Gary Sanchez tanked another ball over the fence, but the Yankees fell late to the Detroit Tigers, 6-5, in Lakeland on Tuesday.

Takeaways from the game

1) It’s Sanchez’s third big fly on the preseason, and the Yankees have to love seeing that from their catcher who was beleaguered during the 2020 campaign for not being able to hit whatsoever. Sanchez seems to have tweaked his batting approach and it’s working, as he took the 3-2, 93-mph fastball over the left field fence in the top of the fifth inning. He has a .364 average so far this spring.

2) Deivi Garcia had a great second start, totaling five strikeouts over three innings with just two hits allowed. He allowed the long ball last time out against the Philadelphia Phillies, but Garcia seemed sharp with all of his pitches and that confidence was apparent throughout his outing. He’ll look to add more momentum in the fifth rotation competition next time out.

3) Jay Bruce is making things hard on Mike Tauchman when it comes to the final bench slot that’s being fought for at the moment. Getting the start at first base, Bruce sent his second homer of the spring over the right field fence to open scoring for the Yanks in the top of the second. He’s been doing well early on, while Tauchman went 0-for-2 with a run score and is hitting .167 thus far.

4) Luis Cessa had a bit of a dud on the mound this time out, with three earned runs all coming across on a Will Castro homer in the the bottom of the fourth inning.

5) The Yankees were up 5-3 entering the bottom of the eighth, but Luis Garcia couldn’t hold on to that lead. He allowed three runs on two hits and one walk, while a wild pitch ended up bringing the winning run across.

6) A slight scare found its way to the Yankees when Clint Frazier crashed into the left field wall while trying to track a ball. Trainers came out but Frazier was able to stay in the game, which was a sigh of relief for the team. He went 0-for-2 at the dish in this one.

7) Gleyber Torres continued his hot hitting in March, going 1-for-2 with a run scored on the Bruce homer. He’s hitting .417 so far.

Highlights

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