The Tigers already had their chance at the easy part. They blew it. Now they have to come back in the hard part.
Detroit got to face the Yankees' worst starter in a potential elimination game, but they let him escape having allowed only one run. Some of that was due to fantastic defense in center field by Curtis Granderson, but some was due to poor hitting.
Once A.J. Burnett was gone, he was replaced by Rafael Soriano, who's had an inconsistent season. Soriano closed the sixth and then, in the seventh, he worked a 1-2-3 inning against the 8-9-1 members of the Tigers lineup.
So what does that mean? It's still 4-1 Yankees going into the eighth. And now, instead of Burnett and Soriano, Joe Girardi gets to turn to David Robertson and Mariano Rivera. For Detroit, this was a winnable game, once. It might not be a winnable game anymore.