DETROIT -- But 10 of them?
There is rarely just one reason a team wins a 2-1 game. To tell you the truth, there are rarely only two reasons -- unless you list them under wide-open subheads such as "pitching" and "defense."
But as Detroit continues to play fascinating baseball -- stretching its record to 11-2 by edging the Yankees in an excellent ballgame for both teams -- you can easily come up with 10 ways the Tigers won.
Most of them are reasons within a reason -- meaning, of course, that they found a way to score more runs than the Yankees.
But some games are meant to be examined under a microscope, so let's start.
1. First and foremost: As well as CC Sabathia pitched for the Yankees -- the Tigers' Alfredo Simon was better.
Not by much, but by enough. Simon allowed only one hit with a runner in scoring position. And that hit, a single by Didi Gregorius in the eighth, did not drive in a run.
The Tigers, meanwhile, had two hits with runners in scoring position, and both drove in a run.
The Tigers went 2-for-5 with runners in scoring position; the Yankees 1-for-5.
2. The Tigers got exactly what they needed from their bullpen: a 1-2-3 ninth from Joakim Soria for his fifth save and a double-play off Jacoby Ellsbury's bat in the eighth with Joba Chamberlain facing him.
The Yankees had runners at first and third with one out -- only to have Ellsbury hit a grounder to Ian Kinsler at second.
"He knows me, I know him," said Chamberlain. "It was just a matter of staying strong in the zone."
3. And why were the Yankees still a run down with runners at first and third instead of being tied at 2-2 with a runner at first?
Because when Gregorius singled to center with Chase Headley on second, center fielder Rajai Davis was playing the shallowest he had all night.
That forced Yankees third-base coach Joe Espada to hold Headley at third so quickly that when Davis bobbled the ball in center, Headley was already heading back to third.
"I hadn't played anybody else that shallow," said Davis. "It probably saved the game from being tied."
4. Davis' baserunning was another reason: On second in the Tigers' two-run seventh, he reacted quickly on a groundball to third and beat the throw back to second.
If he hadn't, the inning would have ended with Miguel Cabrera hitting into a third consecutive double play. Instead, Cabrera was the only out on an odd 6-4-3 play.
Davis went on to score the tying run.
5. Both teams played outstanding defense, but the play of plays was Jose Iglesias taking a hit away from Brett Gardner in the sixth. If Gardner singles and steals second, as he did in the third, we might be talking about a different outcome.
Instead we're talking about a play so magnificent, not even future Hall of Famer Omar Vizquel had ever made one quite like it.
"Yes, I've gone that far for a ball," said Vizquel, "but my throw on a play like that would have been over the top. Iglesias flipped it under. I've NEVER seen a throw like that with so much on it."
6. In the seventh inning, Victor Martinez was walked on purpose, as the potential go-ahead run, with Davis at second and two outs.
Martinez was 0-for-2 at the time, but had hit the ball so hard in both those at-bats against Sabathia that the Yankees preferred their chances of getting J.D. Martinez out instead.
The move backfired when J.D. Martinez handcuffed Gregorius at short with a hard single to left, driving in Davis and setting up a first-and-second chance to take the lead.
7. Tigers manager Brad Ausmus left Victor Martinez at second, instead of using a pinch-runner, and that worked, too.
On Yoenis Cespedes single to center, Martinez was sent home as the ball seemed to slow down on the wet outfield grass. But just to make sure the throw didn't go home, J.D. Martinez gave himself up while rounding second.
"I had to do that," said J.D. "We all know he's not the fastest guy, especially now that he's dealing with an injury.
"We couldn't give them a chance to throw home."
8. Davis' speed also was a plus on Kinsler's fly ball to left in the seventh. Had Davis not tagged on the play and advanced from first to second, he would have been an easy first out at second on Cabrera's grounder to short.
"That was a really smart play," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of Davis taking second. "He's a lot faster than we wish he was."
9. The only extra-base hit the Yankees had, other than Mark Teixeira's home run off Simon, leading off the second, was Brian McCann's one-out double, also in the second.
By striking out Headley and Stephen Drew, Simon was equal to the task.
10. And how about the bold decision by third-base coach Dave Clark to send Victor Martinez home from second for the eventual winning run on a single to center, despite Victor's troublesome knee?
"As soon as the ball was hit, he was waving me," said Martinez. "I just went with all I've got."
And there you go.
Many low-scoring games are won for multiple reasons. But for 10?
Congrats if you were there. You saw one of the best.
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