2011 MLB Playoff Schedule: Justin Verlander Will Pitch Tigers Past Yankees

A Game 2 win at Yankee Stadium in hand, the Tigers will return to Detroit with the ALDS tied at 1-1 and ace-of-aces Justin Verlander ready to deliver a victory in Game 3 and the commanding 2-1 series lead that comes with it.

Verlander volunteered to take the ball in Game 2, his arm still in good shape after a rainout in Game 1 left him with just 25 pitches in one inning of work (albeit a shaky one) under his belt. Tigers manager Jim Leyland refused Verlander's offer, choosing instead to throw Max Scherzer against Freddy Garcia and save his best pitcher to go toe-to-toe and pitch-for-pitch with CC Sabathia in Game 3.

So far, so good for Leyland. All Scherzer did was hold the Bronx Bombers without a hit until the sixth inning to help even the series at a game apiece with a 5-3 victory.

Now, Verlander and Sabathia will face off in another Game 1 of sorts, this time a best-of-three with Detroit holding on to home-field advantage. He'll have a raucous home crowd behind him as he looks to demonstrate the form that won him the Triple Crown of pitching, and presumably the Cy Young, in the American League.

He and his Tigers teammates will also have memories of 2006 to lean on. That year, Detroit faced New York in the ALDS and dropped Game 1 in a disappointing 8-4 decision. The Tigers quickly rebounded with a win in Game 2, in which Verlander started but didn't earn the decision, and went on to close out the series at Comerica Park on the way to claiming the AL pennant.

Of course, both teams are dramatically different this time around. Curtis Granderson, now a Yankee, was then a Tiger. Kenny Rogers was the big man in the Motor City, with seven 2/3 scoreless innings in Game 3 of that series in a 6-0 win.

Detroit can only hope that Verlander will be that brilliant on Monday, though, with the way he's pitched this season, nobody should be all that surprised if he meets, or even beats, Rogers' roasting from that magical run to the World Series.

What better way for the Tigers to trot back to the Fall Classic than with the best pitcher in baseball on the bump in Motown on Monday? Sabathia may not be the ideal pitcher for a team seeking a victory, though the Tigers hitters are eminently familiar with the hefty lefty from his days in Cleveland.

The names and the roles may have changed, but the results will be the same—a big win for Detroit to go up 2-1, with Verlander playing the part of the pitcher with the golden arm and the unhittable ball.

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