Max Scherzer shines for Detroit Tigers to put Joe Girardi into selection problems – MLB News
The rain might have brought hope for the Detroit Tigers. After game one was rescheduled for Saturday, October 2, the Tigers started Doug Fister against Ivan Nova and although the former lost, the defeat will not have hurt much.
With Freddy Garcia starting for the Yankees after the rescheduling, Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland opted to go with Max Scherzer and got exactly what he was looking for. Scherzer pitched six scoreless innings to level the series at one-each and increase complications
for the American League East champions.
Garcia was scheduled to start game three of the ALDS. However, with weather playing a major part in the outcome of events, Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi was not comfortable with the idea of starting Sabathia in game three. Anticipating lack of depth in Yankees’
bull-pen, Leyland tactfully announced ace Justin Verlander as his starter for game three, scheduled for Monday, October 3. With nothing much to play with, Girardi had no other choice but to go with his ace Sabathia.
With Garcia already losing out cheaply and Nova set to start game five, Girardi cannot afford to lose another game. With the next two games to be held at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan, the advantage now shifts to the Tigers, who won 48 of the 79 games
played at home in the regular season.
"It's going to be electric," Verlander said of the anticipated atmosphere at Comerica Park. "The fans in Detroit have been waiting anxiously for this day since 2006. It's going to be a swing game. Hopefully, we don't disappoint them."
With runs expected to come in plenty, a lot will be required from the pitchers to keep their respective teams in contention. With a series as short as this one and standing even after game two, game three becomes the most important game of the series.
Historically speaking, the Yankees will go into game three under immense pressure. In their previous eight post-season campaigns, whenever the Yankees have lost game two of the ALDS, they have ended up losing the series.
Miguel Cabrera impressed for the Tigers in game two after Robinson Cano had done so for the Yankees in the opener. Leyland believes that both players are of equal standing and can drastically impact the outcome of the game. It will be interesting to see
if the Yankees can defy history this time.
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