Maybe this is exactly what the Tigers need to snap out of a six-game losing streak that already has cost them the AL Central title and a put them in an 0-1 deficit in this ALDS against the Yankees.
Team Motown believes the Yankees were kept better informed about last night’s rain delay and subsequent cancellation of Game 2 than the Tigers.
“They definitely got some information we didn’t have,” said pitcher Justin Verlander, last night’s scheduled starter who will take the mound this afternoon. “Half of our team was out there. No one for them.”
Verlander was referring to a break in between two storm fronts that drenched the Bronx. He said he heard on television that the game would start at 10 p.m. Verlander headed to left field where he played some catch and stretched.
Verlander said some of his teammates also took the field but there was no sign of the veteran Yankees. Jimmy Lee Solomon, the executive vice president of operations for MLB said the two teams were kept informed as simultaneously as possible.
“Cell phones don’t work in the bottom of this building,” Solomon said. “So we send people to both clubs and let them know what our plan is at that time. So I don’t know who got there first or whether they got there simultaneous, but about the same time, yes.”
The Tigers are thinking it’s another Yankees conspiracy.
“I don’t know what happened,” Verlander said.
This much is known. Verlander, a 23-year-old who was all pumped up to make his first postseason start, had to find a way to get some sleep and gather himself for today’s 1 p.m. start. Yankees starter Mike Mussina, 37, who will make his 21st playoff start, figured to have an easier time handling the change.
“I don’t know,” said Verlander when asked how the cancellation would affect him. “I’ll let you know [today]. It might be hard to get some sleep.”
Especially since the Tigers were left scrambling for hotel rooms. Welcome to the Big Apple, Detroit.