Detroit Tigers 8 — New York Yankees 9
Esmil Rogers looked to make a positive impression in the competition for the fifth starter in the rotation. Anthony Gose led off the game with a quick single on the first pitch. He would steal during the next at-bat. On the single by Miguel Cabrera, Gose advanced to third and scored on a single by Yoenis Cespedes.
The Yankees would get the run back but not without some questionable decisions on the bases. Brett Gardner would start the bottom of the inning with a single. In a positive note, Brett Gardner would exhibit aggressive baserunning, stealing second base. Unfortunately the aggressive baserunning would prove costly for the Yankees outfielder. On a fly out to center field by Chase Headley, Gardner attempted to advance to third and was thrown out for a double play. The poor decision by Gardner would look poor in hindsight as Carlos Beltran hit a double to right field. Mark Teixeira would follow with a double of his down the left field line, tying the game at one.
In the second inning, Rogers would struggle again. After a one-out walk, Rogers would get Jose Iglesias to hit a weak pop up just to the side of the mound and Rogers could not handle it. The error put two on and then with two outs later, Ian Kinsler would hit a two-run single. Miguel Cabrera would walk before a J.D. Martinez two-run double. When the inning finally ended, the Yankees were down by four.
In three innings, Esmil Rogers allowed five runs, one earned, on five hits while walking two and striking out two. Notably, Rogers committed the error that allowed the unearned runs to score. This is not the type of outing he wanted at this time of the spring.
Brett Gardner displayed some more aggressive baserunning in the third inning, stealing second base after being walked. A ground out moved him to third base and Carlos Beltran productively hit a sacrifice fly to put the second Yankees run on the board.
Andrew Miller pitched a scoreless inning and Dellin Betances followed. A walk to lead-off the inning would come around to score to extend the Tigers lead back to four. Justin Wilson would pitch a scoreless inning but Nick Rumbelow would struggle. After getting the first two outs in the middle of the Tigers’ lineup, Yoenis Cespedes hit a single. Alex Avila would hit a double to bring home the Tigers’ seventh run of the game. A walk and an error allowed the eighth run to score and the Yankees looked up at a six-run deficit.
The Yankees would begin to rally in the bottom of the inning. Chris Young and Didi Gregorius hit back-to-back doubles to plate a run. A hit batter and a walk loaded the bases. Two outs later, a bases-loaded walk brought the Yankees within three.
In the ninth inning, a walk and stolen base by Aaron Judge would get the rally started. John Ryan Murphy hit a single to reduce the deficit to two. Ali Castillo would walk to bring up the potential game-winning run to the plate. Ramon Flores would get to a 2-2 count before driving a pitch just over the right field wall for an exciting walk-off, three-run home run. The Yankees fans were sent home happy and the baby bombers let the future shine just a little brighter.
Win – Diego Moreno (1-0)
Loss – Rafael Dolis (0-2)
Notables
Tigers
*Ian Kinsler – 1 for 3, R, BB, 2 RBI (11)
*J.D. Martinez – 1 for 3, R, BB, 2B, 2 RBI (11)
Yankees
*Ramon Flores – 1 for 2, 2 R, Walk-off, three-run home run (2) in the 9th, 3 RBI (5)
*Mark Teixeira – 2 for 2, BB, 2B, RBI (3)
Current Yankees Spring Record: 13-9
