Burnett Was Great – AJ started out with a rough first inning, walking three to load the bases. But when Don Kelly sent a shot to deep center Granderson ran straight back and made a diving catch to hold the Tigers scoreless. Burnett settled in nicely after that, going 5.2 innings with 4 H, 1 R, 4 BB, and 3 K. Most would agree that Burnett’s regular season was somewhat of a disaster, but the slate is wiped clean in the postseason and Burnett came through in a huge way when the Yankees needed him most. The bullpen did it’s part to protect AJ’s lead, going 3.1 innings and holding the Tigers hitless and racking up 6 strikeouts.

Jeter Came Through With Big Ribbies – Prior to tonight Jeter had failed to drive in a single run during this series despite leaving 12 men in on base. In the 3rd inning he came through with a double to center that drove in two runs and got the Yanks on the board first.

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Whatever.

Take a look at Brooks Baseball’s strikezone plot if you think this is just sour grapes:

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Jeter SS
Granderson CF
Cano 2B
Rodriguez 3B
Teixeira 1B
Swisher RF
Posada DH
Martin C
Gardner LF

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Photo Credit: MLB

Following last night’s slugfest, the following Yankees lineup will take on right-hander Max Scherzer:
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada DH
Russell Martin C
Brett Gardner LF

Freddy Garcia, originally slated to start Game 3 before Game 1 was suspended due to rain, will take the mound for the Yankees. Garcia only faced the Tigers once this season, way back on May 4 in Detroit. It certainly wasn’t Garcia’s best performance: he went 7 inning, giving up 10 hits, 2 walks, 4 runs, and striking out 8 on the way to the Yankees’ 0-4 loss. Granted, this is an incredibly small sample size that took place 5 months ago, so it is far from an accurate predictor of what we can expect from Freddy today.

I generally hate the phrase “he’s a professional pitcher” because it is so painfully obvious when talking about major league pitchers, but that is exactly what Freddy is. He is a seasoned veteran who knows very well that he doesn’t have the kind of stuff to blow batters away on pure speed and power, so he relies on fooling batters by mixing up his pitch selection and locating his pitches. The Tigers don’t have much of a running game, so if Garcia can keep them off the bases and prevent home runs, he should be able to keep the Yankees in the game, paving the way for New York’s deep bullpen in the late innings.

So where does this leave us? There are a ton of questions left unanswered, but here is what we know so far:

• Game 1 will resume tomorrow at 8:37 pm EST and will pick up right where it left off: tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 2nd inning.
• Game 2 will be played on Sunday at 3:07 pm EST. Sunday was supposed to be an off-day, but the only off-day in this series will now be Wednesday, October 5.
• Girardi said in a post-game press conference that he would not start CC on Sunday. Instead he will “discuss” starting CC on Monday.
• CC, of course, has other plans. He hinted that he will make his case to pitch on Sunday so that he can have a chance to get 2 starts in this series.
• Ivan Nova will start Saturday, as he was scheduled to do.
• Girardi did not say whether the Yankees will alter their 3-man rotation, but he did hint that AJ Burnett would likely be the 4th starter if the Yankees ended up going with a 4-man rotation.
• On the Tigers end it looks as though they will start Fister on Saturday, Scherzer on Sunday, Verlander on Monday, and Porcello on Tuesday. If a 5th game is necessary Fister would likely start that game.

So there you have it, fans. We don’t really have any sure answers tonight, but we will be following developments closely as decisions are made. Also, if you have any questions about the series, be sure to send them to Ricky (@arth65456) and he will address them on his podcast preview!

The umpiring crew will be:
Tony Randazzo – HP, Gerry Davis, Eric Cooper, Dan Iassogna, Ted Barrett, and Bill Welke

In other Yankees/Tigers news…

• Check out Ricky Keeler’s Game 1 podcast preview and send questions for Games 2-5 to @arth65456
• Our friends over at Motor City Bengals have ALDS series previews – check out both Part 1 and Part 2

Around the AL East…

• Terry Francona and the Red Sox look set to part ways Terry Francona and the Red Sox have parted ways following the September collapse, and a deterioration of the clubhouse atmosphere to the point that pitchers were drinking beer during games on their off days
• Theo Epstein could follow Francona out of Boston, possibly for the open Cubs’ GM position