The Tigers had two genuinely excellent games against the Yankees to start the week. They were much-needed blowout wins. But these were the Yankees, and it seemed almost too good to be true that their bats would stay silent for an entire series. In the final game of the three-game series the Tigers were going with an Opener, with Tyler Holton getting things started. The idea being to turn it over to Sawyer Gipson-Long for a good stretch in the middle. The Yankees were relying on Cam Schlittler.
The
game had a delayed start time as the teams commemorated the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York.
The Tigers went 1-2-3 to start the game. With one out in the home half, Aaron Judge homered, his 45th of the year, as he continues his climb to become one of the best home run hitters in Yankees’ history. Of course, we would prefer he not make that history against the Tigers. Two outs followed the homer, bringing the inning to a merciful close.
With one out in the second, Wenceel Perez and Colt Keith had back-to-back singles, then Dillon Dingler singled to bring Perez home and tie up the game. Two outs followed but things were looking well-balanced so far.
In the home half, Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled to start things off, and marked the end of Holton’s participation. Sawyer Gipson-Long came in to relieve him. With one out Chisholm stole second. Ben Rice then doubled to bring Chisholm in. Jose Caballero then singled, scoring Rice. Caballero stole second, but SGL was able to get the final two outs of the inning.
Gleyber Torres started the third with a double, but Kerry Carpenter hit into a double play to eliminate the baserunner. The Tigers wouldn’t get another opportunity to score in the inning. In the home half, Judge homered once again, this time tying Joe DiMaggio’s record. With one out, Giancarlo Stanton homered as well. Two outs followed, but the score was 5-1 Yankees after three.
The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the fourth. Here’s a quick look at the game so far with Sawyer Gipson-Long versus the Yankees…
Ben Rice starred the fourth with a double, followed by a Caballero single. With one out, Austin Slater singled to score Rice. Aaron Judge was then hit by a pitch to load the bases. That was it for Gipson-Long, who was replaced by new dad Bailey Horn. Cody Bellinger singled to bring in another run, then with two outs, Chisholm singled to score two more. At the end of the fourth inning, the Yankees had a 9-1 lead.
Parker Meadows got a one-out single in the top of the fifth, then with two outs, he advanced to second on a wild pitch. Gleyber Torres and Kerry Carpenter got back-to-back walks. The bases were loaded and it was a prime opportunity for the Tigers to get back in the game, but they just couldn’t make it happen. Parker Meadows left the game between innings, replaced by Trey Sweeney, with Baez moving to center. No injury announcement was made, so this move was likely just to keep him healthy and rested, especially given the blowout. With two outs, Brenan Hanifee replaced Horn, and collected the final out of the inning.
The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the sixth. Riley Greene was benched in between innings, so it looks like Hinch is just resting everyone at this point. Aaron Judge singled to start the home half, then Bellinger walked. Stanton hit into a double play to eliminate Bellinger and advance Judge to third. The Tigers managed to keep the Yankees at bay and no runs scored.
In the seventh, Schlittler’s day was done and he was replaced by Ryan Yarbrough. Dillon Dingler almost immediately homered. While Torres did get a two out walk, no additional runs scored.
Tommy Kahnle came in for the bottom of the seventh. He gave up a leadoff single to Paul Goldschmidt, but a force out off the bat of Rice eliminated Goldschmidt. Jose Caballero and Ryan McMahon got back-to-back walks. That was it for Kahnle, who was replaced by Keider Montero. Montero got the final two outs of the inning.
Wenceel Perez got a two-out walk in the eighth. Then a pinch-hitting Andy Ibanez singled. It wasn’t enough for a comeback, though, as a third out soon followed to end the inning. With two outs in the home half, Chisholm Jr walked, followed by a Goldschmidt single. A third out followed, but there was a brief comedy show on second as Jazz convinced anyone who would listen he wasn’t a threat to steal third.
The top of the ninth was the final chance for the Tigers, and they put in a solid effort. Javier Baez tripled with one out, they Gleyber Torres stuck it to his old club with an RBI groundout to get the Tigers one more run. It was all the Tigers could manage, but at least they went down swinging (and didn’t lose by 10 runs…)
