New York Yankees at Detroit American League Championship Series

New York Yankees -115 (Sabathia L) at Detroit +105 (Scherzer R) Total: Over/Under 7.0

Tigers Lead Series 3-0

First Pitch: 8:07 EST TV: TBS

The New York Yankees head into Detroit in unfamiliar territory in the postseason – facing elimination. It’s do or a die for the Yankees, who have scuffled in all phases of the game against the motivated tigers.

The Yanks normally potent offense has been absolutely horrible this postseason. They are hitting just .200 in the playoffs, and .158 in three ALCS games against the Tigers. Manager Joe Girardi has even benched starters Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher, in favor of Raul Ibanez and Eric Chavez, but the offense just can’t seem to get going.

The Tigers are playing great in all facets of the game. They won a close 2-1 Game 3 against Detroit, on 8 2-3 innings of 4 hit ball by Justin Verlander. Offensively, they’ve been about average, but that has been enough against the Yankees anemic offense. One player who has been magical at the plate is Miguel Cabrera, a 2012 Triple Crown winner; Cabrera is batting .361 with six home runs in a 16-game game ALCS hitting streak.

The Yankees will bring C.C Sabathia to the mound to try and stave off elimination. The Tigers counter with Max Scherzer, a sometimes wild but effective starter.

Sabathia vs. Tigers

If there is one pitcher the Yankees can count on for a brilliant outing, it’s C.C. Sabathia. The lefty is 7-1, in 12 starts for the Yankees since coming over from the Brewers in 2009. Though, against the Tigers in last year’s division series, he wasn’t very effective, giving up six runs and eight walks in 8 2-3 innings.

The Tigers as a whole don’t seem to hit C.C. very well, which is expected, due to his dominance over the last few years. Of course, there are two exceptions, Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder. Cabrera is 10 for 26 off the lefty, with two doubles and two home runs for a 1.147 OPS. Fielder is 4 for 11, with a home run and a .364 average. Still, even with these two big guns having great numbers, the rest of the Tigers seem to hit .240 or below and most have sample sizes over 20 at bats.

Scherzer vs. Yankees

Max Scherzer has been hit or miss all year long, but has been consistently good against the Yankees in the past several years. He’s 4-0 against the Yankees, in four starts, including two games in the 2011 DS.

He has very good numbers against the Yankees, the only notable player to hit him well is Curtis Granderson, who has been nearly nonexistent during this the postseason so far. The struggling Robinson Cano is 2 for 11 with a home run and three strikeouts.

Our Play

Though Sabathia is taking the mound tonight, and he’s been nearly unstoppable in the playoffs, we’re going with Detroit and Scherzer. The Yankees clearly aren’t the team that led the AL East for most of the season, and C.C will have to be perfect tonight for them to have a chance. We don’t see that happening.

We are looking to back Detroit +105 at TopBet. Check the link below.