Yanks have done OK against Verlander

The Yankees threw out all the appropriate, and deserved, plaudits to a pitcher who has been nearly unconquerable this season,

"He is unbelievable,'' Robinson Cano said of Justin Verlander.

"A dominant pitcher,'' Mark Teixeira said.

Said Alex Rodriguez: "We're facing the head of the class.''

Left unspoken, was this fact: The Yankees faced Verlander twice this season and, although it was before he got on the roll that likely will result in his winning the AL Cy Young Award and possibly the MVP, they didn't do all that poorly.

On Opening Day at the Stadium, Verlander allowed three runs -- all coming on Teixeira's homer -- in six innings. He again allowed three runs in six innings the next time he faced them, May 2 in Detroit.

While the Yankees didn't beat the righthander, they weren't overwhelmed, either, and one player who gave voice to that Thursday was Nick Swisher.

"You talk about this guy's good and people make their predictions and things like that. Let's play the game and all those questions will be answered and we'll go from there,'' Swisher said.

"He's a great pitcher, no doubt about that. You have to give credit where credit is due. He's had a tremendous season. He's got electric stuff, I'll give him that. But then again, man, you have to step in that box and get it done. So we're ready for that challenge. Regardless of who's out there, we're going to do the best we can to get it done.''

Verlander is 4-3 with a 3.97 ERA in 10 starts against the Yankees in his career.

"That's in the past,'' Jorge Posada said. "I think he is in our eyes as one of the top pitchers in the big leagues, so we'll have our hands full [Friday night].''

A hat tip to Mr. October

Austin Jackson's talents got him through the Yankees system, put him in the big trade for Curtis Granderson and made him a full-time major-leaguer with the Tigers. Along the way, though, he needed to believe in himself. He had just the right counselor.

"I talked to Reggie a lot. He would always come to a lot of minor-league ballgames,'' he said of Reggie Jackson, who has a high-profile advisory role with the team. "When you're down in the minor-league system and you're struggling a little bit, you can kind of get discouraged. But he was always there as kind of a shoulder to lean on.

"Everybody knows Reggie and how confident he was when he played the game. That's just what he helped me out with. He helped me out with my confidence and I definitely think it helped,'' the younger Jackson (no relation) said. "Every now and then, he'll send me a text, wishing me good luck.''

Importance of Game 1

Derek Jeter and Posada, who have been through their share of short series, said they aren't thinking of the seemingly daunting task of possibly having to take on Verlander twice.

"You can't think about facing him twice. We're thinking about one game at a time,'' Jeter said. "We're in the playoffs. Every game's important, especially a five-game series cause it's so short. But we've got to find a way to win [Friday night].''

Said Posada: "If you can't beat Verlander, you try to beat the team later. But it is important to win at home, especially when CC's [Sabathia] on the mound. And they have the same thing with Verlander on the mound. You want to win the ballgame with your ace on the mound.''

With Anthony Rieber