The Detroit Tigers beat the New York Yankees with their pitching in frigid conditions in the opening weeks of the season.
Five months later, the bats are joining the pitching as the Tigers are rolling past the Yankees again, and Detroit can complete a three-game sweep Thursday night when the teams conclude the season series in New York.
Detroit (84-62) is 4-1 against the Yankees this season and is attempting to get its first sweep in New York since 2008 — the season before the current Yankee Stadium opened. The Tigers have outscored New York 37-9 in the five meetings this year and are batting .272 after scoring nine runs in the final three innings and getting 16 hits in Wednesday’s 11-1 rout.
“It was pretty explosive at the end, and a lot of high-fives,” Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said after his team scored double-digit runs for the 16th time and third time in consecutive games.
The Tigers opened the series with a 12-2 romp and followed by getting at least 16 hits for the seventh time this season. The hit output was Detroit’s highest at Yankee Stadium since the team got 17 in an 11-7 win on Sept. 2, 2018.
Former Yankee Gleyber Torres drove in the first three runs Wednesday before Detroit hit three two-run homers. Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and pinch hitter Colt Keith homered, while Parker Meadows added an RBI single and reached base three times after hitting the tiebreaking single in Detroit’s nine-run seventh on Tuesday.
“It’s great,” said Greene, who drove in three runs Wednesday. “It’s always great to get a big lead and just win a game. We’re stoked. We just got to show up tomorrow and do it again.”
The Yankees (80-65) are 4-4 in a stretch of 12 straight games against current playoff teams that will end with a three-game series in Boston over the weekend. After winning 11 of 14, the Yankees have been held to 12 hits in the series and are batting .198 against the Tigers this season.
Austin Wells homered in the eighth, but Aaron Judge hit two double-play grounders while others continued their slumps on Wednesday. Giancarlo Stanton was 0-for-3 and is in a 3-for-35 skid, while Trent Grisham is 1-for-14 and Ben Rice is 5-for-27.
New York did not lose any ground in the American League East race and enters the series finale three games behind the first-place Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees are tied with Boston for the first wild-card spot in the AL.
“These nights are frustrating, but it’s that time of year, we got to get over it and get ready for tomorrow,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “They’ve been able to add on late in some close games.”
New York’s bullpen has allowed 19 runs and enters Cam Schlittler’s 10th career start with a 4.54 ERA this season from its relievers and a 7.53 ERA against the Tigers.
In Friday’s 7-1 home loss to Toronto, Schlittler (2-3, 3.24 ERA) allowed a career-worst four runs on five hits in 1 2/3 innings. His shortest career start occurred after the right-hander allowed one run over his previous three outings. This will be his first time facing Detroit.
After getting strong starts from Casey Mize and Jack Flaherty, the Tigers own a 1.40 ERA against the Yankees. Detroit will go with a bullpen game for the finale, with left-hander Tyler Holton (5-4, 3.80) getting the start and Sawyer Gipson-Long coming in as the bulk reliever.
Holton is 0-1 with a 1.46 ERA in eight appearances, all in relief, against the Yankees. The loss came in April, which also was the only time he gave up any runs (two) to New York.