Nuts! Yankees season is over with a game 5 loss to the Tigers.

Well it ended almost the same way as last year except A-Rod struck out swinging in game 5 of the ALDS instead of looking in game 6 of the ALCS. The Yankees had 10 hits and 3 walks and loaded the bases with one out twice but still only scored two runs and one came on a bases loaded walk to Teixeira. So many missed opportunities and of course Jeters deep ball that was so close to being out its not even fair. Ivan Nova went down with pain in his arm so hopefully he is okay and now we will have the CC talks that despite all the writing about how he is done with the Yankees there is a 99.9% chance that he resigns with the Yankees.  The Yankees should have won this game and frankly should have won this series several days ago, but they didn't and now the Tigers will advance to the ALCS and take on the Rangers. I really wonder how different the series would have been if game one goes off without a hitch because that game did end up giving the advantage to the Tigers, but the Yankees still should have won. That's the playoffs for you, you can never predict what will happen. Everybody is going to try and make a Goat out of A-ROD, Girardi, Tex or somebody but the end result is that we lost and there is nothing that we can do but wait until next season. This was a hell of a season with Jeters 3,000 hit and Mo's 600th save and its especially impressive because of how the season started.

ALDS Matchup: Yankees vs. Tigers

So this may ring a bell for some of you as this was the match up back in 2006 and the Yankees lost 3-1 and ending the series very meekly with a score of 8-3 in game four. The Yankees scored 8 runs in game one but scored only 6 over the next three games including a shutout in game 3.The tigers would go on to win the AL pennant but they lost to the Cardinals. Now the Yankees match up with the Tigers again and will try to have better results than five years ago. I'm gonna check out the pitching, offense and defense match ups between the two two teams and we will determine who has the advantage.

Game 1: Sabathia vs Verlander
Verlander is the runaway Cy Young winner and people have picked him over Bautisa for MVP for a reason that I will never truly understand. He has had a great season, but the two times we have faced the Verlander led Tigers we won and he has an ERA against the Yankees of 4.50. Sabathia's ERA isn't that much better at 4.15. I would call this pitching match up even but you cant predict the playoffs.
Advantage: Even
Game 2: Fister vs. Nova
Can you believe some people actually decried the Fister trade at the time and said that Fister would be a bust for the Tigers. I knew how great a pickup Fister was and so did every other MLB team. Fister has been even better than he was with the Mariners and now that he has some offense behind him he has gotten some wins too. Nova has had a great rookie season especially his second half where he has put up a 3.18 ERA in 11 starts and 73.2 IP. Fister has put up even better numbers with a  2.47 ERA in the second half, which is actually better than Justin Verlander. Even more impressive is that with Tigers hae has had an ERA of 1.79. That being said we did beat him back in July when CC took a perfect game into the 7th when we scored three runs off him but one game isn't a great sample. Nova has had a great second half but Fister has been the number two that the Tigers needed. I expect us to win at least one of these first two games but for this match up i'm gonna have to go with Fister.
Advantage: Fister
Game 3: Scherzer vs Garcia
Scherzer was a part of the three way trade between the Tigers, Diamondbacks and Yankees and he spent most of the year as the number two starter for the Tigers. He has pitched nearly 200 inning the last two years but his ERA has jumped almost a full run since 2010. I don't really know what to expect from Garcia, he could go 7 stong or give up 5 in 4IP. Detroit has some good hitters and he has done the job against better offenses than Detroit's.
Advantage: Garcia
*Game 4: Porcello vs. Sabathia
This is a no contest. Porcello has been nearly replacement level and has actually been worse at home. Anything can happen but it would be an upset if Porcello out dueled Sabathia. Also Leyland said he would under no circumstances start Verlander on 3 days rest so we will have to see if  that holds up.
Advantage: Sabathia
*Game 5: Verlander vs. Nova
Nova has had a better year than expected but facing off against Verlander he would have to get some good run support or have a career game.
Advantage: Verlander
Bullpen:
The Yankees bullpen this year has ranked 4th in Baseball with an ERA of 3.12 while Detroit's ranks 25th with an ERA of 3.93. The Yankees bullpen has also pitched more innings than the Tigers bullpen, but people seem to think that the Tigers bullpen is elite because of Valverde's perfect save record. That being said their top three of Valverde, Alburquerque and Benoit have been very good this year. Simply put though the Yankees bullpen despite the numerous injuries has been better than the Tigers and honetly without Soriano and a with a healthy Joba you've got the best bullpen in baseball. After those three relievers the Tigers have one guy in the bullpen with an ERA under 4 and that's Daniel Schlereth. The Yankees only have 1 reliever on the postseason roster and a ERA above 3.5 that's Rafael Soriano.
Advanatge: Yankees

Offense:
Its hard to rate offenses going into the playoffs because you get guys like Cody Ross who hit .350 in the NLCS. The Yankees rank 2nd in runs scored and Detroit ranks 4th. The Yankees have hit more Home Runs than anybody else this season, but the offenses are so similar that  I can't really give anybody an advantage.
Advantage: Even
Defense:
The Yankees ranked 14th in Errors while the Tigers Ranked 15th, they had exactly one more error than the Yankees did. Again the two teams are surprisingly even and so there is no real advanatge.
Advantage: Even
I'm not going to make a prediction because that would just be a guess but this game tonight could really set the tone for the series. Go Yankees!