10 years ago today, Detroit Tigers clinched a World Series berth by sweeping the Yankees

How do you describe the tension of playing the New York Yankees in the playoffs with a spot in the World Series on the line?

A series under the glare of the national spotlight? Sure. ... A pressure cooker born of history and perhaps a smidgen of haves-vs.-have-not hatred? Closer. ... A roiling cauldron ever nearing its boiling point as the 2012 Detroit Tigers eked out three straight low-scoring American League Championship Series games against the Yankees, who’d led the majors in homers (245, 31 more than the second-place team) and finished second in runs (4.96 per game, nearly half a run more than the Tigers)?

Let’s go with that.

Ten years ago today, on Oct. 18, 2012, the Tigers’ stew finally boiled over in Game 4 of the ALCS, a mighty mix of timely home runs, stellar starting pitching and, for three games at least, ultra-reliable relief pitching that dished out an 8-1 afternoon triumph over the New York Yankees.

It’s easy to forget, as the Tigers take over the dubious crown of MLB’s longest playoff drought (shared with the L.A. Angels, if you don’t count the 230 minutes separating the end of their dual 2014 ALDS sweeps), that just a decade ago they were on top of the American League, thanks to an almost unthinkable sweep of the Yanks.

After an additional six days of simmering sans seasoning, the 2012 World Series finally began in San Francisco, and four days after that, the Tigers were merely AL champs, watching the Giants celebrate winning it all here in Detroit.

But that was the future. Today is a day to remember the Tigers’ stunning run to the AL pennant, culminating in front of 42,477 under a windy, cloudy evening sky at Comerica Park.

Here’s how it went down:

The buildup

Both the Tigers and Yankees — the AL Central and East champs, respectively — needed five games in their Division Series wins over the Athletics and Orioles. Game 1 of the ALCS delivered more of that squeeze, as a four-run lead and 6 1/3 innings of scoreless ball from starter Doug Fister vanished in a ninth inning from Jose Valverde, who allowed four runs in 2/3 of an inning to send the game to extras. But the Tigers pushed two runs across in the top of the 12^th — the go-ahead run driven in by Delmon Young — sandwiched around a series-ending fractured ankle for Yankees captain Derek Jeter in a 6-4 Tigers win.

Game 2 was scoreless until Young drove in speedster Quintin Berry on a groundout in the seventh inning, and the Tigers tacked on two more runs in the eighth for a 3-0 win, with Anibal Sanchez and closer-by-default Phil Coke combining for the shutout.

Game 3 was even tighter, with Justin Verlander — staked to a 2-0 lead — giving up a leadoff homer in the ninth inning and departing with two outs to go in favor of Coke. The left-handed former Yankee recorded one out, then allowed back-to-back singles to put the tying run in scoring position and bring up fellow lefty Raul Ibanez for the Yanks. Ibanez quickly worked the count to 3-1 before fouling off a sinker and a four-seam fastball from Coke. Finally, on the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Coke unleashed an 81.2 mph slider and Ibanez flailed weakly at the ball as it settled into Alex Avila’s glove, down and away for the final out and a 3-0 Tigers lead. It was, as Avila would tell reporters soon after, the “best slider I’ve ever seen him throw.” How did Coke feel about it? “Prettieeee goooood,” the reliever quipped.

The stage was set for the Tigers — though the curtain took an extra day to rise, as rain in Detroit pushed Game 4’s scheduled Wednesday night start to Thursday afternoon.

The clincher

The 2012 Tigers featured, of course, Miguel Cabrera, who led the AL in home runs (44) en route to the Triple Crown and his first AL MVP award, and Prince Fielder, who chipped in 30 dingers in his first season. But no other Tiger hit even 20, and the squad finished with 163, 82 fewer than the Yankees. And sure enough, the Tigers built a 2-0 lead by stringing together singles, with run-scoring knocks from Young in the first inning and Avisail Garcia in the third.

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That all changed in the fourth, however, as Cabrera launched the first pitch of the at-bat from CC Sabathia — a 91.1 mph four-seam fastball, waist-high — over the head of Ichiro Suzuki in left and into Section 148, about a dozen rows behind the Tigers’ bullpen to make it 4-0. After a Fielder strikeout and a Young single, it was Jhonny Peralta’s turn — he sent a first-pitch, 77.1 mph hanging curve to almost the same spot in left for another two-run blast and a 6-0 Tigers lead. The rout was on.

The Tigers hitters weren’t quite though giving the CoPa crowd chances to cheer. Austin Jackson led off the seventh with a home run, and with one out in the eighth, Peralta sent an 0-1 cut fastball on a line over the wall in the left-field corner for the Tigers’ eighth and final run.

Those were six more than Game 4 starter Max Scherzer needed, as he held the Yankees hitless with nine strikeouts over the first five innings. He faltered slightly in the sixth, allowing a leadoff triple and a one-out RBI double, but manager Jim Leyland went to a well-rested bullpen early. Drew Smyly got the final out of the sixth, Octavio Dotel threw a scoreless seventh and — who else — Coke was perfect over the final two innings. His final line for the series, with relief appearances in all four games: two saves, three hits, no walks, four strikeouts and no runs allowed in 5 2/3 innings.

The call

Here's what Dan Dickerson and Jim Price said on WXYT-FM (97.1) as Coke got the final outs of Game 4:

Dickerson: Listen to this crowd at Comerica Park!

Price: If there's anybody sitting, they're in trouble. I think everybody's been standing since the fifth inning.  ...

Dickerson: Two outs, bases empty, ninth inning, 8-1 Tigers. Jayson Nix is the last hope for the Yankees. (Crowd starts chanting "SWEEP, SWEEP, SWEEP" in the background)...

Listen to this crowd chanting "sweep."   Nix takes ... Strike 1.  Phil Coke has retired five in a row. He's been absolutely lights-out.  In four relief appearances in four games... Nix waiting on the Strike 1... off the plate inside... one ball, one strike... 8-1, Tigers, in the ninth.

Price: Boy, he couldn't have gotten his stuff back at any better time than what we've seen in these playoffs.

Dickerson: Absolutely critical that he got it back when he did.

Price: It's just like he pressed that button and he's ready....

Dickerson: Coke is ready... the 1-1 to Nix... he SWINGS AND HE POPS IT UP ON THE RIGHT SIDE.... FIELDER CALLING FOR IT AND HE MAKES THE CATCH!  WORLD SERIES BOUND!  THE TIGERS SWEEP THE YANKEES WITH AN 8-1 WIN!

Price: Boy, this is special for the Tigers fans, Mr. Ilitch, Mike Ilitch wants this championship so bad.

Dickerson: The Tigers become just the third team in baseball history to sweep the Yankees in a best-of-seven series... INCREDIBLE pitching... Jim, they give up six runs in four games.... It was the starters, it was the bullpen, and how appropriate Phil Coke, the ex-Yankee, closes it out with two scoreless innings?

Price: It starts with pitching, ends with pitching just what you said with the starters... then Phil Coke, boy, what he did as the closer on the big stage against his former team... what a special thing.  But to watch these players out on the field, I'll tell you, from a player's standpoint... you know, the money they're gonna make, that's one thing... that championship ring that you won is the most important thing.  Believe me when I tell you that.  That's what they want.  That world championship ring.  And the way these guys played this series... watch out.

The aftermath

The Tigers had done it: A sweep of the mighty Yankees — just the second time the franchise had been swept in a best-of-seven series. (The headline on the Freep Sports section the next day: “Broom Service.”)

The field for ALCS MVP was deep, with Coke and Peralta delivering the biggest individual games. But the award went to the Tigers’ most consistent hitter during the series: Young, whose six RBIs included three eventual game-winners. (And in the other game, he merely drove in the Tigers’ first run and scored the eventual game-winner.) For the series, he went 6-for-17 with two homers, two walks and a double. Still, he was focused on the Tigers’ future, telling reporters: “As a child growing up, you always dream of winning Game 7 in the World Series with a walk-off hit. So it’s fun knowing you’re going there.”

Unfortunately for the Tigers, there wasn’t much fun to be had in the Series. The NLCS between the Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals went the full seven, leaving the Tigers to idle in the Motor City for six days.

When the Series finally started, on Oct. 24, the mojo was gone. Verlander, who had allowed two runs over 24⅓ innings in the 2012 postseason, gave up five in just four innings to the Giants, including a pair of home runs to hefty slugger Pablo Sandoval in an 8-3 Game 1 loss. (He added a third homer in the fifth off reliever Al Alburquerque and finished as the Series MVP.) Likewise, the Tigers’ bats finally cooled off in matching 2-0 shutouts in Games 2 and 3 in San Francisco and Detroit, respectively.

Even Coke’s electricity was unplugged; in his second inning of work in Game 4, he gave up a pair of singles in the 10th inning as the Giants squeezed out a 4-3 win at Comerica on Oct. 28. Still, the lefty was confident in the Tigers’ chances of a Series return in 2013: “I don’t think there’s a reason why you can’t expect us to be here next year — on the other end.”

Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @theford.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Relive Detroit Tigers' sweep of New York Yankees in 2012 ALCS