Gerrit Cole got knocked around for five runs and the Yankees hitters couldn't solve Tigers left-hander Framber Valdez in a 5-3 loss in Detroit on Monday night.
New York fell to 46-31 on the season, dropping its third straight game. Detroit improved to 34-44 and has now won four straight.
Here are the takeaways...
- Cole, who worked around a leadoff single that flicked off his foot for in the first, left a fastball right down the pike to Spencer Torkelson, who crushed it for a double into the left-center gap to start the second. But the right-hander recovered to strikeout the next three: blowing a couple of fastballs (the second at 98 mph) past Colt Keith, buckling James Outman's knees with a curveball, and overpowering Hao-Yu Lee with a heater at 99 mph.
Cole allowed the leadoff man to reach for a third straight inning as Zach McKinstry lined a ball into the left-center gap that Jose Caballero took a terrible route to, seemingly losing it in the sun, and it went for a three-bagger as the ball trickled to the wall. After an RBI groundout and another strikeout, an infield hit and a walk kept the inning going. That set up Torkelson to muscle a ball off his hands into center for an RBI hit that put runners at the corners and brought pitching coach Matt Blake out for a visit. Keith, down in the count 0-2, got a 98 mph heater in and cracked it to center to drive in the third run of the frame before a strikeout left two stranded.
Aaron Boone was hoping to get some length out of Cole with the bullpen taxed, but he was facing a conundrum as the veteran was at 66 pitches after nine outs, needing 27 in the third alone
Cole surrendered another leadoff hit to start the fourth, and with one down, surrendered an RBI double down the right field line to Kevin McGonigle to make it 4-1 Detroit. In the fifth, Riley Greene stung Cole for a leadoff home run to right, and after a catcher’s interference and a flyout to deep left-center, Boone made the call to the bullpen.
Cole’s final line: 4.1 innings, five runs on nine hits with a walk and five strikeouts on 89 pitches (62 strikes).
- Caballero worked a two-out walk in the second and then stole second base, his 17th theft of the campaign. Ali Sánchez cashed in, ripping a ball through the right side of the infield (105.5 mph off the bat) and hustling into second for an RBI double.
Caballero finished 0-for-3 with a walk, a strikeout, and a run scored.
Sánchez, who went 1-for-2 on challenges behind the plate, exited the game with two outs in the top of the seventh when he got hit by a 98 mph heater from Drew Anderson on the right hand. He finished 1-for-2 with a strikeout and HBP. Austin Wells, fresh off the IL, replaced him and grounded out for the second out in the ninth in his only time up.
- Amed Rosario, who was in the leadoff spot and went hitless with a strikeout in three chances against Valdez, got just enough of a changeup from Anderson to inside-out it 373 feet to right for a two-run homer to cut the deficit to 5-3 in the seventh. He finished 1-for-5, striking out looking at a ball that was well off the plate, but the Yanks were out of challenges.
- Anthony Volpe got the Yanks’ first RBI chance of the night with runners on first and second and two down in the first, but bounced out to short on the first pitch he saw. He adjusted his second time up, sharply lining a sinker the other way for a single. Volpe finished 2-for-4, with a strikeout looking, losing the Yanks' last challenge on a curveball that was completely within the strike zone in the sixth and hustling out an infield hit on a chopper to third in the eighth.
- Jazz Chisholm Jr. got the visitor’s fourth RBI chance of the night with runners on first and second and two down in the third, but went down flailing at a breaking pitch well off the outside corner. He was hitless in three at-bats with two strikeouts before he followed Volpe's infield single in the eighth. He went 1-for-4.
- Jasson Domínguez, hitless in his first three times up, got the Yankees' fifth chance with a runner in scoring position and first since the third inning with runners on first and second and two down in the eighth. But reliever Will Vest got Dominguez on three pitches, getting him to chase a 97 mph heater at the letters to end the threat.
New York finished 1-for-5 with RISP, leaving seven on base.
- Paul Goldschmidt got the best of the left-handed starter early, bouncing a single up the middle with two down in the first and repeated the feat with one down in the third. Valdez won round three with a strikeout swinging on a curveball. He finished 2-for-4 with two strikeouts.
Against lefties on the year, the 38-year-old is now batting .397 (29-for-73) with six home runs and a 1.222 OPS against lefties this season.
- Ben Rice went down looking at a 93 mph sinker on the outside corner and swinging through a breaking pitch in his first two times up. He finished 0-for-4.
- Cody Bellinger went 0-for-3 with a walk.
- Paul Blackburn was the first man called upon in relief, and retired the first five men he faced with a pair of strikeouts. Ryan Yarbrough, who got stung for four runs in Saturday's loss, issued a one-out walk in a clean seventh. After Yarbrough issued a leadoff walk to start the eighth, some fine defense kept the deficit at two. First, the big lefty made a hustle play to field a bunt and, with a dive, get the out at first. Then Volpe stole a basehit up the middle for the second out to keep the runner from scoring from second. The two relievers covered the final 3.2 innings without allowing a hit or a run on 49 pitches (26 strikes).
- There was a six-minute delay during the bottom of the fourth as Chisholm and the Yankees’ infield wanted a camera in the dirt by second base to be better covered. Chisholm’s peculiarities were on display as he played the bottom of the fifth while eating a green Blow Pop.
Game MVP: Framber Valdez
The Tigers' starter allowed scoring chances in each of the first three innings, but then retired 10 straight to take the wind out of the Yanks' sails. His final line: 6.0 innings, one run, four hits, two walks, and eight strikeouts on 94 pitches (59 strikes).
Highlights
What's next
The three-game series continues on Tuesday with a 6:40 p.m. first pitch.
Carlos Rodon (3.50 ERA, 1.25 WHIP in 36.0 innings) gets the ball for the visitors. The home side is sending out righty Casey Mize (2.58 ERA, 1.013 WHIP in 52.1 innings).
