Major League Baseball

Boesch forcing Tigers to make room

Published May. 13, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

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When the week began, the Yankees led the American League in runs scored. Then they were shut out twice in the same series for the first time since May 1999, according to STATS LLC.

Go figure.

The Yankees lost a series for only the second time this year. The Tigers, meanwhile, are playing with a resolve they lacked during a late-season collapse in 2009.

Here are some observations and opinions drawn from four games in Detroit:

• This would be a good time for one of the Yankees’ stars to emerge and carry the team for a week or so.

Believe it or not, the mighty Yankees are a little undermanned right now. Two members of the Opening Day lineup, Curtis Granderson and Nick Johnson, are on the disabled list. A third, Nick Swisher, sat Thursday because of a sore left biceps muscle. (He could return Friday, manager Joe Girardi said.)

So, Juan Miranda and Greg Golson were in the lineup Thursday against Justin Verlander. Not how they envisioned it on Day 1 in Tampa. The Yankees lost, 6-0.

It would be foolish to suggest that this team has forgotten how to hit. After all, the Yankees scored 27 runs over three weekend games at Fenway Park. But it’s also true that Derek Jeter (.269), Mark Teixeira (.198) and Alex Rodriguez (.272) are hitting well below their career norms.

A-Rod and Teixeira had only one extra-base hit apiece during the series. Jeter didn’t have any.

The Captain, in fact, is 1 for his last 20. Verlander was successful against him by pounding fastballs inside – too far inside on one instance, when Jeter was hit on the left pinkie by a 95-mph fastball. (Jeter later said he was fine.)

• Brennan Boesch will continue driving in runs for the Tigers.

For the record, the name is pronounced BOSH. Like the basketball player. The Tigers’ latest outfield sensation is tall (6-4), but not as tall as the popular NBA free agent (6-10).

Detroit fans have seen their share of Future Outfield Fixtures come and go in recent seasons: Brent Clevlen, Cameron Maybin, Clete Thomas and Matt Joyce, to name a few.

Boesch should stick around longer than the others. He’s a true left-handed power hitter, the kind the Tigers have sought for years.

Witness the numbers: a .684 slugging percentage and 16 RBIs in only 16 games.

Boesch, 25, is very aggressive early in the count. He’s taken only one unintentional walk. But manager Jim Leyland doesn’t seem to mind. And Boesch’s home run on Thursday – on a breaking ball from southpaw CC Sabathia – probably silenced some of the remaining skeptics.

“Very impressed,” Teixeira said. “Maybe once a year comes a (rookie) hitter that really stands out to me. This guy is impressive.”

Before the Yankees series began, I believed it was possible the Tigers would send Boesch back to the minors when Carlos Guillen returned from the disabled list. Now, that looks doubtful. He has hit too well. One club source said the team will seek a “creative” solution to keep Boesch around once Guillen is back.

Guillen, on the DL with a strained left hamstring, might not be back until close to Memorial Day, anyhow. The team hasn’t made any plans to send him on a rehabilitation assignment.

• The next week will tell us a lot about the state of the Yankees’ pitching staff.

The Yankees play a home series this weekend against the Central-leading Twins. And Girardi said he might not know his Sunday starter until Saturday night.

Pretty telling, isn’t it?

The next turn through the rotation will be especially important for three New York pitchers: Andy Pettitte, Javier Vazquez and Sabathia.

Why Pettitte? That’s easy. He missed his most recent start because of inflammation in his left elbow. He goes Saturday against the Twins.

Why Vazquez? With the benefit of extra rest, he pitched well against the Tigers on Wednesday. Now, he must try to do the same versus the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, where he was booed in his most recent outing.

Why Sabathia? He didn’t have his good sinker Thursday, when he allowed six earned runs in six innings. Not too alarming on its own, but he managed only three ground-ball outs in the start before that. Very un-CC-like.

• The Yankees need to find ways to get Francisco Cervelli in the lineup.

This is a tricky issue. Whenever Cervelli is catching, Jorge Posada is not. And Posada is a revered and productive member of this team.

I’m not suggesting that Cervelli should play six days a week. But he is hitting at a time when many of his teammates are not.

He’s batting .408 and has 13 RBIs despite playing in only 17 games. And he does a good job behind the plate, too.

“He’s played as well as he can play,” Girardi said this week. “Big situations, he’s gotten big hits for us.”

One possibility: The Yankees could use Posada at designated hitter and put Cervelli behind the plate a couple times a week.

It’s tough to do that on a regular basis – managers are wary of having both catchers in the game, for fear of injury to one of them – but that’s an intriguing possibility while Nick Johnson is on the DL.

• If the Tigers’ rotation improves, they will have enough pitching to make the playoffs.

One veteran scout said this week that the Tigers have “the best bullpen in baseball.” Hardly an outlandish contention, given that Detroit relievers have combined for a 2.61 ERA, second-lowest in the majors.

Joel Zumaya is routinely hitting 100 mph on the Comerica Park radar gun, as he did in his 2006 rookie season. And several relievers can cruise in the mid-to-upper 90s: Ryan Perry, left-hander Phil Coke and closer Jose Valverde.

“They got dudes throwing salt pellets in their bullpen,” Swisher said.

The Tigers’ rotation has been a weakness all season, but that might be changing. Rick Porcello and Jeremy Bonderman, both of whom have struggled, turned in quality starts against the Yankees in Wednesday’s doubleheader.

Then Verlander pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings on Thursday, reaching 98 mph in the fifth.

“I give a lot of credit to the Tigers’ pitchers,” Teixeira said. “Those guys pitched really well this series – even Bonderman yesterday deserved probably better. They really stepped up this series.”

If that continues, a postseason rematch between these teams won’t be out of the question.

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