AL Division Championship Recaps

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Yankees over Tigers, 3-1: The Yankee pitching staff held Detroit to a .194 batting average and 8 runs, as New York cruised into the LCS for the 4th year in the last 5.

Game 1 was the only close game and the best chance Detroit had to get into the series. With ace Carson Graves on the hill, the Tigers led 1-0 in the 4th. But the Yanks got (all with 2 out) a single, 3 walks and a single to score 3. Detroit got one back in the 5th on a Bing Miles solo homer, but Rivera and Jacobsen went a perfect 12-up, 12-down the rest of the way.

After a New York blowout win in Game 2, the Tigers held off elimination behind a Diaz/Simmons/Yang 5-hit shutout. But the Yanks started fast in Game 4 (6-run 2nd, highlighted by a Jefferson slam) and held the Tiger bats to 6 hits and 2 runs for a 9-2 series clincher.

Rays over Rangers, 3-1: It was the Santos Lorenzo show, as the 21 year-old Cuban fired 2 complete-game shutouts.

Following the first Lorenzo gem in Game 1, Game 2 turned into the crucial contest in the series. Trailing 4-1 in the 7th, the Rangers chased Rays starter Blaine Lowry on a Brett Ross 2-run single, and closed the gap to 2 again on a Fonville solo in the 8th. Rays closer Houston Webb finally settled matters with a 1-2-3 ninth, and Tampa Bay took a commanding 2-game lead.

Texas came back with a 5-4 win in Game 3, as Sherry Pierre and 2 relievers worked around 15 hits. But Lorenzo and the Rays were dominant in Game 4, 7-0, and Tampa Bay earned its first trip to the LCS since Season 2.