31 August 2023
The Yankees failed to finish a four-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers, dropping Thursday afternoon’s series finale despite a game-tying, three-run home run by Anthony Volpe in the top of the ninth inning.
Detroit won in walk-off fashion when Gleyber Torres threw wide of first base on a double-play attempt in the bottom of the 10th. The error allowed the Tigers’ Kerry Carpenter to score the winning run in his team’s 4-3 victory in Detroit.
Torres tried to turn two after receiving an off-line throw from reliever Jonathan Loaisiga, who fielded the comebacker off the bat of Zack Short. The Yankees challenged the play, asking if the sliding Parker Meadows interfered with Torres’ toss from second base, but the call stood.
“I just challenged it right away, just in case, because I saw the errant throw,” manager Aaron Boone said. “First thought was maybe it was a takeout slide or something. Simply that. [Loaisiga’s] throw was a little to [Torres’] thigh side, lower, but obviously just messed up the exchange and didn’t get a good throw.”
The loss squandered the heroics of the 22-year-old Volpe, who clubbed his clutch, opposite-field blast against Tigers closer Alex Lange with the Yankees down to their final out.
Volpe made history in the process, becoming the first Yankee to record 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in his rookie season.
“I never really had goals or anything like that going into the season, numbers-wise, but when you can put yourself in Yankees history, that’s pretty crazy,” Volpe said.
The ninth-inning rally awakened a Yankees offense that slugged eight home runs over the series’ first three games but only mustered two hits through eight innings Thursday. Tigers starter Matt Manning dominated during six shutout frames, outdueling the Yankees’ Clarke Schmidt, who began with four scoreless innings before surrendering three runs in the fifth.
A win would have clinched the first four-game sweep of the season for the Yankees (65-69), who have swept a trio of three-game sets.
“We just didn’t mount much on the day,” Boone said. “Great finish there in the ninth inning. Disappointing we couldn’t finish it off.”
Taking three of four from Detroit (60-74) gave the Yankees their first series win since they swept the Kansas City Royals at home between July 21-23. The Yankees went 0-8-2 over their next 10 series, a dreadful stretch that included their first nine-game losing streak in more than four decades.
The Yankees hit two home runs Monday, three Tuesday and three Wednesday, with Torres providing solo shots in each of those games. They fielded a much different lineup Thursday. Aaron Judge rested for the first nine innings before grounding out as a pinch-hitter in the top of the 10th. It was also the Yankees’ first game without Harrison Bader, who was claimed off waivers Thursday by the Cincinnati Reds.
Up next for the Yankees is a three-game series in Houston, where they’re expected to call up top prospects Jasson Dominguez, 20, and Austin Wells, 24, for their MLB debuts.
Justin Verlander, whom the Astros reacquired from the Mets before the Aug. 1 trade deadline, is scheduled to pitch Friday night. He is 1-1 with a 1.42 ERA in three starts against the Yankees this season and is 4-1 with a 2.79 ERA since rejoining Houston, where he previously pitched from 2017-22.
The Yankees are set to counter with left-hander Carlos Rodon, who is 1-4 with a 5.97 ERA.
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