The New York Yankees went into the finale of the Tigers series yesterday hoping for a sweep, and they got it with only 3 hits and a second no homer game. Corey Kluber was nothing short of outstanding. To be absolutely fair so was the Tiger’s starter Jose Urena who at one point put down 14 Yankees in a row. But someone had to lose at it was Urena. The Yankees are now 14-14 on the season.
Kluber was Cy Young brilliant in the win
The outstanding takeaway from yesterday’s game was that Corey Kluber showed why he has won two Cy Young Awards. Kluber said prior to the game that he was close to where he wanted to be. The big Kluber smile in the dugout showed that he has reached that plateau.
Kluber is the first Yankee pitcher to go eight-innings since September 19, 2020. This game was filled with firsts. Not only did the Yankees win without a home run they won with only three hits. It is the first time this season the New York Yankees have had a game that lasted less than 3 hours. The game time was 2 hours and 14 minutes as both pitchers kept runners off the base paths. For Kluber, it was the first time he had 10 strikeouts in a game since September of 2018.
Kluber is now 6th in baseball with strikeouts since 2012. In the game yesterday Kluber’s changeup was fantastic and he had command of all of his pitches. He and catcher Kyle Higashioka worked seamlessly together. Another great outcome from the day was that going 8 innings he saved the bullpen. With a day off tomorrow, the bullpen will be completely rested for the Houston Astros series at the Stadium.
By the way, Mr. Kluber congratulations on your 100th career win!
Jose Urena was fantastic for the Tigers
I usually don’t comment on opposing teams’ players or pitchers but I would be remiss if I didn’t comment on Jose Urena’s pitching yesterday. He was masterful on the mound. He pitched seven innings and other than giving up 3 hits in the second inning. From that point on he was unhittable at one point putting down 14 Yankee batters in a row. If the Tiger hitting wasn’t so weak he would have had a good chance at the win.
Aroldis Chapman still perfect
Aroldis Chapman and his new pitching arsenal has been near perfect this season (ERA 0.00) and yesterday was no different. He got the save in the game for the ninth game without allowing a run. He has pitched in 9 games with 9 innings of work, striking out 23 of 27 batters faced. He has now struck out two or more batters in each inning. In his last 18 games minus one game, he has struck out 43 batters, that 2.4 batters per inning. These stats are since he started to regularly use his new splitter.