After getting out of a dangerous situation in the bottom of the seventh, the Tigers entered the eighth clinging to a 3-2 lead. In from the bullpen came David Robertson, and David Robertson did what David Robertson usually does - he got outs, and got them easily. He worked a perfect inning through Detroit's 4-5-6, getting Miguel Cabrera to strike out, Victor Martinez to pop out, and Brandon Inge to ground out.

Down we went to the bottom half, and Joaquin Benoit returned to the mound for the Tigers despite having thrown a number of stressful pitches the inning before. Of course, at this point, every pitch is a stressful pitch, no matter the circumstance.

And Benoit was good. Jorge Posada grounded out in an 0-2 count, and then Russell Martin was left frozen by a 3-2 slider. Brett Gardner slapped a two-out single the other way to give the Yankees some life, and that brought the singles-hitting Derek Jeter to the plate with a running threat aboard, but on the first pitch - with Gardner running - Jeter hit a routine fly out to right to end the inning.

Of course, it wasn't a routine fly out in Yankee Stadium. Because this is Yankee Stadium, the modest fly carried all the way to the track. Jeter came close to putting his team in the lead. But that would've been an embarrassing home run. Now Jeter has been spared the embarrassment. Everybody wins!

To the ninth we - oh, while I was typing this, the Tigers went down 1-2-3 again, this time against a bat-ruining Mariano Rivera. To the bottom of the ninth we go! Jose Valverde time!