Monday, April 20, 2015

Recap: Tigers 2, Yankees 1

J.D. Martinez and Yoenis Cespedes highlighted a late Tigers rally, connecting on a pair of big run-scoring singles in the seventh to lift Detroit past the Yankees, 2-1, on Monday night at Comerica Park.

Sabathia's Gem Wasted: CC Sabathia, for most of this one, was great for New York -- facing the minimum through the first six innings while allowing just three hits. He solidly struck out five and walked three over eight total frames on the evening, but was robbed of the win when his command floundered down the stretch. 

Tigers Fight Back: Aided by a solo home run from Mark Teixeira in the second and a couple of nice catches by Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury on defense, the Yankees retained a 1-0 advantage into the bottom of the seventh -- a turn in which the Tigers' bats finally broke out. They put two men on with two out to set up the game-tying single by Martinez, followed shortly by another knock from Cespedes to give the home team the lead.

Rally?: The Yankees weren't about to surrender, though, and in the eighth got a runner to third with singles by Chase Headley and Didi Gregorius. Indeed, things looked bright for the Pinstripes with Ellsbury due to hit -- a confidence that would soon prove misguided after Ellsbury grounded into a double play.

Working Out of Trouble: The Tigers then appeared ready to open the floodgates in their half of the eighth when two reached with just one out against Sabathia, whose pitch count was rising and sharpness decreasing at the time. Sabathia was able to escape the jam with a subsequent strikeout of Rajai Davis and flyout of Ian Kinsler, however, keeping the Yankees within one heading into the ninth.

A Quiet Finish: Unfortunetaly, the Yankees couldn't do much with Sabathia's endeavors -- going down 1-2-3 in their final chance of the contest to seal the rough defeat. Closer fill-in Joakim Soria induced the quick three outs, earning him his fifth save in as many chances as the Yanks dropped to 6-7 on the year.

Next Up: The Yankees will hope to even this series at 1-1 Tuesday when they battle the Tigers again on national television -- beginning at 7:08 p.m. ET and airing live on MLB Network. Nathan Eovaldi will start for the Yankees when they match up with Tigers lefty Kyle Lobstein, Justin Verlander's replacement who lasted just five innings in his previous outing April 12. 

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)