(Photo: AP)Last night's resumption of Game 1 was awesome. Ivan Nova proved to everyone he can pitch on the big stage against a very good Detroit Tigers team, while Robinson Cano continues to become a great postseason hitter. Did you know, that in Cano's last 10 postseason games--three series--he's hit .375 (15/40) with five homers, and 12 RBI (six in last night's game)? He's been amazing, and he's really one of the best hitters and probably the best second baseman in all of baseball, and because of it the Yankees have a 1-0 lead in the best of five ALDS against the Tigers.
Anyway, the game this afternoon is huge. In a best of five--or seven--series, visiting teams like Detroit really aim to win one of the first two games in the series so they can go back home and win their home games and win the series. With that being said, it's very important that the Yankees get this one. Justin Verlander is going on Monday in Game 3, so the Yanks would love to have a 2-0 lead.
The pitching matchup for Game 2 is Freddy Garcia (12-8, 3.62 ERA) for the Yanks, against Max Scherzer (15-9, 4.43 ERA) for the Tigers. Garcia has an 18-8 career record against Detroit with a 3.88 ERA while losing his only start against the Tigers on May 4 in Comerica Park while going 7 innings, allowing four runs on 10 hits and two walks while striking out a season high eight batters. Some guys who've had good success against Garcia in their careers are Magglio Ordonez, Miguel Cabrera, Alex Avila, and Delmon Young. Ordonez is hitting .327 (17-52) with a homer and six RBI while Cabrera is hitting .391 (9-23) with three homers and six RBI career against Garcia. Some hitters who don't fare quite as well against Garcia include, but aren't limited to, Victor Martinez, Austin Jackson, and Ryan Raburn. Martinez is a .233 hitter (7-30) while Jackson and Raburn each hit .222 (4-18) and .111 (1-9) against Garcia, respectively.
(Photo: AP)Max Scherzer is 3-0 in three starts with a 2.84 career ERA against the Yanks, while going five innings and allowing six runs in his first start of his season on April 3 at the Stadium, and pitching eight shutout innings while striking out eight Yankees at Comerica Park on May 4. It's tough to find too many players who've had good success in a big sample size against Scherzer, but Mark Teixeira is 3 for 10 with a solo homer and Curtis Granderson is 3 for 12 against Scherzer. After last night's 0 for 5 Alex Rodriguez probably won't enjoy seeing Scherzer because he's 0 for 8 in his career against him.
(Photo: Getty)The other starters that include Russell Martin, Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher, Jorge Posada, Robinson Cano, and Brett Gardner have combined to hit .166 (10-60) against the Tiger right-hander in their career. It should be interesting how this one will turn out.
This would be a huge win for the Yankees if it can happen. Being up 2-0 and putting Detroit on the brink of elimination would be great.
Go YANKEES!!!
--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer
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