It’s almost been a year to the day when former Tigers ace Kenny Rogers shut out the New York Yankees in game three of the 2006 ALDS.
Monday night, the Gambler was on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to game three of the 2011 ALDS against the Yankees.
“It’s great for the city,” Rogers said. “Probably the best fans that I was fortunate enough to be able to play for. I’m excited for the area here.”
This time around though the Tigers’ new ace Justin Verlander took the hill in a heavyweight matchup (no pun intended) with Yankees ace C.C. Sabathia.
And Verlander once again proved he is the best pitcher in Major League Baseball.
JV ended up going eight innings, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits while walking 3 and striking out 11. This included Verlander striking out the side in the 5th inning. Now this has by far not been his best performance for the year but certainly his most important.
On the other side of things, Sabathia went 5.1 innings allowing 4 runs on 7 hits while walking 6 and striking out 3.
Aside from the pitchers, fans cannot overlook what left fielder Delmon Young has meant to the Tigers down the stretch of the regular season and now in playoffs.
Young’s solo home run in the bottom of the 7th put the Tigers ahead for good after Brent Gardner was able to tie things up 4-4 after his two-run double in the 6th.
This was Young’s second home run of the ALDS.
Meanwhile, a day after he made the proclamation that the Tigers wouldn’t head back to the Bronx, Jose Valverde came out during the 9th, made things interesting but still closed things out giving the Tigers a 2-1 series lead.
The Majors Detroit’s Player of the Game: Justin Verlander (8.0 IP, 6H, 4ER, 3BB, 11SO)
| NY Yankees | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeter, SS | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .267 |
| Granderson, CF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .273 |
| Cano, 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .308 |
| Rodriguez, Al, 3B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .000 |
| Teixeira, 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .091 |
| Swisher, RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .182 |
| Posada, DH | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .500 |
| 1-Nunez, E, PR-DH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Martin, C | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .111 |
| Gardner, LF | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .333 |
| Totals | 31 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 13 | .224 |
1-Ran for Posada in the 9th.
| Detroit | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson, A, CF | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .000 |
| Santiago, 2B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .333 |
| Young, D, LF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .333 |
| Cabrera, Mi, 1B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .333 |
| Martinez, V, DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .182 |
| Ordonez, RF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .375 |
| Kelly, RF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .500 |
| Peralta, Jh, SS | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .273 |
| Avila, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .000 |
| Inge, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .500 |
| Totals | 27 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 14 | .255 |
2B: Gardner (1, Verlander).
3B: Granderson (1, Verlander).
TB: Jeter 2; Granderson 3; Posada; Gardner 3.
RBI: Granderson (2), Rodriguez, Al (2), Gardner 2 (4).
2-out RBI: Gardner 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Jeter 2.
GIDP: Martin; Jeter.
Team RISP: 1-for-5.
Team LOB: 6.
BASERUNNING
SB: Nunez, E (1, 2nd base off Valverde/Avila).
FIELDING
DP: 3 (Jeter-Cano-Teixeira 2, Rodriguez, Al-Cano-Teixeira).
2B: Inge (1, Sabathia), Santiago (1, Sabathia), Peralta, Jh (1, Sabathia).
HR: Young, D (2, 7th inning off Soriano, R, 0 on, 1 out).
TB: Santiago 3; Young, D 5; Kelly; Peralta, Jh 2; Inge 3.
RBI: Santiago 2 (2), Peralta, Jh (1), Young, D (2).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Martinez, V 3; Jackson, A; Inge.
SAC: Jackson, A; Avila.
GIDP: Santiago; Peralta, Jh; Cabrera, Mi.
Team RISP: 3-for-11.
Team LOB: 7.
FIELDING
DP: 2 (Peralta, Jh-Santiago-Cabrera, Mi, Cabrera, Mi-Peralta, Jh-Cabrera, Mi).
| NY Yankees | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sabathia | 5.1 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 6.14 |
| Soriano, R(L, 0-1) | 1.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5.40 |
| Robertson | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Totals | 8.0 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 4.15 |
WP: Sabathia.
IBB: Cabrera, Mi (by Sabathia).
HBP: Peralta, Jh (by Robertson), Martin (by Verlander).
Pitches-strikes: Sabathia 106-62, Soriano, R 22-12, Robertson 14-9, Verlander 120-74, Valverde 19-7.
Groundouts-flyouts: Sabathia 8-1, Soriano, R 1-1, Robertson 2-0, Verlander 3-6, Valverde 0-1.
Batters faced: Sabathia 26, Soriano, R 6, Robertson 4, Verlander 32, Valverde 5.
Inherited runners-scored: Soriano, R 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Gerry Davis. 1B: Dan Iassogna. 2B: Ted Barrett. 3B: Bill Welke. LF: Tony Randazzo. RF: Eric Cooper.
Weather: 56 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 7 mph, L to R.
T: 3:14.
Att: 43,581.
Ref: MLB.com, Mlive.com, Detroit News