Yankees’ rally in ninth falls short

NEW YORK – Jose Valverde and the Detroit Tigers nearly let this one slip away.

Instead, they’re on solid footing with ace Justin Verlander set to start back home at Comerica Park.

The Tigers and their excitable closer somehow held off the Yankees’ furious rain-soaked rally in the ninth inning and Detroit beat New York 5-3 on Sunday, evening their best-of-five A.L. playoff series at one game apiece.

Down 5-1, the Yankees scored twice in the ninth and had a chance to win it after Detroit catcher Alex Avila lost his balance on the slick on-deck circle while chasing Curtis Granderson’s two-out foul popup.

“It’s tough to win games here, especially in the playoffs,” Avila said. “You get what you can and get ready for the next game and that’s all you can think about.”

After his pop landed untouched, Granderson walked. With two on, Robinson Cano came to the plate.

Cano, who hit a grand slam and had six RBIs as the Yankees won the opener, wiped away raindrops from his helmet while Valverde tried to get a good grip.

With the crowd roaring, Cano hit a routine ground ball to end it.

“All of a sudden, against anybody – but particularly against a team like them with the short porch in right field – it was not a good feeling,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “But it worked out OK.”

Tigers starter Max Scherzer pitched no-hit ball into the sixth before Cano blooped an opposite-field single to left.

Miguel Cabrera’s two-run homer in the first off Freddy Garcia gave Scherzer an early edge, and the Tigers took a 4-0 lead into the eighth.

Granderson hit a solo homer off Tigers reliever Joaquin Benoit in the eighth. Pretty soon, the rain – and all the drama – filled Yankee Stadium.

“(Sunday), we proved that we can compete. (Today) is going to be a different story,” Benoit said. “We go home, we’re going to play in our home ballpark, which is a little bit more fair.”

Game 3 is today at Detroit.

The Yankees lost three of four this year at Detroit and are 22-25 at Comerica Park.

“The mentality here is everything is high, we feel good, and we just lost a tough one here today,” said Nick Swisher, who homered on Valverde’s first pitch.

Making his postseason debut, the 27-year-old Scherzer excelled. He gave up two hits, struck out five and walked four. He was lifted for Benoit with a 4-0 lead after allowing a walk and a single to Jorge Posada to open the seventh.

“I had confidence I was going to pitch well today,” Scherzer said. “I was just very relaxed and was able to slow everything down and it allowed me to pitch my game.”

Alex Rodriguez fell to 0 for 8 in the series.

“I don’t have any plans of changing my lineup,” said Girardi, when asked about Rodriguez’s struggles. “I’m not going to make too much of two games.”