That was a frustrating loss, but one you could feel brewing as the Tigers went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, failing to score with the bases loaded twice. Jason Foley continued to struggle, and the Yankees walked this one off in the bottom of the ninth.
Reese Olson was really good once again, and has inherited the “good starter who gets no run support” mantle so far this season. The young right-hander is on a roll, and while there were a lot of long at-bats that ran him pitch count up to 90 in the fifth inning, he blanked the Yankees on two hits and two walks, with five strikeouts.
So, you’re supposed to win those, but Marcus Stroman is a crafty veteran who is one of the few pitchers still thriving without getting much swing and miss. The Tigers only struck out four times in this one, and while the Yankees flashed the leather quite a bit, there were also some rough batted ball luck in the mix as well.
The Tigers do have Riley Greene, however, and it’s a good thing. The left fielder continued his hot start with a three hit game and a walk, but singles by Mark Canha and Jake Rogers were the only other hits in this one. They drew seven walks and only managed one run. Not good.
They finally broke through the deadlock in the sixth. Greene singled, and after Mark Canha struck out, Wenceel Perez and Kerry Carpenter walked back to back. Colt Keith stepped to the dish and while Stroman refused to throw anything over the plate, Keith fouled off everything close in a 10-pitch battle that ended with an RBI walk for the rookie. 1-0 Tigers.
That was the end for Stroman, as Ian Hamilton took over to face Spencer Torkelson. The first baseman got ahead 1-0, took a sinker up on the outer third for strike one, fouled off a slider hanging right in his wheelhouse, and then Hamilton broke off a good slider on the outer corner, and Torkelson whiffed to strike out. Idk either, guys. This is worse than last April/May. Zach McKinstry grounded out, and a pond full of ducks were stranded.
Alex Faedo took over the in the bottom of the sixth, tasked with going through the heart of the Yankees order to keep the lead intact. He struck out Anthony Volpe, blew Juan Soto away with a middle high fastball, and froze Aaron Judge with a much better located fastball. Pretty darn good, Alex.
The Tigers got singles from Rogers and Greene with one out in the top of the seventh, but Canha flew out. Wenceel Perez drew a walk to load the bases against the left-hander, but Matt Vierling pinch-hit for Kerry Carpenter and grounded out to shortstop.
When you squander that many chances in a close game, you start to get that queasy feeling that this isn’t going to end well.
Faedo walked Alex Verdugo to open the bottom of the seventh, but struck out Giancarlo Stanton. Andrew Chafin took over against Anthony Rizzo and walked him, but got Gleyber Torres to bounce into a 4-3 double play to end the inning.
The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the eighth, and Shelby Miller allowed a two out walk but no more, and it was last call for the Tigers offense.
Three quick ground ball outs followed, though Greene drew a walk with two outs. Canha fouled a Dennis Santana sinker off his shin and was in a good deal of pain, eventually serving a routine grounder to Torres at second to end the inning.
That meant it was Jason Foley time, and at least he didn’t have to pitch to Juan Soto. Unfortunately, as he has recently, Foley struggled with his fastball command and hasn’t had that 98+ velocity much in the past two weeks.
Aaron Judge spanked a seeing eye single back up the middle to lead off the inning, and Tigers fans reached for the antacid.
A perfect bunt toward third base saw Verdugo reach, moving Judge to second. Giancarlo Stanton got a 1-0 sinker right over the middle and roasted it the opposite walk for a double that scored Judge and tied the game. With no outs and runners on second and third, walking left-handed Anthony Rizzo was the play, but A.J. Hinch hates the intentional walk. So do I, but it was just foolhardy not to do so in that situation. Instead they pulled the infield in and Rizzo pulled a single through the right side to walk off the Tigers and take a 1-0 lead in the series.