Tigers shutout Yankees to take 2-0 Series lead

The Detroit Tigers still have Justin Verlander ready to go and surprisingly without the ace pitching they have taken a 2-0 series lead over the New York Yankees. Anibal Sanchez pitched like Verlander today though. Aided by the Tigers defense and a favorable call the Tigers pulled out two wins in Yankee Stadium and will now head home to Detroit looking to close the series out.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi turned 48 today as a present the umpire at second base, Jeff Nelson, tossed him from the game. The ejection came after Nelson a tag-out with two outs in the top of the eighth inning.

The Tigers led 1-0 in the eighth with Omar Infante on first with two outs. Austin Jackson would single single. Infante took a wide turn as he went to second and Yankee right fielder Nick Swisher threw the ball behind him to in an effort to catch him off second base.

Second basemen Robinson Cano made a swipe tag as Infante made a head-first dive back to second-base. While Cano missed the arm of Infante he was able to tag the body of Infante. Nelson called Infante safe and ejected Girardi when he attempted to plead his case for an out. The Tigers scored two runs in the inning.

Miguel Cabrera pushed the lead to 3-0 when he added a run-scoring single in the ninth.

Sanchez shut down a Yankees lineup without captain Derek Jeter who was lost for the post season on Saturday night following an ankle injury. Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda pitched perfect ball into the sixth inning but got no help from a lineup full of struggling hitters.

The series will resume for Game 3 on Tuesday night. Verlander will pitch against Phil Hughes. Verlander was 2-0 in the divisional round against Oakland including an four-hit shutout with 11 strike out in Game 5.

John Boarman
John Boarmanhttp://www.tireball.com
Founder and Owner of Tireball Sports.

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