The Yankees secured a series victory with a 5-3 win over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
Here are some takeaways…
– The Yankees offense has been cold of late, but after rallying late in their thrilling 2-1 walk-off win on Friday night, they broke out early and often in this one. The same trio that got them going against Tigers closer Jason Foley in the ninth sparked them in this one as three straight two-out hits from Aaron Judge, Alex Verdugo and Giancarlo Stanton helped them even things up at the bottom of the first.
New York’s offense would strike again two innings later when Judge followed up an Anthony Volpe walk and Juan Soto single with a run-scoring double. After Verdugo grounded out and Stanton struck out, it looked like the Yanks were going to squander a big opportunity, but Anthony Rizzo stepped to the plate and crushed a three-run homer.
– Judge was ejected for the first time in his career at the bottom of the seventh after he had some words for home plate umpire Ryan Blakney while walking back to the dugout following a questionable called strike three low and on the outside corner. It was a very quick and seemingly unnecessary hook as the star outfielder didn’t appear to say much to warrant an ejection. Nevertheless, Judge was replaced by Trent Grisham and he finished the day 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored.
– Clarke Schmidt was jumped for a leadoff home run for the second straight start, but as was the case his last time out against the high-flying Orioles, he settled in nicely and picked up six punchouts over the first three innings. The righty struggled in the fourth after being handed a big lead, though, allowing Detroit to score two more runs and get themselves right back into the game.
Schmidt allowed the leadoff man to reach on a single in the fifth, but he was able to erase him just two pitches later with a double play and then got Mark Canha to ground out to end his day. He earned his third win of the season after allowing three runs on four hits while striking out seven and issuing no walks across five innings of work.
– Caleb Ferguson was the first arm out of the bullpen in relief of Schmidt and he ran into some one-out trouble, but Luke Weaver entered and needed just four pitches to eliminate the threat. The righty retired the Tigers in order in the seventh and got the first two outs in the eighth, but with a man on he was pulled in favor of closer Clay Holmes.
Looking for a four-out save, Holmes struck out the first batter he faced by dropping a nasty sweep on the outside corner. He came back out in the ninth and used a double play to work around a leadoff single and secure the victory and his 11th save of the season (in 12 opportunities) with his 17th consecutive scoreless appearance. The Yankees’ bullpen, which combined to allow just three hits while striking out seven on the afternoon, has now gone 21.1 consecutive innings without allowing a run.
Game MVP: Anthony Rizzo
Rizzo enjoyed a strong day at the plate going 2-for-5 and his massive three-run homer capped off a third-inning rally and held up to be the difference in New York’s second consecutive victory.
The Rizzard of Oz is now riding a three-game hitting streak and he’s posted a stellar .302 batting average with two doubles and five homers over his last 15 games.
Highlights
Upcoming schedule
The Yankees and Tigers close out their three-game set at The Stadium on Sunday afternoon at 1:35 pm
Left-hander Nestor Cortes (1-3, 3.86 ERA) takes the ball against young ace right-hander Tarik Skubal (4-0, 1.72 ERA).
