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Listless offense has Yankees in 0-2 hole
Kuroda fans 11;
Girardi ejected after incorrect call at second
newyorkyankees.com
NEW YORK -- Hiroki Kuroda came back on short rest for the first time in
his career and summoned the energy to provide an 11-strikeout effort,
but it was the Yankees' hitters who once again appeared fatigued in
Game 2 of the American League Championship Series.
Anibal Sanchez limited New York to just three hits over seven scoreless
innings, taking advantage of the prolonged brownouts through the
Yankees' batting order as the Tigers posted a 3-0 victory on Sunday,
claiming a 2-0 lead in the series.
Things don't get any easier from here; not with Justin Verlander
waiting ahead in Tuesday's Game 3 at Comerica Park. Unless the Yankees
win twice in Detroit, Sunday's nine innings will comprise the last game
played at Yankee Stadium this year.
"It's definitely not an ideal situation," Alex Rodriguez said. "We'd
rather be up 2-0 and facing a Triple-A pitcher. That would be nice. But
we've done it all year. A lot of people counted us out. It seems like
we thrive on coming back."
If the Yankees are to win their 41st AL pennant, they'll need to
overcome history. Nineteen of 22 previous teams to take a 2-0 lead in
the ALCS have advanced to the World Series, and the most recent club to
overcome the deficit was the 2004 Red Sox, who did it against the
Yankees by digging out of a 0-3 hole.
"We're not in a great position, definitely not," Mark Teixeira said. "I
don't think anyone is happy about what happened the last two days, but
we do have a day off [Monday] to kind of clear our heads, refocus on
the job that we have to do -- because if we don't get it done, the
season's going to be over."
The first Yankees postseason game without Derek Jeter on the roster
since Game 5 of the 1995 AL Division Series turned ugly in the late
innings, as the home crowd booed several targets in the underachieving
lineup and customers left their seats while Tigers lefty Phil Coke was
working on the final outs.
As strange as it may sound, after fighting so hard to secure home-field
advantage through a 97-win season, the Yankees seem to be looking
forward to their arrival in Detroit, as it represents a change of
scenery from their New York struggles.
"A lot of bad stuff has kind of happened in a short amount of time,"
Nick Swisher said. "Obviously we lose our captain, we lose these first
two games at home. It might be nice to get out of here and get to
Detroit and hopefully pull out some wins over there."
That wasn't any fault of Kuroda's, as the veteran right-hander
responded to the challenge of being pressed into duty sooner than usual
and retired the first 15 batters he faced before Jhonny Peralta's
single opening the sixth inning.
"He was outstanding today," catcher Russell Martin said. "For a while
there, I felt like he was going to throw a no-hitter. He had great
stuff, great command and good composure out there. You really can't ask
for anything more than what he did."
With the Yankees flailing to muster support behind Kuroda's sharp
effort, Detroit finally pushed across the first run of the game in the
seventh, and Kuroda knew it might be trouble.
"Looking at some of the games recently, I knew it was going to be
really close; I had to minimize the damage," Kuroda said. "Today I knew
that it was going to be close, and I had to minimize all the runs that
I was going to allow."
Quintin Berry opened with a ground-rule double to center field. Miguel
Cabrera followed with a single to right field, and after a strikeout,
Delmon Young followed with a grounder to shortstop Jayson Nix that
could have been a double-play ball.
The Yankees settled for a run-scoring fielder's choice as Robinson Cano
bobbled the transfer. It was another rough moment for Cano, who went on
to extend his hitless streak to 26 at-bats, setting a new Major League
record for a single postseason.
"I've been swinging good," Cano said. "They're not falling, but that's
not the kind of thing that will make me put my head down. I've been in
that kind of a situation before."
Detroit added two runs in an eighth inning that included a
controversial call at second base that led to Joe Girardi's first
career postseason ejection and prompted the skipper's cries for
expanded replay.
For more, go to New York Yankees
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