The LoHud Yankees Blog

After he took heat last night for using Luis Ayala in the ninth inning of a three-run game, Joe Girardi was asked today whether he thought about skipping CC Sabathia tonight and pushing his ace to Tuesday’s Game 4. In theory, the strategy would have conceded that tonight’s game is a tough one to win, and Sabathia would help the Yankees chances in a potential must-win Game 4.

Girardi’s response had more to do with Game 5.

“We felt he was ready to pitch, and if he’s ready to pitch, we’re going to use him,” Girardi said. “The other thing is, you figure you can use him in the bullpen maybe if you need him (in Game 5) if he feels OK on Thursday. And it lines up for next series. I just felt that he was ready, and I was going with him.”

So we have the much-anticipated matchup that was supposed to shape this series in the opener, and will instead determine which team faces elimination tomorrow.

“I probably feel the same way the Yankees felt when they had CC on the mound for the opening game in front of that crowd in New York,” Jim Leyland said. “It’s a great match-up. It’s one that everybody was anxiously awaiting in Game 1. It didn’t turn out. You always worry about the hype and all the stuff that goes on and postseason is pretty draining really, to be honest with you… I’m sure there will be some adrenaline flowing.”

Girardi admitted that, had he known it was going to rain in the second inning, he never would have sent Sabathia to the mound in Game 1. He would have saved his ace for Game 2, or for multiple innings after a rain delay.

“Probably not, no,” Girardi said. “They told us there might be some light rain, and that’s what they expected. Obviously that changed dramatically.”

This series has changed, and tonight’s the biggest game yet.

Here’s Girardi.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

• Girardi once again committed to Alex Rodriguez in the cleanup spot, despite the fact he’s hitless in the first two games and hasn’t done much since returning from knee and thumb injuries. “I don’t make too much of yesterday,” Girardi said. “I know everything gets magnified when you have a zero in front of your name, people are going to talk about it, but I thought he had good at-bats the first game. The second game, their starter shut us down.”

• Was Girardi surprised to hear the Yankee Stadium boos for Rodriguez yesterday? “I’m not surprised because I think our fans want us to win so badly,” Girardi said. “I think they always expect big things from Alex. With his name and the things that he’s accomplished, there’s high expectations.”

• Russell Martin his fine after last night’s hit by pitch. “No complaints from him,” Girardi said.

• No matter what happens tonight, the Yankees are 100 percent committed to A.J. Burnett starting tomorrow’s game. That’s going to happen whether it’s a potential clincher or a potential elimination. “Who would I go to, Mo?” Girardi said.

• Brett Gardner didn’t finish the season especially strong, but Girardi said that had no impact on his decision to pinch hit Eric Chavez last night. “I was just taking a chance with Chavez,” Girardi said. “What he’s done with runners in scoring position for us this year has been really, really good, and you’ve got a short right field fence that he’s more than capable of hitting is over. I took a shot.”

• Girardi was also once again defending the decision to pitch Luis Ayala last night. “If I used Soriano or Robertson, they would say why did you use him?” Girardi said. “That’s the nature of this. You calculate what’s going to happen. You’re not always going to be right, you don’t have a crystal ball, but being down there runs, I can go with these guys earlier and for longer today and tomorrow.”

• As for the decision to have Freddy Garcia pitch to Miguel Cabrera in the sixth: “He had struck him out the time before and he had struck out Martinez twice and gotten Avila once or twice,” Girardi said. “There is no great matchup for Miguel Cabrera; it’s not like you bring in anyone and it’s a guarantee. That’s how good this guy is. I took a shot with him.”

• Leyland on his decision to go with a different lineup than he had for Game 1. “To be honest with you, neither Jhonny or Raburn have hit CC at all,” he said.

• No one seemed especially wrapped up in Jose Valverde’s comments after last night’s game that the division series would be won by the Tigers before it came back to New York. “It might excite a few (players),” Girardi said. “But the one thing I said is you can’t let your emotions take you out of your game.”

• Leyland compared Valverde’s comments to the pregame videos shown at Yankee Stadium. “He admitted it was tongue in cheek when he said it,” Leyland said. “Second of all, I didn’t take offense to the video at Yankee Stadium when they were talking about the World Series, like we were the junior varsity and they were getting ready for the World Series. I didn’t take offense to that at all. In fact, I thought it was great. That’s what they should be talking about. I don’t really think that.”

Associated Press photo

YANKEES
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada DH
Russell Martin C
Brett Gardner LF

TIGERS
Austin Jackson CF
Ramon Santiago 2B
Delmon Young LF
Miguel Cabrera 1B
Victor Martinez DH
Magglio Ordonez RF
Jhonny Peralta SS
Alex Avila C
Brandon Inge 3B

Curtis Granderson was chosen as the Yankees nominee for the Hank Haron Award. Here’s the announcement from the team.

Major League Baseball and MLB Advanced Media announced that Curtis Granderson was named the New York Yankees nominee for the 2011 Hank Aaron Award.

Fan voting begins today exclusively online at MLB.com and the 30 Club sites. For the second straight year, a special panel of Hall of Fame players led by Hank Aaron will join fans in voting for the award, which is officially sanctioned by Major League Baseball and has recognized the most outstanding offensive performer in each League since it was established in 1999.

In 2011, Granderson hit .262 with 136 runs, 41 home runs and 119 RBI in 156 games with the Yankees. He led the Majors in runs scored, ranked second in home runs and extra-base hits (81), and ranked third in RBI and total bases (332). He became the only player in Major League history to record at least 40 home runs, 10 triples and 25 stolen bases in the same season. Granderson was also the first Major Leaguer to record 100 runs and 100 RBI in 2011, doing so in his first 126 games.

This year, the Hall of Fame panel will include two new members – personally selected by Hank Aaron – Roberto Alomar and Joe Morgan. They join panelists from last year, which included Tony Gwynn, Paul Molitor, Willie McCovey, Billy Williams and Robin Yount, forming a group comprised of some of the greatest offensive players of all-time. These Hall of Famers – who combined for 23,536 hits, 11,445 RBI and exactly 2,800 home runs – have all agreed to join Hank Aaron in lending their expertise to select the best offensive performers in each League.

Beginning today and continuing through Sunday, October 9, fans will have the opportunity to select one American League and one National League winner from a list comprising one finalist per Club. The winners of the 2011 Hank Aaron Award will be announced during the 2011 World Series.

Justin Verlander had no luck convincing Jim Leyland to let him pitch on Sunday.

“It went along the lines of, ‘Hey, Skip, I can go on Sunday,’” Verlander said. “‘No, you’re going on Monday.’ ‘Okay.’”

CC Sabathia had no more success convincing Joe Girardi.

“There was no conversation,” Sabathia said. “He told me I was pitching today. I think everybody knows, of course, if he would have asked me, I would have tried to persuade him to have me pitch today. But he just said flat out, ‘You are pitching on Monday.’ That’s what it is.”

So the rematch will happen tonight in Detroit, a Game 1 scenario pushed to Game 3 because of rain.

When this division series started, it was the matchup of Sabathia and Verlander that stood out. With two of the top five pitchers in the American League going head-to-head, it seemed entirely possible that this series could hinge on which ace pitched the best. Now their impact is limited to one game, and it’s a big one.

“They’re all big games at this point in the season,” Sabathia said. “So I’ll try to go out and get off to a good start, pound the strike zone and hopefully pitch well… I felt like my fastball command was a lot better (on Friday). That’s something I had been struggling with the last month of the season. It was only two innings, but it was definitely a lot better than it had been.”

Neither Sabathia nor Verlander can seal the series, but they can put one team on the verge of clinching. Whoever wins tonight needs just one more victory to advance, and each team is pitching its very best.

“I think it’s going to be a big game no matter what, whether it’s Game 1 at Yankee Stadium or Game 3 in Detroit,” Verlander said. “Obviously there will probably be a little bit more publicity now for Game 3 because of what occurred and all the news that encompassed it with me and CC facing off again. Either way you look at it, it’s going to be a swing game.”

Said Sabathia: “I know the game plan. We went over it a couple of days ago. I’ll just try to go out and execute.”

Here’s Sabathia.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Associated Press photos

After injuries to his right knee and left thumb hobbled him down the stretch, Alex Rodriguez has started this ALDS 0 for 8. His only trip on base was a first-inning walk issued by Max Scherzer in Game 2.

A-Rod’s woes climaxed in the eighth inning Sunday. Fans showered the third baseman with boos after he popped out to second against Joaquin Benoit.

Rodriguez acknowledged the jeers but said they were “no big deal.”

“There’s no need to even get emotional,” he said. “Again, it’s one pitch at a time. One big hit can change this whole series around. You really have to stay in the moment. Like Phil Jackson, you have to go into a little bit of a zen mode.”

Rodriguez was on deck with two on and two out in the ninth when Robinson Cano —representing the winning run — grounded out to second to end the game. If he had an opportunity, Rodriguez would’ve no doubt had his zen challenged by a steady diet of fastballs from Jose Valverde. The Tigers have attacked A-Rod repeatedly to see whether or not he can respond. Through two games, he hasn’t.

“He’s a tick late on them,” hitting coach Kevin Long said. “We’ll talk about that, about being a little more ready for fastballs. I would certainly expect more fastballs, but that’s OK. We want him to see fastballs.”

Long and Rodriguez thought Sunday’s at-bats were a step down from those on Saturday, when Rodriguez was called out for strikes on a questionable call and ripped a deep drive to center that fell a little short of a home run.

Rodriguez would not point to his surgically-repaired right knee or injured left thumb as a problem, although he hasn’t been the same since he returned Aug. 21. A-Rod is just 13 for 76 with five extra-base hits and 10 RBI in the subsequent 21 games. He missed 19 others resting the injuries.

“This time of year, nobody wants to hear ‘banged up,’” he said. “You just basically have to take it one pitch at a time and try to win.”

Long said Rodriguez has already made an impact by forcing the Tigers to pitch to Cano, who tied a club postseason record with six RBI in Game 1. But Rodriguez expects he’ll have opportunities to turn the series directly before it’s over. That could be as soon as tonight against Detroit ace Justin Verlander.

“There’s no question,” he said. “I’m assuming over the next day or two or three there’s going to be some big at-bats that I’ll be ready for. Two outs, men in scoring position. That’s something I relish.”

Long thought it was too soon for fans to boo the Yankees’ 2009 postseason hero.

“If we want to beat him up over two games, certainly people have the right to do that,” Long said. “I just don’t think it’s fair.”

Literally and figuratively, the storm clouds were gathering at Yankee Stadium this afternoon.

The Tigers had a four-run lead before the Yankees had a hit, then the rain started falling, Alex Avila slipped in foul territory, the tying run reached base and Robinson Cano came to the plate. This one had the potential for a wild walk-off that would give the Yankees a flood of momentum heading into Detroit. Instead, Cano hit a ground ball to second, and the Tigers claimed home field advantage heading into tomorrow’s delayed showdown between CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander.

“Tomorrow is big,” Alex Rodriguez said. “Going back to when I first got here, we always thought that Game 3 was the biggest. It’s almost like hitting; the 0-0 pitch is the most important, then the 1-1 pitch becomes the most important. Same goes for a series. There’s no need to get caught up in emotions. Whoever plays better, whoever executes fundamentals, is going to win the series. “

The Yankees seemed to have a favorable matchup against Max Scherzer, but aside from walks and a hit batter, Scherzer didn’t allow many scoring opportunities. The Yankees didn’t have a hit until the sixth, and they didn’t score until Curtis Granderson’s home run in the eighth.

Good things started happening for the Yankees in the ninth — Nick Swisher’s home run, Jorge Posada’s first postseason triple, Avila slipping and missing a potential game-ending popup — but this was never a game that felt good for the Yankees. They weren’t hitting, and the Tigers were perpetually doing just enough.

“You think that something is going to happen good for us (in the ninth),” Derek Jeter said. “But with Valverde, it’s hard enough to score a run off him, let alone four. But I thought we had some good at-bats. We battled there at the end, but we just fell short. For a moment there, you think we might catch a break.”

The Yankees did not catch a break. They didn’t create a break for themselves in the first eight innings, and they couldn’t do quite enough in that wet and rainy ninth. Sabathia vs. Verlander was the marquee matchup when this series began, and it’s the marquee matchup now that the series is tied at a game apiece.

“It’s huge,” Mark Teixeira said. “Tomorrow’s a really big game. You don’t want to go down 2-1 with them having a chance to close it out in their home park. It’s a big game for us.”

Here’s Jeter.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

—

Two curious decisions by Joe Girardi tonight, each of which will surely lead to plenty of second guessing. As always, Girardi had reason behind his choices, but they didn’t workout. The question will be whether you agree with the logic.

With two on and one out in the seventh, Girardi sent left-handed Eric Chavez to pinch hit for left-handed Brett Gardner. He was hoping for a three-run home run. It’s worth noting that Gardner had lined out sharply in his previous at-bat, and that Chavez hit just two home runs tonight. It’s also worth noting that Scherzer has a tendency to give up a lot of home run.

“Gardner is fine,” Girardi said. “Just hoping (Chavez) might pop one… When you’re losing the game 4-0, you’re looking for a three-run homer is what you’re looking for, so no, it’s not a hard move.”

With the Yankees down by three runs in the ninth, Girardi elected to use Luis Ayala — essentially the last man in the bullpen — instead of going to either Dave Robertson or Rafael Soriano.

“We still have two more games in a row,” Girardi said. “And we’re down three. If we got it down to two, we were going to maek a change. Being down there runs and you know what Valverde has done all year long, we decided to go to Ayala.”

Chavez struck out in the seventh. Ayala allowed a run in the ninth.

Here’s Girardi.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

• Jim Leyland said a lot about the production of the Yankees third and fourth hitters tonight when he admitted that the Tigers seriously considered pitching around Cano in the ninth inning to load the bases for Alex Rodriguez. “I thought about it,” Leyland said. “But that other guy has been known for the dramatics, and I figured it’s wet, it’s slippery, one gets away, one run is in. Something like that would happen, a groundball, a ball slips. I just couldn’t do it. He hit a ball in the infield, you get him over there, and somebody throws it away, the game is tied. It did cross my mind.”

• Rodriguez has struggled since returning to the lineup, but Girardi said he has no plans of taking Rodriguez out of the cleanup spot. “I thought he swung the bat pretty good yesterday,” Girardi said. “Today they made some tough pitches on him. I don’t have any plans in changing my lineup. It’s only two games. I’m not going to make too much of two games.”

• Most of the damage against Freddy Garcia was done by Miguel Cabrera, but Garcia was happy with his approach and his pitches to the Tigers’ best hitter. “First inning, I think that was a good pitch down and away,” Garcia said. “He made good contact. After that, I shut it down waiting for us to start hitting. It never happened, but that’s part of the game.”

• Garcia said the sixth-inning pitch that Cabrera looped into center field for an RBI single was a split. “I was trying to make a great pitch and I did,” Garcia said. “But great hitters do that.”

• Although he allowed three hits in the sixth, Garcia said he wasn’t tired. “I’ve got like 70 pitches,” he said. “I was really good. I finished strong. Base hit here, base hit there. It’s part of the game.”

• Russell Martin is fine. The pitch that hit him got part of the bat and a little bit of the bottom of his left hand. “A little bit of acting there, but it did get me,” Martin said.

• Boone Logan’s balk didn’t matter — he struck out the next two batters — but he was embarrassed by it. Mid-delivery, Logan heard someone shout behind him and thought timeout had been called. The result was a sudden halt in his motion. “It was probably the worst balk in the history of baseball,” Logan said.

• Jeter on his costly error in the sixth: “I had no problem catching it, I just threw it low. With Austin (Jackson) running, you really don’t have much time.”

• Chavez on his approach pinch hitting for Gardner: “That’s not really my thought process to hit a home run there. I’m just trying to put the barrel on the ball and have the same approach every at-bat. I don’t think I go up there trying to do one thing or the other other than put a good swing on the ball.”

• Jeter said he thought, once Posada got between first and second in the ninth inning, that there was no way Posada was stopping until he got to third. “I don’t know about that,” Posada said. “I can’t get thrown out there. My run doesn’t mean anything.”

• It was the first postseason triple of Posada’s career.

• You don’t see Jeter arguing with a home plate umpire too often, but Jeter had a lengthy conversation after striking out looking in the seventh. He said he thought the ball was outside. “I was just asking him if he knew the weather forecast for the rest of the game,” Jeter joked.

• Everyone in the Yankees clubhouse seemed to mention Scherzer’s changeup, which doesn’t seem to a pitch you hear about very often with him. “He was really good, best I’ve ever seen him,” Teixeira said. “Great fastball, his changeup was really, really good. The numbers don’t lie, he dominated us.”

•• Posada gave an honest evaluation of Pettitte’s first pitch, calling it low and away. “I think it was a ball,” Posada said, laughing.

Associated Press photos

The Yankees couldn’t solve Max Scherzer, and they couldn’t take a two-game lead ini  this five-game division series. A ninth-inning Yankees rally was enough to make it close, but the Tigers got out of Yankee Stadium with a 5-3 win this afternoon, evening this division series as it shifts to Detroit. Scherzer pitched six scoreless innings and carried a no-hitter through 5.1. Freddy Garcia pitched fairly well, but a first-inning home run and a sixth-inning error hurt him, letting the Tigers take a 4-0 lead before the Yankees had so much as a single. Cano had a chance to win it in the ninth, but he grounded to second base with runners at first and second, ending the game and sending this series to Comerica.

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (1-0)
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada DH
Russell Martin C
Brett Gardner LF

RHP Freddy Garcia (12-8, 3.62)
Garcia vs. Tigers

TIGERS (0-1)
Austin Jackson CF
Magglio Ordonez RF
Delmon Young LF
Miguel Cabrera 1B
Victor Martinez DH
Alex Avila C
Jhonny Peralta SS
Wilson Betemit 3B
Ramon Santiago 2B

RHP Max Scherzer (15-9, 4.43)
Scherzer vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 3:07., TBS

WEATHER: It’s a day game, and a nice day for one. A few clouds in the sky, breeze blowing right to left.

UMPIRES: HP Eric Cooper, 1B Gerry Davis, 2B Dan Iassogna, 3B Ted Barrett, LF Bill Welke, RF Tony Randazzo

GOOD DAY SUNSHINE: The Yankees were a Major League-best 44-12 in day games this season, the highest -ever winning percentage in day games since 1900. According to Elias, the previous high came in 1906, when the Cubs went 116-36 during day games.

GOING DEEP: Tigers starter Max Scherzer gives up a lot of home runs, the Yankees led the Majors with 222 home runs this season. The Rangers and Red Sox were the only other teams to hit more than 200 homers this season.

STAYING CENTRAL: The Yankees are facing an AL Central team in the ALDS for the fifth straight season. They went 22-14 against the AL Central this season.

LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN: The Yankees have now won seven straight ALDS games, the longest ever ALDS winning streak. It’s the second-longest LDS winning streak behind the Braves who won 10 in a row from 1995 through 1998.

UPDATE, 3:11 p.m.: Might be a double into the corner in a lot of stadiums. Here, it’s a two-run homer by Miguel Cabrera, and the Tigers are up 2-0.

UPDATE, 3:35 p.m.: Garcia comes back with a scoreless second inning, keeping the game at 2-0 after Teixeira failed to take advantage of back-to-back two-out walks in the bottom of the first.

UPDATE, 3:40 p.m.: Yankees didn’t show much in the bottom of the second, went down in order without putting up much of a fight.

UPDATE, 3:47 p.m.: Pretty standard third inning for Garcia: Three soft outs surrounding one routine single. Still 2-0 heading into the bottom of the inning.

UPDATE, 4:14 p.m.: Scherzer is seriously dealing. He looked scared of the heart of the order in the first inning, now he’s just plowed through Cano, Rodriguez and Teixeira in the fourth.

UPDATE, 4:34 p.m.: Scherzer still has a no-hitter going, but he’s also at 81 pitches and the Tigers have Phil Coke getting loose.

UPDATE, 4:36 p.m.: Gardner sharp line out to third, Jeter grounder to short and Scherzer is through five innings with no hits and a 2-0 Tigers lead.

UPDATE, 4:46 p.m.: No long ball, but Cabrera gets the job done with an RBI single to center field. It’s now a 3-0 Tigers lead, with this run made possible by Derek Jeter’s throwing error to start the inning.

UPDATE, 4:49 p.m.: Garcia’s finished after 5.1 innings. A series of singles and the Jeter error really hurt him in the sixth and the Tigers are up 4-0 with Boone Logan in to face Alex Avila. This is pretty much the one guy Logan’s supposed to get out this series.

UPDATE, 4:55 p.m.: Logan gets back to back strikeouts against dangerous hitters and gets the Yankees out of a sticky situation. It’s still 4-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth.

UPDATE, 5:04 p.m.: Cano dunks a single just in front of Delmon Young. It’s enough to break up the no-hitter, but Rodriguez followed with a fly out to right and the Yankees are down to their last out in the sixth, still trailing 4-0.

UPDATE, 5:06 p.m.: Teixeira pops out, and that’s that. Still 4-0 after six. Here comes Cory Wade.

UPDATE, 5:22 p.m.: Swisher walked and Posada singled, and now the Yankees have two on for the third time tonight.

UPDATE, 5:28 p.m.: Unless Gardner is hurt, this makes little sense. Chavez is 3-for-14 in his career against Benoit.

UPDATE, 5:37 p.m.: Quick work to get some dry dirt on the field, now the Yankees are ready to get going again in the top of the eighth.

UPDATE, 6:00 p.m.: Granderson goes deep, but as Rodriguez pops up for the second out of the inning, the crowd lets him hear it with boos.

UPDATE, 6:22 p.m.: So the Yankees could barely get a hit off Scherzer, but now they have a home run and a triple to start the ninth inning against Valverde? By the way, that was Posada’s first career postseason triple. It’s 5-2.

Andy Pettitte is back in the Bronx, and this afternoon he’ll be back on the mound at Yankee Stadium, throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.

“I talked to him yesterday for a while,” Joe Girardi said. “You don’t think of him being that old to be a legend, but Andy, the career that he had here was incredible… I’m sure he misses it. But I know he had a wonderful summer with his family. I would think this time would be the hardest part, but he didn’t really let onto that yesterday.”

At 39 years old, Pettitte is still younger than Mariano Rivera, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch on Friday.

“Don’t bounce it,” Girardi said. “I’m sure he’s thrown a lot of BP to his kids though, he should be able to throw that pretty easy.”

Joe Girardi had no regrets this morning about using Mariano Rivera last night. The way he saw it, a grand slam would have pulled the Tigers within 2, and Girardi thought it was best to shut the door right then and there.

“He hadn’t pitched since Tuesday, and before that, he hadn’t pitched in a little bit,” Girardi said. “I don’t think it’s going to hurt him. Obviously it helps to keep him sharp. I think you could look at it either way with three more days in a row. But it shouldn’t hurt.”

Ivan Nova pitching into last night’s ninth inning meant the Yankees used only Luis Ayala and Rivera in Game 1. Girardi has said he’s willing to use any of his relievers three days in a row, which leaves him with a full bullpen these next three days. There’s a chance Rivera wouldn’t be available on Tuesday, but Girardi said there’s no doubt he’ll be available tonight and tomorrow.

A full bullpen could be key with Freddy Garcia, who’s built his season on keeping the Yankees in a game for six innings, then letting the relievers takeover. Garcia-to-Soriano-to-Robertson-to-Rivera could be a perfect recipe for the Yankees in Game 2.

“Our bullpen is in very good shape,” Girardi said. “So that sets up really well. Freddy is a completely different look than all of our other pitchers. You can look at all of our other pitchers and say they’re somewhat power guys. Freddy is the one finesse guys we’ve got that’s going to use a lot of offspeed, see some slow breaking balls. It’s a totally different look.”

Here’s Girardi’s pregame press conference. It wasn’t very long. We got a little more in the beat writers session.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

• The Yankees are now committed to CC Sabathia pitching tomorrow’s Game 3, and Girardi finally made it official that A.J. Burnett will start Game 4. The only thing that would have kept Burnett from lining up for Game 4 would have been using him in long relief last night. Phil Hughes is the long man today.

• Girardi said the umpires “absolutely” got the call right on Robinson Cano’s double off the top of the wall last night, though Girardi was a little surprised that fans didn’t reach out and pull that ball into the stands. “Usually you see that,” Girardi said. “I’m not sure how far they would have had to reach to get to it. I don’t know how wide that concrete is out there. I’m sure it would have been reviewed either way, so it would have ended up the same.”

• Despite the fact Sabathia just pitched two days ago, Girardi said his pitch count won’t be at all limited tomorrow night. “I don’t think so, just because he threw so few on Friday, and he’s not expected to make another start in the division series,” Girardi said.

• Girardi said he’s not second-guessing Ayala after back-to-back rough outings. “He’s pitched really well for us,” Girardi said. “And I think you have to look at his body of work. And he got a ground ball from Avila, then he got another ground ball. He’s doing what he’s supposed to do.”

• Hector Noesi and Raul Valdes have joined Ramiro Pena in Tampa. Those three are staying sharp at the minor league complex. Bartolo Colon and Austin Romine are staying with the big league team. Romine is catching in the bullpen to stay with the big league staff.

• Girardi never looked a replay of last night’s play at the plate. He said last night that he was positive it was an out when he saw it live, and he never felt a need to look at it again.

• As someone pointed out, Rivera technically threw the first and last pitch of Game 1. He threw the ceremonial first pitch on Friday, then closed the game on Saturday.

TIGERS
Austin Jackson CF
Magglio Ordonez RF
Delmon Young LF
Miguel Cabrera 1B
Victor Martinez DH
Alex Avila C
Jhonny Peralta SS
Wilson Betemit 3B
Ramon Santiago 2B

Associated Press photo