ALCS

The ALCS is being played between two great baseball franchises, but so far in this series the Detroit Tigers have faced and shut down a New York Yankees lineup that has simply not produced this postseason.

Mid-season trade acquisition Anibal Sanchez pitched seven scoreless innings last night in Yankee Stadium, something manager Jim Leyland described as ‘terrific’ considering the short-porch in right field and the amount of lefty hitters New York has at its disposal.

The Tigers now take a 2-0 lead back to Comerica Park supported by a starting rotation that has thrown 29 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run. That is aided by a staggering 0.94 ERA so far in this postseason, and it has had to be that good with the bullpen giving up seven earned runs in its last eleven innings pitched.

Even clutch-hitter and saviour Raul Ibanez hasn’t been able to overhaul Detroit’s pitching, and Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera came through again yesterday with an opposite field single which drove in a run in the eighth. Suddenly all of these signings made by GM David Dombrowski are proving crucial, and is further evidence that the Tigers do their business to ‘win now’.

Not meaning to overshadow Detroit’s solid play in this series, the Yankees are struggling more than anyone could have predicted. After finishing off the season in unbelievably hot form, Robinson Cano is now 2-for-32 in the playoffs with an ongoing slump of 26 straight hitless at-bats, which unfortunately for the second baseman is the worst single-postseason skid in major league history.

Alex Rodriguez’s problems have been magnified yet again in October, and amongst countless strikeouts the star player – although that tag is fading fast – is now 3-for-23 thus far. Curtis Granderson, the man who hit over 40 home runs this season, is batting 3-for-26 this postseason while Nick Swisher is 4-for-26.

Detroit’s starting rotation has shut down most of its opponents and the names on that list just epitomize Dombrowski’s dealings. Max Scherzer was a wintertime trade acquisition back in 2010, while Doug Fister and Sanchez followed in consecutive years. Fister joined last year and said this week that he was welcomed with open arms in the Tigers clubhouse because the rest of the team knew what adding quality pitching meant.

The answer is playoff success, and Sanchez is the latest relative newbie to secure a win in this postseason. It doesn’t get any easier for the Yankees, who now have to leave their home and face reigning MVP and Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander.

The ace of the staff has won both of his playoff outings so far, including a game five shutout of the Oakland Athletics last time out. Verlander and C.C. Sabathia were unable to pitch game one of this series because of short rest but are both now ready to start for their respective clubs.

This postseason has been one of the best ever and next up in this series are two great modern day pitchers. Verlander came into the division series with a sketchy playoff record, but he has ticked off that final line on his resume with two quality starts this month.

Is he good enough to match the Yankees’ Sabathia? We’ll have to find out, but a struggling lineup with little confidence isn’t the best combination against a firing Tigers team and the best pitcher in baseball.