After what felt like an endless-battle with the Orioles in the regular season, the Yankees appeared to have finally made it out of the woods heading into the American League Championship Series against Detroit. But that was on Friday. Saturday’s 12-inning game one not only handed the Yankees a loss in the series, but a lineup loss as well. Only moments before the Tigers scored what would become the game winning two runs, Derek Jeter reached down to pick up a grounder, planted his left and tumbled, later confirmed to be a broken ankle. In yesterday’s game two, the Tigers scored twice in the eighth after second base umpire Jeff Nelson missed a call at second base and rolled on to a 3-0 shutout of the Bombers. Game 3 in the best-of-seven series is Tuesday night in Detroit, with reigning AL MVP Justin Verlander starting for the Tigers.
In the NLCS David Freese and Carlos Beltran hit two-run homers to help St. Louis build a six-run lead and the Cardinals went on to beat San Francisco 6-4 in Game 1. Freese connected in the second inning off of Giants starter Madison Bumgarner. Beltran ended Bumgarner's night after 3 2-3 innings by capping off a four-run fourth. Bumgarner hasn't made it through five innings in either of his playoff starts. Game 2 is tonight.
In the NFL this week Jets fans were finally given a reason to be proud of Gang Green. Shonn Greene rushed for a career-high 161 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Jets to a 35-9 rout of Indianapolis. Colts rookie quarterback Andrew Luck finished 22 of 44 for 280 yards, two interceptions and a lost fumble on a day he misfired a handful of times. The Giants also had a strong showing; Big Blue’s defense intercepted Alex Smith three times in a 26-3 win over San Francisco. Eli Manning threw for 193 yards and a score, while Ahmad Bradshaw rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown. Lawrence Tynes booted four field goals for the 4-2 Giants.
The news was not as good for New England. Quarterback Russell Wilson connected with Sidney Ride on a 46-yard touchdown pass with 1:18 to go to rally Seattle over Tom Brady and the Patriots 24-23. Wilson hooked up with Braylon Edwards on a fourth down, 10-yard touchdown pass to set the stage for the game winner. The Seattle defense did its part by stopping the Patriots on fourth down to seal the win. And Rian Lindell's 25-yard field goal with under four minutes to go in overtime, gave Buffalo a 19-16 win over Arizona.