Detroit Tigers Take 2-0 Lead Against Jeter-less Yankees in ALCS
ALCS Game 1: Detroit Tigers Defeat New York Yankees 6-4
On Saturday night, the Detroit Tigers defeated the New York Yankees 6-4 in extra innings. However, the story of the game was Derek Jeter, who broke his ankle in the 12th inning and will miss the rest of the postseason – which may not be much longer for the struggling Yanks. After the game, Yankees manager Joe Girardi talked about another injured superstar that the Yanks lost earlier this year.
“It is kind of a flashback to when Mo didn’t get up,” Girardi said. “Oh, boy, if he is not getting up, something’s wrong. We have seen what he played through in the last month and a half, and the pain he has been in, and how he found a way to get (through) it. So it brought back a flashback for me.”
Somewhat surprisingly, the Tigers were underdogs in Game 1 of the ALCS. The money line for the Tigers was +122, and the total score was 10. With the Yankees struggling hitters and Doug Fister on the mound, they were perhaps severely underrated. With Jeter’s broken ankle, the Yankees could be in real trouble in this series.
ALCS Game 2: Detroit Tigers Defeat New York Yanees 3-0
The Tigers were again somehow underdogs in this game, set at a money line of +120. Bettors who took the red-hot tigers cashed in again as Detroit defeated New York 3-0. Hideki Kuroda had a great game on the mound for the Yankees, pitching perfect ball through six innings, but it wasn’t enough as the Yankees offense couldn’t get going to lend him run support.
The total opened at eight for this game, and the pitchers’ duel nature of the game guaranteed that it would go well under that.
Because of the jam-packed wild card schedule, the Yankees now have to face Tigers ace Justin Verlander in Game 3 of the ALCS while C.C. Sabathia will take the mound in Game 4. The Yankees are going to need a huge performance from Phil Hughes against Verlander to keep the series in relative control. At this point, the Tigers have to be considered heavy favorites to defeat the Yankees and advance to the World Series. The Yankees offensive weapons have simply been nonexistent in the postseason thus far: Robinson Cano has gone 2-for-32, Alex Rodriguez is 3-for-23. Curtis Granderson is 3-for-25 and Nick Swisher is 4-for-26. That simply isn’t going to cut it in the postseason. There is something to be said for Derek Jeter’s presence in the Yankees lineup; not only was he the team’s most reliable hitter, but he is simply the heart and sole of that team’s lineup.
“I think some people left us for dead when Mo went down, and here we are in the ALCS.” Girardi said on Saturday night after Jeter’s injury. “And Jeet is going to tell us, `Let’s go.”
Yankees GM Brian Cashman echoed these “next man up†sentiments as well.
“Our job is to find a way over every obstacle,” Cashman said. “We have to find a way to move forward. Is this a big loss? Yes. Is it something where we are going to allow ourselves to stop dreaming and trying to achieve our goal? No, we won’t allow that.”
However, his loss may be too much to overcome. The Yankees are confident in his replacement, journeyman Jayson Nix, but he’s nothing but a stopgap. This was tough to predict, and it rarely if ever happens, but the New York Yankees may actually be underdogs for the remainder of the postseason.
