The Detroit Tigers somehow win Game 1, stealing home-field advantage from the New York Yankees
By Jesse Dougherty
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| (AP Photo/Al Bello) |
Jose Valverde is not the kind of closer that blows four run leads, that is something that Tigers manager Jim Leyland would take to the bank nine times out of ten. But after two two-run home runs in the ninth by Ichiro Suzuki and Raul Ibanez, the unthinkable deed was done.
A 4-0 Tigers’ lead turned into a 4-4 tie, and Game 1 of the ALCS rolled into extra innings.
In the end, the Tigers would survive the Yankees rally on the heels of two scoreless by the unlikely Drew Smyly and a misplayed ball by Nick Swisher off the bat of Delmon Young. Young’s double gave the Tigers a 5-4 advantage that would lead to a 6-4 win, and Swisher talked about the game-changing play in an MLB.com interview after the game.
“I just got caught right up in the lights, and I just went completely blind,” said Swisher, “It kind of handcuffed me, and I didn’t see it for the last five, 10 feet.”
And as the lights handcuffed Swisher in front of a full house at Yankee Stadium, the Tigers, Valverde, and manager Jim Leyland were all able to all let out a sigh of relief. The Tigers have been facing adversity all season along, and for one more night, they prevailed.
“I didn’t know we had to take that many, but we have been taking punches all year,” said Jim Leyland in anMLB.com interview, “If we are going to be good enough, we have to be able to take a punch, and we took a big punch. We took a right cross in the ninth and we survived it.”
But as far as right crosses go, the Yankees were hit way harder than the Tigers on Saturday night.
With one out in the 12th Jhonny Peralta hit a ground ball to shortstop Derek Jeter and while fielding it he rolled on his left ankle. As he hit the ground Jeter was wincing in pain and would later be carried off the field as more than 47,000 fans watched in utter disbelief.
The diagnosis? A broken ankle. The implications? Unspeakable amongst a Yankees nation that lives and dies with their shortstop that will soon find himself in the Hall of Fame.
“They talked about a three month recovery period,” said Yankees manager Joe Girardi to ESPN.com, “Won’t jeopardize his career, but he will not be playing any more for us this year.”
With closer Mariano Rivera already on the shelf for the entire 2012 season, Girardi is managing the Yankees team without two of his stars, who (with starter Andy Pettitte) have more October experience than the rest of the roster combined.
“It was kind of a flashback to when Mo didn’t get up,” said Girardi to ESPN.com, connecting the two injuries, “Oh boy, if he’s not getting up, something’s wrong.”
Now the New York Yankees are Jeter-less, Rivera-less, and facing a 1-0 deficit after a roaring comeback in Game 1 of the ALCS. So when Jim Leyland talks about taking punches, Joe Girardi and the gang may have something to say to that.
