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After the threat of rain caused a postponement Wednesday night, the skies were sunny for the rare postseason day game at Yankee Stadium. Leyland said the rainout helped rekindle his flame-throwers
“To be honest with you, I think we caught a big break,” he said. “I don’t want to take anything away from our club but if you look, the shadows were pretty tough as it got late in the game. And you’ve got a guy throwing 98, 99, 100 miles an hour with shadows.”
New York got just two hits in the final five innings, never advancing a runner past first. All that heat stunned a crowd of 56,252, who had been expected the Yankees to win again following Tuesday’s 8-4 victory.
“We couldn’t see the ball too well at the end of the game. That’s just unfortunate,” Damon said.
When the series resumes in Detroit on Friday night, former Yankee Kenny Rogers (17-8) will be opposed by Randy Johnson (17-11), who hasn’t pitched since Sept. 23 because of his balky back
“We’re counting on him big,” Steinbrenner said.
After winning their playoff opener against the Angels last year, the Yankees went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position as they lost the second game 5-3, and Los Angeles went on to win in five games. Steinbrenner wants the Yankees to finish off the Tigers in Detroit.
“We got to win two out there,” he said.
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Jim McIsaac / Getty Images The Tigers' Carlos Guillen hits a solo home run in the sixth inning. |
Marcus Thames, 6-for-7 against Mussina in his career, hit a second-inning RBI single, but Damon’s three-run run homer into the right-field upper deck put the Yankees ahead. The Tigers tied it at 3 on Granderson’s fifth-inning sacrifice fly and Carlos Guillen’s sixth-inning homer into the right-field lower deck.
Thames, originally selected by the Yankees in the 1996 draft, singled leading off the seventh for his third hit of the game, took second on Posada’s passed ball and went to third when No. 9 hitter Brandon Inge sacrificed.
New York moved the infield in and Granderson fell behind 0-2 and fouled off two more pitches before lining the ball to the wall in left-center. With the big hit, Granderson gave the Tigers a chance to close out the series at home.
“The fans are definitely going to be a big factor,” he said.
New York had loaded the bases in the first against the 23-year-old Verlander on Damon’s single and a pair of walks. But, after a mound visit from pitching coach Chuck Hernandez, Verlander got Rodriguez to miss a 99 mph fastball and foul off a 100 mph fastball before freezing him with an 84 mph curveball for a third strike.
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New York got its first two runners on in the second but failed to score, and Gary Sheffield followed Bobby Abreu’s leadoff walk in the third by grounding into a double play.
After Damon’s homer and Derek Jeter’s double, Leyland visited the mound for a pointed chat with Verlander.
“Just keep making your pitches and don’t lose composure and get flustered and start flying all over the place waiting for something negative to happen,” he remembered telling him.
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While Verlander was making his postseason debut, Mussina dropped to 7-8 in 21 postseason starts. Still, Detroit realized the tough task ahead.
“They can easily put 10 on us tomorrow,” Zumaya said.
Notes: Tigers Hall of Famer Al Kaline is scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 3, the first postseason game in Detroit in 19 years.
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