The Tigers opened their series in New York with a 7-3 win over the Yankees, largely in thanks to a dazzling start from Casey Mize.
The Yankees limped their way home after a rough series against the Red Sox, and I imagine both they and their fans were hoping for an easy series against the Tigers. New York is, after all, only one game out of first in the AL East. But as we’ve seen this season, being near the top of the standings in the AL doesn’t mean much this season. The Tigers, meanwhile, just dropped three of four games to the Astros and were really looking for a win in general. They had Casey Mize on the mound up against Ryan Weathers for the Yankees.
Dillon Dingler got things going with a one-out double in the first. With two outs, Spencer Torkelson singled, bringing Dingler home for the first run of the game.
Hao-Yu Lee got a two-out double, and there was a brief pause as Lee made a really rough and ugly slide into the base and was obviously pretty hurt, but he stayed in the game. And he also got to go back to the dugout not long after, as Jahmai Jones struck out to end the inning. Casey Mize then came in and got the Yankees out in order.
Zach McKinstry started the second with a leadoff single, and then one out later, James Outman singled to bump McKinstry to third. Matt Vierling reached safely on a throwing error by third baseman Jose Caballero, scoring McKinstry. Then Dingler hit a sac fly to score Outman (is he Safeman when he scores?).
Kevin McGonigle singled, followed by a walk to Spencer Torkelson. With the bases loaded, Lee really came through, singling to left to score two more runs.
That was it for Weathers, who was replaced by Yerry De los Santos, and also the end of the game for Jones, who was pinch-hit for Kerry Carpenter. The Tigers were done scoring for the inning, but they had a 5-0 lead after two and chased the starter from the game. Not. Too. Shabby. Mize had been given a nice long break, and it suited him just fine as he came back in to get another 1-2-3 inning against the Yankees.
The Tigers went three-up, three-down in the top of the third. In the bottom of the inning, the Yankees finally got their first baserunner in the form of a leadoff double from Spencer Jones. But Mize wasn’t fazed by a runner in scoring position as he got the next three outs in a row.
Vierling singled to start the fourth, then Dingler reached on a fielding error by Bellinger, who seemed to get mixed up trying to avoid a collision with the outfield wall and missed the catch. Dingler ended up on second and Vierling on third, so when McGonigle singled, he was able to score two more runs.
McGongigle ended up on second in another ugly slide, this one taking down Jazz Chisholm Jr. Everyone appeared to be okay afterwards. With two outs, there was a long pause as the second out of the inning resulted in a painful collision between Chisholm and outfielder Jasson Dominguez. This time, Chisholm did end up leaving the game after staying on the ground for quite some time. It looked as if he took the arm of a running Dominguez right to the face. Aaron Boone took the opportunity to also swap his pitcher at the same time, bringing in Tim Hill, who got the final out of the inning. In the home half, Mize continued to do his part to maintain the pace of play by getting the Yankees out in order once again.
The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the fifth, and the Yankees did the same in the home half.
The Yankees headed back to their bullpen in the sixth for Jake Bird. With two outs, Kevin McGonigle called for a replay review, saying he was hit by a pitch, and the call on the field was overturned, and he was granted first base. It ended up not mattering as the next batter was the third out of the inning. In the home half, even through six innings, Casey Mize was throwing some of the most disgusting pitches I’ve ever seen, with insane tunnelling that none of the batters could get a read on. The side went 1-2-3 again, all on strikeouts. Ryan Yarbrough was the new Yankees pitcher. Carpenter walked. Then McKinstry singled. For the last out of the inning, Outman was, well… out, man… thanks to an ABS challenge for a called ball that was actually strike three. Mize had another three-up, three-down outing in the bottom of the sixth, and he was so confident in his stuff that even as a called strike was being challenged, he was walking off the mound and back to the dugout.
The Yankees were really working their bullpen tonight, dipping back in to bring out Camilo Doval, who got the Tigers out in order. Mize’s day was done after seven, with a final line of 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K on 88 pitches. This might have been one of the best Mize starts we’ve seen not just this season, but possibly one of his top 5 of 10 ever. Just gorgeous pitching. He was replaced by Drew Sommers. Jasson Dominguez got a leadoff walk, then with one out, Jones doubled, bumping Dominguez to third. A pinch-hitting Amed Rosario then homered, scoring three runs and really messing with the incredible game Mize had built to that point. Sommers did turn it around to get the next two outs, but the score was a lot tighter than it had been.
Against new pitcher Brent Headrick, Carpenter got a ground-rule double over the outfield wall with two outs. A blooper ended the inning, and the Tigers needed someone out of the bullpen who could get three outs. Someone. Anyone? Well, we’ll try it with Drew Anderson. Anderson got the job done, getting the side out in order. The Tigers got the win and the Yankees got their fifth straight loss.
