The Yanks looked like clear favorites after beating up on the Tigers 10-1 in game 4 at Comerica Park in Detroit. Surely they would do just as well at home with their left-handed heavy lineup and a short right field deck.

Unfortunately for New York, the bats failed them at critical times when they could have blown the game wide open. The Yankees had the bases loaded with one out in the 4th and 7th innings and they could only manage to walk in one run in those two situations.

Aside from Robinson Cano, the Yankees hitters struggled up at the plate and could only hit dribblers and seeing-eye singles. Alex Rodriguez struggled particularly badly with an 0-4 game and two critical strikeouts; one with the bases loaded and 1 out and the other to end the series for New York.

Credit has to go to both pitching staffs for making critical pitches and shutting down both teams offenses. Detroit scored 2 runs on back-to-back homers in the first inning, but they only managed to squeeze one more run off of CC Sabathia who was making his first ever relief appearance.

After that critical run that CC gave up, the Detroit hitters didn’t have a chance against the best three man setup in the game. If the Yankees had pulled ahead, Soriano, Robertson and Rivera would have closed the door.

However, the Detroit bullpen was finally up to the challenge. Benoit through critical strikeouts to get the Tigers out of the 7th inning with only the one run allowed. Valverde had a perfect ninth and took out the heart of the Yankees line up for the save.

In the end, the Tigers found the magic formula for beating the Yankees in the playoffs: Don’t face Mariano Rivera! He through a postseason low of 8 pitches during the 5 game series. The three Tigers hitters didn’t have a chance as he took them out in 5 pitches in the top of the ninth.

So now we know that the Yankees season is over, while the Tigers go on to play the Texas Rangers in the ALCS.

This 5 game series makes a first round upset much more likely to happen. This is what the favorites in the AL and NL are hoping to avoid. Both the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees were favorites to win their respective leagues, but both teams have been pushed to the limit. Will we see a major upset?

Game 5 Picks

Philadelphia vs St Louis

It would be a monumental collapse if the Phillies lost to the St Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals were an unlikely candidate to even make the playoffs. They sat 8 1/2 games back of the Atlanta Braves at the beginning of September. They made it into the playoffs on the last day by beating the Houston Astros while the Braves lost their last game to the Phillies.

This would make for an all-time irony if the Cardinals can repay the Phillies by beating them in game 5. Philadelphia looked like a shoe-in for the second round when they beat up the Cardinals for the first 11 innings of the postseason. Since then, they have had to scratch and claw for every run as the Cardinals pitchers have shut down the Phils vaunted offense.

However, the fantasy ending is not going to happen this time around. Roy Halladay is the started and the Phillies are at home for game 5. Roy shut the Cardinals offense down for 7 of the 8 innings of work in game 1 after he gave up 3 runs in a shaky first inning. The Cardinals are countering with their best pitcher, Chris Carpenter. However, Carpenter is going on short rest again and looked very average in the first two innings of game 2.

My predictions is that the Phillies are going to get out of the gates early on Carpenter and ride Halladay for an easy 5-1 win.

New York vs Detroit

The Tigers roared through September with the best record in baseball. They easily won the Central Division title, but couldn’t beat out the Rangers or Yankees for home field advantage. Because of that, the Yankees get to play game 5 at home.

The Tigers had a good shot at eliminating the Yankees after beating them in games 2 and 3. They were facing a mediocre in AJ Burnett. But, the Tigers could not capitalize with their bats and New York took all of the momentum back home with a 10-1 thumping.

New York has to hope that the game 5 starter for Detroit, Doug Fister, was as average as he appeared in game 1. If that is the case, the Yanks could run away with this game early. Except for Jose Valverde, the Tigers have no relief pitchers to help out if they get into trouble.

The Yankees are pinning their hopes to the Ivan Nova who effectively shut down the tigers for 4 hits over 6 1/3 innings in game 1. If they can get past Fister before the 7th inning, they should be celebrating in New York tonight.

I predict that the final score of this game 5 will be 10-4 Yankees.

Milwaukee vs Arizona

This series turned out to be more exciting then I thought. Both of these teams are very closely matched, finishing just 1 game difference in the standings. The home team has won all 4 games in this series so far.

Fortunately for Milwaukee, they were the ones that finished one game ahead in the standings, so they get the home field in game 5. Fans in both cities may want to call off work this Friday, as the game starts at 5:07 ET and 2:07 PT.

This is going to the toughest game 5 to call. Runs are going to be at a premium as both aces Gallardo and Kennedy will take the mound in this critical matchup. Will Milwaukee continue the home team trend or can the Diamondbacks complete the 0-2 comeback?

My prediction for this game is that the Milwaukee Brewers will win a tight game 3-2.

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