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ALDS Preview: Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees
by Tony Aubry, BaseballEvolution.com
October 3, 2006

Tony Aubry

Yankees: 97-65, 930 RS/767 RA

Tigers: 95-67, 822 RS/675 RA

 

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A few months ago, I wrote an article about the Tigers collapsing, and they pretty much did. I predicted that they would win 93 games, and they won 95. I also said that they were going to lose in the first round in four games. Christmas isn’t for another three months, so I’m not going to be so generous and give them a game.

 

The Yankees should really maul the Tigers. They won 5 of 7 during the season series, and the two they lost were blown saves when Mariano couldn’t pitch. Robertson is 1-5 with an ERA of 4.50 against the Yankees in his career, Verlander gave up 6 ER in his only start against the Yankees, and we all know how Kenny Rogers does in the postseason. The Yankees have Wang and Mussina, who have been nothing less than solid, going in games 1 and 2 and Johnson in game 3. Johnson has been disappointing this season, but as I alluded to in my July article, don’t be surprised if Johnson pitches well against them since the Tigers strike out a ton and never walk; they were in the top 5 in striking out and the bottom five in BB.

 

I may sound cocky, but I’m not going to expect close games, either. When you have Alex Rodriguez hitting sixth and one of the best offensive catchers in history batting eighth, you have one hell of a lineup. Their starting lineup posted a .402 OBP this season. That is video game like. It’s just unreal. I really don’t see how those three pitchers are going to be able to hold the Yankees to under five runs a game. While the Yankees lineup is staggering, the Tigers’ isn’t so great at all. Ordonez is a good hitter, and Pudge sports a nice .300 average, but walks less often than Christopher Reeve has after his horseback riding incident.

 

Saying the Yankees are going to win in three could be a bit harsh, but the Tigers just lost three in a row to the Royals and blew a 6-0 lead in the last game of the season. They played under .500 in August and in September. If anyone can make a case for this team, I’d pay to hear it.




Disagree with something? Got something to add? Wanna bring up something totally new? Tony Aubry lives in Queens, New York, and can be reached at tony@baseballevolution.com.


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