Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Recap: Yankees 9, Tigers 8

Esmil Rogers had probably his worst start of the spring, surrendering five runs in just three innings as the Yankees rallied for a 9-8 win over the Tigers Tuesday night in Tampa.

Rogers Struggles: Rogers just couldn't catch a break during his three frames of work, giving up five hits and two walks to put the Yankees in an early hole. He committed a fielding error on a routine chopper in the second, strangely causing just one of his allowed runs to be earned.

Differing Bullpen Stats: Andrew Miller and Justin Wilson threw scoreless innings in the fourth and sixth, but Dellin Betances again letting a run cross home in the fifth is likely the bigger story. It was Betances' third consecutive outing in which he failed to keep his opponent off the board -- pushing the Tigers' lead to 6-2 at the time.

Starter Offense: Despite the Yankees' rather large deficit for much of this contest, a few of their starters did have solid games -- most notably Brett Gardner stealing two bases and Carlos Beltran going 1-for-2 with a run-scoring sac fly. Mark Teixeira also plated a run with a bloop double in the first -- a soft fly ball to left that just landed fair. 

Chipping Away: The Yankees trailed 8-2 going into this one's bottom of the seventh, but soon cut that disadvantage in half with three against Detroit's Kyle Ryan. Didi Gregorius began the momentum swing with a sharp RBI single, followed shortly by a Francisco Arcia force-out and a Kyle Higashioka bases-loaded walk to get the Yankees within striking distance.

A Good Way to Cap it Off: The Yankees then came all the way back in their half of the ninth, knocking in four more off Rafael Dolis to complete the seemingly-improbable victory. John Ryan Murphy stayed hot with an RBI single in the inning, and Ramon Flores finished it with a walk-off three-run home run three batters later.

Next Up: The Yankees will remain at Steinbrenner Field Wednesday for a 1:05 p.m. matinee with the Mets -- their second meeting with their crosstown rivals this week. Masahiro Tanaka is expected to pitch for the Yankees when they face off with young right-hander Rafael Montero -- a matchup you can see live on YES as well as MLB Network.

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