Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees 2012 ALCS review – Part 2
After beating the New York Yankees comprehensively in first two games of the American League Championship Series, the Detroit Tigers headed to Comerica Park for Game 3 of the series.
Tigers’ starting pitcher Justin Verlander produced a magical performances as he allowed just three hits and one run in eight plus solid innings to make quick work of the Yankees’ batting line-up. The reigning American League Most Valuable Player and Cy Young
Award winner used his fastballs and sliders extremely effectively to create all sorts of problems for the Yankees batting line-up.
Relief pitcher Phil Coke also had a wonderful time on the mound as he gave up just two hits in 0.2 scoreless innings.
For the Yankees, starter Phil Hughes allowed three hits and one run in just three innings to take his first loss of the post-season. David Phelps was also unable to control the flow of runs as he gave up two hits and one run in one inning of relief.
Relief pitchers Clay Rapada, Cody Eppley, Boone Logan and Joba Chamberlain combined to toss up four scoreless innings but the night belonged to the Tigers who held on to their slim lead to take a vital 3-0 series.
Delmon Young continued his excellent hitting form as he homered to left in the fourth inning to put his side on the board. Third baseman Miguel Cabrera also made his presence felt with a double to deep right centre in the fifth inning. Shortstop Eduardo
Nunez drove in the only Yankees’ run with a solo home-run to left in the bottom of the ninth.
"There were some good at-bats tonight. The ball was not carrying tremendously well tonight, we know that," Joe Girardi said. "But I think he ended up with three strikeouts."
"I have seen a lot of teams shuffle around a lot of lineups when I am out there, so it doesn't really faze me one way or the other if those guys are in there or not," Verlander said. "I just need to come up with the game plan to face the certain guys that
I am going to face. I can't say I was surprised, but that's Girardi's decision, not mine."
Having taken 3-0 series lead, the Tigers were feeling very confident about themselves. Manager Jim Leyland wanted his team to show the baseball world they can sweep even the best in the business and that is exactly what the Tigers did in Game 4 of the ALCS.
In an offensive outburst, Tigers’ batters dominated the Yankees’ pitching rotation to stack up a huge total on the board. Young had another great outing as he singled to right in the first inning to put his side on the board. Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta hit
back-to-back home-runs in the fourth inning to stretch Tigers’ lead to 6-0.
Austin Jackson and Peralta smacked home-runs in the seventh and the eighth to deny the Yankees any chance of coming back into the contest. For the Yankees, Nick Swisher doubled to deep right centre to help his side avoid another embarrassing shut-out defeat.
Tigers’ starter Max Scherzer had a wonderful time on the mound as he allowed just two hits and one run in five plus innings while striking-out 10 batters. His counterpart from New York, C.C. Sabathia gave up six runs in just over three innings.
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