"The Yankees managed to make Andy Pettitte's retirement surprisingly painless this season, with pitching that outperformed expectations. But this is the time of year when Pettitte always loomed as such a security blanket, rarely never the Game 1 starter but forever there to restore order in a series if necessary.

It doesn't mean Ivan Nova and Freddy Garcia won't pitch well in this postseason. It just means that on the eve of this series with the Tigers, they don't exactly qualify as security blankets.

It also means that CC Sabathia needs to be great when he goes to the mound Friday night. The Yankees and their relentless lineup are good enough to beat the Tigers even if they lose Game 1 to Justin Verlander, the most dominant pitcher in baseball at the moment, but not without a heightened sense of panic in the Bronx at being forced to count on a rookie and a journeyman to save them."