New York Yankees 2 — Detroit Tigers 3
Yankees cannot escape ninth inning jam in series finale.
The Yankees turned to Hiroki Kuroda today and he would pitch a good game despite giving up the first run of the game in the second inning after a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly by Alex Avila. After no hits in the first two innings, Zelous Wheeler would hit a ground ball to third base off of rookie pitcher Kyle Lobstein with two outs where Nick Castellanos made an errant throw, allowing Wheeler to advance to second and extend the inning. The extended inning would prove costly for the Tigers as Jacoby Ellsbury hit a single to center field and the Yankees tied the game.
In the fourth inning, Martin Prado hit a single and one out later, Carlos Beltran lined a double into the left field corner to put two on in scoring position. Brian McCann would ground out but the run to give the Yankees the lead would come across the plate. Hiroki Kuroda followed the run-scoring second inning with a pair of 1-2-3 innings before a leadoff walk in the fifth inning would come back to haunt him. Two outs later the walk to Don Kelly would come around to score when Rajai Davis hit a single to right field and the game was tied.
The next seven batters Hiroki Kuroda faced would go down in a great start. In seven innings, Hiroki Kuroda allowed two runs on four hits while walking one and striking out four.
After the fourth inning, the Yankees offense would go silent, getting one hit and one walk. Rookie Kyle Lobstein went six innings and allowed two runs, one earned. This was his first major league start.
Dellin Betances followed Kuroda and got the first two outs before a walk to Ian Kinsler was walked and he would go head-to-head with Miguel Cabrera. Betances would win the battle with a weak swing by Cabrera that finished the inning with the lead intact. Along with Blaine Hardy, former Yankees Joba Chamberlain and Phil Coke kept the Yankees off the scoreboard. Brian McCann would come up with two on and two outs when he missed a home run by inches before striking out and ending the ninth inning. This would be the last chance to score for the Yankees.
In the ninth inning, Shawn Kelley took the mound and Victor Martinez defeated the shift with a laser into the right field corner that resulted in a leadoff double. J.D. Martinez would walk on a full count to put two on with no one out. Shawn Kelley would bounce back with a pair of strikeouts of Castellanos and pinch-hitter Torii Hunter but one hanging slider to Alex Avila would spell doom. The slider would be hit to deep right center that hit the wall and the Tigers were walking off.
Win – Phil Coke (2-2)
Loss – Shawn Kelley (2-5)
Notables
Yankees
*Jacoby Ellsbury – 1 for 4, RBI (62)
*Zelous Wheeler – 1 for 2, R
Tigers
*Alex Avila – 1 for 3, 2 RBI (38)
*Rajai Davis – 2 for 4, RBI (43)
Current Yankees Record: 69-63
