The Detroit Tigers defeated the New York Yankees 3-0 in game two of their AL Championship Series matchup to take a two games to none lead in the series.
You have to tip your cap to both starters in this game. They both pitched their hearts out. Hiroki Kuroda threw five perfect innings for the Yankees on three days rest, and the game was still scoreless through the sixth. in the sevent, Detroit got on the board first after Quintin Berry scored on a fielders choice groundout by Delmon Young that could have been a double play, but Robinson Cano mishandled the ball while trying to throw it over to first. In the eighth, Kuroda struck out the first two Tigers hitters before allowing back to back singles to Omar Infante and Austin Jackson. Infante took a large turn around second and was tagged out on the way back by Cano, but was called safe in a clearly incorrect call. Kuroda was pulled after Jackson's at bat, and Boone Logan and Joba Chamberlain both allowed RBI singles to make it a 3-0 game.
The Yankees' offense was rendered impotent again by Detroit's pitching. Anibal Sanchez got the start and threw seven shutout innings, allowing three hits, three walks, and tallying seven strikeouts. New York had just one extra base hit (a Mark Teixeira double in the first inning), put multiple runners on base in just two innings (the first and the sixth), and went 0/5 with runners in scoring position. It was pretty much an offensive disaster for the Yankees yet again in what's becoming a common trend with this team in the playoffs this year. Unlike on Saturday night, when Jose Valverde blew the save and nearly the game for the Tigers, Phil Coke closed things out for Detroit. He threw just 28 pitches in two scoreless innings, allowing one his and striking out three without a walk.
If you're the Yankees, the only positive thing you can take out of this game is that Kuroda was a stud on three days rest. And even though they got a fantastic perofrmance from him, they still lost thanks to the offense yet again. With Justin Verlander starting on Tuesday in game three, the Yankees are looking an 0-3 hole right in the face.
Game three of the series will be on Tuesday at 8:00 PM. The aforementioned Verlander will start for the Tigers, and Phil Hughes will start for the Yankees.
