By Jojo Doria

Bronx, NY

The highly anticipated matchup between two of the best pitchers in the game today -- CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander -- was unexpectedly halted Friday night when Game 1 of the ALDS between the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees was suspended because of rain.

The game was tied at 1-1 when the tarp was brought onto the field before the bottom of the second inning got underway.

Rain, forecasted to be light for the day, began falling with Mark Teixeira at the plate, the eighth batter of the game, but it intensified in the top of the second inning as Sabathia worked a perfect inning with a pair of strikeouts.

Verlander threw 25 pitches in an inning of work. Sabathia threw 27 pitches in two innings of work before it was determined after over an hour of postponement that the rain was not going to stop.

The Game 1 washout will cost both teams their aces, with Verlander, the heavy favorite to win the Cy Young Award, likely to start only once in the series.

It will likely be the same case for Sabathia, but the Yankees staff ace may have an outside shot to go twice in the current series.

The Yankees-Tigers playoff opener, which finished just 1 1-2 innings Friday, will resume where it left off Saturday with Ivan Nova, originally scheduled to pitch Game 2, named to pitch for New York.

Detroit, meanwhile, will counter with Doug Fister, the Tigers' scheduled starter for Game 2.

New York will send Fredy Garcia to the mound for Game 2 Sunday, while Max Scherzer will start for the Tigers.

Meanwhile, Tigers manager Jim Leyland said Verlander will start Game 3 Monday in Detroit. Yankees manager Joe Girardi has not yet named Sabathia as his Game 3 starter.

 

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Aces Low: Washout Costs Tigers-Yanks No. 1 Starters For Opener