Series Recap: Yankees split doubleheader with Tigers
It's hard to sweep a doubleheader, and the New York Yankees found out firsthand in their split with the Detroit Tigers. Following an impressive first game, the nightcap left something to be desired. On the positive side, the Yankees jump to Toronto with their pitching staff relatively well rested.
GAME 1
Power hitting and power pitching were on full display in the Yankees 7-4 matinee victory.
GLEYBER TAMES TIGERS
Trailing 1-0 in the third, Gleyber Torres squared the contest at one, drilling a 3-1 offering from Drew VerHagen to right-center. The round-tripper was No. 10 on the campaign for the rookie.
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BIRD IS THE WORD
Greg Bird keyed a six-run fourth, swatting a solo homer to right-center. RBI singles by Miguel Andujar and Clint Frazier boosted the New York lead to 4-1. Austin Romine's two-run tater to center capped off the scoring at 7-1.
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SMOKING SEVY
Luis Severino provided the Yankees with the ideal opening outing. New York's ace tossed eight innings with 10 K's, yielding four hits and two runs, one earned. The start went a long way toward saving the bullpen. With his ninth game of 10 K's, Severino is second to Al Downing (13) with the most 10+ strikeout games at 24 years old or younger in franchise history.
NINTH INNING NONSENSE
Mental lapses and misplays in the ninth by Romine, Torres and Aaron Hicks, meant the Yankees had to bring Aroldis Chapman on in relief of Jonathan Holder in the ninth inning, which started out with a 7-2 lead. None of the plays proved costly in the outcome, but it made for an unnecessary amount of work.
GAME 2
The 4-2 loss in the nightcap had the Yankees playing catch up and essentially shooting themselves in the foot.
GARDY B
Much like the first game, the Yankees knotted the game at one in the third. The red-hot Brett Gardner drilled an RBI-triple to center.
FOURTH INNING FOLLY
During the fourth, James McCann gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead with an RBI-double to left. Later in the inning, Jeimer Candelario "doubled" to left, as Andujar heard the footsteps of Frazier and the Tigers plated a third run.
SMASH PAYBACK
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After getting drilled by Mike Fiers, Giancarlo Stanton countered with a bomb to left in the sixth, cutting the Detroit advantage to 3-2. Stanton flipped his bat, looked and pointed at Fiers as he crossed home plate.
QUESTIONABLE BULLPEN MOVES
After Domingo German registered a decent outing, a relatively rested bullpen went unused. After Miguel Cabrera chased German from the game with a double in the seventh, Adam Warren, fresh off the disabled list, was brought in to face Victor Martinez. Rather than calling on Chad Green or waiting to start Warren with a clean inning, Warren yielded an RBI-double to Martinez, making the score 4-2. Warren worked a clean eighth but the damage was done.
ON DECK
At 38-18, the Yankees trek to Toronto and play the Toronto Blue Jays in a two-game series starting Tuesday.
Pitching probables: CC Sabathia vs. Marco Estrada, Sonny Gray vs. Sam Gaviglio.