Derek Lowe had to know he’d be called on Tuesday night as the Yankees fell to the Tigers 2-1, putting themselves in a 0-3 hole in the American League Championship Series.
But Lowe wasn’t being called on to pitch — these days, he’s the resident Yankees-Red Sox expert.
Lowe, now a relief pitcher for the Yankees, is the only player on the roster who has been on a team that came back from a 0-3 deficit in the ALCS to win it all.
That’s because he was the guy helping the Red Sox make it happen in 2004 — against the Yankees, of course. Oct. 17, 2012 just happens to be the exact eight-year anniversary of when the Red Sox started that little eight-game win streak.
So, with New York trailing 0-3, Lowe was asked what the Yankees could do to repeat Boston’s miracle performance and make it past the Tigers.
Lowe admitted it wouldn’t be easy.
“Obviously, it’s tough,” he said, according to the New York Daily News. “You’ve got to stay positive, and the obvious answer is don’t look at the totality of what has to happen. … Obviously, it can be done. But you have to simplify things and not go down negative lane and worry about where you might be tomorrow.
“It can happen, but you have to think small. It’s obviously hard because it’s happened only one time in the history of baseball.”
Lowe said it wouldn’t be up to one guy — like Wednesday night’s starter, ace CC Sabathia — but would rather take the whole team working hard and believing a comeback could happen. That’s exactly what the Yankees have lacked this postseason, with the Yankees’ offense about as bad as possible, and many players failing to contribute.
Lowe also noted that the 2004 Red Sox were a pretty special team. That group never expected to lose, he has said, and the players’ attitude eventually overcame the odds. That’s a far cry from the current, dispirited Yankees, who have a lot of work to do in the focus and optimism departments if they want to even challenge the hot Tigers.
Still, Lowe thought the Yankees have a chance at winning at least one more game. The Tigers need to close the series out as quickly as possible to squelch any attempts at hope.
“You just want that one victory because maybe, as crazy as it sounds, there’s more pressure on [the Tigers],” he said. “They don’t want to go back to New York. They want to end it here.”
The Tigers have two chances to wrap it up in Detroit, starting Wednesday night.
