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Pastimes : Major League Baseball (MLB) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rarebird who wrote (16998)	10/5/2011 12:03:52 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 29239

Detroit Tigers robbed of fast start by Curtis Granderson, face decisive fifth game in ALDS against New York Yankees By Bill Khan Columnist Booth Newspapers October 04, 2011 11:49 pm DETROIT — It was all there for the taking. A.J. Burnett was stinking up the joint, to the amazement of no one. His presence on the mound with the New York Yankees' season hanging in the balance against the Detroit Tigers Tuesday night at Comerica Park invoked predictions of dire consequences for the Bronx Bombers. Burnett did nothing to silence the haters in the first inning, walking the bases loaded and bouncing several pitches that catcher Russell Martin blocked to prevent runs from scoring on a wild pitch. The Tigers were on the cusp of a big inning that could crush the spirit of the Yankees and propel Detroit into the American League Championship Series against the Texas Rangers. Then an old friend had to go and crash the party. Former Tiger Curtis Granderson, an MVP candidate because of his bat, used his glove to make the biggest play in the Yankees' 10-1 victory over the Tigers in Game 4 of the American League Division Series. With the bases loaded and two outs, Don Kelly crushed a line drive to center field. Granderson took one step in, then quickly realized the ball was carrying better than he expected. He quickly retreated, leaped and caught the ball, surely robbing the Tigers of three runs — and perhaps more had the inning continued. The expectation was that this merely postponed the inevitable, much like double plays in the first two innings Monday night bailed out a shaky CC Sabathia before the Tigers got to him in a 5-4 victory that gave Detroit a 2-1 lead in the best-of-5 series. But Burnett, he of the 21-26 record and 5.20 ERA over the past two seasons, settled down and surrendered only one run on a homer by Victor Martinez, four hits and one more walk in 5 2/3 innings, allowing the Yankees to host a decisive fifth game Thursday night. If Granderson didn't recover on Kelly's line drive, it could've been a repeat of 2006. In Game 4 of the ALDS that year, the Tigers jumped on the Yankees early, sucking the life out of the Yankees, who promptly rolled over and died. Escaping the first inning gave Burnett and the Yankees new life, as they scored twice in the third and twice in the fifth against Rick Porcello. Granderson wasn't done haunting his former team after his spectacular catch in the first inning. His double off the right-field wall gave the Yankees a 3-1 lead in the fifth. Granderson continued to make Game 4 his personal highlight reel when he fully extended his body to make a diving catch of a ball hit by Jhonny Peralta up the left-center field gap in the sixth. With the game turned over to the Yankees' bullpen with two outs in the sixth inning, the Tigers never mounted a threat the rest of the way, while the Yankees poured it on with a six-run eighth. The Tigers' greatest opportunity had already come and gone, disappearing into the glove of a leaping Granderson in the first inning. It was their best chance to put away the Yankees Tuesday night. Now they have what is historically the toughest assignment in baseball, playing a survival game in New York against the Yankees.