDeleteThe Yankees have six outs left to save their season.
Now Detroit has a 69 percent chance of victory.
ReplyDeleteThe Yankees will be sending up the bottom of the order in the 8th.
ReplyDeleteIf the Yankees lose by one run, New York will spend a lot of time thinking about that decision to hold A-Rod at third in the fourth.
ReplyDeleteBenoit is still pitching for Detroit.
ReplyDeletePosada hit a very difficult ground ball up the middle. Anyone else would have beat it out, but Posada may literally be the slowest man in all of baseball.
The Yankees have five outs left.
Russell Martin, the Yankees' catcher, is batting .188 in this series, and he popped up with the bases loaded and one out in the fourth. He runs the count to 3-2, and then looks at a called third strike.
ReplyDeleteThe Yankees have four outs left.
Brett Gardner, the Yankees' number nine hitter and left fielder, comes to the plate. He is 1 for 3 in this game, and 6-16 in the series.
ReplyDeleteThe Tigers are 79-0 this year when leading after the 7th inning.
Gardner slaps a single to left, to bring up the Yankees' lead-off hitter and captain, Derek Jeter.
Jeter used to be one of the most terrifying of all batters in this type of situation, which is a big part of why he has five World Series rings.
ReplyDeleteHe crushes a ball to right field, and for a minute everyone in Yankee Stadium thinks the Yankees have taken the lead.
But Jeter is not as young or as strong as he used to be -- just as Posada is not as fast as he used to be. The ball comes up about three feet shy of the wall, and the Yankees are retired.
They have three runs left.
I mean, they have three outs left.
ReplyDeleteDetroit now has an 82 percent chance of victory.
The Yankees bring in Mariano Rivera, the greatest relief pitcher of all time, to pitch the ninth.
ReplyDeleteHe's thrown only three pitches in the whole series, because every game has been a Yankee blowout or a close Tiger win.
Rivera retires the first two Tigers on two pitches.
The third Tiger batter lasts for three pitches, but he is also retired. So Rivera retires the side on five pitches.
ReplyDeleteDetroit goes into the bottom of the 9th with a 78 percent chance of victory.
For the bottom of the 9th, the Tigers bring out Jose Valverde, their closer.
ReplyDeleteValverde has been spectacular all year. He has 49 saves and an ERA of 2.24.
Valverde will be facing Curtis Granderson, Robertson Cano, and Alex Rodriguez.
ReplyDeleteOn a full count, Granderson flies out to left.
ReplyDeleteTwo outs left.
Cano hits the first pitch to dead center field, and he is retired.
ReplyDeleteOne out left.
A-Rod, who was 2-17 in the series, comes up and strikes out.
ReplyDeleteThe Yankees are eliminated!
Detroit will go to Texas to start the ALCS on Saturday.
They should've sent A-Rod.
ReplyDelete