The Evil Empire has fallen.
The Detroit Tigers marched into the fan box that is the new Yankee Stadium and claimed their spot in the American League Championship series, defeating New York 3-2.
After a rare poor outing in game 1, Tigers starter Doug Fister did exactly what he needed to do to give his team a chance to win the game. The 27-year-old righty went 5 innings giving up 1 run on 5 hits while walking 2 and striking out 4. His only blemish came in the 5th inning off the bat of Robinson Cano, one of the best hitters in the entire major leagues.
Tigers manager Jim Leyland continued to press all the right buttons as well.
After hitting Don Kelly 2nd in tonight’s lineup and starting him at third base, Kelly delivered. In the top of the first Kelly belted a solo home run off Yankees starter Ivan Nova giving the Tigers an early 1-0 lead. Right after Kelly’s solo shot, Delmon Young hit his own solo home run off of Nova to right field increasing the Tigers’ lead to 2-0.
Both teams were pulling out all the stops as well as Yankees manager Joe Girardi put his ace C.C. Sabathia on the hill in relief while Jim Leyland put Max Scherzer on the hill in relief.
Sabathia though continued to get rocked by Tigers hitters.
In the 5th inning Sabathia gave up 2 hits and the eventual winning run off the bat of Victor Martinez who singled in Austin Jackson from second base. Ironically enough Jackson was able to easily score after former Tiger Curtis Granderson, who made spectacular plays in center during game 4, had trouble coming up with the ball.
Setting things up for the Tigers, Scherzer and Benoit were credited with holds. Benoit was also able to get some big outs especially after striking out Nick Swisher with the bases loaded in the 7th.
Then amid the boos after his comments made to the media Jose Valverde closed out the Yankees once and for all after he struck out a non-existent Alex Rodriguez.
The Tigers now have a date with the Texas Rangers in the ALCS.
| Detroit | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson, A, CF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .125 |
| Kelly, 3B-RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | .364 |
| Young, D, LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .316 |
| Raburn, LF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .400 |
| Cabrera, Mi, 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .200 |
| Martinez, V, DH | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .222 |
| Ordonez, RF | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .455 |
| Inge, 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .429 |
| Avila, C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .063 |
| Peralta, Jh, SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .222 |
| Santiago, 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .143 |
| Totals | 34 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 13 | .228 |
| NY Yankees | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeter, SS | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .250 |
| Granderson, CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .250 |
| Cano, 2B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .318 |
| Rodriguez, Al, 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | .111 |
| Teixeira, 1B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .167 |
| Swisher, RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .211 |
| Posada, DH | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .429 |
| Martin, C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .176 |
| Gardner, LF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .412 |
| Totals | 37 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 20 | .260 |
2B: Ordonez (1, Nova), Jackson, A (1, Sabathia).
HR: Kelly (1, 1st inning off Nova, 0 on, 1 out), Young, D (3, 1st inning off Nova, 0 on, 1 out).
TB: Jackson, A 2; Kelly 4; Young, D 5; Martinez, V; Ordonez 3; Avila.
RBI: Kelly (2), Young, D (3), Martinez, V (3).
2-out RBI: Martinez, V.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Santiago 2; Ordonez.
GIDP: Santiago.
Team RISP: 1-for-9.
Team LOB: 6.
2B: Teixeira (2, Fister).
HR: Cano (2, 5th inning off Fister, 0 on, 2 out).
TB: Jeter; Granderson; Cano 5; Teixeira 2; Swisher; Posada 2; Gardner 2.
RBI: Cano (9), Teixeira (1).
2-out RBI: Cano; Teixeira.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Posada; Cano; Gardner 2; Swisher 2.
Team RISP: 2-for-9.
Team LOB: 11.FIELDING
DP: (Cano-Jeter-Teixeira).
| Detroit | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fister(W, 1-1) | 5.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 6.52 |
| Scherzer(H, 1) | 1.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1.23 |
| Benoit(H, 2) | 1.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2.45 |
| Valverde(S, 2) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.00 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 5.73 |
| NY Yankees | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nova(L, 1-1) | 2.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4.32 |
| Hughes, P | 1.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Logan | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Sabathia | 1.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 6.23 |
| Soriano, R | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1.93 |
| Robertson | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Rivera, Ma | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 3.27 |
IBB: Cabrera, Mi (by Sabathia).
Pitches-strikes: Fister 92-60, Scherzer 32-22, Benoit 38-23, Valverde 11-7, Nova 31-24, Hughes, P 21-13, Logan 7-5, Sabathia 37-19, Soriano, R 16-10, Robertson 13-7, Rivera, Ma 5-5.
Groundouts-flyouts: Fister 5-3, Scherzer 1-1, Benoit 1-1, Valverde 0-1, Nova 3-0, Hughes, P 1-0, Logan 0-1, Sabathia 0-0, Soriano, R 1-0, Robertson 1-0, Rivera, Ma 2-0.
Batters faced: Fister 22, Scherzer 6, Benoit 9, Valverde 3, Nova 9, Hughes, P 6, Logan 3, Sabathia 8, Soriano, R 4, Robertson 3, Rivera, Ma 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Benoit 1-1, Logan 1-0, Soriano, R 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Ted Barrett. 1B: Bill Welke. 2B: Tony Randazzo. 3B: Eric Cooper. LF: Gerry Davis. RF: Dan Iassogna.
Weather: 62 degrees, clear.
Wind: 5 mph, R to L.
T: 3:34.
Att: 50,960.
Ref: MLB.com, Detroit News, Mlive.com
