A.J. Burnett came up big in Tuesday’s 10-1 win and former Tiger Curtis Granderson was the player of the game, making two sensational catches – one in the first inning likely saved three runs. Granderson also had an RBI double and New York broke it open with six runs in the eighth. Alex Rodriguez, hitless in the series coming into the game, had a pair of singles.

The Yankees’ nine-run win is tied for the second-largest margin of victory in team history when they were facing elimination. New York had lost five straight postseason road games when facing elimination, starting with Game 7 of the 2001 World Series at Arizona.

The pitching matchup Thursday features each team’s No. 2 starter in the Tigers’ Doug Fister and Yankees’ Ivan Nova. Both came on as relievers Saturday after Game 1 began Friday night but was halted after 1½ innings. Nova allowed two runs over 6 1/3 innings, while Fister was rocked for six runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings as New York won 9-3. Nova was unbeaten in his final 16 regular-season starts, going 12-0. Fister had been 8-1 with a 1.79 ERA and 0.84 WHIP for Detroit since arriving from Seattle via trade.

With today’s off day, both clubs will have pretty much every pitcher available to come on in relief, including aces Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia. Verlander has never pitched in relief in his career.

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