The Yankees bats, sprinkled with some outstanding plays in field helped New York trounce the Tigers 10-1 Tuesday night forcing a deciding game 5 back in the Bronx.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding Yankees starter A.J. Burnett, the right hander did everything he needed to do to give his team the opportunity to win the game. Burnett lasted 5.2 innings giving up 1 run on 4 hits while walking 4 and striking out 3.
“I was thrilled for him,” Girardi said, “but I was thrilled for us. What he did, 5 2/3 (innings), and only giving up that one run, a great performance. Struggled a little bit in the first inning and, then, really settled down nicely.”
The play of the game though and possibly the season saver for the Yankees came in the first inning when former Tiger Curtis Granderson made an over the head leaping catch. This came off the bat of Don Kelly after Burnett walked the bases loaded in the first inning.
Tigers pitching certainly didn’t help themselves either in Tuesday’s loss.
Tigers starter Rick Porcello went 6 innings giving up 4 runs on 5 hits while walking 1 and striking out 5. The bullpen wasn’t any better giving up a combined 6 runs on a combined 6 hits. One of these runs came off of an Al Alburquerque balk in the top of the 8th inning.
The series now shifts to the Bronx for a decisive game 5 Thursday night in which the Tigers will hand the ball and their season over to Doug Fister who despite the shaky game 1 outing has the potential to propel the Tigers to victory. It’s presumed the Yankees will counter with game 1 winner Ivan Nova.
Ref: Mlive.com, MLB.com, Yahoo! Sports, New York Times (image)
