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| McCann sparked Yankees to victory over DET. Photo Credit: Ray Stubblebine |
Brian McCann’s tie-breaking solo blast into right center field bullpen in the 7th inning gave the Yankees the 2-1 lead over the Detroit Tigers which would stand up for New York.
By: Sunil Sunderraj
The Tigers wasted no time taking the 1-0 advantage in the first inning. An error by Derek Jeter on a ground ball hit by Rajai Davis followed by a wild pitch that allowed Davis to advance to second base. Davis moved over to third on a ground out by Ian KInsler. Miguel Cabrera;s deep sac fly to the right field wall plated Davis.
Justin Verlander cruised through the first first innings striking out three and mixing up pitches effectively inducing New York into fly outs. Jacoby Ellsbury broke up the no hitter bid by Verlander in the 4th inning with a single to right field.
Chase Headley walloped a solo laser into the second deck of the right field in the fifth inning tying the game up at 1-1. Verlander’s overall record dropped to .500 on the season at (10-10). He allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings while walking one and whiffing five.
Yankees starting pitcher Chris Capuano matched Verlander pitch by pitch by yielding no earned runs, allowing five hits, walking one and striking out eight batters the most in a start by him since July 11th, 2013.
However, Capuano earned a no decision as he departed in the Top of the 7th with runners on first and second. Adam Warren replaced him and got Davis to ground out to second base to end the inning.
Detroit generated a scoring threat in the 8th inning as they had put runners in scoring position. Cabrera started off the inning with a walk. Next stepped up Victor Martinez who grounded a ball to Stephen Drew but Drew bobbled the ball and threw wildly past Mark Teixeira allowing Cabrera to love over to third base .
Warren(2-5) who earned the win in relief worked himself into a jam by working full counts on J.D. Martinez and Nick Castellanos but managed to get a strikeout and fly out.
In the bottom of the 8th inning, New York tacked on a couple of insurance runs. Brett Gardner led off the inning with a single to right field and Ellsbury walked. Teixeira belted a single through the hole into left field bringing home Gardner to make the score 3-1.
A bizarre sequence occurred with the bases loaded as McCann hit a ball to first base. Cabrera threw to second for the force out but on the ensuing throw to first on one was covering the base enabling Ellsbury to score safely. Teixeira sprinted towards home plate sliding underneath the tag of Tigers catcher Bryan Holaday.
Initially ruled out by the home plate umpire Yankees manager Joe Girardi challenged the ruling. Eventually, the call was overturned as the replays showed Teixeira slapping his hand on the plate before the tag was applied. Bad news for New York as Teixeira’s left pinky was caught under the spikes of Holaday forcing him to leave the game.
New York has enjoyed success against the last 3 AL Cy Young award winners taking 2 out of 3 games. The series wraps up on Thursday afternoon with a matinee affair at 1:00 p.m. as rookie Shane Greene(2-1, 3.68) squares off against Rick Porcello(13-5, 3.18). 