The pitchers duel between Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia didn’t totally live up to it’s hype, as both starters allowed four runs, with Sabathia leaving after just 5 1/3 innings. But Verlander went eight, and a late Delmon Young home run propelled the Tigers to a 5-4 victory, and gives them a 2-1 lead in the series.
Sabathia didn’t look right all night, He walked six batters during his time in the game, and only struck out three. Four of those walks came in the first two innings of the came, and Sabathia escaped unscathed due to a pair of double plays. He wouldn’t be as lucky in the third, with Detroit putting the first four runners of the inning on and plating a run to cut their deficit to 2-1. They’d tie the game on a double play by Miguel Cabrera.
Detroit would take the lead in the fifth, with Ramon Santiago doubling in Brandon Inge, who led the inning off with a single. They would strike again in the sixth, as Jhonny Peralta doubled in Don Kelly to end Sabathia’s evening.
But the Yankees would not die. After Verlander allowed a pair in the first inning on a Curtis Granderson RBI triple and an Alex Rodriguez ground out, he settled into a groove. Despite allowing one hitter to reach base in each of the second, third, fourth and sixth innings, no runs crossed the plate for New York. Things changed in the seventh, when Verlander walked Jorge Posada, who he had down 0-2, with two outs in the inning. Then he hit Russell Martin. Then Brett Gardner, who has had a couple of big hits in the series, doubled in both of them to tie the game at four.
Detroit’s answer was swift in the bottom of the inning. After a pop out by Santiago, Young stepped in and homered to right on the first pitch he saw from Rafael Soriano. Verlander would allow another runner to reach in the eighth before getting out of the inning with no more runs on the board. That led to Jose Valverde in the ninth, who made it interesting with a pair of walks. But with the go ahead run on first, Valverde struck out Derek Jeter to end the game and give the Tigers their lead in the series.
Verlander’s overall line was typical of him. He went eight innings, allowed four runs, walked three, and struck out 11. It wasn’t bone-shatteringly dominant, as he got touched for a few runs. But it was how he did it: Verlander was still touching triple digits in the eighth inning.
Jim Leyland’s decision to play Santiago at second base instead of Ryan Raburn paid off, as he went 2/4 with a double and a pair of RBI. Even starting the much-maligned Inge paid off, as he had a pair of hits and scored two of Detroit’s five runs. Midseason acquistion Young also had two hits, including the game-winning homer. For the Yankees, Posada continued his hot postseason, walking twice in addition to a single. Gardner also reached base three times in the ninth spot in the order. Oh, and for the record….Rodiguez and Mark Teixeira have combined for one hit in these playoffs.
Detroit is looking to slam the door on the Yankees season tomorrow, and they’ll send Rick Porcello to the mound to do it. The only thing standing between the Yankees and elmination is….AJ Burnett. No pressure or anything, AJ. Game time is 8:37.
