Tigers return to prowl

NEW YORK -- This was a victory for the little guy. Sticking it to The Man. This was the corner bookstore throwing a scare into Barnes & Noble. It was the neighborhood coffee shop selling more java than Starbucks.

Considered little more than a nuisance in the Yankees' grand march to the Canyon of Heroes, the Detroit Tigers trotted out some rookie pitchers and beat New York, 4-3, yesterday, squaring their best-of-five American League Division Series at 1-1, with Game 3 scheduled for tonight in Motown.

``This was just a great playoff game," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who made all the right moves. ``The thing I'm happiest about is that I hope in my heart that everybody realizes we are a playoff team. I hope we proved that we belong in the playoffs because I'm not sure everybody believed that."

The Tigers certainly had everything going against them. Vegas made them 3-1 underdogs and Tuesday's Game 1 loss (8-4) was effectively over in the third inning. They slumped badly over the final six weeks of the season. Wednesday they got to play the disrespect card when they were the last to know Game 2 had been postponed. They left the ballpark believing they'd been duped by the Yankees and Major League Baseball (Detroit players had been getting ready to play, while the Yankees got dressed for a night on the town). Topping it off, the Tigers had to check into a new hotel.

And then they came out and played an almost perfect nine innings against the $200 million monster team -- the team believed to have the greatest lineup in the history of baseball. A quartet of Detroit hurlers, two kids and two veterans, shut down the Yankees. Starter Justin Verlander pitched in and out of trouble for 5 1/3 innings. The only runs he surrendered came on a prototypical three-run homer off the bat of Johnny Damon in the fourth. Veteran Jamie Walker followed Verlander and got three easy outs. He turned the ball over to Joel Zumaya, who throws 102 miles per hour. In the ninth, old hand Todd Jones closed it out.

``Jim Leyland was saying that this was like a freshman team going up against a varsity," said Zumaya, who fanned three MVPs (assuming Derek Jeter wins this year). ``I think today we proved we might be the junior varsity."

``We've got some tough kids and today they pitched great against some tough men," said Leyland.

One of those men, Alex Rodriguez, struck out three times, including a called third strike with the bases loaded in the first. A-Rod (1 for 8 with four strikeouts thus far) no doubt is happy the Yankees are on the road tonight.

The first pitch was scheduled to be thrown at 1:09 p.m., but ESPN's Bonnie Bernstein was still sitting in a chair in foul territory down the first base line when Curtis Granderson (.444 in the first two games) stepped into the batter's box. There was an awkward one-minute delay before Mike Mussina went to work striking out the side in the first inning.

Detroit jumped to a 1-0 lead in the second when Craig Monroe hit a two-out double and scored on a soft single to center by Marcus Thames.

Verlander put men on base in every inning except the fifth. Six Yankees reached base (three hits and three walks) in the first three innings, but none scored.

Damon struck with two on and two outs in the fourth. Verlander was already at 71 pitches when New York's $54 million center fielder launched a 1-and-0 pitch into the upper deck in right to make it 3-1. From an artistic standpoint, the blast was similar to Damon's second homer against the Yankees in Game 7 of the infamous 2004 ALCS.

The Tigers got one run back in the fifth when Thames doubled to left, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Granderson. Tigers shortstop Carlos Guillen tied the game, 3-3, with a solo blast into the seats in right with one out in the sixth.

Leyland had a good moment in the bottom of the sixth. He pulled his rookie pitcher in the middle of a count, and the maneuver worked perfectly. Verlander had just thrown pitch No. 105 -- that was always the magic number with Pedro Martínez in Boston -- when Leyland bolted from the dugout, calling for the lefthander, Walker. The count was 1 and 1 on Robinson Cano when Walker came to the mound. Walker's first two pitches missed the strike zone, but Cano grounded into a room-service, 6-4-3 double play on the 3-and-1 offering and it was 3-3 after six.

``I just didn't like the last fastball," said Leyland of Verlander. ``It was 92. And I just said, `This is it, I'm going to make my move now.' Your instincts take over. I made my move and fortunately Walker made the move look OK."

``[Leyland] is a feel guy and he obviously didn't like where that last pitch went," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. ``He's not afraid to go out there. He's not concerned about answering questions when he makes a decision like that."

Mussina coughed up the lead in the seventh. Thames led off with a single to left, moved to third on a passed ball and a sacrifice, then scored when Granderson sliced a triple to left-center on an 0-and-2 pitch.

``They took advantage of their opportunities," said Mussina, who has yet to win a championship (or 20 games) in his six seasons with the Yankees. ``They found a way to get it done. They won a lot of games this year. People think because they finished poorly and didn't play well in Game 1 that they're not a good team. That's foolish."

Protecting the slim lead, Leyland turned to 21-year-old rocket man Zumaya with one out in the seventh. The flamethrowing righthander did his job, retiring the heart of Murderer's Row, five up, five down, three on strikeouts. He fanned Jeter, Jason Giambi, and A-Rod, all swinging, and regularly cracked 100 m.p.h., topping out with several smoking serves of 102.

``They're looking for fastballs and I was going right at them," said Zumaya.

``I think we caught a great break," said Leyland. ``The shadows were tough late in the game, particularly when a guy can throw 100. I tip my hat to Zumaya, but we caught a little break with the time of the game."

``We had opportunities, we didn't cash in," said Torre. ``They did a hell of a job. They really did. Their pitchers got our guys when they needed to. Verlander did one whale of a job and then they went to their strength. I don't want to blame our hitters as much as credit their pitchers."

Tonight, playoff baseball returns to Detroit for the first time in 19 years. And the Tigers have a chance to become America's team.