NEW YORK — As the shadows got longer at Yankee Stadium, the pitches blurred by batters, like an express train zooming past a local platform.

Justin Verlander overpowered Alex Rodriguez with 100 mph heat. Joel Zumaya topped that, his fastball whizzing by at 102. The Yankees never saw what was coming, and the Detroit Tigers headed home with a split in their AL playoff series.

Verlander and Detroit's bullpen held down New York's mighty offense, Curtis Granderson's go-ahead triple off Mike Mussina capped a comeback, and Detroit beat the Yankees 4-3 Thursday to leave them tied at one game apiece in their best-of-five matchup.

"There's a lot of people doubting us," Zumaya said. "A lot of people don't expect the Tigers to come out and play as good as we did. We have to prove ourselves and, obviously, we proved it a little bit today."

Verlander, like Zumaya one of Detroit's rookie sensations, pitched in and out of trouble for 5 2-3 innings, allowing seven hits and four walks. He gave up his only runs on Johnny Damon's fourth-inning homer, which put New York ahead 3-1.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland then made the unusual move to pull him with a runner on, one out and a 1-1 count on Robinson Cano. Jamie Walker came in, threw two balls, and induced an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

It was that type of up-and-down day for the wild-card Tigers, who ended a six-game losing streak that cost them the AL Central title last weekend.

"I just didn't like the fastball before that. It was 92," Leyland said. "I just said, 'This is it. I'm going to make my move now. I know there's a count on the hitter, but I'm going to make it right now.' Just all of a sudden, your instincts take over and say, 'Look, this is just not right."'

Cardinals 2, Padres 0At San Diego, something dramatic happened to the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Diego Padres between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs.The Cardinals' uncertainty has turned to optimism. The Padres' confidence has disappeared, along with their bats.That's why the St. Louis Cardinals have taken a 2-0 lead in the division series, thanks to Albert Pujols and reclamation project Jeff Weaver, who came up big Thursday."It's very big because coming into these playoffs we didn't really know what to expect," Cardinals shortstop David Eckstein said."It's so frustrating," said his counterpart on the Padres, Dave Roberts.Now, history suggests the best-of-five series will end Saturday in St. Louis, unless the popgun Padres can find their missing offense. The Padres are hitting an embarrassing .164 in the series, getting just 10 hits and one run so far, while striking out 20 times. They're 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, and have stranded 13.The crowd booed after Cardinals rookie closer Adam Wainwright retired the side in the ninth."We've got to get on the board, score some runs," said San Diego native David Wells, who plans to retire at the end of the season. "I think one run in two games isn't going to cut it. This continues, then you know that's the end of it."St. Louis, which barely avoided one of the biggest September collapses ever, improved to 8-0 in the postseason against San Diego. That includes division series sweeps last year and in 1996.Pujols had three more hits after homering in the 5-1 victory in Game 1. He and Jim Edmonds hit RBI singles off Wells in the fourth inning.

Mets 4, Dodgers 1In New York, Tom Glavine was anxious all day, even jittery as he drove over to Shea Stadium with Billy Wagner.Once he arrived in the clubhouse, however, Glavine was calm as could be. And that's exactly how he pitched Thursday night."For some reason, once I got to the ballpark," he said, "everything just kind of fell into place and I felt extremely relaxed when I got out there on the field."Making his 33rd postseason start — but first since joining the Mets in 2003 — Glavine tossed six shutout innings and New York scratched out enough offense to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 for a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five NL playoff series.The Mets will go for the sweep Saturday in Los Angeles against Greg Maddux, who has 333 career wins. Steve Trachsel will pitch for New York.