Last Friday night was supposed to bring us a pitchers' duel for the ages, with Justin Verlander going up against CC Sabathia in Game 1 of the Yankees/Tigers ALDS. It didn't go quite as planned, as each pitcher allowed a first inning run, but no matter - the game was soon thereafter suspended by rain, and Verlander and Sabathia had a chance to start fresh in Monday's Game 3.
Yankees vs. Tigers: Curtis Granderson, New York Waste No Time In Pulling Ahead
Well, we haven't seen Sabathia yet, but Verlander didn't get off to the start he wanted. His first pitch of the game was a high fastball that Derek Jeter grounded right back up the middle for a base hit. That ended the no-hitter before it began, and then Curtis Granderson followed by preventing the shutout as well. In a 1-and-2 count, Verlander gave Granderson a high-away fastball that Granderson plastered into left-center for an RBI triple.
Lord only knows how he hit this, and hit it so hard:
That put the Yankees in front 1-0, and they extended their lead to 2-0 when Granderson scored on Alex Rodriguez's slow grounder to short. Verlander did strike out both Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira in the inning and it's not like his stuff is below the norm, but he got hit a little bit, and now Sabathia has been given a lead to protect before he even set foot on the mound.
See More:
