The New York Yankees dropped a series in Baltimore, and needing some wins to get them back on track, they hoped to complete the sweep here in the Bronx. One of the best pitching teams in the league, the Tigers were throwing out their best pitcher in Tarik Skubal against Nestor Cortes, as these two teams faced off for the final game of this series. For the Yankees, they’ve already won this series, but this is a chance to pick up a sweep and go into their off day feeling good about their situation.
After some wonky rain that affected both teams all day, this game was finally called after seven and a half innings, as a brilliant start by Nestor Cortes and some timely hitting handed the Yankees their 23rd win of the season.
Booming Double From Juan Soto Stamps Yankees’ 5-2 Win
It was a cold windy day in the Bronx, but these two teams would square off for their third and final matchup of this series, with the scoring starting early. After Nestor Cortes fired a scoreless first inning, a scuffling Aaron Judge would come to the plate fresh off of the first ejection of his professional career yesterday. Despite the tough assignment, going up against Tarik Skubal’s dominant fastball, he launched a ball 109.2 MPH off the bat for a solo shot to right field.
The Yankees would take an early 1-0 lead, as The Captain would deliver a 2-3 day with a double and walk coming late in the game. Over his last 13 games, Judge has a 1.059 OPS and has torched the baseball, averaging 98.1 MPH in terms of Exit Velocity as well. This is the Aaron Judge we’ve gotten used to seeing over the years and hopefully, we can continue to see this kind of play as the season goes on.
Oswaldo Cabrera would rifle a ground-rule double in the following innings, making it a 2-0 game, but Tarik Skubal would lock in after that, blanking the Yankees after that and striking out 12 batters. Nestor Cortes ran into some trouble in the top of the seventh, with Ian Hamilton inheriting two runners and allowing them to score on a double and fielder’s choice, as the rain began to really pour at the stadium.
Nestor Cortes was impressive, allowing two runs across 6.1 innings and striking out nine batters in the process, continuing to dominate after a rough start to his season. While Hamilton struggled in relief, the Yankees would make sure they punched right back in the bottom half of that frame. With the bases loaded and the Tigers bringing in a lefty to counteract Juan Soto, this would prove to be the turning point in the contest, as he smacked a double to the right field wall that brought in all runners.
As Dennis Santana fired a scoreless frame in the top of the eighth, the grounds crew came out to put the tarp on the field (although at this point it wasn’t raining), and the game would end due to the weather. The Yankees are now 23-13 on the season, and they’ll take a series sweep over the Tigers as they get an offday before they host the Houston Astros.