The Yankees blew a one-run lead in the ninth inning and lost to the Detroit Tigers in extra innings on Sunday night, 3-2.
Here are the takeaways...
-For the first time in his last seven starts, Marcus Stroman threw a quality start. The right-hander’s outing was more than just quality, actually, as he went six shutout innings while allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out five.
The Yankees needed that level of dominance out of Stroman, who was facing off against potential AL Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal, who was equally impressive in his outing.
-Skubal also went six innings, but allowed a run on three hits and four walks while striking out five. The run he allowed came on a wild pitch in the top of the sixth inning that broke a scoreless tie.
-Gleyber Torres began the inning with a walk, followed by a walk to Juan Soto to put runners on first and second with nobody out and Aaron Judge coming up to bat. Skubal got Judge to ground into a double play, though, which put him one out away from escaping the frame unharmed.
However, two pitches later, Skubal uncorked a wild pitch that probably should’ve been a passed ball on catcher Jake Rogers, which allowed Torres to score from third. Rogers did well to pounce on the ball quickly and threw home, but Torres was able to slide just ahead of Skubal’s tag to put New York up, 1-0.
-The score stayed there until the bottom of the ninth inning, where Clay Holmes blew his 10th save of the season after giving up a two-out RBI single to Jace Jung that tied the game. It’s the most blown saves by a Yankees closer since Dave Righetti blew 13 in 1987.
-The Yanks were able to retake the lead in the top of the 10th with DJ LeMahieu wasting no time and swinging at the first pitch, singling home free runner Anthony Volpe to give New York a 2-1 advantage. Oswaldo Cabrera stalled the rally by grounding into a double play before Torres struck out to end the inning with just one run scored.
-That came back to bite the Yanks in the bottom half of the frame as pinch-hitter Zach McKinstry led off the inning with an RBI single against Mark Leiter Jr. to tie the game once again. McKinstry then stole second base on a close play that was reviewed and upheld. Parker Meadows delivered the winner with a walk-off single to left field to give Detroit the win.
-On the game-winning hit, Jasson Dominguez, who was on the roster as the 27th man and was making his season debut, double-clutched before throwing home, which was possibly the difference in a close play. It was the end to a forgettable night for Dominguez, who went 0-for-4 at the plate with three strikeouts in the No. 5 hole.
-With New York losing and the Baltimore Orioles winning earlier in the day, the teams are once again tied at the top of the AL East standings.
Game MVP: Parker Meadows
Meadows finished 3-for-5 batting leadoff and had the game-winning hit in the bottom of the 10th.