The rains held off Saturday night and allowed the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees to resume and finish game one of their ALDS. Detroit may have wanted another night off, as Robinson Cano and the Yankees beat up on the Tigers to take the series opener 9-3.
Friday’s storms canceled out staff aces Justin Verlander and C.C. Sabathia. Instead, the Yankees and Tigers went with scheduled game two starters Ivan Nova and Doug Fister when play resumed Saturday.
Each starter settled into a groove to begin.
Fister got out of a jam in the 2nd, getting some assistance from Jorge Posada and his base running blunder. After the inning, Fister went on to retire eight straight.
Nova cruised through his first two innings before running into some trouble in the 5th. With runners on first and second, Jhonny Peralta sent a Nova offering back up the middle for a base hit. Nova got a little help of his own in the form of relay throws, as lead runner Alex Avila was cut down at the plate for the second out of the inning. Nova went on to retire pinch hitter Wilson Betemit to escape the jam.
The Yankees did what the Tigers couldn’t do in the following frame, as Robinson Cano’s RBI double made it 2-1 New York.
Cano was hardly done.
The Yankees broke things open with a big 6th. A Brett Gardner single scored a pair, and Fister went on to serve up a grand slam to Cano. The slam put the Yankees out in front 8-1.
The support proved more than enough for Nova, who finished the night allowing two runs on four hits and four walks over his 6.1 innings of work. The Tigers did put up a pair of runs in the 9th, forcing Mariano Rivera to come on and close things out.
Detroit and New York will get right back at it today at 3:07 p.m., as Max Scherzer and Freddy Garcia are scheduled face off in game two.
For more on the Tigers and Yankees, be sure to check out Motor City Bengals and Yanks Go Yard.