Andrew Stoeten

Justin Verlander wasn’t at his best on Tuesday night, but he sailed through eight innings of two-hit shutout ball before giving up a home run to Eduardo Nunez to lead off the ninth inning and pull the Yankees within a run.

Jim Leyland went out to the mound after Nunez crossed the plate, testing the home crowd with thoughts that the club’s shaky bullpen might be forced into action, but returned to the dugout without taking the ball from his starter, much to the delight of the 42,970 on hand.

Unfortunately for the heart health of those in the metro Detroit area, Verlander lasted only eight more pitches, battling with Brett Gardner for the first out of the ninth, taking his pitch count up to 131 on the evening, and giving way to Phil Coke. The lefty– not usual closer Jose Valverde, who has been awful of late– came in to try and seal the deal for the Tigers, eventually getting there despite giving up back-to-back two-out singles to Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano, striking out Raul Ibanez swinging to end the game.

It was an uneasy end to a game that, for a long time, seemed to be on cruise control for Detroit– especially after New York starter Phil Hughes exited the game with back trouble, one out after giving up a Delmon Young home run to lead-off the fourth. Even though the Yankees received strong relief pitching from David Phelps, Clay Rapada, Cody Eppley, Boone Logan and Joba Chamberlain– who combined to give up just one run on four hits over five innings– and even though Verlander wasn’t quite his sharpest, striking out only three, things felt pretty good for Detroit most of the way.

And… y’know… entirely sharp or not, he was still Verlander.

Via Brooks Baseball.

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Pick any cliché you like to describe the dire circumstances facing the New York Yankees as they head into this one, it’s pretty certain to apply. Down two game to none, on the road, and facing the best pitcher in baseball, the team from the Bronx sure does have its clichés firmly up against the wall.

Oh, and Phil Hughes on the mound, Cano and Granderson struggling mightily, Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher benched, and, again, Verlander.

Funnily, though, Jim Luttrell of the New York Times points out that back “on June 3, Hughes pitched a four-hit complete game, and Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez hit home runs against Verlander in a 5-1 Yankees victory. Go figure.”

A-Rod’s dinger in that game was one of three total, among eight hits, that Rodriguez has hit off Verlander in his career.

The flip side of that issue is, of course, as Luttrell explains, that “he is also 0 for 18 with 12 strikeouts against right-handed pitching this postseason.” And, as you may have heard, Raul Ibanez has been rather fantastic so far, almost exclusively against right-handers. Hence A-Rod’s place on the pine– not whatever funny business he was up to last night.

Swisher– a switch hitter– gets a spot on the bench in place of Brett Gardner, who will be much better suited to patrolling Comerica’s spacious environs. What he’s going to be capable of producing with the bat is a giant question mark, considering he’s had so few at-bats this season, but it’s not like replacing Swisher and the four hits he’s managed through 30 playoff plate appearances is some kind of monumental rolling of the dice.

Still, though, you’ve got to hand it to Girardi and his two giant, brass binders.

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Um… safe?

A fantastic pitchers’ duel between Hiroki Kuroda and Anibal Sanchez was broken open as much as such a game possibly could be in a controversial eighth inning, when a blown call at second base on an Austin Jackson single allowed Omar Infante to remain in scoring position. In place of Quentin Berry, the Tigers called up pinch-hitter, and Miguel Cabrera doppelganger, Avisail Garcia, who doubled Infante home and Jackson to third, giving Detroit a crucial insurance run.

Cabrera followed by singling home Jackson, but not before Yankee manager Joe Girardi came out of the dugout to replace the excellent Kuroda with Joba Chamberlain, going a little too ape goof for second base umpire Jeff Nelson’s liking, and getting himself ejected in the process.

From the replay, you can kinda see why he was upset, I guess…

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No Jeter. No Rivera. A-Rod getting benched. Granderson looking lost. Sabathia unavailable. And an improbable, Delmon Young-powered victory on the road in Game One?

Indeed, things sure are looking pretty good at the moment for the team that finished with the seventh best record in the American League, who scraped into the playoffs by virtue of winning the only division in baseball with three 90-loss teams. *COUGH*

But it’s HirOktober, which means anything can still happen, and you can’t feel too bad about your situation if you’re the Yankees, looking at Kuroda on the mound facing Anibal Sanchez, or some of those extremely noticeable holes in Detroit’s lineup.

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