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The New York Yankees lost the AL Championship Series opener and their captain when Derek Jeter broke his left ankle just after Delmon Young doubled home the go-ahead run in the 12th inning of the Detroit Tigers' thrilling, excruciating, bizarre 6-4 victory Saturday night.
New York's Raul Ibanez hit another stunning game-tying home run during a four-run rally in the ninth, but that was just the start of the dramatics in another thriller of a postseason already filled with them.
Jeter rolled when he dove in an attempt to glove Jhonny Peralta's grounder up the middle in the 12th. Unable to move, he flipped the ball toward the mound. His leg was dangling as he was assisted to the dugout by manager Joe Girardi and trainer Steve Donahue.
Detroit was coasting to a 4-0 win before the Yankees rocked Tigers closer Jose Valverde in the ninth.
Ichiro Suzuki started the comeback with a two-run homer with one out, and the 40-year-old Ibanez hit another two-run drive with two outs. Three nights earlier, Ibanez hit a tying home run in the ninth against Baltimore in Game 3 of the division series and another homer in the 12th to win it.
Young's one-out double off David Phelps, which followed a leadoff walk by Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera, sliced in right and eluded Nick Swisher, who appeared ready to dive but couldn't get his glove out when he realized the ball was closer to him than he had thought.
Young drove in three runs, hitting an RBI single in a two-run sixth against Andy Pettitte, and a solo homer in the eighth against Derek Lowe.
Tigers rookie Avisail Garcia singled in a run against Boone Logan, and Andy Dirks added an RBI single in the 12th on a comebacker that glanced off Phelps' pitching hand.
Drew Smyly, who had started warming up in the third when starter Doug Fister took a line drive off his right wrist, got the win by pitching two scoreless innings.
In Game 2 on Sunday night, New York starts Hiroki Kuroda, pitching on three days' rest for the first time in his big league career. Detroit sends Anibal Sanchez to the mound.
Twenty-five of 42 previous Game 1 winners have gone on to take the AL pennant.
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