On Sunday afternoon, the New York Yankees completed a series sweep against the Detroit Tigers, picking up their second consecutive sweep (the first came against the Angels).
The Yankees manhandled Detroit in the first two games of the series but barely squeaked by in the series finale with Jordan Montgomery on the mound.
- Yankees have an overlooked infield prospect making exciting changes at the plate
- Yankees’ Brian Cashman points to major vulnerabilities on the roster
- Yankees’ new leadoff man rekindles hot bat after regression scare
Main takeaways as Yankees complete series sweep of Detroit:
Joey Gallo shows his power:
The polarizing nature of Joey Gallo has hurt the Yankees’ offense at times. Gallo currently features a 38.8% strikeout rate on the season. He’s hitting just .176, but he finally got back in the home run column on Sunday, blasting a two-run shot in the bottom of the 5th inning to tie the game at two.
Hopefully, Gallo can use this homer to propel him forward. He desperately needs to string together more consistent performance if he wants to retain his starting job in the outfield ahead of the trade deadline.
Josh Donaldson to the rescue:
After Josh Donaldson made a return from injury, he has helped the Yankees offense tremendously. In fact, he batted in the game-winning run in the 10th inning thanks to a sac-fly to left field. Donaldson hasn’t recorded the hit since returning on Friday against Detroit, but he has had an RBI and two walks, striking out three times over six at-bats.
The Bombers are slowly getting healthy after suffering through a bit of adversity the past week.
Montgomery gets his run support:
Lefty starter Jordan Montgomery has been forced to elevate his game due to minimal run support. Montgomery features a 3.02 ERA this season with 46 strikeouts and a 1.01 WHIP. During his first three starts, Montgomery only had four total runs to support his efforts, but the Yankees have been far more productive in recent days. In his last start against the Angels on May 31, the offense produced nine runs. On Sunday, they added five, just enough to push them over the edge.
The Yankees’ starting rotation has been phenomenal this season, and Montgomery has played his part and more. Having two stellar lefty arms in the rotation gives the Yankees plenty of versatility.