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2B Daily News – Friday, October 7, 2011 Tigers beat Yankees, head to ALCS NEW YORK (AP) — The Detroit Tigers survived a tense trip back to Bronx, with Jose Valverde and the bullpen holding on time and time again to beat the New York Yan- kees 3-2 Thursday night to win the deciding Game 5 of their AL playoff series. Don Kelly and Delmon Young hit consecutive home runs in the first inning, then Doug Fister and the Tigers spent the rest of a thrilling game trying to preserve their lead. They did — barely — and advanced to the AL champi- onship series against Texas. Joaquin Benoit followed Max Scherzer in the seventh and walked Mark Teixeira with the bases loaded, pulling the Yankees within a run. Benoit struck out Nick Swisher with a 95 mph fastball to keep the lead. After Brett Gardner singled with two outs in the eighth, Derek Jeter flied out to Kelly just in front of the right-field wall.Valverde pitched the ninth for his second save of the series, remaining perfect in 51 chances this year. After Valverde struck out Alex Rodriguez to end it, the Tigers' closer crouched and pumped both arms as his teammates ran out to celebrate. Detroit won its first all-or-nothing postseason game since beating St. Louis in Game 7 of the 1968 World Series. With the Tigers vying for their first World Series title since 1984, ace Justin Verlander will start the ALCS opener at Texas on Saturday night against the Rangers' C.J. Wilson. Before a new Yankee Stadium record crowd of 50,960, New York had its chances, but the Yankees went 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position and 0 for 4 with the bases loaded, and they stranded 10 runners. While the Yankees led the AL with 97 wins during the regular season, the early exit in the first round and second straight season without a World Series title will set off a rest- less offseason search for more starting pitching and offense. Rodriguez was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts and hit .118 in the series (2 for 18) and Teixeira batted .167 (3 for 18). Robinson Cano, whose fifth-inning solo homer started the comeback attempt, was the Yankees' primary offense with nine RBIs. Kelly and Young homered on the sixth and sev- enth pitches from Ivan Nova, the Game 1 winner who led rookies with 16 wins during the regular season. They were the first back-to-back postseason homers in Tigers' history, and it was the third homer of the series for Young, who was acquired from Minnesota on Aug. 15. Kelly was a surprise starter at third to some. Young, the first Tigers player with three homers in a sin- gle postseason series, left in the seventh because of a mild left oblique strain and will be re-evaluated Friday. After pitching scoreless ball into the ninth inning in win- ning the resumption of the opener, Nova (1-1) lasted just 31 pitches and six outs, with the Yankees saying he came out due to tightness in his right forearm. Hughes started warming up after Nova's sixth batter, Magglio Ordonez, doubled leading off the second. Ordonez advanced on Alex Avila's groundout, but Nova worked out of trouble when Jhonny Peralta hit a one-hopper to third baseman Alex Rodriguez with the infield in and Ramon Santiago struck out. When Hughes replaced Nova to start the third, Miguel Cabrera held up his hands, as if he were saying, ''What's this?'' It was just the start of the procession from the Yankees' bullpen in right-center to the mound. Hughes was pulled after his 21st pitch, a one-out single by Ordonez in the fourth. Avila, who had been 0 for 13 in the Run defense once again a problem ALAMEDA (AP) — It doesn't take a master tacti- cian to figure out how to attack the Oakland Raiders defense. With the Raiders allow- ing an NFL-worst 5.9 yards per carry one quarter of the way through the season, Oakland coach Hue Jackson knows exactly what he'd do if he got the chance to call plays against his own defense. ''I'm running the ball,'' he said. ''I'm running the ball until I can get them to make me stop running the ball.'' The Raiders (2-2) have not been able to do that very well after a strong start to the season in Denver, ranking fourth worst in the league so far in run defense at 136 yards per game. Buffalo ran for 223 yards on just 24 carries to fuel a big second-half comeback in Week 2; the New York Jets gained 100 yards the following week; and even the pass-happy New Eng- land Patriots took advantage of Oakland's big weakness by rushing for 183 yards on 30 carries in a 31-19 victory last week. Now the Raiders get to face last year's leading rush- er in the NFL when they visit Arian Foster and the Houston Texans on Sunday. Jackson is putting extra SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The former land- lord for Giants ace Tim Lincecum has filed a lawsuit against the pitch- er seeking $350,000 in damages, claiming the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner stole and destroyed items in the San Francisco apartment he rented. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in San Fran- cisco Superior Court by Mindy Freile. She alleges that after Lince- cum's lease expired, he returned to living in the unit and ''broke, stained, defaced, tore, injured or destroyed'' her property. Lincecum signed a lease in May 2010 to rent the Mission District apartment, according to court documents. The lawsuit alleges that shortly after the lease expired on Feb. 28, Lincecum occupied the unit without his land- lord's permission and stayed through May 13. Freile, who said she had been trying to evict Lincecum, later entered the unit and found the damages. The landlord wrote in the complaint that Lincecum also failed to pay rent on time and stole and destroyed household properties such as ''bedding, doors, carpet, pillows, kitchen- ware, linens, furniture, household appliances, art work, decorations, patio emphasis on tackling and being in the right position this week in practice in order to solve the run defense problem. ''I don't think any player on our team wants the ball being run at them like that,'' Jackson said. ''I'm not going to tell you it's scheme. Here's the deal, you got to get it solved, we have to get it stopped, that's what we've got to do. We must quit let- ting people run the ball at us like people have.'' Few teams have ever had a run defense as bad as the Raiders have been so far this season. The only team in NFL history to allow more yards per rush in a season is the 1934 Cincinnati Reds, who gave up 6.4 yards per carry on their way to an 0-8 mark before being suspend- ed from the league for defaulting on their payroll. The worst mark for a team that actually complet- ed a season was 5.63 yards per carry by the 1950 New York Yankees — who were out of the NFL one year later. In fact, only eight teams since the 1970 NFL merger have allowed at least 5 yards per carry for a single season, with the worst mark being set by the 2006 Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts at 5.3. The issues with stopping furniture, lights, lamps, and mirrors.'' She is seeking $200,000 in property damage and an addition- al $150,000 in time and money lost. A case man- agement conference is scheduled for March 9 in San Francisco. A text message to Lincecum seeking com- ment wasn't immediately returned Thursday night. Giants spokeswoman Staci Slaughter said the team had no comment. Lincecum, known as ''The Freak'' for his funky delivery and quirky personality, pitched San Francisco to an improbable title last fall capped off by his Game 5 performance in the World Series at Texas. The victory gave the franchise its first World Series champi- onship since moving to San Francisco in 1958 and first since the New York Giants won in 1954. Lincecum received a $23 million, two-year contract in February 2010 before spring train- ing and ahead of a sched- uled arbitration hearing. At the time, the two-time WNBA Finals Minnesota 2, Atlanta 0 Game 1: Minnesota 88, Atlanta 74 Game 2: Minnesota 101, Atlanta 95 Today: Minnesota at Atlanta, 5 p.m. Sunday: Minnesota at Atlanta, 1 p.m. Wednesday: Atlanta at Minnesota, 5 p.m. the run aren't new for the Raiders, who have allowed the most yards rushing and most rushing touchdowns in the NFL since the start of the 2003 season. ''I don't know what's gone on in the past,'' Jack- son said. ''I know what's happening right now, and we haven't got it solved and we've got to fix it. That's my job, it's the defensive coach- es' job, it's the defensive players' job.'' A big difference so far this season in the run defense is the lack of tackles behind the line of scrim- mage. Even when the Raiders were finishing 29th in the league in rush defense a year ago, they were tied for second in the league with 54 negative rushes against. This season, they have only eight tackled behind the line on run plays to rank 23rd in the league. Big plays are still a prob- lem in Oakland as the Raiders are last in the league with 20 runs against for at least 10 yards and eight that have gone for at least 20. That often is a case of one player trying to do too much or being out of posi- tion. ''Everybody is account- able for themselves,'' mid- dle linebacker Rolando McClain said. ''I'm a grown man out there. There is no reigning NL Cy Young Award winner had been set to ask for an arbitra- tion-record $13 million salary for 2010 during a hearing in St. Petersburg, Fla. Lincecum might be searching for another deal soon. The 27-year-old had a 2.74 ERA this season but had little run support, finishing with a 13-14 record. General manager Brian Sabean said last week, when San Francis- co missed the playoffs, that keeping his club's pitching staff intact for the long haul was among his top priorities this winter. MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA x-Galaxy 18 4 10 64 46 25 x-Seattle 16 6 9 57 51 33 x-Salt Lake 15 11 6 51 43 35 FC Dallas 13 11 7 46 36 34 Colorado 11 9 12 45 42 40 Portland 11 13 7 40 38 44 Chivas USA 8 12 12 36 40 39 QUAKES 611 14 32 33 40 Vancouver 5 16 10 25 32 50 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Kansas City 11 9 12 45 47 40 Philadelphia10 7 14 44 41 34 Columbus 12 12 8 44 38 41 New York 9 7 16 43 49 42 Houston 10 9 13 43 40 40 D.C. 9 10 11 38 46 46 Chicago 7 8 16 37 40 40 Toronto FC 6 13 13 31 33 56 N. England 5 14 12 27 35 51 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. x- clinched playoff berth —————————————————— Thursday's result Vancouver 3, Real Salt Lake 0 Saturday's games San Jose at New England, 4:30 p.m. Philadelphia at Seattle FC, 7 p.m. finger pointing out there. You point a finger at one guy you've got three fingers pointing back. So everybody just needs to be accountable for what they do. Don't try to do another man's job, just do your job. And defense works out for itself.'' Oakland better fix these issues quickly because the Texans offer quite a stiff test. The Raiders had their worst game in run defense a year ago against the Texans, who rushed for 249 yards and two touchdowns on 36 car- ries in a 31-24 victory in October. Foster ran for 133 yards on 17 carries despite being benched for a disciplinary problem, highlighting his day with a 74-yard TD run in the third quarter. The Raiders know they can afford few mistakes if they want to stop him this week. ''It isn't just the defensive front or it isn't just the line- backers. It's everybody col- lectively to stop the run,'' defensive tackle Richard Seymour said. '''It's 11 guys on defense because they run inside, they run outside, they have toss plays, inside trap plays. It's a lot of different things that they do. It's that old Denver running game in terms of catch the ball and one cut downhill.'' NHL Ex-landlord sues Lincecum for $350K WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division Ducks Dallas Kings WL OT Pts GF GA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Phoenix 0 0 0 0 0 0 SHARKS 00 0 0 0 0 Central Division WL OT Pts GF GA Chicago 0 0 0 0 0 0 Columbus 0 0 0 0 0 0 Detroit 0 0 0 0 0 0 Nashville 0 0 0 0 0 0 St. Louis 0 0 0 0 0 0 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA Calgary 0 0 0 0 0 0 Colorado 0 0 0 0 0 0 Edmonton 0 0 0 0 0 0 Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 0 Vancouver 0 0 0 0 0 0 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA Philadelphia 1 0 0 2 2 1 N.Y. Islanders0 0 0 0 0 0 N.Y. Rangers 0 0 0 0 0 0 New Jersey 0 0 0 0 0 0 Pittsburgh 0 0 0 0 0 0 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Toronto 1 0 0 2 2 0 Buffalo Ottawa Boston Montreal 0 1 0 0 0 2 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Carolina 0 0 0 0 0 0 Florida 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tampa Bay 0 0 0 0 0 0 Washington 0 0 0 0 0 0 Winnipeg 0 0 0 0 0 0 NOTE:Two points for a win, one point for over- time loss. ——————————————————— Thursday's results Philadelphia 2, Boston 1 Toronto 2, Montreal 0 Pittsburgh at Vancouver, late Today's games Anaheim vs. Buffalo at Helsinki, Finland, 10 a.m. N.Y. Rangers vs. Los Angeles at Stockholm, Sweden, 10 a.m. Nashville at Columbus, 4 p.m. Ottawa at Detroit, 4 p.m. Tampa Bay at Carolina, 4 p.m. Chicago at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. Saturday's games Phoenix at San Jose, 7:30 p.m. N.Y. Rangers vs. Anaheim at Stockholm, Sweden, 10 a.m. Carolina at Washington, 4 p.m. Ottawa at Toronto, 4 p.m. Philadelphia at New Jersey, 4 p.m. Tampa Bay at Boston, 4 p.m. Columbus at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Florida at N.Y. Islanders, 5 p.m. Nashville at St. Louis, 5 p.m. Dallas at Chicago, 5:30 p.m. Detroit at Colorado, 6 p.m. Pittsburgh at Calgary, 7 p.m. Buffalo at Los Angeles, 8 p.m. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 ton 3-1 SERIES RECORD — Texans lead 5-1 LAST MEETING — Texans beat Raiders 31-24, Oct. 3, 2010 LAST WEEK — Raiders lost to Patriots 31-19; Tex- ans beat Steelers 17-10 (1), PASS (22) (29), PASS (22) (4), PASS (20) RAIDERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (8), RUSH RAIDERS DEFENSE — OVERALL (29), RUSH TEXANS OFFENSE — OVERALL (10), RUSH TEXANS DEFENSE — OVERALL (10), RUSH (18), PASS (10) STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Raiders and Texans playing for sixth consecutive season. ... RB Dar- ren McFadden leads NFL in rushing (117 yards per game) and yards per rush (6.3). McFadden has nine career 100-yard rushing games. ... McFadden has seven runs of 20 yards or longer this season. ... Oakland has allowed NFL-low two sacks. ... Raiders have scored nine of their 13 TDs on running plays. ... RB Michael Bush has rushing TD in three straight games. ... WR Denarius Moore has two TD catches in past three games. . ... CB Stanford Routt has seven career inter- ceptions. ... Texans WR Andre Johnson out indefinitely after undergoing right hamstring procedure Tuesday. ... RBs Ben Tate (groin) and Derrick Ward (sprained right ankle) sat out practice Wednesday. ... Houston seeking first 4-1 start and first four-game home winning streak since 2007. ... Texans outscoring opponents 76-13 in first half. ... Houston has scored on its first possession in three of four games. ... QB Matt Schaub has thrown a touchdown pass in 12 consecutive games, matching own franchise record. ... Texans have topped 100 yards rushing in 11 games since start of 2010 season to lead NFL. ... DE Antonio Smith has sack in each of first four games. ... OLB Mario Williams has four sacks. ... LB DeMeco Ryans ranks third in solo tackles per game since 2006 (6.08). Buccaneers Tampa Bay San Francisco 49ers TAMPA BAY (3-1) At SAN FRANCISCO (3-1) Sunday, 4:05 p.m., Fox OPENING LINE — 49ers by 2 1/2 RECORD VS. SPREAD — Tampa Bay 2-2; San Francisco 3-0-1 SERIES RECORD — 49ers lead 15-5 LAST MEETING — Buccaneers beat 49ers 20-0, Nov. 21, 2010 LAST WEEK: Buccaneers beat Colts 24-17; 49ers beat Eagles 24-23 BUCCANEERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (16T), RUSH (11), PASS (17) BUCCANEERS DEFENSE — OVERALL (20), RUSH (11), PASS (21) 49ERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (28), RUSH (22), PASS (29) PASS (27) 49ERS DEFENSE — OVERALL (17), RUSH (4), STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — San Francisco is 11-2 in series at home, but were blanked by Bucs 21- 0 at Candlestick last November. It was Tampa Bay's first win in San Francisco since 1980 and only second ever in 13 tries, ending eight-game losing streak in series. ... Buccaneers flagged 14 times for 106 yards in Monday night win over Indianapolis. ... Both QBs taking their hits: 49ers Alex Smith has been sacked 14 times to 13 for Bucs Josh Freeman. Troy Smith, not Alex Smith, started last year's loss to Tampa Bay. ... San Francisco never reached red zone in 2010 meeting, managing 189 total yards and 11 first downs — two via penalty. 49ers had ball for 23 minutes, 36 seconds, to Tampa Bay's 36:24. ... Bucs 3-23 in regular season in state of Califor- nia. This is first West Coast trip and visit to California since last year's shutout. ... San Francisco's three turnovers are tied for fewest in NFL. ... San Francisco's last three games decided by nine total points, while Tampa Bay's last three — all wins — were by 14 total points. ... 49ers punter Andy Lee has 46.1-yard net punt average, best in NFL. ... Bucs have won nine of last 11 road games dating to second-to-last game of 2009 — three out West. Before this stretch, they had dropped 22 of 30 away from home. Sunday 1:05 9.m. series, singled on left-hander Boone Logan's first pitch. Boone lasted just seven pitches and two outs. That was followed by the odd sight of the 290-pound CC Sabathia jogging in from the Yankees' bullpen in midgame with his size 15 spikes and size 42 baseball pants. All 421 of his previous professional appearances had been starts, and he threw 106 pitches Monday night without a decision in Game 3. Detroit immediately tacked on a run for a 3-0 lead. For- mer Yankee Austin Jackson led off the fifth with a broken- bat double to left. After a pair of strikeouts, Cabrera was intentionally walked and Martinez, Sabathia's former Cleve- land teammate, hit an RBI single to center. Former Tigers outfielder Curtis Granderson bobbled the ball as he tried to make a quick pickup. New York had put increasing pressure on Fister, who kept escaping trouble as his pitch count ran up. He stranded a run- ner on second in the second inning when Swisher grounded out and Jorge Posada struck out, then got Cano to pop out with two on in the third. The Yankees loaded the bases with one out in the fourth on a walk and two singles, but Fister retired Russell Martin and Gardner on infield popups. After Cano's ninth RBI of the series, the Yankees loaded the bases with one out for the second time. Jeter beat a one- out single to shortstop in the seventh, bringing on Benoit. After umpires made the reliever remove a bandage from the left side of his face, Granderson lined a single to right and Cano hit a two-hopper off the end of his bat to the third-base side of the mound that got by Benoit. Rodriguez swung through a pitch that appeared to have been inside, which would have run the count full, and Teix- eira walked on a 3-1 count before Benoit fanned Swisher. Raiders Oakland Houston Texans OAKLAND (2-2) At HOUSTON (3-1) OPENING LINE — Texans by 1/2 RECORD VS. SPREAD — Oakland 2-1-1; Hous- Sunday 10 a.m. C B S F O X