2011 ALDS YANKEES VS. TIGERS GAME 3 PREVIEW

Game 2 yesterday sucked. The Yankees couldn't hit Max Scherzer who has been terrible, to say the least, on the road this season. But guess what, he dominated the Yankees. 6 innings, just two hits on four walks and he didn't allow anyone to cross the plate. The offense came on late against Tigers' closer Jose Valverde, who made a bold guarantee after the game (HERE),
but they failed to complete the comeback.
But today is a new day as the Yankees took batting practice in Detroit earlier today. This is a huge game for the Yankees, as they'll send out their ace CC Sabathia against Detroit ace Justin Verlander tonight. By the way, look for Casey's take on Valverde tonight during the game.

Although most people call this a "must win" game tonight, it's really not, because if the Yankees lose tonight they're not eliminated. Sure AJ Burnett would be going tomorrow with the season on the line which is certainly ideal, but it's no guarantee that he'll implode. But, with that being said, this is still the biggest game of the year. If the Yankees can win this game it'll be huge. It will obviously give the Yankees a 2-1 series lead, thus having to win one more game to advance to the ALCS. It also guarantees that worst case scenario that there will be a Game 5 back in the Bronx with Ivan Nova against Doug Fister. We've seen that movie before.
CC Sabathia has started 32 career games against the Detroit Tigers and has gone 15-12 with a 4.54 ERA. This season he's started against them twice, technically three times though if you include Game 1 of this series. His first start against them was on Opening Day in which he went 6 innings, allowing three runs--two earned--while striking out seven and getting a no-decision. His second start against Tigers came on May 3 in which he went 7 innings allowing four runs while striking out six. He got the loss, and he also allowed a season high tying 10 hits in Comerica Park that night. His third start against Detroit came last Friday, and we all know what happened that night, 2 innings, one run on a solo homer--a Yankee Stadium special to Delmon Young--and four strikeouts before the skies opened and washed the game out.

There's really only one hitter on the Tigers who has "owned" CC in his career, and that is Miguel Cabrera who has softball type numbers against Sabathia, a .529 average (9 for 17) with two homers and 11 driven in. Other than that, no one really else has hit Sabathia well. Victor Martinez is hitting .231 (6 for 26) with a couple homers, and Magglio Ordonez is hitting .264 (19 for 72) with three homers and 18 RBI. Sabathia has "owned" guys like Jhonny Peralta (.059 average in 17 AB's) and Brandon Inge (.190 average in 58 AB's) during his career.Justin Verlander has also faced the Yankees three times this year. On Opening Day he went 6 innings allowing three earned on three hits and three walks while also striking out eight. He also had to throw 114 pitches during his outing. His second start against the Yanks came on May 2 in which he allowed three runs in six innings while striking out eight, but he allowed eight hits and threw 127 pitches during his outing. His most recent start against the Yankees was Game 1 of this series. He allowed one run in one inning, but had to throw 25 pitches in the process. So, this season Verlander has had to average over 20 pitches this season against the Yankees. That will be key, because if that trend continues, Verlander may not be able to go as deep into the game as he would like to.

Verlander career against the Yankees is 4-3 with a 3.97 ERA in 10 career starts, and there aren't too many players who have hit Verlander well in their career for the Yankees. Derek Jeter has hit .345 (10 for 29) and Jorge Posada has hit .333 (7 for 21) against Verlander in their careers. But what's really concerning is that the middle of the order, Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez--who is 0 for 8 in the series while hearing the Boo birds in Game 2--and Mark Teixeira have combined to hit .161 (11 for 68) with two homers and eight RBI against Verlander in their careers.

This is close to a must win game as they come for the Yankees. You do not want A.J Burnett to have the ball with the season on the line tomorrow if the Yankees lose tonight. There's a reason why CC Sabathia got paid the big bucks before the 2009 season, it's to pitch in these games aginst the best pitchers and to pitch well and more importantly, win.

And one more note, incase you missed it, check out our BYB EXCLUSIVE: DANTE BICHETTE JR.

Go Yankees!!!




--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer




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