Rogers Shuts Down Yankees

New York Yankees players sat and stared at one another Friday night in a clubhouse where the looseness and determination of the season were flushed out and replaced by tension and despair.

What they saw, after their 6-0 loss to Kenny Rogers and the Tigers in Game 3 of their American League Division Series at Comerica Park, was the face of elimination.

Rogers ended more than a decade of failure in the postseason, or any game with even a sniff of New York in it, shutting out the Yankees for 7 2/3 innings, continually barking for the ball as if he owned his opponent.

“For this one night, I think he got it all together,” Tigers Manager Jim Leyland said. “And he was probably as determined as you’ll ever see anyone pitch a ballgame.”

The Yankees, heavy favorites to win the series, are down two games to one, and must win Game 4 today, with No. 4 starter Jaret Wright pitching against Jeremy Bonderman, to force a winner-take-all fifth game at Yankee Stadium on Sunday night.

“We’re going to find out” what kind of team this is, Derek Jeter said. “People always ask about the team, now we’re going to find out.”

“We’ve worked too hard to go home tomorrow,” said Alex Rodriguez, now one for 11 in the series. “We’ve handled adversity well, but this is obviously the most adverse situation we’ve been in all year. We’ve got to win one game for our season.”

Randy Johnson, a 43-year-old pitching with a herniated disk, did what he could, but the Yankees did not make the needed plays behind him and didn’t get him any runs.

The Tigers sprayed the ball around, scoring three runs in the second and two in the sixth, and Curtis Granderson homered against Brian Bruney in the seventh to add an exclamation point.

“I fought hard for five innings. I did what I could,” Johnson said. “I can’t worry about what our hitters are doing or what the other pitcher is doing, I’ve got to do my job. Kenny Rogers pitched a hell of a game tonight.”

The Tigers barely needed to use their best weapon, their front-line relievers, saving them for what could be the series clincher today. Joel Zumaya pitched only one-third of an inning, and closer Todd Jones worked an easy ninth.

Rogers came into the game with an 0-3 record and 8.85 earned-run average in the postseason, most of that futility with the Yankees in 1996 and Mets in ’99. He hadn’t beaten the Yankees since 1993, his career ERA 6.45 against them.

But he gave up only five hits, walked two and struck out eight.

“It’s easy to say, ‘We’re tight. We’re pressing,’ ” Jeter said. “But they’ve pitched well. You can’t go by the past.”

Rogers, 41, has been an effective, winning pitcher in all other scenarios over the last 17 years, 207-139 in his career, and in this game he pitched like that Kenny Rogers, getting ahead of hitters and putting them away with nasty breaking pitches, his emotion spilling over with every big out.

The Yankees never got more than one baserunner in any inning, and were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.