The LoHud Yankees Blog

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

One thing to know about today’s Tigers starter, Max Scherzer: He gives up a lot of home runs.

Sure, he also throws hard and has a good slider and pitched an eight-inning gem against the Yankees earlier this season, but only two American League pitchers allowed more home runs this season, and one was A.J. Burnett. Scherzer has a 3.80 ERA at spacious Comerica Park this season, but on the road his ERA is 5.23.

The Tigers had him lined up to start at home, but Friday’s rain has pushed Scherzer into a ballpark that’s much less-friendly to the way he pitches.

“My road splits are worse,” Scherzer said. “For me, it really doesn’t matter. Every start is a new start. For my challenge here to go out in Game 2 and pitch, it’s just like any other start. I prepare for it whether it was home or road. You take the ballpark completely out of it. I’m more worried about their lineup.”

Of course, the Yankees lineup hit more home runs than any other team in the big leagues.

It’s worth noting that Scherzer’s eight scoreless innings against the Yankees came in Detroit. When he faced the Yankees in the Bronx in April, Scherzer allowed six earned runs in five innings. Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira and Jorge Posada (twice) all homered off him.

“He’s got a great arm,” Joe Girardi said. “He’s got a good slider. He’s pitched well for them. He’s pitched pretty well against us. But he’s got a big arm. He’s got some run on his ball as well. You think about it goes back to that three-way trade. Here’s another guy that was involved in it. It’s worked out well for everyone.”

Associated Press photo

Last time Freddy Garcia pitched the playoffs, it was Game 4 of the 2005 World Series, and Garcia pitched seven scoreless. It was his third win in as many starts that postseason.

“It’s been a long time,” Garcia said. “You always remember good times, when I pitched in ’05. I’m ready to pitch, man. I’m going to show up (today) and do my best.”

Truth is, Garcia was a much different pitcher back in 2005. He was 28 back then, still throwing a little bit harder, more than holding his own in a rotation that almost single-handedly gave the White Sox a championship.

Now 34 years old, Garcia has evolved into a different sort of pitcher, one who leans on offspeed pitches, location and guile. In a year that started with a minor league contract and an invitation to big league camp, he’s earned another turn on a postseason mound.

“For me I got to go, you know, one pitch at a time,” Garcia said. “I cannot live in the past when I used to throw hard and whatever. I have to live with what I got right now, and go with my plans. If I do that, I can be successful. So that’s what I want to do, one pitch at a time, and do the best I can… How many pitchers you know throw hard and they don’t get people out in the postseason, the regular season? So for me, I got to go out there and be myself and get those guys out.”

Here’s Garcia speaking before yesterday’s game.

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Associated Press photo

A few things to notice about the Tigers decision to go to Al Alburquerque to face Robinson Cano in the sixth inning.

1. Alburquerque is a right-handed pitcher, not a lefty.
2. In 43.1 innings this season, he’d allowed just 21 hits, not one of which was a home run.
3. The one time he faced Cano earlier this year, Alburquerque got one of his 67 strikeouts.

“I was surprised,” Cano said. “They have a lefty (and) righty in the pen, but he brings in the righty. So, it ended up in our favor. I mean, that’s the decision he made, but I was looking for something that Ic an drive. Not looking for the home run, something I can at least get one RZBi so we can put some more runs in the lead.”

By now you know the result. Cano clobbered Alburquerque’s second postseason pitch for a grand slam, the 11th postseason grand slam in Yankees history. Cano tied a franchise posteason record with six RBI in the game, all of which came with two outs.

“It’s not a guy that, when he goes up there and there’s a runner on, he’s just trying to get a hit,” Joe Girardi said. “He’s trying to do damage… You look at what he’s done the last two years for us, he has been big for us. What he did in the playoffs last year, he did a lot of damage. We talked about moving him up and we couldn’t seem to get all our guys in the lineup the same day for a while there. It’s a kid that’s blossomed into quite a player is what he’s done.”

In the last week of the season, Girardi’s decision to bat Cano third against right-handers and fourth against lefties was a clear indication that this is Cano’s team now. He talked about taking notice of what Alex Rodriguez did in the playoffs in 2009, and now Cano seems poised to have the same sort of singular impact. He’s that good, and he showed it tonight.

“Robbie’s been doing it all year,” Derek Jeter said. “Robbie’s a tough out. He can beat you with a home run, he can beat you with pulled balls, he can hit balls the other way. He’s tough to pitch to, and he showed that today.”

Here’s Cano.

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—

Ivan Nova’s first postseason inning lasted all of eight pitches. It was a quick start to an impressive playoff debut from the Yankees rookie.

“When you throw an inning like that, a quick inning in a situation like today, that lets you know that everything is the same,” Nova said. “It’s the same game. A little bit more pressure, of course, but it looked the same for me.”

Nick Swisher said Nova “controlled the game,” and Jeter said he was “as good as we could hope for.” A strong regular season earned Nova the No. 2 spot in the rotation, and tonight only solidified it.

“Robbie has been through the moment a lot already. Ivan has not,” Girardi said. “Ivan did a great job tonight. Our prayer is that it continues… I talked about if he was able to control his emotions, I thought he could pitch pretty well.”

Said Nova: “I was so excited, my first postseason start. I could not believe it. I was really excited. After the first inning, I came back normal. I was more confident, and I slowed down everything, so it was good.”

—

• It wasn’t The Dive or The Flip, but Jeter made another big defensive play in a big spot. With the game still tied in the fifth, Jhonny Peralta singled to center, and Jeter’s relay from Curtis Granderson hit Russell Martin in the chest. “I’m not the cutoff man to the plate,” Jeter said. “But Peralta hit it hard and Curtis sort of had to wait for it and couldn’t charge it, so I thought if I step in, we might have a chance to get him. Fortunately we did.”

• Most of the credit for the play went to Jeter, but it was a nice play by Martin as well. He kind of caught the ball and applied the tag in one motion. “It was a good throw,” Jeter said. “In that situation you’re just trying to get rid of it as quick as you can. I thought we had an opportunity, I thought it would be close, and fortunately we were able to get him. At the time, it was, what, tied at the time? So it was a big play for us.”

• Nick Swisher went asked about Cano’s pair of doubles, home run and six RBI: “Sounds like Matsui.”

• In a five-game series, winning Game 1 is huge. “You want to win games,” Jeter said. “It was a little odd. We were a good team for seven innings today because it was a continuation game, but a lot of good things happened.”

• Cano in response to a question about whether fans should be chanting “MVP” for him instead of Granderson: “That’s something not in my mind. We have to give credit to Granderson the way he helped the team the whole year. Right now my focus is in the playoffs, so I’ll let you guys decide (the MVP). Like I said, my goal is just to win it all.”

• Nova said the only pitch that was really working for him early was his fastball, but eventually everything fell into place. “I think I got everything today for me,” Nova said. “That’s the way I feel. I only throw one changup, but everything for me was working fine.”

• Cano’s reviewed double was the 10th play reviewed by video replay at the current Yankee Stadium, and the second in the postseason. The first was last year when Lance Berkman had a home run overturned and ruled foul.

• The last Yankees postseason grand slam was Ricky Ledee in the 1999 ALCS. The only other Yankees grand slam in the division series came from Paul O’Neill in 1997.

• Nova is the first Yankees rookie to win his postseason debut since Orlando Hernandez in 1998.

• Jorge Posada tied Bernie Williamss for the second-most postseason games all-time. Posada has played in 121. Jeter is at the top of the list with 148.

• Russell Martin has hit safely in seven of 10 career division series games.

• Jeter has reached base safely in 28 of 31 Game 1′s.

• Girardi’s final word on his rotation situation: “Right now we’re planning on CC on Monday and probably A.J. on Tuesday.”

• Tonight’s attendance of 50,940 was the largest single-game attendance at the current Yankee Stadium.

Associated Press photos

This was worth the wait. One day after it started, the Yankees won the opening game of the ALDS by playing their best baseball in weeks. Robinson Cano tied a franchise postseason record with six RBI, Ivan Nova pitched 6.1 innings of one-run ball and the Yankees defense was outstanding in a 9-3 win against the Tigers. Cano delivered the big blow in the sixth, hitting a grand slam off reliever Al Alburquerque, who had not allowed a home run all season. Nova almost finished what he kind of started. CC Sabathia will still go down as this game’s starting pitcher, but it was Nova who got all but the last two outs tonight, allowing just four hits, all of them singles.

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (97-65)
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 Ivan Nova (16-4, 3.70)
Nova vs. Tigers

TIGERS (95-67)
Austin Jackson CF
Magglio Ordonez RF
Delmon Young LF
Miguel Cabrera 1B
Victor Martinez DH
Alex Avila C
Ryan Raburn 2B
Jhonny Peralta SS
Brandon Inge 3B

RHP Doug Fister (11-13, 2.83)
Fister vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 8:37., TBS

WEATHER: I thought last night felt like a great night, and then came the rain. Tonight feels like rain, so maybe it will be perfect.

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

STARTING IN THE MIDDLE: The Yankees and Tigers are tied at 1 in the middle of the second inning. The game will resume exactly where it left off, with Jorge Posada due up to start the bottom of the second.

FIRST TIME EXPERIENCE: The suspended game is the first since the January 2009 rule amendment that says all postseason games become suspended games if they can called, regardless of how many innings have been played or the score at the time the game is called.

YOUNG ONE: If/when Jesus Montero makes his postseason debut, he will be the youngest Yankee to appear in a playoff game since Tommy Carrol, who was 19 during the 1955 World Series.

ON THIS DATE: Today marks the 50th anniversary of Roger Maris hitting his record-setting 61st home run on the final day of the 1961 season.

UPDATE, 8:33PM: Vin Mercogliano here to do the in-game blogging. The Tigers just took the field to loud boos. No rain right now, and we’re all set to start on time. Kind of odd to see the Yankees batting first at home, but we’ve come to expect the unexpected at this point.

UPDATE, 8:39PM: Yanks off to a good start. Sharp single from Posada, then double in the left-center field gap from Martin. Think they’re glad to see Fister out there instead of Verlander?

UPDATE, 8:41PM: Bad base-running from Posada cost the Yankees the lead runner, but a Fister balk puts runners back on the 2nd and 3rd with one out and Jeter at the plate.

UPDATE, 8:46PM: Missed opportunity for the Yanks. Fister K’s Jeter and Granderson back-to-back to escape the jam. That’s a situation where you have to come away with something. Here comes Nova.

UPDATE, 8:52PM: Nova gets the Tigers to go 1-2-3 in his first inning of work. He just seems to have the composure to succeed in this setting.

UPDATE, 8:59PM: Fister really appears to have settled down. He gets the toughest part of the Yankee order to go down 1-2-3, striking out A-Rod and Teixeira.

UPDATE, 9:08PM: Nova looks like he’s relishing this stage. Another 1-2-3 inning, punctuated with a strikeout of Cabrera.

UPDATE, 9:18PM: Well, this may be the fastest moving Yankee game of the season. That’s two straight innings without a base-runner for either team.

UPDATE, 9:29PM: Great defensive play from the Yanks to save a run. Peralta singled to center with runners on 1st and 2nd, and they decided to send Avila. A beautiful relay throw from Jeter set up Martin to apply the tag just in time and keep the game tied at 1-1.

UPDATE, 9:32PM: Nova gets out of the inning by inducing pinch-hitter (and former Yank) Wilson Betemit to fly out to left. Hard to believe it’s only 9:30 and we’re already almost in the sixth.

UPDATE, 9:42PM: What looked like a Cano homer is now under review. The ball bounced on the very top of the wall, and came back into play. If it bounced the opposite way, it’s a no doubt homer. Interesting to see how they call it here.

UPDATE, 9:45PM: As expected, no homer. Just an RBI double for Cano. A-Rod gives the first pitch he sees a ride to center, but Jackson is there to track it down. Inning over. 2-1 Yanks.

UPDATE, 9:53PM: Nice defensive work from the Yankees to work around a leadoff walk to Jackson. First, Ordonez hits a ball straight back up to the middle, setting up an easy double play for Cano who fielded the ball while standing on second base. Then, Swisher makes a diving play towards the RF line to rob Young of extra bases.

UPDATE, 9:57PM: Great sign to see Tex driving the ball to the opposite field from the left-side of the plate. Apparently, he’s put in extra work with Kevin Long this week.

UPDATE, 10:01PM: Even with Nova throwing well and only at 52 pitches, Girardi has Rafael Soriano warming in the pen. Should he start messing with things even when they’re going well?

UPDATE, 10:07PM: Clutch two-out, two-run single from Gardner gives the Yanks a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth.

UPDATE, 10:14PM: Another good at-bat from Granderson, and the bases are loaded after a two-out walk. Here comes the rookie everyone has been raving about, Al Alburquerque, to pitch to Cano.

UPDATE, 10:18PM: Cano paying huge dividends from the 3-hole. As Alburquerque was warming up, I tweeted that it seems like every time an opposing manager makes a pitching change for Robby recently, he seems to make them pay. He just came through again with the two-out grand slam. It’s 8-1 Yanks.

UPDATE, 10:21PM: Chad just informed me that that’s the first homer given up by Alburquerque all season. Wow.

UPDATE, 10:24PM: Nova comes back out, but Soriano is staying loose in the pen. You would think with a seven-run lead and four games in a row without a day off that Girardi would use this opportunity to save his big guns.

UPDATE, 10:32PM: Nova K’s Raburn to get out of the seventh with no damage. Very impressive showing for the rookie in his first playoff appearance.

UPDATE, 10:49PM: Nova back out for the eighth. Could he finish this game?

UPDATE, 10:59PM: No activity in the Yankee pen, so this appears to be Nova’s game to finish.

UPDATE, 11:09PM: Robinson Cano ties a Yankee record on an RBI double in the eighth; his sixth RBI of the day. It’s the fourth time a Yankee has had six in a playoff game, and it’s the first time since Hideki Matsui did it in Game 6 of the 2009 World Series.

UPDATE, 11:20PM: That’s it for Nova, who comes out to a ringing ovation. Here comes Luis Ayala with the bases loaded to try and get the final two outs.

UPDATE, 11:29PM: Old Joe goes to Mo to finish out the game after Ayala fails to record the final out.

UPDATE, 11:32PM: Rivera with the three pitch strikeout. Ballgame over, 9-3. Yanks take a 1-0 series lead.

Freddy Garcia will start tomorrow’s rescheduled Game 2, and it sounds like there was never much chance of CC Sabathia getting the ball. In fact, Joe Girardi hasn’t committed to Sabathia pitching on Monday. It’s still possible, he said, the he’ll wait until Tuesday to pitch his ace again.

“You’re asking a guy to pitch on Sunday and Thursday, and he threw on Friday,” Girardi said. “To me, it’s too much… You don’t want to send a guy out there if he’s not physically as good as he can be. I’m not saying that any starting pitcher is going to be 100 percent, but if you have a couple games that you can choose from and he can be 95 percent one day and 80 percent the other day, I’m going to take him at the 95 percent.”

Right now, Girardi expects Sabathia to be his Monday starter, but he won’t set that in stone until Sabathia checks in Sunday and confirms that he feels strong enough to pitch the next day.

As for Tuesday’s Game 4, it’s obvious that A.J. Burnett is the leading candidate to start for the Yankees, but Girardi said he hasn’t discussed it with Burnett. For now, Burnett is available as a long man, and if the Yankees get into a crazy situation tonight, Burnett will be available to pitch multiple innings.

“I think you worry about today’s game today,” Girardi said. “You worry about tomorrow’s game tomorrow. That’s what you do.”

How much has this series changed now that Sabathia and Justin Verlander are, essentially, pitching only once.

“It can potentially change a lot, but I don’t think we’re ever going to know,” Girardi said. “That’s for people to sit around and talk about. You’ve got two aces going, a 1-1 game, and now they’re conceivably only going to pitch once each. It changes the complexion of it, but none of us really know if it would have changed the outcome.”

Here’s Girardi’s press conference.

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• Girardi quickly dismissed any notion that Alex Rodriguez might be bothered by playing four games in a row. He said the fact Rodriguez sat out the regular-season finale is a non-issue. “If it wasn’t New York and it wasn’t Alex this wouldn’t have been such a big deal that a guy was a little cranky,” Girardi said. “He played on turf a couple of days. I think you probably could have askd about 10 of our players in Tampa on Wednesday if any of their knees were a little cranky from playing on the turf and you probably would have gotten about seven yeses. Because it’s Alex, it’s a big deal.”

• Rodriguez actually did early work in the field yesterday and today. When I got to the park this afternoon he was taking grounders at third.

• Same thing for Russell Martin. Even with four days in a row and a day game after a night game, Martin is still expected to start every game behind the plate. “He’s ready to go,” Girardi said.

• The closest Girardi would come to confirming Burnett as his fourth starter was to say he’s a “great candidate” to start that game. “He’s pitched well against this team this year,” Girardi said.

• If not Burnett, Phil Hughes is the obvious alternative. “He’s an option,” Girardi said. “He’s not really stretched out over the last two weeks, but I can’t tell you exactly what’s going to happen in the next couple games with the rain in the forecast. ”

• Girardi said he never put a real plan together because he was quickly convinced last night’s game was not going to continue, but he probably would have used Burnett had the game resumed after the rain delay. “That’s probably what I would have done,” Girardi said. “I didn’t even think about that, because when I came in, I looked at the radar and it didn’t look too good. I heard TBS say there was a window and I was wondering where that window was.”

• Girardi said it’s not up to him, but his hope is that MLB will postpone the start of tonight’s game if there’s rain in the forecast for the first few innings. He’d rather not burn out a starting pitcher in another delay.

• The Tigers have not changed anything about their lineup. They’d have to lose a player to do so, so they’re going with their vLHP lineup against the right-handed Ivan Nova.

• Andy Pettitte is here, but there’s no ceremonial first pitch tonight, so the thinking seems to be that he could be throwing out the first pitch tomorrow. Could the Yankees have Mariano Rivera throw to Jorge Posada before Game 1, then have Pettitte throw to Derek Jeter before Game 2?

Associated Press photos

Ivan Nova was feeling nervous, and he usually doesn’t feel nervous standing 60 feet 6 inches from batters. Only this angry Blue Jays’ batter, Jose Bautista, was getting a little closer after watching a pitch sail by at head level three innings after homering.

“Because when he came to me, I don’t know what to do,” said Nova, who didn’t back down in that incident during his first major-league start for the Yankees last August in Toronto.

Nova has been calm all this season. But now the 24-year-old rookie will be under the hot glare at Yankee Stadium, taking the ball tonight as the Game 1 “reliever” against the Tigers after originally being selected to start Game 2. Since Friday night’s opener was suspended because of rain after an inning and a half and the score 1-1, Nova gets to take over for CC Sabathia.

“I don’t really see the difference,” Nova said. “It’s not like they’re going to throw me out there. I’m going to have time to warm up and do all the stuff I usually do.”

Joe Girardi said: “The big thing is for him to just control his emotions, and we’ll watch for that early. If we have to talk to him a few more times early in the game, we will.”

The supremely confident Nova doesn’t think this is going to be a problem at all. He arrives after going 16-4 with a 3.70 ERA in the regular season.

“I had big games this year; it wasn’t difficult to do,” Nova said. “Why is it going to be difficult (tonight)?”

Girardi factored his poised demeanor into the original rotation decision, among other things.

“It all plays into it,” Girardi said. “The year he’s had. His ability to pitch when he got in trouble this year. He did a much better job than he did last year managing innings.”

Nova said he came back from spending most of July in the minors as a more aggressive pitcher, trying to get ahead on counts every time.

“I came (back) here with another mind-set — I don’t want to go back to the minor leagues,” Nova said. “I was making sure to do everything possible to not go back to the minors again.”

Girardi was impressed with the way he took the news flash of his demotion to Triple-A (making room at the time for Phil Hughes’ return to the rotation).

“Extremely impressed,” Girardi said. “It would have been easy for him to storm out or to talk to his buddies and tell them how unhappy he was, and I never heard anything. I never heard a word about his displeasure with anything that we did. He just went to work, and that’s unusual, because usually you hear something through the grapevine. But not this time.”

Nova went 12-0 with a 3.25 ERA in his last 16 starts. He’s in line for a possible Game 5, too.

“Nova had a lot of talent and I was pleased with what he did last year,” Girardi said. “It’s just been the maturation of him that’s gotten him to this point. He wasn’t rushed, and he got a chance to throw a lot of innings. He kind of flew under the radar, and it probably helped him because when you come up a lot of times in a Yankees rotation, you’re not asked to be the second starter or third starter. You’re asked to be a fourth or a fifth just because there’s that experience. And that can help as well.”

And to think, Nova’s family only wanted 10 wins out of him this season.

“I tell them I don’t want 10,” Nova said. “I don’t think 10 is enough. They are really happy with me. I’m so happy with what I did this year. Everything I do this year was especially for my family (and) for my grandfather. He died last year. He wanted to see me in the playoffs. He doesn’t have a chance to see me right now. I know he’s happy with me right now.”

A.J. Burnett, who could be the Game 4 starter now, if necessary, has been a friend and mentor to Nova, helping him with personal stuff and pitching stuff, like when Nova struggled at times last season and early this season.

“Before I pitch, he always was telling me, don’t give them a reason to take me out of the game,” Nova said. “During the game, I was thinking when I have a situation that could be trouble with me, that’s what I was thinking.”

Tigers manager Jim Leyland expressed some concern over facing Nova, something they haven’t done this season. Nova did make his big-league debut in May 2010 with two innings of scoreless relief against Detroit.

“The tapes I’ve looked at, he’s very impressive,” Leyland said. “It’s something our hitters will have to contend with.”

Here’s Nova speaking before Friday’s game was rained out.

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This post was written by Brian Heyman

Associated Press photo

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Yankees have ruled out the idea of pitching CC Sabathia on Sunday. Rosenthal talked to Brian Cashman, who said the Yankees will stick with the plan that Joe Girardi initially announced last night: Sabathia will pitch Monday’s Game 3 in Detroit.

Joe Girardi sounded as if his decision had been made. He didn’t even wait for the question last night before announcing that Freddy Garcia would start Sunday’s freshly schedule Game 2 at Yankee Stadium.

The second question was whether it would be possible to pitch CC Sabathia instead.

Sabathia threw only 27 pitches last night, which would seem to be little more than an aggressive bullpen session. By pitching Sabathia on Sunday, the Yankees could — in theory — bring him back to pitch Thursday’s Game 5 on short rest.

“I don’t think that’s the right thing to do,” Girardi said. “Just because, when you’re talking about a real heavy bullpen, this is more than a bullpen. And it’s not the right thing to do… I’m going to wait to see how he feels Saturday and Sunday. And then we’ll go from there.”

A few minutes later, Sabathia took his turn at the podium, and he vowed to make his case for pitching as often as possible.

“If (pitching Sunday) means I get the ball as many times as possible, I’m all for it,” he said. “… My side days, I don’t do a full warmup. I went through my full pre-game warmup (last night). That’s about 48 pitches, too. Like I said, I’ll just see how I feel tomorrow and work with Skip and see what happens.”

Here’s Sabathia.

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Associated Press photo