Jose Valverde's Prediction of ALDS Victory Gave the Tigers Confidence

Normally, talking trash to the Yankees is not a good idea, and doing so in the playoffs seems like a worse idea.

After the Detroit Tigers defeated the New York Yankees 5-3 yesterday, October 2nd, the Tigers' animated closer, Jose Valverde, essentially guaranteed that his team will finish off the Yankees on Tuesday, October 4th.

Pretty dangerous to light a fire under the "Evil Empire," huh?

Although it is pretty risky of Valverde to say this, when you have the most dominant pitcher in the majors on the bump for Game 3, it can give the team (and apparently their fireball closer) a lot of confidence. 

Justin Verlander has had one of the best pitching years in recent history. He went 24-5 this year with a 2.40 ERA, along with 250 strikeouts. Verlander also added his second career no-hitter to his resume on May 7th, 2011 against the Tampa Bay Rays. He has just been unreal.

Despite not pitching as well against the Yankees this year, look for him to outmatch C.C. Sabathia. Verlander will prove why he is the overwhelming favorite for American League Cy Young and why he deserves consideration for AL MVP.

The pitching matchup for game four favors the Tigers because the Yankees will be sending A.J. Burnett to the mound against Rick Porcello. Burnett's pitching has been absolutely atrocious all year. With a record of 11-11 and an "Are you kidding me?" ERA of 5.15, Burnett has had Yankee fans pulling their hair time after time. I am extremely surprised that Yankees manager Joe Girardi has that much faith in Burnett to put him in to start such a big playoff game.

Girardi's decision to keep Burnett in the starting rotation for the playoffs will be magnified especially if Justin Verlander wins tonight.

At the end of this series, there might be an overly-emphatic Valverde celebration at .