Yankees Edge Tigers in Roller Coaster Game

After Girardi moved Granderson to the sixth spot in the order, Granderson collected three hits and was a triple short of the cycle with four RBI. Each regular in the Yankee lineup got hits tonight and the offense scored ten runs to barely edge out the Detroit Tigers. The Yankees went 8-15 with runners in scoring position and without those hits the Yankees lose another one and New York City and WFAN callers are in panic mode. I can't blame people for being nervous however, because I was sweating bullets from the seventh inning onward. The Tigers are a hot team and it seems as if the Yankees are catching all of these teams at a bad time. The Oakland A's, and the Orioles to name a few. To be honest, it's a blessing that the Yankees have gone 7-13 in this stretch. If the Yankees keep hitting and get runners in from scoring position it will compensate for poor pitching and defense to a certain extent.

Speaking of defense, the Yankees made two errors in tonight's game which led to four unearned runs by the Tigers, enabling them to get close in a game they really had no business winning. CC Sabathia pitched better than his line shows, but what concerns me is Girardi going to Robertson with two outs in the seventh inning when CC Sabathia has 94 pitches thrown and is still in control of the game. Just when you think Girardi turns a corner with the lineup changes, he makes another questionable move. With the Yankees in their funk, Girardi is over-managing to try anything for the Yankees to win a game. Sometimes, those things back-fire. Tonight, it almost did but thankfully, the Yankees were able to compensate with their bad defense with insurance runs in the eighth against Phil Coke and in the ninth against Villarreal. If the Yankees earn a split in this set, it will not be the worst thing in the world considering their play of late.

In the final game starting at 1:05 tomorrow afternoon, Doug Fister will try to give his team the series win over Hiroki Kuroda and the Yankees. Kuroda has the best ERA on the Yankees starting staff and he will put that ERA up against a hot Detroit offense.