Baseball By Paul

Words cannot begin to describe how good I am feeling right now. Coming into the series, I was terrified of the big, bad Yankees. After game one, I gained a lot of confidence in the team and felt that with a game two win, they were very much part of this series. Last night’s magical performance by Kenny Rogers shifted a series win from possible to probable. Having Jeremy Bonderman on the mound against a shmuck like Jaret Wright gave me tons of confidence that the team could avoid a trip back to New York. I have plenty to say, but right now, I’m just going to soak it in and watch the Mets game with my girlfriend.

Here are some pictures from the game:

NY Yankees

SP – J.Wright

CF J. Damon
SS D. Jeter
RF B. Abreu
1B G. Sheffield
DH H. Matsui
C J. Posada
2B R. Cano
3B A. Rodriguez
LF M. Cabrera

Detroit Tigers

SP – J.Bonderman

CF C. Granderson
2B P. Polanco
1B S. Casey
RF M. Ordonez
SS C. Guillen
C I. Rodriguez
LF C. Monroe
DH M. Thames
3B B. Inge

Game time – 3:05 Central Time

Here is the composite boxscore after the game three win in Detroit:

It goes without saying that today’s game is absolutely huge. I really don’t want to go back to New York. Texas-OU and Michigan-Michigan State can wait, because I won’t miss a minute of this game.

New York Yankees

SP – R. Johnson

CF J. Damon
SS D. Jeter
RF B. Abreu
3B A. Rodriguez
1B J. Giambi
C J. Posada
LF H. Matsui
DH B. Williams
2B M. Cairo R. Cano (stupid Yahoo!)

Detroit Tigers

SP – K. Rogers

2B P. Polanco
LF C. Monroe
DH M. Thames
RF M. Ordonez
SS C. Guillen
C I. Rodriguez
1B S. Casey
3B B. Inge
CF C. Granderson

Game time: 7:05 PM Central

The CoPa will be rockin’!!!!!!

The at-bat between Alex Rodriguez and Joel Zumaya this afternoon was absolutely awesome. It was Rodriguez’s third strikeout of the day and just an awful day altogether for the beleaguered superstar. As I mentioned earlier, I’m beginning to think that if things don’t change for A-Rod, he might find himself in another uniform next Spring. I just don’t know how much longer he can pressure himself into living up to Derek Jeter. I think he is capable of coming up big when it matters most in the playoffs, but maybe just not in New York.

Even Derek Jeter had issues with Zumaya!

Huge game today that was filled tons of excitement. Tigers head home tied up at 1 and very much a part of this series. Here is a composite boxscore for the hitters through two:

The usually very patient Yankees lineup has only taken two more walks than the swing-happy Tigers. In fact, the Tigers have matched them tit for tat with just two fewer hits and as many home runs. I’m already extremely excited for tomorrow’s game. I’ll be working, so I’ll be watching it on a tape delay when I get home.

As for my thoughts on today’s game, I’m obviously extremely pleased. Justin Verlander labored through the first two innings, but remained composed and got the key outs, including striking out Alex Rodriguez with the bases loaded. Speaking of Rodriguez, can he remain in New York after this season? I guess it will depend on a) what he does the rest of the playoffs and b) if they can find a taker for that contract, but with all the drama surrounding him this regular season and another tanking through two games in this postseason, I don’t know that he’s long for New York. Curtis Granderson drew some criticism from me as I suggested that he might be better suited somewhere other than the leadoff spot, but he has responded fantastically in the first two games. Meanwhile, Carlos Guillen has continued to be the team’s best hitter. I love it when he comes up, especially with runners on.

The end of season struggles for the Tigers’ hitters are well documented, but they have shaken it off and been able to hit both of the Yankees starters so far. The good news, aside from getting out of New York at 1-1, is that things should get easier from the starting pitcher standpoint. Randy Johnson dominated the Tigers earlier this season, but he’s dealing with a bulging disk in his back and he was awful to close out September. In the interest of consistency, I won’t put too much weight into his end of season struggles because I’ve been preaching the same with Detroit’s hitting. That said, he gave up five runs in each of his last three starts going 17 and 2/3 innings with a 7.64 ERA and 1.59 WHIP. Jaret Wright is scheduled to pitch on Saturday night. He will put runners on and it will be up to the Tigers to cash in the way they did today.

Kenny Rogers toes the rubber for the Tigers. He hasn’t done much in four divisional series appearances with a 7.04 ERA in seven and two-thirds innings. He is 0-3 with an 8.85 ERA in nine total playoff games. His last playoff appearance was 2003 though, so it is hard to put too much stock in those efforts. An MLB.com article discusses Rogers and his playoff history.

Ugh… c’mon Jon Miller! He’s got a great set of pipes, but he has clearly lost a step. When a player’s name was Jason, he couldn’t get it right and now he’s calling Justin Verlander, Jason. What a game so far.

I had the unenviable task of trying to avoid any news of the score for last night’s game had it gone off. I was at work until 9:30 and I was going to watch the game on my DVR from the start when I got home. Thankfully, it was postponed until today and I’m off!! It’s about an hour and a half until game time and look what just arrived in the mail for me:

I have a few errands to complete before gametime, so in the meantime check out Kurt’s postseason awards. I’ll deliver mine soon as well.

Tigers Lineup

SP – J.Verlander

CF C.Granderson
2B P.Polanco
1B S.Casey
RF M.Ordonez
SS C.Guillen
C I.Rodriguez
LF C.Monroe
DH M.Thames
3B B.Inge

Yankees Lineup

SP – M.Mussina

CF J.Damon
SS D.Jeter
RF B.Abreu
1B G.Sheffield
DH J.Giambi
3B A.Rodriguez
LF H.Matsui
C J.Posada
2B R.Cano

Game Time 7:05 PM Central

You know, it doesn’t really sting as bad as I thought it might. I desperately wanted a game one win for the Tigers, as I’m sure we all did, but there are positives to take from the game. First off, a shutout would have been devastating given the chances the team had, so I was happy to see them get the four spot, and they were in it at 5-3. Don’t worry, I’m not going to drone about moral victories, but this team acquitted themselves fairly well. The Yankees punish teams for mistakes and they did exactly that when Nate Robertson misplayed the dribbler by Johnny Damon. It was an extension of them taking advantage of the fact that the Tigers couldn’t capitalize in the 2nd and 3rd innings. With two or three runs on the board, the team can shake off a 5-run third inning. Instead, they were behind the 8-ball.

The team did respond with the 3-run fifth and I think a lot can be taken from that. Chien-Ming Wang pitched well, but he is their best pitcher and they got to him for eight hits and three runs. They banged out 12 hits in all, just two fewer than the Yankees, but the timing of them wasn’t as effective as it was for the Bombers. The Tigers were rudely welcomed by Derek Jeter, who went 5-for-5 with two doubles, two singles and a homerun. In other news, all shoelaces and belts were removed from Alex Rodriguez‘s locker.

The nervousness and excitement of being in the Bronx in October is gone for this team now. All the youngsters that may’ve had the deer-in-the-headlights feeling have the first game under their belts. Meanwhile, the veterans that are not playoff-tested can now relax and focus. I put a lot of stock in game 1 and really wanted to see the team get that one, but it didn’t happen. That obviously places even more importance on game 2 and Justin Verlander. Take this one and they are very much part of this series.

Thanks to Kurt from MAT for pointing out Nate Robertson’s blog. Nice to see Nate’s take on game one and how the team is now experienced after a tough battle.