Robinson Cano’s six RBIs in game one catapulted the Yankees to a victory in game one, while a brilliant effort from Max Scherzer propelled the Tigers in game two. So with the series headed back to the “D,” we got ourselves a series. With lots of baseball left to play in this five-game set, lets look at some of the keys for both these teams, as they try and move on to the ALCS…
1. The comfort level of the Yankees’ offense:
Hitting wasn’t supposed to be an issue for the Yankees in this series. New York once again finished the regular season tops in the MLB in numerous offensive categories. But after the first two games in the Bronx, Robinson Cano’s output has been about the extent of the Yankees’ attack. Baseball’s highest paid player Alex Rodriguez is hitless so far. Mark Teixeira has one knock in seven at-bats. And their lead-off man and postseason superhero Derek Jeter went 0-5 today with two strikeouts.
With the Yankees opening the series in the confines of their own ball park, I anticipated that the Tigers would have had even more issues keeping them off the board. Yes, the Yankees scored nine runs Saturday night and that’s plenty. But again, Robinson Cano was responsible for most of the damage.
The series is shifting to Detroit, where Comerica Park from a dimensions standpoint is quite a bit different then Yankees stadium. Add in the fact you have Cy Young and MVP candidate Justin Verlander throwing in game three, and the Yankees lineup will have their work cut out for themselves.
It’s not the pressure of the big game keeping the Yankees down. They all have intense postseason experience. It’s not just the fact the Tigers have performed well from a pitching standpoint – the Yankees can wail on anybody. New York’s offense just needs to get into the flow of the series. If they don’t, there will be no game five back in New York – the Yankees will be golfing.
2. Controlling Miguel Cabrera:
Detroit’s cleanup man took Freddy Garcia deep to right in the first inning Sunday afternoon, making the score 2-0. This homerun seemed to set the tone for the day, and New York might have threatened in the ninth, but the Tigers never really relinquished control of the game.
The Tigers’ offensive situation is not all that different from New York’s. Cabrera has been the guy the first couple of games, while the old vet Magglio Ordonez has chipped in as well. New York cannot let Miguel be the guy that beats them. After Delmon Young went deep in game one he’s been silent, while Victor Martinez has been quiet too. New York needs to pitch around Miggy, and make the other guys in Detroit’s lineup beat them.
3. Detroit needs to keep up the solid work on defense:
This one is simple so I’ll keep it short and sweet. The weak link in this Tiger club, even before the team took the field in game one of the regular season, is their defense. So far in the two games played in New York, the Tigers have played solid defensively. Obviously, when you’re fighting for your playoff lives, you don’t want to give the best offense in the majors extra outs. If Detroit keeps this up, they will be doing themselves a huge favor.
4. JV needs to get Rick Porcello a chance to clinch at home:
Rick Porcello pitched the infamous game 163 versus the Twins a couple years back. The Twins went on to win the game in extra innings, but the then 20-year-old right-hander held his own that night.
Justin Verlander needs to do his thing, and pitch the kind of game he’s capable of. When Verlander took the mound against the Orioles trying to lock down his 25th win, his stuff was a little shaky. And even though he only pitched an inning in game one, I had a weird feeling about where is performance was going that night until the rain came.
If Verlander can put Porcello in a situation where he can clinch it at Comerica Park, the Tigers will be in dynamite shape. If Porcello has to pitch to salvage the season, things could get dicey for the Tigers.
5. Which unexpected guy can provide a spark?
In a series that is shaping up to be relatively tight, which guy can step up and provide his team with a clutch knock. As I’ve earlier noted, the offense is coming from one or two guys for each club so far. The team that can find a guy, perhaps in the bottom of their order to get hot – that could be the difference in the series.