10/05: Live Blog: 2006 ALDS Game 2
Posted by: Patrick
Top 1
Mussina fans Granderson and Polanco to start the game. The third strike on Polanco was dropped, but Posada had plenty of time to throw him out for the 2nd out. Sean Casey grounds to Jeter who fields it cleanly and throws off line to the home plate side of first. Sheffield reached and scooped it, but couldn't hang on with Casey coming down the line. They had a little collision, not that bad, and it looks like Sheff is alright. Mussina strikes out his third in Magglio.
Bottom 1
Damon bloops one in between Guillen and the Tigers LF for a leadoff single. Jeter tries to lay down a bunt, but it pops up and Pudge gets under it for the first out. A pretty rare thing for him, I'd say. And Jeter fails to reach base for the first tie in the playoffs. Abreu takes a four pitch walk. 1st and 2nd, 1 out. Sheffield fails to pull the bat back and gets K'ed. Giambi walks on the payoff to load them for A-Rod. He swings on a high pitch and misses. Fouls one back on the second pitch. And he gets called out on the third.
Top 2
Guillen flys out to Damon for the first out. Pudge grounds out to Moose for the 2nd out. Craig Monroe rips one down the line - it hits the line - and bounces into the stands for a double. Marcus Thames puts a ball over Cano's head into right center which scores Monroe. 1-0, Tigers. Inge strikes out to end it.
Bottom 2
Matsui rips the first pitch into right for a single. Posada walks to put 2 on with 0 outs. Verlander has passed the 100 MPH mark at least a couple of times so far. His last pitch to Cano was 101. Cano fouled it off. Then fouled off a 99 MPH pitch. Cano hits a relatively slow roller to Inge at third who took the force at third and threw to first - too late, Cano beats it out. Damon hits a high fly ball out to center on a 2-1 pitch, 2 outs. Jeter grounds to Guillen at short who throws to second for the force. Inning over. Verlander has thrown 44 pitches through 2.
Top 3
Granderson grounds to Sheff who makes a nice play, flipping it to Mussina for the out. Polanco grounds to A-Rod throws over to Sheff for the out. Sean Casey hits a grounder to Sheff who has to move toward second to make the play. He makes a long flip to Moose for the out.
Bottom 3
Abreu hits a looooooong single. LIne drive off the wall, played quick by Magglio, holding Bobby to 1st. Sheffield grounds to second, takes it himself and throws to first to get Gary Sheffield out at 1st to make it 2. Jason Giambi strikes out for the third out.
Top 4
Magglio pops up to Jeter for the first out. Carlos Guillen doubles to right. Pudge grounds to Jeter for the second out, advancing Guillen to third. Craig Monroe puts with 2 outs and a man on third, putting it right back to Mussina who easily throws him out to end the inning.
Bottom 4
A-Rod flies out to lead off the inning. Godzilla puts another one in right, 2-2 on the day. Posada follows that with his second walk, 2 walks for him. Cano lines out to Monroe in left for the second out. Damon UPPER DECKS IT! 3-1, Yankees. He takes quick standing O. Jeter doubles over Monroe in left. They showed a replay of Damon taking his standing ovation and he put his helmet up with his gloves in it and they fell on him when he lifted his helmet up. Abreu grounds out to first to end the inning.
Top 5
Marcus Thames hits a lead off double. Mussina throws a curve that finds dirty, squirting away from Jorgie. Thames advances to third. Mussina K's Brandon Inge on a nice outside fastball. Curtis Granderson hit a liner to middle center field which Damon caught and threw in, but Thames tagged and scored. 3-2, Yankees. No one on, 2 outs. Polanco lines the ball down the right field line, past a diving Sheffield. Abreu makes a great, quick play to hold him to one base. Sean Casey hits an infield fly to A-Rod to end the top half.
Bottom 5
Verlander has 79 pitches heading into this inning. He manages to get Sheff looking for the first out. Giambi grounds out to first for the second. A-Rod strikes out looking and he's 0-3 on the day with 2 K's.
Top 6
Magglio breaks his bat on a low pop to Cano. Guillen takes Moose deep to right field to tie it up at 3. Pudge grounds to Jeter who throws to first. It looked like an OK throw with Sheffield over extending himself, although one of the ESPN guys said it wasn't a good throw. Didn't show a replay, so I'm not sure. Craig Monroe skys one to Damon to end it.
Bottom 6
Matsui makes his first out of the day, grounding out to 2nd. Posada pokes the 9th pitch of his at bat into right for a single. With a 1-1 count on Cano and after 101 pitches, Leyland pulls Verlander. Cano grounds into a double play to end the article.
Top 7
Marcus Thames hits a shot against the wall, but Matsui plays it well, holding him to a long single. Inge attempts a but, pulls it back and the balls gets away from Posada, allowing him to go to second. Inge finally gets it down, moving Thames over to third and sacrificing himself. Granderson hits one into the gap, putting the Tigers ahead and reaching third. 4-3, Tigers. Polanco lines out to A-Rod who makes a nice attempt to double him off, but Granderson beat him back. Casey flies out to Damon in center and we're out of it.
Bottom 7
Damon hits an 0-2 pitch back to Polanco, a soft liner. Joel Zumaya is in to pitch to Jeter. His first pitch is 100 MPH. Jeter fouls the ball into Pudge's glove for the second out. Abreu grounds out to Polanco to end the inning.
Top 8
There was a commercial... I think Snickers... and it said something like "... for men that like nougat, chocolate, nuts as much as a grand slam." I'd take a grand slam right now and skip the nougat for a month.
Proctor is in. And he walks Ordonez. Guillen hits a deep fly to Damon who makes a nice catch in the sun for the first out. And he does it again for Pudge, 2 down. Craig Monroe flies out to Matsui to end it.
Bottom 8
Sheffield, Giambi, A-Rod are due up. A combined 0-8 today. Time to get it going.
Sheffield swung at the first pitch, lining out to Granderson in center. Zumaya burns them by Giambi with the last pitch reading 103 on the ESPN meter. They are going to keep showing A-Rod's numbers in his last X games until he starts hitting... but, he K's for the third time. To the 9th we go...
Top 9
Brian Bruney is in. He gets Marcus Thames on a check swing strike three. Bruney puts a 98 MPH fastball by Inge for his second K. Granderson grounds back to Bruney to end the inning.
Bottom 9
Todd Jones is on his way in. Let's go guys.
Matsui continues his big day with his third hit, a shot to center. 3-4 on the day. Melky pinch runs for him. Posada goes down 0-2 before fouling one off and then takes strike three. He took a pitch you just can't take there. Cano fouls a lot of pitches out before flying out to shallow left. It's down to 1 out with Damon up. Damon pops up to center to end it.
Tigers win, 4-3.
Mussina fans Granderson and Polanco to start the game. The third strike on Polanco was dropped, but Posada had plenty of time to throw him out for the 2nd out. Sean Casey grounds to Jeter who fields it cleanly and throws off line to the home plate side of first. Sheffield reached and scooped it, but couldn't hang on with Casey coming down the line. They had a little collision, not that bad, and it looks like Sheff is alright. Mussina strikes out his third in Magglio.
Bottom 1
Damon bloops one in between Guillen and the Tigers LF for a leadoff single. Jeter tries to lay down a bunt, but it pops up and Pudge gets under it for the first out. A pretty rare thing for him, I'd say. And Jeter fails to reach base for the first tie in the playoffs. Abreu takes a four pitch walk. 1st and 2nd, 1 out. Sheffield fails to pull the bat back and gets K'ed. Giambi walks on the payoff to load them for A-Rod. He swings on a high pitch and misses. Fouls one back on the second pitch. And he gets called out on the third.
Top 2
Guillen flys out to Damon for the first out. Pudge grounds out to Moose for the 2nd out. Craig Monroe rips one down the line - it hits the line - and bounces into the stands for a double. Marcus Thames puts a ball over Cano's head into right center which scores Monroe. 1-0, Tigers. Inge strikes out to end it.
Bottom 2
Matsui rips the first pitch into right for a single. Posada walks to put 2 on with 0 outs. Verlander has passed the 100 MPH mark at least a couple of times so far. His last pitch to Cano was 101. Cano fouled it off. Then fouled off a 99 MPH pitch. Cano hits a relatively slow roller to Inge at third who took the force at third and threw to first - too late, Cano beats it out. Damon hits a high fly ball out to center on a 2-1 pitch, 2 outs. Jeter grounds to Guillen at short who throws to second for the force. Inning over. Verlander has thrown 44 pitches through 2.
Top 3
Granderson grounds to Sheff who makes a nice play, flipping it to Mussina for the out. Polanco grounds to A-Rod throws over to Sheff for the out. Sean Casey hits a grounder to Sheff who has to move toward second to make the play. He makes a long flip to Moose for the out.
Bottom 3
Abreu hits a looooooong single. LIne drive off the wall, played quick by Magglio, holding Bobby to 1st. Sheffield grounds to second, takes it himself and throws to first to get Gary Sheffield out at 1st to make it 2. Jason Giambi strikes out for the third out.
Top 4
Magglio pops up to Jeter for the first out. Carlos Guillen doubles to right. Pudge grounds to Jeter for the second out, advancing Guillen to third. Craig Monroe puts with 2 outs and a man on third, putting it right back to Mussina who easily throws him out to end the inning.
Bottom 4
A-Rod flies out to lead off the inning. Godzilla puts another one in right, 2-2 on the day. Posada follows that with his second walk, 2 walks for him. Cano lines out to Monroe in left for the second out. Damon UPPER DECKS IT! 3-1, Yankees. He takes quick standing O. Jeter doubles over Monroe in left. They showed a replay of Damon taking his standing ovation and he put his helmet up with his gloves in it and they fell on him when he lifted his helmet up. Abreu grounds out to first to end the inning.
Top 5
Marcus Thames hits a lead off double. Mussina throws a curve that finds dirty, squirting away from Jorgie. Thames advances to third. Mussina K's Brandon Inge on a nice outside fastball. Curtis Granderson hit a liner to middle center field which Damon caught and threw in, but Thames tagged and scored. 3-2, Yankees. No one on, 2 outs. Polanco lines the ball down the right field line, past a diving Sheffield. Abreu makes a great, quick play to hold him to one base. Sean Casey hits an infield fly to A-Rod to end the top half.
Bottom 5
Verlander has 79 pitches heading into this inning. He manages to get Sheff looking for the first out. Giambi grounds out to first for the second. A-Rod strikes out looking and he's 0-3 on the day with 2 K's.
Top 6
Magglio breaks his bat on a low pop to Cano. Guillen takes Moose deep to right field to tie it up at 3. Pudge grounds to Jeter who throws to first. It looked like an OK throw with Sheffield over extending himself, although one of the ESPN guys said it wasn't a good throw. Didn't show a replay, so I'm not sure. Craig Monroe skys one to Damon to end it.
Bottom 6
Matsui makes his first out of the day, grounding out to 2nd. Posada pokes the 9th pitch of his at bat into right for a single. With a 1-1 count on Cano and after 101 pitches, Leyland pulls Verlander. Cano grounds into a double play to end the article.
Top 7
Marcus Thames hits a shot against the wall, but Matsui plays it well, holding him to a long single. Inge attempts a but, pulls it back and the balls gets away from Posada, allowing him to go to second. Inge finally gets it down, moving Thames over to third and sacrificing himself. Granderson hits one into the gap, putting the Tigers ahead and reaching third. 4-3, Tigers. Polanco lines out to A-Rod who makes a nice attempt to double him off, but Granderson beat him back. Casey flies out to Damon in center and we're out of it.
Bottom 7
Damon hits an 0-2 pitch back to Polanco, a soft liner. Joel Zumaya is in to pitch to Jeter. His first pitch is 100 MPH. Jeter fouls the ball into Pudge's glove for the second out. Abreu grounds out to Polanco to end the inning.
Top 8
There was a commercial... I think Snickers... and it said something like "... for men that like nougat, chocolate, nuts as much as a grand slam." I'd take a grand slam right now and skip the nougat for a month.
Proctor is in. And he walks Ordonez. Guillen hits a deep fly to Damon who makes a nice catch in the sun for the first out. And he does it again for Pudge, 2 down. Craig Monroe flies out to Matsui to end it.
Bottom 8
Sheffield, Giambi, A-Rod are due up. A combined 0-8 today. Time to get it going.
Sheffield swung at the first pitch, lining out to Granderson in center. Zumaya burns them by Giambi with the last pitch reading 103 on the ESPN meter. They are going to keep showing A-Rod's numbers in his last X games until he starts hitting... but, he K's for the third time. To the 9th we go...
Top 9
Brian Bruney is in. He gets Marcus Thames on a check swing strike three. Bruney puts a 98 MPH fastball by Inge for his second K. Granderson grounds back to Bruney to end the inning.
Bottom 9
Todd Jones is on his way in. Let's go guys.
Matsui continues his big day with his third hit, a shot to center. 3-4 on the day. Melky pinch runs for him. Posada goes down 0-2 before fouling one off and then takes strike three. He took a pitch you just can't take there. Cano fouls a lot of pitches out before flying out to shallow left. It's down to 1 out with Damon up. Damon pops up to center to end it.
Tigers win, 4-3.
Jason wrote: