Well, that wasn't the best way to start the series. The New York Yankees just plain outperformed the Tigers. Nate Robertson lost his composure in the third inning, giving up 5 runs, a deficit the Tigers were unable to overcome.
Mark made some excellent points last night. The Tigers need the pitching to perform better and they can't strand 15 runners and expect to win. With that said, we can't forget that it was just one game. The Tigers are still very much in this series. If they can win tonight, they'll head to Detroit having stolen home field advantage.
Tonight's starting pitchers:
Justin Verlander (17-9, 3.63) vs. Mike Mussina (15-7, 3.51).
Tonight's pitching matchup features a man who has 239 career wins facing perhaps the 2006 AL Rookie of the Year. Mike Mussina is a crafty veteran who has a change-up which has been dominant of late. However, Justin Verlander has one of the best fastballs in baseball and can take control of a game if he can throw his other pitches for strikes. I'll be very interested to see how the pitching fares in tonight's game.
Tonight's game can be can be seen nationally on ESPN. It can be heard on WXYT-AM (1270), WTKA-AM (1050), WDFN-AM (1130), XM1177 and XM1188.
First pitch is scheduled for 8:09 p.m.
Great job leaving comments last night. Let's keep the chatter going tonight.
[Update] Neither squad made any changes to their lineup for tonight's game.