DETROIT — The Detroit Tigers advanced to the World Series for the second time in seven years by beating the New York Yankees 8-1 Thursday for a four-game sweep of the AL Championship series. Miguel Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta hit two-run homers in a four-run fourth inning against CC Sabathia, who was unable to prevent the Yankees from getting swept in a postseason series for the first time in 32 years. “Yeah, we did it,” Cabrera said. “It's an unbelievable feeling. ... Four more wins, guys. Four more wins.” Meanwhile, the St Louis Cardinals moved within one win of returning to the World Series with an 8-3 romp over the San Francisco Giants that gave them a 3-1 lead in the NLCS at St Louis Thursday. Max Scherzer took a no-hit bid into the sixth against a New York starting lineup that was again without Alex Rodriguez, who flied out with two on in the sixth as a pinch hitter. Austin Jackson added a solo shot in the seventh for Detroit, and Peralta hit another homer an inning later. The game ended with first baseman Prince Fielder, Detroit's prized offseason acquisition, gleefully calling off his teammates on Jayson Nix's popup and making the catch for the final out. The Tigers spilled onto the field for a celebration that began near second base and eventually moved closer to the third-base line. Detroit won its 11th American League pennant and first since 2006. The Tigers have five days off before the World Series starts Wednesday. After scoring in just three of 39 innings during the series, New York heads home to face unpleasant questions about its future following a postseason of awful hitting, benched stars and veterans showing the wear and tear of age. Rodriguez, the $275 million third baseman, was out of the starting lineup for the third time in the playoffs. Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera could only watch following season-ending injuries. The Yankees hit .188 in the postseason and .157 in the LCS. New York went quietly in the ninth inning, with the Comerica Park crowd chanting “Sweep!” while the last three batters made out in order. Detroit outhit New York 16-2 in the finale and 46-22 in the series. Without a World Series title since 1984, Detroit lost to Texas in last year's ALCS but signed Fielder in the offseason. The excitement of that bold move subsided a bit when the Tigers struggled to a 26-32 start in the AL Central, but they overtook the Chicago White Sox in the final 10 days of the regular season and won the division with an 88-74 record, matching the Cardinals for the fewest wins among the 10 playoff teams. And in the postseason, their starting rotation has been impeccable. Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez and Doug Fister allowed only two earned runs against the Yankees. New York was shut out once and totaled six runs in the series. The Yankees lost Jeter to a broken ankle in the opening game, and the slumping Rodriguez was benched for Game 3. He was out of the starting lineup for Game 4 too, but A-Rod did have one last chance to turn his postseason around when Scherzer was lifted for left-hander Drew Smyly with two outs in the sixth and the Tigers up 6-1. As Smyly finished warming up, Rodriguez popped out of the dugout to pinch hit for Raul Ibanez, but with men on first and third, he hit a routine fly to center field. He grounded out in the ninth, completing a postseason with no RBIs. The Yankees failed to win a game in a postseason series for only the fifth time. They hadn't been swept since a best-of-five ALCS against Kansas City in 1980. The last team to sweep four straight against them had been Cincinnati in the 1976 World Series. In St Louis, starter Adam Wainwright, bouncing back from a sub-par outing, stymied the Giants with a sharp-breaking curve ball, and the Cardinals gave him plenty of support with two runs in the first and two more in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Matt Carpenter, whose two-run home run as a mid-game substitute propelled World Series champion St Louis to victory Wednesday, reached base three times and scored twice, while Matt Holliday, Yadier Molina and Jon Jay each drove in two runs. Holliday said the Cardinals would not suffer from overconfidence in the best-of-seven series, considering that the Giants advanced in the division round despite losing the first two games of the best-of-five series at home. — Agencies
