Jeter injured as Tigers beat Yankees in ALCS

The Detroit Tigers survived a four-run New York rally in the ninth to claim a 6-4 win in 12 innings in their playoff opener, while the Yankees suffered an even greater blow as captain Derek Jeter was lost to injury.

The 38-year-old Jeter, in the midst of one his best seasons, broke his left ankle diving for a ground ball during Detroit's game-winning rally and will be lost for the rest of the postseason, the team said.

The victory gave Detroit a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series.

Delmon Young doubled under the glove of diving Yankee right-fielder Nick Swisher to score Miguel Cabrera in the 12th for the go-ahead run, with Detroit added another in the inning as the Tigers drew first blood in the series that puts the winner into the World Series.

Detroit led 4-0 going into the bottom of the ninth before the silenced New York bats came alive against Tigers closer Jose Valverde. Ichiro Suzuki's two-run homer halving the deficit and another two-run blast by Raul Ibanez sending the game into extra innings.

"We have been taking punches all year," Tigers manager Jim Leyland told reporters about bouncing back from the ninth-inning outburst.

"If we are going to be good enough, we have to be able to take a punch, and we took a big punch. We took a right cross in the ninth inning but we survived it."

The Tigers shrugged off that shock and rallied in the 12th against New York reliever David Phelps, the eighth Yankee pitcher used, while holding them down thanks to the relief efforts of Octavio Dotel and Drew Smyly, who registered the win.

Young led the offensive charge for Detroit, going 3-for-6 with three runs batted in dealing New York a painful loss.

"It's pretty emotional," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said about the shifting feelings from the high of Ibanez's game-tying home run to the low of Jeter's season-ending injury during Detroit's winning rally.

"There is disappointment that we didn't win the game. There is disappointment that our captain and our leader went down for the rest of the year," he added.

"But we've been through some disappointing times before...we've only played one game and we have an opportunity to do something great."