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Motor City Kitties Sitting Pretty

Of course, in a short series, the landscape can change in a day. But this morning, Detroit is thinking like a true tiger: Go for the jugular. Game 1 was almost a disaster of epic proportions for Detroit. In fact, even in the end it was a disaster of epic proportions, just not for Detroit. Had the Yankees just gone gently in that good night and lost it in 9 innings, their bullpen would be less depleted right now, and Derek Jeter might be leading off. In a way, Jeter has only himself to blame in that had he singled off of Octavio Dotel in the 10th, instead of flying to RF, the Yankees would have won and there would have been no 12th inning for him to break his ankle. But I digress...The jugular...

By Nico
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports - Presswire

If the Tigers can win today -- and they have a paw up facing Hiroki Kuroda pitching on 3-days rest for the first time in his career -- they can head back to Detroit needing to win just 2 of 5, with 3 of those at home and with 2 of those started by Justin Verlander. Holy cow, you have to like those odds.

Even if they lose today, the Tigers have to feel pretty good about their chances to take 2 of 3 at home and then go back to New York for a "two to make one" of "win game 6, or turn to Verlander to put the team on his shoulders one more time".

But right now the Yankees are reeling, having lost game 1 because their RFer started to dive for a ball that was closer to him than he thought, because their captain and leader is suddenly out for the season, because their $23M "star" has been pinch hit for 3 games in a row...Today is "Jugular Day". The Tigers smell blood and if you've ever been in the jungle you know that's never good for the prey.

See you 1pm for the game threads: DET (Anibal Sanchez) @ NYY (Hiroki Kuroda) at 1:07pm and STL (Lance Lynn) @ SF (Madison Bumgarner) at 5:07pm.

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