Last night the New York Yankees met up with the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park for the first game of a 3 game set away. The Yankees’ ace Gerrit Cole was pitted against the Tigers’ Casey Mize. Going into tonight’s game, the Yankees were 2 games out of first place in the AL East, and the Tigers were at the bottom of the American League, winning only 19 of 50 games. The final score was the Detroit Tigers 3 and the New York Yankees 2.
Gerrit Cole didn’t have his best stuff
From the first inning last evening, it became clear that Gerrit Cole did not have his best stuff. He allowed a couple of runners with two outs in the first, but he got out of the early jam unscathed. In the third inning, the Tiger hitters strung three consecutive hits together, the latter, an RBI single from Jeimer Candelario. It would be the only run Cole would give up in six innings of work; he was able to get out of the third without any further damage.
When Gerrit Cole takes the mound for the Yankees, fans expect that first inning to be a 1-2-3 inning every time. Last night that type of performance just wasn’t there, but as any top-quality pitcher of the stature of Cole, he found a way to get the job done and keep the Yankees in the game. The Yankees bullpen of Wandy Peralta, Chad Green, and Aroldis Chapman pitched three scoreless innings in relief. But then, after the Yankees took the lead at the top of the tenth, manager Aaron Boone decided that would lose the game for the Yankees. Instead of Chapman, who had only 14 pitches, he choose to go to Justin Wilson, who gave up a two-run homer.
Yankee hitting underperformed yet again
The lack of Yankee hitting that has dogged them the whole season was again apparent in last night’s game. The Yankees, during regulation, were only able to score one run. Last night’s situation was a bit different than the norm, they did get 11 hits in the game, but none of them were timely. The Yankees went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position. The only run scored was from a solo home run from Rougie Odor. Even the go-ahead run in the top of the tenth didn’t come from a hit. Aaron Judge, the ghost runner, scored on a Tiger’s passed ball.
The New York Yankees should be able to crush the Tigers, they are at the bottom of the AL. They can’t continue to score only two runs in a game and expect to win, even against the worst teams.
One injured player returned
The New York Yankees have had a lot of bad injury news of late. Number two starter Corey Kluber suffered a shoulder injury to keep him away from the rotation for about two months. Also, they have again lost their starting first baseman, Luke Voit, to an oblique strain and is on the 10 day; however, that type of injury can take much longer to heal. The Yankees will also go without their centerfielder Aaron Hicks for the rest of the season after wrist surgery.
But there is good news, after missing 13 games, slugger Giancarlo Stanton has returned to the team. Before having a quad injury, he led the team in home runs and runs driving in. Since his absence, Aaron Judge has overtaken him in both stats. Reliever Zack Britton is getting closer to a return; both he and starter Luis Severino are supposed to have rehab games this week.