Detroit Tigers Notes And Quotes 10-7-11

--RHP Doug Fister rose to the occasion, bolstered by two runs before he even threw a pitch, and gave up just one run in five innings in Game 5 of the Division Series against the Yankees. Fister threw 92 pitches in his five innings but stranded runners in scoring position in the second, third and fourth innings before giving up a solo home run to 2B Robinson Cano with two out in the fifth. New York loaded the bases against Fister in the fourth, but he got C Russell Martin to pop to first and induced a foul to third from LF Brett Gardner on a 3-2 pitch to leave the bases loaded. "It was kind of a one-pitch-at-a-time thing," Fisgter said. Fister worked all four quadrants of the plate and mixed his pitches. His pitch count shot up in the third and fourth because he did not give in to the Yankees' hitters.

--LF Delmon Young hurt his left oblique muscle making the last out of the seventh inning and jogged off the field holding his side after taking his defensive position in the last half of the inning. Young had already done some damage to New York, hitting a first-inning home run on the pitch after 3B Don Kelly had hit a home run. "After the home run in Game 3," Young said, "I was kind of sitting on a breaking ball. He got one up and I drove it out of the ballpark." Young had three home runs in the Division Series. He was replaced in the field by LF Ryan Raburn. Severity of the injury was not known. "I'm going to try to give it a go Saturday," he said. "I felt a little tweak," he said, "and I wasn't able to finish off my throws. There was no point out there playing superhero, not while we've got Raburn and (Andy) Dirks out there to go play outfield." "The only thing I'm worried about Delmon now is that he strains it more," manager Jim Leyland said, "because he looks pretty happy in that clubhouse hugging guys and jumping up and down."

--RHP Joaquin Benoit worked his second multi-inning game of the postseason, turning in 1 2/3 innings in which he didn't allow a run, although he did give up a run that was charged to RHP Max Scherzer. Benoit threw 38 pitches and kept the Yankees from scoring more than one run even though they had the bases loaded and one out in the seventh. "It was Game 5," he said. "Everything goes. Last time we were here I pitched two innings, this time 1 2/3. I don't know what's next. Walking the guy ... that's the one thing that really ticked me off." He struck 3B Alex Rodriguez out with the bases loaded and one out, then walked 1B Mark Teixeira to force in a run before fanning RF Nick Swisher to end the inning. He gave up a single in the eighth but got SS Derek Jeter to make the final out on a flyball about two steps from the wall in right. Benoit came out of the bullpen wearing a large bandage on his left cheek to protect an area infected by an ingrown hair. The Yankees made him remove it, but that did not appear to bother Benoit. "What a gutty performance," manager Jim Leyland said. "He's been like that all year."

--3B/RF Don Kelly was an unexpected starter over 3B Wilson Betemit. Manager Jim Leyland explained that Betemit hasn't been swinging well while Kelly has been hot for a month. The move paid off when Kelly swatted a breaking ball by RHP Ivan Nova into the right-field seats with one out in the first. "You've got to get out in front early here," Kelly said. "He threw me a curveball, down and in a little bit. I was sitting on a curveball and was able to go down and get it." "Sometimes things just work out for you," Leyland said. "I felt like he's been swinging the bat real well. He's got a little pop, too. He can reach that fence, too. And it didn't take him long to do it. You've got your stars, but for this to happen to a guy like that, that's really special. (1B Miguel) Cabrera and those guys are going to have millions of memories. This is something he'll remember for the rest of his life. It's a real special moment."

--DH Victor Martinez got what turned out to be the winning hit, lining a curveball to center for single that scored CF Austin Jackson, who had doubled, from second to give Detroit a 3-0 lead. "We knew it was going to be hard (to defeat the Yankees)," Martinez said. "It was just an example of how great we played and how great they played." The fifth-inning single was Martinez's only hit of the game.

--RHP Jose Valverde pitched a 1-2-3 ninth instead of one of his heart-stopping saves, although getting CF Curtis Granderson (fly to left), 2B Robinson Cano (fly to center) and 3B Alex Rodriguez (strikeout) out in order is no trip to the tropics. "My first two games I was a little wild," Valverde said. "My sinker wasn't working for the first two hitters. But I threw a sinker to Alex (Rodriguez) and it was done." He needed only 11 pitches to record his 51st save this year and second in the Division Series.

--RHP Max Scherzer made his first relief appearance since Aug. 31, 2008, pitching a scoreless sixth to run his string of runless innings against New York to 15. That streak ended in the seventh. Scherzer faced two batters in that inning and gave up a one-out single before being relieved. An error by RHP Joaquin Benoit on a topped grounder made the run unearned. It came in on a two-out, bases-loaded walk. "What a job he did in the key turning point of the game," RHP Justin Verlander said.

--RF Magglio Ordonez added two more hits, including a double, to verify his manager's opinion he would be a help in the postseason. Ordonez doubled leading off the second, pulling a curve to left, and was stranded, He singled to right with one out in the fourth, then was pulled for a defensive replacement. Ordonez was not overmatched by mid-90s fastballs and was 5-for-11 in the series.

--RHP Justin Verlander threw more than 50 pitches in the bullpen on game day, effectively ruling him out of a relief appearance in the series-deciding fifth game but setting him perfectly to pitch the first game of the League Championship Series opener Saturday at Texas. Manager Jim Leyland had a little pre-game fun with Verlander anyway. "He came up to me in the clubhouse a little bit ago," Leyland said in his pre-game press conference, "and he said, 'I can't believe you're not pitching me.' I said, 'What do you mean?' I said, 'I might pitch you.' He said, 'What? I just threw my side (bullpen session).' I said, 'I told the pitching coach not to throw you.'" Once Leyland saw the look on Verlander's face, he laughed. "I finally got one over on Justin Verlander." Leyland has been steadfast in not doing anything that could be construed as damaging to a pitcher he feels is the best one he's ever had. "You can argue until the cows come home," Leyland said. "I'm not going to do it. I don't think it's a wise decision. Like I said, those innings he pitched, all the innings he's piled up this year, all the strikeouts, all the adrenaline and the fact that he was throwing 100 mph in the eighth inning the other night -- if he comes in this game, there's no telling what he would be throwing, with the way this crowd is going to be and everything. I just don't think it makes sense. I really don't." "This is the first step," Verlander said. "We've got two more steps to go. It was tough (watching). My stomach was definitely turning pretty good."

BY THE NUMBERS
80-0 -- Detroit's record this season when leading after seven innings.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"We're good. We're talented. We've got good personalities on our team, but that doesn't have anything to do with it, winning games. "We've been saying that all year long and we are a real good team. And we beat a real good team, and ... we'll play another real good team." -- Manager Jim Leyland after Detroit defeated the New York Yankees, 3-2, in the fifth game of their best-of-five divisional playoff series.

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