Delmon Young, Avisail Garcia give Tigers some insurance over Yankees in ALCS Game 1

The Tigers’ lead in Game 1 of the ALCS just grew.

Delmon Young launched a solo home run to the left field seats at Yankee Stadium with one out in the top of the eighth, pushing Detroit to a 3-0 advantage over New York with the evening growing increasingly late.

The dinger not only provided insurance for the Tigers in this crucial ALCS opener, it also made Young the all-time postseason home run leader in franchise history. (He overtook the great Craig Monroe).

Jhonny Peralta followed Young’s blast with a double, then scooted home on a single by Avisail Garcia, making the score 4-0.

The Tigers will ask their bullpen to nail down the final six outs. The bottom of the eight just began.

Jon Heyman has been hot on the free agent trail today, reporting that the Padres have made offers both Manny Machado and Bryce Harper. The offer to Machado is believed to be for eight years and about $250 million, while the offer to Harper is believed to be for more than that.

Heyman was reporting on Harper earlier, tweeting that the Phillies are the favorite to sign him. He added this evening that Harper has multiple long-term offers at more than $30 million annually. Regarding Machado, Heyman noted that while Machado was believed to have had a preference for the East coast, he will go for the best deal now, which puts the Padres firmly in the picture.

The Padres reportedly met with Machado last week. A late entrant into the sweepstakes, the club has shown the willingness to spend, signing Eric Hosmer to an eight-year, $144 million contract last year. If he goes to San Diego, Machado would be the full-time third baseman with Luis Urias handling shortstop.

Nothing appears close, but we’ll take anything resembling a spark to light the hot stove.

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