Yankees Clobber Tigers 10-1, Force Decisive Game 5

If the ball goes even six inches farther, it goes over Granderson’s glove and at least three runs score. Yes, “at least”, because with Granderson’s dive, and the deep dimensions of Comerica Park, and Kelly’s above-average speed, he could have had an inside-the-park grand slam.

And to think, Yankee fans feared A.J. Burnett appearing in this series. They should have known that someone would step up to help. Tuesday night was Curtis Granderson’s night to shine.

To the bottom half of the eighth we go, and oh who even cares now

It was his first hit of the series.

Burnett’s line (pending that baserunner):

5⅔ innings

4 hits

1 run

4 walks

3 strikeouts

The inning ended there with Jeter dying on the basepaths, but now Burnett has a lead with which to work, which is a nice break given how close he came to the disaster scenario in the bottom of the first.

Managerial Test: Question 1

It’s the first inning of a big game. Your leadoff man singles. He’s really fast. The enemy pitcher regularly walks hitters and throws wild pitches. Your pitcher posted a 4.75 ERA this season, and is facing perhaps the best lineup in Major League Baseball.

Do you

But Granderson made the catch, and Burnett put up a zero. I suppose the Yankees don’t really care how he posts zeroes, so long as he does. And oh by the way, as I was writing this Porcello threw a 1-2-3 second. So now it’s right back to A.J. again!

Tuesday evening, Jim Leyland is giving us a slightly different look:

The other difference from yesterday’s lineup is that Wilson Betemit is starting in place of Brandon Inge. Inge went 2-for-4 with a double on Monday, but Inge is a righty while Betemit switch-hits, so, again, it’s the handedness advantage. Over his career, Betemit has posted a .684 OPS against lefties, but an .817 OPS against righties. That’s presumably the explanation, here.

One wouldn’t expect anything different. Even though the Yankees have hit just .224 so far in this series, that’s based on a sample of 98 at bats, and the Yankees can hit. The Yankees spent the entire regular season hitting. This is no time for Joe Girardi to mess around and overreact by making changes.

Of course, the lineup above leaves out the most important part:

This season, 42 American Leaguers pitched enough innings (162) to qualify for the ERA title.

It’s interesting: While the generally accepted standard for being a good pitcher is striking out twice as many batters as you walk, 35 of those 42 pitchers cleared that bar, which suggests we might have to raise the bar.

Quite literally, it was never supposed to be this way -- Burnett wasn’t expected to start a single game in the ALDS until the 24-hour rain delay in Game 1 forced Joe Girardi’s hand. Burnett, of course, understands the awkward situation in which he’s suddenly been placed, and vows he won’t crumble under the pressure.

“I’ve been proving people wrong my whole career,” Burnett told reporters before Game 3. “People are entitled to their opinion. Obviously, I give them reasons here and there to doubt. The bottom line is I have confidence in myself. I’m not going to go out and try to prove anything. I’m going to go out and try to win a ballgame.”