A Fist To The Face

Fister was the steal of this years July 31st
trade dealine.

Heading into hallow yet treacherous territory, the Detroit Tigers entered Yankee Stadium with an abundance of confidence not only in themselves, but in their lanky right-hander Doug Fister.

After having a forgettable what was technically a relief outing in Game 1 of the series, Fister was absolutely brilliant in the biggest game of his career, throwing five high stress but gritty innings against the heavily powered New York Yankee lineup.

Back-to-back home runs off the bats of Don Kelly and Delmon Young in the first gave Detroit the early momentum, something they never relinquished.

Both of those home runs came off New York's rookie right-hander Ivan Nova, a 16-game winner during the regular season. Nova would only make it through the first two innings, leaving the game what was said to be forearm tightness, causing manager Joe Girardi to dip into his bullpen soon than he would have liked.

Phil Hughes and the often used Boone Logan got the Yankees through the third and fourth with two scoreless innings combined, giving the Bronx Bombers a chance to inch closer in the home half of the fourth.

New York loaded the bases and with only one out and catcher Russell Martin stepping to the plate. Girardi's squad had plenty of success this season with the bases full. Not only did the his team lead the majors with 222 home runs during the regular, but 10 of those were good enough for grand slams, also leading the majors. Three came in an 22-9 rout of the Oakland Athletics in a game back in August, setting a major league record.

Fister got Martin to pop to the infield, putting the infield fly rule in affect immediately and then after falling behind 3-1 in the count to the speedster Brett Gardner, the 6-foot-8 Fister got Gardner to pop up to Kelly at third in foul territory, ending the threat and preserving his 2-0 lead.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland stated before the game that his ace and this year's front-runner for the AL Cy Young Justin Verlander was unavailable out of the bullpen. That was not the case for New York as their ace C.C. Sabathia came to the mound in the fifth.

After allowing a leadoff double to Austin Jackson, Sabathia struck out back-to-back batters for the innings first two outs. Faced with the tough decision to pitch to 2011 batting champion Miguel Cabrera with a base open, Girardi opted to walk Cabrera and face Victor Martinez, who led the majors with a .394 average with RISP.

Martinez made them pay with an RBI single right back up the box, tacking on an insurance run that would prove to be costly.

Cano quickly responded with his second home run of the series, cutting the lead back to two, 3-1.

Fister lasted only the five innings, but is the obvious steal of this years July 31st trading deadline not only because of his 8-1 record since the trade to Detroit, but after pitching the most important game of his career and delivering on baseball's biggest stage.

General Manager Dave Dombroski deserves a lot credit for some of his deadline acquisitions and success of this Tiger club.

Leyland turned the game over to his bullpen and rather than Verlander it would be another starter emerging from the pen. Max Scherzer, who pitched a masterful Game 2 in the Bronx, was ready for more. And after a relatively clean first inning of relief, Scherzer gave way to set-up man Joaquin Benoit in the seventh.

Benoit was greeted by a little bit of gamesmanship after being asked by the Yankees to remove an over sized bandage on the left side of his face because of the distraction it might cause to the hitters. There is no question it rattled the Santiago native and Detroit found the bases loaded once again with only one out, giving the Yankees their final shot at a comeback.

The right-hander got Alex Rodriguez on strucks and after forcing in a run with a walk to Mark Teixeria, Benoit deposed of Nick Swisher on a fastball that appeared to be out of the strike zone, somehow maneuvering his way out of trouble with a 3-2 lead.

New York had one last glimpse of hope in the bottom of the eighth. With Gardner at first and two outs, Derek Jeter launched a deep drive to right field only to see in settle into the glove of Kelly just shy of the wall.

I bet Jeter and Yankee fans were asking, where's Jeffrey Maier when you need him?

Rodriguez batted .111 this postseason,
without an extra-base hit.

In the ninth, Detroit called upon closer Jose Valverde, who said the series would not even come back to New York days earlier, pitched a perfect inning, getting Rodriguez to struck out. It was the second straight year Rodriguez had struck out to end the Yankees' season.

When that final out was recorded, longtime Yankee icon Jorge Posada, who batted .429 in the series and got on base eleven times, watched from the top step of the dugout in disbelief. It has been said with his contract expiring and youngsters ready to take the next step, that could have very well been the finally game for Posada in that trademark pinstripe information.

If in fact that becomes the case, the final memory Yankee fans will have of Posada is not the weak ground ball to shortstop Jhonny Peralta he hit in his final at-bat as a Yankee, but the true professionalism and class he showed for seventeen years.

Now the Tigers are right where the want to be, their ace on the mound for Game 1 of the ALCS Saturday night in Rangers Ballpark in Arilington, while New Yorkers experience another failed season.

Maybe Girardi should ask Benoit for a band-aid to help heal the wounds.