Verlander, Detroit hold on for 3-0 edge

Associated Press

DETROIT

Justin Verlander took a shutout into the ninth inning and the Detroit Tigers held on to beat the New York Yankees 2-1 Tuesday night for a 3-0 lead in the AL championship series.

Phil Coke gave up consecutive singles with two outs in the ninth before striking out postseason star Raul Ibanez for his second save in two games.

Verlander allowed only a pair of singles by Ichiro Suzuki and a leadoff homer by Eduardo Nunez in the ninth. Delmon Young hit a solo home run for the Tigers, and Miguel Cabrera had an RBI double.

Yankees starter Phil Hughes was lifted in the fourth because of a stiff back, and manager Joe Girardi’s lineup shuffle — Alex Rodriguez was benched again — failed to snap New York out of its hitting funk.

The Tigers were on a historic pitching run even before their ace took the mound. With the exception of a four-run ninth inning against Detroit closer Jose Valverde in Game 1, New York had been shut out for the entire series.

Verlander fell just short of a second straight shutout after stopping the Oakland Athletics in the decisive fifth game of the division series. He struck out only three but kept New York off the scoreboard until the homer to left field by Nunez, the first run allowed by the powerful right-hander since he gave up a leadoff homer to Coco Crisp in Game 1 of the ALDS.

Verlander got Brett Gardner on a tapper before he was lifted after 132 pitches, one shy of his career high set in Game 5 of last year’s ALCS against Texas. Coke came in and allowed two-out hits to Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano, with the latter snapping a drought of 29 at-bats without a hit.

But Ibanez struck out swinging at a breaking ball to end it.