The New York Yankees faced off against the Detroit Tigers in the first of a three-game series on Friday night. With Gerrit Cole on the mound, the Yankees were looking to put together another stellar outing after securing a doubleheader sweep against the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday.
Cole carried a perfect game into the 7th inning before Jonathan Shoop singled to center field, breaking up what might’ve been a special performance. Nonetheless, Cole was dominant over 102 pitches, lowering his ERA to 2.78 on the season.
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Good news and bad news as the Yankees torch Detroit on Friday night:
Aside from Gerrit’s incredible game, lasting 7.0 innings, giving up just two hits, and striking out nine batters, the offense was electric to pair. Overall, the Yankees recorded 15 hits, five walks, and 13 total runs. DJ LeMahieu, Aaron Judge, and Anthony Rizzo combined for seven hits and seven RBIs, striking out just twice between them.
An exciting 5th inning took the Yankees from five runs to 12, thanks to a three-run blast from Rizzo and a two-run shot from Matt Carpenter. This season, the former St. Louis Cardinal has four homers for the Yankees, hosting an awesome mustache to boot.
Overall, the entire Yankees’ batting order shined, as the Detroit Tigers didn’t stand a chance against Gerrit Cole at the top of his game. At the end of the game, the Bombers even got veteran relief pitcher Manny Banuelos, pitching 2.0 innings and giving up one hit.
This was the first time since 2019 that Banuelos made an appearance in the MLB. His last season was with the Chicago White Sox, hosting a 2.93 ERA over 50.2 innings.
Nonetheless, he looked solid to close the game following Cole’s masterpiece. The Yankees will look ahead to Saturday afternoon against Detroit with Luis Severino on the mound. Severino hosts a 3.38 ERA on the season, the worst among Yankee starters. Nonetheless, that clearly indicates how dominant their rotation has been.